Location: Chula Vista
Marina, Chula Vista, California
The last blog ended in the Sea of Cortez, near the town of
Loreto. Since then we have made our way
around the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, northwest along the outside of
the peninsula and across the border into the United States. We spent over a year in Mexico. We had the opportunity to see and do a lot of
things, to experience Mexican culture, people and food and to enjoy the natural
wonders and wildlife that the various regions have to offer.
To make this blog easier to read (and type), we’ll break it
up into three parts: Puerto Escondido
(where the last blog ended) to La Paz; La Paz to San Jose del Cabo (with friend
Bob aboard); and, San Jose del Cabo to Chula Vista (the Baja Bash).
Puerto Escondido to La Paz
From Puerto Escondido, we cruised to Bahia Salinas, on the
east side of Isla Carmen. There is an
abandoned salt mining operation and pond here so we went ashore to
explore. The machinery from the
operation is slowly being dismantled and the school and church are
abandoned. They no longer flood the salt
ponds, but there is still a large area flooded with water and you can see the
salt crystals that have formed along the shoreline. There are some new buildings – lodging for hunters
that come in to hunt big horn sheep that have been introduced to the island.
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Bahia Salinas - Top Left: Abandoned salt mine administration office;
Bottom Left: B's feet after sinking into the mud crossing a salt pond;
Bottom Right: Church; Top Right: Abandoned salt mining equipment
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| Looking across the salt pond at Bahia Salinas |
Next stop Aqua Verde, a small fishing village on the east
coast of the Baja Peninsula. After we
anchored up, we dove into the water for a swim and did some snorkeling between
the boat and the shoreline. The next
morning we launched the dink and went out to snorkel around Roca
Solitaire. The water was super clear and
we could see lots of fish. We used our
new underwater camera for the first time and the pictures turned out good. We had fish tacos at a small beach restaurant
operated by the Aqua Verde Women’s Co-op.
We knew the fish was fresh because one of the ladies bought a yellow
tail right off of the fishing panga as it came in from offshore.
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| Roca Solitaire near Aqua Verde |
As we continued to move south, our next stop was Los Gatos –
a beautiful anchorage with red rock formations along the coast. We were the only boat in the anchorage and
after we got set-up, two guys in a panga stopped by to see if we wanted any fresh
fish, lobster or clams. We asked them
for some of each. They had the fresh
fish aboard so they filleted the fish there and then told us they would be back
later that afternoon with the lobsters and the clams as they had to go and
gather them.
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| Coyote prowling the beach at Los Gatos |
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| B enjoying steamed clams - Los Gatos |
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| Sunset - Los Gatos |
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| Dave enjoying steamed clams - Los Gatos |
We went ashore and walked the beach while we waited for them to return. Later that afternoon a group of kayakers came into the cove just north of where we were anchored and set-up camp. Tour groups operate trips where people spend a week kayaking, starting in Loreto and going south toward La Paz or vice versa. They kayak along the shore and out to the islands, whale watch, snorkel and visit the towns along the coast and camp in a different location each night.
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| Kayaker camp - Los Gatos |
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| Red rock formation - Los Gatos |
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| B hiking in the red rocks - Los Gatos |
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| Red rock formation - Los Gatos |
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| Dave hiking in the red rocks - Los Gatos |
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Pelican on the bow - Los Gatos. He must have hurt himself landing.
He tried to make it to the bow rail but didn't have enough energy
so he stayed there as we heaved the anchor.
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Pelican - finally rested enough to make it up on the rail.
He rode on the bow for about 30 minutes before flying to shore.
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Next we moved to San Evaristo, another small fishing
village. There are several smaller
villages just north of San Evaristo that have no road access so all their
supplies are brought here by car and then loaded into pangas to be transported
to the other villages. There is an
active salt mining/salt pond operation just north of the village. One of the locals recently opened a small
beachside restaurant in the south part of the cove so we dinghied ashore for
supper. The menu consisted of fresh fish
prepared one of five ways; I had the ceviche and Dave had the fish stew. Both were delicious so we went back the next
night and I had the fried fish and Dave had the grilled fish; again, both were
delicious.
From San Evaristo, we cruised to Isla Partida and anchored
at Ensenada Grande. Isla Partida and
Espiritu Santo are two islands close to La Paz.
Both islands have a number of protected anchorages on their west sides. The water is clear and warm so we did some
snorkeling. The next day, Saturday, we
cruised into La Paz and got a slip at Marina de La Paz. We spent a few days doing boat chores
(cleaning, filling propane tanks, laundry, maintenance) and projects (dinghy
leak repair), provisioning and finding our way around while waiting for Bob to
join us.
La Paz to San Jose del Cabo (with Bob)
Bob arrived in La Paz on Tuesday evening, April 7th
and met up with us at the marina café.
The next day we bought fresh fruit and veggies, Bob went for a run along
the malecon and we had supper at a local barbeque joint. Thursday morning we pulled out of the marina early
in the morning in order to catch the slack tide and motored up to Caleta
Partida, an anchorage between Isla Partida and Espiritu Santo. We launched the dink and went snorkeling near
a reef at the northern point of the cove entrance and then went to the next
cove over, El Cardoncito, and Bob did some snorkeling along the shore
line. The water was very clear and we
saw plenty of fish and starfish and also some rays.
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| Dave catches a bonito. |
Sunday we headed south to Ensenada de los Muertos. This is an area where boats stop on their way
north from Cabo San Lucas into the Sea of Cortez, as a staging area to cross
the Sea of Cortez to/from Mazatlan, and as a stop going south from the Sea of
Cortez to Cabo. Ensenada de los Muertos,
the traditional name for this area, means “cove of the dead”. As a marketing strategy, they are trying to
rename it Los Suenos (The Dreams) but so far it isn’t sticking and most
cruisers call it Muertos. There is a
small resort here so we went in for supper.
Monday we cruised from Muertos to Los Frailes, another stop on the way
south to Cabo. We fished along the way
but didn’t catch anything worth keeping.
Once we anchored up, Dave and Bob swam and did some bottom cleaning.
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| Tropical fish. |
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| Tropical fish. |
Tuesday we made the last run down the inside of the Baja
Peninsula into San Jose del Cabo. There
are some fishing banks along the way, so we put out the fishing lines and
cruised over the areas where the fishing is supposed to be good. This is the first day since we left La Paz
where Bob didn’t at least catch a bonito.
We pulled into the marina just after lunch and walked the docks and
explored the area. There are lots of
sport fishing boats and large yachts in the marina. We decided to walk into town for supper and
had a nice dinner at a restaurant overlooking the square. Wednesday morning we launched the dinghy and
took it over to the fuel dock to get some gasoline and then explored the little
town of La Playita. Bob caught a taxi to
the airport at noon and Dave and I dinghied over to the Marinero Borracho (Drunken
Sailor) restaurant for lunch.
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| B and Doofus resting on the settee. |
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| Bob with a fish. We made fresh ceviche. |
Cabo San Lucas “Cabo” is well known as a resort area on the
southern end of the Baja Peninsula. It
is filled with large resort complexes, hotels, restaurants, beaches and night
life and has a 24-hour party atmosphere.
San Jose del Cabo, about 20 miles east of Cabo, is a much smaller
town. It still has a few small resorts
and hotels, but is a much quieter area.
We chose to spend our time in San Jose del Cabo and skipped the busy, touristy
feel of Cabo. The Thursday after Bob
left, we spent the day washing the boat and getting all of the dirt and salt
off of it. Every Thursday night there is
an art walk night in town, so we strolled through the art exhibits in the town
square and along the streets downtown.
We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant and then took a cab back
to the marina. Friday morning we
provisioned for the trip up the outside of the Baja and Friday afternoon we
moved over to the fuel dock and took on 1800 liters (~475 gallons) of diesel. We spent the night at the fuel dock as it gave
us an easy out of the marina in the morning.
San Jose del Cabo to Chula Vista , CA (The Baja Bash)
Saturday morning, April 18th, we got underway for
our trip up the outside of the Baja Peninsula, known by boaters as the Baja
Bash. Coming southeast, from California
to Cabo San Lucas, the trip is referred to as the Baja Ha-Ha as the wind and
the seas are generally behind you, giving you a push towards your
destination. Coming northwest, from Cabo
to California, it is just the opposite.
The winds and wind driven waves are generally coming from the
northwest. The bow of the boat is
pointed directly into them and, if the wind is blowing and the seas have built
up, it can make for a rough voyage. The typical
wind patterns are light winds in the mornings, winds from 10 – 15 knots in the
afternoon and then the winds die down in the evenings and overnight.
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| The famous rock arch near Cabo San Lucas. |
We waited until Saturday to go because the weather was
predicted to be good through Thursday for the first and second legs of the
voyage. Leg 1 was from San Jose del Cabo
to Santa Maria Bay (194 nautical miles, 26.6 hours, average speed 7.3 knots). As we left the marina, the winds were light
and the seas were calm as predicted. It
was about a 3 hour cruise west before we rounded Cabo Falso, the cape on the south
western point of the Baja Peninsula, where the northern part of the journey
begins. As we rounded the cape, the
winds and the seas started to pick up. As
the wind blew through-out the afternoon, the seas continued to build. At supper time, we decided it is too rough to
risk opening the refrigerator, so we snacked on fig bars and fruit
instead. The wind blew between 15 and 20
knots all night so we didn’t get the respite from the wind and waves that we
expected. There were two other boats,
Wine Down and Rubber Ducky, on the same course line and in the same area as us
and we traveled in a loose pack up the coast.
We watched them on the radar and via their AIS (Automatic Identification
System – a tracking system used by vessels that can be seen on the chart
plotter. It includes vessel name, speed,
position, course and closest point and time of approach). As we neared our anchorage, Rubber Ducky
turned into Magdalena Bay and Wine Down continued north towards San Diego. We anchored up in Santa Maria Bay, just north
of Magdalena Bay, about 9:30 Sunday morning.
We stayed in Santa Maria Bay to rest and do some additional
securing for sea Sunday and Monday and got underway for leg 2 of the journey
early Tuesday morning. This leg, from
Santa Maria Bay to Turtle Bay, was 231 nautical miles, 34 hours with an average
speed 6.8 knots. Once again, the
predicted forecast and normal wind patterns didn’t transpire. The wind blew at 20+ knots most of the day
and we pounded and bashed with the bow directly into the seas. Finally, Wednesday morning with 63 nm (~ 9
hours) left to go, we got a break. The
winds were only blowing around 10 knots and the seas were not nearly as
developed. We picked up some speed and
made it to the anchorage in Turtle Bay in time for happy hour.
We stayed in Turtle Bay for six days waiting for our next
weather window. We took the dinghy in to
the beach, walked around town and bought a few provisions. We found a small restaurant near the
waterfront, run by Maria and her son
Victor, and we had lunch there a couple of times and used their internet. There is one word that can be used to
describe the town of Turtle Bay – dusty.
The wind blew most of the time we were there and we saw dust devils
nearly every day. Turtle Bay is a normal
stop for cruisers sailing north and south along the outside of the
peninsula. It is the only place between
Magdalena Bay and Ensenada where boats can get fuel, so most boats stop to top
off their tanks before continuing their journeys.
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| Sunrise - Punta Colonet. |
We got underway for leg 3 of the journey on Tuesday, April
28th. Originally we were
going to cruise to San Quintin, ~180 miles, but we decided to go ahead and
knock out another 40 miles and continued to Punta Colonet. Although longer, this gave us the advantage
of being within a day cruise to Ensenada and avoided another overnight run. Leg 3 was 219 nautical miles, 31.7 hours with
an average speed 6.9 knots. The weather
started out nice and calm but the winds picked up early afternoon and never
quit so it was another bash. We arrived
and anchored up at Punta Colonet about 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29th. The wind died down and changed direction
during the night, so we got up early Thursday morning for the leg 4 from Punta
Colonet to Ensenada, 70 nautical miles, 10.2 hours with an average speed of 6.9
knots. We were tied up in our slip at
the Cruise Port marina in Ensenada by mid-afternoon.
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| The Mercado Negro (fish market) in Ensenada. |
For supper we walked into town and had flat bread pizzas at
a local brew pub. Ensenada is a fairly
large city with a huge cruise ship dock.
A different Carnival cruise ship and/or Norwegian cruise ship was at the
dock almost every day we were there.
Over the weekend, we did some boat chores and maintenance and explored
the town. Monday morning we rented a car
and went up into the Guadalupe Valley which is wine country. There are over 90 wineries in the area along
with several resorts, bed and breakfasts and gourmet restaurants. Our first stop was Casa de Dona Lupe, a small
organic winery with a nice patio set-up for wine tastings. We tried four different wines each and had a
plate of bread and cheese. For lunch we
went to a resort restaurant, Fuego, near the B&B where we were going to
stay. After lunch, we went to another
winery, Baron Balche, for wine tasting and a tour of their wine making
facility. Check out the Guadalupe Valley wineries here:
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| Dave wine tasting at Casa de Dona Lupe. |
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| B standing in the front garden at Terra del Valle B&B |
We checked into our B&B, Valle del Terre, mid-afternoon,
had a glass of wine with the owner, Ana, and then had a nap. Ana recommended that we have dinner at a
nearby winery / resort, Adobe Guadalupe, and made reservations for us. Dinner was a gourmet, five course meal and
included white and red wines. With only
one other couple in the dining room, it was like having a private chef cook for
you. The starter was salmon tartar; next
was cream of cauliflower soup followed by a mixed green salad with walnuts and
green apple; the main course was grilled quail and dessert was carrot
cake. Delicious! The chef came out and introduced herself at
the end of the meal. Check out Adobe Guadalupe here:
http://www.adobeguadalupe.com/index.html?l=eng
Back at the
B&B, Ana and her husband Nacho greeted us.
We had a night cap with them and then had a soak in the hot tub. Check out the B&B here:
http://www.terradelvalle.com/
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Adobe Guadalupe: The courtyard, living room and
Dave and B at the dining table. |
The next day after breakfast, which included fresh squeezed
orange juice using oranges from the B&B’s orchards, we headed back to the
boat to prepare for our journey to San Diego.
We did the paperwork required to clear out of the country and cooked up
all the meat from the freezer so that we wouldn’t have to turn it into U. S.
Customs. Wednesday morning we got
underway early and headed north to San Diego – 75 miles, 10.2 hours with an
average speed of 7.4 knots. The winds
were light. There was some swell but no
wind driven waves so the journey was uneventful. We pulled up to the U. S. Customs dock in San
Diego at about 2:30 p.m. Customs
clearance went smoothly. They asked a
few questions, checked our paperwork and passports and sent us on our way. The Chula Vista Marina, where we plan to
spend the summer, is down at the south end of San Diego bay. We arrived there about 5:15 p.m., got tied up
in our slip and went up to the marina restaurant for supper and a beer. Check out the Chula Vista Marina here:
www.cvmarina.com
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| San Diego skyline and navy ships. |
We’re looking forward to spending the summer here. We’ve been settling in, finding our way
around and doing boat chores. Until next
time…
