We left beautiful Aqua Verde early Monday morning bound for Puerto Escondido. Craig was able to sail for the first couple of hours and then the wind became so strong (25-30 knots on the beam) that we needed to turn downwind just to get the jib in and reef the main to 50%. Even with that, it was a rough ride with speeds approaching 7.5 knots. By the time arrived at the inside passage around Punta Candeleros, it had calmed to less than 10 knots and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

Upon arriving at Escondido we decided to stay out in the "waiting room" rather than trying to navigate the shallow channel into the mooring area of "hidden harbor". Sadly, the "waiting room" has become more of a "living room". Almost all of the available space is taken up by 'private' moorings used by residents, some of whom have lived there for over 20 years. We found a tight spot and anchored, but after several hours the wind shifted and we were very close to another sailboat to port and an unoccupied mooring to stern. One of the residents kindly suggested that we move over under the "bluffs" where there was another, larger, sailboat and plenty of room. We did this and found good anchorage in sand, but a bit rolly and somewhat close to shore for long term comfort. We only stayed the one night and then moved across the 8 miles to Puerto Ballandra.

Ballandra is a very nice anchorage with lots of room and good protection from north breezes and most of the SE swell. Isla Carmen was, until recently, the location of a large sea salt production operation on the other side of the island from Balandra. Ballandra Bay has steep cliffs rising from all sides except due east where there is a salt marsh and a dry river bed leading over the gap in the mountains to the salt ponds. Sue and I walked about 1/2 the distance across the gap, but were not yet able to see over and down onto the salt flats. Along the way there was evidence of the wet fall they had here last year in the form of long marsh grasses that when dried up in the wind, swirl into tufts that look like a weird hairdo part on a giant. Wednesday we took the kayak and explored one of the small beaches to the north of our anchorage. There, we discovered an entire hillside of fossil pipe coral and other fossilized shells. This must be "recent" deposits (by geological standards) since the fossil shells closely resemble the shells we would pick up today with the exception that we have seen none of the chimney-shaped pipe coral on the MX coasts. So either uplift or sea level rise in the "recent" past, take your pick. We did collect a couple of the "button" worm-shells that Montyne liked to collect in the fossil beds. We've not been swimming here because there are visible jellies floating around the boat and the days have been colder than before. In fact, Sue is sitting wrapped up in a blanket as I write this.

Tomorrow we are planning to move on to Calenta de San Juanico. We expect this to be our northern-most stop and we plan to stay there several days before beginning a slow trip back to La Paz.