Northern Adventure in the Sea of Cortez

 

 

  la Gringa anchorage in the Bay of Los Angeles

As we have mentioned before, Mexico and specially the Baja California is very hot in the summer months. The prevailing wind is from the south but when blows off the land from the west, it feels similar to having a hair-drier on hot and high blowing on your face. In the early morning the temperature in the cabin is regularly 32ºC, tending to reach 35º to 38º C by mid afternoon. The Mexican desert has lead us to a new pass-time of 'tea bagging'. This involves jumping in the tide, dipping for few minutes, with no real intent to swim, then getting out again, only to jump back a short while later. Anyway, this August was the second hottest on record for the Sea of Cortez since 1953 with an average temperature of 2.9º C higher than usual.

Before leaving the Bay of Los Angeles we were graced with more visits by whale sharks. These slow swimming creatures are fascinating. Some came very close by, like this juvenile shark in the picture below. 

 

 
young whale shark swimming between Taiko and Boundless 

 

The water is not always calm or clear enough to take such nice pictures through the surface of the water. Here is a whale shark in clear water with it's accompanying pilot fish easily seen. 

 

 

  whale shark with pilot fish (photo by Boundless)

The next part of our cruise was a long planned circumnavigation of Isla Angel de la Guarda. This is the largest island in the northern part of the Baja, is 42 nm long and 15 nm wide, with it's highest mountain at 1315m. It is uninhabited and is part of Mexico's national parks network. We were delighted by the different types of geology that formed a marvellous and varied vista in colour and shape. Still, being a desert, there is little green to see other than the occasional mangrove or cacti forest.

 Taiko anchored in Puerto Refugio / Isla Angel de la Guarda

 

Due to the remoteness of the area and the long distance to a village, there are several fishing camps located on the Island. Whenever we visit one of these, at a beach, we are always disappointed to see all the rubbish that has been left behind. We found a lot of plastic bottles, oil containers, net pieces, foam from cool boxes, ripped clothing, plastic bags, plates, cutlery and various types of food containers made of styrofoam or plastic. It is difficult for us to understand how Mexican fisherman can pollute the environment and ruin the habitat of the prey on which there livelihood depends. As we have mentioned before in this blog, often we collect the trash on the beach, sometimes it is so much that we burn it or have to leave it untouched. There are better things to photograph than rubbish, so here are some nice photos of rock formations

 

 Rock Formation in Puerto Refugio. Isla Angel de la Guarda

 

We have sailed almost up to the northern limit of the Baja California. The tides in this very remote area are much larger than we are used to in the southern Sea of Cortez or our more usual cruising ground of the South Pacific. On Isla Angel de la Guarda we experienced around 4m of tidal range, if we had sailed the last 100 NM of the Sea of Cortez, to Puerto Penasco, the tidal range would be 6m.

 

 

Spot in Puerto Refugio at high tide

 

Same spot in PurttoRefugio at lowtide

 

 

 

 

 

In the south we enjoyed a very protected anchorage know as “ The Pond”, with almost 360º wind and wave protection. The cruising guide recommands surveying the entrance with the dinghy before entering. We where happy to enter, with our shallow draft, at half tide rising without doing so. The lowest depth our sounder recorded was 2.3m under the keel. Later on we surveyed the inner lagoon, with the dinghy and portable depth sounder, in an attempt to find an inner shoal water anchorage suitable for Taiko; we were unsuccessful. As usual, we walked up the hill and took more Taiko pictures. 

 

Walk at the Pond

 

 It is end of September and Cyclone season almost over, and we now have the option of sailing south. However, international travel restriction haven't change much yet. French Polynesia and Fiji are the only pacific nations that have opened there boarders, with additional cost and complicated clearance procedures, to cruising yachts. Consequently, our plans remain vague as to the next South Pacific sailing season.

Having to unexpectedly spend a whole year in Mexico on the boat has made us aware of our material needs for making improvements. This is mainly to do with rigging hardware and cordage, much of which we have stored in NZ. Originally we thought that after a year of sailing homeward we would know the boat well enough, to be sure of what to change, add or alter and that we would have access to all our boat goodies at home. Well, the year is over and we now know what needs to be done. It is frustrating to have to purchase items, that have to be imported to Mexico, in the knowledge that we have them in abundance in storage in NZ. 

 

 

 Rowing home after a village shopping trip (photo by Boundless)

 

We have to decide, what is important to do now and what can wait. Mexico is not a sailing nation; we have met only two boats owned and crewed by young Mexican nationals; therefore quality boat material is not available. Deliveries from overseas into Mexico are very difficult with unreliable shipping methods and unpredictable custom procedure. Delivery times can sometimes add up to months and the cost of importation greatly inflating the overall cost of an item. Frustratingly one never knows in advance what the delivery time or additional costs will be. Usually people travel to the US for parts and supplies (as we did in October last year) but the current travel restrictions will not allow us to do so. We have to wait and see how things will work out.

Goodbye Isla Angel de la Guarda