Magnificent Magdalena Bay

 

 

Our next anchorage after Turtle Bay was Bahia Santa Maria, a very large comfortable anchorage on the outside of Magdalena Bay. The rocky hillside between Bahia Santa Maria and Punta Entrada, the entrance to Magdalena Bay, was reminiscent of California’s Painted Desert with deep green and red areas. Our camera could not do justice to the beautiful colors.

We anchored just inside Magdalena Bay south of Punta Belcher. There was a fish camp at the point’s end and, not uncommon for Mexico, the remains of a very substantial pier. We couldn’t decide if it was abandoned and the top disappeared or it was never completed. Great plans for development seem to be everywhere in Mexico as well as the signs of failed attempts.

Our anchorage

Back to Ensenada for a moment.

My Ensenada entry was rushed and there were some very interesting things that got left out.

It was a beautiful sunny day, probably 65 deg, as we headed to CIS for our check-in. Greg and I were both wearing shorts and I wore a light cotton sleeveless top. As we walked down the malecon we smiled and said Buenos Dias to all the folks we passed. One fellow sitting in the middle of the malecon smiled and asked me

“Tiene frio?” (Are you cold?) and I responded “No. No tengo frio.” He smiled, shook his head and pulled his sweat shirt closer to him. All the women I saw that morning were wearing heavy coats. You would have thought that it was in the 40’s. We tried not to laugh at the El Banco employee who was in his cubicle wearing a fur-lined parka with the hood up. These poor folks would probably freeze to death in Washington.

We left Ensenada’s Bahia de Todos Santos just after sunset to catch wind. Once we were away it became apparent that there wasn’t any. We decided to try to anchor by a little rocky island just outside of the bay. The underwater rocks were treacherous but we managed to set a hook and barely miss another large submerged rock that I could clearly see skimming along our starboard side.

It’s hard to describe the rugged beauty of this small island. In the moon light I could just make out the craggy rocks that a multitude of birds were perched on. There was a small sandy beach tucked in the middle and I could hear bull sea lions barking. I was anxious to see this little wonder in the morning and wished I had a kayak. As it turned out I never did. The wind rose and the captain demanded that we leave.

Adventure on Magdalena Bay.

I’m an estuary and lagoon junky; I’ve got to explore them. Greg is very anxious to get to the sea of Cortez and I have to negotiate time for my “adventures” as he calls them. I had to “trade” San Ignacio Lagoon for a visit to Mag Bay. Mag Bay is possibly as large as or bigger than San Francisco Bay. There is a lot of fishing activity here but the pescaderos don’t sell to boaters; they’re in a co-op. It is one of the two gray whale breeding areas in Baja. I have a feeling that most boats headed to the Sea of Cortez just come in, anchor and then take off at the first opportunity if there aren’t whales to be seen. Unfortunately we are just a little too early; the whales haven’t arrived yet.

I had to settle for just one lagoon at Mag Bay. Laguna Howlands was well hidden to the casual observer. This very large lagoon lay behind sand dunes and went back at a sharp angle. The difference in vegetation made it easy for me to find it though once I knew its general location.

Howlands Lagoon

It exceeded my expectations. Curlews and American Oyster Catchers (different than our Semiahmoo Bay Oyster Catchers) were on a sand bar right at the lagoon’s entrance. Little blue herons and Ibises were perched in the mangroves. Of course there were birds that I couldn’t ID. Every turn reveled more birds; birds that didn’t visit the open bay.

Oyster Catchers and Curlews

Passing thru Howlands Lagoon

Ibis & Heron

Beautiful abalone

Just inside the lagoon there was a sandy beach with a large accumulation of shells.

I was in heaven. I had to collect some since I wouldn’t be able to in the new Sea of Cortez nature preserves. Some locals obviously enjoy visiting the lagoon since there was an opening in the dense vegetation with a very nice palapa.



Great blue heron



The water was crystal clear and warm. I wanted to swim but I hadn’t planned carefully in reference to the tides and we had to leave because the tide was going out and Greg didn’t want to be trapped behind sand bars. It was less than 24” deep for a half mile off shore when we came in.

 On our way back to the Punta Belcher anchorage we caught our very first fish with our West Marine hand line - a little mackerel that was barely enough for the two of us. It may have been small but we were very proud.

We had a beach adventure that afternoon. We are getting much better at landing the dinghy and got to shore without incident. The beach was deserted except for one fisherman. This beach isn’t anything like what you see in the states. As usual, I started to pick up plastic trash and then realized how hopeless a task it was. Getting rid of our own trash is difficult and Greg was giving me a very stern look. I settled for collecting monofilament line and soda pack rings (probably the two worst).

I’m intrigued by bones and dead things (if they aren’t too smelly) - Greg is not. The beach told the story of fishing Mag Bay and the ocean just outside.

There were piles of spiny lobster shells, then heaps of 18” long scallop shells. This was followed by a fish camp where huge piles of fish heads were left behind. I thought what a shame. They should use them for fertilizer but no one grows anything here. There was a dead carcass of some large animal buried on the shore and someone had carefully set its head and a dolphin skull next to it. Mexicans seem to enjoy making art out of pieces of dead sea creatures. Next Greg discovered an intact turtle shell, about two feet in length, with its fore limbs still inside - perhaps a natural death. From what we have observed the Mexicans are trying to preserve turtles and wouldn’t purposely kill one.

After the turtle I came across a shark head. Then I realized that I was standing amidst many of them, all the same species. For fisherman, its lop off their heads and on to the fish market.

 

I have to say that the most unexpected bird we saw at Magdalena Bay was a Bald Eagle. Greg spotted it and urgently called me to the cockpit to confirm it. Shurnuf, it’s a Bald (I apologize for the poor picture). The Petersen guide shows its range only extending to Ensenada. This guy must be scouting out new territory to replace any lost by global warming.

We left Mag Bay on Dec 13 at 2:30 am. Motoring time was used to make water. By 10:30 the spinnaker was flying. Greg deployed the hand line from the starboard aft cleat and in no time we had landed our second fish, a nice bonito. We Bbq’d it underway and enjoyed a wonderful lunch.

Bonito

We are looking forward to rounding the south cape and landing at Cabo San Lucas.

Sailing is such hard demanding work!