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.

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...