Charter Day 3
An old turkey buzzard comes in for a landing
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post the next entry. I hurt my right shoulder before the charter, made it worse on the charter, then really bunged it up when we got back. I'll catch you up on the details later, but let me just say that with the pain in my shoulder, I haven't been in the mood to do much writing lately.
Anyway, here goes, we're back to day three of our charter adventure.
Monday, May 20th 2013 – Culeta Partida
I ran the boys ashore after breakfast for them to explore the little valley that R_ discovered. While they were ashore, Dawn and I cleaned the boat up and got ready to get under way.
By the time our guests got back, it was lunch time so Dawn fed us all before we pulled the anchor. I have J2 trained to watch the anchor chain as it comes down the hawse pipe through the sail locker and into the chain locker. He makes sure it flows smoothly and flakes the chain out as it comes down so it will go out smoothly when we need it again.
Our goal for today was to make it to Culeta Partida. CP is the inside of the caldera of the old volcano. The years have eroded the cinder cone until the sea intruded making an almost perfect bay. It’s really neat dropping anchor inside of a volcano.
It’s only about eight miles from Ensenada de Candalero to Culeta Partida so we weren’t in any hurry. We left the canopy up and motored to our destination.
We enter the bay through a cut in the volcano’s cone. The water is plenty deep, but the bay shoals towards the head. As usual, there were several other boats in the bay. We dropped anchor on the south side to get a little protection from the night time Coromel winds.
Anyway, here goes, we're back to day three of our charter adventure.
Monday, May 20th 2013 – Culeta Partida
I ran the boys ashore after breakfast for them to explore the little valley that R_ discovered. While they were ashore, Dawn and I cleaned the boat up and got ready to get under way.
By the time our guests got back, it was lunch time so Dawn fed us all before we pulled the anchor. I have J2 trained to watch the anchor chain as it comes down the hawse pipe through the sail locker and into the chain locker. He makes sure it flows smoothly and flakes the chain out as it comes down so it will go out smoothly when we need it again.
Our goal for today was to make it to Culeta Partida. CP is the inside of the caldera of the old volcano. The years have eroded the cinder cone until the sea intruded making an almost perfect bay. It’s really neat dropping anchor inside of a volcano.
It’s only about eight miles from Ensenada de Candalero to Culeta Partida so we weren’t in any hurry. We left the canopy up and motored to our destination.
We enter the bay through a cut in the volcano’s cone. The water is plenty deep, but the bay shoals towards the head. As usual, there were several other boats in the bay. We dropped anchor on the south side to get a little protection from the night time Coromel winds.
Somebody's little toy
My guide book says that there are some interesting sea caves on the other side of the island. Opposite the entrance to the bay is a narrow cut through two sand bars that a dinghy or kayak can negotiate at high tide.
The guys wanted to explore the cut to see if they should take a kayak trip to the other side of the island so into the dinghy we went. We were about half-way through the flood tide so I knew that if we ran into shoal water, the tide would continue to flood in and float us.
We crept up to the first of two overlapping sand bars. The water was only a couple of feet deep. I didn’t want to chew up our propeller on the bottom, so we proceeded at a snail’s pace. J2 grabbed one of the paddles from the bottom of the dinghy and felt for the bottom. We had about three feet of water, no problem.
We continued around the sand bar, then turned back on ourselves and made our way around the other sand bar to deep water.
There were two boats anchored in the bay on the other side of the island. I don’t do them justice calling them boats. The first was a mega-yacht of at least one hundred feet. The other looked like something out of a James Bond movie.
She was about sixty or sixty-five feet long and looked like a stealth fighter without wings. Obviously built for speed, she didn’t really have any above-deck space. All sharp angles and sloping lines. We speculated on what she could be.
Was she a military boat? Maybe some kind of high-tech patrol boat? Perhaps she was security for the mega-yacht?
We were on a mission, so we didn’t stop to investigate. I took the dinghy, with our four guests aboard, further down the coast line looking for the sea caves.
We motored quite a ways down the eastern shore of the island and were disappointed in the caves. Yes, they were there, but they only extended a few feet into the cliffs. I was expecting some kind of Indiana Jones style caves that worked their way deep into the cliffs and held chests of pirate treasure. Oh well, fantasy seldom matches reality.
On our way back, we decided to take a closer look at the James Bond boat. There had been no sign of life on board when we passed the first time and as she came into view the second time, all was quiet. However, as soon as we closed with the boat, she became a hotbed of activity. Crew members ran from the cabin and jumped to work on the deck.
I assumed that they were clearing away some kind of high tech laser cannon to defend themselves against five senior citizens in a rubber dinghy. Discretion being the better part of valor, I headed back to the sand bars and home.
Navigating the cut this time was a breeze. First of all, we’d already been through it and knew where the deep water was, and secondly the tide had come in while we were exploring the island.
In no time, we were back on board the Victory feasting on another one of Dawn’s happy hour treats. Because of the heat, we have been serving dinner at about 8 pm. No one is interested in a heavy meal in the heat of the day.
As usual, dinner was a delight, then back to bed under the stars.
The winds, while still steady, gave me less concern in Culeta Pardita. The bay is so enclosed that even if the wind can make it though the cut the waves don’t.
So far our guests seem happy. I overheard B_ telling R_ “I had a choice of two cruises this summer. I chose the right one.” That made me happy.
The guys wanted to explore the cut to see if they should take a kayak trip to the other side of the island so into the dinghy we went. We were about half-way through the flood tide so I knew that if we ran into shoal water, the tide would continue to flood in and float us.
We crept up to the first of two overlapping sand bars. The water was only a couple of feet deep. I didn’t want to chew up our propeller on the bottom, so we proceeded at a snail’s pace. J2 grabbed one of the paddles from the bottom of the dinghy and felt for the bottom. We had about three feet of water, no problem.
We continued around the sand bar, then turned back on ourselves and made our way around the other sand bar to deep water.
There were two boats anchored in the bay on the other side of the island. I don’t do them justice calling them boats. The first was a mega-yacht of at least one hundred feet. The other looked like something out of a James Bond movie.
She was about sixty or sixty-five feet long and looked like a stealth fighter without wings. Obviously built for speed, she didn’t really have any above-deck space. All sharp angles and sloping lines. We speculated on what she could be.
Was she a military boat? Maybe some kind of high-tech patrol boat? Perhaps she was security for the mega-yacht?
We were on a mission, so we didn’t stop to investigate. I took the dinghy, with our four guests aboard, further down the coast line looking for the sea caves.
We motored quite a ways down the eastern shore of the island and were disappointed in the caves. Yes, they were there, but they only extended a few feet into the cliffs. I was expecting some kind of Indiana Jones style caves that worked their way deep into the cliffs and held chests of pirate treasure. Oh well, fantasy seldom matches reality.
On our way back, we decided to take a closer look at the James Bond boat. There had been no sign of life on board when we passed the first time and as she came into view the second time, all was quiet. However, as soon as we closed with the boat, she became a hotbed of activity. Crew members ran from the cabin and jumped to work on the deck.
I assumed that they were clearing away some kind of high tech laser cannon to defend themselves against five senior citizens in a rubber dinghy. Discretion being the better part of valor, I headed back to the sand bars and home.
Navigating the cut this time was a breeze. First of all, we’d already been through it and knew where the deep water was, and secondly the tide had come in while we were exploring the island.
In no time, we were back on board the Victory feasting on another one of Dawn’s happy hour treats. Because of the heat, we have been serving dinner at about 8 pm. No one is interested in a heavy meal in the heat of the day.
As usual, dinner was a delight, then back to bed under the stars.
The winds, while still steady, gave me less concern in Culeta Pardita. The bay is so enclosed that even if the wind can make it though the cut the waves don’t.
So far our guests seem happy. I overheard B_ telling R_ “I had a choice of two cruises this summer. I chose the right one.” That made me happy.