Isla San Jose and Puerto Evaristo
19 April 2011 | Puerto Evaristo
Fred

We had some wind in the night that started about midnight from the west and Jim on Loomba Loomba called on 22 and said that he was going to leave the anchorage and go around to the north anchorage. We elected to stay put and I don't think we saw much more than 15 knots of wind and it died down in the morning. We left San Francisco and headed over to Isla San Jose and Bahia Amortajada for the day. We anchored near the entrance to the estuary and Anna anchored behind us and came over and picked us up in their dinghy for the ride up the estuary. It is much bigger than the one in Tenacatita and opens to a rather large lagoon on the east side of the island. There is a big rock berm between the sea and the lagoon and it is about 6 feet tall and 50 feet wide and covered with round stones. Penny was in heaven and we walked around and she found stones that she could balance and after awhile everywhere you looked there were these stones standing on their ends with other rocks balanced on top. Fortunately she only found 2 to bring home so they are stowed in the bilge as ballast. We left in the afternoon and sailed for awhile headed to San Evaristo for the night and next day. We arrived late afternoon and our friends, David and Betsy on Mystic and Darrell and Sarah on El Tiburon were there at anchor. We anchored and tomorrow we are all meeting at 8:15 on the beach to go exploring. San Evaristo has a small village of fisherman and a small tiendas and school. We brought some school supplies down with us so Penny is hoping the school is open so she can give them to the teacher. It is Easter week so it may not be open. There is one powerboat here that has a bunch of young girls on it and no boys. They are dancing around in their bikinis and Joe beat me to the anchorage next to that boat but I won't have to put up with the loud music and generator. However there is a generator running on the shore that powers the desalination plant that provides the village with water. The night had a little wind but not too much but the swell came in and we rolled much of the night so didn't get much sleep. Did get up early and 8 of us went exploring and saw the school and the salt ponds where they are farming sea salt. We pay extra for it in the states and here it is lying around. This is the beginning of Semana Santa or Easter break so no one was at the school. We have a bag of school supplies that we would like to donate so hopefully we can find the teacher in the village. Back to the boat and re anchor after some boats left to a hopefully calmer spot for the night. I think that tomorrow early we will leave and head for Los Gatos 28 miles north for a few days. Tonight is game night with 2 other couples so I have to make dinner early. Pork Tamales and rice are on the menu.