Punta Chivato and a last stop at San Juanico
21 June 2011
27° 03.949'N, 111° 57.660'W
Santa Rosalia was our last stop heading north into the Sea, from here on it will be all back tracking; the beginning of our journey home, about 1,000 nm away. We left Santa Rosalia on May 28 with So Inclined, both heading south and taking the inside passage between Isla San Marcos and the Baja Peninsula, around Pta. Chivato to the anchorage behind Pta. Mezquitito. It was an east wind blowing and a choppy swell making the anchorage rolly at first, but it calmed down in short order and we put the dinghy in the water to join Mike and Karen aboard So Inclined for our last evening together.
We have enjoyed our time in the Sea, and spending it with good friends makes it even more special. We will see Mike again in Oceanside and Karen again too, perhaps Oceanside? Perhaps La Cruz? But, we will! The next morning we picked up our anchor and waived our good-bys then headed south to San Juanico, 57 nm to the south.
I can't explain how this happens, but as we progressed north into the Sea we were always going into the wind. How then, can it be that when we turn around to head south that the wind shifts and we are once again heading into the wind? It seems life isn't fair and this is just the curse of the sailors; sailing to weather. We left Pta. Chivato with light winds of 3-4 out of the east, good enough. Later in the day, after passing the entrance to Bahia Concepcion we were approaching Pta Santa Teresa and it started to build, only into the 16-18 knot range, but here in the Sea and close to the points it gets pretty sloppy. The waves build to 6-8 ft and more but are closely spaced, a short wave period. That along with wind chop and it makes for a really rough ride. That lasted around this point and all the way to Pta. Pulpito and down to San Juanico. We went for the south end of the anchorage at San Juanico to get some protection from Pta. Mercenarios, the scene of our successful fishing day just a short time ago, and what a difference. Anyway, we got in at about 2000 and were happy to see Swift Current and Blue Rodeo anchored in the protection of the point.
The winds were abating and we moved to the north end of the bay with the predicted wind shift to the north by morning, at least that would save us a move. Sure enough, the winds died for a while then started filling in from the north. By morning both Swift Current and Blue Rodeo had joined us along with a few other boats, but this is a good anchorage and we all fit snugly. That following day it continued to blow, so much for spending the day with our friends or doing much of anything off the boat. By evening it had abated enough so that we all got together for one more last supper with our friends aboard Blue Rodeo. Swift Current was kind enough to pick us up in their dinghy and we didn't have to put ours down. While not the perfect day for it, it was a kind coincidence of fate. We had been trying to find these two boats via either email or HF radio for several days hoping for one last get together before we had to leave the Sea, and by luck we all ended up in the same anchorage together.
Dinner with our friends was as good as always and what a treat to see them again. After a nice evening together and some fond farewells we were taxied back to Pacifico. We were up the next morning to start an overnight run to La Paz, some 154 nm to the south.
When we started this voyage, way back in November, we had intended that Zihuatanejo would be our southerly most destination and Santa Rosalia our northerly most in the Sea. We had met these two goals, strengthened some old friendships and made some pretty nice new friends along the way.