Cruise of the Ladybug: Cruising in Paradise

See pictures at end of the post...

I feel as though we have finally arrived in the Sea of Cortez that I have read about and dreamt of during the last few months. We have anchored in the sheltered waters of Agua Verde, El Gato, Isla San Francisco, and Isla Partida. All along the Baja coast are green water coves with white powder beaches that invite bare feet, and reefs that entice snorkelers with corals and tropical fish.

At Puerto Escondido, we hiked through Steinbeck's Canyon dwarfed by giant boulders which had tumbled down from the mountains of the El Gigante range during the rains. We did not find the big horned sheep that Steinbeck described in his log from the Sea of Cortez, but the dry chutes of the canyon, fringed by palms and the imposing walls of multi-coloured rock, were awe-inspiring.

Chris shocked me by shaving his head the previous night, something he had meant to do for a very long time. The fact that he had done it in the shower with blunt scissors and left random tufts of hair did not make it very attractive. We tidied it up the next morning and as he scaled the walls and boulders in the canyon, he looked like Spiderman – see photos.

Our next anchorage in paradise was Agua Verde, aptly named as the water is truly green. We spent several days hiking the rocky bluffs and relaxing on the beautiful beaches. The water was so clear and shallow that we could see a sailboat wreck with the naked eye. The village of Agua Verde was typically Mexican with goats and chickens running around in the dusty streets, little kids shouting “ Hola” and people sitting around chatting in front of their homes.
Another couple, Keith and Debbie, came over with us to buy groceries at a little tienda where we stocked up on fresh vegetables and fruit.

We walked past a small farm with tiny piglets peeking out of their pens, kid goats bleating, and turkeys chasing each other. There was a cheese-maker across the road and we bought a couple of wheels of goat cheese for less than 3 dollars each to share with friends on another boat, the Faulkener family on Windfall. The Faulkeners, Jim and Meri, with kids Tim and Carolyne, have sold their small farm and an internet business in Colorado to sail for a few years. Strangely enough, they are thinking of emigrating to Nova Scotia (where Chris is from). Chris and I met with them for a glass of wine that evening to discuss the merits of farming on the east coast and found we had much in common.

From Agua Verde we sailed to Los Gatos, the azure waters of the bay backed by beautiful red bluffs. In the evening sun, the rounded salmon, pink and red coloured rocks at the base of the more jagged cliffs looked like soft pillows. We met a single-hander, George, a retired anthropologist and teacher from Yellowknife, who recognised Brisa and told us that he had made an offer to buy her a couple of years ago.

Our next anchorage was Punta Napolo, a tiny cove with one house and several pangas running in and out. We rowed ashore and met Angel, a lovely old man who showed us around his house and garden in which he grew tomatillos ( little green tomatoes ), onions and a few other vegetables. It was a very tidy little place and we were impressed that he had even raked the sand outside. He pointed us to a trail which led from the house to a dry river bed and we saw some burros and a two white horses watching us from the hills. We went to sleep that night listening to the braying of burros echoing in the arroyo.

En route to San Evaristo, we saw what appeared to be sharks' fins cutting the water around our boat. We were pretty excited by this, but later we realized that the fins were the wing tips of large manta rays. We are not sure why they swim close to the surface but enjoyed watching them cruise about the boat, jumping clear of the water and doing back flips. For the record, we did see what was clearly a small shark leaping out of the water. What was chasing it we did not find out.

San Evaristo has a large bay with a small village and salt pans still in operation. There were kayaks and tents set up in a small tourist operation at one end of the beach and pangas dotted along the length of the main beach. The village had a small tienda where we bought fresh vegetables and we enjoyed a walk to the salt pans and the wind swept beach to the north.

Isla San Francisco's 'The Hook' is a very popular anchorage with motor yachts and sailboats since it is easy distance from La Paz. Its gorgeous crescent beach and warm water is very attractive. Of course, we opted to hike the ridge for a birds' eye view of the whole bay. On the walk back to the boat we met some people dining under the a canopy and found out how the other half lives. They were cruising on a 130 ft yacht with a crew of 14 tending to 8 guests
in total and the owner was shocked when Chris told him we did not have any deck hands to help us on our 34 ft sailboat! Chris made the mistake of telling him that I was his deckhand and that he had bought me over the internet :)

The next 2 islands south, Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo, are a National Geographic spread when viewed from a satellite. A sandy shoal divides one from the other and fingers of mountains along their west coast separate the stunning bays of clear blue-green water. Their only drawback is the nightly Corumel wind which blows from Baja

We stayed 3 nights in the islands and then sailed down to La Paz where we are currently anchored near Marina La Paz. We were met by our friends Marv and Ardy on “ Odyssey” as we arrived and we all enjoyed a night on the town, our first big city since Mazatlan. Chris is working hard on water-proofing the portlights for leaving Brisa in Mazatlan over the summer.

Yesterday we met the owner of the only other Coast 34 we know of in Mexico. Jackie and Mike are from Vancouver and came down the Baja last year after living on board Angelique for 14 years. Mike has gone home to work while Jackie prepares the boat for transporting back to B.C. through Dockwise, a shipping company with floating storage for yachts. The interior of Angelique was quite different from Brisa even though it was finished only 2 years later.

La Paz is a gorgeous town and we are looking forward to spending a few more days here.