on the move again

We left La Paz May 16, headed north to San Carlos in the Sea of Cortez. Exploring the islands along the way will be our primary agenda.

Bahia Agua Verde was "home" until early on May 20th, when we set off under clear, sunny skies, with 82-degree air temperature, and light winds from shore. It was a cozy little bay with some good snorkeling. The variety of fish and sea life exceeded our expectations, though the water was a bit murky. Beautiful King Angel fish…hundreds of sergeant majors, cabrillos, wrasses, delicate sea fans and sponges, even a couple of chocolate-chip starfish.

Out in the channel, the opportunity again presented itself and we faced anew the challenge of successfully photographing passing dolphins…only to fail miserably. As soon as we get the camera out, they go away, so we’ve decided to just enjoy their antics, though I’m sure we’ll try again to get them on film.







The wind picked up locally as we went north, and we had 35 knots trying to sail behind Isla Cosme in search of a hot springs. There’s a reef back there and we crossed a shallow patch (went from 95 feet depth to 20 feet in an instant), so, given the winds and our lack of familiarity with the area, we reversed direction, out into the channel and continued north.

Later in the afternoon, after an aborted attempt to anchor in Honeymoon Bay on Isla Danzante (again, unsettling winds and shallow shelves that left us little room to swing), we crossed over to Puerto Escondido on the peninsula. The anchor windlass is giving us trouble, too. It was impossible for me to grind it in, making an anchorage where we might need to move quickly out of the question. It was a full day of not having much success at whatever we tried!