San Carlos to San Juanico to Isla Coronado Oct. 2013

We drove to San Carlos to get our boat and begin this cruising season in Mexico again. We were happy to see that our boat was just fine and survived the hot Mexican summer very well on the hard in San Carlos. This was our first experience at leaving our boat out of the water for an extended time and we were happy with the results. After the boat was launched we spent a few days getting it ready to go again and provisioning it. Then we left around 6 p.m. and had a great crossing to Baja. We had around 15 knots of wind on a broad reach with smooth seas, a full moon, and warm weather (shorts and t-shirts all night!) It can't get much better than that!! We arrived earlier than expected, around 4 a.m., and had to slow the boat down to wait for the sun to come up. We arrived in San Juanico and there were only 2 other boats there. We enjoyed 3 wonderful days here in this beautiful calm anchorage, swimming, snorkeling, and walking on the beach. It was great to be out on the water again. We had spoken to friends on the radio who were in Isla Coronado and we were eager to meet up with them again, so we left San Juanico bound for Isla Coronado near Loreto. It was great to see our friends again on s/v Hotel California, Milagro, and Nirvana. We also met Les and Diane on s/v Gemini. The weather was calm and perfect for a dinghy trip to our favorite restaurant, La Picazon, on the Baja peninsula. So we got on the radio and put out the word to all our friends and everyone wanted to go. The owners, Alex and Imelda, are wonderful people. They are so warm and welcoming that we almost feel like family. On top of that, the food is outstanding. They offer wonderful dishes like Seafood Coquille served on a half shell, Shrimp Diabla served on a half pineapple, and other more casual dishes like wraps and burgers. Most everyone had the seafood dishes, but one friend had a burger and said it
was the best burger she'd ever had. Everyone loved the restaurant so much that they decided we all had to come back in 2 days and have hamburgers for lunch. Fortunately the weather stayed calm and we could dinghy across the channel from the island and land on the beach in front of La Picazon. Alex was on the beach to greet us and we were surprised to find a table set with appetizers, just waiting for us. When we asked how he knew we were coming, he said he could see the dinghys coming across the water. We were all set to order hamburgers when he told us they also had chicken burgers, fish burgers, shrimp burgers, almost any kind of burger we could want!! I got the shrimp burger and it was wonderful, with shrimp in a melted cheese sauce. Everyone was having such a nice time enjoying the perfect afternoon in this beautiful palapa restaurant on the beach. Alex and Imelda came and joined us at the table and we had such a nice time visiting with them. It was hard to tear ourselves away from this great spot to return to our boats. We left Isla Coronado the next day to go to Candeleros Bay where we would meet my brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Carol. They were staying at Villa del Palmar where they own a time share.