Bahia Willard, Gonzaga Bay – “Diesel Bill” meets “Photon Mike”

A journey is like marriage.

The certain way to be wrong 

Is to think you control it.

John Steinbeck 

Grand daughter Mia having fun!

We have a very slow sail to get here, averaging only 2.4 nautical miles/hour. We covered 20 miles in the first 12 hours yet were only 10 miles from where we started due to strong currents and having to stay somewhat off-course just to get enough wind to get moving… It was a little frustrating mostly because it gets so hot when movement over water is slow but we made it safely with temperature in the cabin topping 107F sitting in water nearing 88F – the highest we’ve seen in the Sea yet this season!

As we bobbed around nonetheless, we saw a splendid bright orange near-full moon rise up as the sun was coloring all clouds and sea across the horizon several shades of fuchsia, watermelon, and cantaloupes (can you tell we haven’t had fresh fruits in a while!). Not to be outdone, to the East, huge white clouds were filled with lightning from white to yellow and pink. It was a great show – thank you for Mother Nature’s continued free entertainment.

Bahia Willard is another one of those fairly non-descript bay that is a good stopping point in bad weather, protected from several wind and wave directions. We caught up on some sleep there and prepared for the 100 mile crossing back to the mainland = Puerto Peñasco.

In Bahia Willard, we finally meet ‘Diesel Bill’ on s/v Beyond Reason. On the regular radio nets, Mike often signs in as Déjàlà, the Electric Sailing Vessel. The reason for that was to hopefully help us find the other electric sailing vessel we had heard was also in the Sea. One night, out of the blue, Bill comes on the radio and announces that he is the Diesel Sailing Vessel Beyond Reason. That started a whole bunch of banter back and forth that his diesel helps him stay cool, keeps the rum and coke at 52F, etc… The labeling Diesel Bill and Photon Mike started taking shape but they had never met. We finally met over gin tonics after a two hour thunderstorm blew just south of the bay. Bill and Lisa are great hosts and we appreciated the cold drinks thanks to their diesel… We no longer need to keep saying Electric Sailing Vessel since we finally met our electric counterpart while in La Mona…

That reminds me of another story in another bay where someone paddled over to ask Mike if he knew anything about diesel engines’ electrical system. The fact that we have an electric sailboat gives the impression that Mike MUST BE an electrician – wrong! Although Mike knows A LOT about electrical systems and was an electrician for a short while in Arizona, he wouldn’t label himself one but he likes to help out so he does. Turns out he was able to get the problem fixed and saved these people a trip to San Diego to get non needed new parts for their engine. Way to go Mike!

Our last night here, we had winds of upwards of 38 knots for a very short while. The two hour storm blew over quite quickly. Everything now smells of creosote bushes just like it does after a rain in Arizona. We can tell we are getting closer and closer to our ‘home’ there.