Sailin' in the Sun

  

Los Gatos (Baja, Mexico)

In the span of 10 days we have made the round trip from San Evaristo to La Paz and back. The long-awaited package finally arrived, only taking somewhere between three and four weeks to travel from Sacramento, CA to La Paz. I’m sure the burrow must have taken many long siestas on the way down - and maybe a little vacation.

We visited the large lagoon on Isla San Jose Tuesday morning, February 15. We arrived just before low tide so I had to jump out of the dinghy and pull Greg to shore. The lagoon is T-shaped with an essentially straight channel across the top with a few narrow side channels and several miles long. There was a pair of American oystercatchers (birds, not people) and a great egret at the inlet. Other than that, I only saw two osprey and three other egrets in the lagoon. I was expecting to see a great number of birds due to the size of the lagoon but they may have flown out in the morning. The outflow from the lagoon was considerable and Greg enjoyed the “white water rafting experience” as we left. I on the other hand got to pull the boat for several hundred feet over the shoals (the price I pay for being a lagoon junkie). I hope to return another time when we can enter on a morning high tide.

High winds were expected and we decided to duck into San Evaristo again. Even tough the winds were blowing 25 knots like last time, we managed to stow the sails in a more seamanlike fashion this time. The scene was much different now. Instead of four boats, there were twelve, waiting out the one-day “wind event”.  We anchored in the same spot as before and had the same dragging experience. We redeployed and put out two. Our friends on the 50’ Morgan Relax were anchored next to us and radioed a “hello”.  The next morning all but three boats were gone by 8am.

The blue-footed boobies and most of the pelicans have moved on, apparently having depleted their food supply, only a few gulls and a great blue heron remained.

Our next stop would be Mangle Solo on the north west side of Isla San Jose, a short trip of only 5 miles or so. The anchorage there is supposed to be an excellent spot for observing whales and dolphins feeding on the nutrient-rich waters of the Canal de San Jose (a situation just like the west coast of San Juan Island, WA). The migratory whale population should be at its peak now. This morning we heard a cruiser report that he had seen an immense blue whale off the coast of Isla Monserrate which is 55 miles north of here. I’m stoked!

 

Mangle Solo Beach



There isn’t much to Mangle Solo; it’s just a rocky beach with a light tower. In the afternoon

we walked the beach and I collected some wonderful treasures. The storm had washed up dozens of sea stars, small urchins and more of the strange animal capsules that I had found on the beach at the south end of Isla San Jose. These capsules were dried up and a small flat shell protruded from the opening on the side. I am hoping someone will recognize this and let me know what these are.

We spent a very peaceful night. In the morning we did just like the cruising manual said: we sat in the cockpit coffee and tea in hand and waited for the whales to swim by. No luck.

 

Osprey nest in top of light.



American Oystercatchers at Mangle Solo



 

Since this anchorage is very exposed we decided to move on to Timbabiche, a small fishing village similar to San Evaristo.

Looking west toward Timbabiche.

  

Not long after anchoring a ponga approached and we met Manuel the local pescadero. We have subsequently learned that everyone who has ever passed through Timbabiche knows Manuel. He only sells to yachtees, offering whatever he has recently caught and embroidered towels that his wife makes. Today it was Cabrillo and a spiny lobster. As I looked at the towels while Greg and Manuel chatted (seemed like Greg was getting most of it). I wanted to try the lobster but it was intimidating. How would we kill the thing and what would we cook it in? Manuel gave us prices for the fish and one towel and asked us to make an offer on the “small” lobster. I only had my experience in Blaine to guide me on lobster prices. I suggested 100 pesos (about $8.50 US). Manuel said OK but Greg thought it too much. We asked for a total and it became obvious that it was more than the poor fisherman could handle so I added it up. In addition to the money there was the usual request for something else, this time Coca Cola. I only had 2 liter bottles and since his request came after the money changed hands, it turned out to be our gift to him. His eyes grew big and he was very grateful (I think he said that most of the Coke was for his wife).

The lobster was placed in our only large bucket where he awaited his fate. Greg watched incredulously as I added sea salt back to his desalinated water (I could have struggled through the cockpit to get a pot of sea water but I didn’t - sorrrrry). I didn’t have a reference that told me how long to boil the creature and when I cracked him open it appeared that the tail was cooked but the body meat was underdone. When the rest of dinner was ready I put some butter on the lobster and placed it under the broiler to finish it off.









 We ate in the cockpit with warm breezes and a beautiful full moon
rising above Isla Santa Cruz.

The lobster didn’t meet our expectations and we both felt that it wasn’t worth the trouble and the animal’s suffering. The Sea of Cortez lobsters will probably be safe from us for the rest of our stay.

Manuel returned the next morning asking “donde esta me amigo Gregorio?”.  Manuel had a beautiful bonito but our fridge and freezer were full so we had to decline.  His request this time was for “gasolina por la ponga”. We left him motoring around the bay searching for gas.
 

Great egret




Snowy egret



Another heavy wind spell was forecast so we headed up to Bahia Aqua Verde, another small fishing village that has a tienda (small grocery store) and goat dairies, to see if it’s a good place to wait out the winds.

We sailed some but mostly motored. The sea was very calm and we could see for miles. Not a marine mammal in sight. It was odd - there are hardly any boats. Where were all the cruisers that we had been told about?

  

Aqua Verde Anchorage with Momo



Aqua Verde is a moderately large bay and there were only three boats anchored when we arrived on the afternoon of Friday the 18^th. We anchored off a lovely sand beach in the southern portion of the bay next to Momo, an aluminum sloop flying a Swiss flag. Soon a dinghy approached and our neighbors introduced  themselves. We learned that Bruno was an avid fisherman and I not too subtlety suggested that Greg join him the next morning for a little dinghy fishing (and male conversation). They took off at 8 the next morning and returned at 1:30 without any fish. In trying to get his line in, Bruno drove over Greg’s line and the guys spent a half hour pulling the line out of the prop. Bruno is hardly ever skunked and he had actually caught one but in the process of pulling him in he got away since the guys weren’t quite tuned into each other yet.

Greg and Bruno from Momo

We were surrounded by hundreds of double-crested cormorants in Aqua Verde. What a bunch of noisy birds! They are supposed to be silent except when in breeding colonies, so I guess they were getting’ it on.  Their grunts were loud and sounded like sea lions. When the flock took to flight it caused quite a commotion.



Aqua Verde is a lovely little village with neatly lined roads. Unlike most other villages it has fresh water and the homes have flowers and little gardens.


Looking down the road toward tienda.


The tienda (store) in Aqua Verde.A typical Aqua Verde home.

Danzante Island



Entrance to Honeymoon Cove

We arrived in Honeymoon Cove on Danzante Island on Feb. 20^th. This three-lobed cove is across from Puerto Escondido. We pulled into the northernmost cove which is only large enough for one boat. There wasn’t another boat in the entire cove. It was so beautiful we couldn’t imagine why. The hike along the northern crest gave spectacular views of the island and sea. The next day we discovered that the area is very popular with kayaking groups since its close and has several great beaches to camp on. We stayed two nights before heading on to Puerto Escondido.



Comocean at anchor in Honeymoon Cove



Hiking on Danzante

 



Honeymoon Cove, Danzante Island





Salud! (To your health!)



 


Pointing the way to Puerto Escandido (hidden port)





Lending a Helping Hand

Just when we were about to pull anchor and leave Caleta Pardita a fisherman approached our boat with a raised hand. We were thinkin' "oh boy, fresh fish", but that wasn't the case. He said that he only had a little fish but he had a problem with the control arm on his motor and was looking for help. Well, he came to the right boat. Greg the mechanic was happy to help. Apparently the seawater had corroded a bearing and he couldn't steer his ponga and he needed a wrench to fix the problem. Greg had actually been studying the Spanish words for wrench and other tools but it turned out that the fisherman had a whole different vocabulary and communication consisted of pointing and pantomime. Three hours later, after having dismantled and rebuilt the thing three times (due to the communication problem) Greg managed to repair the damaged parts and get the guy to put it back together in the right order. I offered him a glass of water which he gulped down and then a very big smile spread across his face. After all this we thought that maybe he would be grateful and give us some fish.

After waiting over an hour we figured he wasn't coming back and we started to pull anchor. Before we finished be returned with a little bag with three small fillets. Then, in what we recognized as typical pescadero fashion now, he showed us two C cell batteries and asked if we had any. We did and once again we made another gift to the local economy.

The pescaderos always tell us their names and ask ours. His unfortunately was impossible for us to understand but he made it clear that he would be a Caleta Partida for two weeks and we should come back and see him.

Isla San Jose & the Sea Snake Saga

Being footloose and fancy free we decided to head over to Isla San Jose on our way back to La Paz. The northern beach at the southern end of the island was supposed to be a really good place to find the highly-sought after Paper Nautilus. The southern area also has an interesting salt pond opperation and a very large lagoon.

We dropped anchor under sail off the southern beach - my favorite way. We hiked through the salt ponds to the opposite shore.

This is the largest salt pond operation that we have seen. Many of the smaller ones have been abandoned. There was a large salt operation proposed for San Ignacio Lagoon, the very important whale breeding site on western Baja. It's hard to understand why it would even be suggested since there are so many other salt pond operations that have been abandoned. Fortunately the Mexican government refused to allow it since the area is so important to their environment and tourist industry.



The salt crystal formations were very beautiful.

 The northern beach was supposed to be covered with seaweed that catch and protect shells that had been blow in by the storm. All the seaweed was gone, very few shells were on the beach - but there were many interesting creatures that had been washed onto the beach.

I returned a few sea stars to the ocean and came across invertebrates that I couldn't ID. One looked like a long white worm, about 8" long and 1/2" in diameter. I thought it might be some sort of sand worm that had been exposed by the waves - they got left on the beach.

Worm in lower left and unidentified capsule in top center.

There were hundreds of these odd capsules along the beach. They looked like brown seaweed but really seemed to be more animal-like. There is a very distinct angled top and a moist navel-like opening on the back. Could they be an embryo? If you know what these are, please let me know.

I did manage to find one perfect Paper Nautilus shell. It's about 2" across. It's very delicate, you can easily crush them between your fingers, milky white and almost translucent.

Greg wasn't very interested in examining the various interesting things that the waves had washed up and he was a good half mile down the beach when I found the most interesting thing of all. It was easy to miss because it was dry and covered with sand. At first it looked like a piece of wood but it turned out to be a snake. I knew it was a sea snake because of the broad, flattened tail. It looked dried up and dead.

 
Now I will touch a lot of things, but I'm not completely comfortable with snakes unless they look like vulture jerky. I searched for a stick to poke it and only came up with a little twig. Like all the other sea creatures that I had found I flung it back into the sea. It bounced around in the surf for awhile and then the waves deposited it on the shore again. The ocean had rehydrated it and I recognized it as the very venomous yellow-bellied sea snake that I had read about. It is fairly common in some places and has been sighted in Bahia Magdelena and other areas in  the Sea of Cortez.

I watched it for awhile and it became obvious that it was alive. I figured that it was time for me to head back to the boat. This guy would probably find his way back to the sea by him/herself.


I would have just eaten the thing and been done with it. Silly humans.

Time has run out for me; there were lots of problems with software and the internet today and we have to go. The story continues....



Greg wrenches with a pescadero at Caleta Partida



Evening in Caleta Partida, looking east.

Isla San Francisco & the BIG BLOW



Crescent Bay on Isla San Francisco



After exploring the pearl farm on Espiritu Santo we headed north to the crescent bay on Isla San Francisco, one of the southern Sea of Cortez's most popular anchorages. This lovely spot offers great views of the Sierra de la Giganta mountain range (in the background of above picture), beautiful white sand beach, snorkeling and a great ridge trail.

Immediately after anchoring we went ashore for a short walk past some salt ponds to the oppostie shore. When we returned to the crescent beach we met Bonnie from s/v The Murray Grey II. She had just finished shelling on the far beach. She showed us her treasures and and explained that she was waiting for her husband Jim to pick her up in their dinghy (like a lot of husbands he doesn't share her excitment in hunting for treasures on the beach).

Back on Comocean we met "Zoom" an interesting single-hand sailor on a Tartan 10 anchored near us. He described himself as a contractor that spends 6 months each year off of Baja (for the last 12 yrs) where he can pursue his real passion fishing. While we were anchored at Isla San Francisco, Zoom continually raced around the bay in his odd-looking dinghy which was filled with big boxes and numerous fishing rods. Once while we were standing on the beach we came by and pulled up a rooster fish, holding it up for all to see and giving us an impromptu lesson on them.

The second morning we were hailed by The Murray Grey and invited to join them for a hike along the ridge trail. Now I have to say that Bonnie does not look like an athlete so I figured that if I got left in the dust she probably wouldn't be that far ahead of me. I felt good about the hike the moment Jim said that they stop several times on the way up the steep beginning of the trail "to gaze at the ocean" (yeah, that's exactly why I stop too).



Greg & Jim at Crest of Ridge Trail



Bonnie looking south from trail

  Although the hike up wasn't a "piece of cake" it wasn't that bad. Once at the top Bonnie and I decided to stay on the trail and take pictures while the guys went up to the top of the craggy spine (if I hadn't stayed behind, who would have taken their picture?).



Green copper-containing rocks

  There is a lot of copper in the rocks of this island and the hillsides are splashed with big green areas. When the rocks disintegrate there are piles of powder that resembles green eye shadow. Its easy to see how the original people that inhabited this area got their paint pigments.



End of the trail

  The trail follows the ridge in the picture to the left and winds down into the sandy swale below that connects the two beaches.








It turns out that Bonnie is an avid birder and will take off on her own to track down ellusive birds - which she did several times during our hike. She told me that she needed a hobby while cruising and birding seemed to fit the bill.


I am continually surprised by the flowers that we see on our hikes. I haven't been too successful in identifying most of them though. Several species manage to survive in the sand above the beach.



      Rama Parda            Ruellia californica                                 Beach daisey

                                                     Beautiful Christmas-like berries

 Weather is always an issue here for cruisers. The Amigo and Sonrisa nets along with the files that we download each day predicted very high winds over a three to four day period caused by a record high barometric pressure of 1045 over New Mexico. The expected "Northerly" would create gale storm conditions down the middle of the Sea of Cortez. Winds could reach 45 knots and seas to 18 feet - conditions that most of us would not care to experience. This Isla San Francisco anchorage would not provide much protection. Jim and Bonnie were heading to San Evaristo, about 9 nm away, on the east side of Baja to weather the storm and it sounded like a good place to us as well.

We managed to sail the entire way to San Evaristo. Along the way we encountered a school of Spinner Dolphins chasing their lunch. It was exciting to see them corkscrew through the air (unfortunately I didn't catch it on film).


Spinner Dolphins


It wasn't a very pleasant sail since we were seveerly heeled over and when we got to San Evaristo we had a struggle to get the sails stowed. Cinbad the sailing cat did not enjoy the crossing. He couldn't watch; it was too scary.




The Murray Grey had arrived ahead of us and had anchored in the western open area off the beach. We choose to anchor in the northern cove created by Punta Evaristo.   

Fishing ponga with boodies fishing beyound.

This first day wasn't too bad and we walked the beach that fronts the fishing village of San Evaristo with Jim and Bonney. Along the way we met Frank and Liz from the Canadian s/v Pacific Bliss.

About 20 families live fulltime in San Evaristo. The fishermen, unable to go out due to the storm, were sitting around and they smiled at us as we walked past their modest homes. Bonnie was in search of the Paper Nautilus shell (which I didn't know existed until I saw a large Paper Nautilus shell in the office at Marina de La Paz. She scored big time -finding three small ones in perfect condition. 

Paper Natilus



Sea cucumber found on the beach

Conditions degraded quickly after that. A shrimper came into the bay with waves breaking over its bow. Jim on The Murray Grey decided to join us in the north cove and deployed two anchors. Not long afterwards Comocean began to drag anchor and we decided that we had to pull our anchor and find a slightly better spot. This was going to be challenging because the wind was blowing 25 knots; Greg grudgingly agreed to use our headsets to aid our communication. At the same time, but unnoticed by us, Pacific Bliss began to move around alot as they attempted to deploy a second anchor.  While we were maneuvering I had to take sudden evasive action to prevent a collision with them. Thank goodness for all the reverse driving practice I did.  Greg then decided to deploy a second anchor which made the situation even more challenging. The headsets proved their value and we managed to set our anchors.

When we were finally swinging securely on our anchors, all of us on the three sailboats watched as the chartered cat dragged anchor all the way from the north end of the beach to the south end. We worried that perhaps they were complete novices and didn't notice. Eventually they did notice and pulled their anchor. They powered over to our cove and made a few unsuccessful anchoring attempts. As they circled Murray Grey Jim tried to yell some helpful information to them. They gave up after a few attempts and returned to their originale position in the SW bay. Not long afterward someone from the cat dinghied over to Jim's boat. He boarded and spent some time discussing his situation with Jim who told him to put all the rode he had out. To our relief they followed his advice and stayed secure.


San Evaristo northern anchorage (LtoR chartered cat, Comocean, The Murray Grey & Pacific Bliss)

Everyone had some sleepless nights as we worried about swing, drag and low tides.
During most of the Northerly event we were confined to our boats and communicated via VHF even though we were only a 100-200 feet or so apart. At one point both Liz and Frank were both on the deck and Greg thought Pacific Bliss might need assistance. He jumped in the dinghy and fought the wind to their boat. Fortunately they were fine. As Greg attempted to return to Comocean we all watched in horror as the dinghy went straight up in the wind - almost flipping over. Quick thinking on Greg's part averted disaster and he returned safely.


Greg dinghying to Pacific Bliss

 


An unexpected perk of coming to San Evaristo was the discovery of the colony of blue-footed boobies! During a slight lull in the blow I decided that it would be safe to dinghy around the cove and take some pictures of the boobies. The light wasn't good and the motion of the dinghy in the winds made it hard to take good pictures but it sure was fun!

There are three species of boobies, the brown, red-footed and blue-footed. The blue-footed booby males court the females by waving their blue feet in the air. I have no idea what the survival advantage or sex appeal of blue feet is. The booby stands 34" tall and has a wing spread of up to 5'.

The Blue Footed Boobie



Boobies and pelicans shared the rocks amicably. Note the great throat on the pelican.

The boobies do synchronided fishing. They look like turnstones or sanderlings as they turn in unison - suddenly dropping from the sky to hit the water and then suddenly emerging together.

Bonnie and I were anxious for some socializing so we planned a survivors pot-luck dinner. The crews from the three sailboats feasted on assorted appetizers and Bonnie's homemade pizza Saturday night along with a lot of good conversation.

The next morning The Murray Grey would continue north while Comocean and Pacific Bliss would head back to La Paz. We were hoping that the long awaited limping burrow would have finally delievered our package.


The Sierra de la Giganta of Baja