As we turned south and ran through Canal Craig between Isla San Marcos and the peninsula we passed a ship taking on gypsum at the pier on the island. The book says the whole island is composed of calcium sulfate, gypsum. Once we cleared the shallow area I put out the fish lines, once again to no avail - haven't caught a fish north of La Paz. Oh well, it's easier to trade for them anyway.
13:00 - Into Bahia Concepcion. This is a very big bay, about five miles wide and twenty long, and quite shallow. I'm not sure just what the attraction is to cruising boats (other than for the fact that it does have some very well protected coves) because the highway runs right along the west shore making it very accessable to hundreds of RV's, campers, and trailer boats as well as the usual compliment of Mexican fishermen. Trailer parks are at the head of every cove shown in our books as an anchorage. We poked our nose in a couple, decided they were too crowded, and went off in search of a little more privacy.
15:30 - Anchored in a nice spot behind Isla Coyote in about twenty feet of water. It's well protected from all but southeast wind and sea, has a pretty beach with only one panga and a tent on it, and is decorated with green water shoals on three sides. The weather has turned cloudy and cool so we didn't even put down the Metz, just stayed on the boat and enjoyed the scenery.
09:00 - Heading south again after rounding Punta Concepcion, we pass a big but abandoned mining operation on the north end of the peninsula. Other than that the coastline for the nineteen miles to Punta Teresa seems totally barren.
12:00 - We poke our nose in Bahia de Los Puercos (Bay of Pigs) just to see what it's all about. Pretty much as the books describe, a very small bay almost totally enclosed, with a semi-circle of sand beach backed by palm trees - a small tropical paradise set in the desert. It's spoiled only by the dozens of trailers and RV's parked here and there among the palms. Accessable by road from the hiway, it appears to be a favorite spot for the campers.
14:00 - We look at the anchorages both north and south of Punta Pulpito. Both look great for days with the right winds, but today the wind has picked up and is gusting to twenty knots from the west, just the wrong direction to make these comfortable places to stay, so we move on.
15:00 - We take a look at Caleta Ramada which looks really good for today's conditions, run around into San Juanico which is a beautiful bay 3/4 mile south but where the wind is really whipping, and decide Ramada is the best
15:30 - Anchored in Caleta Ramada. Looks like the perfect place, closely surrounded on all sides except due north by high bluffs, the wind gusts are squirrely but the water is calm. A beautiful white sand beach promises to be great if the wind dies tomorrow.
I decided to take advantage of our early arrival and do the oil change on Gimmy, which is overdue. I got that done, fixed our evening martini, and was sitting looking out the salon window when I saw a commotion on the beach and got out the field glasses just in time to see a big cat drag a huge turkey vulture over a little dune into the brush. The cat was striped and about the size of a small cougar. I guess it was a linx. For a long time we could see one or both big wings, feathers spread, waving above the dune. Those turkey vultures are big birds with a wing span of about six feet; that cat found himself a good meal!
Lois had dinner almost ready and we were getting good and settled in for the evening when the Sea of Cortez winds did it to us again! Within about fifteen minutes the wind swung around 120 derees to the north, built to a steady fifteen knots, and started pushing seas of two feet into our little cove.
18:30 - Up anchor and around the point, wind really whistling now, and drop the hook in a cove on the south side, smooth now where it looked rough a couple of hours ago. Such are the trials of a cruising boat for a home!
I started off the day fooling with the watermaker and for the record ended up adjusting the pot on the PC board to the clockwize stop. It was set to 90 degrees CCW from stop. I never could find a position which would either totally extinguish the safe water light or keep it on all the time - makes me suspect a intermittant circuit, but most of the circuit is on the PC and I've replaced that. Just another one of those mechanical mysteries to keep me guessing! Maybe I'll work on it some more tomorrow, but right now we've got some playing to do!
Got down the Metz, got on our swim suits, got a few beers in the cooler, and went exploring. Found one other boat hidden behind the "pinnacle" island but, other than that, we have the whole 1.5 mile long bay with all it's coves and beaches to ourselves. We first tried a little beach right near our anchorage where fishermen have built some shelters of stone and palm fronds. There, hundreds of abalony shells and fish carcasses testify to the productivity of the area. It seems odd that, when we see dozens of turkey vultures and hawks flying above, there should be so many dried carcasses lying around on the rocks. Maybe the birds are too well fed to be interested in the fishermen's leavings. Lois made a great haul of shells and rocks to add to her collection.
Later we swung by the boat to replenish our beer supply, then headed off to see what we could find on the south beach, about a mile and a half away. There, evidently washed by the prevailing northerly seas, we found a pristine beach, showing no sign of human presence and fronted by a long, shallow, sand shoal which allowed the water temperature to approach that of bath water. Great way to spend an afternoon!
While we were on the south beach we watched a couple of sail boats come into the bay and, when we returned, found that one of them was the "Kolo" with Dan and Barbara Todd, the people we met at Muertos. Later Dan, the doctor, sailed over to our boat on his sailboard and we chatted for a while. The other boat is the "Loana", a big ketch with Ted and Connie Chandler, the Washing-tonian friends of the Todds on board. We invited the bunch over for cocktails and had an interesting couple of hours visiting with them and the owners of the ketch, Bob and Joan Shipley, who have lived on their boat since 1981, spent a couple of years in British Columbia, and several down here, leaving their boat in Puerto Escondido in the care of a guy named Norm. Tomorrow I'll go over and pump them for more on their experience with leaving a boat in Mexico.
I just got that finished and was having a cup of coffee and patting myself on the back, when the alarm went off and a check of the engine room showed Genny had blown her top! Danged impeller again, the neoprene had come completely unbonded from the hub. That's the second in a row! The last time was in San Francisco about 230 hours ago, but they should last a lot longer than that. Anyway, I got that replaced and things back together, although not without forgetting to tighten a fitting and spraying the engine room with salt water first. What a mess!
Maintenance chores over, we got on to the job of playing. The rocks on the point near us had been looking so inviting that I decided to have a look under water. I first just took my mask and snorkle and lay on the Metz with my face in the water. There is a tropical aquarium down there! Hundreds of brightly colored fish of dozens of varieties are swimming around the rocks, as well as some big lunkers that look like they would be good eating. Lots of stars and anemones and even some abalone on the rocks. It looked so good that I decided to get out my wetsuit (the water isn't particularly warm) and take a better look; so, for the first time in a long time, I dug around in the lockers and got out the dive stuff. It was worth the effort. I can see why they call this a paradise for divers. The visibility is thirty to forty feet and the amount of sea life is fantastic! I've got some things to learn about hunting abalone, though. My attempts at getting them off the rocks didn't go so well. I'm not sure whether it is my tool (a short pry bar) or my technique, but they defied my efforts. Oh well, it was fun trying.
After I got good and tired and cold we headed off for one of the south beaches. By this time the wind had come up to a steady 10 knots and was pushing one to two foot seas toward the beach that Lois said she wanted to go to. You'd have thought we were riding the twenty footers at Monterey to hear her squeal as we came over the "breakers" in two feet of water. It was another one of those soft, white sand beaches, this one with a little lagoon back of the low dunes; clean and again, no sign of other visitors other than our ubiquitous canine that always seems to get there before us. Not long before I'm warm and toasty again.
About 4:30 back on the boat, a radio call invites us to join a Happy Hour going on the Loana, this time with all of last night's crew plus Ted and Peggie from the "Mata Hari", another retired couple who have been cruising the gulf for several years. I got a chance to talk some more to Bob, who built the Loana himself and did a beautiful job. They are planning on heading for Hawaii in April and from there to the Pacific Northwest for a while. He says he is a desert rat and has mixed feelings about heading north. They've left their boat at Puerto Escondido for up to six months with no problem, but are a bit concerned about the "Federales" now that there is a new Capitan de Pureto. Sounds like our Santa Rosalia plan, though more expensive, is probably better, especially with Capitan Castillo there.
08:45 - Off and on our way with the general idea of looking over the town of Loreto. The Loana took off first with her red and white sails shining in the sun. Pretty sight! We followed her out and south, and soon passed her, now motoring because even the light morning breeze had faded to nothing.
11:00 - Looked over the anchorages at Coronado Island. The north looks good, well protected from all but a northwest wind. You'd probably have a bit of surge to put up with. The south anchorage isn't much, really just a shallow bight open to all but north weather. The channel in between and around the spit was exciting! I managed to get us down to eleven feet over rocks before finding our way through. The charts and books aren't clear on where the channel is, and I'm not sure I know even now.
12:30 - Decided that since it was about time for the afernoon wind to start, it would probably be better to go to Ballandra and then run over to Loreto early in the morning. There is no shelter at all at Loreto, just what they call an open roadstead anchorage.
1:30 - Anchored in Puerto Ballandra right where we were before, in front of the fish camp. No sign of our friends, Jesus, Juan, and Manuel though. We got down the Metz, drifted down with the wind, which started right on schedule, to the wreck of a ship that grounded in the south bay, and wandered around on the beach a while. Then back to the boat where I tried to call Sis to wish her a happy birthday, but got no answer. Called Nan through the High Seas operator - no new news this week and, dummy me, fiddling with the buttons on this danged radio, even forgot to wish Nan a Happy Birthday the day after tomorrow. I think I've got my button problem solved though. Our radio isn't designed to be used for "Single Sideband" operation and the duplex feature won't jump bands. Unfortunately, the best High Seas telephone channels require changing bands between the transmit and receive channels, so I have to not only push the "Push-to-talk" switch on the mike, but also the channel select switch on the radio as I speak. That wouldn't be so bad; except, the buttons on the radio are so small and close together I keep hitting the wrong one with my big, fat fingers. Then I find myself off frequency or in the RTTY mode and have to do a quick recovery while the party on the other end wonders what hoppin'. I got so frustrated today talking to Nan that I resolved to do something about it! At Lois' suggestion, I managed to glue an extention of plastic to the Channel Select switch so that now I can hit it without danger of hitting the others. Can't wait to try it!
Well, that was about it for the day except for a little problem that I had kind of been expecting. Lois had just about finished cooking a little roast for dinner when there was a bang and Gennie started hick-uping. She'd blown her exhaust hose, the same one I replaced in Monterey. I was afraid that that might happen as a result of her loosing cooling water the other day when the impeller failed. Hopefully, the spare hose I bought in La Paz will work; we'll see tomorrow.
09:45 - We up anchor for Loreto, a little later than planned but still with time before the afternoon winds start.
11:00 - Dropped our hook off the beach at Loreto. This looks like a neat place! It's primary landmark, which we could see from five miles out, is the old Mission which we learned later was built in 1692. It's bell tower stands out above the palm trees and other buildings of the town. Since it was Sunday the Port Captain's office wasn't open, so we wandered up through the town which gradually changes from dirt streets and typical Mexican small shops near the beach to paved streets and modern buildings and supermarkets as you near the highway. In front of the mission is a long, cobblestone and brick paved pedestrian mall, lined with little shops, leading from the central plaza to the highway half a mile to the west. Lots of tourists and traffic on this Sunday morning.
Since we figured we only had a couple of hours, we didn't do much shopping but took some pictures, walked up the mall to the Pescadero Supermercado, bought groceries and booze, then took a taxi back to the beach where we had left the Metz. By the time we got there the wind had already started to build some pretty good waves.
13:00 - On our way south again. As we leave, a stretched DC-9 jet roars off the runway of the airport just south of town. We learned later that there is daily service between here and L.A. Might be a better meeting place for visitors than La Paz.
15:00 - Anchored in a little bay called Lovers Cove on the north end of Danzante Island, just across from Puerto Escondido. Really pretty place with a little sand beach tucked in between rock walls all around. We went to the beach and sunned for a while, then toured the larger bay where whales were blowing (The first we've seen for a while), and then I tried trolling a buzz bomb around the rocks where a bunch of fish were showing - no luck!
About dinner time one of the Moorings charter boats, a 432 named the "Brisa Del Mar", came in, anchored near us, and a couple of the crew invited us over for a drink. Since Lois is always ready for a party, we went over. It turned out to be seven guys from Mississippi who do a charter together every year. They have been out for ten days and, since tonight was their last night, they loaded us up with all kinds of goodies that would otherwise be thrown away. Nice bunch!
09:15 - Heading south again through the channel between Isla Danzante and the spectacular Sierra de la Giganta. Only in the Grand Canyon have I seen anything like the forms and colors of these mountains. Mexico Highway 1 leaves the east coast of Baja just south of Puerto Escondido for the flatland of the west coast, and for the next 100 miles to La Paz the mountains take over. It is easy to see why they didn't try to build a road here. Everything is straight up and down!
13:00 - Anchored in Bahia Aqua Verde in what feels like very loose sand or gravel. We don't have a very good hook (I like to have the boat come to a solid halt even with 500 RPM in reverse) but after the third try we decided to live with it as long as the wind stays down.
It's a hot afternoon and we're feeling lazy. Got down the Metz but didn't feel like even going to the beach, so I took a nap while Lois sun bathed on the upper deck. This is a very pretty bay with several coves in which to anchor, a small village, and very green water from which it takes its name. Maybe tomorrow we'll get ambitious and explore.
10:15 - After finishing our tour of Aqua Verde and running a few goodies back to the fish camp "Por El Ninos", we upped anchor and headed out. As we rounded Roca Marcial and turned south the shoreline became more and more colorful. Here the sedimentary rock of the cliffs is not only more varied in color, but it also must be softer and is carved into strange and wonderful shapes by the wind and sea.
We'd been running the watermaker on the way down and, when the bilge pump came on twice but the tank wasn't full I decided I'd better check. Sure enough, we'd popped a line and the water, instead of going to the tank, was running down into the bilge. Oh well, just one more thing to fix!
13:00 - Anchored at Puerto Los Gatos which the books have all called the most colorful anchorage in the Baja. After seeing it I can believe them. The primary color comes from the very red sandstone which forms the two major points of the cove. Then, in between the erroded cliffs are white sand beaches, green trees and brush, and blue green water.
Another boat came in just behind us, the "Anchor Point" from Anchorage and its crew of four were already on the beach by the time we got the Metz in the water. They started exploring the north point so we opted for the south where we found a tiny beach about 200 feet long tucked in a cove in the red rock. I wished I had brought something sturdier than my pocket knife because rock oysters covered the tidal rocks on the beach. We spent a couple of hours there, sunning and poking around, then went back to the north beach where there was a fish camp. We were poking around there when a fisherman came in in his panga - neat guy! Introduced himself as Manuel, has fished here twenty years, has five daughters and one son, and lives about three miles south near "Casa Grande", an abandoned three story building on the shore, visible from miles away. Manuel is very friendly and, although he doesn't speak English, does very well at making us understand his Spanish. He showed us where to find rock scallops, and how to pick them. Then invited me to come with him in the morning to get some. Later he came out to the boat where we drank a beer and talked some more while we showed him some of the video of the morning's adventure at the fish camp in Aqua Verde.
I checked out the watermaker problem and found that we had blown the "pinch tube" which has given trouble before so I decided to bypass the pinch valve completely. I'll have to manually turn the valve once the Safe Water light comes on, but I don't think the pinch valve was working right anyway. This way I'll know what is going on.
The books say on of the problems with Puerto Los Gatos is that is is so open to the swells that it can be uncomfortable; so, once the wind died, I put out the little anchor on the stern to hold us into the wave and we had a very quiet night. It sure wouldn't be the place to be with any weather though!
7:00 - Headed out, and Norm was sure right! I'm glad we were heading south rather than north this morning. From a flat sea last night a four to five foot swell had built, with an occasional eight footer thrown in to make it interesting. There wasn't much wind here, but somewhere off in the direction of Guaymas it must have been blowing all night. As it was, we ran with it and had a comfortable, if slightly rolley ride down the coast and into San Jose Channel.
12:00 - Looked over the anchorage at the south end of San Jose Island and decided that it would be great in south weather but not today. It's only a few more miles to San Francisco Island, we'll go there.
13:30 - Came around the point heading into the cove at San Francisco and thought we were back in La Paz. Eight big boats were anchored in that tiny harbor! Now San Francisco cove is a very pretty place and all the books say you should go there, but today is not our day so we head on south for Espirito Santos.
15:30 - Anchored in a beautiful bay on Espirito called El Cardonel after looking over both it and Ensenada Grande. It's and interesting example of the power of the written word. There are three anchorages in Ensenada Grande and in each we found several yachts, huddled together, rocking and rolling with the swell which was coming 'round the corner. Here in El Cardonel, we have an anchorage big enough for fifty boats, totally protected from the swell, and we are all by ourselves. Why? The only explanation I can come up with is that both of the popular guide books play down Cardonel as vulnerable to southwest winds. Why that should be a factor when the wind is from the northeast is beyond me.
The wind stayed pretty strong until about dark, coming in gusts which rippled the water and shook the sail, so we just stayed on the boat and enjoyed the scenery and watching the pelicans fishing. There must be a lot of feed for them here because there are dozens of them all around us. They only fly a few feet before CRASHING into the water with a big splash and then coming up and swallowing with their peculiar exaggerated motion. We'll get down the Metz and go exploring in the morning.
It was hot in the afternoon, with almost no wind, so I decided to try some diving along the rocks on the south side. Glad I did. With Lois rowing along in the Metz, I snorkled in the shallows to see a display of tropical fish like none in any aquarium I've seen. The water was reasonably warm so I kept on sightseeing until Lois hollared Uncle because of the sun. Can't get her into the water! Too bad!
The bay was calm all day and well into the evening. Then, about nine o'clock, a ten to fifteen knot breeze started directly up the bay from the eighteen mile wide Bahia de La Paz outside. It didn't take long for the seas to build and show us why the books say El Cardonel is not for southwest weather. We put up the Metz and got ready to move if we had to, but after a couple of hours the wind seemed to shift around to the south and the swell decreased so we had a quite comfortable night. Lois spent most of it worrying about what MIGHT happen, but that's just her way. We'll find a more secure anchorage tomorrow and let her catch up on sleep.
08:30 - The wind and waves were picking up again; so, with a bucket in the shower to serve as a head, we headed for what we hoped would be more peaceful waters. Heard on the Baja net that the dozen boats in Caleta Partida, the supposedly protected inlet just south of El Cardonel, had 25 knot winds and lots of wave last night too. I think any of these anchorages are going to be uncomfortable with a west wind.
11:30 - Dropped our hook in a quiet little bay called El Lobos, about 10 miles from La Paz and started working on the head. Got it out on the deck, disassembled, cleaned out, and found that the piston lever had been cracked for a long time. Only about twenty percent of the cross section remained when it finally parted. I congratulated myself on having a spare and would have been home free had I not noticed a broken screw in the chamber. On investigation, I found that it came from the water intake lever which I assumed was also about to give up. Actually, even though broken, the remains of the screw were still holding the lever quite firmly and, when I attemped to remove the lever, all I managed to do was bend it! Cursing my stupidity, I finally got it out and attemped to straighten it after heating it red hot, but no luck, the cast bronze just cracked and parted. For that, I didn't have a spare!
Well, with Sis and Paul coming on Wednesday next a broken head constitutes and emergency, so:
14:00 - Up anchor and running for La Paz. We took a slight detour through Pichilinque to ask Lou Corbin on the Southern Cross if anyone there could do a brazing job for us but he knew of no one.
16:00 - Anchored in a very crowded anchorage in La Paz, jumped in the Metz, and headed for the Abaros shipyard. Seems my luck had changed because ten minutes later I had my lever repaired.
17:00 - Back at the boat after a short stop at Marina de La Paz to pick up mail from Kris and make my weekly phone call to Nan. Poured our evening martini and settled back for a quiet night when all of a sudden the wind, which had been calm, started blowing about fifteen knots from the west. Well, the incoming current was about three knots to the west so what they call the La Paz waltz started with avengence! Boats, including ours, were sailing wildly in all directions. Lois and I looked at each other and there was no disagreement.
17:45 - Got the anchor up with Lois at the helm shifting between forward and reverse in response to my signals as the boat strained against the chain, first in one direction and then another.
19:00 - Anchored for the third time today, this time near the Southern Cross in quiet Pichilinque waters even though the wind is still whistling. Just another day on the Sea Raven!
With my part repaired I thought it wouldn't take long to put the head back together now that it was all cleaned up. Not the case, danged thing fought me all the way. It is designed so that you have to do several non-obvious things in sequence for it to go together; so, while Lois stood by with her legs crossed, I put each part on at least three times before everything fit. I also found at least a contributing factor in why it broke. There are no stops on the levers! The foot lever is stopped by the intake lever itself on a 10-32 stainless screw, and all the leverage of the three foot long piston lever is taken by a three inch piston rod. It's very easy for someone to overload things. I'll put some external stops on it as soon as I can get some chunks of teak. Finally got it all together though, and it works great. Lois just couldn't say enough about what a good repairman I was!
In the evening we went over to the Southern Cross and had a nice visit with Lou and Jeannie Corbin. They have been on their boat, a solid teak schooner built in 1961, for eighteen years and have cruised the Baja for over ten. For the last several months they have been stuck here in Pichilinque while Jeannie has been undergoing and recovering from eye surgery. One of her eyes hemorrhaged which led to a trama induced cataract so she has been months either in the hospital or unable to bend over. A very vivacious lady of about our age, she is eager to be able to do things again. Said when she was under treatment she was off the boat for 52 days, the longest time in those eighteen years. It's sure a pretty, and well built boat. They said it was in the movie "Overboard" so is developing a history of its own.
Made good use of the time while waiting by oiling the cap rail. It was a perfect day for it, not too hot with a breeze from the north to keep things cool and keep the oil from setting too quickly. I put two coats on the starboard rail but only one on the port. Want to see if I can tell the difference in a month. I think we might do better to oil a little more frequently and only put on one coat. The second never seems to penetrate very well.
15:30 - Back to Pichilinque for the night. It's a lot quieter here than La Paz, and only an hour run in. We'll go in tomorrow, do our check-in thing, shop CCC on Tuesday, and be ready for company on Wednesday. We are really looking forward to Sis and Paul's visit; it's been a long time since we've had anyone come see us!
I did the La Paz shuffle - to Migracion in the down town Aduana building, then a mile down the waterfront to El Capitan de Puerto, then back to the Aduana building to the Hacienda office to pay our port tax, then back again to El Capitan's office to get our reciept stamped. It's about four or five miles for the whole business - sure glad I have the bike!
After that I did a little shopping. Found that you can't buy Series 2 motor oil for the
GMC in La Paz or, for that matter, probably not in Mexico. I've been using Chevron's DELO 100, Series 2, non-detergent oil and for some reason Chevron doesn't distribute in Mexico. You see Union 76, Pennzoil, and Quaker State, but no Chevron. I hate to change, but it looks like I don't really have a choice. It's just not practical to ship motor oil from the States. I guess I'll cross my fingers and go with Quaker State Series 3.
Also got a spare flex hose for the ONAN exhaust and looked at 12 volt batteries. I think that after Sis and Paul's visit I'll install a completely separate 12 volt system.
Called Mom and Dad who are doing fine, and also Shirley who said she and Don are not going to make it down. Sure was sorry to hear that. Later we talked to Kristie and Bob who are also sounding like they may not make it. Beginning to look like Sis and Paul, and maybe Nan will be our only visitors, at least this year.
In the late afternoon we had a visit from Peter and Mary from the Santa Maria. Found they own some property here in La Paz, near the Governor's mansion. Then in the evening we stopped by the Pas Time, which is on the dock at the marina getting some work done on her rails, and had some margaritas with Bob and Joan. He's one of those guys who spend many hours waxing and polishing his Panda sailboat, and it shows the results of his labor - it's beautiful, but no where near as comfortable as ours!
Had dinner at El Taste, a restaurant on the waterfront a few blocks from the marina. Good food and very reasonable prices, I think the best we've had in La Paz so far.
While I was working on the charger Lois went grocery shopping at the CCC (Say, say, say), the big store out south of town. Our timing was great because I finished with the charger and took the cart in to get beer just in time to meet her on the dock. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting stuff put away and the boat cleaned up for company coming.
In the evening Bob and Joan from Pas Time came over for a drink, then we ran into Jerry and Carol from Flying Cloud and went to dinner with them. Went to a little place just across from the marina and had very good little tortillas with a chopped meat on top. Never did get the name right because they had no written menu, something Carne. Jerry and Carol have stuck their foot in it again. Somehow they've got themselves roped into taking six strangers onto their boat for a week charter! They'll have to sleep on the deck!
Sis had been able to change their reservations to return from Loreto so, after the greetings, I made up new Crew Lists and Paul and I got on the bikes to do the checkout routine while the ladies went shopping. By three o'clock we had checked out with Migracion and the Port Captain, bought two more fishing licences, taken a little tour of the downtown area, and were sipping margaritas in the La Perla Hotel outdoor restaurant where we met the ladies. Sis bought a dress, a pair of harachas, and some place mats.
In the evening we went to a neat garden restaurant called La Arboreda which has lots of Mexican atmosphere, good service, and good food; they even gave us a margarita on the house. Just so I could say I did, I had Baby Goat. It turned out to be a shredded meat dish that I couldn't have identified as anything other than beef, but it tasted good.
07:30 - Metz on the deck, stuff stowed, anchor up, and we're on our way on a beautiful morning in the Baja. We ran up by Pichilinque, swung through Ballandra, and then ran across San Lorenzo channel to Isla Esparitu Santos.
11:00 - Anchored at the southwest end of Bahia San Gabriel near the ruins of a pearl oyster operation and went ashore. There was obviously a major facility here before the oyster parasites wiped out the industry, but now only the rockwork remains. The lagoon, divided into channels by rock walls, has only murky looking water and some fish that look like trout in it. On the slope behind, where the big sheds had been, were huge piles of big oyster shells, all covered with a wormlike calcium deposits, both inside and out. We speculated as to whether they had anything to do with the parasite that eventually wiped out all the oysters in the area.
14:00 - On our way again, this time up the west side of the island hunting for a place for the night. I'd about decided to go to El Cardonel again when we got a call from Pas Time urging us to come to Partida. Since we've never been there I agreed to follow them in.
15:00 - Anchored in Caleta Partida. It wasn't too crowded, and we found a place to park away from the other boats where I thought we'd be better off is the southwest wind blew.
I got old Gennie started and nursemaided her while Paul headed off up the side of the mountain looking for a volcanic cone and the ladies went to the beach to hunt for shells. In a couple of hours I had the batteries all up and, as a side effect, the water tank full. Then Lois and Sis made a super dinner of chicken tacos which we ate while watching our video pictures of the last month. Things are looking better tonight!
09:30 - Anchored in the northermost cove of Ensenada Grande. Although just around the point from the big seas, the water was nice and quiet here and we're just off of a very pretty little beach that looks protected from the wind.
We got down the Metz, went ashore, and after a little exploring of the beach Paul and I left the ladies to their shell collecting while we climbed the arroyo behind. The arroyo is filled with big rocks of all kinds broken off the walls on either side of the canyon. That, and the cactus growing between, made working the way to the top a real challenge. Paul, of course, was up before I even got started, and explored a couple of other hills while I was climbing, but I finally made it and the view was worth the effort.
We spent the rest of the day in the north cove, lunching and napping. Paul and I tried a little fishing; first on the boat where he caught a couple of what I call double uglies, a soft bodied fish that looks sort of like a catfish but which has squirrel-like front teeth which it can use very effectively, then trolling around the rocks where he caught an eight inch rockfish. Not what you'd call very successful.
Near dark we moved into the south cove which is a little better protected, and put out a stern anchor hoping to minimize the rocking. It worked well and we had a quiet anchorage except for the wind gusts which continued through the night. Tomorrow we may have to batten things down and run the twenty miles across the open water; we've got three days to make ninety miles so we'd better start chewing it up.
12:45 - Dropped our hook in quiet waters at San Evaristo. The wind was still blowing pretty good but no waves so we got down the Metz and went ashore. Walked down the beach and up to the school, then across the hill to the salt ponds where they had been doing a lot of work. Since we were here last month they had piled up several hundred more piles of salt and had made major headway on bagging it. I'm speculating that they may be timing the harvest to avoid the summer "wet" season. They still have a long way to go, there are lots of ponds.
We walked by the wells and the houses set in the palms out to the far edge of the ponds, then to the north beach where the waves were pounding. There, Sis and Lois picked up some good wave polished agate and, of course, lots more shells.
The wind whistled all afternoon so, even though it wasn't cold, it wasn't really good swimming or sunning weather, so we just fooled around the boat. Late in the day the Black Sheep came in and anchored in the little cove on the north side. They have been as far north as Isla Danzante and are now headed back to Tomales bay near San Fransico, California.
12:30 - Anchored in Puerto Gatos in almost the same spot we had a couple of weeks ago, and Manuel was here to meet us. We had hardly gotten the hook down when he came out to greet us in his panga, welcoming us back and asking if we'd like to go fishing. Since our fishing hasn't been very productive Paul and I decided we'd take him up on his offer.
I showed Manuel my tackle and he selected a couple of green and silver spoons plus a couple of multicolored feather lures. With those, our poles, and a six pack of cerveza we got in the panga and set off. Manuel put us on the front seat with a pole on each side while he stood in the stern driving the 55 horse Evenrude at about 1/4 throttle very close to the rocks in from two to ten feet of water. Our first pass of about a mile produced nothing but after he moved north to the next big sandstone cliff Paul hooked his first one, a nice barracuda. In the next few minutes he hauled in three nice Cabrilla, one after another, all on the same green and silver lure that Don gave me for Christmas. Paul had the pole with fifteen pound test line that I haven't changed in three years of laying on the deck and I kept worrying that it would break and we'd loose that good lure, but he played the big fish beautifully and kept the line intact. I think the ladies were surprized to see our haul. In Loreto they charge $60.00 for a seven hour fishing trip in a panga so I gave Manuel 50,000 pesos for his fuel and time. He seemed most greatful, and said it would help with the bills for his daughter who had been in the hospital in Loreto. He then immediately went to work filleting the fish. He also talked us out of a six pack of beer by offering to buy them from us, "Dos por me espousa, quatro por Manuel." I still don't know for sure whether he is for real and I suspect he makes a pretty good living off the yachties, but if he's a con artist he's a good one and he gave us a good fishing lesson.
We decided to stay at Gatos for the night rather than going on to Aqua Verde, so Paul, Sis, and I went out to the reef to look at the pretty fish. The water is pretty cool so we stayed in the Metz and leaned over with our butts in the air and our face masks in the water while we oo'd and ah'd at the fancy fish.
Had a fish dinner of course, and then put out the stern hook for a quiet night in a neat anchorage. We sure appreciated this day after the last few windy ones!
11:00 - It's still a flat calm as we near Danzante so we decide that it might be fun to go directly to Loreto, anchor there for the night, and see some night life of the town, so we bypass the western anchorages and head straight for Loreto.
14:00 - We're only four miles from Loreto when our flat calm changes to a one food chop in response to an afternoon ten knot wind from the northeast. The Loreto anchorage is what they call an "Open roadstead", unprotected from any direction but west. So, rather than take a chance on having an uncomfortable night, we turned again, this time for Balandra nine miles away on Isla Carmen.
15:30 - Anchored in Balandra with the whole place to ourselves. The only other boat is the one panga which always seems to be on a mooring buoy. Even the fish camp is deserted. Paul and I decide to try out our new fishing knowledge, so we get down the Metz, take the ladies to the beach where they can sun and shell, and set off in search of the wiley Pesca. Paul insists that I try Don's green and silver lure which I've put on the heavier line, so I drag it and he uses a multicolored feather as we troll fast and shallow along the rocks to the south. In a half hour of this we've each got a couple of strikes but no fish so I give him back the lucky lure and we start back over the same rocks. About five minutes later he hooks a nice Barracuda. We swing around for another pass and he hooks another bigger one then, as Manuel says, "Y otra mas grande!". Tres Pesca in fifteen minutes.
We had neglected to put a fish bag in the Metz so now we had three of these vicious looking buggers flopping around in the bottom making a terrible mess so we headed back to the boat where Paul took the fish (Careful, watch those teeth!) and I grabbed a bucket and scrub brush before heading for the beach where the ladies were waiting. A few buckets of water and a lot of scrubbing got things back in shape again. By the time we got back Paul had the fish filleted and ready for the freezer.
For our "last night" dinner we celebrated with leg of lamb and Champagne. The leg of lamb from Price Club (I'm amazed and pleased with the quality of their frozen meats!) and the Champagne courtesy of Roy and Anita on the Liebchen in return for the piece of hose I gave them.
07:30 - Anchored off the mole at Loreto, we all piled in the Metz and headed for town. Didn't take long to look over the Mission and the rest of the picturesque area, then the ladies decided they'd do better without us and took off on their own with the money while Paul and I went in search of the Port Captain. We didn't have much luck until, after going back to the boat, picking up the luggage, and hailing a cab, we told the driver where we wanted to go. He explained that the Port Captain had moved from the handy location near the beach; and had he ever! We found him about two miles away from the beach, out of town on the way to the airport. This Capitan del Puerto really takes pride in appearance. Capitan Alto Elias Cordoba Ariaco was resplendent in a spotless white uniform with black stripes and gold braid. I was greatful that there was another North American in the office who spoke fair Spanish as I tried to explain that we were putting two of our "crew" on the airplane and would be in and out of Loreto for the next couple of weeks. With his help we got the idea across and I got my paper for the Hacienda back in town where we go to pay our Port Tax. Back to town where, after some searching, we found the ladies, then to the Hacienda to pay the tax, then back to the Port Captain's office to pick up our clearance, then to the airport. Cost us ten bucks for the taxi. We were sorry to see Paul and Eleanor leave. It seemed, and was, a very short visit.
While at the airport I added another piece in the Mexican telephone system puzzle. Over the protests of the porter's who said it wouldn't work, I tried the phoning method we used in La Paz with the public phone in the terminal. It worked! You dial 02 for the local operator, ask for "La Operadora Internacional, por favor", and she will connect you with an English speaking operator who will take the credit card call. I'm not sure why everyone seems to use the "Larga distanca" services, but it may be because so few have a billing number and need a place to pay at the time of the call. It would be entirely impractical to try to put Mexican coins, the largest denomination of which is 500 pesos, in a pay phone when the call costs 20,000 pesos.
Anyway, I called for Nan and found that she had the day off but talked to John who gave me all the hot poop. Kris and Bob will be here in Loreto on Easter Sunday, April 3rd at 6:05 PM on Aeromexico flight 497 and will be with us until the 11th. Nan is planning to also come into Loreto on April 22 to be here until May 2. John also said that they had heard from Dick and Allyn that they won't be able to come. Just for the record we talked to the girl at Aeromexico and the weekday roundtrip fare from LA is $203.00, not too bad.
After seeing Sis and Paul off we caught a taxi back to town, picked up some groceries and beer, and headed back to the boat. Then we ran out to Isla Coronado for the night. There, in the hook of the sandspit, we anchored in a neat spot for the calm weather we've been having.
We made a pass around the north and east sides of the island looking for the sea lions that we were told were there, but never found them. Maybe they are on the southeast point. We'll check as we go back to Loreto.
As we headed on north we saw a couple of North Americans still fishing north of Coronado so we stopped and talked to them. One said he had been fishing here for fifteen years. They were bottom fishing in about 300 feet of water for Cabrillo and Yellowtail. He said he used cut bait for Cabrillo and either colored or chrome jigs for the Yellowtail. We'll have to try that one of these days.
12:00 - Anchored in San Juanico, this time behind the pinnacle island. No other yachts here but lots of kayakers all around the northwest shores. I got out the tools and went to work installing the new anemometer head that Nan sent down with Sis and Paul. It went pretty well until I got to where I needed to solder the connections while perched on top of the mast and then the breeze which had sprung up cooled the iron so I decided to wait for the evening calm. I changed the HRO filters and fussed about how to use the cleaning kit that Nan sent - you have to recycle the water but I don't have any fittings to divert the overboard dump water. I guess I'll try to rig a hose from the through-hull outlet.
We just fooled away the afternoon, didn't even get off the boat. Lois worked on some macrame belts (even roped me into doing one for her). Along about four o'clock the wind died so I finished the anemometer and wondered if it still works - have to wait for the wind to find out. Just a nice quiet day in the Baja.
As the breeze came up in the afternoon I realized that something wasn't right with my anny-mommie-meter installation; it didn't register! A check with the ohm meter confirmed a dead short, so up on the mast again where I found that the wires had gotten twisted together and shorted inside the mounting as I screwed on the head. I re-did that, this time with heavier wire and with greater care and, sure enough, the meter started registering - sixty knots in what couldn't have been more than a 15 knot wind. The little "repair kit" resistor that came with the new head took care of that problem and we now have an anemometer which reads like it should.
Late in the day we went to the beach where I did a little wading and sunning while Lois sorted her shell collection. The beaches here are sure clean and pretty; not as much decaying vegetation as at Balandra and almost no flies. We haven't had much trouble with biting insects so far, but there are some tiny flies that love to tickle your nose and ears which are annoying. Lois puts up the mosquito netting to keep them out of the boat when they get too bad.
09:30 - Looks like our five days of calm weather are over! Now that we've got our anemometer working again it's reading a steady 25 knots with gusts to 35 as we start running into some good splashy seas. Doesn't look like the kind of day we want to be fooling and fishing around an island with no protected coves so we change course and run in behind Punta Pulpito instead.
10:00 - Anchored behind Pulpito. It's calm in here even though the wind is still whistling, and the water is clear so we made our water while I worked on our tax data. I got most of our accounts squared away and am ready to start on the actual forms but I think we'll ask for an extension anyway. Wait 'till we get back to the States to file.
14:30 - Just hauling anchor when we get a call from the Kolo, Dan and Barbara Todd running with reefed main in front of the wind on their way to Juanico. They invite us to their boat for a dinner of scollops they got at Conception Bay. We say, "Great! We'll bring shrimp and we'll have a feast."
15:30 - Anchored again in the same spot but this time we aren't alone. There are three sailboats in the cove ahead of us plus another big one that came in later, plus the Kolo; and the kayakers are still here.
Had a nice evening visiting with the Todds and trading tales of our adventures of the last few weeks. They've spent quite a while at Santispac in Conception Bay and got acquainted with some of the RV people there. Said it was an interesting community of people from all over the world. They also recommended Mulege as an interesting village to visit. Maybe we'll go there next week if we get some more calm weather.
We put up the tarp for our "African Queen" but no sooner got it up than the wind came up so we had to take it down again. I painted the 50 foot mark on the anchor chain (and my foot) a nice bright red so I can see it again. In the afternoon Lois and I both went to the beaches; first to the north, fishcamp beach which is very well protected from the wind and we just about cooked, then to one of the west beaches where there was a little more wind but where there were more shells and swimming was better. Then just after dinner I went out to the point and found that even I can hook a nice barracuda on Don's magic lure. It was a tough day!
08:15 - Anchor up and headed up the coast. This time we lucked out. With a ten knot breeze and the sea behind us we cruised along sitting on the forward deck and enjoying the scenery.
14:30 - Anchored at Punta Domingo. Quite a change from the deserted and algae filled cove we entered last month. This time for some reason the red algae was gone but the people had come. There were small boats and campers all along the beach with lots of swimmers enjoying the clear green waters. It didn't take long for me to decide to join them in the water. Even though there was a good southeast breeze off the beach the temperature was over ninty and so as soon as we got the Metz in the water I was in too. It sure felt good. The water here has warmed up enough that I can stay in for a long time without getting chilled. I took mask, snorkle, and brush and cleaned up the waterline on the boat. Our bottom paint seems to be doing very well. The only place we have barnacles is on the zincs which weren't painted.
Even though it was hot in the afternoon it cooled off to a comfortable eighty as soon as the sun went down and we had a very comfortable anchorage. Much to Lois' distress we even had entertainment in the form of rock music from the campers on the beach.
08:00 - Anchored just north of Punta Sombrerito, a cone shaped hill that marks the mouth of the Rio Rosalia river. We jumped in the Metz and headed up the river toward Mulege about two miles away. At the mouth of the river is a fish camp, a sport fishing operation, and an airstrip, but other than that it looks pretty much like any other Baja village area. As we went up the river though, things changed rapidly. First were the palms growing in profusion along the banks, then about a half mile upstream we came to the first of several "RV Parks". I put that in quotes because these are a very special kind of RV park, the RV part has become a small part of the total facility. Tucked in amongst the palm trees are dozens of beautiful structures that would do justice to Beverly Hills. Buildings (We found later they are called Palapas) of Palms, bricks, adobe, stone and about everything else you can imagine, all looking like they had been designed by an architect and landscaped by professionals. Most, but not all, had some sort of a structure to house a motor home, but the main living areas were obviously not in the RV. I've never seen anything like it, even in some of the Southern California retirement communities.
We parked the Metz at a friendly RV owners dock when the water in the estuary ran out, and walked the rest of the way to town. Just before reaching it there is a small dam built to keep salt water from coming in farther and there we could see the real river. I could easily jump across the little stream that supports all the palm trees and other jungle-like vegetation of the area. The town itself is a lot like other small Baja towns except the streets seem narrower. That may be because of the many cars crowding the streets during this spring vacation period. We had breakfast in a little garden restaurant where I made the mistake of ordering the "Especial" without carefully reading and understanding the Spanish language menu. What I got was a cup of coffee, a glass of orange juice, and three slices of melba toast with strawberry jam on top neatly laid out on a plate. Lois ordered and omeleto con queso and got a very nice breakfast.
After that harty breakfast we wandered around town for a while, went to the bank and bought some pesos at 2260 to the dollar, tried to use the public telephone to call Kristie but never got through, and then bought some groceries at the local Supermercado. The breeze was starting to come up so we hired a cab to take us back to where we'd left the Metz and then wound our way down the now inches deep estuary to the mouth of the river. By tilting the Johnson and probing with and oar we managed to motor most of the way.
11:00 - Headed back to Punta Domingo.
12:00 - Anchored again. Nice afternoon swimming and fooling around until we tried to start Gennie to cool down the freezer and again didn't have enough battery to get her started. When Gennie wouldn't start yesterday I disconected the battery isolator between her batteries and the house batteries and found that it wasn't working; open circuit in both directions. So in order to get her's charged I tied the charging line in directly while we ran then disconnected it when we stopped. When we started her for dinner she turned over briskly. This morning I checked the voltage on her batteries and found 12.59 volts, very good for having sat over night. So I checked the specific gravity: 1275 on eleven cells and 1250 on the other! You can't ask for much more than that. Then, after our tour of Mulege today, she again wouldn't start. The batteries read 12.6 volts, drop to about 10 during preheat, then go to 5 or 6 when the starter solenoid kicks in. I cleaned all the connections but that did no good. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember something about battery internal resistance; in any case it's new batteries in Loreto!
09:30 - Anchored in Bahia Conception at Santispec where we licked our wounds and cleaned up the mess. We had water in the galley, the audio and video tape decks on the floor, books everywhere, and fishing tackle all over the decks. In about an hour it was all cleaned up and we had time to look at what was going on around us.
Santispac is a beautifully protected harbor on the west side of Bahia Conception. There is a long, curving sand beach to the north which is backed by high mountains, hills to the east and west, and several islands which protect it from the south, a great anchorage. It just happens to also be right on the paved highway from the border to La Paz and points south. The entire beach is lined with vehicles and people of every description. There are people wind surfing, riding jet skis, water skiing, innertubing, sunning, playing loud music, running their three wheeled ATV's up and down the beach, jogging, diving, and yes, even swimming. On this day at the start of spring vacation it could just as well be a beach in Southern California, USA.
We stayed on the boat all day long. Every time it seemed that the wind had died enough to think about dropping the Metz it would gust to thirty knots again. We saw inflatables picked up by the wind and rolled down the beach over tents and trees and one being towed behind a boat flipped over upside down. It didn't seem to slow down the revelers on the beach though, They kept buzzing us with their boats, skis and sailboards all afternoon. I changed Gennie's oil (She started immediately after being charged during our three hour run this morning) and Lois did a wash and made a Bikini top to wear when the wind dies. Other than for the wind, it was a very nice day.
13:00 - Spotted a couple of whales just ahead as we were just south of Punta Pulpito and shut down the engine hoping to get a closeup on the video. We waited for about fifteen minutes for them to show again but no luck. One of these days ---- !
14:00 - The Baja net this morning was predicting winds from the south due to a weak low passing across and when the wind did indeed begin from the south we decided to try Calita Ramada again. We anchored in about twelve feet of water in that pretty little cove, got down the Metz, and went to the beach for a little exploring. I walked over to the place where we saw the cat kill the turkey vulture last month and, sure enough, there in a little depression was a big pile of feathers. I bet that cat ate well. It probably doesn't get a dinner like that very often.
19:00 - We'd had our drinks and dinner and were sitting admiring the view when, guess what. Yep, the wind which had been at about 10 knots off the beach to the south, shifted to north. OK, up anchor and around the point to drop it again in the north cove at Juanico. I tried to pick a good spot in both north and south winds so of course the wind blew from the west all night! Fortunately, it never got above about ten knots so we had a nice night anyway. I can see why so many people like to spend a lot of time in anchorages like Puerto Escondido where wind direction doesn't matter.
06:30 - Off early so we can get to Loreto before the afternoon winds. Just a light offshore breeze from the west this morning as we set our course for Isla Coronados. We went around the east side this time looking for the sea lions which one of our books and the proprietor of one of the Loreto shops told us are there. Not true, at least not today. Lots of likely looking rocks, but nothing but pelicans on them.
10:00 - Anchored off Loreto. Still nice and calm, so I jump in the Metz, run to the beach, and walk into town to the Refaccioneria (Auto Parts Store) which I knew about. Closed! And there through the window I could see the batteries I needed. The sign on the door said they were open from 8:00 AM 'till 7:00 PM, how frustrating! I went to the Farmacia next door and asked when the auto parts place might open and I think the answer I got was, "Probably never." But they did tell me where there was another store.
Following directions given in Spanish is still a somewhat iffy proposition for me but, with only a couple of wrong turns, I soon found the other store. It was open and had the batteries I needed. I paid 168,000 pesos, or about $72.00, for two 60 month batteries, huecho en Mexico. Cheaper than Sears! Now I needed that taxi that I should have grabbed as I left the first parts store. I found it about a block down the street (That's one thing Baja towns seem to have with abundance, and they are very cheap. This ride cost me $1.33.) and was soon on my way to the beach.
By now what had been a calm sea was really starting to kick up. With about 15 knots out of the northeast, waves were rolling in on the beach and the old Sea Raven was bouncing on her anchor. I put the batteries in the stern with my shoes between them, turned the Metz around, waded out into the surf to get it going, then jumped in and rowed like mad. The wind was so strong and the waves so steep on the way out that I was wishing that I had put the batteries in the front. I had visions of the wind catching the bow and flipping us on our backs but we made it OK, me and old Metz.
11:30 - Cranked up the anchor and, with old Metz in tow, headed out. The wind sort of decided where we went. Normally, we'd have probably gone across to Balandra, only nine miles away, but today that would have been a bouncy ride, so we turned south and ran with it toward Danzante and Puerto Escondido.
14:00 - Anchored in Lovers Cove on Danzante, a nice place to be in a north wind. We tucked up into the narrow north cove and then put out the little lunch hook over the stern to keep us from swinging into the rocks on either side. That way we are pretty well protected from the wind.
In a couple of hours I had the old batteries out and the new ones installed. These act like they should. Starting at about 12.5 volts, they go to about 11.5 during pre-heat and 10.5 when the starter relay kicks in. That compares to 12.5, 10, and 6.5 with the old batteries. I guess I've learned another lesson about batteries.
Wind blew all afternoon and all night. I guess Baja never heard about March going out like a lamb! Click here for MORE.