Punta Pulpito to Agua Verde: Adventure on the Baja Peninsula

After our morning adventure at Punta Pulpito on November 27th, we sailed off the hook and set the spinnaker for what turned out to be a glorious sail to San Juanico. The previous spring, we had anchored in San Juanico on the south side of the bay. Due to the prevailing winds in the fall, we anchored in the north part of the bay. There were several boats anchored before we arrived so we chose to anchor in a little nook just east of everyone else. We were subject to a little more swell but the anchorage was very nice.

Our anchorage in San Juanico

On Monday, November 28^th, we rowed to shore and hiked to Ramada Cove which is just north of the San Juanico anchorage. We also walked the beach and contributed our art to the “Cruiser’s Shrine”, a tree on the beach that cruisers use as an “I was here” tribute. Our addition was a piece of sandstone on which Jeff carved our names and boat name. He then bore a hole into the sandstone and added a piece of nylon rope with a shell and feathers. Land, sea, and air were all represented and combed from the beach.

Cruiser's Shrine

The next day we set sail for Isla Coronados, one of our most favorite anchorages in the Gulf. Jeff threw out the fishing line and we caught a beautiful dorado (also known as Mahi Mahi or dolphin fish). Just as we were bringing it on board, it wiggled off the hook! We should have used the gaff! Oh, well, there will be others. The bees at Coronados were obnoxious so on December 1^st we motor-sailed to Loreto and anchored off the north side of the “darsena” (small marina generally used by small fishing boats called pangas).

Isla Coronados

We found the town of Loreto to be charming. It was a bonus that there was a nice grocery store for provisioning. We even found Tillamook cheddar cheese in “El Pescado”; we were sure we arrived in heaven as cheddar cheese is very difficult to find. It was extra special that the cheddar was from our “neighborhood”. Since we are intrepid explorers, we sought out a place where we could rest our weary feet and wet our whistle. What we found was even more incredible than finding a place where we could buy Tillamook cheddar cheese! We stumbled into a brewery called “El Zipolote” which means “the vulture”. Their beer was some of the most amazing microbrew we’ve found since leaving the PNW. It is no easy feat to compete with PNW beers but they had a sensational Belgian dark that rivaled Pfriem’s!

The night of December 2^nd was miserably rolly so we pulled up anchor and headed to Puerto Escondido where our new Star Link was waiting for us. We had resisted ordering Star Link even though just about every cruiser in the Gulf seems to have one. However, they were having a “Buen fin de semana” (good end of the week) sale where the equipment was discounted and you receive 2 months of service for free. Not only are we intrepid explorers, we are savvy shoppers and this seemed like too good a deal to pass up. For those of you living in a bubble, Star Link is a small satellite dish that provides high speed internet in remote places. It is the brainchild of Elon Musk (or one of his minions) and has been a game changer for coastal cruisers (some report using it far off the coast and even during ocean passages) as one can have internet access virtually anywhere allowing us to get weather, email, and stay in touch with friends and family. It really is a wondrous piece of technology so we were pretty excited to bring it on board.

On a mooring at Puerto Escondido

On the morning of December 4^th, we set sail for Bahia Salinas on the NE side of Isla Carmen. Winds were light but we had a pleasant sail and dropped the hook in about 12 feet of clear water. Jeff continues trying to land the elusive dorado but all we seem to catch is skipjack tuna, edible but not entirely tasty! We visited the old salt flats and walked on the beach. The dinghy outboard continued to be a problem but Jeff happily rowed us to shore. The sand on Salinas was SO soft and fine it felt as though we were walking on velvet! We had hoped that we could snorkel the wrecked tuna boat that was supposed to be submerged in the bay but there was no sign of it. There were many pieces of an old boat on the shore and we wonder if the old shipwreck was beached by the recent storms in the area. It rained both days that we were in Salinas. We tried to recall any other time we experienced rain in Mexico and couldn’t think of a single instance. The clouds definitely had a negative impact on our solar production which seriously made us think about a wind generator. The other thing that we have noticed since being back on the water is how little sea life there seems to be. We’re ready to see the whales, dolphins, and fish.

On December 6^th, under a cloudy sky, we weighed anchor and headed ~30nm south to Agua Verde with a brief afternoon stop at San Cosme to visit the hot springs that are in the reef. The day was overcast with a light sprinkle and the temperature was only in the 60’s. It seemed like a perfect day to visit the hot springs. It took us a bit to find the shallow pool but once we did, our soak was lovely! We’ve never been in a saltwater hot spring before. The day was progressing much too fast, as most days do, so after about 30 minutes in the springs, we rowed to IG so that we could sail the remaining 6 miles to Agua Verde. Just before sunset, we pulled into the small anchorage on the north side of the bay and tucked in amongst 4 other boats. Agua Verde was such a different scene than when we were here in the spring; the beach was full of campers, the hillsides were lush and green, and there were so few cruisers. We were looking forward to doing some windsurfing in the bay but the wind forecast didn’t materialize. So on the 8^th, we weighed anchor and headed south for more adventure.

 

Our anchorage in Agua Verde

Next post: Sloppy Seas!