We really blew it, but good. Don't know how we could have been so dumb as to count on the wind blowing the way we wanted it to. "The wind bloweth where it listeth."
The day started off beautifully. The wind, which had been blowing like crazy ever since we got here, died down enough for us to swing the boat around into the adjacent slip, bow out. We listened to several nets, and all the weather reports were favorable. The sun was shining, the air was clear and warm and caressing, everything was perfect. We walked over to the post office and mailed some postcards. Made the "check-out" rounds without a hitch. Treated ourselves to ice cream, ate lunch, returned the keys, and took off.
As soon as we got outside the breakwater, we realized we'd goofed. There was almost no wind at all, and what little there was, was totally erratic. It was impossible to sail. There we were, starting out on a 300-mile trip across open ocean with enough fuel to go maybe 240 miles if we were lucky. Dum da dum dum. We kept struggling for a couple of hours and got nowhere, so we finally made the sensible decision to return to San Lucas and get diesel.
We spared ourselves the humiliation of returning to the marina by anchoring in the harbor and taking a water taxi to the dock. Then we took a land taxi to the Pemex station and filled our six diesel cans. Returned the same way.
So we wasted the entire afternoon, but now we have enough fuel to get to Puerto Vallarta, even if we have to motor the entire way (as we probably will.) Thank goodness we had sense enough to turn back after 6 or 7 miles instead of waiting until we'd gone 100.
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