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.

La Paz (again)

We are anchored in La Paz harbor. It took four days to get back down here but we have seen some cool wildlife along the way.

Beautiful layers of sediment.

On the way down we visited some old favorites and avoided the insect areas. Just anchoring in a different area of a cove gives you another beautiful perspective of it.

Los Gatos cove

Los Gatos cove looking south

Last night we were in Ensenada Grande, which was our second lagoon out of La Paz last time. I think it is my favorite.

Entrance to Ensenada Grande on Espiritu Santo Island

Anchor site.

Bird perch.

Cactus on cliff of Ensenada Grande.

Highlights of the trip for me were seeing about eight juvenile flying fish fly out of the water, then, unexpectedly, I saw the Dorado hunter behind them. He was just under the surface with his gorgeous turquoise back, big forehead and bright yellow belly. Wow, to see them on the hunt is spectacular. If he had not slowed down to almost a stop I would not have seen such detail.

Rocky's highlight was seeing dolphins. Motoring for three days, Rocky was getting bored with sleeping in the hulls. If the seas are level I let him come up and sit in the wind along the side of the boat. He was next to the gate area when dolphins came to the surface right under him. He let them have it and chased them to the bow. I picked him up and we watched them swim in the bow wave. He is forever sitting at the gate watching for his new friends the dolphins.

Larry's trip highlight, I am sure, was the 10 minutes I napped each day. :-) Peace and quiet at last.

Overall I think The Rock is pretty happy.

 I am wondering what questions you all might have. Rocky has adjusted to boat and Pet Loo. Larry loves the sailing, the views but is working really hard on all aspects of the boat---cleaning the bottom, watching the electricity production of solar and consumption. Our freezer is so big, we think that is the biggest consumer of power so we try to manage that appropriately. The water maker works like a charm and we have all the water we need with ability to always make more. Diesel is available in three areas---La Paz, Puerto Escondido and Santa Rosalia. Those are our tether points for petrol.

The temps here in August have been from 88 to 95 in the cabin. The water is about 87 at this point. It is a good time for us to head north until October. Humidity is up however when you are close to land and there has not been rain, those areas can be quite dry. Storms can brew up regularly off the mainland Mexico but mostly have not come our way. They dissipate as they cross the sea so far. A couple errands here in La Paz and we are off again.

The radio nets are very helpful with all the cruisers listening in, getting weather reports and answering other cruiser's questions. It is the telephone of the sea. 

We eat the provisions that I packed out of freezer or cans. This is augmented by fish we catch and fresh fruits and veggies found along the way. I have not made my Dominican rice and beans yet. Creates too much heat. In some areas, the steam attracts bees.

Send me any questions you might have by either email address. If I don't get the questions here in La Paz, I can check in in Juncatlito near Loreto and answer them.

Anchorage off sleepy village of Juncalito, south of Loreto.

Love y'all, Beth

Dolphins near Puerto Escondido

Dolphins were milling around for a day or two. Not sure what was happening. Birth of a young perhaps?? We did see a little baby in the pod.

Close up of the dolphins. They came up to us as if to herd us.

Larry and Rocky in a morning kayak. Notice the darker "mushroom" rock in the back. We are seeing these all over. Ocean wearing away geology.

Unidentified red-beaked bird in the morning hours looking for food.

Sunset from the same cove. This is a small sample of the incredible geological formations of the mountains along baja.

Our friend Gail's hotel right on the malecon of Loreto. Great location to the fishing pangas and cool breezes from the sea! it is called Hotel Quinta San Francisco. The state is improving the street....thus the bulldozer.

We spent a few days around Loreto. Larry really liked it-small and quaint. We had lunch with our friend Linda, visited the Mission, the Plaza and had a nice lunch.

Osprey on the hunt over Caleta (small bay or inlet or cove) San Juanico.

Entrance to Caleta San Juanico, just north of Loreto.

Above are some photos of the last few places we have anchored.

I told Larry that is seems we are traveling back in the dinosaur age. No one around--just incredible geological formations with the mountains, islands and sea. The fish jump everywhere; flying fish, rays, dorado....except they have not jumped onto the boat yet. This is truly the best place to cruise. So many coves to visit, each different in their own way.

Larry has too many interests....do I sail, do I troll for fish? As always, sail first.....if no wind, we fish by trolling with the engines.

Each time Larry sets out a line, takes a nap, then we have a strike. The nap is the necessary part--otherwise--no fish.

Rocky is doing well. He has learned to sleep with his mouth open to cool himself.

The shutter woke him and he opened his  eyes, but that is how he sleeps in the afternoons. Evenings we are outside and he cools right down. Really only hot from noon to about 5pm.

More later...

Lagoon Hopping!

Cruising the Sea of Cortez is quite a gift. Once we were away from the La Paz area we have been in more secluded anchorages with only one other boat perhaps in the cove. An occasional fisherman comes by in a panga to sell lobster.  The mountains are majestic and varied (Sierra de la Gigante); the water in the coves are warm, clear and variations of green and blue. Each day we choose to stay in our little lagoon or move on to the next one.

Out of La Paz we went to Ensenada Grande on the Isla Espiritu Santo, then San Francisco a large sheltered cove with a white sand beach.

Rocky kayaking in Ensenada Grande, Isla Espiritu Santo. He loves it!

Larry hiked to the top of the ridge to take the photo. Wow! Isla San Francisco!

View from our boat of beach and island.

Later to Cabeza de Mechudo which had aggressive bees (leave out no water---not even condensation on a beer can) and jejenes (no seeums).

This is Cabeza de Mechudo anchorage. There is a cactus forest! They look like saguaro but have a different name.

Our favorite so far has been a cove called Los Gatos. Los Gatos had it all. Three reefs to snorkel on, hikes along the water, white sand beach for Rocky, protection from wind yet a bit of breeze to cool us and few bugs.  ( this is where we also saw free range cows!)

View from boat of Los Gatos anchorage. Cool mountains, reefs, water and beach.

Continuing north, Agua Verde was gorgeous and we will be back to explore there again.

View from anchorage out to the sea. Looked to me like a Moai from Easter Island.

Currently we are en route to Loreto to meet Gail a family friend. So excited to see her.

Rocky is settling right in. We kayak him to shore once per day and he uses his Pet Loo once per day. The Pet Loo is still the dead sod from when we left San Diego but we feel it is better than a hot piece of plastic grass for his little feet. He does not like either of them but gets a treat from us if he uses it.  Yesterday, he went without prompting and I yelled out "potty treat" too early. He had finished his business but he had not started to walk back down the side of the boat to the cockpit. He looked at me through the window and ran straight into the front windows that are at his level from the front of the boat but walks right over the shelves and couch in the settee next to the mast. Surprised the heck out of us. It just isn't a pathway....but he made it one---fastest way to his treat!

Rocky has been "passing through the window to the left there. We have screened it off and he is NOT happy.

This morning Rocky watched the fish jump all around the boat. It is so cute to see the cocked head and the curiosity on his expression. One jumped too close and he jumped back! Trying to figure out if he should be barking or not. As the sun was just coming up and we are in a mooring field in Puerto Escondido, I discouraged him.

Among Rock's new favorite things are dingy and kayak rides, chasing fiddler crabs on the beach and standing watch and catching the breeze on the foredeck with any smells he can get. We have seen free range cows on shore, goats and even a coyote. Rock smells them all and is very interested. He is doing better with the heat then I thought he would. We keep him watered up and he seems to take all in stride.

Larry is pretty happy too. His first catch was seaweed. Then his second catch below that. The Dorado are the most gorgeous fish. Killing them seems a shame but it does cut down on the grocery shopping.

Woohoo! Dinner for six nights! ah, but it is so pretty!

Snorkeling highlights----I have been chased by five pufferfish off our swim step. They have been socialized by people feeding them I guess.....best was a school of light blue needlefish passing in front of me. Very pretty. For Larry, he was impressed by the "lobster condo-like" reefs at Los Gatos.

This is the biggest of the five Puffer fish that chased me around the boat. Awful cute but hey!

We have to get back to the boat before dark. Here are some more photos.

Larry at Los Gatos coming back from snorkeling.

Roca Blanca on way to Puerto Escondido

Rocky barking at the lure he just noticed.

Islas Islotes--a sea lion colony  to the north of Isla Partida and cool rock!

Ensenada Grande and its interesting geology.

We are off to more coves and will be delayed until we have internet access. Que les vayan bien!