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La Paz to Puerto Escondido 2006
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Sail up San
Lorenzo
Caleta Partida
"The Hook"
Sunset "The Hook"
Cerro de Mechudo
Puerto Los Gatos
Agua Verde
Agua Verde Tienda
Cemetery at Agua Verde
Oasis
Isla Danzante |
We left Marina Palmira on April 18 and stopped in at Marina Costa Baja for fuel. Liberty Call II joined us there and we headed north for Isla Esperitu Santo. The wind picked up nicely so we hoisted the sails and had a great 4 to 5 knot sail. The only problem was that the wind was from the north, and that was the direction that we wanted to go. Consequently, we ended up tacking up San Lorenzo Channel for several hours. Also, the wind really picked up in the afternoon Finally, we gave up and motored so that we could get in to Caleta Partida by sunset. Caleta Partida is an anchorage that has Isla Partida on the north and Isla Esperitu Santo on the south. Both islands were within a dinghy ride of our boat. We anchored in 17 feet of water right at the edge of a shoal (shallow water), and we could look down and see the fish swimming around our boat. One morning Steve said that he felt as though we were in Pearl Harbor. The pelicans were diving for fish right next to our boat. Each time they hit the water there would be a loud splash. It is really fun to sit and watch them. We spent the next two days exploring Isla Partida. We went for a hike and got some beautiful pictures of the cove. At high tide, we were able to take a dinghy ride through a low channel between the islands to the east side. There were beautiful cliffs there with sea caves, and we could see the fish swimming around a reef. We went snorkeling around the western point with Ron and Anita from Liberty Call II. The water was pretty cool, but we enjoyed it anyway. On April 21 we headed for "The Hook" on Isla San Francisco. This time the wind was from the south, so we had a wonderful downwind sail the whole way. The winds were light which gave us a nice, relaxing ride up the channel. We pulled in around 4 in the afternoon and dropped the hook. The next day we hiked to the top of the ridge and had a spectacular view. We ate our lunch and then continued around and back down to the anchorage. Late in the afternoon we were admiring a lovely 29-foot Bayfield sailboat that we had been anchored next too, and we realized that they were flying a New Mexico yacht club burgee. We went over in our dinghy and met Barry and Terry aboard Radiant. We had a very nice visit them and found out they would be cruising the Sea for awhile. Our last day in San Francisco we took our snorkel gear and walked over the island to the eastern bay where a reef was close to the shore. We snorkeled around the reef, but the visibility was not good and there were not too many fish. Also, the water was cold! Our next stop was in Punta Evaristo, which was a three-hour sail for us as we had about 20 knots of wind--unfortunately on the nose. But we tacked up the channel and had an excellent sail. We stayed just one night as the anchorage was small and there wasn't much to see on shore. On April 26, we motored north to Puerto Los Gatos. This is a beautiful little anchorage with very colorful landscape, and the color of the cliffs and the contours reminded Steve of Canyonlands National Park. We went ashore during low tide so that we could walk out to the point. Shea La Vie was the only other boat anchored with us so it was a great place. We had planned to stay for two days; however, the forecast was for west winds, which was not good, so we left the next day for Bahia Agua Verde. We had light winds again, so we motored most of the way. The scenery along the route was breathtaking. We pulled into Agua Verde around two in the afternoon and spotted Liberty Call II so we anchored next to them. Agua Verde is a favorite anchorage in the Sea, and it is lovely. The water is very green; thus the name Agua Verde. The next day we went into town with Ron and Anita to look around and do some shopping at Maria's Tienda, which was small but had good produce. Later in the day Anita joined us for a walk over the hill to a valley where we found an old graveyard and a rather large oasis. It was hot and dusty, but we really enjoyed exploring the area. We returned to the anchorage in time for a dinghy raft-up at 5 p.m. where we had an opportunity to meet some new people. On April 28, we decided to head up to Bahia Salinas at the north of Isla Carmen. As we were motoring at the south end of Isla Monserat, our fuel lifter pump went out, so I took the helm while Steve went below to work on the pump. I was the lucky one as dolphins were everywhere, and they were putting on quite a show. I watched as one dolphin jumped clear out of the water arching to the left and then at almost the same time another one jumped in an arch to the right. I felt as though I were at Sea World. Steve got the pump fixed so we continued on. The wind really piped up so we had a boisterous trip, and at one point we were heeled to 30 degrees so moving around down below in the boat was very difficult. I couldn't even go below to make any lunch. Right at the worst of it, Steve landed a Bonita tuna and had to stand on the side deck cleaning it while waves were breaking over the bow and hitting clear back at the cockpit. We decided to anchor in Punta Perico, and when we pulled in and dropped our anchor, the whole boat was covered in salt crystals. We enjoyed several days at Punta Perico where we snorkeled twice and found that the visibility was excellent. The water was a bit cool; however, we just switched to our heavier wet suits, and we were much more comfortable. On May 1 we made our way over to Puerto Escondido to pick up a mooring ball and get ready for Loreto Fest, which would begin on the 4th.
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