April 8, 2008 -- Puerto Escondido -- N 25 degrees 48' 50.8" W 111 degrees 18' 35.5'
house battery at 7 am (savings time): 12.38 (away most of the day, couldn't aim solar panel)
15 nm cruised for the day; 261.9 nm cruised on the trip overall

The good fortune and happy times we associated with our visit to Loreto lingered for awhile after our departure this morning, but as we left Loreto in our wake, problems began to present themselves. The day started pleasantly enough, to the sounds of panga fishermen talking enthusiasticly among themselves, some powering out of the boat basin toward their favorite fishing spots, others circling around, casting throw nets for bait fish. The old man who comes out to the dock on his bicycle every morning and evening to fish with his hand line was at the end of our dock when I emerged from the cabin. If I were a portrait artist I would paint him. His face tells a thousand stories, and he says "Buenas dias amigo" with genuine warmth and feeling. I prepared to cast off, handling the lines while Sandy started up the motor. I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and the old man looked at me, then glanced over at Sandy behind the wheel and said "Capitan?" I nodded affirmatively, and when the lines were free, I told Sandy to take the boat away from the dock. She powered up, and we idled our way out of the boat basin. The old man smiled and waved, impressed that Sandy was our boat captain, and Sandy appreciated the moment as well.

We took our time motoring south, toward Puerto Escondido. I trolled a lure, and we sighted a pair of humpback whales, which passed closely enough to allow for pictures. We also saw a sea lion, floating on his back with just flippers sticking out of the water. A cruise ship bound for Loreto passed us northbound, while we were watching the whales. I was glad we were able to see Loreto before the cruise ship arrived there.

Problems started as we neared Puerto Escondido. Sandy was below, organizing the laundry. She noticed a rotten smell in the king berth area, and discovered the source to be a hard boiled egg which I'd forgotten to remove from my day pack. It was a left over from the sack lunch I brought on the La Trinidad hike, over a week before. Whew, was it ripe. Next little mishap occurred as we were getting fenders and dock lines ready for arrival at the Puerto Escondido fuel dock. I'd clipped the backstay cable that supports the mainsail boom onto a plastic clip instead of to the stainless loop on the end of the boom. When Sandy grabbed the boom for support, while working on deck, the plastic clip broke. Not a big deal, just irritating.

On to the fuel dock. I'd gone to considerable trouble confirming the availability of gas here at Puerto Escondido. Before leaving home, I e'mailed the cruising club in La Paz with an inquiry. They made some phone calls on my behalf, and e'mailed me back that yes, indeed, the Singlar Marina had both diesel and gas. Based on that information, I had opted against hauling gas to the boat while in Loreto by means of jerry cans, although that wouldn't have been very difficult while we had use of the rental car. I figured that a nice convenient fuel dock, a real rarity down here, was a luxury too good to pass up. We eased up to the fuel dock, beneath the huge Pemex fuel tanks. Two dock hands were standing by to take our lines. One guy queried "Diesel?" I said "No, gasoline". He shook his head, saying "No gasoline today". I was incredulous. Back and forth we went, in his broken English and my almost non existent Spanish. Eventually, I gathered that their gas tank was empty, and that they didn't expect fuel delivery until around 10 am the next day. This was beginning to feel like our hot water problems at the Singlar Marina in Santa Rosalia.

We had little option but to wait for tomorrow, in hopes that the promised fuel delivery would actually occur. We anchored in the convenient area known as the Elipse, nice and close to the Singlar docks. We ran over to the dock in the dinghy, loaded down with laundry, computer and shower gear. I went into the office, and received one piece of discouraging information after another. In order to check in, I would have to hike about a half mile over to another office, because Singlar didn't control the area we had anchored in. We needed to deal with API instead. We wash our clothes, but the driers didn't work. It seems the propane tanks for the driers were empty. Internet works, however, it is painfully slow. There was some debate as to the availability of hot shower water. Sandy took her chances, and found the one shower stall that, with a long enough wait, eventually achieved a flow of warm water. When my shower turn came along, I had to use the women's shower, same one Sandy had used, because there is no hot water at all on the men's side. Sandy also discovered that none of the electrical outlets in the bathroom work. She ended up drying her hair in the marina office/computer room. I asked the marina official if I could string up a clothes line to dry our laundry, since the driers didn't work. She said no. When I persisted, she picked up the phone and called for a couple of workers to come over. After a flurry of conversation, she said that they could get one drier to work. It appears they had just enough propane to dry one, not two, loads of laundry. I said fine, and we got as much clothing stuffed into the drier as possible. I took the remainder back to the boat and strung it out on lifelines and jib sheets. Our little boat looked really festive, with all those "flags" flying in the warm breeze. We were able to catch up on e'mail, while the wash dried. A couple doing updates for Charlies Charts stopped by, and I filled them in on our experiences here thus far. The guy nodded and offered the comment that Singlar is trying, single handedly, to destroy cruising for Mexico. It seems that the local marina employees have virtually no decision making authority. Almost all decisions must be made by someone in Mexico City. Consequently, things break but no authorizations are given to fix them. Rules make no sense, nor do charges and fees. It's not surprising that cruisers, who are very well networked, tend to stay away from Singlar facilities by the droves. It's only the unfamiliar ones, or those who really need the services supposedly available, who come here. It's really a shame, because with some decent management and on site decision making authority, this place could be very successful. Here I go, thinking and acting like a gringo.

I certainly hope tomorrow is a better day. We're pretty well dependent on that fuel delivery. To cover my bases, though, I plan on checking in with the local cruisers net on VHF, and asking if anyone is planning on driving into Loreto, with room for a couple jerry gas cans. One way or another, I need to have 10 more gallons of gas on board before I will feel comfortable setting out for La Paz.