April 8
Because we prepped ourselves last night we were able to pull up the anchor before 8am and head out to Agua Verde. There was little wind so we motored in fairly calm conditions. A huge flock of pelicans, gulls, cormorants and terns were feeding up ahead in what must have been a large fish broil. Jim had his line out and caught and killed a pelican. It was a low point for me the remainder of the day. We arrived in Agua Verde about noon and anchored in the south lobe of the large bay. We kayaked to shore and explored the town tucked back into the hills. Such a contrast seeing the hollyhocks, sunflowers and other flowers against the dust and cactus. And so many buzzards. We stopped at the tortillaria and then on to the “restaurant” which was an extended patio in front of someone’s house. The family was relaxing (sleeping, administering insulin and watching a tv novella) and cleared off the table and brought out a chair for us. I got to practice my Spanish and almost laughed out loud when Jim said “ask them for the menu”. He had a very tasty pollo, frijoles, tortillas and salsa while I had their last Tecate (my one beer in 2 years!). The day ended with a beautiful sunset followed by a full moon peeking over the hill and launching itself into a spectacular white globe.
April 9
I kayaked in to town to buy more tortillas and make one more stop at Maria’s tienda. The tortillas were still warm when she handed them to me, hopefully enough to last us until our next opportunity for shopping. On the way back to the boat I kayaked around more of the bay and watching the reef fish. Perfect kayaking conditions. Then we took the dinghy to the other side of the bay and hiked up and over to the cemetery which looked long abandoned. It was particularly sad to see the graves of los niños only a year old. Spying palm trees off in the distance we decided to explore and found the green water which gives Agua Verde its name. Fascinating area with giant palm trunks prostrate on the ground or twined around each other in circles. We saw the goats on the hill and Jim befriended a very young baby hiding under a bush, so young it still had its dried umbilical cord attached! It was a long hot and dry walk back over the hill where we ran into Heather from Om Shanti, one of the authors of the Sea of Cortez book we’re using. We arranged to get our book signed later in the day. Jim took the dinghy back to the boat and I kayaked around the remainder of the bay in, again, perfect conditions in crystal clear water. Somehow I still had energy enough to once again reorganize down below. I find our needs change depending on weather and cruising vs longer distance sailing. It was a lackluster sunset due to overcast skies.
Because we prepped ourselves last night we were able to pull up the anchor before 8am and head out to Agua Verde. There was little wind so we motored in fairly calm conditions. A huge flock of pelicans, gulls, cormorants and terns were feeding up ahead in what must have been a large fish broil. Jim had his line out and caught and killed a pelican. It was a low point for me the remainder of the day. We arrived in Agua Verde about noon and anchored in the south lobe of the large bay. We kayaked to shore and explored the town tucked back into the hills. Such a contrast seeing the hollyhocks, sunflowers and other flowers against the dust and cactus. And so many buzzards. We stopped at the tortillaria and then on to the “restaurant” which was an extended patio in front of someone’s house. The family was relaxing (sleeping, administering insulin and watching a tv novella) and cleared off the table and brought out a chair for us. I got to practice my Spanish and almost laughed out loud when Jim said “ask them for the menu”. He had a very tasty pollo, frijoles, tortillas and salsa while I had their last Tecate (my one beer in 2 years!). The day ended with a beautiful sunset followed by a full moon peeking over the hill and launching itself into a spectacular white globe.
April 9
I kayaked in to town to buy more tortillas and make one more stop at Maria’s tienda. The tortillas were still warm when she handed them to me, hopefully enough to last us until our next opportunity for shopping. On the way back to the boat I kayaked around more of the bay and watching the reef fish. Perfect kayaking conditions. Then we took the dinghy to the other side of the bay and hiked up and over to the cemetery which looked long abandoned. It was particularly sad to see the graves of los niños only a year old. Spying palm trees off in the distance we decided to explore and found the green water which gives Agua Verde its name. Fascinating area with giant palm trunks prostrate on the ground or twined around each other in circles. We saw the goats on the hill and Jim befriended a very young baby hiding under a bush, so young it still had its dried umbilical cord attached! It was a long hot and dry walk back over the hill where we ran into Heather from Om Shanti, one of the authors of the Sea of Cortez book we’re using. We arranged to get our book signed later in the day. Jim took the dinghy back to the boat and I kayaked around the remainder of the bay in, again, perfect conditions in crystal clear water. Somehow I still had energy enough to once again reorganize down below. I find our needs change depending on weather and cruising vs longer distance sailing. It was a lackluster sunset due to overcast skies.
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