So, our new sail arrives in La Paz and I retrieve it from the bus station. We are very happy with the repair undertaken by Ullman Sails, and re-install it on Aphrodite. But now we are waiting for a book!!! (Fishing Guide for Cruisers) - excellent book and a must for anyone cruising anywhere if you are not already au fait with the tying of knots, types of lure, etc., etc., so we decide to cruise to the islands north of La Paz for a week to 10 days. Prior to departing however, we take on our new 'First Mate - Monty'

It's been four months since my very sad parting with William, my faithful friend for just over 16 years, but I wanted another pet on board, however, not another dog, as those of you who knew William will know, William is irreplacable.

My beautiful William

So, we left La Paz, with a dolphin escort, and our first stop was Isla Partida - gorgeous! The anchorage is actually tucked in between the north end of Isla Espiritu Santo and the southern end of Isla Partida, the two being joined by a sandspit.

You can just see Aphrodite at anchor, far right of the picture - and below, in the crystal clear waters, our anchor and chain in 20 feet of water. Isla Partida is uninhabited (by humans) other than the occasional panga fisherman, and from some of the remnants on the beach it would seem that they have been here for some time

The water is turquoise and as clear as glass (the photographs don't do it justice) and we drop our hook and the skipper relaxes!

He'll keel haul me for that one

We had arrived in flat calm weather but sadly this was not to continue, and for the next three days we had a 'Norte' blow through and at times had 30 knots of wind over the deck, but thankfully no sea state. Our anchor dragged a little the first day but then found better holding and held us rock steady until the wind declined. We took the opportunity to move on and headed further north to Isla San Francisco, passing the seal colony at Islas Los Islotes on the way.

We arrived at Isla San Francisco late afternoon, dropped the hook and decided that we would wait until the following day to launch the dinghy and go ashore exploring, so, with gin and tonics duly poured, we settled down to enjoy yet another beautiful sunset

Early the following morning we were awoken by the 'rolly polly' of a breeze from the south blowing into the anchorage, making it rather uncomfortable, and, not knowing whether it was going to build from this direction (the forecast said not, but as Paul always says "what's a forecast other than a horoscope with numbers!," we decided to move on to a more sheltered anchorage and sadly left Isla San Francisco without stepping foot ashore. Once out 'in the open' the wind dropped and once more we engined on to Bahia San Avaristo on the mainland. After dropping the hook we dinghied ashore and spent a couple of hours on the beach collecting beautiful shells - to be incorporated into Aphrodite's decor at some point - and, on our way back, visited a fishing trawler, also at anchor in the bay, where we purchased a kilo of HUGE camarones (shrimp) which provided dinner for the next two nights. We awoke the next day to another full-blown Norte with gusts once again up to 30 knots coming through the anchorage which made it impossible to leave the boat. On the fourth day (yes fourth day) our anchor suddenly decided it had had enough and would not hold the ground. We spent the day dragging around and re-setting - all, I have to say, still in glorious sunshine, and at 2100 hours, having dragged again, we made the decision to head back to La Paz rather than reset the anchor AGAIN. The forecast we had was for the weather to moderate through Saturday night down to almost Force nothing by the morning - WRONG. If we thought we had had it rough on the way down to Cabo, then that was just a foretaste of what we had this night. The winds built and built, the seas built and built, my stress and anxiety built and built, and the engine stopped!!! So now we decide that we will set a 'handkerchief' of our new headsail with its super-dooper reinforced/ renewed fittings and make the most of the 35 knots and have a cracking (if somewhat rough) downwind sail. We havn't even got the sail set when BANG - deja vu - we have a full head sail flogging wildly from the top of our mast, except the boat is on its ear 'ole because the sheet is still around the winch - we knew the machette would come in useful at some point - except this one wouldn't cut butter!!! A leap below and a bread knife took care of that and the boat righted itself, but with no engine, a mad, wild flogging headsail, complete with metal fittings still attached reminded me that I have said for years that every boat should carry a full motorcycle crash helmet for just such moments. Anyway, long story short, we bled the engine, whilst being pounded sideways on by huge seas and regained some control. And to keep the long story even shorter, we did, by some small miracle, manage to capture the aforementioned headsail - both of us on the foredeck whilst 'Denis' our Aries windvane steered a steady course from the flogging headsail! and tame it - largely due to the amount of time Paul had spent at the top of the mast in La Paz, servicing the sheave following the difficulty we had encountered getting the sail down during our previous headsail disaster!!! With this lashed on deck we were able to set our staysail and by daybreak - because of course these things NEVER happen during daylight hours - we had regained control of our sturdy little vessel and headed back into La Paz. The failure, naturally was caused by the one piece of rigging that got overlooked when Paul re-rigged the entire boat but overlooked the swage fitting between the roller furling drum that extends to the clew of the headsail - naturally it broke - following that adage - that if it can, it will!! What we did learn is that we are stupid and should never have left the anchorage but should have kept an anchor watch and re-anchored all night long if necessary, but also that our boat is a marvel and stood up to everything thrown at it that night, and that I'm not so bad either!!! After an initial 10 seconds of 'we're doomed and we're all going to die (poor Monty - he didn't sign up for this!!) I regained my wits and can honestly say that although I may have been a little anxious at times - when atop the 30 foot waves rushing forward like a matchbox toy - I actually surprised myself that I just got practical and got on with it. Paul naturally remained unfazed throughout and did whatever was necessary (at least I that's how it looked to me - love him!). So here in La Paz for 5 more days - having collected our fishing book, we will be heading back to the islands briefly to test out our 'fixed' engine - we believe and then head on over to the mainland and Mazatlan.

I will also endeavour to maintain our blogspot in a more efficient manner!!