Ed took in a couple of hikes while I combed the beach for anything cool. I came up with a fairly large paper nautilus. Come to find out they're very hard to find and the size I got is rare! Sweet find. I'll let you look up what a paper nautilus is – not even sure of it's official name. Tomorrow we're headed to Isla Coronados. We're going to meet up with some friends say hello and stay the next day as well-more northerlies, but not too strong.
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| Paper Nautilus |
Sailed to Salinas, temp anchored and walked into the salt ponds (after Ed took a back end into the drink when a wave came up behind the dingy as we landed and were getting out. I laughed all day-him, not so much.) This place looked like snow and ice. It was very cool to see. No longer a salt mining area, everything has been left to rot.
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| A chunk of salt |
We spent the rest of the day sailing over to a cove called Puerto Ballendra. We had to round three points and we hit 7 knots...that's fast for our boat. We haven't sailed like that since our first time out of La Paz.
March 16; Isle Carmen Punta Colorada
Decided to hang in seclusion, get some down time and continue whale watching and reading.
March 15; Isle Carmen
Anchored at Punta Colorada. On the
sail over we whale hunted and found two giants-Blues. Something to
behold even from the distance we were they looked like giants. There
blow is so high it can be seen a few miles away! Awesome.
Really good snorkel spot. It was so
warm we couldn't wait to get in the water, although still chilly
so still using the wet-suits.
March 13; Puerto Escondido to Honeymoon
Cove; Isle Danzante
The car people forgot about us and
couldn’t come pick up the car...Mexico. Ed had to bring the car
back and then they drove him back to the port. We did not get off
the ball until about 1p.m.Anchored just across the water in Honeymoon Cove. Great anchorage with good hikes and beautiful vistas.
March 12; Loreto
The car was delivered at 9 this morning
and we loaded it up. This port is out of fuel so we have to bring in
the gas jugs, fill'em up, bring them back to the boat fill'er up and
repeat. Also loaded our rubbers so we don't get soaked this time
going back to the boat.Loreto was a nice little town. The drive was scenic along the water. It's historic district (primarily one street) is cobble stoned and lined with trees that arch over it. The main square is charming, having the mission that was the head and start of all missions along the Baja and (now) state of California coast. The museum at the mission was nice but, of course, only had a portion of the information in English. So, not knowing the history, I have no idea why the Jesuits were ousted and replaced by Franciscans. One can only figure they fell out of favor with the church...
Although lovely, I would have, in hind sight, preferred to go to the mission in the mountains.
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Stopped at the supermercado to pick up
groceries and headed back to the boat with what I guess was a
migraine. And not being able to go straight to sleep – meaning we
had to put on our rubbers, unload the car, load it all in the dingy,
unload it from the dingy onto the boat...I've never had so much pain
in my head – ever! It hurt so bad it made me physically ill. What
really took the cake is that the water was so calm we needn't have
bothered with the rubbers.
March 11; Puerto Escondido
Blue skies, sunshine and times of very
calm waters. Went into to the offices to rent a car, did some
laundry while up there. Grabbed a couple of new (old) movies and got
soaked coming back to the boat. The wind picked up a bit and
literally soaked us. Watched movies and read. That's it!
March 10; Puerto Escondido
Blue skies, sunshine and windy. The
winds started about 5 this morning; about 20 knots. Not bad
(comparatively) but I won't be heading in on the dingy (Ed might.)
Today ended up being movie marathon day. We watched a season and a
half of Foyle's War, read and kept an eye on the dingy. That's it!
March 9; Puerto Escondido
Blue skies, sunshine and calm waters.
After breakfast we headed in to do another hike. We side stepped our
route to check out the abandoned buildings all over the port. There
are streets laid out like they were going to build housing at one
time – it really must have been something when it was first built.
We went by the API building where the cruisers have their pot lucks
and where you can check out DVDs and books. Great collection; we'll
be watching Foyle's War when the blow starts (yes Cathy, I'm through
all of the movies you (and Molley) brought!) We then checked out the
small beach behind the building and got caught up in finding a
particular shell that I need. We actually spent a couple of hours
doing that so we didn't end up doing a hike. Stopped by the small
tienda to pick up a few things and they had a brick of Tillimook aged
white cheddar-yummm. Ed was concerned it was too much cheese. Got
back to the boat and sliced up an apple and we ate one third of the
brick with it...too much cheese – HA! The rest of the afternoon
was very relaxing and laid back with the exception of some frantic
Mexican chatter on the radio. A lady sounding like she was in great
distress needing help. My heart was sad for her. Sometimes it
doesn't matter what language is spoken, the meaning is clear.
March 8; Puerto Escondido
Woke to a quiet morning. No movement
at all last night. Sunrise gave the most spectacular colors on the
mountains and with the clouds, made for some good pics. There are
clouds moving high over the mountains but dissipate as soon as they
move over the peaks. Very cool to drink my tea and watch how they
shape..jpg)
Hiked into Steinbeck Canyon up a very
rocky wash. On our way out to the highway (canyons on the other side
and a mile+ from port) we hitched a ride with a Vancouver native,
Dick, who lives in a small town near here in winter. He said we will
eventually hit a solid rock wall but ”if you hunt around there is a
small cave with a way to get up to the other side and that's when the
really good stuff starts.” Well we hit that wall but his cave hole
had a big boulder in it. Someone, however, had tied up a knotted
rope and bolted a ladder to help get up over the giant boulders. Ed
got up there but when I tried, fear took over and I couldn't go
further. Ed said that he thought I could get up, but coming back
down would have been a problem because you have to look straight down
over the boulder somewhat blindly. So we enjoyed our snack bars and
headed back out. There was a small trickle of water coming out of
the mountain creating little pools of water that the butterflies and
wasps used as watering holes. Very warm hike, but the breeze through
the canyon helped cool us. We stopped at the Medelorama (similar to
a 7-11franchised out by the beer companies) for some fresh fruit.
Grabbed a 'pop-sickle' on the way out only to find out it wasn't
mango, but frozen eggnog (no labels; homemade.) Ed enjoyed his, me
not so much. On our hike back to the port, Nancy and David pulled
over to give us a lift. They hail from Australia and plan to live on
their boat. Spent the rest of the afternoon listening to frustrated
boaters on the net. This is not a very well run port; we've heard
that what workers remain are overdue for pay.
This evening brought the start of some
winds. It would be howling one minute and die to nothing the next.
Sunday and Monday are supposed to be the big blow.
Couldn't get a car for tomorrow, so we'll do another hike and try to get one on Tuesday. We'll need to haul our jerry cans as they have no fuel here and don't expect any for at least another week (or more.)
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