Bahia San Francisquito is a large, predominantly NE facing bay with two main anchorages: one good for southerly winds and one good for west and northwesterly winds. We had a great time here doing lots of swimming, paddleboarding, and lobster eating!
Logbook – July 30, 2013 (Santa Rosalia to San Francisquito)
Passage Log Highlights
0445 Light wind on the nose. Furled genoa. Port engine on.
0506 Wind picked up. Unfurled genoa.
0724 Screamin
1515 Motor sailing – Port engine on
1730 Arrive Bahia San Francisquito
Daily Notes
Beautiful sunset underway. Rollercoaster at the port bow.
Caught 2 dorados – Tim jumped in to cool off
Boys fun in the water upon arrival
Santa Rosalia to Bahia San FrancisquitoFishing on passage to San FrancisquitoDorado!So happy to catch a DoradoTim getting to use his new fish cleaning station
Email to family and friends dated July 30, 2013
Subject: Left Santa Rosalia last night
We made it off the dock about 10pm last night. We still haven’t stowed all the loot we brought back from San Diego, but we were very ready to be out of the marina. The boys have caught 2 Dorado (Mahi Mahi) today and Tim is using his new fish cleaning station now so the filets will be ready to grill up when we anchor. We are heading to Bahia San Fransiquito and the boys are really looking forward to being able to swim and use the new paddleboards. We likely won’t have cell service for months but should have wifi off and on once we get to the Bay of LA. We had a great time in SD, and it was so good to see everyone.
Love you all,
-D.
The geography of San Francisquito. Upon arrival we anchored the west side of the bay.There was still a little bit of daylight left when we arrived so the boys were in the water right away with Kyle and Joel.
Logbook – July 31, 2013 (San Francisquito)
Daily Notes
Lobsters in the morning, cabrilla in the afternoon
No school – Boys played w/ LC boys all day
D – first paddle board
Seafood fest on Exodus w/ LC, Dazzler, Chara
Lobster jackpot!Impressive lobsterThe whole gang on Exodus for a seafood feastCruising kids read as well as fish and swimA little too much sun and rum?A grill full of lobsterA grill full of lobster
Logbook – August 1, 2013 (San Francisquito)
Daily Notes
Moved to other side of bay due to excessive swell from ESE winds. Followed LC and Dazzler here.
T & boys lunch on LC – D paddle board
LC boys here for dinner
Lost of mosquito bites in this anchorage. Alex had 19 on his back yesterday
The wind shifted so we moved to the other side of the bay. The blue dot is our new anchor locationThe surfboard paddle board game, of courseFaceoff while Brenden poses for the cameraD out for a paddleGoing to visit LCKyle and Joel paddle upwind to get home
Logbook – August 2, 2013 (San Francisquito)
Daily Notes
Moved to other side of bay due to excessive swell from ESE winds. Followed LC and Dazzler here.
T & boys lunch on LC – D paddle board
LC boys here for dinner
Lost of mosquito bites in this anchorage. Alex had 19 on his back yesterday
Lady Carolina departing San Francisquito on the morning of August 3
We made a whirlwind trip to San Diego in order to renew our tourist visas and buy a TON of stuff. There were no rental cars in Santa Rosalia so Tim took the bus down to Loreto and came back with a mini-van. We drove all the way to San Diego in one day and then had three wonderful days with friends and family amongst all of the errands. It was a difficult trip, but it was so worth it.
We left in the wee hours of the morning while it was still darkWe took the inReach with us on the drive from Santa Rosalia to San Diego
There’s nothing in the logbook about this, but I distinctly remember getting hassled at a checkpoint near Ensenada where they searched our car and also my purse and found that I had a couple thousand dollars worth of pesos and they wanted to know why. In my very broken Spanish I tried to explain that our boat is in Santa Rosalia and we were preparing to sail up to Bahia de Los Angeles for the summer where there are no ATMs so I had taken a bunch of cash for food, etc. Over and over he asked me the same thing and over and over I tried to explain. I’m not sure if he ever actually understood more or if he just gave up, I’m just happy he didn’t ask for a bribe.
We had our list ready (include stuff for Lady Carolina)New wetsuitsGood morning AndrewBrenden has missed the feather boaCousins at the counter,Fun in the poolFun in the poolFun in the poolPapa timeRelaxing on the deckAlex and Cammy (Alex started learning how to make things with duck tape)Ouch sunburnLike grandma like grandsonWith Gramma NayMore fun in the poolMore fun in the poolMore fun in the poolLego timePapa time in the poolFamily portraitGetting sillyHappy mommaHappy brothersAfter a long few days of playingSaying good-bye to Cammy and EthanA big hug good-byeOne last ice cream bar on the morning of departure
We drove back to Santa Rosalia on July 27 and rushed around for two days in order to get off the dock as soon as we could. I had done my research regarding customs and had put everything in a spreadsheet and calculated what I thought we would owe at the border. When we stopped and they opened the van and saw how packed it was and I showed them my spreadsheet I think we overwhelmed them and they just waved us on.
In Santa Rosalia we got a lot of boat chores done, but we also took some time to explore the town a bit.
Santa Rosalía is a town located in the Mulegé Municipality of northern Baja California Sur, Mexico. It is on the Gulf of California coast of the Baja California Peninsula. As of 2015, the town had a population of 14,160 inhabitants.It was only about a two and half hour passage from Isla San Marcos to Santa Rosalia, and we sailed most of the way
Logbook – July 16, 2013 (Sweet Pea Cove to Santa Rosalia)
Passage Log Highlights
0955 Depart Sweet Pea Cove
1037 Genniker only
1226 Arrive Santa Rosalia Marina Fonatur
Daily Notes
Passage to Santa Rosalia – parked at the end slip at Fonatur Marina
Afternoon of school & wifi
Dinner w/ LC and Dazzler @ air-conditioned Chinese restaurant
(Edit: no mention of the food at the restaurant only that it was airconditioned. That’s because it was HOT!)
The town of Santa Rosalia and its small harborHe was not granted permission to come aboardFirst time at the dock since we left San DiegoWalking to the Chinese restaurant looking north towards the Santa Rosalia harborDinner at the *air conditioned* Chinese restaurant with Lady Carolina and DazzlerBrenden studied the menuTim thought it was hilarious that I was holding my beer while eating
Facebook Post July 16, 2013
We are at the marina in Santa Rosalia. Plugged into shore power for the first time in 4.5 months. Time to turn on the AC… oh yeah, we don’t have one of those.
Logbook – July 17, 2013 (Santa Rosalia)
Daily Notes
T & Steve went w/ Edgar to all the h/w stores
Loss of shore power after power outage. Discovered the breaker in Alex’s room IS connected
D & Carolina & boys scouted the town
Hot dogs from the cart w/ LC and Dazzler, drinks at el Muelle, grocery store
Boys sleepover on the net
Beachfront propertyA few of the harborHeading to town, Alex looks thrilled doesn’t he?Close up with the trainA French company owned the copper mining operation in Santa Rosalia in the late 1800s, so there is still a bit of French influence observable. This church is constructed of steel and was designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel).The best tortilleria in townMmmmm…. street hot dog vendor
Logbook – July 18, 2013 (Santa Rosalia)
Daily Notes
T fixed the stackpack
Fish tacos on Exodus w/ LC & Dazzler
(Edit: “Stackpack” is the canvas covering that the main sail is stored in.)
Logbook – July 19, 2013 (Santa Rosalia)
Daily Notes
Filled propane tanks
Three backpack trips to town, new flip-flops for Alex
Boys did boat chores – waxed dinghy, scrubbed deck, cleaned LC lines
(Edit: The backpack trips to town were for provisions.)
The boys are not happy about their boat choresAnother view of the Eiffel Church (It’s actually called Iglesia Santa Barbara de Santa Rosalia)
Logbook – July 20, 2013 (Santa Rosalia)
Daily Notes
Laundry, alcohol run
Dinner (Pizza) at El Muelle
Edit: I bought all the Bacardi Anejo in town and Steve was not pleased.
Pelicans acted like the owned the placeExodus at the dockMarina lifeMarina lifeMexican Navy at the fuel dockExodus at the dockBrenden arranged the alcohol purchase into a bar graphThere was a great ice cream shop in townThe plaque at the Eiffel ChurchDinner at El Muelle with Steve and CarolinaThe kids’ tableWe weighed the pros and cons and decided to GO NOW on a road trip to San Diego in order to renew our tourist visas.
Santa Rosalia
Santa Rosalia is a small-town sort of wedged in a ravine with 3 main streets heading east up from the coast. I enjoyed Santa Rosalia much more than La Paz or Loreto, but not because it was necessarily a more enjoyable town in general. It was just that I had many more opportunities to enjoy it. Since we were at a marina, getting to town was as easy as stepping off the boat with no wet bouncy dinghy ride required. Plus, the town was quite close to the marina, so it was really just a short walk, although it did seem a lot longer in the blistering heat. We had dinner out several times, and although it wasn’t gourmet, we did enjoy the evenings in air-conditioned establishments. We did two big group dinners at a Chinese restaurant about a quarter-mile away from the marina. I’ve never really been a huge Chinese food fan, but these were nice evenings out. I really enjoyed a pizza place called El Muelle (The Dock) since we so rarely have pizza these days (although Lady Carolina has made excellent pizza on the boat a couple times). El Muelle makes a pizza called El Metro (The meter) which, you guessed it, is a meter-long pizza. They let you put up to 4 different sections of toppings, so everyone was happy. Like every restaurant we’ve ever been to outside the U.S., service was slow, but when the beer and wine are flowing and the kids are playing cards, it’s all good. I guess it’s just in the U.S. we have no idea how to slow down. In addition to the air-conditioned restaurants, I’m not ashamed to admit that we visited a couple street hot dog vendors. I love hot dogs with lots of toppings, but I did draw the line at nacho cheese. For some reason I can eat a hot dog, no problem, but nacho cheese just grosses me out. Our favorite place, by far, was the Splash ice cream shop. There was one streak where I went there three days in a row. They had rich and creamy ice cream (like Cold Stone) and waffle bowls and everything.
Provisioning was pretty easy just using my hiking backpack. In fact, one day I made a total of four trips into town. The people there were very friendly. You hardly passed anyone without them saying, “hola,” or “buenas tardes.” There was a fantastic bakery, although I never could figure out how to order non-whole wheat baguettes. I guess they figure all the gringos like their whole wheat. The Tortilleria in town was also excellent, in fact, I am really going to miss fresh-made tortillas when we leave Mexico. We got to know the tiendas in town by the color of their storefronts. The most popular were the “green store” and the “purple store.” In fact, they became the prominent landmarks, so if you wanted to tell someone where something was, it was always so many blocks from the green store.
We had fun in Santa Rosalia, but when it was time to go, we were dying to get back out to an anchorage with a little more space between boats and the ability to swim again
Isla San Marcos is an island roughly midway up the coast of Baja near the town of Santa Rosalia. We enjoyed 5 fun days there mostly anchored up at the north end of the island at an anchorage called Sweet Pea Cove. We also made a couple day trips to the town on the island where their economy is driven by gypsum mining. We had a great visit to the town and gypsum mine, and the hospitality of the Director of the Mine was outstanding.
The location of Isla San Marcos
Logbook – July 11, 2013 (Punta Chivato North to Isla San Marcos)
Passage log highlights
0820 Depart Punta Chivato North
1047 Arrive Isla San Marcos Gypsum town
1638 Depart
1723 Arrive Sweet Pea Cove
Daily Notes
Explore the town at gypsum mine on Isla San Marcos
Tim gets a ride on 4-wheeler from 2 kids
Move up to Sweet Pea Cove
Tim, Steve, Dan (Dazzler) go fishing, boys play on Lady Carolina
D, Carolina, Kimberly (Dazzler) hang out on Exodus
Passage from Punta Chivato to Isla San Marcos
We anchored off the village whose economy is totally driven by gypsum mining
The gypsum dust hung in the air
Email to family and friends dated July 11, 2013
Subject: Isla San Marcos
We are stopped for the day on Isla San Marcos where there is a gypsum mine and a little village. We went ashore and met some kids who drove Tim around on a 4 wheeler showing him the area. We gave the boy, who’s 11 yrs old, a soccer ball and tomorrow we will try to take him some baseball equipment. I got to practice some Spanish on the kids, which was fun. We also met the manager of the mine and he is going to give us a tour tomorrow at 10am, so we are going to find a place a little further North on the island to anchor for the night. I told the boys it can be field trip day, so no other school lessons (yay mom!), but they have to demonstrate to me that they learn something on the tour (boo, mom!) We may have intermittent wifi, but if so, it’s from someone’s house, so we won’t want to be using a lot of their bandwidth, so no mass facebook photo uploads or facetime.
-D.
We spent the afternoon exploring the village
A few pangas with a gypsum mine backdrop
Three boys ready to play
Heading into the village
The main street
They found some shade
The church in the middle of town
Icons to venerate
The cemetery
The cemetery
Another view of the church
Still exploring
The hospital
Heading back to the dinghys
It was just a day stop at the village and we anchored up at Sweet Pea Cove for the night
D – Snorkel w/ Brenden – poor visibility, nothing special
Kyle & Joel here for dinner. Sunset dinghy surfing.
The whole gang, ready for a tour of the mine
Family photo
Joel, Brenden, Alex, Kyle
A view of the town
Riding in the back of a pickup truck
On the tour
On the tour
Alex in the truck
Brenden in the truck
A view back out to the water
Two boys on the tour
A view back out to the water
On the tour
After the tour, we found the gym
Brenden admires his shot
Sunset back at Sweet Pea Cove
Logbook – July 13, 2013 (Isla San Marcos)
Daily Notes
Tim tried to fix the solar array supports
A&B spent the afternoon & evening at Lady Carolina – games, dinner, skurfing, games
D&T – surf & turf for dinner
Brenden on the boogie board
Brenden on the boogie board
Brenden on the boogie board – definitely having fun!
Alex gets a turn
Sunset skurfing
Email to my mom dated July 13, 2013
Hi, yeah, we are still with Lady Carolina. The kids get along and we find ourselves compatible with Steve and Carolina too. They are also both engineers and have similar parenting philosophies (not too strict, not too lenient). We have found a few other kid boats whose parenting styles are minimalist, to say the least. So, of all the kid boats we’ve been with we think we lucked out with the one that is staying all summer. I just realized our visas expire sept 1, not aug 1, so we have a little more time to figure out a plan if we can’t renew in Santa Rosalia. The boys are hoping we have to come back to the US. I’m thinking if we don’t end up having to come back for our visas that I will bring the boys to Danna’s wedding. They miss everyone so much!
Surf & Turf for dinner
Logbook – July 14, 2013 (Isla San Marcos)
Daily Notes
Morning manta ray show
D/T snorkel – saw a golden grouper
A/B – built a chess set out of legos
T – boat bottom cleaning
D/T – dinghy ride around the anchorage visiting other boat
Cocktails on Exodus w/ Lady Carolina, Dazzler, Code Blue, Regardless, Harmony Anacortes, Interabang.
Punta Chivato is a prominent point on the very north side of Bahia Concepcion. We stayed only one night, so it was really not much more than a rest stop for us on our way to Isla San Marcos. But we did get quite a few good passage and sunset photos.
Logbook – July 10, 2013 (Santo Domingo to Punta Chivato North)
Passage log highlights
1151 Depart Santo Domingo
1258 Main + Gennaker. No engines.
1608 Arrive Punta Chivato North
Daily Notes
Nice sail, headed for Isla San Marcos, but the wind died so we stopped at the north side of Punta Chivato
We were headed to Isla San Marcos, but since the wind died, we stopped for the night on the north side of Punta Chivato. It was a 5 hour, 7 min passage mostly under sail.
Exodus under sail with the Gennaker and Main
Tim at the helm
Tim reeling something in (there is no record of a fish caught in the logbook so either it got away or catching fish was so routine I didn’t record it.)
Santo Domingo is an anchorage at the north end of Bahia Concepcion. It was cooler, and the highlights had to be clams and dorado!
Logbook – July 7, 2013 (Playa Ventura to Santo Domingo)
Passage log highlights
1054 Depart Playa Ventura
1158 Arrive Playa Santa Barbara
1350 Depart Playa Santa Barbara
1407 Genniker + SB engine
1558 Arrive Santo Dominga
Daily Notes
🙂 Safe passage drink/arrival cocktail becoming a bit of a joke when passages are only 1-2 hrs
Disappointing dive on sunken sailboat @ Playa Santa Barbara
Passage to Santo Domingo
T & Boys spearfish – D the bee killer
Nightly Chubasco report from San Carlos
It was an uneventful motorsail from Playa Ventura up to Santo Domingo, with a pitstop along the way at Play Santa Barbara to snorkel on a sunken sailboat.
When we arrived at Santo Domingo T and the Boys went on a spearfishing excursion
Sunset at Santo Domingo
Lady Carolina in the sunset
Logbook – July 8, 2013 (Santo Domingo to Secret Anchorage)
Passage log highlights
1731 Depart Santo Domingo
1809 Arrive Secret Anchorage
Daily notes
Beamswell all night
Bees, bees, bees
2nd time as Amigo net controller, no issues
T & Boys spearfishing. Brenden got a “ginormous” fish
Made my own yogurt for the first time
Moved to secret anchorage to be with LC. Clam and pasta dinner on Exodus
Email to family and friends dated July 8, 2013
Subject: Santo Domingo
We moved up to Santo Domingo yesterday, which is a small bay at the north end of Bahia Concepcion. I can pick up a cell signal from Mulege, but no wifi/internet. The bees here are out of control, so we will be moving soon. The boys are out spearfishing on the north point so when they get back we will move. It’s been really hot, so we are spending most of our time in the water. We took most of last week off from school and we are going to try to get back into it today, but we’ll see. It’s hard to concentrate when it’s so hot.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
It was a bit rolly at Santo Domingo so we took the tip of another cruiser and moved down to their “secret anchorage” for a night
Yummy clam dinner
Yummy clam dinner
Logbook – July 9, 2013 (Secret Anchorage to Santo Domingo)
Passage log highlights
0812 Depart secret anchorage
0923 Arrive day anchorage for fishing
1831 depart
1857 Arrive Santo Domingo
Daily notes
Anchored off the point N of Santo Domingo for fishing
T & Steve fished from dinghy. Dorado!!!
All the boys spearfished
Returned to Santo Domingo
Dinner on Exodus. Carolina made clam chowder. Dorado!!!
When we moved back up to Santo Domingo we anchored to the north for the day for some fishing
Tim and Steve got a Dorado!
They were pretty pleased
Lady Carolina at Santo Domingo
Email to family and friends dated July 10, 2013
Subject: Still at Santo Domingo
The cell signal has been weak, so no phone calls. We should be heading towards Santa Rosalia soon and will hopefully have wifi there. It’s been a little cooler the past 2 days (below 90) so that has been nice. Tim and Steve (from Lady Carolina) caught a Dorado (Mahi Mahi) yesterday and Carolina made Clam Chowder so we had another excellent fresh-caught dinner last night. I’m going to download weather now, so that will dictate our schedule heading North.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
We ended up leaving later that morning, so I guess the weather looked good. These next few photos are from my trip ashore at Santo Domingo before we left.
I went ashore to explore at Santo Domingo
Exodus and Lady Carolina at anchor at Santo Domingo
On shore at Santo Domingo
On shore at Santo Domingo
Brenden was stung by a bee on the bottom of his foot
Our primary mission at Bahia Concepcion was going to the 4th of July Cruisers party at El Burro Cove. It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t take any photos! Here are some of the other highlights, though.
Bahia Concepcion is a large north-facing bay almost halfway up the Baja Peninsula.
Logbook – July 2, 2013 (San Nicolas to Bahia Concepcion)
Passage Log Highlights
0743 Depart Bahia San Nicolas
0832 Main + SB Engine
1201 Spinnaker. No Engines
(No time logged) Arrive Playa El Burro
(No time logged) Moved to Playa Coyote
(Edit: when we arrived at Playa El Burro we crammed our way into the front of the anchorage but it was shallow and crowded and I was uncomfortable. So, we moved. And Lady Carolina moved with us and I was grateful for our friends.)
It was a motorsail north from Bahia San Nicolas but once we rounded the point we flew the spinnaker down into Bahia Concepcion
The 4th of July Party was at Playa El Burro but it was a pretty crowded anchorage so we moved down to Playa Coyote
Logbook – July 3, 2013 (Playa Coyote)
Daily Notes
D & Carolina trip to both tiendas
Crab appetizer feast on Exodus w/ Lady Carolina and Chara
Floating under Exodus
Sleepover on the net
Email to family and friends dated July 3, 2013
Subject: It’s HOT!!!
Hey, we made it up to Bahia Concepcion for the cruisers 4th of July party tomorrow. The air and water temp are both about 10 deg warmer here, in fact the boys were still in the water swimming last night at 9:30 at night and Tim and Alex slept outside on the foredeck trampoline. The boys dove for more clams so we are going to have an afternoon clam snack this afternoon and then a sleepover tonight with the kids from Lady Carolina.
Happy July everyone. Enjoy your moderate climate and/or your air conditioners!
-D.
Super Joel
We used a recipe from Interabang
It turned out great, and why yes, that IS a bottle of La Crema in the background
When the air temp was over 100 and the water temp was over 90, the water hammocks were KEY
Bob and Steve in the shade under Exodus. (This is the first time we met Bob from Chara. He and Joyce will be regulars in our story… all the way to New Zealand and Fiji.)
Looking out into Bahia Concepcion
A game of Uno on the net
Logbook – July 4, 2013 (Playa Coyote)
Daily Notes
Pancakes for breakfast, vinegarette potato salad for the pot luck
Met interabang, True Companion, Dad’s Dream, Dazzler, Beyond Reason, Jake, Luna Sea II, Heavy Metal
Boys tried to sit in Gary’s chair
Fireworks
Fire Twirler
Logbook – July 5, 2013 (Playa Coyote)
Daily Notes
T took all 4 boys to Isla Coyote to snorkel & spearfish
T & Steve went diving w/ Heavy Metal family. Heavy Metal boys (Hunter & Zion) came ver to LC & Exodus to play
Potluck, bonfire, & marshmallow roasting on Isla Coyote w/ Heavy Metal, Destiny, Odyssey, Permanently Temporary, & Escape
Email to family and friends dated July 5, 2013
Subject: 4th of July
Hi, we had a great time at the 4th of July party yesterday. We met another kid boat with 2 more boys on board, 10 and 7 yrs old, and Brenden enjoyed being the ring leader of the younger kids. We met a bunch of boats we’ve been talking to on the radio, so that was a lot of fun. We are going to hang out here in Bahia Concepcion for another week or 10 days before heading up to Santa Rosalia to see if we can get our tourist visas renewed at the immigration office there. It is really hot here (highest temp I’ve seen is 100 deg!) so we may leave earlier if we can’t bear it.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – July 6, 2013 (Playa Coyote to Playa Ventura)
Passage Log Highlights
1250 Depart Playa Coyote
1447 Arrive Playa Ventura near Isla Requeson
Daily Notes
Kids dropped garbage on Gary’s front porch
I really need to give up coffee – it’s way too hot!
Spinnaker run down to Isla Requeson. Arrival cocktail & played Hearts w/ boys.
Late lunch at the restaurant- Lady Carolina, Sea Note, True Blue V, Worth Waiting For, Dad’s Dream, Viva. Boys swam home.
Drinks (Caesars) & swimming with LC on Exodus.
We moved down the Playa Ventura near Isla Requeson
Exodus and Lady Carolina at anchor at Playa Ventura
At the restaurant at Playa Ventura
At the restaurant at Playa Ventura (What is Brenden doing?)
At the restaurant at Playa Ventura
At the restaurant at Playa Ventura
Shenanigans in the water
Shenanigans in the water
Tim and Brenden ready to jump
Tim playing with the boys
Tim and Joel
Joel and Alex
Logbook – July 7, 2013 (Playa Ventura to Santo Domingo)
Daily Notes
Pink floaty washed ashore during the night
Brenden had to go and retrieve the pink floaty which kept wandering away from the boat
Bahia San Nicolas was mostly just a rest stop for us. However, the boys went for a very, very, very, very long day excursion, which had Carolina and I worried, but since they came back with lobsters, all was forgiven. Mostly.
Logbook – June 30, 2013 (San Juanico to Bahia San Nicolas)
Passage Log Highlights
(No time logged) Depart San Juanico
1507 Main & Gennaker, no engines
1710 Arrive Bahia San Nicolas, scope = 132/19 = 6.9
A fast day sail under main and gennaker from San Juanico to Bahia San Nicolas
Exodus on passage from San Juanico to Bahia San Nicolas. Eighteen knots from the SE makes for a fast day sail.
Exodus on passage from San Juanico to Bahia San Nicolas.
Lady Carolina on passage from San Juanico to Bahia San Nicolas
Mom and Alex minding the helm
The Geography of Bahia San Nicolas (Spoiler alert: on our way back south we will stay on the south side of Punta Pulpito which is a very striking geologic feature)
Boys – 6 hr excursion for fish & lobster down to Saquicismunde cove
Fish & Lobster feast w/ Lady Carolina on Exodus
Email to family and friends dated July 1, 2013
Subject: Hi!
We are hanging out at Bahia San Nicolas just North of San Juanico. The boys are all out spearfishing, so I’ve had the morning to myself. Our sail yesterday was fantastic, 25 kts from the SE. When we got here the boys were reeling in the fishing poles and Alex found a shirt on the end of his line. Then he said, “hey, it has one of our clothes pins on it!” It was Tim’s rash guard that must have blown off and we happened to recover it on the fishing line. Crazy. I had my first morning as net controller and made it a little bit interesting when I actually switched frequencies in the middle of the weather report. I realized it and got back on track, but it was a little embarrassing. Steve on Lady Carolina told me he did the exact same thing his first time, so I guess it’s a kid boat thing.
Anyway, we will probably leave here tomorrow or Wed to be up at Bahia Concepcion for the 4th. Hope you are all having a great summer so far!
Love,
-D.
After leaving Bahia Marquer we caught back up with Lady Carolina at Nopolo (and we were pretty much inseparable for the next year!)
We motored across the channel from Bahia Marquer to Nopolo on June 23. We stayed at Nopolo for four days and then hit Loreto for one final provisioning and then headed back to Isla Coronados. After that, we spent a few final days at San Juanico before our next adventure into new territory began.
Logbook – June 23, 2013 (Bahia Marquer to Nopolo)
Passage Log Highlights
0649 Depart Bahia Marquer
0815 Arrive Nopolo
Daily Notes
Passage across the channel – D & Alex raised and lowered anchor
Taxi (from Nopolo) with Lady Carolina to Loreto to Farmers Mkt. Walk to El Pescador. Taxi back.
Boys to Lady Carolina for Monopoly. Kyle’s first exam on Exodus.
Boys stay for dinner. D/T dinner on shore at resort.
(Edit: This was our first time doing an anchor operation without Tim. Raising anchor is pretty straightforward. Dropping anchor is more difficult. Actually, it’s not dropping the anchor that’s difficult, it’s picking the spot to anchor. In this case, we had our last anchor waypoint so we just picked that spot again and dropped anchor with no issues.)
Dinner on shore at the resort
Logbook – June 24, 2013 (Nopolo)
Daily Notes
(Tim’s handwriting) Happy Anniversary!
Ran watermaker – 5 hrs
boys to Lady Carolina after school – Kyle’s 2nd exam on Exodus.
T&Steve summing around the point
Alex migraine 😦
Logbook – June 25, 2013 (Nopolo)
Daily Notes
Filled both propane tanks
D-morning run on the beach. T-propane run in dinghy w/ Steve
Boys played w/ Joel on Exodus. Kyle’s 3rd exam on Lady Carolina
T& STeve fixed spear gun rubber bands
D & boys – Mille Bornes & Uno
A serious boat project
Alex, Joel, and Brenden hanging out in Alex’s room
Logbook – June 26, 2013 (Nopolo)
Daily Notes
Found another SSB noise source. (Previously, I wasn’t actually turning off the inverter, just cutting off power to the devices. There is a separate on/off switch for the inverter itself)
Rental car w/ Lady Carolina to Loreto – tortilleria, Ferre Mar, Grain Store, El Pescador
Pizza at the resort – T, Steve, Cyle made 2nd run to Loreto for alcohol
Trekking around Loreto again
We were in the market for a second handheld VHF radio. We chose the one on the left.
Logbook – June 27, 2013 (Nopolo to Loreto to Isla Coronados)
Passage Log Highlights
0900 Depart Nopolo
1020 Arrive Loreto
1735 Depart Loreto
1900 Arrive Coronados
Daily Notes
Provisioning & fuel in Loreto
Kyle’s 4th test
No school for the boys
(Edit: Either my memory is really bad or there are some very important things missing from the logbook this day. First of all, Tim drove the rental car from Nopolo to Loreto, so the boys and I transited Exodus without Tim even being on board! Second, when we were anchored off of Loreto, Lady Carolina picked up a VHF transmission from Isla Cornados from someone who needed help. It was Bob from Chara, and he had gone hiking up the volcano and gotten lost and run out of water. Steve and Kyle went to rescue him, and I can’t remember if anyone from the Exodus crew helped, but I do remember that Carolina consumed a fair amount of red wine that night! We hadn’t met Bob yet, but of course, we soon will.)
A glance back at Nopolo
Logbook – June 28, 2013 (Isla Coronados)
Daily Notes
Thunder, lightning, rain & wind in the middle of the night. Calm now.
Kyle’s 5th & final exam – T/Boys/Joel snorkel excursion
Dinghy surfing w/ LC at sunset
Chilaquiles for dinner yum’1
Movie night on Exodus – Eragon
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco, but we didn’t realize it was a dreaded Chubasco at the time.)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Lightening display in the middle of the night at Isla Coronados (Our first Chubasco)
Sunset skurfing with Lady Carolina
Logbook – June 29, 2013 (Isla Coronados to San Juanico)
Passage Log Highlights
1010 Depart Isla Coronados
1107 Main + Genniker, no engines
1424 Arrive San Juanico
Daily Notes
Passage to San Juanico. Our favorite little cove.
Spearfishing & fish tacos on Exodus w/ Lady Carolina.
Heading out of the anchorage at Isla Coronados
Back in our favorite spot at San Juanico
Email to family and friends dated June 30, 2013
Subject: San Juanico
We are back up at San Juanico with no cell service or internet. G&M, we are anchored in the same spot as when you guys were here. The boys were in the water with spear poles almost immediately after dropping anchor. Lady Carolina is with us and we are cruising together up to the 4th of July party. They have a 13 year old and I’ve been spending most of the past week administering his final exams (school policy does not allow the parents to do it). Their youngest son is quite a talker, Amy, he reminds me of E. Always at the ready with an interesting factoid.
G&M, have fun in Tennesse!
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Back at San Juanico
Logbook – June 30, 2013 (San Juanico to Bahia San Nicolas)
Daily Notes
Tim, Alex, Steve, Kyle spearfished out at the rock. No joy. Snorkeling near the boat after
We briefly separated from Lady Carolina to visit Marquer for a couple nights. I had heard from Peggy on SV Interlude on one of the nets that this is one of their favorite places, so I didn’t want to miss it. We enjoyed our family time here.
Logbook – June 21, 2103 (Bahia Candeleros to Puerto Escondido to Bahia Marquer)
Passage Log Highlights
1115 Depart Candeleros
1303 Arrive Puerto Escondido
1805 Depart Puerto Escondido
1934 Arrive Bahia Marquer
Daily Notes
Passage to Puerto Escondido. 4 loads laundry (getting better!) Both stores.
Passage to Bahia MArquer – boys in theater as soon as engines go off. Only boat in the anchorage.
Steamed clams for dinner.
beautiful, cool, night.
We made a pit stop at Puerto Escondido on our way to Bahia Marquer. We departed Bahia Candeleros at 1115 and even sailed with no engines on the way. We arrived at Puerto Escondido at 1303 and spent the afternoon doing laundry and provisioning. Finally, we departed PE at 1805 and motored up to Bahia Marquer and arrived at 1934.
We stopped at Puerto Escondido other way to Bahia Marquer.
The fishing boats at Puerto Escondido
Exodus at anchor at Puerto Escondido
The geography of Bahia Marquier, a NW facing bay on Isla Carmen
I never get tired of the different land formations here
Bahia Marquer on Isla Carmen
Backward jumping?
Yeah!
Email to family and friends dated July 21, 2013
Subject: Bahia Marquer
We have this nice little anchorage all to ourselves tonight. We left Candeleros this morning and spend most of the day in Puerto Escondido. We don’t have wifi here, but I do have a faint cell signal so I can get texts. We plan to be back in Nopolo with wifi Sunday.
The boys dove for clams a couple days ago and we had an awesome clam dinner with one of the other families last night.
-D.
Logbook – June 22, 2013 (Bahia Marquer)
Daily Notes
Large bee scouting party in the morning
Dad & B dinghy fishing, Alex & Mom school catch up
Bonfire & marshmallow roasting. Rocky beach, B & Mom walked
Seagulls (“puppies”) follow A&B to the beach
(Edit: There were two seagulls, one fat and one skinny, that staked out their territory behind our boat. They would chase away any other seagull who came near. When the boys went ashore they went too, and then they would follow them around. We nicknamed them “The Puppies.”)
Looking out of the bay to west with the Baja peninsula in the background. That’s the boys out fishing in the dinghy.
A walk along the beach at sunset
Exodus at anchor at Bahia Marquer
Exodus at anchor at Bahia Marquer
Brenden’s muscle man silhouette
Brenden wanted this photo with the moon resting on the cliff
Gresham Family Exodus 