Islands, Vistas & Sunsets (Part 1)

Fun in the sun or do we just look tired?

Jay's Post: We left La Paz, Mexico on January 8, 2015 heading north for the islands. Along the way we stopped to enjoy several of the more popular anchorages that lie just a few miles outside of La Paz. One of our favorite stops was Bahia Falsa, just five miles away. We stayed here for several days enjoying the bird and marine life. While here we saw frigates, pelicans, and blue footed boobies, plus sand bass, angelfish, yellowtail and mullet. We also spent time exploring the shoreline by dinghy. While here, Peggy caught one fish and one bird, and I caught three fish.

"I caught a fish, I caught a ..."

Mushroom Rock and "Little Lara"

We had to stop and anchor in Bahia Pichilinque even though it was just a short four miles from Bahia Falsa. This area is known for its fine white sandy beaches and beautiful clear turquoise waters. It was here that we caught a ride back into La Paz so we could attend Church on Sunday. While we were waiting for the bus at the bus stop, a “Policia Federal” stopped to ask us if we needed any help. When we explained we were headed into town to attend church, he offered us a ride. Along the way we talked about Mexico, California, sailboats, families and the Church. We were able to catch a bus ride back to the anchorage after Church services were over.

We crossed the Canal de San Lorenzo on January 14^th headed for the first big island north of La Paz: Isla Espititu Santos. This island is 18 miles from La Paz and is part of the National Marine Park System. It is know for its colorful striated layers of pink, ivory, brown and black rocks.

Striated Layered Mountains

According to the Nature Conservancy this area is the breeding grounds for whales, dolphins, sea lions and turtles. It is a migratory corridor for 210 bird species, and is the home for 31 species of whales and dolphins, 500 species of fish and 4,848 species of marine invertebrates.

White Sandy Beaches of San Gabriel

We founds several beautiful anchorages amongst the possible twenty or more places we could have stopped. The three coves we stopped in all had exotic names -- Bahia San Gabriel, Puerto Ballena, and El Mezteno, as well as white sandy beaches, clear turquoise water and thick green mangroves. We found them all to be quiet secluded anchorages, often times with us being the only boat there. In these anchorages we enjoyed exploring the shoreline in the dinghy, motoring over the reefs looking at the marine life, hiking up steep arroyos over rocks and boulders, and walking through the salt flats.

Sunset at Caleta Partida

The next island we visited was Isla Partida on January 17th, 21 miles north of La Paz. Our first and most favorite anchorage on the island was Caleta Partida. This cove was originally the crater of a large extinct volcano. Over thousand s of years the crater was eroded away and the sea flowed in and filled it. We stayed here several days enjoying the beauty that surrounded us on almost all sides. There were six boats anchored here with us, a record. It was here that we traded with a local fisherman for ice and fish. Further north we stopped at Ensenada Grande to fish, snorkel, explore and hike. At low tide sea caves are exposed that dot the shore line. We were able to swim around, into and through these caves as we saw amazing marine life. We saw many unusual fish including eels, cornetfish, trumpetfish, scorpionfish, balloonfish, manterays, etc.

Sea Lions of Los Islotes

Leaving Isla Partida on January 20^th we sailed by Los Islotes, which is famous for its sea lion rookery. As we slowly motored by the island the male sea lions would bark at us while the female sea lions would dive into the water to swim around “Little Lara”.

Crossing Canal De San Jose we sailed for Isla San Francisco. This is a favorite cruising destination and we soon found ourselves anchored with eleven other boats – almost an entire community! This area is known for its large crescent shaped bay and white broken shell beach. The sunsets here are absolutely gorgeous as the sun descends behind the rugged Sierra De La Gigantas on the Baja peninsula silhouetting this jagged rocky mountain range. Then with no nearby city lights to influence the sky, the stars begin to appear to illuminate the night sky. With billions and billions of stars that appear so close you can reach up and touch them, it is possible to pick out some old familiar constellations like Ursa Major, Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Cassiopeia, as well as some new ones like the Southern Cross. While at Isla San Francisco we again went snorkeling over the reefs. This time, however, we took the Hawaiian Sling (a long spear with a 'rubber-band') with us and were able to spear a fish -- take note Jon. The rest of the fish were either too fast or we were too slow. As Peggy says, “Practice, practice, practice!”

San Evaristo Anchorage

Mexican Cell Tower ???

Because of deteriorating weather conditions we decided to leave

Isla San Francisco earlier than planned and sail over to the Baja peninsula and anchored at San Evaristo. This is a quiet little fishing village of maybe twenty families. Here we found a well protected bay and were able to go ashore to buy food, water and ice. We hiked up the hills behind the village and discovered we could get some very limited cellphone service. This afforded us the opportunity to text family to let them know we were alive and well. We spent several days at San Evaristo waiting on weather and visiting with new found friends.