Last night I was outside taking care of business just before bedtime and I looked over at the Sonoran coast (mainland). There was lightning strike after lightning strike after lightning strike. I finally pulled the kitchen timer out and counted 23 strikes in 1 minute and I think they’d been even heavier before I started timing them. Pretty cool to watch.
Checked the weather sites today and it looks like we may be able to head out of here tomorrow instead of having to wait until Tuesday. The plan is to sail to the east side of Isla San Esteban to spend the night. It’s about 32 miles so we shouldn’t have to leave at the crack of dawn to make it before dark. And, that’s good because we plan to wait until 0800 when I can download the weather. Want to make sure they haven’t changed their minds again.
I took the dinghy ashore today and Lulu swam ashore. This is probably the most unspoiled place we’ve ever seen. Except for a very small amount of flotsam that’s washed ashore, there is no sign of people anywhere. The seagulls seemed to be a little bit put out that we had the nerve to go ashore. Ever since we’ve been here pelicans and seagulls have wanted to land on the boat. I finally rigged up an anti-bird device on the bow pulpit to keep them off of that. But, I just have to physically guard the solar panels, their other chosen roost. I don’t think they see many boats as they don’t really seem to know what to do with us. When a seagull lands on the solar panel, I get up and get the boat hook. Keep in mind that I’m all of 4 feet from him during this. It’s not until the boat hook almost hits him that he takes off. The pelicans are worse. You have to actually prod them with the boat hook, sometimes several times, before they can be bothered to leave. Naturally, while we were ashore, they took advantage. On the way back in the dink I saw two pelicans roosting on the forward end of the lifelines. I actually had to physically push them off with the oar to get them to leave. They looked like they just didn’t get what was going on. And then, 5 pelicans, probably including the two I evicted, spent hours paddling around just behind and alongside the boat for the rest of the afternoon. They were close enough to touch most of the time but I wasn’t about to do that. They have a mean little beak at the end of their bill. One tried to roost in the dinghy floating alongside and had to be dissuaded with the boathook. And why are we so stingy that we won’t share our boat with our feathered amigos? Two words: BIRD POOP! Pelican poop is especially hard to remove.
Ran the generator today to top up the water tank and the batteries. Transferred diesel from the jerry jugs to the main tank. Changed oil in the generator and generally got things ready to go. Yesterday I permanently installed a couple of fans above our sitting places at the settee. We’ve been enjoying the music on The Bridge, Channel 22 on Sirius. No big surprises but sometimes I think they somehow tapped into my iPod.
It’s now been a full week since we’ve seen another boat much less any people. I hear people checking into the HAM nets on the radio so I’m pretty sure the zombie apocalypse hasn’t struck just yet but it is pretty weird to not see anyone or even any boats for a week.
Finished our stash of “Big Bang Theory” last night so now we’re doubling up on “Heroes” so we can finish what we have before we head back to Estados Unidos next month.
That’s about it. I made beans for dinner. Those fans may earn their amps tonight.
yodersafloat 
If there are no boats or people around does that tell you that maybe you had better get out of there. Love, Mom
Nope. It tells us we found the right place.
Can’t wait to hear about how it went with the beans! Sure hope the weather has cooperated and that you are once again headed south. We are anxious to hear that you have made it safely to Guaymas, and are “on the hard”. At least it sounds like Estanque has mostly been a cool place to hang out, with cool breezes, and no other boats. That’s always a nice respite.
The beans turned out excellent and the side effects were minimal. Maybe because we eat so many beans. I have them literally almost every day. We’re safe and sound in San Carlos and will be firmly on the hard tomorrow.