Northward in the Sea

We've been continuing our exploration of the Sea of Cortez, working our way north to one spectacular anchorage after another.  One advantage of being a bit later in the season for this northward migration is that it seems as though most boats have already passed through, leaving the anchorages deserted or nearly so.  The mountain range on the Baja, the Sierra Giganta, continues to amaze, providing us with constantly changing views of this remote, harshly beautiful desert landscape.  Recent stops have included Timbabiche, San Evaristo, Agua Verde, San Marte, and now Puerto Escondido.

Part of the San Evaristo herd, ready for action!

Curious kids at the old "Casa Grande" at Timbabiche

Town square, Agua Verde style

All kids love to see themselves in the digital cameras

Agua Verde market.

The refrigerated food aisle...old coolers on their sides, filled w/ ice and various cold food

Not sure of the exact translation, but we figured a "vampire steak" couldn't be TOO bad!!!  (we were right!!!)

On the hike above the Isla San Francisco anchorage

Start of Steinbeck Canyon hike

The hiking has been fun, both on the islands as well as the main peninsula.  Yesterday we joined fellow cruisers Steve and Ian for a hike up "Steinbeck Canyon", a narrow boulder filled canyon described by John Steinbeck in his writings on the area.  Although the canyon was nearly dry, and we saw no waterfalls, there was a bit of water remaining in some of the deeper pools and small, oasis like areas with palm trees and other green vegetation. 

We continue to work on repair projects, confirming the reality that "cruising is getting to fix your boat in distant places".  Yesterday the raw water pump in the refrigeration system packed it in.  Happily we had a spare pump, and the repair went smoothly on this rather critical system!!!  The anchor washdown pump also quit recently.  Not as serious as refrigeration, but it's nice to be able to clean the mud and muck off the anchor and chain as it comes aboard.  We also use it when cleaning fish on the aft deck.  Happily it turns out to be just a bad pressure switch, but by jury rigging it to keep it on we can use the pump (carefully, so as not to blow up any hose connections down below!)  It really is amazing how the wear and tear of constant use takes its toll on systems and gear, compared to using a boat intermittently on weekends and vacations.  But its really just part of the challenge, and so far all has been manageable.

Catch of the day...needlefish!

Scallop feast

Fishing report:  The fishing continues to be spotty at best.  Folks still complaining about the cold water (now about 76 deg), but it is warming up, and hopefully the fish locker will soon be better stocked.  A few boats report getting nice dorados lately, so fingers crossed that our luck will improve.  We're had our best luck trolling with the dinghy at anchorages, and collected a nice bag of scallops a few days ago while snorkeling.  Tasty business!!!

We've been here in Puerto Escondido for the past few days, catching up with friends, using the internet, kayaking, hiking, and snorkeling.  This part of the Sea has so many beautiful islands to explore, we indeed have our work cut out for us as we continue to journey north toware the Bahia de Los Angeles, where we plan to spend the heat of the summer during the hurricane season.

Swimming with lions

Sea lions, that is!
Bravo is on the move again! A few days ago we left La Paz and headed north. Great to have a steering wheel again!!! Went back up to Caleta Partida, which we'd enjoyed so much with David and Diana. Explored the area by kayaks, including the bay to the north. We spent two nights here, leaving yesterday in the early morning for Los Islotes, a pair of small islands with a very active sea lion rookery. The early start was the ticket, as we had the islands to ourselves, before other boats began to arrive.
After anchoring offshore, we loaded snorkel gear into the dinghy and headed, rather gingerly, in toward the island, which was covered with barking sea lions...babies, females, and large bulls. Several jumped in right away, and began to swim around us. We put on our gear (black wetsuits really do make you look a bit too much like a sea lion!!!) and jumped in. The water was spectacularly clear, the best we've had yet on the trip. And there was a tremendous assortment and quantity of fish all around. (We could see why the sea lions enjoy the place, with their meat locker so well stocked!!!)
But the star(s) of the show were certainly the sea lions themselves. Showing no fear of us, they seemed to enjoy swimming around us, at us, above and below us. It was fantastic! They seemed completely unaggressive and not at all unhappy with our presence, but rather wanted to simply have a swim with these new visitors (remember the black wetsuits???). It was an extraordinary experience for both of us humans. (We don't flatter ourselves that it was so extraordinary for the sea lions!!)
After 45 minutes in the water we began to get cold, and reluctantly piled into the dinghy for the trip back to Bravo, anchored close by. Just at that point, several other boats arrived, disgorging their dinghies and snorkelers into the water. We were really glad to have had the time to ourselves with these playful critters.
Weighing anchor, we headed over to Isla San Francisco, perhaps 15 more miles to the north. There's a beautiful protected bay here, and we had a great hike today to the surrounding ridge with 360 degree views before swimming in the turquoise blue, crystal clear waters. All in all, a great day. We'll stay here another night, before continuing north tomorrow.
Sorry about the lack of photos (or videos!). We are out of range of our internet service, and will be posting via ham radio until we get a inet connection again (might be a while, as we enter the more remote areas of the Baja). At that time we'll upload some photos (and underwater video of the sea lions).

La Paz update

Right after our arrival at Los Muertos, we got to experience one of the unique weather patterns of the Sea of Cortez..."the norther".  These weather systems, bringing high northerly winds down from the US south west, can blow for several days.  And this one did!  Even anchored snugly in the cove, it blew 20-30 knots steadily for over two days.  No worries, the anchor held solid, and we got a lot of reading done, movies watched, and navels contemplated as we waited for the wind to die down.  We had a local panga fisherman take us ashore, as it would have been a very wet dinghy ride, especially with the four of us.

Eventually the wind died down, and we made our way up toward the national park of Espiritu Santo.  On the way, while tacking the boat, we snapped a steering cable....a bad sensation indeed as suddenly the steering wheel just spun around like a pinwheel with no control of the boat.  Happily our auto pilot is a completely independent system, so we were able to continue on using just Otto, our trusty pilot to steer.

Made it to a large, pretty bay, San Gabriel, at the bottom of Espiritu Santo, and anchored near two other boats, Taking Flight and Panta Rhei, both from Seattle.  The water was picture perfect, light blue over coral sands.  We hadn't seen this color water all the way down the Mexican mainland.  Of course it demanded exploration.  Toys were quickly deployed, as we set out kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking.  Did a fun desert hike with the other boat crews across the island to the east side bay called Bonanza.

A strong wind came up that night out of the south.  This is another local weather phenomena, seen only in the La Paz area, known as a corumuel.  It blew 25 knots all night.  The wind wasn't very strong, but the short chop it created, perhaps 5-7 feet, really made the boats hobby horse at anchor.  Taking Flight took a wave over the bow and down the hatch, dousing their bunk.  They boogied out at around 3 a.m. for a calmer bay to the north, while we stayed put, as we didn't want to move on without a steering wheel!!!

Fisherman trying for a bigger fish!

The next day, we moved north to another bay at the north end of the island park, Caleta Partida.  Here we had a great time exploring, and bought a lobster and some fish from a local fishermans beach camp.  Tasty business!!!

Fossils in beach rocks.

Old greybeards never give it up!!!

  It was now time for David and Diana to fly home out of La Paz, so with that, we headed south to the city.  As luck had it, there was a festival in swing when we arrived, with dancing on a street stage, and the start of an off road desert race, the Dos Mares 500.  A good party for everyone, with the malecon packed full of racers, wannabes, and fans.  Hard to resist!!!

Geriatric mariachis!!!

Guys looked beat after 500 miles in the desert!

D&D flew out after a great visit, and we settled down to get our steering fixed.  We needed parts from the US, and Edson, the manufacturer claimed less than 50% success shipping to Mexico.  Best solution...Cindi flew up to visit her brother and his family in L.A. for a fun weekend, and was our "mule" for carrying boat parts back across the border.  Just took a couple of hours to fix the next day, and yeeee-hah, today we'll be getting back underway, heading north to explore the Sea of Cortez for the next several months......stay tuned!!!

Baja Bound!

After leaving Urique (again via a rather rugged bus ride...several lost their tacos on the ride up out of the canyon!!) we headed by bus for the town of Posada Barancas.  This is another stop on the CHEPE railroad, located at the canyon rim.  We found a great guest house run by the Diaz family, and then set out to explore the dramatic cliffs in the area.

 

 

Check out the guy sitting and meditating on the ledge near the top.  Talk about exposure!!!

It's great here how accessible the cliffs really are, unimpeded by the typical guardrails or safety glass seen in the U.S. to save the errant tourist from an ugly splattered demise.  Here we were, immediately adjacent to a 5 star hotel (Hotel Mirador), and we could stand (or crawl) right to the canyon edge.  Very cool!!!

 The next morning we took a beautiful 6 mile hike down into the canyon, where we caught the tram back to the rim, and then the train back to El Fuerte.  We backtracked our route to Mazatlan, where we got the boat ready for the 200 mile crossing to Baja.

 

Tarahumara ranch passed on the trail

Cindi negotiating the "summit ladder"

Dramatic views through glass floor!

 

Mazatlan cliff diver...a steep learning curve!!!

Here are a few parting photos of Mazatlan, before the four of us untied the lines in the morning to head across.
 

Diver said he's been at it for around 6 months...kids, don't try this at home!

A bike with air bag, no worries!

We had a great crossing, enjoying some excellent sailing the first day.  That night the winds became light and variable, and we motor sailed much of the rest of the night and next day, as we made our way to Los Muertos, a pretty bay south of La Paz, arriving at around 5 pm.