On Saturday morning (January 18th) we departed from El Mezteño just ahead of SV Falcon VII and motored north in calm conditions. As we passed the entrance to Caleta Partida and along the west side of Isla Partida, we saw and heard many leaping manta rays but they were not to be the stars of this day.

Arriving at the small islands of Los Islotes, off the north end of Isla Partida, we found one large motor-yacht and SV Sound Discovery already anchored. Luckily, there was still plenty of room for us on a 60-foot deep ledge (18 m) on the south side of the islets, so we anchored and launched the dinghy. With little protection, it would not be a comfortable overnight anchorage but it was fine for a daytime stop. With about a knot of current but little wind we felt pretty comfortable leaving Tregoning while we rowed closer to the islets.

Los Islotes are famous for a large California sea lion rookery and many boats come from La Paz to bring people to kayak or snorkel with the sea lions. We rowed over to where there was plenty of activity in the water and then drifted, with Randall towing the dinghy, along the south side of the main islet and through the crowd of playful sea lion pups. Huge males (which can grow up to 8 ft or 2.5 m long and 800 pounds or 360 kg) would make occasional passes to keep an eye on us and the slightly smaller females would also swim past but the younger animals were ready to play.

As we have raved before, the fluid, twisting motions of the young sea lions are so enchanting that it is almost impossible not to giggle and squeal with delight and I do not even try to restrain myself. With the sun flashing on the light brown fur of the young animals, they are like liquid gold. Although their curiosity and constant activity seems to beg us to join-in with their diving, looping, and leaping contortions, our own plunges and rolls seem so clumsy and labored in comparison…but it does not stop me from trying.

One or two pups were particularly attracted to the red line from the dinghy that Randall was holding and would gently chew it or try to pull it. One pup wrapped its flippers around my be-finned foot and clung on briefly which was surprisingly endearing and not at all worrying. Of course, it all might have been a bit less fun during the mating season in May through July when their behavior, especially that of the huge males, can be less predictable and more protective of their territories and mates. Sadly, many of the sea lions had sores on their skin and damaged eyes but we did not know whether this was unusually prevalent here or was typical for the Sea of Cortez.

Even when the sea lions were less active, Los Islotes was a good snorkel site and we were especially amazed to see at least 50 large, leopard groupers milling around. This seemed like a very large number of highly edible fish that were gathered together so we assumed that with the internationally protected sea lions and regular traffic of pangas and private vessels visiting the islets, these grouper were being protected from fishing.

While we were frolicking with the sea lions, Falcon VII and a Hunter sailboat motored by but did not stop. After finally leaving the sea lions and raising our anchor we enjoyed a glorious passage, sailing on a close reach with full sails, to arrive at Isla San Francisco, 17 nm further north. Here we caught up with Falcon VII and the Hunter at the beautiful, semi-circular anchorage on the southern end of the island. By the time we arrived, we were thoroughly exhausted so we were happy to stay onboard and enjoy the excellent view to our west of the sun setting over the multi-layered strata of the Sierra de la Giganta (Giant Mountain Range) on the coast of the Baja Peninsula.