Islands, Vistas & Sunsets (Part 2)

Peggy's Post: We left San Evaristo January 26, 2015 to explore Isla San Jose which is an hour sail back across Canal De San Jose. We had heard that there was a lot to explore on the island and we were glad that we didn't pass it by. Our first anchorage was at Punta Salinas. Years ago there was a salt mine here and it was interesting to see the abandoned buildings and equipment.

Remains of an old Bulldozer

Cab of an old Ford Truck

The salt pans are still evident where rectangular areas were flooded with sea water and then allowed to evaporate leaving the salt behind to be processed. I especially loved the three mile long white sandy beach covered with thousands and thousands of sea shells. Also we found an interesting collection of shoes in one of the abandoned buildings.  This raised all kinds of speculations on our part: were they left here by former inhabitants? Did they wash up on the beach? Or is this the resting place for all lost soles?

Lost Soles

The next day we moved the boat to the end of the island five miles further south to Bahia Amortajada to explore the mangroves and lagoon. Here we put the outboard motor on the dinghy (this involves me being on the boat leaning over the stern railing while lowering the motor down to Jay who is standing in the inflatable dinghy as it rides up and down on the waves then maneuvering it onto the transom of the dinghy without dropping it into the water. We have a line tied to the boat and the outboard motor as a safety precaution, just in case!) After carefully motoring over the shallows of the lagoon we found our way into a corridor lined on both sides by mangrove trees. Here are dozens of narrow waterways meandering through the mangroves creating a maze. I was relieved to discover we could backtrack to the main channel by following the air bubbles left in the water by the motor ... similar to leaving breadcrumbs on a trail. After exploring the many channels we hurried back to “Little Lara” because the wind was picking up and the tide was going out.

Entrance to the Mangroves

We ended up back on “Little Lara” with an uphill slog (up wind into the waves) back to a safe anchorage. We stayed at Punta Salinas for a couple of days waiting for safe conditions to cross the channel back to San Evaristo for provisions and water.

On January 30^th we sailed to our next destination, Agua Verde, which is one of our most favorite anchorages so far (even though it involved sailing in the rain to get there). It is more more tropical than the desert beaches we previously visited. There are lots of palm trees, white beaches, a quaint village, herds of goats (we tried the goat cheese they make here and found that we really like it!), pangas (local fishing boats) and very friendly people.

Agua Verde Anchorage

The only things that interrupted the solitary dreamlike quality of this very protected anchorage was the day after our arrival a mini-cruise ship and several other sailboats arrived … one sailboat anchoring a mere 30 feet in front of us. Jay had to ask them nicely to please pull up their anchor and move further away. We knew that when the wind shifted or the tides changed they would swing on their anchor rode and hit “Little Lara”. We did appreciate the “UnCruise” ship after they kindly shared some ice with us so we could continue keeping the groceries in our icebox cold.

Yiks, they are anchored close!

Though we loved Agua Verde we set sail for Puerto Escondido on February 3rd. This was a 23 mile sail, which took us five hours to complete as there was no wind. We ended up motoring the entire way. Plus, it has almost been a month since we last last communicated with friends and family, and we knew there was internet service here. Puerto Escondido is one of Baja's most protected anchorages and it is here everyone heads when hurricanes approach the region during the summer months. It is almost completely landlocked except for a 200 foot wide entrance channel. The inner bay can hold over 100 boats. Here we met many of the boats we had become friends with as we sailed down from California and up through the Sea of Cortez. We plan staying for several days so we can travel inland by car, visiting many of the larger cities like Loreto, Santa Roslia and Ciudad Constitution.  We also want to attend Church in Loreto, where there is a "Casa de Oracion" (House of Prayer, i.e. Dependent Branch.)

Loreto Dependent Branch

Below is a short video clip of the anchorage in Agua Verde: