I recently wrote a forum entry for the Nordhavn Dreamers' site (https://groups.io/g/NordhavnDreamers) describing a day on Enfin at anchor here in Magdalena Bay. It's good to share here too.
We've been in Magdalena Bay for over a week now, and enjoy the isolation, beautiful weather, warm waters and empty beaches. We've been away from a marina for 20 days, and do not expect to get into one for another 5 days.
Our day starts with the bright sunshine illuminating the inside of the boat and as we slowly start waking up. Princess, our energetic husky, who'd been waiting politely and patiently until then, realizing we're now awake comes to find us to tell us it's time to go and play on the beach.
It has only rained 4 days in the last 3 months, so getting ready is easy. The weather is predictably comfortable, neither cold nor hot. We don our swimsuits, rash guards and life jackets. Princess has her own life jacket, and soon the whole family is sitting on our 13 foot kayak (can't say thanks enough George!). Di in front, me in the back and Princess in the middle. A few minutes later we land on the beach. Most of the time it's easy, but once in a while the surf is a little higher so we get to surf it in. On occasion I mess it up and we all end up spilling in the warm waters, Di and I laughing like kids.
This is Princess' domain: She zooms all around, exploring, sniffing everything, finding so many fascinating things to investigate. She digs after crabs until she starts getting hot, then rushes in to the sea to cool down and do it all over again. Di and I are not far behind, walking hand in hand, smiling and laughing at Princess' joy. We marvel at the beautiful miles long empty beach in front of us, sometimes chatting away, sometimes silent, but always taking it in and realizing how lucky we are.
Enfin is a small dot in the immensity of the bay, even smaller as there are no other boats to be seen. As far as we know the bay is empty, the world is empty and its all ours.
After a good hour we get back on the boat, rinsing off and getting the sand off of everything, though I accept that having sand everywhere is a good problem to have: It means you go to the beach all the time.
Breakfast, or more accurately brunch follows. In the dry air with no bugs, we keep the boat fully opened, so whether we end up eating in the cockpit or the salon we have a wonderful view of the beach, the bay and the wildlife. Just a few minutes ago Di excitedly called me as she'd spotted a pod of dolphins making their way towards us, so we spent time watching them fishing around the boat before continuing on their way. Like today, most days will be interrupted often to watch the abundant wildlife, from seals to sea lions, dolphins or a more distant whale. Our excitement never wanes, and we always stop anything we're doing to take it all in.
Di and I take turns at the desk, to catch up on the outside world and download the latest news and things of interest to us. My home office when I was ashore was 21 feet away from the water, but Enfin's is even better.
I check the weather forecast and rework our upcoming route if needed.
We watch the news on the salon's computer and when the generator starts automatically, we often switch to the larger TV. Now that the generator is running, we use electrical power with more abandon -not that we ever restrict ourselves- and can use the microwave, and other big consumers more liberally. A big one is the washing machine: There's always more T-Shirts, more towels and sheets to wash. It's actually a good thing, as it allows us to keep the generator loaded during its whole cycle. The generator hums gently in the background, and we almost don't notice it anymore. Closer to the end of the cycle, I'll run the water maker to keep our tanks topped up. I like having the tanks always nearly full. Should the water maker fail, we'll be in less of a rush to get to a marina.
The generator will stop automatically once the batteries get to float mode: It's more hours on the unit, but kinder to the expensive batteries when we spend as much time at anchor as we do.
Of course we enjoy the warm waters for regular dips.
We try and put in "an hour for the boat" each day, but it varies greatly. Recently I've decided to scrub the water line of all the grime accumulated over the last months. A few feet a day and I'll eventually get there. It's another excuse to swim anyway.
Mid afternoon is time for the second beach walk of the day. Di and I looking for the biggest and most perfect sand dollar or shell. Back home we go over the whole rinsing the salt and sand off again before heading in for a hot delicious shower.
We watch some silly series on TV, computer or tablets. We listen to music, or read.
Soon it's early dinner time, often after some non-alcoholic aperitif, watching the sun set, or the moon rise. Princess has eaten her very own duck and potato kibbles, and is rightfully exhausted after all the day's adventures. She curls up at the foot of my berth, and crashes out.
Another day has gone by. We've done nothing, yet we've lived fully. We are tired and ready for a full night's sleep with the boat slowly rocking us. I keep my navigation tablet next to me so I can check on the boat without going to the pilothouse.
All is well on Enfin. All systems working perfectly, safe at anchor, our nice little home doing its thing. I can fall asleep.