April 2, 2009
We pulled up anchor early and headed out as a whale was spouting at the entrance to the bay. Further out we saw another couple of gray whales spouting and rolling through the water. We also saw I think a large black ray fly out of the water, and later several huge shiney silver fish shoot out of the water and twist before going back in. We cruised slowly past Los Islotes, the famous California sea lion rookery (they’re internationally protected marine mammals). Males can grow to 8 ft long weighing almost 800 lbs and females can get up to 6 ft long and 200 lbs. Females give birth to pups from May to July. We motored over to Isla San Francisco’s big crescent-shaped bay edged in a white sand beach. We anchored just in time to watch the sun set behind the rugged Sierra de la Giganta mountains on mainland Baja in light winds. True to form the winds picked up later for another rocky night in the forepeak.
April 3, 2009
I kayaked to shore to explore the beach, salt pond, tide pools and agate beach. Jim hiked part of the ridge trail. The tide pools were fascinating. I heard a cracking and crunching all around me so decided to sit for about 15 minutes watching life unfold in one small area. The tiniest crabs were moving over minuscule pebbles and tiny fish like things darted around. The pictures I took just don’t show the rich colors and shapes I watched. Further on the “agate” beach was covered in all sizes of pebbles, stones and boulders. For a rock lover like me I felt as though I’d hit the mother lode. I realized once I was over there I don’t actually know what an agate looks like but I’m pleased with everything I hauled back, much to Jim’s displeasure. I got back to the boat just as a fleet of racers (catamarans and sailboats) came into the bay. This evening we have 29 boats which is the most we’ve anchored with so far. Good thing it’s a big bay. Winds have been strong all afternoon pushing the boat in wide 180ยบ arcs.
April 4
We were up and ready to leave by 8am and discovered the wheel wouldn’t turn all the way. Jim had to dive under the boat and check the rudder, nope. He checked the autopilot. Nope. So he spent the next 6 hours disassembling the wheel and podium because a nut worked lose into the wheel gears. Nothing’s easy. 3 screws were frozen and had to be drilled out. He eventually got everything fixed and put back together which is proof sailing is really doing boat maintenance in beautiful locations. While he was tearing things apart I was so bored I polished all the brightwork (chrome) on the boat. The La Paz race fleet that surrounded us, meanwhile, were partying in high spirits. We left about 3pm and arrived in San Evaristo at sunset with a lot of strong wind making for an uncomfortable/sleepless night.
April 5
Strong wind all day and when we realized it wasn’t going to stop we decided to dinghy to shore anyway. Met Chris and Ronnie from Victoria BC on their new boat while hiking over to the salt ponds and ocean for beachcombing. We had our first experience shopping in a local tienda (tortillas and avocados) and trying to converse enough to not appear like idiots. We discovered wafer cookies. Yum. Chris came over later for Jim’s slideshow sailing to/from Hawaii as he plans on heading that direction. Tortillas were great.
We pulled up anchor early and headed out as a whale was spouting at the entrance to the bay. Further out we saw another couple of gray whales spouting and rolling through the water. We also saw I think a large black ray fly out of the water, and later several huge shiney silver fish shoot out of the water and twist before going back in. We cruised slowly past Los Islotes, the famous California sea lion rookery (they’re internationally protected marine mammals). Males can grow to 8 ft long weighing almost 800 lbs and females can get up to 6 ft long and 200 lbs. Females give birth to pups from May to July. We motored over to Isla San Francisco’s big crescent-shaped bay edged in a white sand beach. We anchored just in time to watch the sun set behind the rugged Sierra de la Giganta mountains on mainland Baja in light winds. True to form the winds picked up later for another rocky night in the forepeak.
April 3, 2009
I kayaked to shore to explore the beach, salt pond, tide pools and agate beach. Jim hiked part of the ridge trail. The tide pools were fascinating. I heard a cracking and crunching all around me so decided to sit for about 15 minutes watching life unfold in one small area. The tiniest crabs were moving over minuscule pebbles and tiny fish like things darted around. The pictures I took just don’t show the rich colors and shapes I watched. Further on the “agate” beach was covered in all sizes of pebbles, stones and boulders. For a rock lover like me I felt as though I’d hit the mother lode. I realized once I was over there I don’t actually know what an agate looks like but I’m pleased with everything I hauled back, much to Jim’s displeasure. I got back to the boat just as a fleet of racers (catamarans and sailboats) came into the bay. This evening we have 29 boats which is the most we’ve anchored with so far. Good thing it’s a big bay. Winds have been strong all afternoon pushing the boat in wide 180ยบ arcs.
April 4
We were up and ready to leave by 8am and discovered the wheel wouldn’t turn all the way. Jim had to dive under the boat and check the rudder, nope. He checked the autopilot. Nope. So he spent the next 6 hours disassembling the wheel and podium because a nut worked lose into the wheel gears. Nothing’s easy. 3 screws were frozen and had to be drilled out. He eventually got everything fixed and put back together which is proof sailing is really doing boat maintenance in beautiful locations. While he was tearing things apart I was so bored I polished all the brightwork (chrome) on the boat. The La Paz race fleet that surrounded us, meanwhile, were partying in high spirits. We left about 3pm and arrived in San Evaristo at sunset with a lot of strong wind making for an uncomfortable/sleepless night.
April 5
Strong wind all day and when we realized it wasn’t going to stop we decided to dinghy to shore anyway. Met Chris and Ronnie from Victoria BC on their new boat while hiking over to the salt ponds and ocean for beachcombing. We had our first experience shopping in a local tienda (tortillas and avocados) and trying to converse enough to not appear like idiots. We discovered wafer cookies. Yum. Chris came over later for Jim’s slideshow sailing to/from Hawaii as he plans on heading that direction. Tortillas were great.
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