On June 17, 2011 we left Boise with Brad and Cindy (Kelly's brother and his wife). Our vacation started with a delayed flight. We arrived in Tucson around 10:30 p.m. Our good friend Kari Olson picked us up at the airport and we headed to our favorite Mexican Restaurant (El Guero Canelo), which serves delicious Sonora Hotdogs. After filing up on good food and great conversation with Kari, she dropped us off at the Tufesa bus station a few blocks away. We purchased our tickets and got on the 1:00 a.m. Executivo bus.

After 7 hours on the bus we arrived in Guayamas and grabbed a taxi and headed to San Carlos to the boat yard. Kelly had emailed the boat yard the week before and asked them to have our boat washed and waxed so that when we arrived all we'd have to do is launch the boat and then start provisioning. When we arrived the boat hadn't been waxed let alone washed and was covered in thick reddish dirt and dust. UGH! After we launched, Hector, who had washed it before, came by and asked if we wanted him to wash and wax it for us. Since it was really hot and we weren't use to the heat yet we took him up on the offer. Our friends Billie and Roger whom we met last fall came by to say hello. They were heading to a beach so we invited ourselves and headed off to play for the rest of the day. When we got back the boat was cleaned and waxed. Of course it wasn't as good as we'd do so the next day we washed it again. That night Billie and Roger invited us up to their house for some dorado tacos. Were they ever good!

The next couple of days were spent with the girls grocery shopping and the guys working on the boat. Billie was nice enough to drive us to Walmart in Guayamas. During our stay in San Carlos we spent some great times with Billie and Roger sailing, eating, and just plain having fun.

On Tuesday morning at 3:00 a.m. Kelly pulled the anchor and we began our journey across the Sea of Cortez to Baja. Brad and Cindy came up on deck to enjoy the entire journey. As we sailed across the sea we encountered a lot of whales. We also put the fishing line off the back of the boat hoping to catch the elusive dorado. After a couple of hours we had a hit. Brad grabbed the reel and just as he got into position and the dorado began to run, the line was at the end of the spool and snap! Off swam the dorado and our line and lure with it. The guys put on more line and another lure and tried a second time. Once again, we had a hit. Another dorado did the exact same thing and took off with what was left of our line and another precious lure. This time he gave us a show and continued to jump in the air as he swam away. He was huge! Probably a good thing we didn't land it, as we would have had a hard time eating him. So that was the extent of our fishing the rest of the day.

We anchored off Santo Domingo just across the Concepcion Bay from Mulege. The water was warm and we spent the next 3 days snorkeling, swimming and one day going across to Mulege on a shopping trip for more fishing gear. Our first trip to the beach was shadowed by Becky stepping on a stingray. Luckily, Kelly had experience as to what to do and he rushed to the boat and got the snakebite kit. Kelly and Brad used the suction tool to suck out the poison. Her foot was feeling a little better in just an hour or so. The next day we sailed across the bay and anchored and walked to Mulege (about a 2 hour hike) in 100+ degree heat. When we were close to town an American driving by stopped to see if we wanted a ride. Even though we were close we took him up on his offer. On the way back, however, we weren't as lucky. Once we reached the beach we stopped at a restaurant on the beach and ate dinner and enjoyed the scenery.

We ended up having dinghy issues where the bottom of the dinghy was coming apart. On our ride back to the boat from our Mulege trip we could see ocean through the floor (not a good thing). So we sailed back across the bay and spent another night on Santo Domingo then the next morning we headed south to San Juanico. On the way Kelly glued the bottom back on the dinghy. It ended up holding for a couple of days and we had to do another repair on the part of the dinghy that wasn't re-glued.

On our way to San Juanico we made a stop at Medano Blanco. This lovely spot has a white sandy beach and crystal blue waters. We decided to take a short break and snorkel and to walk on the beach. This anchorage isn't usually a good anchorage because it is open to the sea. However, we decided that it was calm enough to give it a try and stayed over night. What a beautiful place. There were lots of fish and langosta (lobster) to be had. We will definitely stop again the next time we go by this beach as long as weather permits.

We picked up anchor early the next morning and made it to San Juanico. We tucked into our favorite spot and Kelly and I went for a hike to the other anchorage (La Ramada) to see if it would be better anchoring because of the high winds coming from the South and since there were several boats there. We decided to stay where we were and spend the night in our anchorage and move to the other side the next day. The water wasn't very clear so instead we decided to head south to Isla Coronados, another favorite spot of ours. As we sailed south we encountered a group of large mantas. Kelly climbed the mast to the spreaders and got an incredible view of these majestic creatures. He guided the boat so that he could continue to photograph the mantas. Becky and Brad jumped in with snorkel gear and swam with them. Becky got close to one but the sight of their long tail made her a little cautious as to get too close. She did, however, swim with several and what an experience that was.

Isla Coronados was as fabulous as ever. We spent the afternoon on our beach lathered in sunscreen. Cindy had a hat on as well as an umbrella to protect her and keep her a little cooler. We ended up sitting in the water most of the time. The next morning we were dazzled by a large pod of dolphins in the anchorage. They spent several hours swimming back and forth, flipping and slapping and chasing fish as they filled their bellies. We eventually put the dinghy in the water and they swam at our bow. Brad got in the water trying to snorkel with them but the dolphins weren't too interested.

The next day we headed to Loreto for a day of shopping and enjoying the town. We went to our favorite coffee shop that we went the previous fall with Cathy and Steve on sv Lilly. I had to have a blended coffee in honor of Cathy. Boy was it refreshing. The shop however, had moved next door to a larger space and what an improvement. It looked as if you were in a coffee shop in the States. Our next stop was McLulu's Tacos. We have been going to her stand since the early 90s. She had moved since our previous visit last fall and had a larger place. She told us, however, that she is going to retire the end of August. How sad for us. Loreto won't quite be the same without one or two of her tacos de pescado and tacos de camerone.

After shopping and walking around Loreto for the day we headed across to La Lancha off of the north end of Isla Carmen. We didn't leave early enough so we arrived after nightfall with no moon to help guide us in. Kelly used a waypoint out of our guidebook and dropped the hook in the exact location. GPS's still amaze me of how accurate they are. The next morning we decided to hike ¼ of a mile to the old salt mine town on the island. Kelly and Becky both looked in the guide and it looked very close. It was 9:00 a.m. and we decided to leave early so we could get back before the heat of the day. We filled 2 water bottles and started our hike. After a little more than a ¼ of a mile it was obvious that we weren't very close to the town. We continued to walk and as we hit the actual salt flats we could see the town way off on the horizon. We decided to go ahead and finish the hike. Once we arrived the sign said it was 6.5 KM to La Launcha. A little further than the earlier estimate of a ¼ of a mile. Luckily on the way back one of the two vehicles on the entire island came driving up behind us about 1 mile from the town and offered us a ride back to the anchorage. We took them up on the offer with no hesitation!

When we got back to the boat Becky made limonada's with lots of ice. Were they ever good and refreshing. A little while later another pod of dolphins came into the anchorage and stayed for several hours. We got into the dinghy and tried to snorkel with them but as with the last pod they had no interest.

The next morning we decided to sail a little ways around the island and anchor in V-Cove. There is only room for maybe 2 boats and there was already one anchored there. With our swing keel we can go into more shallow water than most sailboats. So we went in past the other boat and anchored. What a beautiful spot! There are walls on both sides of us that make the anchorage a V shape, thus the name V-Cove. We spent a few nights here and snorkeled and swam. We all dove off the bow one day to help cool us from the heat.

We pulled up anchor and started heading back north. We decided to head for San Juanico and then we'd head back across to San Carlos from there. As we were motor sailing we put a rope in the water with 2 lures. After a little while we had a dorado on! We were really excited as we actually finally landed one! Who needs a fishing pole? We learned this technique from Denny and Becky on sv Kokomo. That night we enjoyed that dorado. It wasn't too big but big enough for 2 meals for 4 people.

The next morning we decided to head around the corner to anchor in La Ramada. Becky decided she could do this all on her own so she got everything ready to move and after pulling the anchor she hoisted the sails. Low and behold she actually did it. We sailed into La Ramada and dropped the anchor without starting the motor. Kelly did, however, monitor the process very closely.
We all went for a hike to check out the Apache Tears that are around the area. It was pretty hot out and we made a short hike of it. Not before picking up several pieces of the black shiny rocks.

That night at around 6:00 we headed across to San Carlos. The winds were blowing anywhere from 15 to 25 knots. It wasn't as comfortable as we'd of liked it to be but that's the way it goes. At around 10:30 pm. Cindy spotted a light in front of us. We checked the radar and nothing showed up but still the light was there and it got closer and closer. We kept checking the radar and it still didn't show up. It turned out to be a ponga with 2 fishermen. They were very close and waving a light. Since the winds were blowing around 20-25 knots we couldn't really decipher what they were trying to tell us in the black of the night. But soon we discovered as we ran over their long line net. A line with a jug of some kind wrapped around our rudder and tapped on the bottom of our boat most of the way to San Carlos. Some time in the early morning it dislodged and we never saw it.

As we got closer to San Carlos we put our fishing ropes back into the water to try for another dorado. We actually had a couple of hits and Becky got to land one. Very exciting.

When we arrived in San Carlos we got a slip to ready for our departure. Billie and Roger invited us to have dinner with them since it was the 4th of July. We had the best time and great food. Roger drove us to Guayamas to the bus stop and we heading back home.

Can't wait until our next adventure!