When I arrived in La Paz one thing I noticed was the absence of any Cartel activity. I could only assume they had been alerted of my arrival and had fled the area. Not knowing for sure, I set sail at the end of April for parts north to see where they had gone.
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| San Evaristo |
My first stop ut of La Paz was Isla San Francisco, about 40 miles north. It's a really small island but with a great anchorage called "The Hook". Well sheltered from north winds, I dropped the anchor in 20' of water and relaxed with my Kindle for the everning. At 5 a.m. I was awaken with the boat rolling a great deal. Looking outside I could see the wind and swell had shifted to the southwest. I promptly hoisted the anchor and moved nine miles north to San Evaristo which had a bit better protection form the rising wind. For the next 2 days the wind howled and I was stuck. I saw 35 knots of wind and I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of the weather in that anchorage. Evaristo is a small village of maybe a hundred people at the most. They have one little tienda (Market) with basic supplies and not a lot more. Not much English spoken, but very friendly people.
During a lull in the wind I took the dingy ashore to search for any signs of Cartel activity but once again, found they had moved still further north to escape the wrath of Godzilla..!!!!!
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| Bahia Agua Verde |
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| Bahia Agua Verde |
After the wind died down I moved north again to Agua Verde. This has to be one of my all-time favorites. Beautiful green water, warm weather and good friends. I met my friends from the sailing vessel Oya.... Kiki, Craig and Joanne there. They were moving in the same general direction as I was and we had been communicating via VHF radio for a few days. One evening while I was visiting aboard Oya they introduced me to a dice game called "Farkle". A great game, we would continue to play it every time we met up in an anchorage for the rest of the season.
Agua Verde, like San Evaristo , has a small village, tienda, water distilation plant and fishermen
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| Loreto Fest |
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| Craig at Loreto Fest |
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| Kiki and Joanne at Loreto Fest |
I stayed there a few days then got talked into going still further north to Puerto Escondido for Loreto Fest. Loreto Fest is sponsored by the Hidden Port Yacht Club. Puerto Escondido is a huge, nearly landlocked, natural harbor. It has a very narrow entrance, but once inside, you could put in several hundred boats with no problem. The have a marina office, market, restaurant and cruisers lounge. There a about 10 slips , but almost everybody either anchors or picks up a mooring ball.
Loreto Fest had music, dancing, games and booths with all kinds of worthless stuff and was a blast.
When Loreto Fest was over I moved a bit north of Loreto to Isla Coronados. This another small island with the clearest water I had yet seen in Mexico. Oya and several other crews/boats I had met in Puerto Escondido were there and we all enjoyed the warm water (82F.), snorkling and of course more Farkle.
While in some very shallow water I had fun chasing large Rays in the dingy. It was like herding cattle.
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| Isla Coronados |
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| Isla Coronados |
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Chasing Stingrays at Isla Coronados
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Earlier in the spring my friend Jody has expressed a desire to visit and so near the end of May, she flew into Loreto to make the run back to La Paz with me. I met her in Loreto and we provisioned the boat and taxied back to Puerto Escondido where I had left the boat after returning from Isla Coronados. The next morning we hoisted anchor and set sail for Agua Verde, retracing my steps south. Once again the wind was from the south and we had a windy and wet ride heading for our next anchorage. We met up again with Oya and enjoyed a nite of laughing and farkle. One of the wornderful things I enjoyed was not having to be the cook!!!...Jody is a great cook and I ate like a pig.
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| Jody in La Paz |
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Marina Palmira..La Paz
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Roughing it in the Cortez
As Jody had only 5 days to spare, we had to move every day in order to make her flight home from La Paz. So, next day after enjoying Agua Verde, we headed south for the Hook. Last time I had been there I was almost the only boat at anchor. This time the anchorage was loaded with boat of all types and sizes. Sailboat, power boats and really big charter boats with jet-skis, tubes with big tenders pulling them and people picnicing on the beach. We Bar-B-Q'd some New York steaks I had brought from Mazatlan and spent out last night at anchor.
Next morning it was time to head to La Paz. We had flat seas, calm winds all the way and pulled into Marina Palmira in the ealry afternoon.
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Isla San Francisco..."The Hook"
My origional plan was to return the boat to Mazatlan for the summer. Due to weather and other considerations, I deceided to leave her in La Paz instead. Marina Palmira is VERY expensive, so I leased a slip in Marina Fonatur. This marina is a very long way back in the bay with narrow channels in and out. Not the kind of place you'd want to base out of if you used you boat often. But, it's a good hurricane hole and the price is right. Plus NO CARTEL!!!!
Next up....Wally and I do a 27 hour drive home!!!!!!! |
