April 29, 2013
This will be an ongoing blog as we are underway and anywhere
we stop (until Puerto Escondido which is near the town of Loreto), there will
be no Internet service.
On Saturday, April 27 we left La Paz and after a short sail
(and we did sail part of the way) we arrived at Ensenada de la Raza, a cove on
the island called Espiritu Santo. On
our way the winds died after about 2 hr so we ended up using the motor
again. It was so quiet at night in the
ensenada…. no waves pounding on the beach and no wind. The boat was absolutely still until about 2
am when a southwest wind started to blow…nothing serious. And the moon! The moon was so bright that at times it was like a spotlight
shining through the ports. White sand
beach, brilliant moon against a backdrop that is reminiscent of the moon. Quite a view.
We had planned a late start on Sunday morning but as the
winds were coming out of the south and we were going north, the plan changed
and we were off and sailing just after 8 am.
The winds were good most of the way, but we slowed to a crawl (Can one
slow to crawl when one is only sailing at 4 knots?) after about ¾ of the
distance that we planned to cover. As
we were only going to Isla San Francisco that meant we had sailed 17 out of
about 22 miles. Bob was happy as we
averaged about 4 knots.
Isla San Francisco had 6 other boats last night but now
(Monday morning), we are alone. The
wind is coming from the south so it is a bit rocky here; 5 of the other boats
have gone to the other side of the island (we can see their masts) as the
anchorage there will be less rocky.
Bob is waiting to see if the winds change (according to the
forecast) before we leave for San Evaristo, or perhaps we too will move to the
other side of the island. Our plan was to
stay here 2 nights, as Bob is wanting to use his new compressor to do some
diving! But right now we are waiting.
Back to our stay in La Paz.
I had planned to write about La Paz, but forgot.
La Paz, and perhaps the Baja as a whole, is different than the
mainland where we live. Here is what I
noticed. First of all La Paz is much
quieter. In Patzcuaro there are many
churches and they are either ringing their bells or exploding fire crackers
(rockets) at 4 am in the morning!!
There was none of that while we were anchored in the bay. In fact all we heard once or twice was faint
sounds of music from onshore.
The traffic is also
much heavier in Patzcuaro mainly because of the combos. On the whole I found La Paz drivers much
more sedate. That could be the
influence of the gringo retirees in La Paz?
Who knows but it was pleasant to see streets that were not clogged with
cars and combis.
For me the big shock in La Paz was the price of things. Everything is more expensive in La Paz. Perhaps it is the cost of the locals
speaking English!! We enjoyed some
excellent food but always it was at least twice the price that we pay in
Patzcuaro.
After all that is said, I do enjoy the ambiance of La Paz
and would certainly recommend it as a place to visit, but my heart (including
my dog) is in Patzcuaro. Mid May I will
be back in Patzcuaro listening to the church bells and the rockets, but
enjoying a quiet breakfast at Lupita's Restaurant.
April 30, 2013
Yesterday afternoon the seas were very calm. We were enjoying the serenity of the bay
when, suddenly we were surrounded by sailboats. 5 boats came in about 4 pm.
One had a Canadian flag but it seemed the passengers all spoke Italian??!
Later we realized, overhearing the conversation on 3 of the boats, that they
were all speaking Italian.
Bob had his compressor running and went for a little tour
under the boat and along the bottom. He
is happy with this new toy. When we
were in La Paz he was trying to buy weights but could not find any so yesterday
he had difficulty getting to the ocean floor, and of course once there, just
floated up again.
Last night the winds came up again about 11 pm and blew all
through the night. Once more things
were banging, flapping and generally making a racket. I did not have a good sleep, all intermixed with the snoring.
This morning we left Isla San Francisco at about 8:30
am. Winds were from the south/southwest
with following seas. We were
sailing!! San Evaristo is only 9 miles
from Isla San Francisco so we were there just after 11 am. Most of the trip was good sailing but the
last 2 miles went by slowly..which was fine as we were not in a rush.
San Evaristo is a tiny fishing village, and I mean
tiny. San Evaristo reminded us of
Indian villages in Manitoba. There are
a few houses, and they are for the most tiny.
Of course there is the occasional palapa which reminds us that we are in
Mexico.
Tomorrow we will continue on to Agua Verde, and may end up
there for a few days as we are expecting north winds on Thursday and the
forecast says that they will be 25 to 30 knots. I would rather not be in that as they would be right on our nose.
We spent the day doing nothing but watch the village and the
sea. On both counts nothing really
happened until about 7 pm. Lo and
behold the Italian trio of sailboats arrived.
At least tonight they didn’t anchor as close as they had yesterday.
It is cooler to night and I can see a fog bank in the
distance but I don’t know what that foretells if anything.
Our plan is still to leave early tomorrow morning and listen
to the forecast at 7:30 am while underway.
If it sounds okay then we will move on but if the north winds are
arrived a day early then we will return to San Evaristo.
May 2, 2013
According to plan we left San Evaristo at about 7 am. No winds all day until we were trying to
take down the sail near Agua Verde…but how normal is that.
Coming from the south to Agua Verde there are some reefs and
‘the books’ recommend you not go between them or between the shore and the most
southerly reef. While we took the long
way around we saw 2 boats merrily hugging the shore going exactly where the
books suggest that you don’t go. I
would think that they had made the trip at some other time, or ignorance is
bliss. Anyway for future reference we
know that the more inside passage is okay.
It is hot these days and the nights are no longer cooling
down as much. Soon I think a sheet will
do the trick.
What can one say about the Baja? Yesterday as we motored north I had 8 hours to contemplate different
things (only interrupted by making lunch and getting beer for The Captain).
The Baja has impressive scenery but it doesn’t vary
much. Barren mountains with very
little vegetation, but the colours and the different strata are very beautiful
in a rugged harsh way.
Agua Verde (Green Water) is a lovely bay with a minute
village. Yesterday we went to the
little store and apparently there is a restaurant, which we will search out
today. The store is very basic but I
did buy potatoes and jicama.
Yesterday evening we saw a panga with about 7 people (local
family) going around to all our boats.
When they came to our boat, we found that they were selling
lobster/crayfish. They had a spokesman
(young man) and Mom, Dad little girl and a baby. The lobster was the right price…4 for about $8.00!! I cooked them all last night and we enough
to make a lobster salad today. The
kids all tried out their English on us and of course I used my Spanish. All in all a sweet experience.
May 2, 2013
The strong north winds did not materialize. In the afternoon, for a short while, we had
some winds, which resulted in a little rolling. Bob had moved the boat in the morning so we were in a better
spot. As the day went by boats left and
others took their spots. As we are only
24 nm from Puerto Escondido, where Loreto fest is being held. many of the boats
are on their way to the Fest. We have
decided that we will hang out here for another day unless there is a large
change in wind direction. The Fest
attracts in so far as we would see people that we know but on the other hand
there will be a lot of people, which does not appeal to me.
Today went by quickly.
I cleaned the boat and Bob topped up the fuel. We did a tour of the bay in the late afternoon and that was it
for the day.
At about 6 pm we had visitors from Moon Tide. I recognized the name, but did not know from
where, and then they told us that they were the people that had been robbed
while they had their boat in Caleta de Campos.
I had read about the robbery in the Yahoo southbound group news. About 8 years ago we spent a winter in
Caleta de Campos, which is why the robbery caught my attention. This robbery surprised us as nothing like
that had happened there for many years.
Of course no one has been apprehended.
The feeling was that the robbery was committed by out of town guys.
May 3, 2013
Last night I slept on deck for a while as Bob had brought
his snoring level to an all time high.
It was very pleasant and I was asleep in minutes.
Today we decided to stay in Agua Verde another day. Tomorrow we will head to Puerto Escondido
and stay there for a week. It seems
easiest, as I will catch a bus to La Paz on May 11 and then fly to Guadalajara
from La Paz…then bus it home. A lot of
trouble but there are no direct flights to Morelia from La Paz. When I get to Guadalajara I will check for
flights to Morelia, but so many flights go to Mexico City and then you get
another flight…yikes.
This morning a lady from the village came around collecting
garbage for a feel of course. That made
me happy, as now we do not have to take it to shore with us.
This afternoon we plan a big outing…. dinghy to shore and
see if there really is a restaurant here.
More about this exciting adventure later!!
May 4
We left Agua Verde about 9 and motored to Bahia
Candeleros. There is a resort in this
bay so we had lunch there. It is a
gorgeous place…pricey but who cares as we have spent no money for the last
week.
Then neighbours from Agua Verde suggested that there was a
Happy Hour at the resort…so off we went and spent a very nice few hours at the
resort. Lots of sailing talk and
generally a fun time.
Then just when we got back to the boat the wind started to
blow and blew until about 5 am….35 knot gusts.
It was a noisy night but not too bumpy as there were no waves to speak
of. When the gusts first started I was
feeling quite nervous but other people spend lots of time (the bay is lovely),
so I convinced myself that it was noisy but not dangerous. But I did not sleep
much. Apparently these west winds are
quite common here so I am presuming that they will be here tonight. If so we will go to Puerto Escondido
tomorrow morning.
Today was a lovely day for us. In the morning we went to the resort and had their breakfast buffet. All kinds of good stuff like fruit. It is tough to keep fruit for any time so we settle for apples but they are mushy after a few days. Then in the late afternoon we joined a group from other boats for Happy Hour. The evening was quiet but at about 9 pm we had some wind but it did not last long. A quiet night so both of us slept well.
And here we sit in Puerto Escondido having a drink overlooking the bay. The seas were calm and because of that we dared to tow our dinghy.
I will soon have some photos to upload. Tomorrow or Wednesday I should have everything in order to upload photos.
This has been such a serene time for us...so unlike sailing along the mainland. Being able to sail to a new anchorage in a few hours is a dream.
Tomorrow I will try to get everything in order to make my way home. Bob will continue on for anywhere up to a month.
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