Chubasco!

We finally are out of Santa Rosalia after about a month. We left the dock and moved over to Isla San Marcos about 10 miles away. It is really nice to be anchored out again. It is quiet as we are the only boat here, and we can swim in the water again. The bay is names Los Arcos as there are some sea caves in the rocky shore. We swam over to these from the boat and swam into one, and through another that opens up to a little canyon on the far side. We went through then rested on the beach on the far
side, then headed back to the boat. I finally got out the underwater housing for my digital camera. It was a little nervous about taking the camera underwater, but it worked fine. However I need some practice getting decent pictures underwater. Only 3 or 4 of the 30+ pictures are worth keeping, I will upload some next time I get internet access.
We got our first Chubasco here at San Marcos. Chubascos are thunderstorms that usually come from the mainland side and cross the sea to the baja side. These come with high winds and usually at night. We had often seen lightening in the clouds in the far distance, but this night they were getting closer. By midnight they close enough to see the individual strike and hear the thunder. The wind speed was also rising so Cindy and I decided to batten down the hatches! We removed the sun shade and made
sure that everything was secured. The storm continued to get closer and lightening was now all around us and lit up the entire island, the wind blew in the 30 knot range with gusts to 40 and rain also. We learned that 40 knot winds can gusts can get our dinghy airborne (there was no outboard or gas tank inside at the time). The worst was over in about an hour but the storm continued for several hours, not much sleep for us that night. These storms are fairly common in the sea of Cortez in the summer
so we can look forward to seeing more.

Short update before sending this out. We have moved north to Trinity Cove, about 50 miles from San Marcos. We have caught up to a few boats we know here Momo and Moon Hunter. This morning Bernie and Bill took me out to try out my spear/sling which has only been gathering dust so far. We took a dinghy out to the rocks to look for some fish. Plenty of fish but also a lot of current. I struck out but the other two both got a fish. We moved over where the was less current and we hoped warmer water. Here
I finally got a fish, of course the other guys got several, maybe I can blame it on the fact that they have spearguns rather than on my inexperience :-). Bill kept coming back with these huge groupers. I could not even find any, much less catch one! Michelle has now off with Cindy to show her how to look for clams! We will be heading over to Momo for dinner tonight to help celebrate Michelle's birthday. it is a tough life staying so busy!