Blue Heron Adventure

Tuesday to Friday, June 15-18, 2010 – At Sea

We spent the morning taking care of business. At 11am, we launched the dinghy and went for a ride around Acapulco harbor. It was not easy to find a place where we could bring the dinghy to shore due to the heavy surf and pounding waves, but we made a go at it right next to a roped off swimming area. As it turned out, we had trespassed on federal navy property and the guard with the machine gun politely showed us which side of the line we needed to stay on. Mark and Gale dropped the girls off with the dogs on the shore and then took the dinghy out a few feet where they dropped an anchor and swam to shore.

The beach was lovely and we found a few tables with umbrellas where we ordered a light lunch. As we sat on the beach, we were bombarded by locals selling their wares or services. One little boy who looked to be about 6 or 7 years old, came by with his tin can to try to sell us a song as he wrapped his knuckles on the can.

After our lunch, we jumped back into the dinghy (not very gracefully, by the way) and continued our ride around the harbor. We rode by the cliffs made famous by Wide World of Sports and the Acapulco cliff divers and then back to Adventure at 3 pm to prepare for our departure.

Before leaving the dock, we experienced a problem with clogged sea strainers that the guys tried to troubleshoot. The slip where we had stayed the night was full of garbage and it seemed that our sea strainers had taken in a lot of trash. In addition, the warm waters we’d been traveling in promoted a lot of barnacle growth in the hoses. The consensus of the crew was that we had enjoyed Acapulco very much, but we were all anxious to move on, so at 4:15 pm, we did just that.

The weather outlook showed three tropical depressions in the area and we came through one of them the first night out. It was our hope to anchor at Zihuatenejo Tuesday night but due to the rough seas, we passed it by and kept on moving. “Z-What” was the place where Andy told Red he could find him when he got out of prison in the movie Shawshank Redemption.

Over the course of our passage we experienced swells of 8 to 10 feet with chop making for a rather uncomfortable ride. At other times, the seas were fairly smooth. One night, Mark observed large patches of bright blue bioluminescense in the sea. There were more thunderstorms on Wednesday night.

Monday, June 14, 2010 – Acapulco, Mexico

The morning and early afternoon were devoted to chores: Gale worked on filling the fuel tanks; Mark changed the engine oil; Maureen, Diane and Gale took a taxi to the supermarket for a few groceries; Mark, Craig and a couple of deck hands moved the boat from the fuel dock to a slip. After the groceries were put away and all of our business was taken care of, it was pool time. The sun was hot and the water felt wonderful.

After another great dinner at the yacht club, Maureen and Gale decided to spend a little more time in the pool. We had the pool to ourselves, the restaurant was closed and there was no one around. At about 10:30 pm, the skies opened up and the rain poured down for about twenty minutes. Since we were already wet, we were actually warmer under the water than out in the rain.

Sunday, June 13, 2010 – Acapulco, Mexico

Just before sunrise we spotted dozens of porpoises around the boat as well as a number of sea turtles. The sea was flat and a light morning haze somewhat obscured the view of the mountains of Mexico to our starboard side. At 4 pm after five days and five hours at sea, and a total of 1121 nautical miles, from Golfito, Costa Rica, we arrived in Acapulco and tied up to the fuel dock for the night at the Acapulco Yacht Club.

As we waited for the Customs, Immigration and Department of Agriculture officials to clear us into the country, we enjoyed a cocktail or two at the yacht club restaurant. Soon we had the three officials plus our “agent” on the boat to complete the necessary paperwork. Afterwards, we shared a nice evening meal at the yacht club restaurant.

Saturday, June 12, 2010 – At Sea

We were up for the 4 am watch. Craig spoke to his wife during the night who informed us of a developing tropical depression. It was estimated that there was a 10% chance it would turn into a hurricane and head for Acapulco. We put out four trolling lines in the late afternoon but didn’t see much action – except for the one that took an entire reel of fishing line with it while everyone was inside the boat! No one saw the pole bend or heard the line peel away!

We found ourselves in the middle of a severe thunderstorm during the early evening hours. Lots of lightning, thunder and rain. The good thing about that was Adventure got a nice fresh water bath which washed all the ocean salt away.

Friday, June 11, 2010 – At Sea

We were up for the 6 am watch. A brown booby traveled with us for several hours and seemed completely unafraid of us – we were able to sit right next to him up on the bow and take some pictures. Even Lucy had a hard time scaring him off!

Several storm cells built behind us during the morning and came on strong. We experienced rain and wind with up to 40 mph gusts before lunchtime. The seas got a little rougher, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable. Two or three times we had large schools of porpoise accompany us. We put in a few fishing lines early in the day and late in the afternoon but were unsuccessful in attracting any bites.

Thursday, June 10, 2010 – At Sea

Another beautiful day – calm seas and already hot at 7 am. We could see rain squalls behind us and blue sky ahead. Very quiet – spotted a couple of turtles, a few brown booby birds, and some porpoises. The fishing lines were put out in the afternoon but there were no strikes. Gale was feeling better but still not at 100%. Mark prepared the evening meal of fresh caught tuna, rice and green beans – his special sauce for the fish was fabulous!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 – At Sea

Gale got up for his 2 am watch, even though he was extremely tired. Maureen joined him at 5 am and took her turn at the helm. The seas were very calm today but that didn’t seem to help Gale very much – he really just wanted to sleep.

While Craig was on watch just before lunch, he saw a pilot whale off the starboard bow. Maureen saw one in the afternoon that came up twice then disappeared. Many sea turtles, lots of flying fish and schools of porpoises were also sighted during the day. The birds we saw were primarily brown boobies.

We didn’t do any fishing today – mostly because Gale stayed in bed. Mark tried out his new hammock that he picked up at one of the Panama souvenir shops. Late in the afternoon, the washing machine gave us some problems when the water line wouldn’t shut off. Fortunately, the machine is located right next to a large bilge pump; unfortunately, we lost most of our fresh water supply and must wait until morning to do dishes, shower, etc., when the watermakers have a chance to catch up. Thanks to a joint effort, we were able to get a temporary fix on the washer that should get us to San Diego.