Friday, April 5

North 30° 20.1'
West 114° 38.4'
Distance: 9 miles

This was certainly our first hard day. We departed camp after breakfast of beans. 7:45 am we were on the water. The sea was immediately rough with both wind and waves in our faces. Mike was having a hard time of it and was going slower. I got toward land and obtained some relief from the wind, but Mike stayed toward the outside and was blown pretty hard. I tried waiting for him, but the wind in my face blew me backward whenever I stopped paddling, so I would wait only till he got closer, then resumed paddling. When I was about 1 mile form Puertecitos, the wind and waves hit me hard, so I put my head down and made the corner to get to land as soon as possible. Mike didn't see me, and thought I landed earlier. He paddled to within a quarter mile, then turned around and went back. About an hour after I landed I got Mike on the radio. After much back and forth talking I decided to go back to where he was. At that point, water in the radio killed it. I also discovered that the kitchen bag was full of water and the batteries may all be dead. We bought some beer and food in town and had a little feast. The wind was so bad we couldn't sleep on the beach, so we found an abandoned half built house and secured it somewhat from the wind with ponchos. The night was thus OK. Mike's back is hurting, so we will stay here for a day. In all we made 9.0 miles with far too much stress and effort. I hope the wind dies down soon. If we have much of this, it will be a long trip. There does not seem to be an open taco stand in town, but the store has some good stuff including beer and fresh fruit. We bought 10 eggs for breakfast.