Agua Verde - May 8-10, 2012

Tuesday, Rick and Gravel went all the way out to Roca Solitaria to snorkel and fish. The water is a little too cold for me and there are Jellies, so I stayed on the boat. They didn’t bring any fish back so we all went into shore to buy more.

Roca Solitaria, a long way out.

Wednesday, the teinda gets their fresh supply of food. We stocked up for our trip north with Jim and Diane from ‘Adirondack’. ‘True Companion’ was heading south.

Racing into Agua Verde – May 7-9, 2012

Monday morning we pull up the anchor and motored 18 miles north to Agua Verde. Just as we were entering the bay and heading for the small southern lobe, we saw another boat leave the northern lobe and head toward the bay we wanted. He picked up speed, so we picked up speed. The race was on. He arrived just ahead of us and started checking the depth. We had been here before and knew where we wanted to be. We pulled into the center and dropped the hook. He circled around a bit and found a spot off to one side. This left room for ‘True Companion’ who were sitting back, watching and laughing at this comotion. Later, we met up with the couple and had a good laugh.

The Boat We Raced

The rest of the day was spent shopping at the tienda for vegetables and beer, and buying fish from the local fishermen. That evening we went to ‘True Companion’ for cocktails and learned to play Cribbage. Back at the boat we cooked up the fish (Cabrillo) and I must say it was the best fish I have ever cooked. We even had it the next day for fish tacos.

Fishermen with Their Catch

Cleaning Our Fish

Cinco de Mayo in Los Gatos - May 5 – 7, 2012

Saturday morning we left Timbabiche for a 45 minute trip around the corner into Puerto Los Gatos. ‘True Companion’ was there and ‘Windy Ellen’ showed up later in the day. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we started celebrating with Bloody Mary’s for breakfast.

Bloody Mary's

The Red Rocks at Los Gatos

We walked around the tide pools on the southern shore and checked out the fishing spot on the north shore. Everyone ended up on ‘True Companion’ for appetizers and cocktails. Later that night we went to shore, had a bonfire and watched the full moon. It was a great Cinco de Mayo.

Pam in the Tide Pools

Rick Jumping in the Tide Pools

Rock Scallop in the Tide Pools

Pam, Natalie and Zack at the Bonfire

Timbabiche – May 4 - 5, 2012

We left San Evaristo about 8:00 in the morning with ‘Magic’ close behind. We are both on our way to Timbabiche. About a half hour out, 2 whales came between our boats. Then later dolphins showed up.

Whales near the Boats

Dolphin

Dolphin up Close

Once we were anchored in Timbabiche we went ashore in the dinghy and Magic kayaked in the lagoon. We tried to walk to the Casa Grande and the little village, but it was far back from the water. We’ll go there another time.

Kayaking into the Lagoon

Casa Grande

Back at the boat, Manual and Manual showed up up in their panga and sold us 3 lobster and 4 scallops for 150 pesos. (About $12 US) They were delicious!

Lobster!

San Evaristo – May 2 - 4, 2012

We made it to San Evaristo about 2 in the afternoon, put the dinghy down and headed into the palapa that sells beer. We met up with Natalie and Gravel from ‘True Companion’ and Zack and his baby Ronan from ‘Windy Ellen’. We all walked the beach and bought fish from the fishermen. The next day we walked over to the salt flats, stopped at the teinda for vegetables, then visited the desalinization plant. Nat and Gravel came over for a game of Rummykub. We’ll be leaving in the morning, but they will hang around here for awhile.

San Evaristo

The Salt Flats

Natalie, Gravel and Rick

North to Isla San Francisco – April 29 – May 2, 2012

Leaving La Paz, Finally

As usual our plans changed. We had a late night on Friday with ‘Just a Minute’ and didn’t feel like leaving the dock. One more day won’t hurt because we’re not on a schedule. We left about 10:00 Sunday, after helping ‘Corvidae’ get out of their slip in the wind and current.

We motor sailed north to Isla San Francisco and checked out the eastern anchorage, we haven’t been on that side. The wind was coming in from the south west, so we went around the island to the west anchorage and tucked in close to the hook. We had flat seas and a calm night.

Sunset from the hook in San Francisco

Monday morning we went to shore with Steve and Nona of ‘Corvidae’ to hike the trail. We made it to the top and back down to the other anchorage, then back across the salt flats to the beach where we were anchored. ‘Corvidae’ came over for cocktails that evening, then left early the next morning. They are hurrying up to Escondido for the Loreto Fest.  We’ve decided to skip it this year and stay out of the crowd of boats.

Looking Down at San Francisco

Pam and Rick at the Top of the Hill

We spent one more day and night in San Francisco watching the Mexicans on huge power boats party on the beach. Their crew go to shore to set up tents with chairs and tables, volleyball nets and jet skis. Then the owners or guests were brought in by skiffs. Later the crew brings the food over. Just before sunset, they pack it all up and head back to La Paz. We wonder who these Mexicans are??

Beach Party for the Mexicans

We left in the morning to head to the north side of the island. We anchored about 10:00 and took the dinghy across the channel to Isla Coyote. About 10 people live on this small rock of an island. They sell fish in La Paz and have beaded jewelry for sale. They also have a museum with a whale skeleton. It’s an interesting place, but very small. We took a picture of a seagull that wasn’t too happy with us, it kept squawking at us. Looking at the picture later, we realized it had a baby in its nest on the rock. After our visit, we left for San Evaristo.

Isla Coyote

The Whale Museum

Pam with the Whale Skeleton

The Seagull with Her Baby