Jan. 30, 2016

Alberto told us that he would be up at 7:00 and that we could get our water then. Great we have a reason to stay in our sleeping bags. It was quite a leisurely morning, with more conversation with Alberto and the most up to date weather report. It was 9:30 before we loaded our boats and headed North.  The seas were dead calm. In fact this is the first time that we have paddled in water this calm since we left on this journey. As we rounded yet another point, a rock was filled with young sea lions. Their coats were a deep rich brown, not having been bleached in the sun. No adults were around so we were assuming that they had been left to start a life of independence. They were curious, but wanted to keep a certain distance. We now have two of the more exposed points with current completed. The next stretch takes as past Bahia San Rafael, the largest bay on this section of coast. Normally we would be hugging the shore, but a mellow breeze has come up from the south and we decided that with the wind to our backs we could do more of a direct crossing. Four hours later we are across and ready for a break. The south wind has created waves all along the beaches. Good waves for landing, but surf nevertheless. Wanting to stretch our legs we find a good landing site and surf in. Another point is on the travel plan for tomorrow, This point has the most cliffs for extended distances. Our plan is to continue to travel as close to it as possible tonight and then try to round it at first light and when the tide is at slack. We paddled to dusk and found a cobblestone beach to camp on. Considering we had gotten a late start we still paddled over 25 miles. The weather report calls for strong westerlies tomorrow by afternoon.. Hope they are not accurate.