San Juanico is this great bay some 40 miles north of Loreto. It is a place you can easily spend a month and not get bored. The diversity of this bay is incredible with it's different bays, reefs and beaches. There is the south anchorage behind the reef where we went first and there is the north anchorage. And than there is La Ramada, just around the corner with his own beauty. While in San Juanico, we went kayaking, fishing, diving,and rock rabbit hunting.
We celebrated TCM's Robin's birthday with a feast of lobster over a bed of linguini pasta. We had Carolyn and Steve of Light Heart and Lance and Jo of Milagro over for a feast of Baby Back Ribs ala Sue. Light Heart had us over for a delicious fish dinner and games, so overall the week went by too fast. But we did have a lot of fun.
We had to move from the south anchorage due to weather and opted to go to La Ramada. It wasn't a fun trip, since the waves right on our beam and made us roll sideways. We had closed to the front portholes but neglected to close the rear ones. Big mistake! We hit a few freak waves and our bed in the aft cabin got soaked in salt water. Yeaks! No fun. We also lost the paddle for the Kayak on the way. Oh well, another lesson learned. Idefix, Kai Kaha already there and Manta joined us later in this protectedanchorage. Next day was big laundry day, since all of the sheets and pillow cases needed to be washed in fresh water. And the aft cabin needed to be dried out.We returned to the north anchorage to spend a few more days having fun in the sun! Paid a visit to the cruiser's shrine where cruisers leave ornaments with their boat name hanging on a tree. The artistic work is incredible. Trolling between the rocks, Alex caught his first Snapper.
It was time to move on and on the 7th of August we headed for San Antonio. No wind meant the old iron Jenny had to do all of the work. The fishing Gods must have us on their black list, since all we caught was one of these dumb boobie birds, who have nothing better to do than to try to hit the lures we are trolling behind the boat.
San Antonio supposedly had this nice beach for shelling but it was a big disappointment. Several tire tracks were visible but that was it. We went for a dinghy ride to Punta Pulpito. There is a neat cave you can drive thru with the dinghy in the big rock. The water was crystal clear and you could see all the way to the bottom. Afterwards we went snorkeling around the rocks.
August 9th we headed for Bahia Conception. First we motored along the coast of the bay. We wanted to see where the entrance to the small cove of San Sebastian was. It is a small fishing village on our list for a future trip. We marked the entrance on our GPS and went on to Santo Domingo. The wind picked up from the south and we had a beautiful spinnaker run. As we neared Punta Conception, we dowsed the kite and rounded the point doing 6.5 knots with the staysail only. It was blowing the customary25 knots. At least we didn't have a repeat of last year's spinnaker blowing to shreds and we doing an accidental jibe due to the sail in the water. This jibe did serious damage to the main sheet traveler. Lesson learned last year. We settled in Bahia Santo Domingo at the mouth of the big Bay of Conception. Milagro joined us about an hour later.
Next morning Lance and Alex went on the hunt for those delicious steamer clams. They came back not only with 2 big bags of white steamer clams, but also with about 45 chocolates clams. Looks like a couple of Gourmet dinners developing....
After breakfast we headed for El Burro Cove to visit Geary, the weather Guru of the Sonrisa morning net. As we were heading into the bay, Blew Moon was heading out. Geary lives in his lovely palapa right on the water and enjoys life to the fullest. Along with Bertha's restaurant we also get access to Geary's satellite based internet service. Gives us a chance to check email and other computer related projects.While in El Burro Cove, we had ate at Bertha's, had BBQ'd chocolates a la Milagro and a steamers feast a la Sue with Geary and some of his friends. We went successfully hunting for Bay Scallops. These small scallops are delicious and go well with garlic, onions, tomatoes in white wine and over a bed of pasta. As you can see, the Sea provides us with some great culinary delicacies.
It was time to head out of Conception Bay again, because it gets pretty warm in there. August 14th we raised anchor and headed for Santa Rosalia. After Alex raised the anchor and while walking back to the cockpit, his feet got entangled in a coiled line hanging on the side and fell very awkward pulling several muscles in his left shoulder. Ouch, that hurt real bad! And such a stupid accident. This will take a long time to heal.All the way to Santa Rosalia we trolled again and no fish. It is like the fishing gods want to punish us for the good fishing season we had last year.
Arriving in Santa Rosalia we got the last slip in the old Marina. With the help of Milagro, Panoya and Reflections, we got shoe horned in to the slip. A bit tight but no problema. Plugged power in, turned the A/C on and voila!, we were in business cooling the boat down. Time for some Santa Rosalia bacon wrapped hot dogs and ice cream! Great!
We stayed a week in Santa Rosalia, did our laundry, fueled up, got fresh veggies and raided the ATM, since this is the last source for cash in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. Went with Milagro for breakfast at the Hotel Frances and enjoyed the famous pan frances. Had a get together with Jo and Doug on Jenny. They were in the new Singlar marina. We had a chance to visit and a have a look at the new docks and facilities. The docks look like some lake docks with no reinforcement at the ends.Don't know if we want to be around for a hurricane on these docks. The buildings are identical to the ones in Puerto Escondito down to the same poor restroom design. No ventilation! What a waste of money!
Santa Rosalia is this neat little old mining town. The French used to run a mining operation for many years until it became inefficient. The decaying remains of this operation are visible all over town. Santa Rosalia is also famous for their steel church designed by Carl Gustav Eiffel. The church was prefabricated in France, displayed in Paris along with the Eiffel tower, re-assembled in Brussels where it was taken apart and shipped to Santa Rosalia by the mining company in 1895. The wood for thehouses and offices was also imported from France by square riggers. There is a museum showing the history of Santa Rosalia and well worth visiting.August 22nd, time to go back on the road.
We left bright and early for the 75 mile trip to San Francisquito. With no wind in the forecast we looking at a 12 hour motorboat ride up the coast. And that it was. But, FINALLY, we caught our first Dorado along the way. Actually, we had a dual simultaneous hook up. While Alex was gaffing one, the other managed to spit the lure back out and got away. But the one we were able to land was a nice big bull about 15 lbs. in weight. We were looking forward to our first fresh Dorado dinner that evening. And did we feast on it!
We anchored inn the inner harbor of San Francisquito all by ourselves. There were 4 boats on the outside, Masquerade, Momo, Moon Hunter and a fourth unknown boat. Non idea why they wouldn't come in. Maybe they were newbies and didn't know their way in into this shallow anchorage.
Next morning we left bright and early under spinnaker headed for Isla Animas. Had a beautiful sail up the coast and ended in Caleta Blanca all by ourselves. Later in the afternoon Masquerade joined us for the evening. We had them over for cocktails and got to know Tim and Cindy a bit
better. It is always nice to be able to put a face to a name you hear on the radio.
August 24th, on our way to Isla Partida. A lumpy ride with weird swells from the north and a light breeze from the south. We anchored well inside the cove but had to re-anchor, because the wind decided to change directions. No problem. Next day Masquerade, Java and Rapscallion joined us in the anchorage. When Java, a huge cat dropped his hook right in front of us, he was way to close for comfort. But a friendly chat on the VHF got the situation cleared and they re-anchored in another part of thebay. Since there was so much room in the bay, there is no reason to anchor right on top of one another. Some people are slow in learning....
Two days later we left Isla Partida and headed for BLA. Along the village that magic sound of a reel going off got us going again. A second Dorado!!!! Caught just outside of Don Juan. Looks like the fishing gods are starting to show some mercy on us! Gigi decided to throw her breakfast up. Apparently the fish wasn't fresh enough (3 days old). While puking her guts out next to the hatch of the aft cabin, some of it dribbled down on to Sue's pillows and bed sheets. Wasn't aware Sue knew how to curse in so many ways.....
We briefly stopped in BLA village anchorage and were met by John of Nakia and KC of V'Ger on their dinghies. They met us in the bay to pick up their respective packages from TCP. John got all of his cat food, sand and toys for their new feline crew member Ziggy.
Onward we went to K-Lee Ville in south BLA. Anchored there already were Blew Moon, Ceilidh and Milagro. After settling down, we put the dinghy in the water and headed for Daffy's Tavern to meet up with Jay and Janice of Ceilidh as well as with Larry and Lois of Rancho Pacifico. Larry brought us down a dive light from the USA which we needed to pick up and pay for. The crews of Blew Moon and Milagro joined us later for a friendly game of darts at Daffy's. A lot of fun was had by everybody with the boy's team winning. It took a while to hit the last Bull's eye, but Lance of Milagro finally managed it.
Next morning we headed over to La Mona on the other side of the bay in preparation for the full moon's jacuzzi party. The jacuzzi is a small lagoon which fills with water during high tide and creates a large pool heated up by the sunshine. Thus the name Jacuzzi. As the tide goes out, it creates a small river one can float on. It's fun and a good way for everybody to get together and meet each other.During the night of August 27 to the 28th we observed a full lunar eclipse. Incredible how within an hour the moon turns from bright white to blood red. August 28, we had a total of 26 boats anchored in La Mona for the party. Great fun was had by all and we got to meet a lot of new cruisers.
We left late in the afternoon and headed for BLA Village, since we had to make a provisioning run. Our supply of fresh vegggies was starting to dwindling down. Milagro joined us for the trip to the village. For dinner we had the famous Bahia tacos, went across the street for some internet work and headed finally to the yellow store to stock up on our supplies.
Next morning we headed out for Las Rocas. Well, while rounding the sand spit of the BLA anchorage Alex didn't give the point a wide enough berth and clunk, we ran aground in soft sand. OUCH! Due to the extreme tides during full moon, the tide was a lot lower than usual..... Nobody is perfect.... Rocking back and forth and pointing the boat hard to starboard got us free again in a few minutes. Damage: A bit of bottom paint off the keel and a bruise on Sue's hip. Guess she wasn't expecting a suddenstop. While we were trying to get off, Sue noticed a lot of Sand Dollars at the bottom. Looks like a place to return by dinghy...
We settled in Las Rocas, one of our favorite places to stay. Milagro joined us a few hours later.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
"Summer in the Sea of Cortez 2007 - Part 5"
Tuesday we waited all day for Frank and Dayna from Snow Goose to show up in Loreto on their way from LA to La Paz. They finally showed up late in the afternoon having been held up by several accidents caused by others along their way. They dropped off our parts but had to unfortunately press on, since they wanted to make it to their destination the same day.
This evening we went to a new restaurant in Loreto with Milagro called "1697". What a great Bacon, pine nuts and red onion salad over a bed of lettuce! Sue has been experimenting ever since with great success. Yummy!
The following day we motored back to Punta Nopolo to have dinner in the quote on quote "Best Restaurant in the Loreto area"! What a big disappointment. A total disaster. But hey, that's how we learn and find out.While in Nopolo we got our first day of sprinkles, just enough to muddy up the dust on the boat and make a huge mess!
July 13th, we motored to Puerto Escondido to get fuel and tour the new Singlar facilities. Nice looking building and facilities but badly designed. The washrooms were great looking but smelled of mold due to lack of ventilation. The lap pool on the second floor looked neglected with greenish and brackish water in it. Add to this the exorbitant anchoring fees and you can see, why the whole anchorage is deserted. It used to be full of boats. That evening we spent some time with Connie and Elwin (Sunloverand Sea Lover) in Huncalito.
Next day we raised anchor and motored over to Bahia Marquer on Isla Carmen. A nice beautiful anchorage we shared partially with Flying Cloud, Afroessa, Que Tal, TCM and one of the big power boats. We relaxed, playing Bocci ball on the beach, fishing, snorkeling and playing with the same whale shark we saw in Ballandra about a week before. Flying Cloud had us over one day for fried Calamari and Cabrilla. Yummy, very well prepared.
July 20 we went back to Punta Nopolo for an overnight stay and some internet work off the Hotel's open wifi system. Blew Moon was also in the anchorage and we had Houston and Gail over for cocktails that evening.The next day we headed bright and early to Loreto to go to the farmers market. The beauty of this day was, that friends of Milagro from La Paz were in town visiting and drove us all over. What would have taken us a whole day we accomplished in more or less 3 hours without breaking out in a sweat. The farmers market comes once a week into town and gives us a chance to provision with fresh veggies and fruits.
After loading up with Carnitas on Sunday and since we were in no rush to head north, we went back to Ballandra for some R&R.Along came Milagro, Aurora and several powerboats in the 100 foot range. Again, we did a lot of fishing, snorkeling, Sue ventured in the water with Scuba equipment and did very well. A trip to the outside with the Milagro gang
for some rock rabbit hunting was also on the agenda. Overall, another great week in paradise!
Well, it was time to start heading north. One more trip to Loreto for farmers market veggies and fruits, supermarket, fuel and one last visit to the ice cream parlor and off we went to Isla Coronado with TCM and Milagro. It took us 3 tries to set the anchor in Coronado. The first time we logged a boulder inside the claws of our Bruce anchor, the second try it wouldn't bite and did finally so on our third try. Better safe than sorry. But this has been our philosophy! At least we sleep safe and soundduring the night and don't have to worry too much about dragging anchor.
While in Coronado, TCM invited us over for a pot luck sunset get together. Since they have this great upper deck, it gave us a fantastic view of the surrounding area. Trawlers / Powerboats do have a few good points.....Since DALI, our favorite meat supply place in Loreto was closed for no reason, we made a quick run back to Loreto to get a ample supply of Baby Back ribs. They are just some of the best we found so far and Sue has a great recipe to make them really tasty. Along for the ride came Jo from Milagro who also had forgotten to get a few items. It takes us about an hour and a half each way, so it's not too bad.
Having finished our provisioning, it was finally time to head to San Juanico. We did so on July 31st and had a first smooth ride which turned into a somewhat rolly ride towards the end of the trip. We dropped anchor behind the reef on the south side of the bay next to Milagro, Light Heart, Blew Moon and TCM. Fishing again on this trip was nada eadible, just one of those stubborn Mexican Bonitos!
This evening we went to a new restaurant in Loreto with Milagro called "1697". What a great Bacon, pine nuts and red onion salad over a bed of lettuce! Sue has been experimenting ever since with great success. Yummy!
The following day we motored back to Punta Nopolo to have dinner in the quote on quote "Best Restaurant in the Loreto area"! What a big disappointment. A total disaster. But hey, that's how we learn and find out.While in Nopolo we got our first day of sprinkles, just enough to muddy up the dust on the boat and make a huge mess!
July 13th, we motored to Puerto Escondido to get fuel and tour the new Singlar facilities. Nice looking building and facilities but badly designed. The washrooms were great looking but smelled of mold due to lack of ventilation. The lap pool on the second floor looked neglected with greenish and brackish water in it. Add to this the exorbitant anchoring fees and you can see, why the whole anchorage is deserted. It used to be full of boats. That evening we spent some time with Connie and Elwin (Sunloverand Sea Lover) in Huncalito.
Next day we raised anchor and motored over to Bahia Marquer on Isla Carmen. A nice beautiful anchorage we shared partially with Flying Cloud, Afroessa, Que Tal, TCM and one of the big power boats. We relaxed, playing Bocci ball on the beach, fishing, snorkeling and playing with the same whale shark we saw in Ballandra about a week before. Flying Cloud had us over one day for fried Calamari and Cabrilla. Yummy, very well prepared.
July 20 we went back to Punta Nopolo for an overnight stay and some internet work off the Hotel's open wifi system. Blew Moon was also in the anchorage and we had Houston and Gail over for cocktails that evening.The next day we headed bright and early to Loreto to go to the farmers market. The beauty of this day was, that friends of Milagro from La Paz were in town visiting and drove us all over. What would have taken us a whole day we accomplished in more or less 3 hours without breaking out in a sweat. The farmers market comes once a week into town and gives us a chance to provision with fresh veggies and fruits.
After loading up with Carnitas on Sunday and since we were in no rush to head north, we went back to Ballandra for some R&R.Along came Milagro, Aurora and several powerboats in the 100 foot range. Again, we did a lot of fishing, snorkeling, Sue ventured in the water with Scuba equipment and did very well. A trip to the outside with the Milagro gang
for some rock rabbit hunting was also on the agenda. Overall, another great week in paradise!
Well, it was time to start heading north. One more trip to Loreto for farmers market veggies and fruits, supermarket, fuel and one last visit to the ice cream parlor and off we went to Isla Coronado with TCM and Milagro. It took us 3 tries to set the anchor in Coronado. The first time we logged a boulder inside the claws of our Bruce anchor, the second try it wouldn't bite and did finally so on our third try. Better safe than sorry. But this has been our philosophy! At least we sleep safe and soundduring the night and don't have to worry too much about dragging anchor.
While in Coronado, TCM invited us over for a pot luck sunset get together. Since they have this great upper deck, it gave us a fantastic view of the surrounding area. Trawlers / Powerboats do have a few good points.....Since DALI, our favorite meat supply place in Loreto was closed for no reason, we made a quick run back to Loreto to get a ample supply of Baby Back ribs. They are just some of the best we found so far and Sue has a great recipe to make them really tasty. Along for the ride came Jo from Milagro who also had forgotten to get a few items. It takes us about an hour and a half each way, so it's not too bad.
Having finished our provisioning, it was finally time to head to San Juanico. We did so on July 31st and had a first smooth ride which turned into a somewhat rolly ride towards the end of the trip. We dropped anchor behind the reef on the south side of the bay next to Milagro, Light Heart, Blew Moon and TCM. Fishing again on this trip was nada eadible, just one of those stubborn Mexican Bonitos!
Monday, July 9, 2007
"Summer in the Sea of Cortez 2007 - Part 4"
Leaving Yellowstone Beach, we headed for Candeleros Chico. The perfect anchoring spot in the anchorage was already taken by SV Shore Looser but we dropped anchor anyway so we could investigate the anchorage for future stops. The anchorage is narrow with steep walls on each side and shallows at the head ending in a nice gravel beach. On the beach were survey markers so it looks like this will be developed too in the near future. We got to meet Frank and Jane on Shore Looser and found out,that Jane publishes a cruisers cook book with the proceeds benefiting a local school in Loreto.
In the afternoon we raised anchor and headed around the corner to Candeleros (Bahia Blanca). Passing by we noticed 4 boats in the anchorage. Remembering a tidbit of information from Don and Peggy on SV Interlude, we continued on to Pyramid Cove on Isla Danzante.
Pyramid Cove is a quaint one boat anchorage with crystal clear aquamarine water. And it was EMPTY! We spent two days there by ourselves, snorkeling, fishing, swimming and just relaxing. One evening we dingied over to HoneyMoon Cove (abouta mile and a half away) to see Jerry on MV Daymaker, who had friends aboard visiting from the USA.
July 30th we headed towards Bahia Salinas on the NE side of Isla Carmen. The bay is very shallow and one has to anchor about a 1/4 of a mile out in about 10 feet of depth over good holding sand bottom. At the head of the bay is an abandoned salt mining village. A few new buildings have been erected and when we spoke to the caretakers found out, that the island (which is owned by the mining company) is been developed for wild goat hunting in the winter time and fishing in the summer time. The newbuildings where resembling old style apartment buildings but with all the amenities like A/C, satellite TV and even a well stocked bar!
Continuing our circumnavigating of Isla Carmen, which we thought would take us a while, lasted only several hours. We looked at several anchorages, Punta Perico swells rolling in, Bahia Cobre same story, Painted Cliffs has one spot deep inside to hide but was taken already by SV Ceilidth (Jay and Janice plus Buster Dog).
Continuing north, we rounded Punta Lobos and headed for V-Cove and La Lancha. In V-Cove there were already 2 boats (Que Tal and Milagro), so we kept on and dropped anchor in LA Lanchanext to Tom and Diane on SV Imagine. It was still blowing 20-25 knots, but the anchorage is sheltered from swells. The wind comes blowing over the ridge leading to the salt flats of Bahia Salinas but doesn't get a chance to build fetch.
We spent 2 days in La Lancha trying to discover this new place. All we actually did was one day dingied over to V-Cove to say hi to our friends of SV Milagro (Lance, Jo, Rocky the guard dog and visiting family Keith, Mel and Sam)which we haven't seen in over a month and a half. The other thing we did was landed the dinghy and walked to the ridge overlooking the salt flats and the abandoned village in the distance. Other than that, we stayed on the boat since it blew continuously 20-25 knots. And the fishing was lousy anyway.
July 2nd we headed to Ballandra and dropped anchor in the NE corner of the bay. Anchored there were already Imagine, Sailsoon, La Solana and Flying Cloud. And in true cruisers spirit, Flying Cloud organized a pre 4th of July potluck party on the beach. They actually were a day off and thought they had planed a party for the 4th. But hey, we are cruising, so what day is it today? Nobody really knows unless we look at calendars or computers.
The high light of our cruise in Balandra was a besides some good trigger fish catching, a juvenile whale shark playing in our anchorage. Dropping everything we were doing, we hopped into our dinghy without grabbing any snorkel gear and picking up Sam on Milagro along the way, went to look at that kid (about 10 feet long). We are not sure who had more fun, Sam, 13 years of age, squeaking as she swam with the whale shark or us watching her having fun. The whale shark was very friendly circling outdinghy and giving us various opportunities to touch his sandpaper like rubbery back. The shark was playing with us as we were playing with him, circling the dinghy and diving under it to return repeatedly for more of it.
July 6th was time to hit town (Loreto) for provisioning. That day we did all of the regular store stops including Dali the meat place. Besides the gorgeous slabs of meats, chicken and baby back ribs, a score was made with Thomas's English muffins. YUMMY! Saturday morning was reserved for the local farmers market where you can purchase any fruit or veggie extra fresh. And score we did again.Sunday we went to a secret pinky swearing place for carnitas. He is only opened on Sundays. They are to die for.
Loreto is a quaint little town with a beautiful Mission (founded 1697). It is called the historical capital of Baja California Sur since it used to be the capital of Alta California (current California) and Baja California Sur. A hurricane devastated the city in 1829 and the capital was moved to La Paz. Today, Loreto has been rediscovered and besides being a big sport fishing center, is also been heavily developed on the real estate side, since many gringos find the climate and the surroundings very attractive.
Saturday and Sunday evenings we motored the 5 miles to Punta Nopolo. We thought it would be a quieter anchorage protected from the prevailing southerly winds. We were rewarded not only with a beautiful shore side setting (there is a resort hotel tucked into the corner of the very shallow bay) but also had 2 very pleasant and flat nights. It felt like sleeping in a marina it was that quiet.
Monday morning we renewed our yearly fishing licenses in Loreto and had a pleasant lunch with Jo and Lance in town at Arguies. We decided to stay anchored outside of town since Frank of SV Snow Goose is on his way from Los Angeles to La Paz and is bringing us some goodies. We plan to meet Frank Tuesday for lunch.
In the afternoon we raised anchor and headed around the corner to Candeleros (Bahia Blanca). Passing by we noticed 4 boats in the anchorage. Remembering a tidbit of information from Don and Peggy on SV Interlude, we continued on to Pyramid Cove on Isla Danzante.
Pyramid Cove is a quaint one boat anchorage with crystal clear aquamarine water. And it was EMPTY! We spent two days there by ourselves, snorkeling, fishing, swimming and just relaxing. One evening we dingied over to HoneyMoon Cove (abouta mile and a half away) to see Jerry on MV Daymaker, who had friends aboard visiting from the USA.
July 30th we headed towards Bahia Salinas on the NE side of Isla Carmen. The bay is very shallow and one has to anchor about a 1/4 of a mile out in about 10 feet of depth over good holding sand bottom. At the head of the bay is an abandoned salt mining village. A few new buildings have been erected and when we spoke to the caretakers found out, that the island (which is owned by the mining company) is been developed for wild goat hunting in the winter time and fishing in the summer time. The newbuildings where resembling old style apartment buildings but with all the amenities like A/C, satellite TV and even a well stocked bar!
Continuing our circumnavigating of Isla Carmen, which we thought would take us a while, lasted only several hours. We looked at several anchorages, Punta Perico swells rolling in, Bahia Cobre same story, Painted Cliffs has one spot deep inside to hide but was taken already by SV Ceilidth (Jay and Janice plus Buster Dog).
Continuing north, we rounded Punta Lobos and headed for V-Cove and La Lancha. In V-Cove there were already 2 boats (Que Tal and Milagro), so we kept on and dropped anchor in LA Lanchanext to Tom and Diane on SV Imagine. It was still blowing 20-25 knots, but the anchorage is sheltered from swells. The wind comes blowing over the ridge leading to the salt flats of Bahia Salinas but doesn't get a chance to build fetch.
We spent 2 days in La Lancha trying to discover this new place. All we actually did was one day dingied over to V-Cove to say hi to our friends of SV Milagro (Lance, Jo, Rocky the guard dog and visiting family Keith, Mel and Sam)which we haven't seen in over a month and a half. The other thing we did was landed the dinghy and walked to the ridge overlooking the salt flats and the abandoned village in the distance. Other than that, we stayed on the boat since it blew continuously 20-25 knots. And the fishing was lousy anyway.
July 2nd we headed to Ballandra and dropped anchor in the NE corner of the bay. Anchored there were already Imagine, Sailsoon, La Solana and Flying Cloud. And in true cruisers spirit, Flying Cloud organized a pre 4th of July potluck party on the beach. They actually were a day off and thought they had planed a party for the 4th. But hey, we are cruising, so what day is it today? Nobody really knows unless we look at calendars or computers.
The high light of our cruise in Balandra was a besides some good trigger fish catching, a juvenile whale shark playing in our anchorage. Dropping everything we were doing, we hopped into our dinghy without grabbing any snorkel gear and picking up Sam on Milagro along the way, went to look at that kid (about 10 feet long). We are not sure who had more fun, Sam, 13 years of age, squeaking as she swam with the whale shark or us watching her having fun. The whale shark was very friendly circling outdinghy and giving us various opportunities to touch his sandpaper like rubbery back. The shark was playing with us as we were playing with him, circling the dinghy and diving under it to return repeatedly for more of it.
July 6th was time to hit town (Loreto) for provisioning. That day we did all of the regular store stops including Dali the meat place. Besides the gorgeous slabs of meats, chicken and baby back ribs, a score was made with Thomas's English muffins. YUMMY! Saturday morning was reserved for the local farmers market where you can purchase any fruit or veggie extra fresh. And score we did again.Sunday we went to a secret pinky swearing place for carnitas. He is only opened on Sundays. They are to die for.
Loreto is a quaint little town with a beautiful Mission (founded 1697). It is called the historical capital of Baja California Sur since it used to be the capital of Alta California (current California) and Baja California Sur. A hurricane devastated the city in 1829 and the capital was moved to La Paz. Today, Loreto has been rediscovered and besides being a big sport fishing center, is also been heavily developed on the real estate side, since many gringos find the climate and the surroundings very attractive.
Saturday and Sunday evenings we motored the 5 miles to Punta Nopolo. We thought it would be a quieter anchorage protected from the prevailing southerly winds. We were rewarded not only with a beautiful shore side setting (there is a resort hotel tucked into the corner of the very shallow bay) but also had 2 very pleasant and flat nights. It felt like sleeping in a marina it was that quiet.
Monday morning we renewed our yearly fishing licenses in Loreto and had a pleasant lunch with Jo and Lance in town at Arguies. We decided to stay anchored outside of town since Frank of SV Snow Goose is on his way from Los Angeles to La Paz and is bringing us some goodies. We plan to meet Frank Tuesday for lunch.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
"Summer in the Sea of Cortez 2007 - Part 3"
Our stay in Agua Verde was very nice. First night we had one of Jerry's fantastic Cuban dinners aboard the air conditioned MV Daymaker as well as a lesson for Sue in how to properly prepare fried plantains the Cuban way. And yes, they have to be super ripe and almost rotten to be considered for preparation. Thanks Jerry and Kelly, the dinner was great. And Gigi appreciates you bringing us the cat carrier down Debbie got for us in Los Angeles. Even so it is meant to be for transportation only, the cat decided to make it her new cave.
While in Agua Verde, we got to meet Tim and Cindy on SV Masquerade as well as Jamie and Eileen on SV Flying Cloud. An improntu Boccia Ball game was organized on the beach and Steve and Lisa (SV Flying Free) as well as SV Idefix, SV Southern Belle and SV La Solana all joined us. Lot's of fun was had trying to chase that little white ball on the beach.
We made a quick trip to the local tienda to pick up some fresh eggs, tomatoes and Zucchinis and off we went in search of some empty anchorages to our next destination, Yellowstone Beach on Montserrat Island. Last year we did a drive by while going south and planed to stop by there this year on our way north while the southerlies prevail. The anchorage is wide open to the north. It has a beautiful yellow rock formation on the beach hence the name. The contrast of crystal clear aquamarine water with the white beach and yellow rocks is incredible.
Tomorrow we plan to leave for either Candeleros Chico (if vacant) or Candeleros.
While in Agua Verde, we got to meet Tim and Cindy on SV Masquerade as well as Jamie and Eileen on SV Flying Cloud. An improntu Boccia Ball game was organized on the beach and Steve and Lisa (SV Flying Free) as well as SV Idefix, SV Southern Belle and SV La Solana all joined us. Lot's of fun was had trying to chase that little white ball on the beach.
We made a quick trip to the local tienda to pick up some fresh eggs, tomatoes and Zucchinis and off we went in search of some empty anchorages to our next destination, Yellowstone Beach on Montserrat Island. Last year we did a drive by while going south and planed to stop by there this year on our way north while the southerlies prevail. The anchorage is wide open to the north. It has a beautiful yellow rock formation on the beach hence the name. The contrast of crystal clear aquamarine water with the white beach and yellow rocks is incredible.
Tomorrow we plan to leave for either Candeleros Chico (if vacant) or Candeleros.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
"Summer in the Sea of Cortez 2007 - Part 2"
We spent 3 nights in El Cardonal and enjoyed the visit of Tracey and Julie (SV Eagle Dancer)while relaxing in this windy spot. It was a great place to wind down and go back into cruising mode. Actually, so relaxing, we didn't even launch the dinghy.
While Eagle Dancer went back to La Paz (thanks again a million for taking our trash along), we headed north to Isla San Francisco in company with SV Winsome (Irwin and Jaye). The very light winds came first from the south and then from the east.The seas were flat and the sailing was very mellow, from 2 to 5.5 knots.
Arriving in Isla San Francisco, we tucked in deep into the hook to be protected from any southerly weather which might come up during the night. We spent two lovely nights there, having Winsome over for drinks the first night (they left next morning) and SV Tequila Rose (Paul and Kathy) the other night. We had met Paul and Kathy during the day on the beach and had them over so we could get to know them better. We had heard them many times before on the various nets.
Friday morning we departed for points north. Our original destination was Los Gatos anchorage. The winds again were participating coming from the south at a brisk 15-18 knots. It was a beautiful sail downwind, wing on wing. Doesn't happen too often in the Sea of Cortez. When we arrived at our destination, we saw Vitta e Bella entering the anchorage right in front of us. They scouted the south and north bay, and all we saw was rocking and big swell rolling into the anchorage. We quickly decided tokeep on going for our new destination Nautilus Beach (aka Playa con Grava). The downside of this decision was that we wouldn't get the chance to get fresh lobsters from Manuel, the local Panga fisherman. We were really looking forward to it. Oh well, next time.
Along the way we lost our first lure. It's a bit tough to try to reel in a big Dorado while surfing down wind at close to 7 knots. Should have brought the lures in a lot earlier. Win some, lose some and learn along the way. So the score is Dorado 1, Maitairoa 0. Hopefully we can turn this score around rather quickly, since Gigi has been having a fit every time the reel goes off and nothing gets landed. We opted to release Mexican Bonito, since we didn't believe, it was up to Gigi's level of gourmetfish eating. Spoiled brat has been fed Dorado before.....
Rounding Punta Marciel, it was another mile and a half to Nautilus Beach. We never anchored there before and it was on our list of anchorages to visit. To our surprise we found SV Winsome tucked in there. We dropped the hook in 20 feet of water in crystal clear water.
Winsome left next morning for points north and we had the anchorage all for ourselves.Alex went fishing and got some Grouper for Gigi. She's back in Cat Heaven as she devoured the fresh fish for breakfast. Sue finally got a chance to inflate one of the Kayaks and go kayakin. The water is crystal clear but still cold around 77-80 F. Today we will move over to the village and get together tonight with Jerry and Kelly on MV Daymaker for one of Jerry's famous Cuban dinners. They are friends of ours from Marina del Rey and are bringing us a new Cat Carrier and a spare part for the ice maker. We are also looking forward to hear the newest chapter in the Howard and Nancy wedding drama.
While Eagle Dancer went back to La Paz (thanks again a million for taking our trash along), we headed north to Isla San Francisco in company with SV Winsome (Irwin and Jaye). The very light winds came first from the south and then from the east.The seas were flat and the sailing was very mellow, from 2 to 5.5 knots.
Arriving in Isla San Francisco, we tucked in deep into the hook to be protected from any southerly weather which might come up during the night. We spent two lovely nights there, having Winsome over for drinks the first night (they left next morning) and SV Tequila Rose (Paul and Kathy) the other night. We had met Paul and Kathy during the day on the beach and had them over so we could get to know them better. We had heard them many times before on the various nets.
Friday morning we departed for points north. Our original destination was Los Gatos anchorage. The winds again were participating coming from the south at a brisk 15-18 knots. It was a beautiful sail downwind, wing on wing. Doesn't happen too often in the Sea of Cortez. When we arrived at our destination, we saw Vitta e Bella entering the anchorage right in front of us. They scouted the south and north bay, and all we saw was rocking and big swell rolling into the anchorage. We quickly decided tokeep on going for our new destination Nautilus Beach (aka Playa con Grava). The downside of this decision was that we wouldn't get the chance to get fresh lobsters from Manuel, the local Panga fisherman. We were really looking forward to it. Oh well, next time.
Along the way we lost our first lure. It's a bit tough to try to reel in a big Dorado while surfing down wind at close to 7 knots. Should have brought the lures in a lot earlier. Win some, lose some and learn along the way. So the score is Dorado 1, Maitairoa 0. Hopefully we can turn this score around rather quickly, since Gigi has been having a fit every time the reel goes off and nothing gets landed. We opted to release Mexican Bonito, since we didn't believe, it was up to Gigi's level of gourmetfish eating. Spoiled brat has been fed Dorado before.....
Rounding Punta Marciel, it was another mile and a half to Nautilus Beach. We never anchored there before and it was on our list of anchorages to visit. To our surprise we found SV Winsome tucked in there. We dropped the hook in 20 feet of water in crystal clear water.
Winsome left next morning for points north and we had the anchorage all for ourselves.Alex went fishing and got some Grouper for Gigi. She's back in Cat Heaven as she devoured the fresh fish for breakfast. Sue finally got a chance to inflate one of the Kayaks and go kayakin. The water is crystal clear but still cold around 77-80 F. Today we will move over to the village and get together tonight with Jerry and Kelly on MV Daymaker for one of Jerry's famous Cuban dinners. They are friends of ours from Marina del Rey and are bringing us a new Cat Carrier and a spare part for the ice maker. We are also looking forward to hear the newest chapter in the Howard and Nancy wedding drama.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
"Summer in the Sea of Cortez 2007 - Part 1"
After two and a half months in Marina Palmira (La Paz) we were finally able to leave the dock and head into the Sea of Cortez for the summer. While in La Paz, we had the transmission overhauled, repaired a defective intake Valve on our Entec generator and had Danny build us a series of new bags to stow boat gear away. In addition we were able to fix some of these mean water leaks boats do develop over time. But not all was work, we also enjoyed the good restaurants of La Paz and even managed
a Costco trip to Cabo together with Tony and Peggy of S/V Comanche. We had lots of laughs and fun during this trip, including a stop at the Hotel California in Todos Santos. And by the way, "topes" (those mean Mexican speed bumps) doesn't mean "topless".
We also had many memorable events during our stay, Lance's (S/V Milagro) and Julie's (S/V Eagle Dancer) birthday dinners at the fantastic "3 Virgins" (Maria, the head chef and co-owner makes a killer chocolate cake), celebrated "The Cat's Meow" 3rd year re-floating as well as a celebration for a running engine (always of course with champagne), visit by High and Low Maintenance John and Vicky from Barra de Navidad and our second cruising anniversary (again with a bottle of good bubbly). On a sad
note, we lost a fellow cruiser Tania from S/V Amazing Grace to a long battle with cancer. A week later a dear friend and PMYC member Nancy Dillman passed away under similar circumstances. We are sure they are both up there watching over all of us.
Sue learned to bead while Alex went to Puebla to visit his ailing Grandfather. Our new crew member GiGi is amazing. Besides being an acrobat, she is a fast swimmer able to claw herself along the dock out of the water without assistance. During the second swimming outing she received some lifting assistance from Alex as well as a fresh water rinse.
Now, fully provisioned for the summer stay in the Sea of Cortez, we are at our first stop (El Cardonal on Espirito Santo Island) after our motor boat ride up here. As luck would have it, the southerlies blowing all week decided to take a break and the wind clocked to the north right on our nose. It feels good to be back on the water and away from the marina. We plan to stay here probably 2 days to stash some last minute provisions away and ease back into the cruising mode.
a Costco trip to Cabo together with Tony and Peggy of S/V Comanche. We had lots of laughs and fun during this trip, including a stop at the Hotel California in Todos Santos. And by the way, "topes" (those mean Mexican speed bumps) doesn't mean "topless".
We also had many memorable events during our stay, Lance's (S/V Milagro) and Julie's (S/V Eagle Dancer) birthday dinners at the fantastic "3 Virgins" (Maria, the head chef and co-owner makes a killer chocolate cake), celebrated "The Cat's Meow" 3rd year re-floating as well as a celebration for a running engine (always of course with champagne), visit by High and Low Maintenance John and Vicky from Barra de Navidad and our second cruising anniversary (again with a bottle of good bubbly). On a sad
note, we lost a fellow cruiser Tania from S/V Amazing Grace to a long battle with cancer. A week later a dear friend and PMYC member Nancy Dillman passed away under similar circumstances. We are sure they are both up there watching over all of us.
Sue learned to bead while Alex went to Puebla to visit his ailing Grandfather. Our new crew member GiGi is amazing. Besides being an acrobat, she is a fast swimmer able to claw herself along the dock out of the water without assistance. During the second swimming outing she received some lifting assistance from Alex as well as a fresh water rinse.
Now, fully provisioned for the summer stay in the Sea of Cortez, we are at our first stop (El Cardonal on Espirito Santo Island) after our motor boat ride up here. As luck would have it, the southerlies blowing all week decided to take a break and the wind clocked to the north right on our nose. It feels good to be back on the water and away from the marina. We plan to stay here probably 2 days to stash some last minute provisions away and ease back into the cruising mode.
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