Bahía Asunción

Bahía Asunción (27 08 40N 114 17 30W)

Environmental conditions: Air and water temp still chilly-ish, but still swam and showered.

Fridge temp: Perfect

Battery state: 13.2V (i.e., perfect)

Euchre score: Girls still crushing the boys.

We departed Turtle Bay at first light with SNL and Sea Esta X. The winds were light and deep so we took the opportunity to fly the pretty sail (spinnaker), finally – we’ve been pretty hooked on the new drifter, which has resulted in, by our own admission, some pretty sail laziness. By early afternoon, the wind was coming up, so we snuffed the chute in order to gybe, which was a good plan, but ultimately we doused it altogether because of too much wind. Then we chicken gybed our way into Asuncion. So, yet another sporty sail — all downwind and reaching (i.e, no beating upwind…Yay!).

We hosted a lovely dinner on FL with T/K and our new friends, Gwen and Jim, who were leaving at the crack of dawn for Bahía Santa Maria to meet up again with the Haha fleet. Later that evening, wind waves mixed with some swell had us rockin’ and rollin’, which made for a noisy boat and limited rest. Then, the beach landing in the dinghy the following morning turned out to be a challenge — as well-described in the cruising guides. Yes, we “got pooped”. That is, upon landing in the surf, CD got swamped from the stern, along with us and all our stuff. DOH! Good test for those dry bags, but it was all part of the adventure. We walked around town sopping wet (but luckily we were wearing quick dry clothing) and found Sirena for some wifi. Sirena is the well-known campground run by a Canadian woman (and former cruiser), Sherry, who has been in Asunción for over 25 years. We ran into her at Don Ramón’s – which everyone had recommended for the best shrimp tacos on the planet – and she told us some pretty good stories about her sailing days and how she ended up in this sweet little beach town.

Another walkabout around town was in order, where we took in baseball fields, a basketball/vball facility, a beautiful church, gorgeous bluffs and an overlook where we could take in the imposing, rocky point and a small bufadora (blow hole) near Sherry’s hotel. Then it was back through the surf and to the boats to dry out all the stuff in our backpacks that got a little damp. T/K once again treated us to a homemade meal (hominy soup) and some euchre, of course. Off to Abreojos tomorrow!