Dock (and dog) party!

It has been great getting to know other cruisers here in Santa Rosalia. Most of us were in the marina waiting to see if that hurricane Mirium was to be a threat and hurricane Norman right behind her. Turns out we had some squalls, some wind and two lovely, cool, rainy days.  Temp was down to 82 or 84 and was so nice we had grilled cheese and soup for lunch. This is the coolest it has been for us since June 16th or so--arriving to Cabo.

Great dock party last night with boats Beyond Reason (Bill and Lisa), Nirvana (Bob and Sherry). Also here is Ubatuba, a Voyage catamaran with Brazilians Iris and Alex, Firefly a Catalina 47 with Brenda and Ted, a great guy named Kim on his boat and a few others.

The dock party was delicious with bbq'd jalapeno poppers, some fine gazpacho and Mexican hot dogs that were surprisingly delicious.  Bill had a blender that sounded like a lawn mower! Pretty cool! We make due!

 Rocky made a new friend in "Sparky" the salty sailing dog. They played very well together at the dock party.  Sparky swims three times per day when at anchor, loves to sit up on the side of the dingy while underway. Kids these days. I suppose Rocky is going to want to do that now too!

Bill and Lisa's beautiful 43 Hans Cristian ketch and I love the name.

Looking back at the Marina Fonatur Santa Rosalia office with the Norsemen Voyage 43 in foreground. They have been cruising for five years. Iris is a saint!

We are off to see more places and get more fishing and snorkeling in before it gets cool. Leaving dock now. 

Dingy Ride

Rocky is first in the dingy to go exploring Punta Chivato.

Santa Rosalia

Having only buzzed through Santa Rosalia on Highway 1, it was a pleasant surprise to find such a nice town.

Our friend Chuck from MV "No Mas" showing us the highlights of Santa Rosalia. This is the actual locomotive from the mining done here at the turn of the last century, brought around Cape Horn from Europe. It lights up at night in a whole rainbow of colors.

 This church was designed by Gustav Eiffel, originally built in Brussels, was purchased by the Company, disassembled, and shipped here, then rebuilt. Finished in 1897.

 Much of the wood in these buildings was imported from Europe at the end of the 1800's.

September 15th is the ACTUAL Mexican Independence Day. Victory over the Spanish, and last night the fiesta was just getting started after dinner, this picture was about 9 PM. The MC called for everybody to take their seats about 15 minutes after we shot this. We missed it! Up before sunrise, though....does that count?

The harbor was built of blocks of slag from the copper mines.

Punto Chivato

This was a beautiful area and my photos do not show it all. We were the only boat there. Hotel, as the restaurants in Concepcion Bay, were closed as it is off season.

Broad view of Punta Chivato

Hotel at Punta Chivato.

Many large homes along the shore.

Pelican watching at sunset.

Sunset over Punta Chivato.

One night here then on to Santa Rosalia!

Sunrise as we skedaddle on up the coast in case this storm is headed our way. We had nice calm conditions for the four hours to Santa Rosalia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back side of Chivato

Not a good look. This is next to the hotel in Punta Chivato.

Bahia Concepcion

Bahia de Conception was first visited by me, Beth, in the 70's. Mom and Dad, hold on to your hats for all the changes.....every cove has a personality. Some cater to RV's, some nice homes and some plywood homes with solar panels, water tanks on the roofs, etc.

El Burro Cove from afar.

El Burro Cove

 House on the left is inhabited by Geary who gives the Sea of Cortez and Mexican Riviera weather each morning on Sonrisa Net.

Geary's weather station

Unfortunately, he was not home when we stopped by to say 'hello'.

Posado Conception Cove

Posada Concepcion cove with lots of development.
 

Early morning dingy ride to check out Isla San Ramon near Santispac Cove.

Our surprise rain storm really dropped some rain. Cleaned the boat with no effort!

My combat sleeping position. Combats bugs and heat! Rocky doing his job.

When it is really hot, I don't have the heart to make Larry sleep under a mosquito net with me. It really cuts down on the breeze. So, I head outside and sleep on a cushion. Rocky usually ends up at my feet near the swim step or under the helm seat.

Conception Bay with mountains on the east side peninsula.

La Ramada and San Juanico Coves to Pulpito

The water was crystal clear here in La Ramada Cove unlike three weeks or so ago. Lovely.

 La Ramada Cove is on the north side of a peninsula and San Juanico is on the south side of the peninsula. Here are photos from the area in not any particular order. This has been our favorite stop and we plan to spend more time there on the way down.

The hike above San Juanico revealed wildflowers brought out by the rain.

Rocky had his beach walk then bath. He collects salt off the decks but keeps relatively clean. He looks happy. See the Kayak in the back tied up? If Larry jumps in the water Rocky will jump to the kayak to get closer to him and bark at him.

View from mountains above San Juanico. See red wildflower in bottom right corner. We have had lots of rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a cactus!

Sunrise from the San Juanico anchorage.

Looking north from that hilltop hike. That is Sun Baby on the left.

Heading north from San Juanico we went to Punto Pupito (Pulpit Point). (You can see Pulpito above in the distance and below.)

Punta Pulpito, great north wind anchorage, clear water but winds shifted to south so we headed north to Conception Bay

Close up of Punto Pulpito and its obsidian streak with arch to the right.

The backside of Pulpito is a slide!

Larger view of backside. Look at the textures. The geology is awesome.

Stay tuned for our three days in Bahia Conception and today's arrival to Punta Chivato. Tomorrow Santa Rosalia and hopefully a slip for a couple days for laundry, groceries, eating out and diesel. Hope you are all well. B, L and the Rock.

Loreto

Had a lovely morning in Loreto with our friend Gail. Shopped and sociallized on the boat out in front of her hotel.

Sun Baby off Loreto and Gail's hotel behind transome, "Hotel Quinta San Francisco".

There is Gail, blue shirt, white shorts, in front of her hotel RIGHT THERE on the malecon!

Thanks Gail!!

Juncalito Morning

Nice morning today. Leaving Juncalito for Loreto then La Ramada cove.

As we leave anchor, this caught my eye. How green this little community is after a ton of rain.

Here is a view to the south. A popular beach is part of this bay called Bahia Chenque. It is just north of Puerto Escondido.

La Paz to Juncalito, take two

La Paz is certainly the best place to get anything done for your boat.  It is also home to some BIG yachts and also some WEIRD boats. 

Here is the "weird" with a funny additions to bow and stern.

As entertaining as the other boats may seem.....we were glad to get back to our trek north.

Beth and Rocky enjoying the wide open spaces, calm seas and shade.

The mountains and hills are all green due to the immense amount of rain there has been in the last half of August.

Big storms come off the mainland and dump on Baja. We have also had influence of the hurricanes that have started in south mainland Mexico and spun up and out to the northwest. We hope they keep going out to the vast Pacific Ocean but are watching the weather regularly. 

Thunderstorms pop up pretty quickly and we decided to turn around in the San Jose Channel and head a few miles back to take cover in an anchorage called San Evaristo.  It is a fishing village of about 20 families. They have a school, desalination plant and a small, small store. It is off the beaten path to say the least. There is an American couple that lives there on their boat teaching English and doing other community minded activities. The town put in a mooring ball for them.

Back to the thunderstorms, yesterday we  slowed the boat down to let a storm pass in front of us. Watching the lightening come down and hit the ocean is quite daunting and gives you pause at our smallness in the large earthly scheme.

Also en route from Bahia Agua Verde to here in Juncalito-ville near Loreto, we were surrounded by dolphins on all side and in our bow wave for about ten minutes. We were sailing at about 4 knots in 6 knots of breeze and they were enjoying it as much as we were. 

Yesterday's catch was a Bonita. Poor thing. Seemed to play dead and skip across the water for the last 100 yards. Not a good ending for him.

Well guys, it is about 95 degrees and high humidity. Come on October.....make me happy......we are so close....We have some weather  coming in today and tomorrow. After that we are on to the north again.