San Quintin
06 November 2016 | San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico
After a couple of days we moved around to San Quintin, 15 miles to the south. A big swell was forecast to arrive imminently and we were seeking a protected anchorage. There was an extensive estuarine system there but the cruising guides discourage yachties from entering due to shoaling and shifting sandbanks. We knew that our friend Wolf on Del Sur (a shallow draught trimaran) had successfully negotiated the entrance and with his help we managed to successfully lead three other yachts into the river, where we spent the next 4 days. We were surprized that none of the yachts anchored outside called us and tagged along. In order to avoid the huge swell forecast they would have all been obliged to head 160 miles south with marginal wind to the next decent anchorage - and thereby miss the islands in between.
It wasn't all beer and skittles though.....
Mike on Easy found out the hard way about the need for constant vigilance and care when navigating a shoaling body of water. He wandered out the channel when preparing to anchor and went aground on a falling tide. As expected no amount of coaxing with dingies or passing pungas (small fishing boats) would dislodge Easy. We laid out a kedge into deep water, secured her and waited for high tide the following day. Mike didn't get much sleep that night after he found water had been entering his boat through the sink drain and so he was a little tired and anxious the next day. Everyone on all the boats were keen to help and we had put a plan in place that would have shifted the Queen Mary, however it was not needed. We had suspended Mike's dingy from his boom and filled it with his spare anchor and some jerry cans of fuel. The boom was hauled out abeam causing her to list about 30 degrees and therefore decrease her draught. As the tide rose Mike continued to tighten the chain on his kedge and managed to pop her right out of the seagrass bed. A lesson learned with only a modest price to pay. The next few days were spent exploring the area whilst the waves crashed loudly on the rocky shores and beaches outside our tranquil anchorage. One of the enjoyable aspects of this particular part period was that we were spending time with younger people. It seems that all the 'oldies' went on the Baha Ha Ha and left the coast to people who aren't in so much of a rush.
One of the aspects of cruising that can often be challenging is conflict that can result from living in such close quarters, often with strangers. As a result of one such situation we took on a crew of two young people, Max and Charlotte until Bahia de Tortugas (200 miles to the south), after they and the skipper of their previous boat had a falling out. This was their first time cruising and rather than having them possibly dismiss the lifestyle we thought we might be able to balance that experience with another. The photo is of dawn and dusk of yet another glorious day at San Quintin.