Tag Archives: Loreto

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.

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.

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…