We are anchored in Puerto Escondido, about 15 miles south of the town of Loreto, waiting out over a week of continuous northers.
We arrived here on Friday afternoon (27 November). We spent the day in Loreto, hitching a rides to and from with other cruisers who had rented cars. Loreto is a very old, pretty little town. We enjoyed some good food, some locally brewed craft beer, walking around town and socializing with other boat people.
The north winds are forecasted to continue howling until Friday. It's also getting steadily cooler, both air and water. There isn't much to do in this port, so we've decided to rent a car and take a little road trip up to Santa Rosalia, a place we very much wanted to visit by boat but those plans are being thwarted by weather. We'll leave tomorrow and stay overnight at a small hotel. On either side of that trip, we'll be tackling some boat projects and catching up on our reading. It's kind of like being stuck inside at home for a week because of rain and going out to the movies for a break. Only it's on a boat, due to wind and a break at a beautiful historic town.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Friday, November 27, 2015
Thanksgiving in Bahia Los Gatos
via satellite
We spent Thanksgiving anchored in Bahia Los Gatos, having arrived the day before from Isla San Francisco.
Los Gatos is another amazingly beautiful Baja anchorage. At each end of the crescent shaped bay there are massive rock formations, pink-red, striated and smooth like what you would seen in southern Utah. In between is a sandy beach with the towering Gigante mountains as a spectacular backdrop. Many pictures to come when we can get upload them.
Shortly after we arrived in Los Gatos we were greeted by Rob, who came by to invite us for drinks with his wife Nancy on board their boat Shindig. We ended up enjoying several hours of conversation and more than one bottle of wine. Rob and Nancy came down to the Sea of Cortez from the Bay Area in the 2012 Baja Ha-Ha and have had their boat based in La Paz ever since. They spend October to June cruising in Mexico and the summer "couch surfing" at their friends' houses back in the US. They provided an experienced perspective of a lifestyle that we want to learn more about.
By Thanksgiving morning, Shindig and the other two boats in the Los Gatos anchorage had left and we had the place all to ourselves. We hiked to the top of one of the rock formations and then around the other one to the next beach south of us. I scored a major find, spotting a turtle's shell lying in the sand which Renee is working on cleaning it up to be a keepsake from our trip. We followed our hike up with snorkeling another rock reef, this time without my shivers and cramps and with several types of rays.
I started off our Thanksgiving dinner by drinking my last bottle of Lagunitas IPA. After almost a month of drinking Mexican beer, it was absolutely delicious and I savored every sip. We cooked our "Pollo de Celebrar" and ate it with roast potatoes, mixed vegetables, mushrooms in escebeche and a can of cranberry sauce I found in our pantry when I was cleaning it out before we left. Dinner was accompanied by a 2008 Rafanelli zin. Coincidentally, the canned cranberry sauce had a 2008 "best used by" date. Both were delicious, although I would give a nod to the Raf which cellared a bit better than the cranberries. It will be a memorable Thanksgiving, distinct from the traditional family gathering on land in a familiar surroundings. It brought to mind another treasured Thanksgiving dinner memory, one with just my daughter Hannah and I on our boat Ariadne years ago, anchored in Ayala Cove off of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.
While hurricane Sandra won't have any impact on us, another norther is building, so we decided to proceed directly to Puerto Escondido this morning, rather than battle higher winds and bigger seas getting there on Saturday. We arrived in the late afternoon and are snugly anchored with a couple of dozen other boats in this very large natural harbor. We'll stay here for quite a few days to wait out the weather, visit the nearby town of Loreto and get some more of the never ending boat maintenance/repairs/projects done.
We spent Thanksgiving anchored in Bahia Los Gatos, having arrived the day before from Isla San Francisco.
Los Gatos is another amazingly beautiful Baja anchorage. At each end of the crescent shaped bay there are massive rock formations, pink-red, striated and smooth like what you would seen in southern Utah. In between is a sandy beach with the towering Gigante mountains as a spectacular backdrop. Many pictures to come when we can get upload them.
Shortly after we arrived in Los Gatos we were greeted by Rob, who came by to invite us for drinks with his wife Nancy on board their boat Shindig. We ended up enjoying several hours of conversation and more than one bottle of wine. Rob and Nancy came down to the Sea of Cortez from the Bay Area in the 2012 Baja Ha-Ha and have had their boat based in La Paz ever since. They spend October to June cruising in Mexico and the summer "couch surfing" at their friends' houses back in the US. They provided an experienced perspective of a lifestyle that we want to learn more about.
By Thanksgiving morning, Shindig and the other two boats in the Los Gatos anchorage had left and we had the place all to ourselves. We hiked to the top of one of the rock formations and then around the other one to the next beach south of us. I scored a major find, spotting a turtle's shell lying in the sand which Renee is working on cleaning it up to be a keepsake from our trip. We followed our hike up with snorkeling another rock reef, this time without my shivers and cramps and with several types of rays.
I started off our Thanksgiving dinner by drinking my last bottle of Lagunitas IPA. After almost a month of drinking Mexican beer, it was absolutely delicious and I savored every sip. We cooked our "Pollo de Celebrar" and ate it with roast potatoes, mixed vegetables, mushrooms in escebeche and a can of cranberry sauce I found in our pantry when I was cleaning it out before we left. Dinner was accompanied by a 2008 Rafanelli zin. Coincidentally, the canned cranberry sauce had a 2008 "best used by" date. Both were delicious, although I would give a nod to the Raf which cellared a bit better than the cranberries. It will be a memorable Thanksgiving, distinct from the traditional family gathering on land in a familiar surroundings. It brought to mind another treasured Thanksgiving dinner memory, one with just my daughter Hannah and I on our boat Ariadne years ago, anchored in Ayala Cove off of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.
While hurricane Sandra won't have any impact on us, another norther is building, so we decided to proceed directly to Puerto Escondido this morning, rather than battle higher winds and bigger seas getting there on Saturday. We arrived in the late afternoon and are snugly anchored with a couple of dozen other boats in this very large natural harbor. We'll stay here for quite a few days to wait out the weather, visit the nearby town of Loreto and get some more of the never ending boat maintenance/repairs/projects done.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Swimming with Sea Lions and Other Fauna
via satellite
Yesterday we hiked up to the rim of our anchorage in Caleta Partida. We rode the dinghy to get to a trail in the cove next door to the south. The trail follows an arroyo that winds its way up nearly to the top of the ridge. The hiking was moderately difficult. The mosquitos were very difficult.
I thought I had the mosquito situation covered, but to our dismay, we discovered a the beginning of the hike that the insect repellent I normally keep in my daypack had fallen out in the boat. We decided to push on despite the numerous hungry bugs. For me, that means getting bit and dealing with itching bites for an hour afterwards. For Renee that means getting bit and itching welts for days. She sacrificed more for the sake of the mission.
We scrambled up the rocks and boulders of the arroyo, through patches of mesquite, sage, cacti and other desert vegetation, some of which was in bloom with various shades of red, orange and yellow flowers. The arroyo is in a canyon between two ridges and seemed to wind endlessly as we made our way uphill, gradually gaining altitude, but always being reminded that we weren't there yet by the steep walls on either side. We finally reached a point where it was possible to climb up the canyon wall to the rim. From the top of ridge we could look down on Intermezzo and the other boats lying in the blue and turquoise waters of the anchorage. A perfect spot for a picnic lunch. Except for the mosquitos. You would think there wouldn't be any, or at least fewer, at the top of a breezy ridge. Wrong. There were more. We gobbled down our sandwiches as we swatted continuously.
It was considerably quicker hiking down the wash than going up, partly due to gravity, but also due to a much better perspective for picking out one's route to clamber down boulders. The prospect of getting out of the afternoon heat and mosquitos and into the cool water at the end of the trail helped too. That water did feel awfully good when we got there.
We followed up our hike with snorkeling at a rock reef at the north entry point of the anchorage. It was a good spot, but I discovered that snorkeling in cool water after hiking all day in hot sun while being bled dry by insects results in me shivering and getting leg cramps. I am such a weakling, we had to cut the snorkeling part of our day short.
Back at the boat, after a restorative bottle of red wine and a nice dinner, I made sure to get the insect repellent back into my pack.
This morning we moved on from Caleta Partida. Our ultimate destination was Isla San Francisco, but first we had to swim with sea lions. At the north end of Isla Partida are two small islands called Los Isletos. There is a colony of sea lions there that are familiar with divers and snorkelers being in the water with them. We figured we could anchor the boat in a small cove near the Isletos and then ride the dinghy the mile or so out, grab one of the mooring balls put there by the national park.
We anchored Intermezzo in Ensenada de Embudo, a narrow cove just big enough for Intermezzo to anchor in with sufficient swinging room. We left Intermezzo to look after herself while we dinghied over to Los Isletos through bumpy seas and tied up to a mooring ball. We donned our snorkel gear and rolled off the boat into the water. I quickly realized that we had made a mistake, as there was a about a 2 knot current sweeping us out to sea. We swam hard back to the boat. Apparently I can swim steadily at about 2.2 knots but Renee can only make 2.05 knots. I got back to the dinghy with some effort, untied it, fired up the outboard and rescued her. Ladies, I'm the guy you want around when there's trouble.
We moved the dinghy to another mooring ball outside the main current stream and tried again, one-at-a-time this time so that Renee might have the opportunity to repay her outstanding lifelong debt and rescue me. The debt is still outstanding, as I did not need rescuing and made my way to the sea lions. It was amazing! There was a young adult and two pups swimming in the shallow, rocky water. The young adult would hide behind a large rock and dart out to "surprise" the pups when the swam by. One pup came up to me and nibbled playfully on my fins. They have somehow figured out that nibbling on fins doesn't hurt humans. Nonetheless, I kept my hands and fingers close to my body in case the pup hadn't been fully schooled yet. Renee had a similar experience when it was her turn, with the pups swimming under, over and all around her, also with the requisite fin nibbling. The only turnoff for me was that swimming in water shared by lots of big mammals lacking sanitary facilities and
next to rocky islands totally covered in guano is more accurately called "swimming in coliform bacteria" not swimming with sea lions. We tried not to swallow any of the water.
When we returned to E. de Embudo we took advantage of its small, very private beach to have a picnic lunch and for me to work on getting rid of my board shorts tan line. I was very cautious about how long I exposed the beluga whale-white parts of my body to the sun. Some progress was made, but I still have a ways to go.
The landscape-seascape here is amazing. Forgive me if I've drawn this comparison in a previous post, but imagine the Grand Canyon filled halfway up with beautiful blue water, with lots of narrow side canyons whose dry arroyos lead to sandy beaches with turquoise shallows. The water so clear that you can see the many fish that are everywhere. A plentiful, diverse mix of sea and land birds. And virtually no people, no rules, freedom to do what you want and get swept out to sea if you aren't paying attention.
We ended our day at Isla San Francisco, about 17 nm NNW from Los Isletos. There we checked the weather and were surprised to discover that hurricane Sandra had sprung up in the 36 hours since we last checked. It shouldn't be a problem for us, but reminder that we should be checking weather bulletins more frequently than that. We'll re-route a bit to make sure we're in a safe harbor if/when the storm passes by us.
Yesterday we hiked up to the rim of our anchorage in Caleta Partida. We rode the dinghy to get to a trail in the cove next door to the south. The trail follows an arroyo that winds its way up nearly to the top of the ridge. The hiking was moderately difficult. The mosquitos were very difficult.
I thought I had the mosquito situation covered, but to our dismay, we discovered a the beginning of the hike that the insect repellent I normally keep in my daypack had fallen out in the boat. We decided to push on despite the numerous hungry bugs. For me, that means getting bit and dealing with itching bites for an hour afterwards. For Renee that means getting bit and itching welts for days. She sacrificed more for the sake of the mission.
We scrambled up the rocks and boulders of the arroyo, through patches of mesquite, sage, cacti and other desert vegetation, some of which was in bloom with various shades of red, orange and yellow flowers. The arroyo is in a canyon between two ridges and seemed to wind endlessly as we made our way uphill, gradually gaining altitude, but always being reminded that we weren't there yet by the steep walls on either side. We finally reached a point where it was possible to climb up the canyon wall to the rim. From the top of ridge we could look down on Intermezzo and the other boats lying in the blue and turquoise waters of the anchorage. A perfect spot for a picnic lunch. Except for the mosquitos. You would think there wouldn't be any, or at least fewer, at the top of a breezy ridge. Wrong. There were more. We gobbled down our sandwiches as we swatted continuously.
It was considerably quicker hiking down the wash than going up, partly due to gravity, but also due to a much better perspective for picking out one's route to clamber down boulders. The prospect of getting out of the afternoon heat and mosquitos and into the cool water at the end of the trail helped too. That water did feel awfully good when we got there.
We followed up our hike with snorkeling at a rock reef at the north entry point of the anchorage. It was a good spot, but I discovered that snorkeling in cool water after hiking all day in hot sun while being bled dry by insects results in me shivering and getting leg cramps. I am such a weakling, we had to cut the snorkeling part of our day short.
Back at the boat, after a restorative bottle of red wine and a nice dinner, I made sure to get the insect repellent back into my pack.
This morning we moved on from Caleta Partida. Our ultimate destination was Isla San Francisco, but first we had to swim with sea lions. At the north end of Isla Partida are two small islands called Los Isletos. There is a colony of sea lions there that are familiar with divers and snorkelers being in the water with them. We figured we could anchor the boat in a small cove near the Isletos and then ride the dinghy the mile or so out, grab one of the mooring balls put there by the national park.
We anchored Intermezzo in Ensenada de Embudo, a narrow cove just big enough for Intermezzo to anchor in with sufficient swinging room. We left Intermezzo to look after herself while we dinghied over to Los Isletos through bumpy seas and tied up to a mooring ball. We donned our snorkel gear and rolled off the boat into the water. I quickly realized that we had made a mistake, as there was a about a 2 knot current sweeping us out to sea. We swam hard back to the boat. Apparently I can swim steadily at about 2.2 knots but Renee can only make 2.05 knots. I got back to the dinghy with some effort, untied it, fired up the outboard and rescued her. Ladies, I'm the guy you want around when there's trouble.
We moved the dinghy to another mooring ball outside the main current stream and tried again, one-at-a-time this time so that Renee might have the opportunity to repay her outstanding lifelong debt and rescue me. The debt is still outstanding, as I did not need rescuing and made my way to the sea lions. It was amazing! There was a young adult and two pups swimming in the shallow, rocky water. The young adult would hide behind a large rock and dart out to "surprise" the pups when the swam by. One pup came up to me and nibbled playfully on my fins. They have somehow figured out that nibbling on fins doesn't hurt humans. Nonetheless, I kept my hands and fingers close to my body in case the pup hadn't been fully schooled yet. Renee had a similar experience when it was her turn, with the pups swimming under, over and all around her, also with the requisite fin nibbling. The only turnoff for me was that swimming in water shared by lots of big mammals lacking sanitary facilities and
next to rocky islands totally covered in guano is more accurately called "swimming in coliform bacteria" not swimming with sea lions. We tried not to swallow any of the water.
When we returned to E. de Embudo we took advantage of its small, very private beach to have a picnic lunch and for me to work on getting rid of my board shorts tan line. I was very cautious about how long I exposed the beluga whale-white parts of my body to the sun. Some progress was made, but I still have a ways to go.
The landscape-seascape here is amazing. Forgive me if I've drawn this comparison in a previous post, but imagine the Grand Canyon filled halfway up with beautiful blue water, with lots of narrow side canyons whose dry arroyos lead to sandy beaches with turquoise shallows. The water so clear that you can see the many fish that are everywhere. A plentiful, diverse mix of sea and land birds. And virtually no people, no rules, freedom to do what you want and get swept out to sea if you aren't paying attention.
We ended our day at Isla San Francisco, about 17 nm NNW from Los Isletos. There we checked the weather and were surprised to discover that hurricane Sandra had sprung up in the 36 hours since we last checked. It shouldn't be a problem for us, but reminder that we should be checking weather bulletins more frequently than that. We'll re-route a bit to make sure we're in a safe harbor if/when the storm passes by us.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Hurricane Update
I'm rapidly getting more familiar with interpreting the text weather bulletins we can access via satellite. It helps to being a quantitatively-oriented (i.e., a geek) with a good grasp of analytical geometry. It also helps having Eric Mears, a sailor with Baja experience that I met via the Leopard cat owners forum, watching out for us and emailing us additional narrative information. Thanks Eric and I'll "pay it forward" to a fellow sailor when I get the opportunity.
I plotted the forecasted track of Sandra for the next few days and calculated the distance to our projected position, taking into account the errors reported for the track forecast. Then I looked at maximum wind data reported for the four compass quadrants and distance with respect to our projected position to evaluate potential hazards.
It looks like we won't see any significant effects from Sandra today or tomorrow. However, by Thursday night, we might see 45 knot winds with 55 knot gusts, if the track deviates by the maximum error; in other words a worst probable scenario based on the most current forecast. So, we'll make sure we're in a snug harbor by then and will be monitoring the forecast closely in the meantime. Our anchor tackle can handle that sort of wind no problema. It might make for an interesting Thanksgiving dinner, though! A true test of my culinary skills, cooking my Pollo de Celebrar in 55 knot winds!
I plotted the forecasted track of Sandra for the next few days and calculated the distance to our projected position, taking into account the errors reported for the track forecast. Then I looked at maximum wind data reported for the four compass quadrants and distance with respect to our projected position to evaluate potential hazards.
It looks like we won't see any significant effects from Sandra today or tomorrow. However, by Thursday night, we might see 45 knot winds with 55 knot gusts, if the track deviates by the maximum error; in other words a worst probable scenario based on the most current forecast. So, we'll make sure we're in a snug harbor by then and will be monitoring the forecast closely in the meantime. Our anchor tackle can handle that sort of wind no problema. It might make for an interesting Thanksgiving dinner, though! A true test of my culinary skills, cooking my Pollo de Celebrar in 55 knot winds!
Hurricane Watch
via satellite
Hurricane Sandra is quite far south of us and doesn't look like it will affect us, but there is a pretty significant error range in its predicted track northwards. We're going to be conservative and extra cautious and proceed at flank speed to anchor in a known hurricane hole, Puerto Escondido. It will be a long day's unplanned slog to get there, but better safe than sorry.
We're watching the forecasts and computer weather models carefully. Maybe we'll get lucky and this one will veer off or peter out and we can return to our regularly scheduled program.
Hurricane Sandra is quite far south of us and doesn't look like it will affect us, but there is a pretty significant error range in its predicted track northwards. We're going to be conservative and extra cautious and proceed at flank speed to anchor in a known hurricane hole, Puerto Escondido. It will be a long day's unplanned slog to get there, but better safe than sorry.
We're watching the forecasts and computer weather models carefully. Maybe we'll get lucky and this one will veer off or peter out and we can return to our regularly scheduled program.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Caleta Partida
via satellite
We're "off the grid" again and it feels good! La Paz was nice, but I really enjoy the natural beauty of Baja a lot more.
Yesterday we sailed north from La Paz along the west coast of Isla Espiritu Santo. I say "sailed" because we were actually able to sail the first half of the trip even though it was upwind, but at an angle that Intermezzo can handle without complaining and dragging her feet. The wind was right on the nose for the second half and Intermezzo just doesn't consider sailing that way ladylike, so we motored. The silver lining of motoring was that this allowed us to take a detour between some beautiful small islands lying just off the coast of the main island. Renee took a million pictures which I will post when we have broadband again.
We are anchored in Caleta Partida with about eight other boats. This anchorage is in the gap (partida) between Isla Espiritu and the smaller island just north of it, Isla Partida. It is geologically the crater of a long extinct volcano, which is evident by the steep topography of surrounding hills. It is very peaceful, even with the other boats around us and plenty of breeze to keep it nice and cool. Today we are going to do some amphibious exploring, hiking the south ridge of the anchorage this morning and snorkeling a reef at the north point in the afternoon. I tell you, all the effort it takes to obtain material for this blog makes for a tough life.
We're starting to plan our itinerary for the next couple of weeks. There a so many beautiful and interesting places to see! It's hard to choose which ones that fit within the time we have before we need to set sail south to Puerto Vallarta for the holidays. The town of Loreto is our next milestone, which is about 100 miles north of us, with lots and lots of neat places in between. It's about 500 miles from Loreto to Puerto Vallarta, which is a substantial distance to sail and we need to take into account sitting out bad weather somewhere along the way. By my reckoning, this gives us about 17 days to explore the Sea of Cortez. That may sound like a lot, but it will mean passing up three places of interest for every one that we are able to explore and probably not getting much further north than Loreto. Sounds like we'll be coming back here someday!
We're "off the grid" again and it feels good! La Paz was nice, but I really enjoy the natural beauty of Baja a lot more.
Yesterday we sailed north from La Paz along the west coast of Isla Espiritu Santo. I say "sailed" because we were actually able to sail the first half of the trip even though it was upwind, but at an angle that Intermezzo can handle without complaining and dragging her feet. The wind was right on the nose for the second half and Intermezzo just doesn't consider sailing that way ladylike, so we motored. The silver lining of motoring was that this allowed us to take a detour between some beautiful small islands lying just off the coast of the main island. Renee took a million pictures which I will post when we have broadband again.
We are anchored in Caleta Partida with about eight other boats. This anchorage is in the gap (partida) between Isla Espiritu and the smaller island just north of it, Isla Partida. It is geologically the crater of a long extinct volcano, which is evident by the steep topography of surrounding hills. It is very peaceful, even with the other boats around us and plenty of breeze to keep it nice and cool. Today we are going to do some amphibious exploring, hiking the south ridge of the anchorage this morning and snorkeling a reef at the north point in the afternoon. I tell you, all the effort it takes to obtain material for this blog makes for a tough life.
We're starting to plan our itinerary for the next couple of weeks. There a so many beautiful and interesting places to see! It's hard to choose which ones that fit within the time we have before we need to set sail south to Puerto Vallarta for the holidays. The town of Loreto is our next milestone, which is about 100 miles north of us, with lots and lots of neat places in between. It's about 500 miles from Loreto to Puerto Vallarta, which is a substantial distance to sail and we need to take into account sitting out bad weather somewhere along the way. By my reckoning, this gives us about 17 days to explore the Sea of Cortez. That may sound like a lot, but it will mean passing up three places of interest for every one that we are able to explore and probably not getting much further north than Loreto. Sounds like we'll be coming back here someday!
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Moving On From the Calles de La Paz
We're ending our pleasant layover in La Paz tomorrow, leaving for Isla Espiritu Santos in the morning. From there until we reach the town of Loreto, we will be visiting relatively remote anchorages, most of which are located in areas designated as national park or conservation zone. We provisioned the boat to be self-sufficient for the next two weeks, including a fancy whole frozen chicken labelled "Pollo de Celebrar" ("Celebration Chicken"), for our Thanksgiving "turkey". It should serve as the center of a decent feast for the two of us.
Renee went on a photo journalistic walk yesterday to capture some scenes from the streets of La Paz to supplement my description of the city in my last post.
Renee went on a photo journalistic walk yesterday to capture some scenes from the streets of La Paz to supplement my description of the city in my last post.
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| Participants in the Revolution Day celebrations returning from the parade |
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| One of the many public art installations along the malecon |
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| The famous and popular malecon of La Paz |
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| La Paz had a significant pearl industry until early in the 20th century |
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| People enjoy strolling along the malecon day and night. |
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| Another scene from the malecon |
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| Palm trees on the malecon getting blown by the frequent winter northerly winds |
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| We walked up and down the malecon dozens of times and never grew tired of it. It's not your typical touristy waterfront; more of a local treasure and part of La Paz life. |
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| Regional Museum of Anthropology and History |
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| One of the many small mercados |
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| A pretty typical commercial street corner |
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| A residential street in the old part of town |
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| Residential street in a newer section of town. |
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| Catedral de La Paz |
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| ...and a modern church |
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| The town square |
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| Artwork in progress; a painted gourd using paints made from local natural pigments |
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| The artist at work |
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| Piñatas |
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| Frutas y verduras |
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| Another artist at work, this time with modern media |
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| La Paz has tons of public art, some serious, some whimsical |
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| Lots of murals, too |
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