The anchorage of Cazadero on the NW side of Isla San Jose (25 deg. 01.157 N/110 deg. 41.128W, or so) has always been very good to us, and January 2017 was no exception.
Upon reentering Cazadero on January 24, conditions were calm and GB was able to replace the failed alternator with our backup alternator within an hour and a half. It was fully functional and recharged our batteries to 95%. Meanwhile, on January 25, GB replaced our galley's salt-water foot-pump; it had been leaking for a couple of months and just couldn't take any more.
On January 26, I rolled out of the bunk and spyhopped as is my custom. The sky was mostly overcast, we had a westerly surge with low rolling waves wrapping around the point and just barely entering the anchorage, aaaaannnnnd, we had dragged anchor about 50 feet. We reanchored back in 22.2' depth without incident, backing down at 2400 rpm to finish the job.
The morning's forecasts called for NW winds in the low to mid-30s for the next 4 days. One sailboat reported on the SSB that the port of La Paz was already closed. We had no concern about staying put in Cazadero, except that it appeared this morning that Alternator #2 was no longer functioning. GB occupied himself with analyzing the problem and correcting it. Which he eventually did. Either that, or the alternator somehow healed itself. I'm going with GB being a successful mechanic.
During the early afternoon the N wind increased to the 20s in a succession of short, sharp gusts. We decided to reanchor a third time into a bit over 26' depth, on a steeper-to shelf right in front of the easternmost panguero camp, to compensate for the high winds and the swell wrapping around the point. Near sunset the wind backed to W-to-WNW and dropped to 10 knots or less, causing the swell to reduce to a gentle roll. Overnight conditions were similar to the previous night. The higher breezes that had been forecast were punchy and intermittent in Cazadero, as opposed to the strong winds and 6' whitecaps we could see - and hear - out in the San Jose Channel. During quiet periods the channel sounded like a very strongly rushing river. Cazadero was keeping us very well.
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