I left Puerto Escondido in relatively benign conditions. The heavy winds of the last couple of days had disappeared. But a surprisingly large swell remained as a reminder of the blow. Altere rolled uncomfortably as I motored to Agua Verde, an anchorage I have been in several times now. I began hoping there would be room in the one very small south facing cove tucked behind a reef that would allow me protection from the waves. As it turned out, there was only one boat anchored when I arrived. In the high season, the entire bay would be filled with boats. It is a beautiful bay with green foliage and red blooms a reminder that the rainy season just ended. Because of the swell, the surf was up at the beach near the small community on the south shore, noted for the queso fresco, or goat cheese, that they sell. I would not be rowing ashore on this trip.

The next day, I motored further south to Puerto Los Gatos. Despite having little wind in the last day, there was still quite a swell running. This made me wonder if there was wind in the northern gulf still. I entered between two reefs and anchored in about twenty feet of water, still rolling from the waves wrapping around the reef into the cove. This is a beautiful spot with red sandstone rocks around the cove.

I was now retracing the steps I had taken last fall along the same route. My next stop was San Evaristo, a charming fishing village of about 25 houses ringing a lovely bay, the mountains of the Sierra de la Gigante in the background. Here I was awakened early in the morning by the sound of he panganeros headed out to fish. The sunrise looking out across the gulf was beautiful.

These travel days were hot and there as very little wind. In addition, it was exceptionally humid. There were some clouds in the sky and in the mornings a low mist over the sea. I would take what I call a boat shower, bathing with a washcloth to save water, and within twenty minutes I would be feeling sticky again. A couple of times I took a shower in the cockpit. I have a garden sprayer hooked up to a kitchen spray nozzle. I did this at Isla San Francisco, where the heat and humidity continued.

I was tiring of the humidity and of the insects. This close to the end of the rainy season, there were tiny flies in many of the anchorages. For that reason I decided to bypass Isla Espíritu Santo and get closer to La Paz, finally dropping the hook in Caleta Lobos. I was about 10 nautical miles from the city and in full view of a cell tower. My phone told me that I had 144 email messages since I had last had service. Not surprisingly, five of them were important.