The Adventures of Francesca and
Heide
Part 14
Bahia Ascension y Bahia del
Espiritos Santos
January
13, 2000
Yesterday, we tried to leave
Bahia Ascension, but the seas at the reef break were just to darn big. So we turned around and went back to a calm
anchorage. The motor sailors Estrilita
and Driftwood had arrived the previous evening from Aventuras and we were all
in a row.
With the Heides in their
dink and Joan and I in ours we ran around Punta Allen inside of the Bay and
found a small village. There was a
grocery store, fisherman’s co-op, a church, a small cabana type hotel and of course
two friendly bars. We know that at
least one of them was friendly anyhow.
A fisherman at the bar told us that it was late in the lobster season
and that they were pretty well fished out.
Well, I hate to admit it,
but we broke down and bought lobster at the co-op. Yes, the hunters had failed again. So last night, here on Francesca, we had seven modest sized lobster
and every morsel was savored. Joan,
Marv and I were all thankful that Marge does not eat the critters.
This morning, we again set
out through the reef break at Ascension.
The seas were almost as big as before, but the time between swells was a
couple of seconds longer and it could be navigated with little risk. After getting out through the reef the seas
were still 8 feet or better, but again with the longer period between the
peaks. So, we slogged along for about 4
hours down to Bahia del Espiritos Santo, another very large bay. The reef break here is about 1 ½ miles wide
with good deep water and the waves didn’t build much through the cut.
The weather report for day
after tomorrow is not promising. Winds
are supposed to be up to 30 knots and seas too large for us to deal with. We may have to stay here in this bay until
the bad stuff passes.
I spent some time snorkeling
the reef this afternoon. It was very
pretty with large stag horn coral and many, many fish. Even saw a few keepers in the 10 lb. range,
but I don’t like to shoot fish anymore.
We’re about 80 miles from
the Mexican / Belize border and anxious to get there. Once there, we will cruise the next 130 miles or so behind the
reef in nice calm water.