The next day we headed out to Isla Espíritu Santo, about 20 miles north of the marina. It is a national park with a number of beautiful west facing coves that are protected from the prevailing northerlies. We anchored in Ensenada de Gallo and watched seals swimming and feeding while the sun dipped lower in the sky.

As we dined in the cockpit after sunset, we could hear the seals surfacing and breathing next to the boat. We all stood on the deck and watched their phosphorescent streaks as they swam near the boat. Everything that moved under the water was visible due to its phosphorescence, lending an eerie ghostlike quality to the scene. As the boat moved with the swell, the anchor chain disappeared below us like a long, dully glowing, out of focus, string light. And, more rarely, rays could be seen moving slowly by.

While Ensenada de Gallo afforded protection from the prevailing northerlies, it was not a good spot when the wind picked up from the southwest during the night. The motion of the boat awakened me at midnight and I watched it from the cockpit for a while. A bit after one, I decided to move to Ensenada de Gallino and anchor under a north-facing cliff. It was a bit tricky in the dark with no moonlight but we found a spot and dropped anchor in about 25 feet of smoother water.

The next day we snorkeled from the boat swimming to the steep sided shore. Beautiful fish swimming among the rocks and coral, seemed unconcerned by the presence of three large bodies above them. Later we took the dinghy in to shore but the bay shoaled so early that we turned back and then snorkeled again from the boat. The wind started to go round to the north late in the day so we moved back to Ensenada de Gallo and ate dinner with the seals again.

We spent time talking, reading, and making good food to eat. It was about as relaxing as a cruise could get. On our way back to La Paz, we stopped in Bahia Ballandra and took the dinghy ashore. We walked the beach and my two young biologists scoured the rocks and tide pools for marine life, no matter how tiny. I got totally caught up in their curiosity and was soon bent over tiny creatures myself.