los gatos and san evaristo

We stopped into Los Gatos for the second time, and for the second time, we discovered our timing to be not-so-perfect. As gorgeous as the red rocks are, they're not worth the swell that rolls on into the anchorage. So, after a brief exploration on shore and a night of getting tossed and turned, we headed further south to San Evaristo. On the way to Evaristo, we kicked a catamaran's arse whilst sailing. Until they turned their motor on. Cheaters.

Evaristo, it turns out, is our favorite place to scrub the bottom of the boat - once on the way north and then this time, on the way south. The water has been pretty chilly (yes, poor, poor HW), but that didn't stop an aquarium from growing below the waterline. That could explain the 4 knot max boat speed we'd been getting. Turns out that our very VERY expensive US bottom paint does not really cut it for the tropical waters of Mexico. When we bought the boat, the previous owner suggested we buy a few gallons of Mexican paint because "it's so good, it leaves a trail of dead fish behind you". Well, we sided with the EPA on that one, but are thinking better of that now.

Anyway, we scrub the boat the old fashioned way, donning our snorkel gear and taking big gulps of air. It makes it a little hard to get to the bottom of the keel since we don't have a weight belt, but Jason fashioned his own:


Right. That's 10 lbs of pipe wrench and shackles there folks. We on HW like to improvise when it comes to weight belts.

24°54.616'N 110°42.362'W