La Paz, Balandra, Los Muertos, San Jose del Cabo

This marks the beginning of the end as far as I'm concerned.  We left Marina Palmira in La Paz late in the day, headed for Balandra.  The coromuels have been starting early and blowing hard all night lately.  We got to Balandra, took a wonderful spot up close to shore and protected from the coromuel winds.  Sure enough, it peaked at 27 knots that night and was a bit unsettling.  In the morning we waited until it died down, around 11:30a.m. and set off for Ensenada de Los Muertos.  The wind was nice, 12-14 knots so we sailed until it shifted and then motored the rest of the way.  Arriving late, it was a bumpy anchorage with the wind and waves entering dead on.  Oh well, we need to stop and rest a bit.  No going ashore as the surf is large here due to south swell and winds. 
  Next day off we go to Bahia de los Frailes, about 46 miles away.  We got there at 4:45 p.m. and decided it was a bit rough to anchor with a huge swell and wind, so off to San Jose del Cabo.  Our new destination was several hours away, we hoped to arrive at 9:00 p.m.  The wind shifted to astern at 20+ knots and the swell was from both directions with a 10' swell coming on the nose from the south, and wind swell from the north.  Needless to say, it was uncomfortable, not scary, but the biggest swell of this trip, and very jumbly.  We arrived at about 9:15p.m. and used the iPad to navigate into the harbor.  The charts we normally use don't have the marina as it is very new.  Weird that the ipad does, but thank heavens as it's dark and we don't know the entrance at all, and... the swell really is 10'!  We've been watching the waves crash on the beaches and it's very dramatic with the wind coming from the opposite direction, the spray is like an offshore.  Kind of disconcerting though as we need to get close to shore to find the entrance to the marina.  The ipad was, as the Australians say, spot on.  It guided us right in with GPS and showed us entering the jetties and then I could use the spotlight to find the docks on this dark and moonless night.  It was a HUGE relief to find a marina security guard to show us our slip, tie up and be done with the bouncy seas for the night.  I rather thought we might be stuck out there as the swell might be too large to enter the harbor. 


Our last Balandra sunset



Scenes that I'll miss.

    Waking up in the morning found us in a beautiful new marina with clean docks and a nice breeze to cool us off as we put the boat back together, which includes:  mainsail cover on, jib stowed, sunshades deployed, clean head and check in to the marina which means a dinghy ride across and find the office.  This is much different that in most of our marinas, not any cruisers here with which to socialize.  I called Jay Swigart to let them know we arrived, as we hope to see Penny and Jay before they leave.  From here, we are waiting for the winds to let up on the outside of the Baja, at least down to 10-15 knots or so, and then we'll head to Magdalena Bay and eventually home.  I am hoping that we get to see a bit of the bay before the weather window opens up as we skipped it on our way down. 

San Juanico, Puerto Escondido, Los Gatos, La Paz again

Once again we are on the move.  Bahia de Concepcion was amazingly eye opening and entertaining.  We met some new friends who live on the cliff there, swam with whale sharks, caught a 29" yellowtail, hiked and dinghied to various restaurants.  We spent an extra day in Concepcion having dinner with our friends( Serena, Island Bound, Jerry and Kelley) at the La Enferma restaurant, also known as Anna's.  Now we have to get a move on south.
  So, off we went, this time on the far side of the entrance where it's deeper than 14', more like 40', rounded the Punta Concepcion and headed to San Juanico.  On our way, we caught a 29" yellowtail, yipee, and cleaned it for dinner.  The trip was not very noteworthy, the landscape up here is flatter and nondescript, unlike past San Juanico where the cliffs and mountains are quite dramatic.  Arriving after sunset, we were hailed by Pacifico and So Inclined (Dave, Marisa, Mike and Karen) who invited us for fish tacos and cheesecake with brownie crust for dinner!  Hooyah!  What a lifesaver they are, as we were beat from the sun and long day.  In the morning we awoke to the fact that they had left us for points north.  We went ashore and hiked around the lush back estuary to the yachters shrine on the far side of the beach.  The scenery was gorgeous with windswept red rocks, jagged little islets covered with birds, and white sand beaches filled with shells.  In the early evening on the second day we were blown out of our nice anchoring spot, and moved over to a more protected area near some other boats.  At dinnertime, I invited all aboard for yellowtail dinner, but the catamaran ( Stray Cat) offered to have it on their boat as it was larger.  Oh darn, I don't have to clean the boat!  So, dinner with Capriccio( Jan and Vivian) and Stray Cat(Guy and Carol). 


L-R, Ed, Connie, Bill, Kat, Lisa, Leif at Anna's



Our 29" yellowtail, caught off Punta Concepcion

Next, off to Puerto Escondido for some supplies and fuel.  We met up with our friends here, Blue Rodeo, Swift Current and Panta Rhei.  The first day we worked like mad to get ready, laundry, fuel, groceries, and lunch.  That night Swift Current invited us over for dinner of arrecherra tacos, I made tortillas, Howard made his usual excellent salad and the meat, and Anne did a Key Lime pie that was to die for.  The morning found us up and on the road again.

Rock formations at San Juanico



Pelican at sunset, Balandra



Playa el Burro, Bertha's restaurant and the dinghy landing.

Next stop, Puerto Los Gatos.  Not really a port, just a beautiful area with red rocks and dramatic beaches.  We spent one night, and in the morning we jumped into the water and checked the bottom of the boat for kelp.  No sooner had we jumped in when this burr fish or puffer attacked us!  He was not to be deterred, I'd splash at him and he'd scowl and swim back at us with his little fins churning like mad.  So, we escaped on to the boat.  They are quite poisonous and not to be messed with.  Rather amusing that he was so persistent about keeping our boat bottom to himself.  Today we head to La Paz, if we can make it.  It's a long trip, about 70 miles, and the wind this whole trip has been on the nose, so mostly motoring.  The day started nicely, no wind, then, it built up to 15-20 or so on the nose with wind waves and chop.  Then, later it died completely and it was soooo hot.  We did see a blue whale, several turtles, a seal, lots and lots of jumping rays, dolphins, and blue footed boobies flying in formation with the pelicans.  We arrived at Marina Palmira, La Paz just as the sun set at 8:00p.m., another long day, but we have arrived at the turning point of our trip.  Now we'll be leaving the Sea of Cortez, and heading around the corner and home.       

Posada Concepcion


 


Posada Concepcion, Pirelli-Minetti home.



Our ride!



The baby whaleshark!



Waking up this morning, Wednesday, May 18^th we found no wind, a  beautiful sunrise, and a very salty boat.  After coffee we got to work with water bottles and rags, wiping down the dodger and stainless to get the caked salt off.  While we were doing this, I heard an odd noise, like blowing bubbles.  Looking over the rail I saw the most enormous creature on our trip!  A whale shark, no, wait, two of em!  We took movies, photos, and then noticed that some local tourists had jumped into the water and swam out to play with them.  Not to be outdone, we decided it was ok to jump in also, with the 20+footers.  There were two young boys hooting and hollering, and a more composed fellow from Germany with them trying to keep the boys from scaring the whale sharks off.  They were so tranquil and just swam around sucking in plankton and ignoring us entirely.  Huge mouths, spotted bodies and remora stuck on their tails which switched back and forth in the water.  We were within easy touching distance from these enormous animals, but held back not to scare or bother them.  It was the most incredible event yet on our trip! 

After that, which went on for over an hour or two, we hopped in the dinghy and went ashore to Posada Concepcion to take pictures of the Pirrelli-Minetti house.  It was much the same as when I was there, perhaps a bit less beach in front of it as the hurricanes have eroded the sand.  On the way in we saw a large sea turtle swim past, just a so-so event after the morning’s adventure. 

Our next stop was going to purchase diesel fuel in town at the Pemex station.  Without a car, phone, internet or taxi service, that was going to be a chore.  We went ashore near Ana’s restaurant and found it closed, so went towards the hwy. to find a lone soul collecting fees at the gate.  He suggested we take the water tanker truck… so we waited half an hour for it to drive by, discussed it with the driver, and climbed aboard.  What luck, and what a riot, it had definitely seen better days, with the radio hanging out and various instruments not working, we bumped our way along the dirt road towards the hwy. and Mulege.  He dropped us off at the Serenidad Hotel for a lunch of tacos and beer, then we rode a taxi back to Playa Santispac, stopping at the Pemex for fuel on the way.  The taxi drivers here are extremely accomodating.  I can’t believe our ride in was a water tanker truck, so funny.  You never know how the days will turn out, and today started so normal, yet became one of the most memorable. 

San Jose- San Evaristo...



Wild? Burros in San Evaristo

 

Fisherman using a handline, with a roosterfish

 

Lifting the dinghy over the bar into the estuary on Isla San Jose.  Short people stay inside!



Howard, Lynn, Anne, Mark and Leif on Isla San Jose

 As you can see from the title, we discovered that if we wanted to get to Bahia de Concepcion, we had better boogie!  So, here is a short summary of each of our stops as we sailed northward to our farthest destination of Posada Concepcion.   After visiting Mulege and the local area we intend to spend a more leisurely time heading back to San Jose del Cabo to await a weather window for our eventual return to Calif.

Isla San Jose-  This long island is near the coast, and known for its mangrove shrouded passage where we took a group ride on Blue Rodeo’s dinghy to see the birds and fish in the nature preserve.  We found beautiful clear water, heron, gulls, and lovely scenery with no bugs.  This was a lunch stop on our way to San Evaristo.  For our lunch we had snacks on Swift Current before leaving on our tour.  Such a fun crowd to hang with, easy going, funny, and knowledgeable.  The wind had picked up dramatically, and on our way across to San Evaristo it became quite wet with spray flying over the boat.  Fortunately, it was warm spray.

San Evaristo-  This little inlet is on the Baja peninsula, and very pretty in a dramatic sort of way.  There were wild burros on the hillside, and also in the street among the houses.  The cows roamed freely through the brush and street, fortunately for them there is not much traffic here.  There was a remote tienda which sold us some fresh? veggies after waiting a day for the delivery from La Paz.  As we walked up there were two donkeys with full saddles tied to a post outside the fence.  The cowboys were relaxing on the porch in the shade of the tienda.  The local occupations seemed to consist of the salt ponds on the far side of a nearby hill which were tended by the local men, as well as some pangas coming and going with their catch.  The school building, the nicest in town, was for the younger children in the village.  We bought a media kilo of Pargo, (fish) and had a lovely dinner on Blue Rodeo with folks from Pacifico, Swift Current, and Honcho.  Dave cooked the best Pargo Vera Cruz, and Anne barbequed some equally excellent marinated Pargo. Later that night, Leif and I realized that we needed to get moving if we wanted to see Bahia de Concepcion.  So, with reluctance, we upped anchor early and left our travelling buddies who have all summer to dilly dally in the sea.

Agua Verde-  This is the first day of sailing without our friends in quite awhile, and when we arrived at Agua Verde, there was Pacifico who left ahead of us.  They had the intention of staying awhile and unpacking the boat, but it seemed that didn’t happen as we then saw them again in Puerto Escondido.  Agua Verde was just one more beautiful bay with, duh, lovely clear water, sort of greenish.  Each afternoon we have taken up the practice of swimming and showering off the stern.  It’s a refreshing way to get all of the sunscreen off and feel clean for the evening.   We stayed one night, then pushed on to Puerto Escondido.

Puerto Escondido- This is the first marina on the Baja side since La Paz.  It’s a small marina almost completely enclosed by land.  It actually had moorings, and the three slips were for the large fishing yachts.  It did have nice showers, internet, dirty pool, a restaurant, tienda and laundry.  We picked up a mooring for about $15. a night, and spent a couple of nights eating out.  We met our friends from Serena, Ed and Connie, and it was Connie’s birthday, so we helped her celebrate one more time.  The owner of the restaurant sang her both birthday songs, one in Spanish and one in English.  He had a beautiful voice, and the whole place joined in on the Spanish version.  Our hopes were to visit Loreto from here, but, we ran out of time.  So, perhaps on the way back down.

San Juanico-  A picturesque bay on the Baja, filled with colored cliffs, white sand beaches, clear water, reefs, and lots to see and do.  Of course we only stayed one night on our way north, so maybe a stop on the way back.  Really a pretty place, but with nasty stinging kelp that floated all around.  Yes, we found that out the hard way.   We left early in the a.m. for a  55+ mile trip to Playa Santispac through light chop and building winds. 

Playa Santispac and Posada Concepcion-  On our way up we hit northerly winds the entire way, so today was not unusual with 10-20 on the nose.  We had to motor most of the way until turning the corner at the opening of Bahia Concepcion, then we could sail a bit.  The seas were rough, short, choppy and steep, not too fun with waves coming over the dodger.  As we rounded, we finally caught our first edible fish, a small yellowtail on the Mexican lure!  I filleted it and saved it for dinner later.  The entrance to the bay was also very shallow, with 8’ under our keel at times, which is rather unnerving to me, esp. as we sailed downwind at 6 knots.  Finally it got deeper as we neared Posada.  We turned the corner, dropped the main and dropped anchor in front of the cliffs nearest to Posada.  The houses lining the cliff are built of stone, and really unique.  Susie’s dad’s place is just around the corner, and we’ll visit tomorrow, but for now we would like a meal out, so off to the La Enferma restaurant, Anna’s.  We met some folks who have a house overlooking the bay and our boat.  They said they saw us come in, and leave in the dinghy for dinner,  they had hoped to beat us there, but didn’t.   Leif and I toasted to our final destination north, enjoyed triggerfish tacos, and great conversation with the couple behind us.  Sorry Penny, no scallops there for me ever.  We left the restaurant in our dinghy with the full moon rising in a golden glow across the water anxious to get someep after a long day of bouncy seas and wind.  The anchorage was dead calm, it almost felt as if we were at a dock, ahh peace.   

Puerto Balandra again...



The group hiking on Isla San Francisco ridgeline.



Leif being attacked by a Very large Gull!

 

The Americans (and Canadians) have landed!

  We have now left Bahia Balandra for the second time on our trip northward, sailed across to Isla Partida cove and joined back up with our cruising family of Swift Current, Blue Rodeo, Pacifico and Panta Rhei.  The windlass problem has now been added to the few problems encountered by the group as a whole.  Each boat has overcome small problems along the trip, from broken motor mount bolts, to generator issues.  Nothing overly traumatic and all have been fixed by their owners along the way. 

 Isla Partida cove is actually a divider between two islands, and the shallow and narrow channel between can be passed through by a dinghy.  On each side are small fish camps which are inhabited each night as the pangas return from their days of fishing.  The sculpture of the surrounding cliffs and rocks was dramatic to say the least, showing the evolution of the layers of the earth clearly in the various colors and textures.  This was some of the most awe inspiring scenery yet.  We dinghied all around the bay and out around the point to a small beach where there was a dampish area filled with green brush and small trees, created by runoff from the rocks.  What runoff there was I have no idea as it has been quite hot and dry. 

The night we arrived there was the usual appetizer get-together which happened to be on Blue Rodeo.  After staying two nights, we all left for Isla San Francisco, up the Sea about 21 miles.  We upped anchor and attempted to sail out, but found that the wind was dying as we approached the entrance, so on came the engine.  With the engine on, we are able to fish more easily, so that’s ok with me.  The day’s catch were two small skipjack who both fought quite hard and were returned to the sea unharmed, mostly. 

Isla San Francisco is small, and has two anchorage areas that are fairly protected from the winds.  We all joined up in “The Hook” which is the main anchorage.  First arrival was Swift Current, then us, followed by Pacifico, Blue Rodeo and Panta Rhei.  Others joining the gang were: Taking Flight and Endorfin, two boats with small children on board. 

The first night I cooked up a batch of spaghetti for the Pacifico folks, in thanks for teaching me how to make tortillas and hunting all over La Paz to get me a tortilla press.  We all had a great time talking and didn’t realize it was past midnight before saying good night!  Usually cruisers midnight is 9:00 p.m.  The next day Howard on Swifty organized a group hike up the nearby hill.  We all went ashore, loaded down with hats, cameras, water, hiking shoes and enthusiasm.  After leading the group up most of the way, I washed out at the end, as it was a narrow ridgeline of loose shale and I with my croc sandals was not happy with the thought of slipping over the side.  I did get some great pictures of them as they passed and arrived at the peak.  Lynn, Dave, Marisa and I went looking for Agates on the beach on the backside of the island while we waited for the group to meander down.  I found several after a long search, then others started to see them as well.  Thanks to Linda F. for teaching me what an agate looks like.  She’d be in heaven here with the fascinating geology. 

On the second evening, Cirque sailed in with Louis and Laura onboard.  We hadn’t seen them since the Banderas Bay Regatta, and it was another opportunity to have an appetizer get-together on their boat, which is the larger sister (42S7) of our boat.  Laura thought Leif had taken up with a new girl, as she hadn’t seen me with my new haircut!  They told us about their travels up the sea, which encouraged us to get a move on. 

La Paz, Marina Palmira




Mark and Anne from Blue Rodeo taking off on another excursion... Early Christmas for us!

 


Departing Dinner at Tail Hunters   L-R: (Pacifico) Marisa, Dave,(Panta Rhei) Karen, Larry,(Swift Current) Howard, Lynn,(Blue Rodeo) Mark, Anne, Lisa, Leif





The La Paz Ferry trying it's best to run us over.

 


Isla Espiritu Santo, leaving Swift Current to fix our winlass, early morning.




Isla Espiritu Santo, fascinating cliffs, arriving with the bees...

 The last time I was in La Paz was probably 1962.  Needless to say, I don't remember much from that trip except the huge grouper and yellowtail that we caught.  I was already hooked on fishing at that young age.  This time, we are staying in Marina Palmira, near the entrance to the harbor, and a distant walk into town.  It has been quite warm, 90's - 100's and little wind until today.  We chose to stay here instead of heading out into the Sea, as there are supposed to be some high winds arriving today, and they have.  To pass the time, I actually played tennis with Howard from Swift Current.  He killed me, but it was so fun to actually hit a ball again.  I used Lynn's raquet that was unused at this time.  Then we went to their boat for a dinner of delicious salad and burritos, and photos of their life in general.  Excellente. 
   La Paz is more of a working town, with a Sears, Home Depot and Walmart.  It doesn't have the same flair that many of the mainland towns have, yet it is in many ways more traditional.  The siesta time is obvious, from around 1:00 until 4:00 or so, things definitely slow down.  We have walked and dinghied into town, done a bit of shopping for supplies, and groceries.  There is a peninsula across from us, and it has a lovely beach on which to walk.  We went over there a few days ago to search for some shells, and found a few.  We have spent a week here, and I would have liked to have left days ago, if not for the impending wind.  So, finally we left, on Tuesday, May 3rd for Isla Espiritu Santo, specifically Ensenada de la Raza of Puerto Ballena.  Our friends Howard and Lynn on Swift Current headed out ahead of us and let us know the state of winds, which were building as we set out.  We had the intention of staying in Puerto Ballandra, as they hadn't stayed there and it's beautiful, but the swell was up from the wind, so they headed over to the other island.  We arrived and tried to drop anchor, and alas, our winlass was not working.  Major Bummer.  Leif managed to attach the extra rode and chain to our manson anchor and drop it in 10' of water for the night.  Then, at 7:30 a.m. we upped the anchor by hand and left for La Paz again to see if we can fix it.   This was in part due to the bee swarm that engulfed the boat, making working outside a bit challenging.  It will be a long trip if Leif has to pull up the anchor each morning.  Marina La Paz is downtown, next to all of the chandleries, so we opted to stay there in case we needed supplies.  Arriving at 10:30 a.m. Leif got to work and after hours of head down into the anchor locker, and tracing wiring all over the forepeak, he discovered that it indeed was electrical, and he fixed it!  This in at least 95 degrees and humid.  He's a saint. So, hopefully manana we are off again into the sea for some swimming, snorkeling and nature.  The marina's aren't bad, just sort of retirees playgrounds, and I'm not ready for that yet.  I want to see the sea as they say.  The only bad part is no internet.  Ah how we depend on communications.  Hasta.