San Evaristo Fishing Village

 Friday, March 16 to Thursday, March 22

A hamlet on the shores of the best harbor, or should I call it an anchorage?, between La Paz and Aqua Verde on the eastern coast of the Baja Peninsula, San Evaristo has been populated by fishermen for many generations. We sailed here knowing that it was a community stewarded by a couple from the US living here aboard a 27 foot sailboat, their home since 2008. They have committed themselves to a life in the community as guardians and supporters of the village.

We rowed ashore on our first evening at anchor, a beautiful calm warm afternoon when the setting sun lit the red mountains of San Jose Island across the channel. Walking the beginning of the dirt road to La Paz we found the old dump, home to two friendly dogs who immediately joined us for a beach walk the length of the anchorage. Lots of triggerfish skeletons and heads of young hammerhead shark below the high tide mark defined the diet of these villagers. Pangas on mooring lines and pulled up along the shore outnumbered the number of folks we saw from the water’s edge. As we later learned, the school has a population of 9. Under a big circular palapa we found white plastic bags of salt from drying ponds on the north side of town awaiting shipment to La Paz.

Our friends Ian and Diane had arrived before us with guests Carol and Roger aboard. They told us that the store was out of everything and had closed for the day. The next shipment was to arrive on Tuesday. Since we’d shopped in La Paz we didn’t need a store but wondered about the local people.

Bilingual book and cupcake party...

 reading with a kid felt so normal in

spite of ripped tarp keeping out the wind and sand under 

foot in the sometime restaurant 

The next day we met Steve and Charlotte, the godparents of San Evaristo, as they tried to cram 6 kids into their tiny inflatable dinghy to ferry them ashore from a boat visit. We took a couple of little boys who urged Charlie to speed. Our shore party wandered from the lighthouse atop the local cactus covered hill to the salt pans on the beach to the north of town passing the little school. We met the teacher, a local young woman who had gone to college and returned to teach in her home village.

A number of cruisers who come to this town find themselves returning yearly to see kids they’ve met, donate clothes, help out with school supplies and so on. While we were here a former school librarian from Seattle brought a dozen books with English and Spanish texts for the kids to read. We had a cupcake party and sat around reading with the children while their teacher attended some meeting in La Paz.

Charlie found soccer pals while we read on.

Having asked Charlotte and Steve to visit for an evening drink and to tell us more about their Willful Simplicity and eponymous life, we found ourselves hosting a nice gathering of crews from Salish Sea, Prairie Oyster, Willful Simplicity and Gratitude for what seems to be the customary cruisers’ surrogate for dinner. You eat wonderful fresh food carted over by your friends and have a beer or two. Then, as the stars and planets show up, everyone leaves well fed. No need to cook!