Tuesday, 22 April 2008

We have arrived at an anchorage off Punta Sta Inez, 22 miles southeast of Santa Rosalia. Charlie's charts say that there is an extraordinary shelling beach nearby and we intend to explore it before we leave. I don't really want to find any more cone shells this time…. Besides, Fran found a beautiful shell just before I was stung. Payback????
Our stopover in Puerto Escondido was brief. We arrived in early afternoon and obtained our water and fuel before taking a buoy at the Singlar (government run) facility for the night. We dinghy'd in and got laundry done and downloaded our e-mails, which took the better part of the next 2 hours, and finished just in time for the facility to close up for the day. During last year's visit in Royal Exchange we weren't even able to get water and the building was still under construction. This year the
facility is up and running as best as can be expected but very few boats are using it. The "Waiting Room" and the circular anchorage run by "Appy", Singlar's competitor, is getting most of the business because of his lower fees. Singlar's aim of becoming the local haul-out location for much of the Sea's cruisers isn't going to happen until they make some drastic fee reductions. With the Loretofest happening in a few weeks more boats will be forced to use Singlar's buoys as Appy's facilities reach
max capacity.
That night we decided on supper at a local restaurant about a mile up the road. We were warned that when walking back along the road at night it is prudent to have flashlights as rattlesnakes have been seen after dark on the warm road surface. The pull of a restaurant meal was greater than Fran's fear of snakes that evening. We met Ken and Nancy from Brandywine at the restaurant. They were driving and offered us a drive back to the marina. Fran was quick to accept.
We left the next morning, saying farewell to Polar Bear and Brandywine and carried on up to Loreto. We anchored off the breakwater just before noon, close to the Ryndam. The Holland America cruise ship was ferrying her complement of tourists ashore by lighter. By 1500 we were on our way again having obtained a few provisions.
By sunset we were at anchor in San Juanico Cove, another location we had visited last year. Amazingly, we were the only sailboat among 7 cruisers. We didn't get a chance to go ashore here but promised ourselves that next year we would have an extended stay to explore this beautiful bay.
The next morning we were off again, heading north under power in a flat calm sea. Again we bypassed a number of areas we are eager to visit. Bahia Conception is high on our list for next season, as is the village of Mulege where an offshore roadstead anchorage is required.
By 1800 we were at anchor in an open but comfortable anchorage in the company of 3 other sailing vessels and 2 cruisers.

Thursday, 24 April 2008
We are now anchored in Sweet Pea Cove on the west side of Isla San Marcos, our last stop before we do the northern crossing to Guaymas. We had intended on leaving tonight to arrive tomorrow morning, however, Fran isn't feeling up to par so we will wait until she improves.
We stayed an extra day at Punta Sta Inez to explore and it is a good thing we did. Shell Beach was all it was supposed to be and better. Shells were everywhere thanks to the hurricane that passed through last fall. The variety was surprising and there were lots left after we picked our fill…. We left this morning, again in flat calm conditions with balls of bait rising all around us and seabirds swooping down to feed. It took a few minutes to clear the anchor of a huge ball of seaweed, which is abundant
in this bay. A few miles out we decided to try our luck in the tide lines that appeared on the sounder to be full of baitfish. We were rewarded by 3 nice sea bass (cabrilla) one of the best tasting species in these waters.
Next segment from Guaymas/San Carlos.