Adventures in Mexico

In most situations, it might be a little awkward to hear your husband excitedly exclaiming, “Boobies, boobies, boobies! Wow, look at all these boobies!” But knowing we were the only ones in the entire anchorage with a spectacular, uninterrupted view of the Sierra de la Giaganta Mountain Range, I was pretty sure what he meant. It was nearing sunset, and we were at Bahia Santo Domingo, a lovely cove on the end of the peninsula that frames the entrance of Bahia Conception.
We were on our way back south from Santa Rosalia, the port furthest north we went to this first season. Santa Rosalia is a lovely town with an interesting history. In the mid-1800s, it had been a copper mining town owned by the French. How they got the infrastructure, communication, and transportation issues together in such a remote place as half-way up the Sea of Cortez was beyond us. It is just part of the uniqueness of this quaint town. What was particularly poignant was a photo proudly displayed in the central community center that showed a grainy sepia-tone harbor with several tall ships crowded in a harbor transporting the copper ore. What made this picture so amazing was that upon closer inspection, we could see the stone breakwater behind the ships, and realized that this was the same sea wall and harbor that was our current port of call. Over two hundred years later, and we were in the same spot as those tall ships.
We toured all over the town. We visited the Mahatma Gandi Library. It was a large structure, and I never was able to ascertain why it was named after Gandi. There was more shelf space that was empty than full, about five people “working”, and no patrons other than us. It was air conditioned, though, so perhaps that explained why there were people there. We also toured the church designed by Gustave Eiffel…yes, the same man who designed the Eiffel tower. The town had a distinct French feel, particularly with the distinctly European architecture. We toured the town’s museum, and while the docent did his best to give us the benefit of an English translation, we had better luck picking out words we understood in Spanish. The town is very proud of their history.
The cruisers’ guide mentioned a particular restaurant that serves up chicken and mashed potatoes. We went there, and John still gets a bit misty eyed remembering the mashed potatoes and gravy. He said he hadn’t tasted anything like that since his mother’s. Maybe I ought to do a little less granola and salad type cooking for this mid-west boy! If you go to Santa Rosalia, you have to stop at Terco’s Pollito and try their chicken and mashed potato dinner. It was a great treat to have some good ol’ home cooking that didn’t light your mouth on fire with chilies. There were tourists, both Mexicans and Gringos, all over the place. There are plenty of hotels and restaurants, so you may want to put this place on your must-stop list either by boat or road. There was a huge bus terminal right next to the marina and ferry service from the mainland. Beware the 6am ferry horn blast, though. Startling is an understatement! It was particularly brutal as we’d partied the previous night with several other boats who were preparing to launch across to San Carlos to put their boats up for hurricane season. While some cruisers continue cruising further north to hunker down in the Northern Sea, others cross over to San Carlos and put their boats up on the hard, and then there are people like us who continue cruising south back to La Paz.
We began the final leg of our almost year-long adventure heading back south from Santa Rosalia and returned to Bahia Conception, but only for one night. It was kind of a turning point for us; kind of like ponies heading back to the stables. We were on our last run to the finish. And that’s where John got so excited about the boobies. We’d already been to Bahia Conception, in fact, we’d spent nearly a week there on our earlier journey north back in early May. We can highly recommend Playa Santa Barbara as our favorite cove in the Bahia Conception area. We had some adventures in Playa Santispac where we ran into fellow cruisers aboard the S/V Comet. We’ve been playing tag with them since Ziehuatenajo, so it was great to catch up with them. There was guitar and singing fests into the wee hours more than a number of nights. We also ran into Jim and Daniella aboard the M/V Capo Doste. We first met Jim in La Paz. He was the skipper of the boat that our Corsair pals, Charlie and Susie were on for the motorboat equivalent of the Ha Ha. We had a blast snorkling, swimming, and generally sharing some great adventures.
Perhaps the greatest adventure was our attempt to assist a local retrieve “his” little sailboat that was anchored off a nearby island. The story went that the boat had been left abandoned for over four years, moored off the island outside of Bahia Coyote. A local man named Jesus said he had been told that the boat was his if he could just move it. He had assisted Capo Doste get supplies and had befriended all of us. His mother-in-law owned the local store and palapa restaurant, and he and his wife worked at both. We heard the story, and despite what the James Taylor song claims, this Jesus was not a sailor, so we offered to assist the fellow. We zoomed over in flat water in our dinghy along with Jesus and assessed the boat. It did indeed appear to be abandoned. We soon realized that the rudder off the stern had permanently seized into an upright position. That, along with the wind picking up helped us decide to try to tow the boat back to the harbor rather than sail. I attempted to steer the boat by standing on top of the rudder to give it some contact with the water while hiking off the transom. Jesus also attempted to steer, sending me hither and yonder, and John gave it the goose with our dinghy. We had just got the boat across the channel and into the harbor when a fishing boat came zooming up to us, with two English speaking gentlemen who asked us what we were doing with their boat. Jesus suddenly claimed, “No comprende”. John was busy getting tools off our boat, so I was left to explain the story. The Gringo claimed to have just bought the boat 4 days ago. I explained that there was obviously a misunderstanding, and offered to promptly return the boat to the previous mooring. The man had no proof that he had purchased the boat, but even though we had the word of a man named Jesus, we thought it was better to acquis. The man who claimed to have just purchased the boat declined to have us return it and said he actually had wanted to get it over to the harbor, so we’d done him a favor. He wasn’t too appreciative, however, and we decided to leave for calmer seas soon thereafter!
This adventure had occurred during our trek north, but after Santa Rosalio, we began retracing our course and headed back south to the scene of the pirating incident, Bahia Conception. Maybe there’s something about the place that brings out the pirate in us, because this was where John excitedly proclaimed “Boobies!” I came up on deck and yes, they were everywhere! We watched the red-hued sunset while flock after flock of boobies (the fabled blue-footed variety! What were you thinking?!) did their feathered ballets as they sought nighttime sanctuary. It was a memorable night. In keeping with our image, we toasted glasses of rum to another great day out in the Sea.
We continued south to San Juanico where we also ran into fellow cruisers, Ian and Leslie, S/V Fandango. They were friends we met while cleaning up our first harbor, Carizel down on the Pacific side. We’d lost touch with them, but reconnected several hundreds of miles away in San Juanico. They are farmers from Canada. Where else but cruising in Mexico do you get to meet so many people from so many different walks of life, but with so much in common! They continued north to put their boat up for the season in San Carlos, and we continued south. Our next stop was a return to Loreto.
Loreto has a way of stealing your heart and never letting you leave. Besides the fact that we ran into our friends, Rick and Pamela on Hotel California, Terry and Diane on Harmony, Ron and Gail on Locomakai, and Jeff and DeAnne on Strider, and Daniel and Susan on Kini Po Po, the place does hold a spell over you that makes it hard to leave. Our Corsair Yacht Club buddies Bob and Margie have a place in town and made a special visit so we could see them. Our fellow cruisers and Corsair members, Don and Peggy Cox joined us, and we had a fabulous time. We stayed around the area for several weeks, visiting Isla Coronado, Isla Carmen, and other amazing places again and again. We met expats Larry and Diane from Juncalito who couldn’t have been more welcoming and gracious. We met Elizabeth from Nopolo, a retired attorney from San Francisco who offered me knitting lessons and sent me off with a whole starter kit. There was Lettia and Jason, professors from Utah who were land cruising and let us join them for an inland tour. We kept coming into Loreto to reprovision after cruising about this gorgeous area, only to hear from other friends coming into town or making new friends, so of course, we stayed. Many cruisers were preparing to put their boats in the San Carlos area or to weather out the fearsome summer heat during the hurricane season in the safer regions of the upper sea. Others were like us, having one last hoorah before heading south to La Paz for the conclusion of a season’s adventure.
We had to stick around a little longer in the Loreto area than we expected while I recovered from a kidney and bladder infection. Once we were sure I was good to go, we set off from Loreto to continue south. We went to Agua Verde where we bought the obligatory goat cheese. The locals directed us to the “store”, which was really an open air shack with several chairs and an open air kitchen. There were several locals sitting about, and we were instructed to have a seat while this sweet little old lady got the cheese. She had a large slab of cheese wrapped in some sort of cheese cloth in a vice grip of sorts. I was appalled at the lack of hygiene, but the welcoming smiles on everyone’s faces made it impossible to turn it down. We were the only cruising boat in the harbor, so we took advantage and decided to stick around. On day one, we went hiking. We ran into a man originally from Czechoslovakia who had carved out a charming, simple life for himself here. He had immigrated to the USA where he became a chef, left his wife and retired at 50 and moved to Mexico. He had a small sailboat on a trailer and a large SUV that he called home. He’d set up a hibachi kitchen on the ground next to his rigs and had a kayak he used to catch his dinner. He was delighted to have some company to hear his story. While the desert, mountains, and sea are breathtaking, it has been the people, both those fellow adventurers who have found themselves here in Mexico and those who have lived here all their lives that have made this experience so special.
So Agua Verde night one – hiking, meeting fellow travelers, and having the entire cove to ourselves was fabulous. Before on our trek north, we had to anchor off the main beach, less than a favorable spot, but the only spot available. There were well over 30 boats back then in May, but in late June we had our pick of the place. Night two brought a large, beautiful fishing boat from Ft. Lauderdale. We hoped we’d make their acquaintance, but they weren’t too friendly. This was the first negative experience we’ve had with fellow boaters, or with anyone for that fact, this entire year. With the entire harbor available, they plopped their anchor down nearly right on top of us. After a restless night with their generator going well past midnight, we pulled up anchor and continued south.
We had had to boogie up from La Paz to Loreto to meet our friends Kelly and Warren who joined us for a week of cruising, but in so doing, we’d skipped some great spots along the way. We loved that they made the effort to join us and share this amazing adventure. We had a great time with them and there’s much more written about it in a previous log. But now, this south trajectory was all about continuing our journey of discovery. Sounds romantic, right? It really has been all that and more. From Agua Verde, we went to Los Gatos. We dipped into several coves along the way, but seeing that there were some southerlies, we thought Los Gatos was the best choice. Turns out that while the winds were subdued, the swells were anything but. This was the first time we’d had the flopper stoppers out since we’d been on the Pacific Mainland. We had the whole cove to ourselves and took advantage of hiking on the beach. We’ve continued to clean beaches everywhere we go, and this beach looked pretty pristine already. Upon further exploration, however, we found a huge trash heap set back behind some dunes in the mouth of an arroyo. And it wasn’t the typical plastic trash we’ve found that washes up on the beach after storms. This was heaps and heaps of garbage deliberately set there. Upon further investigation, it became very obvious that this was trash from cruisers. There were bottles, cans, and containers of all sorts with American brand labels clearly still affixed. There were English magazines, newspapers, and even a student’s handwritten essay about Zooks and Mooks needing to get along. The paper was still intact, which means the trash was fairly fresh, most likely new from this year’s cruising season. It was absolutely heartbreaking. After clearing trash from countless beaches, it was sad to come upon such a beautiful beach so horribly disrespected by our fellow cruisers. There was more trash than we could possibly have attempted to clear out, so we left Los Gatos with a heavy heart.
We continued south and found a somewhat uncharted cove called Bahia Rincon. This was one of the most gorgeous coves we’ve ever seen. It is surrounded by steep mountain cliffs that come right up to the shore, reaching almost 500 feet into the air. Once again, we had the cove to ourselves. We launched the dinghy and went ashore. This is an “off the beaten” track cove, not frequented by many cruisers. There were no beautiful white sandy beaches like in Los Gatos, but perhaps that’s what made this spot so special. We tied off to one of the large boulders that had tumbled down and proceeded to walk about this rocky shore. No sooner had we arrived, we started picking up bits and pieces of trash that had been driven ashore by previous storms. We got right back in the saddle and resumed our little thank you gesture to Mexico, our temporary home during this past year. We secured two large trash bags full, and then went diving in some of the most beautiful rocky, coral strewn water we’ve seen. It was as if we were being rewarded for not giving up the fight after the disheartening experience in Los Gatos.
We then continued south to San Evaristo. This appears to be a popular spot amongst cruisers, and sure enough, we arrived to find three other boats in the harbor. There’s a little palapa restaurant, and rumor has it that the owner caught some fish, so maybe I’ll get a reprieve from the galley tonight! I even heard that they have internet, so perhaps this will even get to be posted. If not, we’re 51 miles from La Paz, our final destination for this year. I suspect the sounds of the city, congestion, etc. will be a bit of a shock to us, thus we’re relishing every last second as we continue. We may stay here a few more days. We may not. We may head to Isla San Francisco or Caleta Partida, or who knows. It really does depend upon which way the wind blows. As the crow flies…or rather, as the boobies fly…the adventure continues.