Leaving Puerto Escondido was a no brainer as there is really
nothing to interest anyone, except for maybe the truly dramatic views of the
Sierra Giganta Mountains. We left early
headed for Puerto los Gatos about 40 miles south. Of course there was no wind, and when it did
pipe up, it was on the nose. I was a
little ambivalent about stopping here, it’s pretty, and the water is nice and
clear, but there is nothing here. My
mind changed after staying that night.
The cliffs are absolutely gorgeous, red striated, and smoothed by wind
and water. We went ashore in the dinghy
and climbed the rocks again, finding pieces of large conch shells, but none
whole.
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| A view of the red painted cliffs at Los Gatos. |
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| Then when you look closer, there's a man... |
Around 3:00 p.m. I heard a noise,
and there were two men in a panga selling lobsters. It was the first time this year that the
pangueros had come by and I was excited.
We bought two for 100 pesos and two beers. Then, he came back later that night with 3
more for the same amount. Dinner was
delicious; we BBQ’d them and had mashed potatoes. The last 3 will be for tomorrow.
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| Fresh lobster delivered by request. |
There is no community here, so the nights are
pristine. The stars were out in droves
and the crescent moon shone as if it were our mast head light.
The next morning we
were off to Isla San Francisco, one of our previous trip’s favorite
places. This also was about 40 miles, so
a morning’s sail or motor. Arriving
around noon, we dropped the hook and took a swim. The water was nice and clear, so we grabbed
our bottom cleaning gear and scrubbed the bottom of Finisterra. All that work required some icy margaritas, a
creation which Leif has mastered. The
air was calm, and there were 6 other boats anchored in with us for the
night.
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| Serene landscape at Isla San Francisco, we are third from the left, farthest out. |
That is until this enormous ship
came slowly oozing in around 8:00 p.m. It
was an Eco-tourist cruise ship, which holds around 50-70 people. I have to say that it did a nice job of
keeping quiet, and not disturbing the yachts with noise or generators. In the a.m. it moved around to the other side
of the island and discharged its passengers in large inflatables for a trek up
the ridge line.
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| Eco-cruise ship from La Paz, a very nice way to see the islands if one doesn't have a boat. |
Leif and I also went
ashore, but did the other ridge line to stay away from the 20-30 people trudging
up the steep rock cliffs.
 |
| The stunning sunrises of Baja did not let us down. |
Later that day we
again went into the 80 degree water and cleaned some more off of the hull. Leif also checked out the anchor. Once
again, this swim seems to bring out the need for a margarita. We may need to get back to civilization soon
as we are running low on snack items and mixer.
Not to mention that we have had no internet or phone service in 4-5
days. That can be nice, but it takes a
great deal of skill to let go and not worry about life outside of the cone of
silence. We left the next morning and motored into Marina Palmira in La Paz. As we entered the jetties, there was a group of men standing on them gesturing at us. We had no idea what they were trying to communicate, so I went up on the bow to see if I could figure it out. Yeah, me who knows so little Spanish. So, I look ahead and low and behold there is a dredger on one side of the entrance with a large suction pipe extending across to the other side! The current was going with us, and we were traveling around 5 knots already, carrying us forward. I yelled to Leif, and he slammed it into reverse just in time as we drifted closer and closer. The boat does not react on a dime and finally it began to reverse away from it. Then the guys pulled the line away a bit and we edged into the marina in a 10' space on one side of it, around the dredger and back on course for our slip. Lovely that they didn't mention it as we approached the marina. Ahh but the ending was ok, so no harm no foul.
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