BAHIA DE LOS ANGELES TO PUERTO ESCONDIDO

May 4, 2024

Leaving Bahia de los Angeles

We didn’t have a long way to go, so we didn’t rush out of the Bay of L.A. Still, we were underway by 9:00. We followed the southern shore as we left and passed the other side of the window into Puerto Don Juan. It was still quite cool, and we were in long pants and fleeces. There was a lot of red tide in the Bay of L.A. and this condition followed us around the corner into Bahia de las Animas.

Chocolate Frosted Mountains

The only boat we had seen in the Bay of L.A. proper was Starr E, which had been anchored off the village. Once we entered Bahia de las Animas, we didn’t see another boat. Bahia de las Animas is a few miles deep. Punta Islotes, where we planned to anchor, is at the far end of the bay. We motored along the shore past pink mountains capped with what looked like chocolate frosting. It seemed that a volcanic layer had covered the pink sandstone and then been gradually eroded away, leaving caps of brown on the tops of peaks and ridges.

The Guano Looked Like Snow

The Punta Islotes anchorage lies behind some rocky islets and a sandy point. The islets were covered with tall, green cactus and brilliant, white guano. The guano looked like snow, which made the islets look like Christmas card photos. The area is known for bird watching and is supposed to be home to osprey, but we saw only handsome gulls that were happy to pose for portraits. A row of crab pots marked the edge of the anchorage and we had to dodge them as we kept a careful eye on the depth. The anchorage is small and shelves rapidly. I made a U-turn as soon as we registered a depth of thirty feet, but we still dropped the hook in 28 feet and the boat came to rest in 24 feet. By low tide, the depth was down to 19 feet.

Gull at Punta Islotes

The anchorage was sheltered, and we could finally feel the warmth of the sun. We warmed up all of our leftovers for lunch and then launched the dinghy. Launching the dinghy required me to winch it up off the deck with the spinnaker halyard while Brad guided it over the lifelines. I then lowered it into the water while Brad secured it to the boat and released the halyard. After Brad led the dinghy to the rear of the boat and secured it to the stern, I winched the motor up off its mount using a small crane attached to the stern. Brad grabbed the motor and swung it towards the dinghy while I lowered it. Once the motor was secured to the stern of the dinghy, we released it from the crane and stowed the block and tackle until it was time to reverse the process.

Entrance to the Lagoon

We were eager to explore the anchorage and surrounding area. While there was a lot of red tide in the bay, the water in the anchorage was fairly clean and sparkled a turquoise blue. The bottom was carpeted with colorful pebbles and shells. Initially, we motored the dinghy out to the islets at the entrance to the anchorage and visited the gulls. Then we made a stop at the sandy point. There had once been a fish camp on the point, but it lay in ruins. The point was separated from the land by a shallow lagoon. We wanted to explore the lagoon but decided it would be better to do so from the main beach. We got back in the dinghy and headed that way.

The Dinghy at Punta Islotes

The water got shallow quite a way from the beach and we were forced to get out and tow the dinghy. Eventually, we just anchored it. We probably should have dropped the anchor much sooner, as the tide was going out and we were later forced to carry the dinghy until we could float it.

The Lagoon Was a Breeding Ground for Crabs

The area around the entrance to the lagoon was sandy and the rapid tidal action sorted the sand and pebbles into distinct patterns. The bands of different colored stones looked manmade. The lagoon was a breeding ground for at least three different types of crabs, some of which were large enough to eat. It was hard to walk without crushing any of them. We waded around in the shallow water, watching the fiddler crabs scurry away with their single giant claws over their shoulders and the hermit crabs wearing pretty snail shells alternately dashing away and pretending not to be there. The tide was ebbing rapidly. The water was bathtub warm against our ankles.

Abandoned Panga on the Beach

There was an unoccupied fish camp on the shore and a motorless panga beached on the point. There were tire tracks in the sand, but we never saw another human. The area surrounding the lagoon supported more plant life than we had seen since San Juanico. There were even red and yellow leaves floating in the water.

The tide had dropped at least a foot while we were exploring, and our dinghy was high and dry. A dinghy equipped with an outboard makes a heavy load. We each hefted one side of the stern and dragged the bow across the pebbled bottom until we were finally able to float the dinghy. We walked it until the water reached our knees and then Brad rowed until it was deep enough to lower the motor for our return to the boat.

We enjoyed basking in the sun when we returned to the boat. It seemed like a long time since we had been warm. All the excitement of exploration had distracted us from preparing anything for dinner, so we made do with canned chili and quesadillas for dinner. We passed a perfectly calm night in our sheltered spot. There was not a single light showing anywhere in Bahia de las Animas.

May 5, 2024

I awoke at 5:00 and poked my head up long enough to see the beginning of the sunrise. It was too cold to venture outside, so I returned to my bunk and slept until 6:15. By the time I got up, the sun was already warming the cockpit. I made a hot mocha and went out to enjoy the scenery while I could. Punta Islotes had rapidly become my favorite spot in Baja, and I wished we could linger. I hated having to keep a schedule while cruising.

Coyotes by the Fish Camp

Before I was quite finished dressing, Brad called me out to watch coyotes on the beach. I had heard them yipping, earlier, and they were at it, again. We saw three of them. The tide was very low. They trotted along the beach to the sandy spot at the entrance to the lagoon where they spent over an hour hunting crabs. Gulls hovered, nearby, waiting to snatch any morsels they let drop. It was fun to watch them go about their business and the show added to the magic of the place. I was very sorry when we pulled up the anchor at 8:30 and motored past the crab pots and out into the bay.

Coyote Hunting Crabs

Brad went below to work on his computer, and I took the boat up the eastern shore of Bahia de las Animas and peeked into the other anchorages on the bay. All of them looked lovely, especially the Animas Slot just outside the mouth of the bay with its white sand beach. We rounded the point and set off across towards San Francisquito. Brad took over at 11:30 and I went below to eat lunch and write.

The Animas Slot

I came back on watch at 2:30. We had been making good time. About 15:00, we saw a couple of commercial fishing boat cross ahead of us. By 16:15, we had the anchor down at San Francisquito.

The Anchorage at San Francisquito

We hadn’t liked San Francisquito the first time we were there. It was cold and windy, and we hid inside the boat to avoid the bees. Our second visit was much more pleasant, but the bees were still a bother. I made chicken and diced tomatoes over rice for dinner, and we passed a quiet night.

May 6, 2024

Moonrise at Dawn

It was a long way from San Francisquito to anywhere. On our way north, we had left from Santa Rosalia and sailed all night so as to arrive in our anchorage during daylight. This time, we left the anchorage in the pitch dark at 4:00 and aimed for Caleta Santa Maria, which was about five miles closer than Santa Rosalia. We knew that Caleta Santa Maria was used to load gypsum onto ships, but figured we would arrive there after working hours.

It was very calm in the morning, but the wind gradually increased until we were seeing twenty-two knots. The wind also kicked up the biggest waves we had ever seen in the Gulf of California. We were screaming along at seven knots.

The Mining Operation at Caleta Santa Maria

We reached Caleta Santa Maria at 15:30 and were dismayed to discover that the new copper mining operation out of Santa Rosalia had taken over the area. We could see huge machinery on the breakwater and a cloud of dust arose from the mine just behind the cove. We didn’t want to go anywhere near that dirty cloud. We decided to press on to Santa Rosalia.

The wind continued to howl, and the waves tossed White Wind. We had reserved a slip in the marina but didn’t want to try to enter under the reigning conditions. We made the decision to anchor in Puerto Viejo at the south end of Isla San Marcos.

Sunset Over Isla San Marcos

The wind abated, somewhat, as the sun set. We continued another twelve miles down the outside of Isla San Marcos. Unfortunately, we did not make it to the anchorage before dark. There was a new moon, and it was black as ink. Never have I made a landing with quite so much dependence on the instruments. We had to pass between two reefs into the shallow anchorage. Brad was on the bow and was hollering at me every time a significant wave knocked me off course. We were bouncing all over the place and it was quite stressful. Finally, we dropped the hook in fifteen feet of water, not really knowing how far we were from shore.

It was 21:00 by the time we finished anchoring. We were cold and hungry. Our friends, Blair and Mikey, had invented a dish they call momo fuko ando, after the inventor of ramen. The original recipe involves stirring eggs into the soup made from ramen packets. We only had Cup O’ Noodles, but I measured the water into a pan, dumped the contents of the cups into the pot, and stirred in the eggs. It was a hot a filling meal and welcome after a very long and somewhat harrowing day. The anchorage was reasonably calm and we slept well.

May 7, 2024

Puerto Viejo Anchorage

I was quite curious to get a look at the anchorage when I woke up. The guidebook made it sound like an ugly place, but I thought it displayed an austere beauty. Bare, rocky cliffs rose from the water and formed a crescent which was continued by rocky reefs on both sides of the anchorage. It wasn’t a deep bay, but the whole of Isla San Marcos sheltered it from north winds. The water was glassy in the morning.

We didn’t have far to go to our next stop at Punta Chivato, but I had a What’s App meeting scheduled for noon, so we got an early start. The seas were calm in direct contrast to the previous day. We arrived at Punta Chivato by 11:15.

Abandoned Hotel at Punta Chivato

I had been trying to get to Punta Chivato for years. It was a beautiful place. The anchorage was shallow with turquoise waters. It was lined with expensive homes featuring extensive landscaping and stonework. There had once been a hotel on the point, but it was shuttered. It appeared to have suffered a great deal of storm damage. Most of the palapa roofs covering individual patios were collapsed. Punta Chivato is difficult to reach by road but offers an air strip. Most of the homes were unoccupied. We only saw lights in a couple of them at night.

Fancy Homes in Punta Chivato

Punta Chivato would have been a great place to go ashore or swim, but it was too cold and windy to tempt us to do either. Unfortunately, Starlink didn’t work very well there, either. I barely managed to participate in my call and completely failed to connect to the website to work on my blog. We spent the afternoon reading and catching up on sleep. For dinner, we ate the leftover chicken and rice.

May 8, 2024

San Sebastian

We motored out of Punta Chivato at 7:30 and set off for San Sebastian, where we hoped to spend the night. Seas were calm and we made good time. We arrived at San Sebastian about 14:45. San Sebastian is a tiny oasis containing a handful of nice homes. The cove is small, and our guidebook warned us that private moorings left room for only one cruising boat at a time. We didn’t see any boats in there, so we proceeded to enter. It was tight, shallow, and the sea floor sloped up quickly. Brad wanted to go in to fifteen feet in order to get good shelter. When we reached fifteen feet in the area that was reputed to be open, there was a mooring right where we wanted to drop the anchor. It was already too shallow to go in further, so I made a rapid U-turn and we headed back out to sea. We came and we saw but we failed to conquer San Sebastian. The residents had made it impossible for cruisers to anchor in their cove.

Pulpito from the North

Fortunately, it was only another twelve miles to Pulpito, our next scheduled stop. We could see the massive plug of basalt in the distance. From far away, Pulpito appears to be an island. It is connected to the land by a low, sandy point that is hard to see from a distance. We had planned to anchor at the base of the cliff, but a swell was coming from the southeast that might have made the anchorage uncomfortable. We elected to anchor in the more western of the two coves north of the rock and tucked White Wind behind a small point in fifteen feet of water.

The Anchorage North of Pulpito

Finally, we were warm. It was lovely in the cockpit. I could finally shed my long pants and long-sleeved shirt. I made spaghetti and we ate outside in the cockpit. I sat out there until 21:00, enjoying the evening, even though there was still no moon and it was black dark.

By 21:00, a strong wind began to blow offshore. It probably wasn’t blowing more than fifteen knots, but it howled through the rigging and made the boat creak and the anchor snubber squeak against the hull. It was disconcerting because it was so dark I couldn’t tell which way we were pointing. Fortunately, there was one other boat in the anchorage and I could tell that its anchor light remained in the same position. I finally had to leave my bunk in the forepeak, put in my earplugs, and move to the salon. I was comfortable, after that.

May 9, 2024

Pulpito

Once again, it was calm when we left the anchorage at 7:45. Brad wanted to see Pulpito, so I piloted the boat around the point to the anchorage on the other side so he could get a good look. We took some photos and then turned the boat to head for Isla Coronados.

Soon, the wind picked up enough for us to sail for an hour or so. We were only making about 3.5 knots, but it was nice to get a break from the engine noise. Brad took the helm at 10:30. When our speed dropped below three knots, he cranked up the engine, again. I went below to write and catch up on some of the sleep I had missed the night before.

Isla Coronados

I came back on watch at 13:30. By then, we were motoring down the east side of Isla Coronados. We saw a big pod of dolphins passing by, but they didn’t want to play with us. Isla Coronados is obviously a former volcano with the classic conical shape. The west side had collapsed at some point, forming a shallow bay in which to anchor. We had been experiencing strong winds out of the west during the night, so decided to anchor on the less scenic, but more sheltered east side. We put the hook down in twenty feet of water before 15:00.

Anchorage East of Isla Coronados

We had just finished securing the anchor snubber when a large motor-sailer approached the achorage. They were 56 feet and needed a lot of space. We had anchored pretty much in the center of the small bay and I couldn’t see anywhere for them to go that wouldn’t be too shallow or too close to us. We watched them carefully and must have made them feel unwelcome because they turned around and headed for the other side of the island.

We were out of almost everything, so ate the last of the leftover pasta for dinner. We looked forward to reaching Puerto Escondido and going out for pizza, not to mention taking hot showers.

May 10, 2024

Dawn at Isla Coronados

I awoke at 4:51 when a strong wind started blowing out of the northeast. We had been expecting winds
from the west during the night and this was surprising. I tried to go back to sleep but never did manage to do so. I finally got up about 5:15.

We didn’t have far to go and weren’t in any hurry. We left the anchorage about 8:00 and decided to do one-hour watches since we expected to be back at our mooring before 13:00. I took the first watch because I was already at the helm. I tended to drive when entering or exiting anchorages because Brad was on the bow manning the anchor windlass.

Puerto Escondido

Brad took over at 9:00 and we sailed until the wind petered out. I drove from 10:00 to 11:00 and then we sailed a bit more until we needed to turn into Puerto Escondido. Once more, I took the helm while Brad dropped the main sail. I piloted the boat through the narrow entrance and up to our mooring ball. Brad successfully grabbed the hawser on the first try. We had left a buoy with the boat’s name attached to our mooring ball. Progress One was still on the adjacent mooring, Blair commented that someone had come by in a dinghy about 30 minutes before we arrived and asked why the mooring seemed to be reserved. Blair told him that we’d be back shortly and would be pretty annoyed if someone had taken our mooring. Brad had paid for the entire month of May.

We were glad to be back in civilization. After eating a quick lunch, we launched the dinghy, packed up our laundry, and headed for shore. We did three loads of laundry and took showers before meeting Blair and Jim from Brainwaves for dinner at the restaurant. We had a leisurely meal and caught up with our friends. In the evening, I had a chance to finish a blog post before heading to bed.