May 5, 2015

Puerto Balandra

We decided it was time to leave La Paz and move on.  We stopped at Puerto Balandra where they have a rock that is shaped like a mushroom, El Hongo.  We decided we should go see it.  It was not the best anchorage, but we did a little bit of snorkeling and rowed to see the mushroom. 

Caleta Partida on Islas Espiritu Santos

Since we enjoyed Partida so much, we decided to go back especially since the coromuels were getting a little crazy at night and we felt Partida offered the best protection.  We had one very large dolphin swimming with us to Partida for about 5 minutes.  They are such fun and beautiful creatures.  We saw the Sang Vind family at Partida and the kids had fun swimming, being pulled by a dinghy while holding on to a surf board and Tarzaning. 

We met s/v Indigo in this anchorage, Brian and Marya, and have continued to see them in many of the following anchorages.  They are super people and gave us our boat picture in the “About our Boat” section. 

 

Beautiful white and gray dolphin swimming next to the boat

Sailing toward Caleta Partida the spinnaker

May 7, 2015

San Evaristo

This was a very nice small town with a population of less than 100 people.  Although there was one rough night with coromuels gusting to 30 knots, we really enjoyed this small town.  The night of the 30 knot winds, the Sang Vind boat had dragged their anchor.  It took them several hours to re-anchor.  With winds that strong, it is very difficult to re-anchor.  We were very happy they did, but they each stood watch during the night to ensure they didn’t drag again.  All boats usually do this during the night when there are  very high winds or strong   We have stood watch a couple nights. (ok, Geoff has stood watch, as I usually make it to midnight and then don’t wake up again until around 5am).   It can be very scary to either drag or lose your anchor.  You could go aground on the beach, rocks, or hit other boats.  So, for safety reasons, lots of people get very little sleep during high winds at night. 

San Evaristo has a salt mine, which looked like it was not in use anymore, but they did have a desalination plant, so we knew the water was good here.  We spent the day hiking and checking out the town with the Sang Vind boys.  Houses next to the salt mine have date palms and small burros (donkeys) and horses on their property. 

We stopped at the tienda which was surprisingly very well stocked and well-priced.  We noticed that almost all tiendas, whether in a larger (100 people) town or small town / village, they always have white onions and potatoes.  This tienda also had avocados, tomatoes, carrots, mangoes, pineapples, apples, lot of canned foods, condiments, flour, sugar, cooking oil and potato chips (you know, the stuff that we can’t seem to live without -  Lays, Doritos (another story), Cheetos). 

We find that on average, tienda food prices are about 25-30% less that what we’d pay for in the US.  At the bigger chain grocery stores, they can be 40-50% less.  The items that are exorbitant are things like cereal ($7-$10 for Lucky Charms, seriously, or good stuff like Kashi or Organic Farms).  Most stores only carry Mexican brands, but do have US brands like Nestle, Frito Lay, and of course Coca Cola.  Produce is what we find to be inexpensive, which is great!

We also stopped for limonada (limeade - it sounds like it would be lemonade, but we have yet to see lemons in the Baja) at the town restaurant called Lupe Serra’s.  Lupe and his wife Maggie are such wonderful people.  So, hospitable, so generous.   The kids each got some limonada or a Fanta soft drink and they gave us fresh pineapple slices to eat, free of charge.  The kids also played with their dog, whom they call the Rock Dog.  The dog doesn’t fetch sticks, but rocks!  Rock dog was amazing.  You could throw a rock into the bay that already has lots of rocks in it, and he would bring your rock back to you, every single time!

We ate dinner at Lupe’s and had fish, as most of these small towns are fishing villages.  Not even 2 minutes after we ordered, we saw Lupe getting a fresh caught fish out of the ice box, (just a note that the ice truck comes from La Paz once a week to some of these small towns) and slicing it up for us.  One whole Perico (parrot fish) for 3 fish tacos!  (Noah is seriously missing out, as he does not like fish tacos.  He eats beans and tortillas all day long!)  It was so fresh and so delicious, and also cost only $7 per person for a whole dinner, with all of the sides; beans, rice, guacamole, totopos (tortilla chips), taco fixings (lots of salsa type of toppings, pickled onions, peppers and tomatoes, etc...) and lots of fresh homemade tortillas.  The tortillas are so good here.  We need to learn to make them, but so many of the tortillerias (tortilla factory) are so good and so inexpensive!  We literally have bought 1 kilos worth (2.2 lbs) of tortillas at a time.  Usually ends up being about 50 tortillas.

Evaristo - Looks like a Western movie set

Walking toward the Salt Mine in Evaristo

Sang Vind boys with Horatio and Noah and the Rock Dog

Lupe's restaurant

May 9, 2015

Isla San Jose

This Island is directly east of San Evaristo.  We sailed over in the late morning and anchored at Bahia Amortajada Lagoon, which is on the southern end of the island.  Amortajada has a very large mangrove field.  We rowed the dinghy in, and over to the other side of the bay.  We met some kayakers that were resting for the night that were kayaking from La Paz to Loreto (125 miles)!  Needless to say, we meet some very interesting people.  Everyone’s stories are so full of adventure and everyone really loves the Sea of Cortez.  Some people have sailed here for over 20 years, coming every spring to sail around.

We decided to sail the dinghy back since the wind was good.  But, as we have found with the wind here in the Baja, it shifts almost every 2-3 hours.  So, the wind started out strong, it quickly died, then picked back up. 

Aerial picture of Amortajada Lagoon

Sailing in the dinghy through the mangroves in Isla San Jose - Amortajada Lagoon

Isla San Francisco

We decided to head south instead of anchoring in Amortajada as it seemed we would not have good protection at night from the wind.  So, we sailed to the south end of Isla San Francisco (3 miles away), which looks like a big hook, and anchored for the night.  When we woke up we decided to row ashore and hike the ridge line.  It was sooo windy, but so beautiful.  We told the kids to lean to the side that has brush and cacti, since the other side was a sheer drop to rocks and ocean.  The kids were a little bit cranky, but soon realized how far they had come when they saw the trail from the top looking down. 

You might have noticed in some of the photos that Noah’s hair is very long and also much lighter in color.  Once we started on this trip, Noah had announced that he was not going to get his haircut ever again.  So, we said ok, as long as he washed it and combed it, he could keep it long.  So, far, so good, but occasionally he forgets to comb it.  He also decided he wanted lighter color hair, not blond, blond, but just lighter in color as he put it.  So, we bought hair dye when we were in La Paz and finally had a chance to color it after trying to lighten it with lemon juice (that we brought from the States) and peroxide.   He now sports lighter color hair, almost a reddish/blond brown.  People used to think Horatio and Noah looked like twins, but now, no way!  So, that was what Miriam did on Mother’s Day, dyed her son’s hair!

Almost to the top of the trail in Isla San Francisco

Mexican Houndfish

May 11, 2015

Puerto Los Gatos

We headed north and sailed to Puerto Los Gatos.  This bay is full of red rock bluffs.   We liked this place a lot and anchored for several days.  We met s/v Shindig, who is from the SF Bay area also.  Rob and Nancy were so generous.  They baked us some chocolate chip muffins, took us hiking to the tops of the red rock bluffs and also took us all (s/v Pangaea, nice folks from Colorado) geode hunting.  We had already been ashore once, but would never have known about the geodes as, of course, you need a hammer to break the rocks open. 

When we rowed back to shore that day, we noticed some bees around our cockpit.  When we got onto the boat, we realized the bees had found fresh water in our sink.  We were warned about many types of bugs – bees (looking for fresh water), mosquitoes, jejenes (no see-ums – they really have worse bites than mosquitos and are really tiny), and bobos (small flies), but this became crazy, because once a bee finds fresh water, it goes back to the hive and tells the rest of them. Our boat was swarming with bees!  We (really Miriam) spent the next 15 minutes trying to shoo them away, but ended up unfortunately having to kill about 20 bees that managed to stay inside the boat after we closed all of the hatches and port holes.  It should be known that this was the most sweaty Miriam has ever gotten.  She was like a maniac robot on steroids trying to swat all of the bees without getting stung.  Noah drew a picture of her (maybe we’ll find it one day amongst all of his stuff) that has her arms stretched out with two fly swatters in her hands and the biggest, baddest teeth clenching grin on her face with eyes all bugged out.  It is the funniest picture ever!   Miriam thinks that Geoff and the kids got the biggest kick watching her literally go Kung Fu berserk on the bees!

After, we asked Shindig and Pangaea if they had any bee problems.  Shindig said, they saw a few, but if they do show up, they just vacuum them up!  Ahhh haaa!  What a revelation!  Some folks have said to leave a bowl of fresh water at the bow or stern of the boat, but really we’ve also heard, it’s better to just not have fresh water out and to wipe things up if you rinse off the cockpit or shower in the cockpit, etc…  We did see some free range cows that came down to the shore, I wish I could have taken a picture, but we were stuck on our boat trying not to let anymore bees in, sigh… 

At every anchorage, we get the fishing poles out and fish.  We typically catch something in every anchorage.  If we can, we like to put the fish in the “aquarium”, which is a bucket full of salt water, so the kids can study them.  If we catch any big fish while sailing, the kids are usually there to watch the cleaning of the fish.  The kids are actually interested in seeing all of the parts that come out of the fish, and can name them, like the liver, stomach, heart etc.  One time, when the heart was taken out, it was still beating for a few seconds. The kids jumped back, as it was the real thing not in the fish anymore. It was a pretty interesting site.

Red Rocks of Los Gatos

The boys with our boat in the background at anchorage in Los Gatos

Horatio hammers away to find a geode in the hill

Noah finds a huge geode

Geode hunting with Shindig and Pangaea crew

May 15, 2015

Bahia Agua Verde

Another small fishing village just north of Los Gatos.  This place we were told is known for goat cheese (queso fresco).  We found many “free range” goats, pigs, and chickens.  They just roam all of the village looking for food.  We did find the tienda and bought some fresh goat cheese.  It was very good!  Walking back to the beach we met some folks that were traveling by bicycle!  One person, Dave, who is from New Zealand, had ridden his bike from Chile to Mexico.  Maud who is French, had ridden her bike from Los Angeles down the Mexico and is on her way to Peru.  Cameron is from Kingston, NY.

Wow!  Talk about adventurous.  So many people have told us that we are crazy to embark on a sailing adventure, but these folks are bicycling!  I think that is amazing and so brave and wonderful.  The folks at the tienda had offered their place to wash their close and get cleaned up.  They camped on the beach and were looking for a water ride, sail, motor, or panga, to La Paz as they didn’t want to head back to Highway 1 and wanted to stay close to the beach for the views.  As we were headed in the opposite direction, North instead of South, we suggested they contact the Cruisers Net (VHF/SSB radio time for info, help, weather, check in, etc.) for Puerto Escondido.  If some folks leaving Puerto Escondido are heading to La Paz, they might be able to catch a ride.  They didn’t have any electronics, but used the tienda’s VHF radio.   I hope they made it to La Paz.  We wish them well!

with the cycling group Dave, Maud and Cameron at Agua Verde

May 16, 2015

Bahia Candeleros

We saw a very large dolphin pod swimming our way as we were headed to Candeleros.   They look so graceful and just having so much fun!

We were very surprised as we turned the corner and pulled into the bay as we saw a very large resort on the beach.  We had read that a resort was under construction there, but this was a major resort. 

We also heard there were lots of clams in this bay, so we were definitely excited for the opportunity for fresh clams!

We rowed onto shore and checked out the resort.  About 10 people were on the beach and most getting ready to go in for dinner.  Miriam and Noah checked with the front desk just to make sure it was ok for us to have dinner at the resort since we were not guests and not sure if it was an all-inclusive resort.  They said it was fine, we just needed to get wrist bands to ensure we were recognized as being guests to the hotel and also that the resort was a credit card only resort, no cash.   We were glad we checked in because we had originally only brought cash.  After Geoff and Horatio did a little bit of snorkeling while Miriam and Noah checked in with the resort, we rowed back to the boat, got cleaned up and rowed back in for dinner.

The resort was called Via del Palomar.  They also have hotels in Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta and another location that we cannot remember.  They have several swimming pools, and a spa and kids club, like a lot of the large hotel chains.  Anyway, it has 3 restaurants, but only two were open that night, one with American type fare, hamburgers, steaks, pastas, etc. and the other that was having a Mexican buffet night.  Of course, Horatio was all about the buffet.  He loves seeing a variety of food.  Noah is only interested in beans and tortillas or pasta.  We decided on the buffet as it had a good variety that we could all eat.  Right away when we sat down, we received either beer or margarita.  The kids got Shirley Temples.  The food was good and we were also given “Mexican water” a tequila shot, during dinner.  Whew, it was strong!  They also had a dinner show with dancers performing traditional Mexican dances.  It was a great night, but also the most expensive dinner since it was at resort prices!

 

Clam dinner

We also met s/v Dazzler, Dan, stopped by to see if Horatio was having any luck catching fish, he was not, so Dan gave him some bait catchers to fish with.   We have caught 4 fish with that so far! Thank you, Dan!

May 18, 2015

Puerto Escondido

On the way into Puerto Escondido we caught a Dorado.  Finally!  Inside at anchorage, the kids also caught some beautiful fish for the aquarium.

Miriam also finally bakes decent looking and tasting bread after several attempts of very flat and doughy breads that didn't brown or rise too well.

Dorado (Mahi Mahi)

Pompano

the gills of the Mahi

After several attempts, decent looking and tasting bread

Puerto Escondido is a nice medium size port that is 14 miles from the town of Loreto.  It has showers, laundry, tienda, free DVD rentals and book exchange.  They also have the Cruisers net every morning at 8am.  Again, always so thrilled for a real shower and real laundry. 

We ran into s/v Yolo when we rowed into the dock.  Of course the kids were thrilled to see them again.  We also met the s/v Makai family.  They have 3 children.  They were at the end of their 4 year journey and heading back to Southern California.  It was great to hear about their journey.

The next day we hiked Tabor Canyon, also known as Steinbeck Canyon.  This trail leads to the Sierra de la Giganta range.  It really is one stunning and gigantic range.  So colorful and picturesque.   Based on pictures that we had seen, the Canyon looked different due to Hurricane Odile sweeping through the area last year.  The beginning of the trail used to be pretty close to Hwy 1, but now started much further back.  This hike was what Miriam called a rock climbing trail and not really a hike.  It is just full of boulders and rocks and some pretty technical areas of scrambling across smooth rock hills and climbing ropes to get yourself up the rocks.  It was beautiful with lots of pools from the waterfalls above and some green palms. 

Hiking Tabor (Steinbeck Canyon) outside of Puerto Escondido

Steinbeck Canyon

The following day we went by taxi to Loreto to check out the town and scout out the grocery stores and come back for provisioning.  In 1697, Loreto which has a population of about 15,000 people was established as the first settlement and first mission, Mission of our Lady of Loreto, of the Californias (Upper which is now California, and Lower, which is the Baja).  It was from Loreto that the Franciscan padres Gaspar Portola and Junipero Serra, left in 1769 to explore north, reaching San Diego and eventually to San Francisco Bay.  It is due to this exploration and route that the historical missions of California were established. 

Horatio can now say that he has done his 4^th grade Mission paper and actually visited the first and second missions of the Californias.

Horatio in front of Mission of our Lady of Loreto

Loreto is a very cute town with some good restaurants and shops.  We really thought we needed to come back another day for provisioning, but we were able to do it on that day as the town was very easy to see in one day.  We got more groceries and fishing lures from Ferre Mar.  We sure go through those lures – we have learned that the rubbery lures get eaten completely by the Trigger fish!

We continue to buy more lures

The next day the Yolo family invited us to visit the second mission, San Javier.  They had a car that a friend let them borrow.  What a treat!  You really need a car to get around Puerto Escondido, since Loreto is 14 miles away and there are no buses between the port and city!  And taxis are pretty expensive here for that reason. 
The mission was quite a ways inland but a great drive.  We saw washed out roads, downed trees and goats and burros on the mountain side.  We thought it would be similar to the mission in Loreto, but we were wrong. This was a working farm around the mission.  It was incredible.  Besides a playground on the mission grounds, they had a corn field, peppers and tomatoes growing next to the cobblestone walkways, the had an irrigation canal, lots of fruit trees; mangoes, oranges, limes, figs, olives, and grape vines growing wild.   It was fantastic.  We saw in one of the backyards, where they were making beef (not really sure what the meat was) jerky- hanging out on a clothes line.

We drove into Loreto for lunch after visiting the mission.  We ate at a pizza restaurant.  It was surprisingly good.  Especially since we have been eating a lot of Mexican food and fish tacos.  The pizza crust was crispy and chewy and not doughy or tough.  It was good.  We also had ice cream afterwards, of course for the kids!

2nd Mission of the Californias - Mission San Javier

Beef Jerky - not sure if it's actually beef, though.

Corn field

playground on the Mission grounds

with the Yolo children - Colter and Presley

very twisted tree

The next morning we met up with the Yolo family again and drove to get our propane tanks filled ($4USD) and eat breakfast at Orlando’s.  They have very good breakfasts.  We took the kids to the park afterwards.  It was one of the nicest parks we’d seen since we started this cruise.  We came back to the boat and then the Yolo family came over later to celebrate Presley’s 7^th birthday.  It was a great fun with great birthday cake!

We just want to say “thank you” to Matt, Courtney, Presley, and Colter.  Your kindness and friendship is greatly appreciated!!

One of the nicest parks in Loreto

Happy Birthday to Presley 

Presley turns 7

We have to admit that we originally thought that meeting people and making friends might be difficult, but we have found that the cruising community is overwhelmingly friendly and helpful. 

May 25, 2015

Isla Carmen

Bahia Cobre/Punta Perico

We have finally left Puerto Escondido and made our way to the island that is just northeast of Escondido.  We have anchored at Bahia Cobre on the northeast corner of the island.  Coming into anchor, Miriam and Horatio were looking at the bottom, which was very clear, for sand and or rocks.  There was good sand, but we also saw rocks so we moved away from the rocky bottom area.  We started to see good sand areas again, and then Miriam sees the bottom looking dark like rocks again, but some with white on them and some that even seem to be moving.  As the boat moved over the “rock” area, they entire rock area swam away!  It was a group of about 30 manta rays all lying on the bottom together.  It was wild!  

We snorkeled and saw leopard grouper, parrot fish, eels and lots of starfish.  We met our boat neighbor named Scott from s/v Angry Seagull. He brought over leopard grouper that he had just caught. Apparently he caught 2 and one was enough for him and his friend and dog. 

Bahia Salinas

We took a day trip to Bahia Salinas where they used to have a very large salt mine operation that used to ship sea salt worldwide.  It was closed in the 1980s but there are still salt crystals in the evaporation ponds.  Geoff and the kids were sad to see some of the equipment that had been stripped for parts or just left to rust.  Some equipment is now a cactus planter.

Bahia Salinas - what used to the be the church

salt crystals

Walking toward the evaporation pond

House built out of coral

Old fork lift now being used as cactus planter

Kids on the beach in Salinas

Leopard Grouper fish

Painted Cliffs

We anchored at the next cove over from Bahia Cobre and it was just as great with sea life.   Horatio caught a greenbar snapper and our boat friend Scott brought over a leopard grouper AND a parrotfish for us!  They were both beautiful and very big!

Scott with Parrot fish and Leopard Grouper by his waist

Horatio caught a Greenbar Snapper

Puffed up Pufferfish

May 27, 2015

Isla Coronados

We moved north about 20 miles and anchored at Isla Coronados.   The weather was started to get warm, low 90s.  For some crazy reason we decided to go hike the trail to the top of Coronado at about 2:00 in the afternoon.  From shore the peak looked pretty close, but it was about 1000ft and we got to the top in about 1 ½ hours.  We were all pretty exhausted and dehydrated.  Our water bottles were empty before we were even ¾ up the trail!  The trail was sandy at the bottom, all loose rocks in the middle and steep sand at the top.   Toward the top it was so sandy and steep it was as if you were taking one step up and two steps down because you kept sliding down in the sand.  It was exhausting.  The kids were not happy campers.  We were so excited to get back to the shore and cool off in the water!

Our treat the next day was being able to see lots of manta rays and dolphins in the cove with lots of paddle boarding and kick boarding.

View of the cove in Coronados (We were only half way up!)

Miriam walking down the trail with peak in the background

Horatio happy we were on the way down

Noah on the way down, with a big smile

Dophins in our cove

Manta Rays splashing

the boys paddling to talk to boat neighbors 

Paddling in the cove at Isla Coronados

May 30, 2015

Caleta San Juanico

Now the temperatures are getting into the mid to high 90’s with no breeze sometimes late afternoon and night.  We found that swimming in the bays/coves are the only thing that really cool you down.  Although we’ve heard that later in the summer, even the water feels like a hot tub and not refreshing at all.  But so far, so good.  

We were not that impressed with San Juanico, but maybe the heat was making us tired.  We did see some sea caves and manta rays, skates and lots of puffer fish.  On the beach there is a Cruiser’s Shrine Tree where boaters decorate shells, or whatever flotsam they have or find and inscribe their boat names and dates.  The kids found a nice large clam shell and decorated ours for the tree.  It was great to see all of the cruisers that had been there before, some many times.

 

sea caves

June 1, 2015

Bahia Conception

Bahia Santo Domingo

Mexico Hwy 1 runs past Bahia Conception on the west side of the bay.   It is about 47 miles north from San Juanico to Santo Domingo Bay, which is the first bay at the northern entrance into Conception Bay.  We anchored overnight and were pleasantly surprised by how cool and quiet the anchorage was.  There was a nice breeze blowing all night. We all slept really well.

The next morning we all went clam diving.  It was a great adventure for us all. We were all able to spot the Chocolate clams and dive for them in about 7-15 feet of water.  

We then sailed south to Bahia Coyote/Playa El Burro.   We met our friends on boat Epic Ship (great name for a boat!) We hiked with them on the trail right behind Hwy 1.  Again, hot day for hiking, but able to have cool drinks and lunch at a nice little restaurant by the bottom of the trail.

We also heard during the morning weather report that there was an art show in the cove right next to where we were anchored, so we decided to go.  It was a cove that you had to kayak or dinghy over to as there is not a road to get to this cove.  It was great.  The artists name was Mary and her watercolors were beautiful.  She was also celebrating her 60^th birthday, so champagne was being served to share with all.  This is a great little community that is actually filled with lots of Americans and Canadians that live here almost 6-9 months out of the year. 

Moonrise in El Burro

sunset in El Burro 

View of El Burro and Playa Coyote in background from hiking trail

Round the Bend Gallery on the Sea art show

June 4, 2015

Punta Chivato

Heading north toward Santa Rosalia now.  We are hearing about the 2^nd hurricane warning this season.  Most people and weather reports have said that hurricane season starts around June and ends in late September, but hurricanes usually don't show up until late in the summer.  But we are just at the beginning and already, 2 hurricane warnings!  Hurricane Andres passed by Cabo San Lucas and headed west, so there was no worry for the Sea of Cortez. But Hurricane Blanca could possibly head into the Sea.  So we are planning on heading to San Carlos/Guaymas across the Sea of Cortez on Saturday.  We know some folks that have already crossed over, but we really want to see Santa Rosalia, so hopefully the weather will still be good. We'll see!

Punta Chivato is a really pretty town with an airstrip and two hotels.  Of course both are already closed as most places are closing down for the season and will not re-open until Sept/Oct time frame.  We were able to find a restaurant called Dona Julia’s.  Great service, very nice folks, but ok food.   We were just happy she was open with cold drinks to serve!

Sunset at Punta Chivato

Dolphin swimming with us going toward Santa Rosalia

We don't know what this is, but Horatio caught it and said, it must be a Goliath Grouper because it fought so hard.

June 5, 2015

Santa Rosalia

We have made it to Santa Rosalia.  We pulled into the marina and guess who was there to greet us with a watermelon?  The Makai (Mears) family.  It was such a welcome site as it was hot!  

We toured the town, which is an old Copper mine.  There is Victorian architecture and a french bakery still around.  We saw a church that was designed by Gustave Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) toward the center of town. We found it interesting that a birthday party was being celebrated inside the church.

Eiffel designed church with Geoff next the birthday party children

Noah lost his tooth last night and of course the Tooth Fairy was asleep on the job!  We hope the Tooth Fairy does a better job tonight!!

Noah with a note to the Tooth Fairy 

We are planning crossing over the Sea to San Carlos/ Guaymas area tomorrow. We understand Hurricane Blanca will be turning into a Tropical Depression by the time it comes to Santa Rosalia, so we want to be on the other side where we hope to feel less of the effects.

We can get email at our enoughsailing@myiridium.net address while at sea, but can only get gmail and internet access while in a city or port that has wifi.  Thanks for all of the lovely emails and posts so far!  We are happy to hear that everyone is well and looking forward to summer break, or winter time in Brazil!