Last Post from La Paz

Wednesday, April 25 

i-phone beading photo by Fernandina

Today is our last in La Paz. Time for a quick post before we unplug the internet cable.

Among the most delightful activities of the last few days was a trip to Petros’ Bead Shop. Originally I went to pick up shell charms for Diane Marsh to use with her grandkids, but once I saw the place, I thought of my broken bracelet. It’s an old favorite, but one strand had detached. Here it could be fixed!

The next day I arrived, bracelet in pocket, showed it to one of the workers and while waiting, started to browse the beads. As most female readers are aware, it’s sometimes difficult to coordinate jewelry since usually it comes to you one piece at a time. This bracelet had 4 different strands, each with a different type of bead. I’d always wished for a necklace to match.

Fernandina, volunteer findings packager and 

Maestra de Espanol.

Mary Luz, the owner at work on my earrings.

Pretty soon several people were hunting for beads like those in my bracelet. The next thing I knew, we had found some great matches and the store’s owner, Mary, was teaching me how to make a necklace. She was incredibly patient with me and introduced me to her friends as they came in and out, as well as to some useful vocab, for example, “herreramientas” means tools. We had lots of friendly conversation, all in Spanish. One woman told me her favorite movie was Sleepless in Seattle! Her daughter was packaging up parts while I strung beads. This was the best conversational Spanish of the trip. The whole project took over 4 hours! In the end Mary couldn’t resist making some matching earrings.

I missed Bridge as a result, but wore the splendid collection to show my Bridge friends today.

Here's Gratitude all clean and polished with her new decal and me bedecked with new handmade jewelry.

Most of this week has been spent getting ready for our Up Beat trip to San Diego. The boat has been cleaned and waxed, new zincs screwed on, oil changed, lines de-salted, shackles zip-tied, a head repaired, presents purchased and the galley reprovisioned, most of the time in torrid conditions. The sun is intense by 10 a.m. and our cabin feels like an oven. One day we went to a long movie just to escape the heated evening. Our Seattle friends the Backuses who have AC in their boat, Frannie B, kindly invited us over a couple of times to enjoy their luxurious cool.

We used the services of an agent to help us with all the clearance paperwork for getting out of the country because the offices you have to visit are all over town. He started two days ago. Today we had to pass the health inspection. Why our boat should be healthy when we leave, instead of when we arrived in Mexico, isn’t clear, but it scared me. I dusted everywhere, cleaned up every crumb in the galley, sanitized the heads to hospital standards and even polished the brass.  When the uniformed representative of the health dept arrived, I invited him in, but he preferred to sit in the cockpit writing on his clipboard. Sitting next to him I waited, ready to answer all his questions. I noted that mostly he was filling in blanks for the date, location, etc Finally I found the blank for condition of boat. He wrote “buenas conditiones.” No questions, no internal examination! This inspection cost us about $100. Oh well, now we have the official Zarpe and 48 hours to vamoose.  

(N.B. Though cleanliness is its own reward, tonight we had a semi-surprise visit from an Environmental Consultant, friend of Tom Keffer, to make all that effort seem worthwhile.)

Isla San Francisco

April 17

After a couple more windy days at San Evaristo we managed to score a perfect 24 hours at Isla San Francisco.  The cover of our cruising guide has a photo of this anchorage. It's practically circular on the south side, surrounded by the most gorgeous white sandy beach imaginable. The hike up the south ridgeline trail gives a few thrills as you wonder how many seconds your slide to the bottom would take. Fortunately it’s so dry that even cactus don’t grow well. The splintered volcanic rocks make a musical clink as you step on them. No photograph we took does justice to the views.

In the morning I took another walk and found an osprey nest with a pair of adult birds, one sitting. It was a pathetic structure, almost all dead wisps of sticks. There are no trees.

We have used some of our time at anchor to concoct a list of jobs for our stay in La Paz prior to the Up Beat*, as I am now calling it, to San Diego. All supplies are low and the boat needs engine maintenance and a good cleaning and waxing. The larder has never been so bare. I am really looking forward to shopping in the big city! Charlie is excited about tying up to a dock for a good night's sleep.

*known to some as the Baja Bash

Night Terrors: Charlie's Worst Fears Almost Come True

The nasty potential of a lee shore proved irresistible to weather gods at Amortajada.

April 12

This has been the longest stint without internet since we came down from San Diego to La Paz.  I’ll just fill in a few highlights. In some ways it’s been the most bittersweet part of the trip, as we are sort of knitting up the last ends of places we didn’t get to on the way north, most of which are niche anchorages with big open mouths, maws, from Charlie’s perspective, just waiting to let in night winds that will blow us off the anchor.

CMS self portrait painted in dream state.

Indeed, on our second night out from Ensenada, back in Aqua Verde, but anchored on the south side with only two boats, Charlie expected wind from the south and hoped the hillside would protect us a bit. Unfortunately, late in the evening, a few more boats joined us, one, a behemoth powerboat that anchored on short scope and immediately launched a jetski specially fitted with a chainsaw motor. The young sport raced around kicking up waves and doing wonders for the evening tranquility. Well, it’s obvious where this story is going. We soon had another big neighbor, a ketch, also too close, with an anchor light from Master and Commander swinging in our faces.

As we went to bed, Charlie pointed out that I was still skipper of the day.

Actually my greatest fear, a Spam Attack!

When we ran out of food, I made bread.  Charlie found

 Spam at San Evaristo's store. Will the stench of fried

Spam ever leave the galley??

Sure enough, by midnight it came on to blow, woke me up and I went on deck. The wind had veered to the southeast, and one of the powerboats was drifting near us. He had dragged and was getting the anchor up while his boat slid between us and the cliff ahead. He tried to back and fill for a turn, but only managed to place the boat squarely over our anchor chain.  As he drifted down on our bow, Charlie put on the deck light. Running to the foredeck I gestured for the helmsman to reverse while expecting to have to somehow fend off a horrible collision.  Finally he revved to full throttle and backed down our starboard side.

Even when our pulses returned to normal, the howling of the wind and swinging of the boat defeated attempts at sleep. The next morning we noticed our jetski neighbor anchored out in the middle of the bay. On our dinghy ride to shore, we talked with the very young skipper. He said that the wind had also woken him. He looked out to find his boat being carried away between our boat and another sailboat, fortunately missing both! I guess it was just as well Charlie was in the bunk for that. Later, exchanging notes with other boaters, we found that everyone on this section of the coast had had a sleepless night, but no one else had dragging neighbors.

Abandoned Salt Works toys.

On the way up we’d tried for a day trip to the south end of San Jose Island where the lagoon was supposed to have good birds and clamming. With a light southerly breeze blowing, we anchored in a calm spot north of the mangroves in time for a dinghy excursion into the lagoon channels. It was a pleasant ride, though the birds weren’t many or varied and it was too late for clamming. 
Charlie’s fears of open anchorages were confirmed again when a northerly blow set in and gave us a very rolly ride in 10 feet of water on a lee shore. At midnight we pulled the hook and moved to Punta Salinas, three miles north. At least that beach was great for a morning walk. Good shells too. A funny thing about this point is that although it has two tall lighthouses, one with red and white horizontal stripes that’s visible for miles, neither has a functional navigation light on it. We could have used that as we bashed our way up to the point.

Yellow legged gulls going steady. Lighthouse lovers, a jaded pair, not even a single night light still aglow.

Los Gatos Red Rock Sculpture

April 13

Well, sometimes I want to pull up stakes (flukes, really) and sometimes I don’t.

Every day I’m keen to sail, but in Los Gatos we were in a spectacular anchorage without a town, hard to leave after only one day. Only 4 boats would fit in the northern lobe of the harbor, shaped like a cursive capital E, as the northerly swell coming in whipped up surf on the beach in the unusable southern lobe. The terrain was beyond beautiful.

The middle stroke of the anchorage E is a red columned rock face with rounded wind weathered stones making a walkway between the beaches most of the way until the wall collapses and dropping a boulder barrier. During our afternoon beach walk we hopped the rocks and enjoyed the eroded soft rock surfaces, perfect for barefoot balancing.

Erosion by gentle rubbing.
 We crossed most of the rocky wall in the background.

It's crab molting time, early spring in the Sea. The tide lines are littered with empty crabshells. The owners just back out and leave the old armor. At Los Gatos the most common crab was the speedy Sally Lightfoot, Steinbeck’s nemesis, known for chasing about on vertical surfaces just above the waves. Unlike water dwelling crabs, the Sally Lightfoots seem to choose high ground for disrobing. On the tops of rocks with a water view we kept running into their bright red-orange speckled shells, empty but facing out to sea as if on watch.

In a second walk ashore at low tide, I found by far the most spectacular tide pool of the trip. Where the red rock ends is a flat layer of coarse aggregate with sharp rocks cemented into dark substrate, probably once mud. This material forms the dangerous ledge at the harbor’s entrance. It stretched all the way around the point making a nice walkable apron at the bottom of the red rock cliffs. The cracks shape tidepools. One very large one was like a large tropical aquarium. Many of the same fish we see snorkeling, but miniaturized and much clearer — territorial black tangs, wrasses, little yellow and black striped guys, and a bright blue fish about 3 inches long that iridesced in the sunlight. I also found a live pearl oyster, many corals, black spiny urchins and tons of tiny snails barnacles and mussels.

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Shore Time in Loreto

April 5-8

Kirk dropped us off at the Cabanas de Loreto run by the Jacksons, Jill and Rick, honorary cousins, naturally. Rick is a talented photographer whose printshop is on the premises. His photos, including astonishing shots of rays and dolphins leaping out of the water, birds in flight and local scenes decorate the rooms.

Strolling and riding on the Cabanas' free bikes(!!)  through Loreto, our quick impression was of a coastwise low key town that’s lovely and convenient for walking. The town had a malecon along the Sea with a wonderful estuary at the south end, though not much for beaches. The main street, named Salvatierra after the monk who originally settled the town, is just for walking. No Cars! We loved the tree topiary arches that provided shade and greenery along the way.

Our first Good Friday experience in walking the Stations of the Cross.

As it happened to be Good Friday, we found ourselves in a traffic jam caused by the re-enactment of Jesus’s walk to the crucifixion. The procession was led by 4 horsemen in Roman garb. This was definitely a first for Charlie and me. Watching the erection of three crosses with real people on them fascinated us. A rigger would be scandalized that there was only one block to pull up the cross of Jesus, no safety lines. Luckily no one was hurt during the tricky execution drama.

The backside of the 1744 church at San Javier.

As missions are a big attraction here and because we haven’t left the coast much, we rented a car and drove into the desert mountains to San Javier, a remote town at the headwaters of the Loreto River. The town was having a sort of indigenous festival we heard, but in fact not much was happening. Inside the church we saw the gold paneling carved in Mexico City with San Javier centered over the altar.

We did meet Erika, a friendly resident who used to be a kayak guide in Loreto, then married a local and is trying to learn to raise cash crops. She walked us through her farm telling us of her frustration in trying to research methods of agriculture. There is no internet up there.

Olive trees planted by the Spanish are still productive as well as popular shade trees.
Our guide, Erika, stopped here with us on the way to her farm.  

In Loreto the group Eco Allianza is trying to do environmental education with families and through the schools. They have started recycling plastics and found a company in Constitution that will take them. I had a nice conversation with the director. While we were talking, a US American walked into the headquarters and introduced himself as a birder, Tom Haglund. Living in Loreto for 15 years he had photographed and had put together a website of the birds of Baja, (www.bcsbirds.com) a wonderful resource. On Easter morning we decided to bypass the Mass and instead joined Tom for a fantastic birdwalk through the river outlet south of town. We saw almost 50 species, everything from grey thrashers, cactus wrens and a vermillion flycatcher to monk parakeets to most of the shorebirds in the area.

Charlie and I stopped at the huge Tianguis, aka Loreto’ s farmer and flea market on our way back to Puerto Escondito. It was really hot and the car’s air conditioning broke, but we managed to recover enough energy to hike up “Steinbeck’s Canyon” located across Highway 1 from the marina. We got good views, though not as far as the alleged lake up there. 

Cruising with the Outlaws

KC revels in our private tropical cove.
(Also a portrait of the new cutter jib bag.)

April 2-5

It’s been grand to have Martine’s parents, KC and Kirk, in Baja during their vacation. They brought their land yacht to Puerto Escondito for three nights’ cruise with us in the nearby islands starting with, well, actually sitting out a windy afternoon in the anchorage. But the wind did abate and by 4 we were bouncing across the three mile channel to Honeymoon Bay on tall, skinny Danzante Island. There are three small niches in the northwest corner of the island shallow enough for anchoring. As we approached we could see tents on the tiny beaches, a raft of kayaks on one, and a giant powerboat anchored and shore tied. It was the beginning of Semana Santa, Easter Week, when everything closes in Mexico for a national week of vacation and travel!

The space doesn't look narrow here, but it felt as if we could touch the cliff.

We cruised the cove, at first dismissing the one boat wide “slip” with the white sand and perfect tropical blue water, frighteningly sandwiched between two rock faces, but as the wind grew calmer, we decided we too would stern anchor in order to perch in this dramatic spot. When the boat was secure we ventured ashore to climb one of the hills on the island.

Some public spirited enviro group had added an elegant effect by lining trails with small rocks and putting up signs to identify the shrubs, only about three of them, but it’s a good gesture.

The outlaws practice every night, no matter how small the 

dance floor.

KC's shells and starfish on Gratitude's
plastic table cloth, not the sea bottom.

The next day we headed out to Punta Colorada on Isla Carmen where we knew the snorkeling was good. KC and Kirk found a poisonous rock fish along with the friendly angelfish, puffers and so on. 

She brought back some terrific shells for a centerpiece. 

Just before sundown two groups of kayakers arrived, set up a camp kitchen and tents making us feel a bit pampered as we enjoyed the comfort of Gratitude’s cockpit cocktail lounge and foredeck dance floor.

Isla Coronados anchorage with the Giganta Range and Loreto across the channel, volcanic scree underfoot.

Our third day was spent on Isla Coronados, the most beautiful of the conveniently close islands, only 18 miles from PE. As we putted in to anchor, the shore was covered with pangas and families that had motored over for a day at the beach from Loreto. But by the time we got ready to go in for an evening drink and hors d's, the crowd had gone home. It was just one empty palapa and us racing another sailboat’s dinghy to the beach. When Charlie in his engaging way offered to share the palapa with them, we found out that they would love having their photo taken as we would too. We had a delightful visit with these sailors from Mexico City, in a beautiful sloop, Alas a los Vientos, unusual in our experience where most Mexican pleasure boaters who can afford a nice boat have motor yachts. 

Cocktail hour on the beach.

Charlie limbered up the hammock for the first time
and shot a movie of KC swinging.

Isla Coronados has a volcanic cone almost 1000 ft tall. In the morning we climbed about half way up over rocks that had showered down from the eruption long ago for a grand views of the island. 

KC and Kirk had kindly offered to drive us up to Loreto and drop us off for a little sightseeing. We buttoned up Gratitude, leaving her triple tied to the half rotten buoy pennant in Puerto Escondito. The Outlaw Cruise was much too short, but otherwise its only shortcoming was a lack of sailing breezes.

Punta Mangles Stopover

March 30

Wild colored layers, sea caves and toppling hoodoo towers line this coast. Your inner geologist starts making up stories about how the crazy combinations of rock could have been laid down. We’d seen the strata at Punta Mangles on the way north and now, returning to Puerto Escondito, we could stop at some of the less well known spots. The niche here really isn't a good anchorage in any wind, but it was flat calm, a perfect day to anchor and explore the ruins of a resort and the shell fossil bluffs up close.

We found the water was perfect for swimming, and soloing in the anchorage, we didn't need to worry about drying our swim suits.

Charlie at the resort's stairway to heaven.

Gratitude's solar oven dried out the slightly soggy crackers, last of Lise's delivery.

Two flocks of grebes and a panga.

 Back a couple of days ago in Agua Verde and Coronados Island I noticed a few eared grebes, a species that’s much more common down here than in Seattle. They tend to be quite clubby, usually swimming around with several of their species close by. At San Juanico on  March 28 a string of 8 or so were swimming across the harbor. The next day I noticed about 50 where the smaller group had been. This flock had adopted a scoter like way of fishing. The head of the line would go down and then all the others would follow in a sort of wave. The flock were active midday. The next morning as we powered along to Punta Mangles we saw much larger flocks further out in the Sea, again diving and surfacing together. Finally during our hike we looked out to see several very large gatherings of the grebes, as many as 300 or 400 in one. The birds were so thick they looked like little islands. Could they be massing for a migration? 

 

San Juanico

March 28-29

The northern anchorage at San Juanico with osprey rock to left.

Powering up to the gorgeous harbor at San Juanico we followed Salish Sea at a leisurely pace. This bay, full of towering rocks with osprey nests, is surrounded by mountains and cliffs with fascinating geology. We anchored and headed ashore to search for obsidian chunks and shells. In the cliffs, formed by volcanic processes, the usual in Baja, are veins of obsidian, layers of sandstone like ash and possibly middens of shells.  Our geology hike started with a stop at the “cruisers’ tree,” more like a bush, where visitors have left mementoes of their stay. Some carved names into the soft rock, some used flotsam and jetsam, and some made elaborate creations from scratch.

The next morning we crossed the bay and walked the beaches of the other side. Sting rays swam under the boat near shore. We wandered into a mangrove swamp unlike others we’d seen. Few birds lived there but tiny snails and minnows did populate its waters. White rings of salt rime on the shores reveal the effects of the winter drought. It’s normal but does seem to reduce the bird and fish population around here. Few pelicans, cormorants and gulls patrol. Perhaps the osprey are a deterrent. Their nest with two young calling frequently provided constant entertainment from our close vantage point at anchor.

In our early morning dinghy excursion to the back side of the towers we tried a bit of fishing with no luck. The osprey babies poked their heads up over the sticks and bits of green rope and netting. Both parents were on the nest quite often. Though we fished with little luck, a campers on the beach trolling in a tiny yellow kayak told us he had hooked many fish but released them. Two days later, talking with a couple from Blue Jacket, the boat that took our "parking spot"in San Juanico, found out that the kayaker had come looking for us with his next day's catch, only to find a replacement cruiser anchored where we'd been. Blue Jacket's crew became the happy recipient of that bounty!

Regrouping Puerto Escondito Style

Sunday, March 25

After our cemetery visit we followed Salish Sea on the next hitch up the Baja. The calm conditions at Agua Verde belied a strong northwest downslope blow from mountains above the shallow bight  a couple of miles north. Ian radioed us to get ready for the wind, a close reach. True to short-handed cruiser form, we set only half the genny and bounced along happily at up to 7 knots for several miles. Passing a sea mount miles off shore called White Rock we thought of Nonquitt waters and our seafaring relatives.

Puerto Escondito has a natural harbor big enough to shelter over 150 boats in a hurricane. Unfortunately several years ago the wonderful Fonatur (federal agency for fomenting tourism) had a bright idea of setting up a large scale tourist destination with a fancy marina. They paved roads, installed amenities like sidewalks and streetlamps and then ran out of money. Now, as in San Blas, there is a half empty marina business mall. Here there’s no phone service and no internet except at the restaurant, a bright spot on the scene. Between the highway and the marina is a big flat plain covered with cement where condos weren’t built. Other relics of the boom days included toilets with a view! 

We anchored off the fuel dock, a short ride by dinghy. Everyone grabbed a computer and their laundry. Charlie, like the proverbial pig in you know what spent the rest of the day at the restaurant catching up on his web life and drinking long cold margaritas. The next day we walked a mile to the little grocery store that serves the local campground. Clean and provisioned we were ready for another week on the hook.

Salish Sea in Puerto Escondito with Giganta Range in the background.

As we powered into a steep chop in the channel off Loreto, Charlie noticed we had cell service. What a surprise! I had just completed a long email via our Winlink (radio) communication to Martine and Fred, but we called and had a great chat. Anchoring off the south end of Isla Coronados protected us from the north wind but wasn’t conventient for visiting the island.