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| Passing along the Baja Coast |
I’ll try to chronicle the past couple of weeks and highlight
our stops up the coast – mostly for our own memory bank, as the blog is turning
out to be one of the best ways to look back on where we’ve been and the
uniqueness of each spot. As a whole this segment of the trip has been perhaps
the most relaxed and we’ve succumbed to a rhythm that feels right.
A little about our routine and rhythm:
Generally our days start about 7, when we wake up with the
sun. (OK, Melinda does, Lanham is often awake much earlier.) We haven’t needed
an alarm clock for a while – it’s hard to imagine those dark Seattle 5 a.m.ers.
We French Press one strong pot of Starbucks (the electric grinder we have on
board is one thing that sets us apart from most of the other cruisers we meet),
and by 7:30 we are listening to the Sonrisa Net. This is a Ham users’ forum.
Because we are not licensed, we don’t join in, but we listen in. Listening is
permissible to everyone with a single sideband radio. It took Lanham many
months of research, antenna running, consultations and tests to make sure the
High Frequency radio was working. The biggest discovery was that they always
work poorly in a marina, due to all the
interference from metal masts and electrical boat systems surrounding you. As
soon as we were on open water, the radio started working great.
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| Roca Solitara |
There are cruisers’ nets all over the world – the Sonrisa
Net seems to cover most of Mexico, both Baja and the Mainland – and the
reception varies depending on where we are, where the speaker is, and the
weather/atmospheric conditions on a given day. Lanham is looking into the
possibility of getting certified as it would be fun to find a net to
participate in on the upcoming trip to Hawaii, but whether you are licensed or
not you are allowed to talk if you have an emergency or need assistance. We
learn a lot about local weather from listening to folk around the sea “checking
in” and we’ve gotten to recognize boats and “personalities” some we’ve met,
others we may yet meet. What they say is so true – there is a “boating
community” of friendly, outgoing, and helpful people all over the place. Most
absolutely love the lifestyle, and all have various “stories” of how they got
there and not so definitive “plans” for keeping it going. In addition, many
towns with anchorages nearby organize a morning net on the VHF radio. It has a
much shorter range (maybe 20 miles based on line of sight). It is used to
report comings and goings, share local knowledge and assistance, publicize social
events that cruisers organize for themselves or to raise funds for local
charities. A more localized weather and tide report is usually given on this
forum as well. At 7:45, there is a formal weather forecast on the Sunrisa Net
that covers all the areas we might want to know about for the next 3 days.
Lately, the weather has been pretty benign, and the most accurate thing that
can be forecast is a big change in weather – so that’s what we listen for.
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| Lanham's starting to blend in with the cacti |
We often have an idea of what’s on the agenda for the
morning, so if it still sounds good we proceed with a one of several kinds of
days – a moving day (time to pull the anchor and head to a new spot) – a water
play day (time to kayak along shore to explore or take the dinghy out to
snorkel) – a hiking day (time to pack tennis shoes and socks, sunscreen and
water to go walk the beach or the mountains) – a boat or chore day (time to do
maintenance, cleaning, or if near a town, shopping). Some days are combo days,
and some days get totally hijacked by weather or mood, but generally by 3 or 4
we are back on the boat, or re-anchored in a new destination, jumping in the
water for a swim/bath, followed by a freshwater shower and soap up on the
transom, a refreshing beverage, and maybe a couple hours of reading or
cat-napping. Looking in the fridge usually suggests what the ingredients of the
next meal will be – what’s ripe and ready to eat, what could go together for a
healthy meal. Each time we provision we add more and now have cabinets
well-stocked with condiments, especially mexi-flavors of chiles, moles, salsas,
tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic.
We usually eat in the cock-pit, watching the sun go down
about 7:00, and sitting out in the warm air as the moon rises and stars
twinkle. Before bed, we check for sail-mail, download the pictorial weather
files called Gribs, tidy up the boat outside and in. L often plays guitar, M
often reads, and by 9:30 we are packing it in for another day. There are times
in life when it is easy to be at peace – this is one of those times. The
challenge is to carry that with you and be able to find it in yourself no
matter where you are or what demands you encounter.
Nopolo:
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| The tiny fishing town of Nopolo |
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| and surrounding hillsides |
We have had some great days of sailing on our moving days.
We took only 2 days to get farther north than we had been to date. We stopped
at Caleta Partida one night and went on a long spinnaker run to Caleta Nopolo
the second day. Nopolo is a small fishing village and we stayed off the
southern group of houses, but didn’t get off the boat that evening.
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| Walking into Timbabich |
Timbabiche:
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| Casa Grande -- remains of a grand villa |
The third day was a short 3 hour hop up to a beach called
Timbabiche. It is known for a rustic stucco building that can be seen from the
water as you pass offshore. Casa Grande, was once the ostentatious dwelling of
a pearl diver who made it big. When the owner died, the family let the property
go and it has never been rebuilt. Melinda took the kayak to the beach and
walked into the fishing town that surrounds Casa Grande.
There are a couple of
new stucco structures, including a church and possibly a school, but the very
few people making a living there are living off the sea.
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| Manuel -- our personal seafood connection at Timbabiche |
Soon after setting our anchor at Timbabiche we met Manuel,
who came by in his panga to see if we would like to buy seafood. We ordered 4
lobster and a cabrilla (as we hadn’t had any luck with the fishing lines since
leaving La Paz). He returned to the boat at 4 pm as promised with his young son
along.
We paid him for the fish and lobster which all looked quite fresh. He
gladly took a couple cold beers, we had a Frisbee for his son, but he really
wanted to know if we liked “bueno chocolate.” No, so sorry, we had no chocolate
on board to give him. He was very disappointed and then showed us the large,
freshly dug chocolate brown clams he was keeping under a blanket out of the sun
in the bottom of his boat.
“MUY bueno chocolate! Un regalo! No dinero!” He
insisted we take some of his delicious chocolate clams – A gift! No money! We
laughed at ourselves and agreed to trade batteries for 15 clams. They were
wonderful on the grill. We ate some that night and made fantastic clam chowder
for 2 more meals.
Before leaving Timbabiche the next morning, we got out at 7
am during high tide and kayaked over to an estuary teeming with birds. After a
small portage to get inside the mangrove-lined waterway, we spent a couple
hours on the mirrored water, paddling slowly alongside white egrets,
cormorants, heron and more. A very meditative Sunday morning.
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| A serene Sunday morning paddle |
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| Kayaking among the birds |
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| Fishermen take care of their investments |
Los Gatos:
Another short sail that day brought us to Los Gatos – famed
for its red rock formations. Lanham kayaked in and climbed around the amazing
cliff-sides. We only stayed one day, but will probably stop back by for some
more hiking here when we return south.
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| The picturesque Los Gatos |
That night we enjoyed dinner on a
neighboring boat. An acquaintance from weeks before, Mickey from San Francisco
on the catamaran Acrux, stopped by and asked us to come for fish pasta. We
brought ceviche and had a fun evening with him and his boat guests, Robert and
Trish from Capetown, SA. All three are rock climbers, who are involved in designing
climbing gyms, including one in Seattle. Mickey is also a skilled spear
fisherman, who hunts way more than he can eat and is uber-generous with his
catches. We first met Mickey 6 weeks ago, when he raced by in his dinghy giving
away two large chub that we cheerfully put in our fridge.
Agua Verde:
The next stop was up quite a trek up to the large and
popular anchorage called Agua Verde. The first thing one notices is the color
of the water –truly a beautiful green. The mountains behind are a vibrant
yellow and there are several dramatic rocks that make good locations for
snorkeling and diving. Agua Verde is a popular stop for Mexican tourist boats
and the main anchorage, as well as the sandy beach were quite full, as we were
into Easter vacation week. We opted to anchor a little south of the main bay,
had it to ourselves one night and were joined by two other quiet sailboats for
the next two nights. This spot had lots to explore, both a water play and a
hiking day – so we stayed 3 nights. On the second night, Mickey cruised into
the anchorage and called on the radio to say – more fresh fish – couldn’t we
help them eat it tonight? We said to come to our boat and they dinghied over a
few hours later with about 5 pounds of beautifully filleted “pargo” (red
snapper), which we grilled and feasted on with quinoa, veggies, and pineapple.
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| Tonight's selection -- fresh pargo |
Lanham made plans to dive (and get a spear fishing lesson)
with Mickey in the morning. Lanham’s dive was great fun and full of learning
(sorry too wet for photos). They kept at it for hours, with Mickey bagging 3
big fish that he gave to us! Mickey free dives and stays down hiding among the
rocks, quietly holding his breath for over 3 minutes. He has a powerful
distance spear gun and really knows how to hunt. Lanham got to watch, managed
to stay out of range, and did some exploring with scuba tank in addition to
practicing his free diving, breath control and Hawaiian sling. He said he got
one shot off!
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| The easy trail |
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| Robert on a tricky part |
Melinda took the dinghy to shore with Trish and Robert for a
4-hour hike. The terrain was challenging, and being with two rock climbers
definitely upped the challenge. They liked the route less traveled and were
nice about coaching me across the steepest drop-off precipices. The views were
breathtaking! We both got back to the boat about 3 pm with tales to tell and
ready to get a night of deep sleep.
A few pictures from our hike:
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| The large wonders... |
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| the small miracles... |
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| the feast... |
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| We ended our hike with a cold Coca-Cola |
After being out a week, we made the plan to have some longer
travel days in order to get caught up with a group of friends that we had been
talking to on the radio daily. They were camped out in a big and beautiful bay
that was still about 100 miles north of us. To meet up with them before they
pushed on to new destinations meant that we would cruise by some of the stops
that we want to make and plan to see them next month when we head south again
back to La Paz.
Six AM the sun wakes up and the moon sets...
Solar wind has pulled anchor (and flopper stoppers). The skippers got his morning coffee...
We had two 50 plus mile days of motoring in very flat seas.
The navigating was easy, the ride was comfortable. We motor sailed part of the
time, but mostly just appreciated our fuel sipping engine – read, cooked,
talked – and watched the shore go by.
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| What IS that? ... up ahead in the water |
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And as we get closer... we see it's just a sleeping seal
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In between the two long days we had a fun stop
at Punta Pulpito. Once anchored, we took the kayaks around the point and had
close up views of the volcanic rock flows, the obsidian vein, and the bird
life. Around the point we found a sea cave that is described in our guidebook
and we paddled through and out the other side of the archway.
A pod of several
hundred dolphins swam right up to surround the kayaks. Unfortunately, or maybe
fortunately for the sake of keeping dry, the dolphins did not hang out and
play, but streamed by us on all sides just under the water surface, determined
to make tracks to wherever they were going.
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| The vein of obsidian at Punta Pupito |
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| Heading to the sea cave by kayak |
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| Through and out the other side! |
Santispac, on Bahia Concepcion:
The day before Easter, we motored into giant Bahia
Concepcion and found the smaller arm of the bay where Scott Free Eh, Swagman,
Winterlude and Aurora were anchored. The beach was packed, not only with
tents, campers, and Mexican families on holiday, but also with the lit up rides
and vendors of a small town carnival, the tinny mid-way music and oompah band
announcing Easter!
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| Runaway whale! |
The water was also busy with people on water toys -- pangas
pulling blow-up rides of all shape and size, plastic kayaks, and floaties. The
afternoon breeze was brisk and offshore so every once in a while a blow-up
mermaid or whale would float by, quickly heading out to sea. Our friends who
had been there a few days had stories of rescuing toys as well as distressed
swimmers and boaters and towing them back to shore with their dinghies.
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| Rescued by a panguero |
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| Quin, the wonder dog |
We
arrived just in time for an evening birthday party onboard the 50’
Winterlude, good steak, wine, cake and celebration. The third
crew member on Winterlude is
Quin, a 2-year old Po-wo-do (Portuguese water dog) who seems happy with his
daily romps on the beach.
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| Roughing it |
Mulege:
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| A typical street in Mulege |
A trip to the town of Mulege for a few provisions that day
and a stop at Hotel Serenidad to do a little interneting, then dinner at the
beach palapa and a walk through the closing down midway made for a memorable
Easter Sunday.
The remote fly-in resort at Hotel Serenidad,
where a cerveca and chips will buy you hours of s-l-o-w internet.
Punta Chivato:
Monday morning we (all 4 boats) headed further north with a
terrific 15 knots of wind for a close-hauled sail to Punta Chivato. Four hours
averaging 6 knots and watching, photographing and talking back and forth on the
radio with our buddy boats made for a quick day. The afternoon took us to shore
to see the famous “shell beach.”
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| Race you to the Shell Beach? |
No one we know has an explanation for why this
particular mile stretch of beach is the depository for piles and piles of
shells. It is a shell collector’s paradise – or maybe nightmare. It is actually
overwhelming to start picking up “keepers” and makes all our previous finds a
little underwhelming. We had fun goofing around with the shells, motored by the
extravagant homes and hotel along this shore and had a group dinner of
black-eyed peas and cornbread on the Swagman’s boat, before hitting the bunk
early for a 6 am departure plan.
Sunrise departure got us going on another sail. It has been
great to be using the wind for several days straight and have it sending us the
direction we want to go. The solar panels are now charging at full capacity
after Lanham’s hardwiring them back in La Paz, the wind generator contributes,
all the systems are maintaining, and the crew is happy!
We came into the town
of Santa Rosalia about noon, and got a slip in the small 20 boat marina that is
part of the Mexican government subsidized marinas found in some of the more
remote places up (and more crowded places too).
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Nice modern marina, friendly people, minimal amenities, but reasonable price, and plenty of room!
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Santa Rosalia:
Santa Rosalia has a colorful history as a copper mining town
from the 1800’s. The wood framed two story workers’ housing is quite unusual
for Baja and looks more like a US Western frontier town. Lanham and I explored
the town on foot and today will try to find internet to post this and more
photos.
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| Welcome to Santa Rosalia, pop. almost 12,000. Still and active mining town. |
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| Mining Co. PR office |
The center square in Santa Rosalia is the site of La Ingelsia Santa
Barbara, a church designed by Gustav Eiffel, deconstructed and moved here when
Santa Rosalia was dominated by a French mining company. There is a mining
museum in town that we hope to visit as well and tonight a group of us plans to
head to the street vendor for a famous bacon-wrapped, deep-fried hot dog
dinner.
Thanks for the positive response to the blog – many readers
say they are enjoying the travels vicariously. We know how that is, and are glad
to post when we can.
No one we know has an explanation for why this
particular mile stretch of beach is the depository for piles and piles of
shells. It is a shell collector’s paradise – or maybe nightmare. It is actually
overwhelming to start picking up “keepers” and makes all our previous finds a
little underwhelming. We had fun goofing around with the shells, motored by the
extravagant homes and hotel along this shore and had a group dinner of
black-eyed peas and cornbread on the Swagman’s boat, before hitting the bunk
early for a 6 am departure plan.
Santa Rosalia:
