San Juanico (SJ) is a picturesque bay with beautiful rock outcropping and numerous reefs extending into the various coves which make up the bay. SJ is a favorite destination for people cruising in the Sea of Cortez. SJ is home to the "cruiser shrine" (pic), which is a tree (more like a bush) in which cruisers make up an ornament of some sort which pays tribute to their boats and then they hang said ornament on the tree to forever be remembered....or at least until the sun, wind, salt, birds, insects or next hurricane wipes the slate clean. After checking out the shrine on our first day in SJ, Sharon did a little beach combing and came up with some shells, a piece of driftwood and a scraggly old piece of cloth and spent most of the afternoon creating our very own shrine ornament.
After hanging our ornament on the bush....oops I mean tree, we hoisted the anchor and headed to Isla Carman and one of the most beautiful little coves that we've been in yet, called Bahia Balandra (not the same one as we stay in by La Paz). The water in Bahia Balandra was so clear it was like we were in an aquarium. after dropping the hook we threw on our snorkeling gear and were treated to an amazing show of nature. We both instantly fell in love with Balandra....until about 2:00 in the morning when a fairly strong breeze came up from the west and Si Bon turned into a rocking horse. Fortunately the wind died down after sunrise....just in time for the local bees to wake up and come over for a drink of water. As I was cooking up some hot dogs for lunch the rest of the hive decided to join us, we very quickly pulled the dogs of the grill, hoisted the anchor in record time and got the hell out of dodge....trying desperately to out run the little bastards. Yes cruising is full of many challenges and many rewards....but it sure beats working for a living.
We are currently on a land trip to Loreto where we are celebrating my birthday and taking a nice little boat break.