After our wonderful hike at El Rincon, we dinghied back to El Cardoncito, where the wind was starting to blast down the canyon and heel the boat over on its anchor chain. So we tied up the dinghy and went below to eat lunch and read. After a couple of particularly strong gusts of wind, I looked out the hatch to see that the dinhy had been flipped over, putting the outboard motor underwater!
We did the best we could to rinse it off, to flush out the saltwater, and to try and re-start it. What a mess - an entire garbage bag of oil-soaked rags. No luck getting it re-started, so we decided to head back to La Paz to find a mechanic. Unfortunately, it is Semana Santa, (Easter week), one of the biggest holidays in Mexico, so we might have to wait a few days to get help.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
El Cardoncito
We had a nice sail north, but with a late start and a forecast for strengthening north winds we decided we wouldn't go all the way to Isla San Francisco. Instead, we changed course for Caleta Partida, considered one of the best anchorages on Espiritu Santo. When we arrived, there were at least 25 boats in the anchorage! So we took a look at El Cardoncito, a 1-boat cove just north of Caleta Partida. It seemed nice and protected, so we set the anchor in 15 feet of water over a nice sand bottom, went ashore for a short hike, and had a peaceful evening at anchor.
The next morning, the north wind started to build, as predicted. We dinghied over to Caleta Partida, and took a wonderful hike up a narrow slot canyon called "El Rincon" (the corner). There were fiddler crabs and herons on the beach.
On the way up the canyon, we saw some of the endemic wildife: large rabbits (sorry, not fast enough for a pic), small squirrels, and large colorful lizards.
There was a great view of Caleta Partida from the top of the ridge. On the way back down, I almost stepped on a turkey vulture snoozing on a shaded ledge!
The next morning, the north wind started to build, as predicted. We dinghied over to Caleta Partida, and took a wonderful hike up a narrow slot canyon called "El Rincon" (the corner). There were fiddler crabs and herons on the beach.
On the way up the canyon, we saw some of the endemic wildife: large rabbits (sorry, not fast enough for a pic), small squirrels, and large colorful lizards.
There was a great view of Caleta Partida from the top of the ridge. On the way back down, I almost stepped on a turkey vulture snoozing on a shaded ledge!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Heading north into the Sea of Cortez
We plan to leave La Paz in the next day or so, heading north toward Loreto, Bahia Concepcion, and Santa Rosalia. We will probably be out of Internet range for at least a week, so there will be no blog posts until we can find a connection. Bye for now.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Road trip - south Baja loop
We rented a car to drive our friends to the Los Cabos airport for their flight home. With the boat safely tucked into a marina, we had an excuse for a short road trip. Conveniently the route between La Paz and the airport can be covered as a loop.
We started down the eastern side of the loop, which is shorter but more winding. We slowed down to see the old mining town of El Triunfo, and took a breakfast stop further on. The "check engine" light came on in the rented Dodge Attitude, but it turned out to be a non-issue. We dropped Karen and David off with plenty of time to spare, then headed south to San José del Cabo.
Our first stop was the recently-opened Los Cabos marina. It was a bit hard to find because the road leading to it is still under construction. It was filled mostly with sportfishers and large power yachts, but we made our way to the one dock with a few cruising sailboats tied up to it. We were surprised to find that you can stay here for only about $1/foot/night if you don't mind going without electricity. This is only a third of the cost of the other slips in the marina, and we had given the place a miss in December because we didn't know about the low-cost alternative. We spoke briefly with the crew of Orca, whose southbound trip had sadly been delayed when they were struck by another sailboat in Newport, Oregon, and had to sort out the damage before continuing.
After we left the marina, we headed into town. The center of most Mexican towns is the church, and we arrived at San José's church just as the Palm Sunday service was winding up.
Outside the church, a number of vendors had created a myriad of palm-based sculptures and ornaments for worshippers.
A block away, we discovered a really nice French bakery. The confections were amazing, and the prices weren't too bad.
From San José, we drove along the "gut" of tourist development that has almost completely obscured views of the coastline all the way to Cabo San Lucas. And still there is more development planned.
We didn't bother to stop in Cabo, having seen enough during our 3 days there in December. We were longing to see the natural scenery, which came into view again a few miles outside of town. Unfortunately, non-existent shoulders and heavy traffic made it impossible to stop and take any pictures. We carried on to Todos Santos, where we planned to spend the night.
Todos Santos has a long history of its own, and only recently has it started developing as a tourist destination. It was easy to see why people like it. It looks a bit like an oasis in the desert, with farms and nurseries on the outskirts of town. It has a number of beautiful beaches nearby, popular with surfers (but rather dangerous for swimmers). And it has a district of old buildings that makes it seem more like a town on the mainland of Mexico than a tourist hangout. But real estate development is in full swing here, and we found the restaurants here to be pricier than almost anywhere we had been in the last several months. We did find a good deal on a motel room, and we enjoyed our typical street taco lunch even more than the "Asian fusion" dinner.
The last section of highway leading from Todos Santos back to La Paz was the most modern, and strangely, the least crowded, of our short trip. Still, we were glad to get the rental car safely returned, and to get back on the water (even if we are still in the marina).
We started down the eastern side of the loop, which is shorter but more winding. We slowed down to see the old mining town of El Triunfo, and took a breakfast stop further on. The "check engine" light came on in the rented Dodge Attitude, but it turned out to be a non-issue. We dropped Karen and David off with plenty of time to spare, then headed south to San José del Cabo.
Our first stop was the recently-opened Los Cabos marina. It was a bit hard to find because the road leading to it is still under construction. It was filled mostly with sportfishers and large power yachts, but we made our way to the one dock with a few cruising sailboats tied up to it. We were surprised to find that you can stay here for only about $1/foot/night if you don't mind going without electricity. This is only a third of the cost of the other slips in the marina, and we had given the place a miss in December because we didn't know about the low-cost alternative. We spoke briefly with the crew of Orca, whose southbound trip had sadly been delayed when they were struck by another sailboat in Newport, Oregon, and had to sort out the damage before continuing.
After we left the marina, we headed into town. The center of most Mexican towns is the church, and we arrived at San José's church just as the Palm Sunday service was winding up.
Outside the church, a number of vendors had created a myriad of palm-based sculptures and ornaments for worshippers.
A block away, we discovered a really nice French bakery. The confections were amazing, and the prices weren't too bad.
From San José, we drove along the "gut" of tourist development that has almost completely obscured views of the coastline all the way to Cabo San Lucas. And still there is more development planned.
We didn't bother to stop in Cabo, having seen enough during our 3 days there in December. We were longing to see the natural scenery, which came into view again a few miles outside of town. Unfortunately, non-existent shoulders and heavy traffic made it impossible to stop and take any pictures. We carried on to Todos Santos, where we planned to spend the night.
Todos Santos has a long history of its own, and only recently has it started developing as a tourist destination. It was easy to see why people like it. It looks a bit like an oasis in the desert, with farms and nurseries on the outskirts of town. It has a number of beautiful beaches nearby, popular with surfers (but rather dangerous for swimmers). And it has a district of old buildings that makes it seem more like a town on the mainland of Mexico than a tourist hangout. But real estate development is in full swing here, and we found the restaurants here to be pricier than almost anywhere we had been in the last several months. We did find a good deal on a motel room, and we enjoyed our typical street taco lunch even more than the "Asian fusion" dinner.
The last section of highway leading from Todos Santos back to La Paz was the most modern, and strangely, the least crowded, of our short trip. Still, we were glad to get the rental car safely returned, and to get back on the water (even if we are still in the marina).
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Back to La Paz
Its been a great week with David and Karen aboard, but its finally come to an end. We had a great sail in the morning from Ensenada Grande back towards La Paz.
As we neared the entrance channel, we decided we had time to look for whale sharks in front of El Mogote. We got lucky and spotted swimmers in the water with a whale shark. We stalled the boat, and David, Karen and I took turns swimming over to the whale shark. It was a fairly small one, perhaps 20-25' (they can grow up to 20 meters in length!). It swam slowly along, allowing us a very close look. Once I dove down to look at it from below, and it turned on its side to keep its eye on me! A magical encounter.
After returning to a slip at Marina Palmira, David and Karen helped us with boat cleaning and other chores. We could not have asked for better crew! We will miss the ukelele playing, meal preparation, and other fun activities we shared this week. Tomorrow we'll drive them down to the Los Cabos airport and visit Todos Santos on our way back to La Paz.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Los Islotes
After 5 days of fairly continuous winds, we finally awoke to a calm morning in Ensenada Grande. Good timing to backtrack a mile or so to Los Islotes, where you can swim among a colony of sea lions.
Its a popular day trip from La Paz, and we were able to pick up a mooring buoy instead of anchoring. Once in the water, the sea lions come right up and check you out.
One sea lion became somewhat aggressive and chased Vicki and Karen for awhile. It actually bit Karen on the upper arm and punctured her wet suit. Other than that, it was a joy to be close to these animals!
Ensenada Grande
After two days at Isla San Francisco, it was time to turn back toward La Paz. We had another downhill run, this time thanks to the more typical north wind. We tucked into Ensenada Grande, the first sheltered anchorage we came to on Isla Espiritu Santo. More great snorkeling (we saw a manta ray) and desert hiking with David and Karen. More gusty winds - it blew 20-30kts in the anchorage during part of the night.
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