The Great Boating Adventure (2)

Part 2 – Turtle Bay

As the greatest boating adventure continues, (Link to Part 1), it’s been a quiet day and the ocean stayed pretty calm as we traveled from San Cedros to Turtle Bay. There are many lobster traps to keep our eyes open for, and even had some local lobster fishermen come close to see if we wanted to buy some. I said no, but now I wish I would have said yes!! I know how to order lobster in a restaurant, but cooking a whole live lobster?? Mike then let me know that he could have cooked it. Oh well, I’m sure it won’t be the last time we are offered. Just for good measure, we put in the movie Jaws.

We rolled into Turtle Bay and we were greeted by Enrique asking us if we wanted fuel. We followed him into the fuel dock…fuel pier actually. This would be a first for us, they call it Mediterranean Mooring. They tie your bow to a mooring ball in the water, and from about 15 feet up they hold your stern away from the pier, but keep you close enough to pass down a fuel hose. It’s not like any other fuel dock we had been to. It went off without a hitch and we found a place to anchor nearby. We tucked in relaxed and looked forward to a night of rest. We were both pretty tired from the previous night of rock n’ roll.

We ended up staying in Turtle Bay for four days. It actually was a good thing, we seemed to keep busy with lots of little projects. We also stayed longer because Hurricane Paul was making his way north and Turtle Bay was the best shelter to wait out the storm. We were not actually concerned about the hurricane coming that far north, but the seas would be rough and the wind fierce. So we stayed put and even made some new friends, or in Spanish, “Amigos”. Jeff, John, and Nick are on their way to some islands about 120 miles to the west. Turns out Jeff is from Ventura, worked at the West Marine we frequented, and has a sailboat in Ventura Marina. Small world. We also met Jim and Steffi (Stephanie) on the sailing vessel, Golden Lion. They are headed to Panama also, see the Bahamas, and then the Mediterranean. Boats were starting to arrive for the season of cruising, and we also met Jim and Mira who came into the Bay with a disabled engine on their sailboat, Blue Moon. They’ll be in Turtle Bay for a while as they wait for parts to come from San Diego.

Jim and Steffi are from Canada and have been making their way for 4 months. They helped us out with some practical knowledge that we hadn’t read about in books. There are some things you just have to learn by experience

Leroy gets to go to shore often, he loves playing in the surf and walks to the store. He has been doing great this trip, sleeps a lot more than he usually does, but then again, so do we, (well during the day). We left Turtle Bay on the 25^tho of October. We decided to meet Jim and Steffi in Bahia Punta Asunción. It’s about 50 miles down the coast. It would take us 8-9 hours and it would take them about 12 hours. So we told them we would have dinner ready for them when they anchored in. On the trip down we had small swells, saw large fishing boats, dolphins, and two whales. The whales were about 10 yards off the starboard (right) side. It was really pretty awesome, sadly I couldn’t get the camera working fast enough to get pictures. Mike also saw a Sea Ray jump out of the water, do a back-flip before diving back in. I missed it, and even though I watched and watched, I didn’t get to see it , but Jim said they saw a few rays doing the same as they made their way down.

That night, the Santa Anna winds blew, and we moved about a lot. Not the “rail to rail” like the night off Cedric’s Isla, but I didn’t get much sleep. We stayed the next day hoping to go to shore and meet Sheri, a local lady who introduced herself on the radio and always greets cruisers who come to visit. She offered lunch at her house and to be our tour guide. But the winds continued to blow hard all day, hard enough that we weren’t comfortable leaving the boat alone at anchor. We kicked back enjoyed a day of not doing much at all. We decided to go ahead and head out the next day while Jim and Steffi would stay another day, visit with Sheri and have a look around.

Turtle Bay was an interesting place. It seems through the years as American cruisers stop there, they always offer gifts or trades. So the locals have gotten used to the idea and are always asking if we have any spare.. stuff. There was one lady who every time we went to shore asked if I had any make-up I could give her. If you know me, you know that I rarely wear it, and wear very little. So each time I had to tell her, no, I was sorry but I don’t have any.

We headed out about 9 am towards Punta Abreojos. It’s only about another 50 miles so it would be a short day at sea for us. A beautiful day at sea, I worked on a tan with no lines and Mike Captained all day. We anchored next to a spectacular beach, it looked long and clean. We had a light dinner with everything prepared on the bbq and we watched a stunning sunset. I think Leroy was disappointed we didn’t go run on the beach, but I think he’ll be ok.

We headed out the next morning, October 29^th. The seas were a bit choppy, but the ride wasn’t bad enough for Dramamine. So, I decided to try doing some fishing. I caught two fish, the first was small and we didn’t even know what kind of fish it was. I didn’t get a picture because I decided to throw a line out while Mike napped, and honestly wasn’t coordinated enough to drive the boat, reel in the fishy, and grab the camera.  I was able to remove the hook and get the little guy back in the water and within 10 -15 minutes had another fish on the line! I thought for sure the fight would break the line as hard as the fish was fighting.

Mike had woken up and taken over the boat while I continued to fight the fish. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it had yellow fins, so I called it a yellow fin tuna. I didn’t have any kind of scale on board, but it was probably a good 5-7 pounds. Now came the hard part, since we are underway Mike couldn’t do all the “yucky” part, I had to. First, I had to figure out how to stop screaming out every time the fish moved. I caught, bled, cleaned, and fileted my first sea fish. I remember someone at some point told me you had to bleed the fish… well with no idea how that is actually done, so I tied a rope to his tail, lopped off his head, and threw him over the side to drain out the blood. I’m still not sure that was the right way, but I think he bled out. Cleaning the fish was probably just as bad. I made a slice down the belly and tried to take out all the yucky stuff, and oh boy there is a lot of it. Now the fileting was a little tricky. As the boat bobbed and bounced it made making “smooth” cuts a little more difficult. I’d seen others filet a fish before, they take the filet knife and slide it between the skin and the meat, doesn’t sound that hard…well… the best thing that came from this experience was that I did walk away with all of my fingers. By the time I was finished with this 5–7-pound fish, we ended up with two chunks slightly bigger than the fish you get in a McDonald’s fish sandwich. It was an experience, I made Mike laugh the hardest when I started running around the boat beating my chest chanting, “I AM FISHERWOMAN!”

We’ll be spending the night at an anchorage in San Juanico (WA-nee-co). A very calm bay, a perfect anchorage. We could see a beautiful long white beach. After we anchored, I decided I’d put the engine on the dinghy and take Leroy to the beach. No problem right, Mike is going to stay on board and check out the boat, and Leroy and I will find our “land legs”. Leroy has become such a water dog, playing in the surf, chasing his toy, he ran and ran. I decided it was getting late and time to head back. The sets of waves would break on the beach, well… to make a long story just a little shorter, the dinghy was “nosed” into the beach and I turned our nose into the waves. As I turned my back to lower and start the motor, a good size wave broke on top of us swamping the motor me and Leroy. We didn’t flip, but there was probably a good 15 gallons of water in the dinghy. Leroy jumped out of the dinghy and stared at me from the beach like he was saying, “no way, you’re trying to kill me”. Oops. Using the walkie-talkies, Mike told me I would have to row out past the breaking waves, well that’s easier said than done. After convincing Leroy to get back in the boat, I tried rowing and managed only to take the dinghy in circles.

Luckily it was getting late enough that fishermen were showing up at the beach, and they came over to help me. In their broken English and my broken Spanish, they said they would help me get back to the boat. I think their initial idea was to put the dinghy on their boat, and I was trying to say they could just tow me. Anyhow, while they got their boat ready, they told me how they sleep out by their lobster traps all night, otherwise, their catches get stolen. I kept trying the engine, and was able to get it running, they helped me past the breakers. They followed me over to our boat, to make sure the engine didn’t quit, and for their help, we gave some candy and soda, honestly, it is what they asked for. And so, ends with Michelle taking Leroy to shore alone. Mike said we would have rowing lessons before I did that again.

We plan on getting a good night’s rest and heading out in the morning. The adventure continues…

***Note: I still haven’t been able to access the photos, but hopefully I’ll get them again. Also, I’m not writing this from memory alone, I kept a journal during the trip and we posted updates to friends and family while we were on the trip.