John Fogerty probably wasn’t thinking of a windy day in La Paz when he wrote “Oh! Lord I’m stuck in Lodi again.”  But the catchy phrase fits the mood of sitting out a second day of blustery winds streaming down from the north.  The blow is enough to keep us “hunkered down”, which is lingo for not going ashore.  It very much has the feel of a snow day, where everyone is shut in until the roads are cleared.  Fortunately it isn’t cold, so neighbor watching, stretched out in the cockpit is hunker down-central.  I’m watching for the first neighbor to jump in their dinghy and take to shore.  So far, only stretched anchor rode, bouncing boats, and drenched dinghies that are tethered to their mother ship like something out of a Dr. Seuss movie.  How does one go from singing Creedance Clearwater Revival music and imagining Dr. Seuss characters in a single paragraph?  Two days of hunkering down has that effect.  Watch out if this rolls into three.

Hunkered Down Day #1:  Yesterday had been reserved for shuttling diesel to the boat in color coded geri-jugs.  Fuel provisioning had began the day before and a sense of accomplishment was looming on the horizon with only one, maybe two more trips to go.  Ok, not to be.

Fuel shuttling includes positioning jugs for the 1/2 mile or so ride to shore, tying up at the dinghy dock, walking three blocks to Pemex, having sympathy shoulder pain inflicted by watching Captain Chameleon carry a 50 pound jug in each hand, stopping at the Super M for a cold drink, loading the dinghy, going back to the boat, and carefully lifting the jugs to the boat…losing them overboard would certainly foul the Captain’s cheerful nature.  Ruby couldn’t be happier because fuel shuttle equals dog walk.  Proudly sporting her yellow and red lifejacket, she garners spectacle attention from the Pemex workers.  Maybe it’s because her lifejacket matches the red and yellow geri-jugs (red for gas and yellow for diesel)?  Ok, no walk today.

It turned out to be a suitable day to prepare three square meals, wash dishes three times, make the bed, take a 2 gallon sun shower, tidy up the boat, read Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankel, and compare my shower water consumption to what I read other cruisers use.  One proud blogger has it down to 0.5 gallons of water per shower.  She showers with a bug sprayer.  No thank you, but she deserves a medal.

Hunkered Down Day #2.  Today seems to be going like this: feeling the effects of yesterday’s three meals, minus any robust activity; consoling Ruby on the prospects of no dinghy ride to shore again today; rereading and pondering Man’s Search For Meaning; and studying basic meteorology.   Brimming with information I read in yesterday’s reading fest, not only do I waste 1.5 gallons of water showering, but I know little about weather prediction and how to forecast breaks in foul weather.  This skill will come in very handy as we journey further north and use weather windows to crossover to mainland Mexico.  Thus far what I’ve determined about forecasting the weather, is that it is very bad to ever let the words, “the wind seems to be dying down” pass from my brain to my lips.  It is a sure way to find myself facing day #3 of Hunker Down.  ” Hm. Hmm. Hmm, Oh,..stuck in ole Lodi….”

Lodi by Creedance Clearwater Revival