Category: Photo Log

San Juanico

May 22-26, 2013

This was one of our favorite anchorages so far (and we will be revisiting). It had fantastic snorkeling and a nice, long, soft yet hardpacked sand beach for running. Maybe Grandma and Granpa being with us made it fun too! San Juanico is a large bay with several spots to anchor. We chose the southernmost cove since the prevailing winds were from the SW. Someone actually made the comment that we were crazy to anchor in that tight, but I mean, I’m pretty conservative and I didn’t think there was any issue.

Logbook – May 22, 2013 (Isla Coronados to San Juanico)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1305 Depart Isla Coronados
- 1700 Arrive San Juanico

Daily Notes

- Passage to San Juanico
- T, Gary, AG – Spearfishing, M-Swimming, D-hiking/kayaking
- Fresh fish for dinner

(Edit: That night Alex did. not. want. to. quit. He finally had to because the sun went down. But he wasn’t deterred, the next day he was in the water.)

Isla Coronados to San Juanico — We departed Isla Coronados at 13:05 and arrived at San Juanico at 17:00, motor-sailing the whole way

San Juanico 2 — Our tight little anchorage

Looking west. That’s the direction of the “super secret spearfishing spot”

Looking south towards the small beach at the head of our anchorage to the cove just on the other side.

This is a hog fish, and we didn’t catch any more of these. Not too tasty.

Brenden (and Alex) enjoyed the brain teaser books Grandma brought.

Logbook – May 23, 2013 (San Juanico)

Daily Notes

- Morning snorkel. Awesome.
- Spearfishing – Alex got his first kill (6 in red snapper?)
- Potluck/bocce ball on the beach – met Mark and Wendy on Windaway

: Brenden’s ready

More fish from the super secret spear fishing spot

Email to family and friends dated May 23, 2013

Subject: Hi from San Juanico

Gary and Marsha made it here safely on Tues, and we are currently at Caleta San Juanico, north of Loreto. Absolutely wonderful snorkeling! Gary and Tim caught dinner last night spearfishing. Alex and Brenden have the spearfishing bug now too. They went this morning and are dying to go again this afternoon after they finish their school work.
Love you all.
-D.

As usual, Brenden adds a little fabulous to whatever he does, including Bocce ball

Logbook – May 24, 2013 (San Juanico)

Daily Notes

- More spearfishing. Brenden got his first kill. Alex got his first “meal”
- D – kayak to the sea caves and back
- Fish tacos on Exodus w/ Star Passage. Parrotfish and grouper.
- (in Alex’s handwriting) ran water maker today.

This is the landscape on the west side of our anchorage

It didn’t take long before they were catching meal size fish

Logbook – May 25, 2013 (San Juanico)

Daily Notes

- D – kayak/run
- Snorkeling/spearfishing (Alex & Gary ea. got a fish)
- Dinner @ Star Passage

I kayaked a little further away to a nice running beach

Email to family and friends dated May 26, 2013

Subject: Headed a little south

Hi all, San Juanico was fantastic, but today we are heading to Bahia Salinas which is on Isla Carmen. Having a great time enjoying Gary and Marsha’s visit. No cell signal or wifi.
Happy Birthday Ben, from all of us!!!
-D.

Photo Log

Isla Coronados

May 18-22, 2013

Isla Coronados is the closest anchorage to Loreto at about 6 nmi to the North. There is a dormant volcano there, a beautiful running beach, nice snorkeling, and several dive sights on the Eastside. And Alex and Brenden were very happy we caught back up to the kid boats.

Logbook – May 18, 2013 (Puerto Ballandra to Loreto to Isla Coronados)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1730 Depart Loreto
- 1850 Arrive Isla Coronados

Daily Notes

- Skimboarding and BBQ with other kid boats @ Isla Coronados

: We departed Puerto Ballandra at 0835 and arrived at Isla Corondados at 1850 after a 6 hour 25 minute stop at Loreto for major provisioning.

IMG_4124_edited — Happy to be back with the other kids – we arrived at Isla Coronados and rushed ashore for the BBQ

: All the boats at anchor in the sunset

Logbook – May 19, 2013 (Isla Corondados)

Daily Notes

- Boys – skurfing, skim boarding, swimming @ Exodus. Movie night (Wreck it Ralph) on Star Passage
- T – snorkeling w/ Jim & Gina (Sweet Dreams)
- D/T – Walk on beach at sunset. Drinks on Exodus w/ Peter & Kim (Star Passage)

A view of the beach from the bow of Exodus

Tim and I went for a walk along the beach

The walk didn’t last long, Tim needed to sit and drink a beer

Email to family and friends dated May 19, 2013

Subject: Isla Coronados

We are at Isla Coronados, which is about 6 miles away from Loreto, so we will stay here until Tues when we go pick up Gary and Marsha. We don’t have wifi but we do have a full cell signal (for text and voice) and 3G (for email) if you need to reach us. We are with the other kid boats again, so the boys are happy. BBQ on the beach last night just as we pulled into the anchorage

Logbook – May 20, 2013 (Isla Coronados)

Daily Notes

- Ran watermaker 4 hours
- T – Tank dive w/ Jim (Sweet Dreams) & Max (Fluenta0 @ Piedras Blancas on Isla Coronados. 35 min, 67 ft max. Excellent dive, good clarity, lots of fish. Used Jim’s dive gear.
- B – playdate on Fluenta. T/A – surfing

(Edit: A rare log entry by Tim about his dive with Jim and Max.)

: Sunset from the boat

Logbook – May 21, 2013 (Day Trip to Loreto)

Passage Log Highlights

- 0950 Depart Isla Coronados
- 1125 Arrive Loreto
- 1530 Depart Loreto
- 1715 Arrive Isla Coronados

Daily Notes

- Picked up Gary & Marsha in Loreto
- Dinghy’d over to small beach around N. Corner
- Fish tacos (golden grouper)



: Alex made a friend

Logbook – May 22, 2013 (Isla Coronados to San Juanico)

Daily Notes

- T, Gary, boys hookah on the other side of Isla Coronados
- D – running, snorkeling, kayak
- Passage to San Juanico

I kayaked from Exodus down to the Southern beach, it looks like a hook at the tip of the island

Looking back up to the anchorage from the southern beach on Isla Coronados

Our friends on s/v Star Passage (Peter, Sophia, Harlen, and Kim)

Photo Log

Loreto

May 18, 2013

Loreto has a fair amount of tourist traffic, but there isn’t a protected anchorage there. It’s basically open roadstead anchoring with protection only from due west. So, we stopped in for the day for some provisioning.

Logbook – May 18, 2013 (Puerto Ballandra to Loreto to Isla Coronados)

Passage Log Highlights

- 0835 Depart Puerto Ballandra
- 1105 Arrive Loreto

Daily Notes

- Day trip to Loreto
- Ran watermaker for 3 hours
- Lunch @ Cafe Ole in Loreto, bought a directional wifi antenna. Ferre Mar. Groceries.

(Edit: That directional antenna was a blessing and a curse! We could pick up wifi signals from shore, but as Exodus moved around the anchor we were constantly having to repoint it. Why didn’t we just get data plans???)

Ballandra to Coronados — We departed Puerto Ballandra at 0835 and arrived at Isla Corondados at 1850 after a 6 hour 25 minute stop at Loreto for major provisioning.

There is a small harbor for the fishing pangas

View of the lighthouse behind the harbor

It’s no La Paz Malecon, but it’s nice, nonetheless

A nice shady walk street to the grocery store

Loreto does boast the oldest California mission

Photo Log

Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen

Post author By cruisingrunner
Post date April 19, 2020
No Comments on Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen

May 16 – 18, 2013

Isla Carmen is a large island off of Loreto, and Puerto Ballandra is a west-facing anchorage due East from Loreto. We caught back up with the kid boats but then stayed an extra night after they all left, because after the rush of Puerto Escondido we weren’t in a hurry to move on.

Logbook – May 16, 2013 (Puerto Escondido to Puerto Ballandra)

Passage Log Highlights

- 0855 Depart Puerto Escondido
- 1220 Arrive Puerto Ballandra

Daily Notes

- D/T snorkeling
- B/A surfing

Puerto Escondido to Puerto Ballandra — We departed Puerto Escondido at 8:55 in the morning and arrived at Puerto Ballandra at 12:20, motoring the whole way.

: The geography of Puerto Ballandra

Logbook – May 17, 2013 (Puerto Ballandra)

Daily Notes

- Family snorkel
- Met Bill and Sue form Sun Baby Too, told us about “Just a Minute” blog – Lagoon 380, 2008 Sea of Cortez. Lots of info not in the guidebook
- Get together on beach with drinks and snacks. Met 3 Hour Tour & other boats. Including another former NG employee.

(Edit: I don’t think we ever did look up that blog. The “former NG employee” was a boat that later became famous from boat catastrophe crossing eastward from the Marquesas back to Mexico. I’m drawing a blank, but will come back when I remember.)

IMG_1291_edited — Exodus at anchor at Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen

IMG_1292_edited — A small lagoon on shore

IMG_1293_edited — Alex found the perfect walking stick

Our kid boat friends had moved on but we stayed an additional night here, and glad we did because we met some new people at an appetizer and drinks pot luck on the beach

Photo Log

Puerto Escondido

May 14-16, 2013

We temporarily left the kid boat flotilla in order to go to Puerto Escondido for a couple of days. We didn’t stay long here, because, well there’s not much here. We basically provisioned, got fuel, did laundry, and got our wifi fix. Puerto Escondido is a huge natural hurricane hole, so it was also good to go in and check it out should we ever need to retreat there for protection from the weather.

Logbook – May 14, 2013 (Bahia Chuenque to Puerto Escondido)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1350 Depart Bahia Chuenque
- 1515 Arrive Puerto Escondido

Logbook – May 15, 2013 (Puerto Escondido)

Daily Notes

- Tim fixed SB engine
- Laundry, groceries

(Edit: Seriously??? A single bullet about fixing the starboard engine? Listed alongside laundry and groceries? This was a huge deal. It goes WAY back… probably the first symptom was when we first took possession of Exodus and were on transit between San Diego and Marina del Rey and we noticed that the wake of the SB engine was different than the Port engine. It started really slipping when we were in La Paz, in fact, when we went to the fuel dock at Costa Baja Marina when we were rushing out of La Paz to catch the other kid boats Tim had to pull up to the dock with only one engine! Basically, the cone clutch was slipping so the engine didn’t always engage the sail drive. And Tim fixed it himself after watching a youtube video and after several visits to the marine shop at Puerto Escondido. This was a big deal.)

The geography of Puerto Escondido. It’s a huge hurricane hole. There are tons of moorings, but we chose to anchor due to our issues with the starboard engine.

Gettin our wifi fix on at the Portobello restaurant at the marina. They actually made excellent super huge margaritas.

Speaking of Giant Margaritas, this one came in an Iron Man cup

Logbook – May 16, 2013 (Puerto Escondido to Puerto Ballandra)

Passage Log Highlights

- 0820 Raised anchor – hosed off at the dock
- 0855 Depart Puerto Escondido
- 1220 Arrive Puerto Ballandra

(Edit: It was always nice to give Exodus a nice freshwater washdown.)

We anchored in the SW corner of the very large anchorage and this photo is looking NE at the two “windows” looking out into the Sea of Cortez

Photo Log

Bahia Chuenque

May 13-14, 2013

We only stayed here one night, but it is a popular anchorage because its near Puerto Escondido for convenience, but not IN Puerto Escondido. It’s a north-facing bay just to the north of Puerto Escondido. I did kayak to shore and walk around a bit, and that’s when I snapped these photos. In the guidebook, the bay is called Bahia Chuenque, but I never heard it called that. Usually, it is called Juncalitoville, because the beach where there are some residences is called Playa Juncalito.

Logbook – May 13, 2013 (Bahia Candeleros to Bahia Chuenque)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1545 Depart Bahia Candeleros
- 1640 Whale and manta ray sighting
- 1830 Arrive Bahia Chuenque

Daily Notes

- Short passage to Bahia Chuenque to catch up with other kid boats
- Cocktails on Northern Passage. Kid fun & games on Sweet Dreams
- Amazing bioluminescence

Candeleros to Chuenque — It was a 2 hour 45 minute gennaker run from Bahia Candeleros to Bahia Chuenque. Whale and Manta Ray sightings en route.

Logbook – May 14, 2013 (Bahia Chuenque to Puerto Escondido)

Daily Notes

- Dolphins in the bay

The desert mountains of Central Baja California

Photo Log

Bahia Candeleros

May 11-13, 2013

After a day stop at Punta El Carrizalito we arrived at Bahia Candeleros where the only highlight was Mothers day at a resort. That’s really all there is to say about this anchorage. OK, I’ll say a little bit more about it… we will be back. Not to the resort, but to the anchorage.

Agua Verde to Candeleros — Punta El Carrizalito was a day stop between Agua Verde and Bahia Candeleros

Logbook – May 11, 2013 (Agua Verde to Punta El Corrizalito to Bahia Candeleros)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1620 Depart Punta El Carrizalito
- 1819 Arrive Bahia Candeleros

Logbook – May 12, 2013 (Bahia Candeleros)

Daily Notes

- Mother’s Day! Day passes at the resort. Food & drinks included. Very slow wifi, too much food, and good company (sv Star Passage)

The resort is the only thing in this bay, but it really doesn’t have very good water front views. There is a protected wildlife sanctuary there, so the resort is built behind that. It’s a beautiful resort though with several pools, and if you look down on the pools from one of the rooms on an upper floor you can see they are arranged in the shape of a turtle.

My view at the pool, enjoying wifi and bloody marys

Exodus and Star Passage. The tiny sailboat to the right of Exodus is probably Fluenta’s sailing dinghy. It’s great, the kids can sail it around the anchorage

Logbook – May 13, 2013 (Bahia Candeleros to Bahia Chuenque)

Daily Notes

- Watermaker is the SSB noise source!!! Listened to Sonrisa & Amigo nets.
- Radio contact w/ Moontide & a 2nd boat that was a ketch w/ “Peter” aboard @ Bahia Candeleros
- Short passage to Bahia Chuenque to catch up with other kid boat

Photo Log

Punta El Carrizalito

May 11, 2013

This was a day stop after leaving Agua Verde. There were hot springs, which aren’t quite so relaxing in 90 deg weather.

Logbook – May 11, 2013 (Agua Verde to Punta El Corrizalito to Bahia Candeleros)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1017 Depart Agua Verde
- 1112 SB Engine slipping – turned off
- 1217 Arrive Punta El Carrizalito

Daily Notes:

- Ran watermaker for 2-3 hours
- Stop @ “hot springs”
- Boys played “diaper”, D-snorkel, T-spearfished
- T, boys soaked in hot springs

Edit: “Diaper” is a game the boys played with the Bellini kids when we used to charter for long weekends at Catalina Island. The “diaper” is a life vest worn upside down so you can float seated right side up.

Motoring with just the port engine between Agua Verde and Punta el Corrizalito

Isla San Cosme (left) and Isla San Damien (right)

The container in the water is a waterproof pet food container. The previous owners of Exodus left it on the boat, and we kept it even though we didn’t really have a use for it. Well, we found a use for it as a washing machine. We put our dirty boat rags in it with some detergent, threw it in the water, and told the boys to play with it. It worked OK, but we haven’t used it to wash our clothes in it yet.

Anchored off Punta El Carrizalito, looking South.

Photo Log

Agua Verde

May 5-11, 2013

Agua Verde is a very nice anchorage. There are north and south-facing coves in the bay, so it’s good for most weather conditions. There is also a small town there, larger than San Evaristo, with small tiendas (stores) for basic provisions. And last but not least there is spearfishing at Roca Solitaria. We stayed in the Southernmost anchorage with Roca Solitaria to the North and Pyramid rock (great snorkeling) separating our cove with the main cove where the town is.

Logbook – May 5, 2013 (Puerto Los Gatos to Agua Verde)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1200 depart Puerto Lost Gatos
- 1632 Arrive Agua Verde
- 1804 P engine on briefly, rebridled anchor

Daily Notes

- Passage to Agua Verde
- Boys hike up to top of ridge w/ Harlen and Richard
- Parrot fish for dinner!

Los Gatos to Agua Verde — We departed Lost Gatos at 12:00 and arrived at Agua Verde at 16:32. We sailed a little bit with the main and gennaker but then the wind died and we motored.

The geography of Agua Verde. We anchored in the south lobe.

The boys went on an evening hike after arriving at Agua Verde

Logbook – May 6, 2013 (Agua Verde)

Daily Notes

- 0904 – changed propane (in Alex’s writing)
- Boys hiking
- D-kayak to shore, tiendas
- T-spearfishing
- Dinner with other kid boats at “restaurant”

A soccer ball fell off one of the other boats, so Tim told the boys to jump in the kayak to get the ball. This is what Brenden came back with (a dead puffer fish). He was pretty pleased.

This is the beach in the main, middle anchorage of Agua Verde. The town sits just behind the beach, hard to see in the photo.

Looking through the reef around pyramid rock back at our anchorage

Logbook – May 7, 2013 (Agua Verde)

Daily Notes

- D-kayak & tienda & fresh tortillas with Kim (sv Star Passage)
- T, boys-huka @ roca solitaria with Peter, Kim, Harlen (sv Star Passage), Colton (sv Sweet Dreams), & Richard (sv Northern Passage)
- Dinner – 3 fish Tim caught spearfishing
- Bonfire on the beach

Logbook – May 8, 2013 (Agua Verde)

Daily Notes

- After school kid gathering on Exodus
- Tim-more spearfishing
- Potluck on Exodus, new kid boat Endeavor

(Edit: Endeavor is who Tim bought his first spear gun from, and the rest is history.)

I guess Alex is wiped out after football

Logbook – May 9, 2013 (Agua Verde)

Daily Notes

- Football on beach, D hike w/ Sophia, B stung by fuzzy ant
- T-excellent day spearfishing – 3 different fish for dinner
- Bonfire on beach

A very lucrative day spear fishing for Tim. The golden grouper is pretty rare, and it tasted fantastic.

More football on the beach. Quarterback B goes deep.

The boys and I (Deanne) were going for a hike, but they lost interest in hanging out with me when football became a competing option. Luckily, Sophia stuck with me.

The other side of the North Agua Verde anchorage (looking NW)

This photo was taken on the beach at the Northern cove facing the side opposite where the anchorage is, so this photo is looking North.

Logbook – May 10, 2013 (Agua Verde)

Daily Notes

- Ran watermaker for 6 hours
- Alex completed test lesson 40, Brenden completed test lesson 60
- Skurfing and kids vs dads football game
- Drinks & dinner on Star Passage

Photo Log

Puerto Los Gatos

May 3-5, 2013

About midway between San Evaristo and Agua Verde, this anchorage has beautiful red rocks and a nice beach for skim boarding. It does not provide great protection, though, so it’s best in calm weather. You can anchor on either side. We chose to anchor on the south side exposed more to the North, the rest of the fleet chose the north side exposed more to the South. I’m pretty sure it didn’t matter, it was rolly everywhere.

Logbook – May 3, 2013 (San Evaristo to Puerto Los Gatos)

Passage Log Highlights

- 1200 Depart San Evaristo
- 1320 Sailing under Genniker & Main
- 1956 Arrive Puerto Los Gatos

Daily Notes

- Thousands of Dolphins

(Edit: This was crazy!!! On passage between San Evaristo to Puerto Los Gatos, there was a wall of water disturbance off in the distance which was seriously concerning. As it approached we realized it was dolphins. Thousands of tiny dolphins! No photos or videos as it happened too fast. Had we stopped to get a camera we would have missed it.

Evaristo to Los Gatos — We departed San Evaristo at 12:00 and arrived at Puerto Los Gatos at 18:56.

Sailing north to Puerto Los Gatos. I think this is Fluenta and Northern Passage

May 4, 2013 – Puerto Los Gatos

Daily Notes

- Red rocks, skimboarding, fishing
- Girls spa day on Sweet Dreams
- Lobster fest on Exodus

(Edit: Peter from Star Passage contracted with the local fishermen to provide a lobster feast that night. Soon enough Tim and the boys would be catching their own lobsters and we would be super spoiled.)

We settled into an anchor spot in the south lobe (there was a small reef between us and the beach)

The rest of the kid boat flotilla fleet across the bay in the North lobe

: Stunning terrain

: Alex skim boarding

: Sunning terrain (I’m not kidding)

: Exodus at anchor at Puerto Los Gatos

Email to family and friends dated May 5, 2013

Subject: Hi from The Sea

We are currently at a small bay called Puerto Los Gatos, and we are still with the other kid boats. Lots of fun including a girls spa day on one of the other boats (we are the only family without a daughter) and a Lobster feast on Exodus yesterday. We are leaving today for Agua Verde but getting a slow start. There is a small town there, so maybe wifi???
Love you all,
-D.

Logbook – May 5, 2013 (Puerto Los Gatos to Agua Verde)

Daily Notes