We took our time to reach
As mentioned in my last blog I crewed on sailing vessel Talaria. As crew I get to leave the skippers to worry, plan routes and anchorages. If something goes wrong, they get to fix it, although I helped out when asked. As you will note, being crew does have advantages over being the skipper.
The anchorages we stayed at each evening were quite, comfortably warm, remote and beautiful. As best as I can, I will give you some photos and notes about each location. I will give the GPS Lat/Lon for sailors that may come down here to visit or those that know how to use Google Earth.
10/20/2008 -- GPS 27.14.03N 112.06.24W
We pulled anchor at Santa Rosalia and set course for the island of San Marcos. It was a short trip of six hours. Yes I said short. When you travel through the water at 5 mph you cover a distance of 30 miles in six hours. That is why I refer to it as SHORT.
San Marcos has a large mine where they pull gypsum from the earth. Gypsum is used in construction of homes normally used in drywall. There is a small village where people that work in the mines live. The church, that you will see in a moment, was made from gypsum. There are a few very nice homes on the island as well as the typical small, should I say, shack, were people get by from day to day. We did see a small hospital and school which were built by the mining company.
The computer bandwidth here is VERY slow so I am going to limit the photos. Sorry, but I don't want to sit here all day.
10/2o/2008 -- GPS 26.51.98N 111.60.77W
The next day we set off for Bay of Concepcion. This was probably the least interesting anchorage on our trip. Jean and I swam to shore to look for interesting sea shells. This was a costly swim as my camera became wet in one of those pockets that advertise that everything will remain dry. Jean and Bill have a niece so we picked up some small shell that she can place in her aquarium back home.
Let me introduce you to Jean. You are probably asking why she has such a big smile. Remember that there are two skippers on Talaria. Well Jean is smiling since the other skipper is sleeping as we head towards Bay of Concepcion and she can do anything she wants.Jean is great as a sailor. She plans the anchorages, routes, cooks, fixes stuff that is broken, handles the ham radio communications, downloads weather files on the radio, runs the water maker, etc, etc. I told here if she ever get tired of Bill that I would marry her. Bill was there when I said this and he told me, "no deal".
10/21/2008 -- GPS 26.30.88N 111.26.97W
We are off to Punta Palito.
This is the Point we are anchoring at. Notice that the able bodied crewman is alert and ready to respond to any emergency.
10/22/2008 - GPS 26.22.00N 111.25.86W
Our next anchorage was San Juanico.
Let me introduce you to the other skipper, Bill. He does not have that big smile that Jean had when Bill was sleeping, but he does look a little smug. I think this is at the point in time when he won the argument with the other skipper, Jean. I am sitting there just as an observer.
We took a little ride on the dingy. This is a photo of Talaria. Sorry we didn't get a closer look but we should see other photos later.
We stayed at this anchorage a couple of days so we could hike around on shore to do some exploring.
Here is a photo taken of our anchorage while hiking. Also me diving on the boat to remove creatures from the boat speed impeller. The skippers give the dirty work to the crew.
10/24/2008 GPS 25.48.52N 111.15.46W
Finally of to our next anchorage called Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. This location was everyone favorite. It is a very small bay where few boats would fit in, so get there early and there will be room. We did a lot of snorkeling and I was given another dirty job of again diving on the boat to install a zinc on the propeller shaft. Just kidding. I enjoy the adventure and told them I would install it for them. I still can hold my breath for a long time.
10/25/2008 GPS 25.48.88N 111.18.68W
We moved over to the mainland today to explore the harbor at Pueto Escandito. It is a good hurricane hole, meaning a place to hide from the storm. While on the way we saw some boobies. I saw a couple of big ones that were young and firm.... Now the guys that are excited for me and the women that are throwing their arms in the air saying something like SICK!, these are birds. They enjoy circling the boat to check out the crew and look for a place to land so they can rest. They show their thanks for letting them go along for the ride by shitting all over the boat. So the thing to do is to not invite them on board.
This is a couple we met that are kyacking around the Sea of Cortez. They have more energy than anyone I have known. Mexican government are building several small marina's around the Mexican coast. They all are built the same with minimal services. Here we find Taleria resting until we push off again tomorrow.10/26/2008 GPS 25.31.39N 111.04.37W
Are next anchorage was Aqua Verde. Great place for snorkeling if you don't mind getting stung by little critters in the water. They leave a small welt on your skin that looks like you were burnt by a small chain that you often find holding your keys to the house or car. I found out later that this is often a problem in the Sea and many people buy a very thin wet suit to cover your body. Other than being annoying, they are harmless. We stayed here a couple of days to enjoy the area.
This is a view of our anchorage from atop the hill that Jean and I hiked to. There was a small fish camp near us were we boat three large lobster tails for a total of $15 dollars. Needless to say we enjoyed that evening dinner.There was a small village across to the other side of the bay. We came upon these goats while walking through the village. I thought i recognized one of them that was on my bus riding up to Santa Rosalia.
10/28/2008 GPS 25.18.18N 111.56.75W
Next stop was Los Gatos on the Baja peninsula. Not much here except some very interesting rock formation. Notice the red color and how it looks like they flowed down from above. Jean found an empty crab shell that is also colorful. There is a 1 peso coin near the crab so you can get a idea of its size.
10/29/2008 GPS 24.54.66N 110.42.37W
Next stop was Punta San Evaristo. Nothing here to see. There is a very small village for the fishermen and a store to buy some supplies except on the day we were there the store was closed because they were out of supplies.
10/30/2008 GPS 24.31.96N 110.22.91W
Last anchorage before we reach La Paz. Isle Espiritu Santos. The anchorage is called Caleta Partida. This is a popular anchorage for people leaving La Paz for a couple of days.
Here we see Jean smiling because this is the last time she has to set anchor for at least six weeks when they sail off to Mazatlan to meet me. Bill is also smiling and feeling good since, while on land, there is only one captain and that is Bill.
We had a wonderful time and I am happy to have had the opertunity to sail with old friends on the Sea and to optain some local knowledge that will be helpful for me when I return to La Paz in March to start my sail north up the to the other end of the Sea.
Until next time, be safe out there. This is Denny signing off after finally finishing this blog that I have been working on for three weeks because of the slow network.
1 comment:
You guys are having way too much fun. How's Matzalan?
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