PUERTO LOS GATOS TO LA PAZ – THE (SECOND) BIG BLOW

January 25, 2018

Puerto Los Gatos in the Morning

We were still alone in the anchorage when I awoke just after dawn.  I got up, made coffee, and sat in the early morning sun, enjoying the lack of cold wind. When I got dressed, I put on shorts for the first time in a week.  Don got up and went for a swim and then we ate bacon and eggs.  Mexican bacon is so paper thin that it is more like the idea of bacon than actual food.  It still smells great, cooking, though.

Shortly after breakfast, we hauled up the anchor and motored out towards the San Jose Channel.  There was almost no wind and we didn’t even bother putting up the main.  We kept an eye out for blue whales, which are

rumored to play nearby, but saw nothing.  The seas were flat.  It occurred to me how remarkably free of trash the Sea of Cortez was.  We almost never saw anything, natural or unnatural, floating in the water except the occasional patch of orange algae.  This was in stark contrast to Central America where the fisherman regularly tossed their oil bottles overboard to litter the water and beaches.

Nopolo

All day we motored south.  We passed the tiny fishing village of Nopolo on the mainland, where a cluster of small houses cling to a narrow beach, accessible even from other parts of the village by boat alone.  Mangle Solo and Punta Salinas on Isla San Jose beckoned, but we continued on towards San Evaristo.  The last hour of our trip, we spent fiddling with the jib furler, trying to get the jib to take an extra couple of turns.  I pulled the jib out and Don rolled it up.  We must have done it six times.  Anyone watching us must have wondered what the heck we were doing. 

We pulled into the usually busy anchorage of San Evaristo at 5:00, to find a single other cruising boat tucked up into the northern lobe of the bay.  We anchored in Don’s usual spot in front of the desalinization plant.  It was pleasant out, but we lacked the motivation to go ashore for dinner,  We had a cocktail to celebrate our arrival and then I made chicken in green mole over rice for dinner and we spent the evening reading and listening to music.

San Evaristo in the Morning

January 26, 2018

I was awakened long before dawn by the Port Captain in La Paz on the radio saying, “Buenos dias, gente del mar.  Que buen dia!”  This translates to, “Good morning, people of the sea.  What a great day!”  I wasn’t sure how he could tell because it was pitch black outside, but I appreciated his sentiments and the fact that he came in loud and clear and spoke intelligible Spanish, something not common on marine radio in Mexico.

San Evaristo from Above

I didn’t get up at that point, but did get up at 7:30.  It was completely still and the water was glassy.  I made coffee and sat in the sun in the cockpit, watching the wildlife.  Tuna were hunting in the bay and schools of smaller fish were leaping out of the water, trying to avoid them.  The pelicans were having a field day and were splashing noisily all around me.  Eventually the sun got hot and I dove into the water for a swim, managing two laps around the boat in the chilly water.  With no wind, it was pleasant to sit in the sun, drying off, and I finished my coffee sitting on the cabin top, wrapped in a towel.

The Beach on the Other Side of the Hill

I made French toast once Don got up and thought we might get an early start, but we lacked enthusiasm.  It was very pleasant.  We decided to stay another night.  We took the dinghy to shore, walked over the hill to gaze at the beach on the other side, and ate an early dinner at Lupe Sierra’s and Maggie Mae, the little restaurant that caters to cruisers.  First, we tried to sit out back where it was sheltered from the wind, but it quickly grew too hot.  We moved to the front where it was windy, but almost pleasant.  We ate shrimp quesadillas and drank a couple of beers.  There was nothing pressing and we took our time.

Arch on the Other Side of the Hill

San Evaristo has very poor cell coverage, but there is a sweet spot in front of the mini-super on the north end of town.  People gather on the porch of the store or stand out front to use their phones.  We stopped to update our weather information and collect messages.  Then we had to face the windy dinghy ride back to Comet.  It wasn’t as bad as I had feared.  There was wind, but our proximity to the north end of the bay limited the size of the waves and we made it back with nothing worse than chilled lower extremities from wading into the chilly water while launching the dinghy.  Don had this down to a science.  I had only to hop on the bow to raise the motor clear of the bottom and we were on our way.

We passed a quiet evening aboard, mostly reading.  The wind grew stronger and stronger and the boat grew noisy.  Soon we had gusts to 27 knots.  The anchor snubber would ride up the side of the anchor roller and then snap back down to the middle with a loud bang.  We kept getting up to secure halyards, the boarding ladder, and bits of the kayak.  A single hander in a Cal 20 was anchored near us and his halyard was banging.  I grumpily imagined him being too drunk to bother to fix it.

January 27-29, 2018

The Menu at Lupe Sierra and Maggie Mae's

Being stuck at anchor while waiting for a weather window is an exercise in avoiding boredom.  We awoke early, hoping the wind would have died down enough to leave and then, after ascertaining that it was still much to rough out there to leave, were faced with even more time to fill.  We read books and did little chores about the boat.  I cooked breakfasts and made guacamole.  Saturday night, we went ashore for dinner.  Our supplies were running low and we were attempting to stretch our provisions.  After dinner, we walked back to the store on the other end of town.  We had bought beer and cookies from the Sierras, but still needed eggs and tortillas.  We got eggs, but there were no tortillas to be had.  After checking our messages, we headed back to the boat and spent another quiet evening.

Gulls on the Beach at San Evaristo

We didn’t leave the boat at all on Sunday.  It was quite windy all day.  Don repaired a few things around the boat.  I practiced the guitar and read.  We were both more than ready to be underway, but the weather forecast was for two more days of wind.  Our hopes of being in La Cruz in time for Superbowl dwindled.  My computer was the one item that I could not charge with 12-volt power.  I had work to do, but didn’t dare use up my battery before we got to La Paz.

Sunrise in San Evaristo

Monday was windy again. We were sick of the constant howling.  I started another book, but couldn’t bear another day of reading.  I restitched the hatch cover instead.  That took most of the afternoon and evening.  Once again, we never left the boat.  I scratched together a pasta dish from a jar of tomato sauce and whatever was left in the refrigerator.  We used our last lime and bit of the rum.  We decided to leave the following morning, wind or not.

January 30, 2018

Single Sideband Receiver

I got up early to string the SSB receiver antenna so as to catch Gary’s weather report at 7:45. It was somewhat less windy when I got up.  Gary predicted wind in the mid-teens all day. That sounded good to us.  We rigged the boat and left before breakfast.  The swells weren’t too bad at first, but the wind soon picked up to 20 knots or so.  Soon, we shut off the motor and continued under sail alone.  We were doing better than 6 knots most of the time.

We passed Isla San Francisco and I made oatmeal.  The large passenger ship that we kept seeing was anchored at Isla San Francisco.  We continued on towards Isla Partida.  The swells grew larger and larger.  The boat was rolling quite a bit, but we stayed dry and the wind went east after we passed Isla San Francisco.  We made good time.  The day grew cloudier and cloudier.  It wasn’t really cold, but neither was it warm.  Even Don put on long sleeves.

Don Crossing to Isla Partida

The last 12 miles went very fast.  We passed Los Islotes, when people swim with sea lions in warmer weather, and skated down the coast of Isla Partida and then across to Espiritu Santo.  The anchorages looked like fjiords, although we couldn’t imagine there having ever been glaciers there.  The mountains were striated and the rocks colorful.  Finally, we slipped between Isla Gallo and Espiritu Santo and into Ensenada Gallo.  Isla Gallo was so covered with Guano that it looked like it was dusted with snow.

Ensenada Gallo is large and mostly surrounded by red cliffs dotted with caves.  We anchored in 20 feet of water near the northern wall.  The anchorage would have been just as good in a

Cliffs at Ensenada Gallo

southern wind if we had moved to the other side.  It was very quiet in there.  For the first time in almost a week, we couldn’t hear the wind.

Sunset from Ensenada Gallo

I cooked the last of our meat, some delicious arrachera, for dinner with fried plantains and the last of our salad fixings.  After dinner, we sat in the cockpit, drinking tequila and pineapple juice, since that was all we had, and listening to music.  The moon was almost full and we could see the cliffs clearly. It was still and pleasant.  It seemed a shame to go below to catch up on my writing.

January 31, 2018

Tattered Mexican Courtesy Flag

It was dead calm when we awoke in Ensenada Gallo. If it had been sunny, it would have been a perfect morning for swimming or paddle boarding.  Unfortunately, it was overcast and a bit chilly.  We listened to Gary’s weather report and then I made a quick breakfast, which we downed before leaving.  By 8:30, we were hauling up the anchor and motoring out of the anchorage.  Our poor Mexican flag was looking worse for wear after all the wind it had suffered over the previous ten days.

Anchorage at Ensenada Gallo

We motored around behind Islas Gallo and Gallina and then continued down the coast of Espiritu Santo towards La Paz, pondering what geological events had created the fjord-like bays.  It was strange to look into the distance and see large man-made structures after so much time in remote places.  By mid-afternoon there was still no wind and we continued motoring past familiar anchorages near La Paz where we stopped a couple of years before when arriving in La Paz from the opposite direction.

Looking Towards Islas Gallina and Gallo

The channel into La Paz is tricky and threads between shoals.  The corner where Marina Costa Baja is located is especially hard to navigate, as there are many buoys and it is hard to tell in which order they should be taken.  Navionics was trying to steer us directly into the shoal and even the first red buoy was in very shallow water.  The best course is to stay to the left past Berkovich's boatyatrd, as if you were going to enter Costa Baja, and then make a last minute turn to starboard.

The Entrance to the La Paz Channel

Berkovich's Boatyard

We arrived at Marina Palmira about 3:00.  We found the marina clean and well-maintained, but rather deserted as many boats had taken advantage of the calm weather to depart.  We took a shower and then relaxed at the sports bar with margaritas.  Don wanted to stay in La Paz long enough to see the Superbowl, so we made reservations to watch it there in the sports bar.  We thought about eating dinner there, but the place was deserted.  We decided to walk up the road to El Molinito where things were somewhat livelier.  Don had the combination brochetta and I had some tasty fish tacos.  

Walking back along the malecon after dark was especially pleasant, as we could see the lights of La Paz in the distance.  The La Paz malecon stretches for two and a half miles from Marina La Paz to Marina Palmira.  It is dotted with interesting sculptures and benches for contemplating the harbor.  At night, it is reasonably well lit and busy with walkers and joggers.  The marina was peaceful and we passed a quiet evening aboard.