The Norther calmed down the night of February 27th, so the next morning we headed south. We got some pictures of the cat still on the rocks and headed out of the bay. Not much wind was left, but there were residual lumpy seas so we motored, made water (desalinated salt water to make fresh) and practiced celestial navigation on the way. I did a noon sight and the latitude was quite close while the longitude was off by eight miles compared to the GPS.

We went down the outside (east side) of Isla Espiritu Santo because we hadn’t been that way and thought we could see some whales. We crossed paths with a couple of dolphins but didn’t see any other marine mammals. We did see some manta rays leaping out of the water. They fly out almost vertically, then make a belly flop.

Playa Bonanza (2 miles) is the longest sandy beach in the Sea of Cortez according to our guide book. The shallow sandy bay is protected by a headland and reef from north winds. When we arrived in the early afternoon, we were the only boat in the bay. There was not a single person on the beach, but at the top of the bay there was a camp set up for kayakers. We had a restful night, glad that the wind had calmed down.

Next morning (2/29) we rowed to shore and walked along the beach. There were small waves, the water was aqua near shore and blue in the distance. The temperature was in the 70s with a slight breeze and just a few high cirrus. We walked the beach from one end to the other and back and only encountered one other couple. They were Americans who had motorboated over from LaPaz. Linda collected a bonanza of shells. She practices “catch and release” with the shells she collects, taking a photo then leaving them for the next person to enjoy.