March 14 - A relaxed birthday

Today was David's birthday.  It was a nice mellow day, with a morning hike up above the anchorage, and lots of petroglyphs along the trail.  It is believed that they may be as much as 3000 years old, or more.

From up on the ridge there was a sweet view of El Burro Beach, with the boats anchored out and the palapas/homes along the shore:

Then we hung out on the boat until we saw a whale shark coming by.  Justen and David hopped in the dinghy and raced off to swim alongside.  This picture is not great, but it gives an idea of what we saw:

We then spent the rest of the day snorkeling and hanging out at Bertha's Beach Club drinking Micheladas.  Our host at Bertha's:

Patrick and Justen managed to surprise David in the evening with a birthday cake and a singing of happy birthday along with some of the other youngsters in the anchorage.  The only thing missing was a round of "up and down the coast" by the Beekeepers.

The surprise:

 The happy birthday boy:

Good days and great days!  This was a great day!

Day 19 Playa Santispac to Playa El Burro

Today was a FANTASTIC day. We moved anchorages to another cove in the Bahia Coyote, and were rewarded for our move in many ways. The snorkeling is MUCH better than at the previous spot, as Patrick managed to spear some yellow tail snapper!

 Patrick was able to ride in the hammock chair on the trip to the new anchorage:

But the highlight of the day was swimming with Whale Sharks! We had heard they were in the bay the morning before we got there, but didn't expect them to return! When Patrick and Justin returned from snorkeling they saw David following a large black fin only 50 yards from Blue Eyes! So they hopped right in and were rewarded with a glorious, large whale shark moving at a gentle swimming pace (with flippers, so poor Justen couldn't quite keep up). What a moving experience. Such huge and peaceful animals feeding on tiny plankton and fish. We tried grabbing on to the dorsal fin and tail to hitch a ride, but they didnt seem to like that and bucked us off! Still a great experience.
 
That evening we had our fellow young cruisers over for Micheladas on our boat and proceeded to have a bonfire with S'mores on the beach. Eric brought his guitar to the beach and Patrick was playing a Mason Jennings song when they started joining in! Fellow Mason fans! What a treat. Beer, fire, friends, on a beach with a full moon after spearfishing and whale sharks. Quite possibly our best day yet!

Photo courtesy of Sound Discovery

March 11: Guest post by Justen - at anchor in Concepcion Bay

Day 18: Playa Santispac

     Spent the morning spear fishing with Patrick. It was a first for me, and something about cruising around in snorkel and fins with a spear gun in tropical waters feels distinctly James Bond-esque, although all I accomplished was losing a fish off the line that Patrick had caught earlier. Apparently long history with spear fishers around the islands here have made the surviving fish either small, or very leery of anything shaped like a man with a spear gun.

     We hit the restaurant on shore, expecting fishermen and a few Canadian Rvers of the snowbird varieyt, I guess. Instead, retirees in their 50's pack in the place, with watercolors painting class critique and snatches of sentences like "Harry's got Rotary on Tuesdays..." in the air. After being 1,000 kilometers deep into Mexico, it's kind of a culture shock. We drink our micheladas, survey the crowds, then drink our beers, escape back to the boat. It's all somehow just too much.



    We're invited by a couple aboard a passing dinghy to a dinner party aboard the Sound Discovery from Alaska. We join two couples who'd been cruising in tandem down the west coast since Ensenada, coming into the Sea of Cortez from the south. It's a fine meal of fish tacos and beer biscuits (and beer in cans), hearing stories of free-diving school in Thailand ("make the mermaid want you," they advised for a graceful ascent), a boat bought cheap in La Paz from the estate of a dead nudist Nazi and all his sordid rumored stories (not purchased by any of us in the anchorage).

    As the night goes on we get an idea of what it takes in a relationship to live together aboard a boat for six months, a year at a time, in anchorage in Alaska (cold), or sailing through a foreign country with no refrigeration (warm). An easy-going nature, a large library, and the ability to yell it out when necessary and drop grudges fast. I strongly suspect this life would be a good test of any relationship's fiber. A charming evening, whole-heartedly inspiring to buy a boat and set off on this lifestyle for all the adventure and doldrums and long sunny hours of a year or two.

    But as Pam, of one of the couples told us of how they bought their boat: "We knew nothing about sailing or boats. And he--the guy we were buying the boat from--actually told us, 'You're stupid. You are incredibly stupid to do this. I feel obligated to tell you that.' We didn't know how to respond to that. So we nodded and smiled, and we bought the boat."


Seems like a good idea to me.

Day 17 Punta Chivato to Muluge to Playa Santispac

The day started with Justen and Patrick taking the dinghy out to nearby islands to try some fishing. They had only been trolling for a little bit when they got a call from David asking them to come back ASAP because he was having some issues with the batteries. It turns out that we had drawn the batteries down so much that they had used up a bunch of fluid, and we needed to get more.

So we motored down to the entrance to Muluge and David and Justen took the dinghy to go get some supplies to work on the battery. David took a cab from shore to the nearest gas station and got the supplies needed. After filling the batteries we headed south to the closest anchorage: Playa Santispac. Pulled in about an hour before sunset and discovered there to be 3 other boats already in the anchorage! It is going to be a little party! 

THe entrance to Rio Santa Rosalia and the town of Muluge upriver.

Day 16: Isla San Marcos to Punta Chivato

Having not motored for the past 4 days, we motored the 15 or so miles to Punta Chivato to charge our batteries, despite having a nice fair breeze. Punta Chivato is a nice little anchorage with a beautiful shell beach. Arriving around 1230, Patrick went spear fishing to get some fish for lunch.

He came back with 3 different types of fish, none of which we know the names of! I think we will try to get a reef id book at the next possible location. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around reading. We had one other boat of similar size in the anchorage, but had no interaction with them. The wind died down in the evening providing us with a beautiful evening to enjoy the sights.

March 8: New crew and leaving Santa Rosalia

A new member joined the crew for a few weeks: Justen.  After an adventurous 15hour bus ride from Tijuana, he made it in time for a late breakfast in Santa Rosalia.

We then wandered around town a bit, and swung by the old copper foundry before departing.  Quite the scene of decay:

We then headed out to anchor of the south side of isla san marcos.   Justen took a turn at the helm:

We saw a whale flopping its tail like crazy in shallow (20ft) water.  Our best guess is that it was bottom feeding:

We then got into the anchorage and Justen and Patrick went out fishing. quelle surprise!

Next stop Punta Chivato and the entrance to Concepcion Bay.

March 7: Hanging in Santa Rosalia

Today we just got errands done (groceries, fuel, etc.) and hung out in town.  Here is patrick with a plastic water jug, he looks like a hippy beating his drum:

The marina is a nice social place with only half a dozen boats, so it is easy to get to know your neighbors.

Not much to report, though Santa Rosalia is interesting in its lack of tourism.  Mining is big, and we see lots of trucks and workers from the surrounding mines.  It is a nice change from the tourism economy of Baja.