Category Archives: Mexico

Summmer in the Sea of Cortez, the good, the bad and the unbearably cute

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Now that it’s over, there is time to reflect back on spending the summer in the Sea of Cortez. We had talked to people that had done it before we made our decision and the general consensus was it would be beautiful, hot, and desolate. There were other places we considered, but our favored Gold Coast area of Mexico is prone to hurricanes, with no place to hide from them. We were quite ready to go further south, although it was tempting. The mainland area of Mexico, Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta, is known for extreme humidity and almost daily rain and thundershowers, and Mazatlan till carried a slight risk of hurricanes. La Paz, while in the Sea of Cortez, is not considered typical Sea of Cortez cruising grounds. It can be, and has been, hit by hurricanes. There are several marinas here that are generally thought of as a safe place to be during a hurricane, however I was a bit worried about them filling up before we were able to secure a slip if something nasty were to head our way. And – as much entertainment as they provide, towns tend to cost more money. I had this idea we would head up into the Sea and not spend much money as about the only thing we would need to buy would be groceries and some fuel.

On the plus side this summer – great sunsets.

So, despite some misgivings, especially on Jenn’s part, we stocked up on provisions and headed north from La Paz to see for ourselves. The short answer is, people were right. It was hot, there weren’t very many people around, and it was scenic. At first, it wasn’t too bad. We were seeing new anchorages, and as I’ve previously written about, we went to the 4th of July Party in Bahia Concepcion and took a trip home to Seattle. Our plan was to sail north to the Bahia Los Angles area after our trip to Seattle. This is a rather remote area where most cruisers hang out for the summer. After our trip to Seattle, we decided to stay in the Loreto area for the summer, which worked out since the biggest negative of the decision was a higher risk of hurricanes, and we did not end up with the adventure of experiencing one.

Sometimes we weren’t sure if we were in Mexico or the San Juans.

That, however, seems to be the high point of the summer. It pains me a bit to say it, since really living on a sailboat in a beautiful area is a special treat. But… it was HOT, and not just that, it was generally brutally humid. I’ve always dealt with heat well, back in Seattle when we would have a rare heat wave I was not one of the people complaining about the heat once it pushed over 80 degrees, or even 90. But the humidity – that was unexpected. I guess it makes sense, seeing as we were out at sea, but I think I was expecting more desert dry air. Maybe all the cactus on shore fooled me. We were also lucky enough to experience the first rain in three years in the area. Once it decided to rain once, the weather seemed to enjoy the experience so it kept doing it. Of course, after a heavy rain that turned streets into rivers, the sun would often come up, and the already unbearable humidity would skyrocket. Since I don’t want to just whine, the plus side of the rain was some amazingly green shores to view from the boat. But the combination of heat and humidity was demoralizing. Swimming at least provided a brief respite from the sweat tricking down intimate crevices of your body, but with water temperatures close to the air temperature it wasn’t particularly refreshing. Walking for more than a minute or two was a challenge, so hiking was out of the question.

One of the longest walks we took all summer was to this abandoned salt evaporation pond. They could have just evaporated the sweat off me and had plenty of salt.

The plus side of the sun was plenty of solar, so we often huddled in the boat in front of the fans and watched more TV than I care to admit. I’m not sure we would have survived without the fans, two in the cabin and two in the v-berth that made the difference between sleepless nights and a cool breeze that allowed for slumber. The need for them is diminishing, but we still run them a bit, just not non stop like we were doing. Our solar kept up with the fridge, which was good because we were drinking more water than I’ve ever consumed before and it was a lot more pleasant ice cold then at room temperature. Especially when room temperature is 90 plus degrees.

One of the prettiest beaches we visited, where the fish swam right up to you while snorkeling.

Some of the other factors in the unpleasantness of the summer were swarms of flies – killing them became kind of a hobby. Then at night with they vanished, the giant moths would appear. This was much to Minion’s delight, since after hiding from the heat all day he would go out at night and hunt the moths. We didn’t mind so much except when he would occasionally manage to sneak past the screen door with one and let it loose in the cabin. This would produce more excitement then any of us wanted. Even when trying to sit out in the cockpit after sundown they would fly into you, which, while harmless, was a bit unsettling. There weren’t many people to hang out with, and most of the people in the area were long time residents, not cruisers. They all knew each other, and the main activity seemed to be sitting in plastic chairs outside of the tienda in Puerto Escondido drinking beer. We did meet some nice couples but no one else that seemed to be staying in the area. Again looking for the upside – it was generally pretty easy to get a prime spot in an anchorage when we did move around, and more than once we were the only boat so we could choose to drop the hook where ever we chose. This does make from some less stressful conversations about where exactly to anchor, unlike the conversations when we are trying to place ourselves away from the 10 or more other boats in an anchorage.

The clouds did make for more interesting skies when they weren’t dumping rain on us.

In the end, we survived by mostly anchoring at the Candeleros anchorage in front of a large resort that due to low summer occupancy rates is friendly to cruisers. We spent some time hanging out at the their pool, stayed online with their wi-fi that covered the anchorage, and took their free air conditioned shuttle bus into Loreto for groceries every week or so. There was also a small store in a small town at the other end of the anchorage where we could get some supplies. I’m sure the resort staff was wondering if we were ever going to leave, but they never asked us to or banned us from taking advantage of their generosity. We probably didn’t do as much business with them as they hoped since the prices were a bit high, but Jenn bought  her share of diet Coke at their store, and we occasionally splurged for Happy Hour beers when the two for one price brought them down $2 per beer range.

Our summer home.

Our GPS has been pretty accurate – but this island in the middle of the anchorage luckily does not exist.

In hindsight, we probably would have left the boat somewhere and gone back to Seattle for the summer (and of course everyone back home has told us what an amazing summer we missed). Or stayed in La Paz where there are more people, air conditioned movie theaters and marinas we could head to if there was a hurricane threat. There were some scenic anchorages, and we enjoyed watching the rain turn the brown Baja peninsula into a green garden. But we were hot, bored, annoyed with the insects and unable to take advantage of much of the scenery on shore. I’m hoping to get in touch with some of the boats that went further north and see if they had a better time, or just being around other cruisers gave them a misery loves company camaraderie.

Jenn fights boredom by playing Scrabble with Minion. He was a little stunned when she challenged “Meow.”

Loreto – our link to civilization.

If you want to see the Sea of Cortez I would recommend trying to see it in the spring or fall. I suppose even the winter would be okay – although it might be cold in a relative way. If I had it to do over, when we arrived in La Paz in the fall we would have loaded up on food and headed north as quickly as possible. Once up north we would explore until the seasonal northerly winds filled in, then sailed back south to La Paz for a visit before working our way over to the mainland. I’ll keep in in mind if there is a next time in this area.

And one last sunset in the Sea of Cortez…

However, despite my misgivings about the summer, we did end up with one special reason to remember this summer. After spotting a cage of puppies out front of the vet\feed store in Loreto from the shuttle bus while returning to out boat one day, we returned the next day for a closer look. It was a tough decision with four adorable dogs to choose from, but Jenn made a decision and Agnes joined our crew. Our best guess is she is a poodle yorkie mix. but we’ll probably never know for sure. She has turned out to be as comfortable on the boat as Minion, not phased by the engine or the heeling over under sail. We still need some big waves to find out if she gets sea sick, but I’ll be surprised if she does. She is now about 4 months old and still weighs just under 4 pounds, and we are hoping for her full size to be between six and seven pounds. Minion has always shown an interest in other animals, and Agnes has been no exception. The two of them spend hours playing, and although Minion is about four times her size he manages to play without mauling her. Once she has had her trip outside in the morning her favorite activity is to start running the length of the cabin, grabbing a kibble of food out of her bowl as she runs by. She is a little head turner, and we enjoy walking around La Paz with her as people point and and turn their heads to watch her go by. She loves people and wants to approach everyone with the expectation they are going to pet her. Jenn has been working on training her and already she is learning a few tricks. Now if she would just pick up the pace a bit on the potty training – although she is doing much better with that. Being a cat person I wasn’t quite clued in to this puppy challenge, but we have a doormat we put in the cockpit and she is pretty good about taking care of business on it.

Decisions, decisions.

And the lucky winner is… Agnes!

So while overall the summer was quite what we were expecting, and certainly not what we were hoping for, we made the best of it and now have full crew on the boat. Sometimes it seems a bit much when I’m trying to relax with my morning coffee and animals are racing around the boat playing, which seriously harshes on my morning chill time, but in the end I have to just laugh at how unbearably cute the whole scene is and laugh at the animal antics.

Warning: Possible cute picture overload below – you have been warned.

Agnes in her younger days.

New best friends.

The friendship is fading quickly.

Trying to beat the heat swimming in her water dish.

Silly kitty – wine is for Jenn!

Agnes running from the smoke monster.

The animals love to wrassle.

We let the pets have a cold beer now and then.

Agnes holds her own against a much bigger opponent.

Minion enjoys his cold cerveza.

Minion learns not to try to keep up with the puppy when it is hot out.

And one last one of Agnes.

Road Trip

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We seem to have settled into a bit of a malaise. Many factors are to blame, the energy sucking heat, the shortage of other cruisers in the area, a comfortable anchorage with free wi-fi, the lack of a great anchorage at the closest town making evenings out difficult… and maybe a tad bit of laziness. We really were going to leave for a little exploration after my last post, but then a boat we knew dropped anchor next to us, I went over to say hi and managed to chat until it was too late to leave that day. We just didn’t come up with the energy to escape the next day and easily settled back into the routine.

Something drastic needed to be done, and it didn’t seem to be happening on the boat. So we rounded up the energy for a five mile sail to Puerto Escondido. We actually had pretty decent wind and I seriously contemplated sailing into the inner harbor as it looked like I had a straight shot in on a nice beam reach. But after consdering the 200 foot wide entrance with 10′ to 12′ depths, one side consisting of a rock jetty and the potential for a sport fishing boat to come out at less than no wake speeds, I tucked my tail between my legs, rolled in the sail and motored in. Maybe next time. Once secured back to our favorite mooring ball, Number 95 (humans are creatures of habit) we arranged for a (gasp) rental car. If we couldn’t manage to sail anywhere, we were going to take a road trip to La Paz. After much discussion we agreed the best strategy was to get the car mid-day, drove to La Paz (4-5 hours depending on reports) and get our shopping done in the evening, grab a cheap hotel and drive back in the the next morning. We got up the next day, packed our overnight bags, and prompty heard a tsunami warning come over the VHF because of an earthquake in Costa Rica. It didn’t take much discussion this time around to agree to cancel the car and go the next day. About the time we got to shore and made the call, another announcment over the VHF cancelled the tsunami warning. Now being the most wishy-washy customers imaginable, we called on more time and requested the car for today, after all. That business out of the way, we set off on something we haven’t done in over a year -drive more than a few miles in a car.

Step one for a road trip – a car.


It has been unseasonable rainy in this area, the first rain in three years according to a local we talked to. Because of this, the normally brown Baja has turned into a veritable garden of Eden, assuming the garden of Eden had sprawling fields of giant cacti. We climbed from sea level on a twisty road that made me miss my sports cars, then reached a plateau where the road straitened out and we drove for kilometers without turning. I even passed a semi without turning the wheel. When a spot opened up to pass, he moved into the left lane so I could see ahead and pass on his left without leaving my lane. Unorthodox, but it made some sense.

Kilometers of straight road.


And some curves, where is the sports car when you need it?

We were suprised to pass through farmland, and the surprisingly large city of Constitucion. Although we had it in our minds, driving from one coastal location to another, that we would be driving along the coastline, we could not see the water for most of the trip. We did get a peek-a-boo view of the Pacific at one point. Finally after driving by more cacti then I think I’ve seen in the rest of my life, we dropped back down to the coastline and apporached La Paz.
We hit the major stores and loaded up on goods we can’t find in Loreto, or are substanstially more expensive. Shoping done (for the day) we headed to The Shack, only to find it closed. Which meant there were only about 10 people there drinking beer, and eating the delicious free ceviche Rosie had made. We hung out for awhile and caught up with the owner and couple other cruisers before checking into our hotel and finding a street vendor for hamburgers. While not quite Shack burgers, we did get two burgers and sodas for the price of a Shack burger. And they were still quite tasty.

Evidence of all the recent rain.


The greenest valleys you have ever seen are in Baja?

After sleeping in an air conditioned room, a delightful treat, we hit a couple stores for a some last minute purchases and headed out. We made a quick stop in Constitucion for some produce at a remarkably well stocked grocery store, although I’m still trying to figure out what the guy with a shopping cart packed with pineapple and cilantro was cooking. Finally back in Puerto Escondido, a few trips between trunk and the dinghy and we were ready to head out to the boat. It took a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to pack everything away in the boat, but we (Jenn) managed it, and we could call our road trip complete.

I’m not sure if it is the related to the rain, or just something seasonal, but for the last few days there have been non stop butterflies flitting past us. They have been so thick at times it looks like it is snowing butterflies (alhough most of them are yellow, with an occasional white one). During our drive we saw them almost constantly, and upon our return to the boat they continued to stream by, obviously with some important destination as none of them have landed on the boat to take a little break.

Butterfly flurries.


While not a trip to the “Islands of Loreto” (the local tourism boards name for this area) we at least got out and about for a bit. It was a bit different experiencing La Paz by car rather than our typical walking with an occasional bus ride. And while not the coastal drive we somehow expected, it was quite intereting to see some inland scenery.

Cacus, cactus eveywhere.

One Year

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Today is the one year anniversary of cutting the dock lines and setting sail. To Bainbridge Island. And it would be another couple months before we arrive in Mexico. In hindsight, maybe not the best date for an anniversary, so a moment of silence for all the victims of the more import 9-11. And for our “floating” dinghy painter which we managed to seriously wrap around our prop shaft while setting the anchor today in celebration of our anniversary. One year, and still lots to learn.

I suppose I should write a reflective piece on our first year, but it kind of snuck up me, and I’ve been working on a couple other posts about our activities of the last week, so I’ll just post this for now to actually have it show up on the one year date, and get a couple more posts up soon. Then I can sit back and wax philosophical about a year at sea. Or in anchorages. Or crashing resorts on the beach. Or wrapping things around the prop shaft, since I’m now at three times and counting.

A flashback to one year ago in Seattle – I prefer this kind of line cutting to cutting lines off the prop shaft!

Summertime Blues

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I haven’t been writing much, because there hasn’t been much to write about. Probably the biggest news is our decision to stay in the Loreto\Puerto Escondido area for the rest of the summer. The majority of the cruisers head further north, to the Bay of Los Angeles. But it sounds like it is hotter up there, more chance of Chubasco winds, less provisioning opportunities, and (gasp) less internet access. The downside of this area is less cruisers to hang out with, and of course the minor threat of being hit with a hurricane. While we are certainly hoping that does not happen, Puerto Escondido is a renowned hurricane hole, and we did some research and it sounds like the mooring balls there are being maintained to a level that we feel comfortable with if we have to ride out a hurricane on one. Of course, I’m also thinking through the logistics to deploying a tandem anchor setup while attaching to a mooring ball as a fail safe.

Believe it or not, this is the Sea of Cortez in August

Since our return, we have spent a few days on the mooring ball we left Ventured on during our visit to Seattle. We hadn’t anticipated spending more than a couple days there, but it took at least half a day just to clean off the solar panels that apparently became a bird roost during our absence. After getting them nice and clean, we welcomed the heaviest rains we’ve seen since Fort Bragg during our trip down the Pacific Coast. The first round of rain was nice, cool temperatures and a good wash down for the boat. After three days of off and on rains and cloudy skies, we had had our fill. Because we rely almost exclusively on solar power to charge the batteries, we had to go into electricity lock down mode, and using what electricity we could manage for the most important (and biggest) energy consumer on the boat, the fridge. On the plus side, it didn’t have to work nearly as hard with the cool temperatures we were experiencing. There was some frustration over bringing back a hard drive full of new movies and TV series, being stuck on the boat with cabin fever, and not being able to watch anything because we had no spare electricity. It is a good thing my Kindle runs weeks on a single charge.

At least cloudy skies make for great sunsets. I guess this cloud doesn’t quite have a sliver lining, but you get the point.

Finally the skies returned to their more common shade of blue, and we decide it was time for a change of scenery. Best to ease back into the cruising after almost a month since we last moved the boat, so we took a small 5 mile trip to the anchorage out front of the resort with the fabulous swimming pool complex and settled back into life on the anchor instead of a mooring ball. We also chose this anchorage because the resort will let you take their shuttle into town, and an air conditioned ride in a Mercedes van beats hitch hiking and riding in the backseat of a pick up with the driver’s machete. Well, maybe not from an adventure perspective, but from a logistics and comfort perspective, it is no contest. We were able to take a trip to Loreto and stock up on groceries. I was just thinking it over, and since leaving La Paz I think we’ve eaten out about 5 times (not counting our visit home – we had a list and almost made it through it. I’m still due a Unicorn Dog). Groceries are a bit more expensive up here but overall I think we are spending a less. We do miss the Mega in La Paz with it’s wonderful selection of grocery items we have not been able to find in this area and even looked into renting a car for a provisioning trip to La Paz. We have yet to take a road trip in Mexico and it does sound kind of fun.

Jenn and Minion try to catch some provisions.

We are planning a couple day visit to Isla Carmen over the weekend. One of the reasons we decided to stay here are the multiple anchorages in the area, so we need to get out and see them This should lead to some blog posts and photos, although posting will involve visiting anchorages we’ve already been to for internet access. I can’t really complain about returning to the one we are at now, we’ve had pretty good look with the weather here. There can be some wind at night but since that helps cool us off, and it hasn’t been strong to the point of scary yet we’re so far comfortable with it. The resort has fairly consistent, if slow, internet, and we can always head in for pool time or a shuttle ride to town. There is also a small town at the other end of the bay with a tienda that has a surprising amount of supplies, although they are puzzlingly lacking  in cans of Diet Coke category.

Where’s the fish?

After some lazy days here we’ve been a bit more active the last couple days and tackled cleaning the bottom of the boat. The new paint is holding up beautifully, but still requires a light wipe down every six weeks or so. Jenn tried out the kayak for the first time today, and then we took the dinghy around the corner and found some nice snorkeling. We are anchored in around 15-20′ of water depending on the tide and where the boat swings, and can see the bottom pretty well. While snorkeling around the boat a couple days ago I was looking at the anchor, and lifted my head out of the water, and when I lowered my mask back into the water found my self face to face with about a dozen rays. While it was a wonderful sight, I will admit it startled me just a bit. I followed them around a bit watching them lazily flap their way through the anchorage. I’ve seen them leap out of the water before, but this was my first encounter with them in the water. While I really wanted to get up close, thoughts of Steve Irwin kept me at a healthy distance. Some post encounter Google research suggests only one of the four species of ray in the Sea of Cortez has a stinger, but sadly, the four species all look quite similar. An underwater camera would have been useful, but it on the wish list for now. I think this experience might have bumped it up a couple notches though.

I’ll report back after our weekend getaway. I suspect we’ll have some pretty isolated anchorages, the few boats that are in the area seem to be staying (as we have been) in just the same handful of the available anchorages. We are looking forward to checking out some new spots and getting away from the more occupied spots for a few days, before we need to return to society for more provisions.

Minion masticates a massive moth.

Homeward Bound

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Circumstances have come together in such a way that we are taking a trip home. We were generously offered the use of a buddy pass from my sister, at about the same time Alaska Airlines changed their policy to allow pets to fly in cabin in Mexico. We were also near a spot we can leave the boat for a reasonable price, and if we travel now it will be summertime in Seattle, and we can return to the boat in time to sail north to avoid the worst of the hurricane zone. So even though it violates some weird goal I had in my head of being gone a year before heading home, we are flying to Seattle on July 19th for a two week visit.

Of course this is not without some complications. The great little hard kitty carrier we’ve been toting around on the boat all this time (it does store the as of yet uninstalled anemometer quite nicely) is apparently about three inches too tall to fit beneath an airline seat, where Minon will have to ride. This is concerning since Minion is taller than the case when he stands up. But thanks to a lucky find of an appropriately sized duffel bag, Jenn’s sewing skills to put in some mesh panels, and the kind donation of a political yard sign from the recently completed Mexican elections which we cut up to make a floor, we have a soft kitty carrier we think will fit under the seat. I’m not sure how Minion is going to cope with such a cozy space for the two 2.5 hour flights and a four hour layover, but we are hoping for the best. Another new cruising couple on a yet unnamed boat is going to give us a ride to the airport. We had actually discussed catching a ride with the to the US at the end of July when they are driving up to the Bay Area but this will be a little quicker trip for us. Since, as the saying goes, cruiser plans are written in sand at low tide, they were understanding about us not riding up with them. It will be nice to have a planned ride after our hitching to town experience that involved a lot of walking and standing in some very powerful sun, and the phrase “careful of the machete” as Jenn climbed into the back seat of a the pickup that stopped to pick us up on the way back. I figured being warned to watch out for the machete was a pretty good sign, vs. not being warned about one and having it surprise us later.

I’m not sure we would have been given this sign if they had known we were going to cut it up to line the bottom of a kitty carrier.

After our trip to town today pick up a few last supplies, we now have two days to pack, clean up and prep the boat for our two week absence. While there is very little threat of a hurricane here this time of year, there is still the possibility of a Chubasco with up to 70 knot winds so we’ll leave as little as possible on the decks and lash down the sails. We are leaving the boat on a mooring ball, and we’ve heard the ground tackle holding the mooring balls here are in good shape but I may toss on the scuba gear and dive down to look at the one we are on, just to make sure. Of course, in our perfect world we’ll leave the boat spotless so we can come back to a clean boat with our bags full of new goodies to explode into. We’ve started some packing, and I actually managed to locate a jacket which I’m afraid I may need. I’m still trying to find socks, and have realized that my swimsuit count may outnumber actual shorts. While swimsuits make fine daily wear here, I might be better off wearing more traditional clothes while out and about in Seattle.

Assuming all our remaining clothes for temperatures under 85 degrees are located and packed and the boat is sufficiently prepped, we’ll be in Seattle in a couple days hoping the sunshine comes with us, and that we don’t go into some sort of toxic shock from having the daily high temperature not be as hot as the heat we try to beat in the middle of the night with fans and a lack of blankets. It will be whirlwind tour of friends, family, shopping, fountain soda, crunchy tacos, home cooked meals, micro brews, trying to remember how to drive (ignore that if you’ve offered us the use of a car) and couch surfing. We may even go sailing. All while actually wearing clothes, coats even, with a black cat in tow. I can’t wait!

Minion wants to make sure we don’t forget to pack him too!

The 4th of July Dash

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A little sunset to get us ready for our trip.


Sometimes, when you sail towards a destination the wind is just right. Our first leg north was not one of those times. The wind seemed to be blowing from the island we were sailing to, but since it wasn’t that far away we tacked a few times and beat towards it. We were rewarded with some dolphins leaping out of the water as we arrived at Isla Coronado. The next couple days were the kind of sailing where the wind was almost just right, behind and and blowing. Of course there was also some wave action, and at times maybe a touch much wind. But for the most part it was some of our best sailing and we actually averaged about 5.5 knots on one of the legs while under just the jib. I can not for the life of me figure out why one of the boats that went by us was motor sailing, although I was happy to find out after they passed us that they weren’t just sailing. We eventually had to reef when the wind picked up and I couldn’t get the boat to slow below 7 knots. Tan Tori was a bit behind us and reported seeing 40 knots wind in that area.

A pelican diving for some tasty fish. I’ll bet he didn’t get a 55″ Dorado!


You know what? Pelican butt.

After racing up to Bahia Concepcion so quickly we had a day to rest up before the 4th of July party, which we mostly spend recovering from the sailing and a rather nervous night at anchorage with 30ish knot winds all night. At least they were blowing from the beach, so if we drug anchor we would have woken up in the middle of the Sea of Cortez, not on the beach. We are also a little tired out from hauling in a 55″ Dorado and cutting off so many filets we had to give some away when we got to Concepcion. It even rained a bit in the morning after all the wind, making me a little homesick for typical Seattle 4th weather. We also went ashore to scope out a local tienda, which did not have a lot of goods on their shelves, but much to Jenn’s relief despite their lack of power did have a bin of ice with diet Coke in it.

The one that didn’t get away. On the way back, one did but it was smaller.


Colors of the Pacific Northwest.


Raindrops on the 3rd of July. Just like home.


On the Fourth, we headed to the party around noon, ready to enjoy the cruiser potluck and free hot dogs provided by the host Geary who lives on the beach and provides weather reports on the single side band radio for cruisers. Several of the boats that had been anchored in the next bay south with us had moved over to the anchorage in front of the beach, making it quite full. Overall I believe there were 40 boats that signed in. After a trip through the potluck line, a couple rounds of cold cervezas and some socializing we decided to head back to the boat to relax (nap) before heading back for the fireworks.

Jenn and Tori on the way to the party.


Jenn brought the ever popular Jello shots for the potluck. Cruisers love free booze.


Consider yourself warned.


I didn’t quite catch what the woman was saying to this guy, but I believe it involved questioning his wardrobe choices. Even in Mexico, we can’t escape the Utilikilt.


Prior to the fireworks, one of the cruisers put on a fire spinning show. He was good with the banter and had a lot of interaction with the crowd. Jenn and I were a bit amused with oohs and ahhs from the crowd – after Burning Man this was not the most impressive fire spinning show since we’ve seen dozens of people all performing at once. At least this performance was on a real Playa! (I don’t usually explain my humor, but since that one will only make sense to Burners, very few of which probably read this… Burning Man is held on a dry lake bed referred to as The Playa. Playa is Spanish for beach.) After he finished there was a little break, then the fireworks show. I guess on the plus side, not all of the shells were launched at once, but it was a rather meager show with a not a lot of variety. I’ve put on better shows with the fireworks my ex step dad used to buy.

A little fire spinning.


A little fire breathing.


A little fireworks.

The next day we decided to give the weather a some time to calm down. The forecast was for lighter winds that should be a bit more favorable to our direction of travel. If we had been trying to beat into the weather we sailed north to the party in, we probably would have turned around and skipped the party. We used our weather day to hitch a ride into Mulege. We had been told hitching a ride was pretty easy so we walked out to the highway and waited for a car to go by so we could stick out our thumbs. And waited. There were very few cars heading to town, and about half the vehicles that went by going the right direction were semis or other delivery trucks. Eventually the guy beer at the party drove by, and my patronage paid off as he stopped without us even sticking out our thumbs. It was a bit interesting sitting in the back of a box truck (think small U-Haul truck) with the sliding door open, but we managed not to fall out. Mulege provided some groceries, a very filling chicken lunch with great internet, and a fun second hand store we explored. We both miss our Value Village trips!

At least there was a wheel well to sit on.


And a great view of where we were.

We caught a ride back much quicker, from a local in a pickup so old I had to check and see if it was a Datsun. He seemed like a nice young guy but didn’t speak much English. I was able to pick up that we was recommending a restaurant near our anchorage wear we think he worked. I still can’t carry on a conversation but I’m learning more words. Now if they just came at me a little slower!

We spent the next couple days heading back south to the Loreto area. The winds did calm down, a little too much so we pretty much motored the whole trip. We stopped in San Juanico and did some beach combing as Jenn was keen on finding some obsidian, and visited the cruisers shrine. We made a quick stop at Punta Mangles to check out the resort abandoned during construction. The beach combing didn’t live up to the guide book, and we were running a little low on gas for the dinghy so we skipped the several mile round trip to the sea caves. Maybe on our next stop we can check them out. Now we are back at Isla Coronados, and after a couple days of almost private anchorages we are a bay with 7 other boats and lots of VHF chatter during the day. It almost feels like civilization.

Our contribution to the cruiser shrine at San Juanico.


Jenn’s beach combing efforts are rewarded with obsidian.


All I found was a giant hermit crab.


Checking out the cruisers shrine.


A picture for my geologist friends, if I have any.

While the trip up and back was fun and provided some interesting stops the overall party was a bit of a let down. I was kind of hoping to meet some new people since a lot of the boats that will be in the Sea of Cortez for the summer were there, and we didn’t really accomplish that. It underscored how young we are compared to the average cruisers. We did chat with one other couple in our age range and look forward to seeing them again but didn’t have a chance to really interact on more than a quick conversational level. I guess I can’t complain too much, I’m writing this in the cockpit of the boat this morning in a swimsuit with dolphins feeding nearby and a ray repeatedly jumping out of the water and slapping back on the surface.

This boobie grabbed a free ride on our windvane. Considering we caught it with a fishing lure I guess it kind of deserved the break. And yes, it flew off and seemed okay after the whole ordeal.


Jenn tries to touch a boobie


I’m Batkitty!

The Sea of Cortez, So Far

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Finally heading north to the Sea of Cortez!


My impressions of the Sea of Cortez so far: It is hot. And it is only June. This worries me a bit. As for the scenery – it is beautiful in a deserted, rugged way. The best description I can come up with is it looks like someone flooded Utah and we can sail there. There is a certain oddness sitting in a sailboat on the water, looking at a barren rocky shoreline with cacti dotting the topography.

Other than our “weekend getaway” from La Paz up to Calita Partida, we remained Sea of Cortez virgins. Well, not completely, as we’ve crossed the Sea three times and counting, but crossings don’t really count for cruising and pretty much all you see is land, a lot of water, than land again. And the pages of your book (or Kindle screen, I guess I should say now) and the back of your eyelids during your breaks from the helm. Well, and some dolphins and leaping rays. But my point is that we have yet to anchor up in the cruising grounds of the Sea of Cortez.

Jenn and Minion coil up our once again empty fishing lines. We WILL catch another fish this summer.

So after a couple busy, expensive days in La Paz we were loaded up with food, fuel (diesel and propane), a new Mexican courtesy flag (that of course is still waiting to replace the half of the one we are currently flying), various supplies such as oil for the dinghy outboard and water for the batteries, and full stomachs from one last Shack Burger, we once again left La Paz. Our first night was once again in Calita Partida although we didn’t go exploring this time. Since Isla Espiritu Santo is so close to La Paz we’ll save that area for our next visit to the La Paz area.

So that is how you go to weather!

Tan Tori shows us a better way to travel.


If you look close, you can figure out why part of the island is white.


Our next stop was Isla San Francisco, which we really enjoyed. It might have been a tad bit better if we had moved to another anchorage just around the corner of the island for our second night that would have afforded better protection from the SW winds that came up, but it wasn’t the most uncomfortable night we’ve had at anchorage. There are some great beaches, hiking, and probably snorkeling although we didn’t explore that option. We chatted with a father and his two young kids and got the scoop on snorkeling for agates at one of the beaches so we’ll try that on our return. We also caught up with our friends on Tan Tori who we hadn’t seen since La Cruz (I’m thinking we last saw them the night of the big tourist party, but it is a bit fuzzy). A swing by to say hi turned into drinks, then dinner, than more drinks. They are also planning to spend the summer up north so I’m sure our paths will cross again, maybe even this evening as we are headed back to the anchorage they are currently in.

Sierra de la Giganta mountain range from Isla San Fancisco.


After seeing these teeth, I may rethink the swimming.



Just the typical Sea of Cortez scenery.


Hard to believe this was taken a few hundred feet from a sea.


Sun baked crab.


Jenn taking a beach stroll, me trying to learn some of the modes on my fancy camera.


Gotta stretch the legs on shore and scamper up to the vantage point.

From Isla San Francisco, we took a short 5 mile jaunt to San Everisto, a fairly protected bay with a small fishing village. We made it ashore and wandered around, checking out the local Tienda which had some pretty limited supplies, none of which we needed just yet after our La Paz shopping spree just a few days back. The highlight was a very cute dog we dubbed Pepe that joined us midway through our walk and escorted us for a bit till another dog proved more interesting than our constitutional. The protected anchorage was nice as we had another windy night of the local Corumels. These winds come up in the evening and often last through the night, blowing from the south to southwest (the direction many anchorages in this area are exposed to). They are localized to the (greater) La Paz area and are formed by air blowing across the Baja peninsula from the cooler Pacific waters to the warmer waters for the Sea of Cortez. While they don’t blow every night in the summer, they are frequent. On the plus side they cool things down and keep the bugs off the boat, but at 20-30 knots of wind they can test your ground tackle and can cause you to wake up frequently at night to make sure your boat is still where you anchored it. The good news is they tend to stop by the time you reach Aqua Verde, our next stop. The bad news? Elaphantes and Chubascos. And in another couple months, hurricanes. It isn’t all Pina Coladas at sunset in paradise! But now that we have successfully made ice against our fridge evaporator plate, it is more Pina Coladas.

Beachfront homes in San Evaristo.


Our friend Pepe.


Jenn gets the once over from a vulture. Maybe we were walking a little slower than we thought in the heat.


I think the truck is worth more than the house it is parked in front of.


I can’t pass up the animal pictures.


You don’t have to share the road with bicycles, but you may have to move over for a burro.


Aqua Verde was our next stop, a pleasant little village but a bit bigger than San Everisto. While the rugged Sierra de la Giganta mountains frequently come right down to the sea, here there is a bit of a flat spot with enough water coming from some where to grow some beautiful green vegetation. We went ashore to explore a bit and one of the locals bumping down the dirt road in his pickup stopped and offered us a ride when we asked him where the tienda was. While I was trying to phrase the question in my head, Jenn asked him in Spanish how many people lived there. About 150-200 people, enough to actually support two tiendas. They do not, however have any internet, although one house did have a phone he informed us when we asked about feeding our online addiction. We checked out both tiendas and again, neither was quite like shopping at a Safeway back home (and have I mentioned we would probably commit crimes for a shopping spree at Trader Joes?). We picked up some bananas and tortillas, but struck out on the goat cheese our guide book recommended finding in the area. While the town lacked the traditional square in the center many towns here feature, as we walked back to our dinghy around dusk kids began playing with a soccer ball on the basketball court that was roughly in the middle of things and several adults seemed to be strolling around the town.

Slacker goat – we could not find any goat cheese.

The next day we pushed 17 miles to an anchorage at Candeleros. As we approached from the south you have to round a small point, and there it is, a beautiful resort with a 5 pool complex, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Sadly they have discontinued taking a boat around the anchorage in the morning with free coffee and pastries for cruising boats which they did last year, but they are still allowing us unwashed heathen cruisers to use the pool and there is wi-fi in the bay if you have an antenna (where I’ll be posting this later). We went to the office and “registered” which involved getting a wristband and card for purchases at the resort in exchange for a credit card imprint. We found out happy hour was 4-6 pm with 2×1 drinks. Even with buy one get one free, they were some of the most expensive drinks we’ve had in Mexico. But to put it in some perspective – at Las Hadas in Manzanillo they wanted 200 pesos a day to land the dinghy at their dock, and with that fee you could also use the pool. Here we can drag our dinghy up on the beach for free, hang out at a nicer resort with better service and get free wifi, and we were paying about half the dinghy dock fee and actually receiving drinks. So all in all, not the worst deal in the world. This resort is reached by driving several miles on a dirt road, and is about 25 miles from the town big enough to have an airport. If you want a secluded stay somewhere, this could be your place. If you can manage to get here.

The resort in the middle of nowhere. I really want to see the business plan for this place.


This anchorage wasn’t in our guide book and with the nearby exposed rocks I’m a little curious how these two decided to anchor here.


Sea, meet sky.

We took advantage of the resorts offer to let sailors ride their shuttle to Loreto if it wasn’t full of paying guests. Loreto appears to be a fairly nice town, with more than just basic supplies (finally). As it is kind of the hub of commerce in the area, we’ll explore it more and I’ll document it after we do. We were just kind of on a quick trip to pick up some perishables were were starting to run low on. Of course, when we arrived in Loreto we planned to take the next shuttle back, just a few hours later at 4:00 pm. But when we signed up for it, we were 18 and 19 on an 18 passenger bus. The next bus wasn’t till 9 pm and put us in the position of hesitancy to buy anything that could spoil if we didn’t make it on the bus and had to wait 5 more hours (have I mentioned the heat yet?). We made the choice to limit our purchases, and of course that meant we made it back on the bus which actually held 19 counting the front seat. Live and learn…

So far we are enjoying this area, lots of anchorages within a day or two of sailing, and access to supplies although we have to work a bit harder for them and pay a bit more for them. We’ve caught up with some boats we know and look forward to meeting some new people as we visit the various anchorages. Right now our “plan” is to hang out in this area for a bit, but we’ll eventually work our way further north as hurricanes have been know to visit this area, but historically not till later in the summer.

Just another anchorage…

Random Reasons to Love Mexico

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The raw water pump on our engine has progressed from working flawlessly (after a bit of fixing up when I bought the boat) to dripping slightly to pretty much having a small stream of water exiting the weep hole while the engine is running.  Being in La Paz, with a strong local support group and multiple marine stores and repair shops, it seemed like a good place to tackle the problem.   After my initial inspection I though just tightening down the bolts and cleaning up the surfaces a gasket sat between might do the trick, but alas, it was not that simple.  The next step was tracking down a rebuild kit, which I found back in the US for $110.  Which didn’t really solve me problem of getting the pump fixed quickly so we could get out of town.  I also found directions for rebuilding the pump online, and it could be easy, or… it could get complicated if things didn’t come apart and slide back together easily.  I’m all about self sufficiency but building a home made bearing press didn’t sound all that fun.

So I put out a call for information on the morning net, and received the name of a shop that worked on pumps along with the stellar directions “On the street next to the Chedraui” (large grocery store Jenn and I have become fond of).  Armed with these directions and the pump in my backpack, off I went.  The directions proved remarkably good, and I only walked around an extra block or so because of my own confusion, but once I got on the right street I spotted a sign and even knew that seeing the word Bomba on the sign was a good thing (pump for those of you who know less Spanish that I do).  I asked the man behind the counter if he spoke English – he responded “A little.”  I was able to tell him I spoke a little Spanish, and he basically said we’ll work it out.  Sure enough, with the visual of the pump, some words in Spanish, probably more on his part in English, we were able to establish that they could fix it, I was to return tomorrow to pick it up, and it should cost just over half of the cost of the rebuild kit.  Not including somehow getting the the kit to Mexico.

As I returned to the boat, it occurred to me I had left a very necessary part of my engine with someone with nothing more than my name written on scrap of paper and a promise of it being ready tomorrow.  And based on my experience in Mexico so far, I wasn’t the least bit concerned about this.

Sure enough, the pump was ready the next day, rebuilt, polished up a bit, and priced right at their estimate.  It didn’t take long to get it bolted back onto the engine and all the hoses put back in place.  Fingers thinking about crossing, I fired it.  Not a drop of water running out!  Hours of engine running later, it is working great.  The engine even seems to be running a bit cooler, although I didn’t think it was leaking enough water to effect the temperature.  Still, I’m not unhappy with this added benefit.

Almost seems a shame to put this shiny pump on…

…/ our not so clean engine. Yes, it is on the project list.

So, engine fixed up, we should be on our way out of La Paz, but a day or so later still sitting in the anchorage I heard some commotion on the Malecon.  It aroused my curiosity, but not Jenn’s, so I took a solo trip to shore to investigate.  There was a small parade starting, although certainly not on par with the Mexican Revolution Day parade we saw on our last visit to La Paz.  Unsure of the reason for the parade, I walked along the route and finally encountered street vendor giving out popcorn samples who offered me one in English.  I took him up on it and asked the reason for the parade.  He thought for a moment and replied “blood donation.”  Hmm, not something we have parades for back home, but no reason not to enjoy it.

A little further down the road, I found a stage and people starting to fill in the chairs set up in front of it.  I radioed Jenn and told her I might be awhile longer, and waited for the show.  It turned out to be a bit of a Mexican variety show, with singers, traditional dancers, and act of modern dancers, and even a local cheerleading squad.  Since I had thought to throw my SLR camera in my pack before heading ashore, I commenced with the picture taking.  About midway through the show and tried, in my apparently worst Spanish, to ask the MC how many more acts there were going to be.  She responded “You can ask in English.”  I guess I better break out those Spanish lessons I have on my computer.  After the told me we were about halfway through, she asked about my photography, and if I would be willing to share my pictures with her.  Of course!  I stayed for the rest of the show enjoying both the acts and the photography.  Still not giving up on the attempt to communicate with locals, I was successfully able to ask another woman taking pictures during one of the dance groups if her daughter was performing.

I don’t usually do this but based on our current somewhat less than great internet service, and a desire not to abuse what is somewhat of a gift of free access, here is a link to my pictures from the show which I uploaded under better internet access.

Eventually the show finished, and I headed back to the dinghy dock.  But my entertainment for the evening wasn’t quite over as I stumbled across a group promoting one of the candidates for president in the upcoming Mexican elections.  The political rallies here are bit different.  They gather a bunch of teenagers and a DJ at an intersection with a stop sign, and the kids dance, wave flags and signs, and hand out free swag.  I scored and umbrella and a couple LED lights that will work better than anything I have on the boat for works lights, and there is pretty much no mistaking me for a Mexican voter.  But if I could, Enrique Pena Nieto just made a compelling play for my vote (not that I remembered the name, but it on all the goodies I snagged).

The La Paz Shuffle

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There is a phenomenon boats experience when anchored in La Paz known as the La Paz waltz.  The combination of wind and current tends to make boats move around their anchor in some unique ways, not always quite as expected.  You can end up pointing the opposite way as the boat next to you, even though normally boats at anchor tend to line up with each other.  We experienced quite a bit of it on our first trip here last fall.  Maybe it is the reduction in strong  northerly winds in the spring, or our repeated  change of anchorage locations, but we seem to be doing a little less waltzing on this visit, more just shuffling around our anchor.  Which is also what we’ve been doing the La Paz area.  When we arrived from Mazatlan after fairly smooth sailing with an escort of 30 or so dolphins for 20 minutes, we found the spot we wanted to anchor at occupied by a large ketch that has the look of a boat that is going to sit in the same spot for a long time.  Various supplies, including a sheet of plywood covered the decks, and as we did a drive by an older guy poked is head out from under the tarp cover and did not return my wave.  We moved to another spot, where we were informed by another older guy on a another large ketch that doesn’t look like it is going to move anytime soon either that the port captain would probably tell us to move.  Being the weekend we decided to wait to move, and when Monday rolled around we didn’t quite get to it either.  By Wednesday I had run into a cruiser from we met in La Cruz who offered up his spot in the anchorage as he was going into a marina for a few days.  So we shuffled off to that spot which worked out well except for a lack of good wi-fi signals.  Ahh, the pursuit of the perfect anchorage.

Just a few of the 30 or so playing around our boat.

I’m not sure how an animal that can swim so fast enjoys riding the bow wake at 5 knots, but they do.

Another bow shot. Did I mention we get excited when we see dolphins?

And now, a few bird pictures I took back in Mazatlan and never got around to posting.

A brown boobie taking flight.

Another brown boobie shot. They didn’t get their fair share of pictures last time around so I”m making it up to them.

I know, I’m a geek but this makes me think of a Klingon Bird of Prey warship. Geek mode <off>

A bird diving for fish while another laments their missed chance. Do you ever wonder how the first bird decided to dive at the water at full speed?

After all that work to get into a good spot, we decided to get out of town for a few days.  Our friend Marek, who had sailed down from Anacortes at the same time we sailed down the coast, was also ready to head out of La Paz, so we buddy boated up to Ispiritu Santo, an island just north of town set aside as a national park.  We hung out for a few days and enjoyed the rugged beauty and relative isolation of the area.  There were a few boats in the anchorage the first night, and then the weekend hit and it jumped to 14 boats.  In a rather bizarre moment for us, there was a time when there were more power boats then sailboats in the anchorage.  That was a first for us.  Of course, two of the powerboats had to anchor directly upwind from us.  With the winds at night running in the mid 20 knot range with some gusts over 30 (according to another boat, I still need to install our wind speed instrument) and my experience with some power boaters skill at anchoring I was on the nervous side.  Of course, they dropped their hooks just as it was getting dark and the wind was picking up and I wasn’t eager to move at that point so I just kept an eye on them.  For some reason they both moved to the other side of the bay allowing me to relax a bit, although with that much wind you still don’t sleep all that soundly.  Our third night the wind died out and we had a flat, quiet night of deep sleep.

Typical scenery at Ispiritu Santo.

20 miles from the nearest dock – but ready when they get there!

During the day we dinghied ashore and wandered around, checking out the hundreds or even thousands of fiddler crabs on one of the beaches.  There were numerous cacti growing near the water, and volcanic rock as well as visible layers of soil and rock in the hills rising out of water.  While not the green forests we are used to from the pacific northwest wilderness, there was a beauty to this anchorage, with reddish rocks and aqua green waters contrasting to provide spectacular vistas.  We also took a dinghy trip with Marek through a narrow, shallow channel that separates two islands.  After we made it through the channel we motored down to several large sea caves.  We had perfect conditions for the trip as we were on the lee side of the island and there was no swell we easily drove the dinghy into the the caves.  What we didn’t have is a camera, so we’ll have to go back for some pictures.  We stopped and did some snorkeling in some of the clearest water we’ve been in so far, although it was not the warmest.  The biggest warning about the Sea of Cortez we heard from people was the temperature, and so far we’ve had chilly nights and chilly refreshing water temperatures.  I’ll get back to you in August…  I found a gap in the rocks that allowed us to swim from the the snorkeling area into a sea cave and took several trips back and forth in Jaques Costeau mode.

Just another scene in the Sea of Cortez.

You do need to watch where you are walking – this is not a plant I want to bump into.

Another reason to watch where you are walking. These were the slowest moving crabs I’ve ever encountered and it would be easy to step on them.

Fiddler crab close up.

At some point in every photographers life, you have to try the B&W artistic shot.

The colored artistic shot of the same plant.

One more… the way the cactus dried out into a hollowed wood with patterned holes really was quite fascinating!

A bird that isn’t a boobie.

I thought this was a dead tree from a distance, but it is still hanging in there pushing out the green leaves.

Once you start going Black & White…

Interesting to see a park sign, right next to a fishing camp.

Not a bad spot to live and work. Assuming you don’t need internet, electricity and an Oxxo on the corner.

I guess I better get in one of these pictures.

I think this is a cactus in the process of flowering. But that is kind of an assumption on my part.

I’m not sure the sun hat is helping out.

 

While we were anchoring the dinghy a man from the powerboat anchored a couple hundred feet out from the sea cave swung by on a paddleboard to inquire about where we were anchored and the conditions there.  His boat was not in a spot our guide book listed as an anchorage – he was essentially just out in the open a few hundred feet from the side of the island, while we were tucked into a bay that our guide book showed charted depths for, with high cliffs providing some protection from wind and waves as long as there weren’t coming directly from the West.  I gave him information about our anchorage and asked how deep his spot was.  He said he anchored in about 110′ feet, but he probably drug anchoring during the windy night because it was now 130′ deep.  I asked him what kind of sea bed conditions he was in, but he didn’t know.  For those of you in the know, you can now understand my nervous moments having two similarly sized powerboats anchored upwind from me the previous night.  He said he was going to move over to our anchorage, but somewhat thankfully we didn’t see him show up before we left the next morning.

After a few days of what we felt was a little mini vacation, we decided to run back to La Paz.  As always, there are some projects to work on including a leaky water pump in the engine I would like to resolve while we are near a large city with good marine services.  Of course the morning we left there were dolphins in the bay and even a whale that we did not get a get enough look at to identify.  We idled around in the dinghy watching the dolphins but even at dinghy level they just don’t seem to want to come over for a petting session, much to Jenn’s disappointment.  Finally we said a goodbye to Marek who is heading north to explore a bit, while we pointed south back to La Paz.   Of course the there wasn’t any wind, but we did get yet more dolphins to entertain us before we finally got enough wind to sail for a bit.  I had sailed all the way out of the La Paz channel on the way north and tried to sail back in but had to use the engine for a little assist – best not to push it around channel markers the outline a course around a sand bar.

Marek from Spica – hopefully we’ll catch up again up north.

Dolphin in the anchorage with us.

And yet more dolphins on the way back to La Paz.

We should be in project mode, but we have a chance to go get some pool time at the nicest resort in town with the very friendly crew of Double Diamond before they return home to Washington for the summer.  Sometimes, you just have to know when to go hang out at the pool.

Quick Update

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This will not be my typical update. No photos, and very brief. We had a good, fairly uneventful crossing from Mazatlan to La Paz. There was a bit of a breezy night spent at anchorage just outside of La Paz, but nothing like last time we were there. 20-25 knot winds, but from the south so not a lot of wave action. It still makes for a restless night though.

We’ve been enjoying La Paz again, although it is different this time as we aren’t hanging out with people we had known for awhile. I’ve swung by the morning coffee social at the local cruisers club and recognize some blue hairs, but the few cruisers we’ve seen in our age range aren’t people we recognize. We’ll try to make some new friends, but for now we are planning to head north to an island just a few miles from here and sample some remote anchorages for a few days. We’ll probably take some jaunts from La Paz over the next few weeks and get the boat prepped a bit for some hot summer cruising with the possibility of strong summer winds in the Sea of Cortez.

For a little entertainment, here is a video for a song that we’ve incorporated into our cruising philosophy. We can’t adopt it as a theme, since our friends on Jace have renamed their boat Knee Deep. They are taking the summer off from the cruising lifestyle, but to the Doolittles, this one is for you!

Just a note on the location – we went into this bay try and anchor but it was the one spot we couldn’t get our anchor to set. We’ll try it again next time we pass by, it has a hillside of brightly colored homes that are visible when passing by off the coast.