14th December
We awoke, slightly jaded this morning after a night broken by several alerts by our anchor alarm. We had been uncertain about the holding here and our CQR anchor was definitely unsuited to the muddy bottom. Eventually we got up and reset it completely after finding we had drifted back 100 yards or so.
Santa Rosalia is an extraordinary town built in the French colonial style, the wooden houses date back to 1885 when the French mining company El Boleo began mining copper here. Eiffel's church, Inglesia Santa Barbara, displayed at the Paris Exposition in 1889, was shipped here and reassembled in 1897. Very much a working town and untouched by tourism we felt we had stepped back to the 1870s. Our first shopping trip to top up Fantasia's fridges and fruit and veg stores was not very successful, shelves in the towns shops were sparsely stocked and the fresh produce we saw had been around for some time. It would seem that our now somewhat depleted cruising kitty would be pretty safe in Santa Rosalita. Eventually we managed to buy what we needed but it did require dedication and a visit to almost every Mercado in the town.
Mexico highway 1 runs along the waterfront, the equivalent to our M1 back in the UK and far from it being the dangerous freeway we had expected, the cars and lorries actually stop to let pedestrians cross! In fact as we wandered around the town, looking at the buildings, we had to be careful not to stop as this would bring the traffic to a halt, waving us across the road. Here in Santa Rosalia, as in all the villages and towns we have visited since leaving Puerto Salina, the Mexican people have been utterly charming, always smiling and greeting us with a cheery 'hola'. We feel sad, as they do, that the reputation of places such as Tijuana have made people suspicious and mistrustful of Mexicans.
There are two small marinas in the harbour, the government funded and very smart Singular Marina and tiny Marina Santa Rosalia with its dilapidated marina office wherein we found a warm welcome from staff and cruisers. We had read that cruisers at anchor can use Marina Santa Rosalia's dingy dock for a small fee and we were surprised to find that this included use of showers and the marina's beer fridge which is operated on an honour system whereby payment is made at the end of your stay. Apart from the marinas, the harbour is also home to the Baja ferry, crossing to the mainland twice a week and carrying fresh produce back with it. Dozens of pangas are also berthed here, streaming out to their fishing grounds each afternoon, where they fish with hand lines for Humboldt Squid which is exported all over the world. We had seen many tiny lights around us as we came into the harbour but were surprised at the number of fishermen to arrive at the fish dock during the evening.
We would have loved to have spent more time exploring this fascinating town but we made good use of the two short days that we had, visiting the wonderful mining museum and Eiffel's church, strolling along the Malecon overlooking the harbour and wandering through the maze of narrow streets. With Christmas only a week or so away an evening walk was especially colourful with many of the shops and houses lit up with brightly coloured lights. It still seems strange to me to see snowmen and sleighs here in a country where it never snows!
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13th December
Bahia Concepcion
We awoke to an amazing sunrise, visible through the porthole as we lay in bed but by the time we had rushed up on deck to watch the full show, the reds and oranges had vanished leaving just a pale yellow halo around the rising sun. It was time to get going and as we weighed anchor I saw a couple of flashes from one of the beach houses, we seem to have attained celebrity status with people photographing Fantasia and stopping us to ask us all about her. Well I guess she is a bit of a stunner and she knows it!
We had a short stopover, anchoring out on the open roadstead off Mulege to take a 2 mile dingy ride up the river. It made quite a change to motor through this oasis of palms and mangroves after so much time spent in the desert. Suddenly our outboard stopped with a loud bang, it transpired the propeller pin had sheared, we must have hit something hard underwater. It was a long row back to the boat but fortunately both wind and tide were in our favour. When we arrived back on Fantasia the wind had changed, as forecast, and was now from the south west. At last we could sail!
Making in excess of 5 knots under full sail we shelved our plans to stop for the night at Punta Chivato, which professes to be a paradise for the avid shell collector, in favour of making the most of the southerly wind and heading straight for Santa Rosalia. Sadly we would also have to forego icy margaritas at the palm fringed hotel on the beach. With a night shaved off our voyage we could dig into depleted store of fresh vegetables making tonight's supper a veritable feast. We would soon have an opportunity to replenish stocks after two weeks at sea and so rationing could end at last!
As we rounded the northern tip of Isla San Marcus a bird, flagging somewhat as he flew alongside us, took the opportunity to hitch a ride. Perching high upon our mizzen and with no intention of paying his way it was clear that he was staying put until we reached Santa Rosalita, 6 miles away. Stuart feeling uncharitable towards our free rider moaned that he should have landed on our main mast with its VHF aerial, whereby he could have slowly sizzled. Our cunning capitan could then have dislodged him with a sudden gibe, holding his dinner plate complete with chilli sauce and tortillas, at the foot of the mast to break his fall. As we arrived at the entrance to the tiny harbour at Santa Rosalia our hitch hiker flew off into the darkness and we found our way to our anchorage accurately guided by Shawn's handy waypoint.
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12th December
Punta Pulpita - Bahia Concepcion
We were glad to have taken shelter under the towering rock of Punta Pulpita from the howling winds as the norther continued for a third day. An improvement had been forecast but in the event this turned out to be the worst day. Rounding this point would be tenable but unpleasant and we decided to save the wear and tear on Fantasia and ourselves by taking shelter. It was far too rough to attempt a trip ashore and so the dark vein obsidian rock above us would remain sadly unexplored. We had to be content with a another day finding jobs to do below decks and were glad that we had viewed our DVDs sparingly and enjoyed watching 'Some Like it Hot' for only the second time tucked up in our comfortable state room!
We made an early morning start under the nearly full moon and with seas much abated we made it to Playa Burro in the Bahia Concepcion by mid afternoon. With Highway 1 running alongside the beach with its RV s and beach palapas we were almost in civilisation again. An almost constant stream of juggernauts hauling goods from the States down to La Paz and to the towns in between was a novelty after two weeks without hardly seeing a vehicle. After a walk along the beach we visited 'Bertha's beach restaurant for a good shrimp supper although sadly our palates have been ruined after the fantastic Agua Verde shrimps. A sign up in the restaurant explaining that every drop of water is hauled 17 miles from Mulege put in perspective just how lucky we are to have our own watermaker on board Fantasia.
It was dark when we returned to the dingy but with a full moon and Fantasia anchored close to the shore the trip back by dingy would be quick and straightforward. As we stepped into the water to pull the dingy out to sea we were amazed to look down and see that our feet had luminescent green halos around them. We jumped up and down in the seaweed lined waters edge like children, watching the bright lights around our footprints. Our short paddle back to the boat ended up taking far longer than the few minutes it should have taken as we splashed our paddles through the water and spun the dingy around in circles watching out for the showers of shiny green stars as we did so.
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