The overnight crossing of the Sea of Cortez from Santa Rosalia to Guaymas was uneventful; a good sail. After 18 hours at sea we dropped anchor in the pleasant little outer harbour bay that we had anchored recently so often and went to bed to catch up on some sleep.
The next morning we motored to Guaymas Marina Fonatur. It almost felt like coming back home. We attempted to find a rent a car via internet. This proved to be impossible if one wanted a car at short notice. Renate eventually found a phone number for a car rental company near by and duly called them. Yes, they have a car available, but their office would close at 1500 hours. Our friend from the paint crew, Pancho, who had just stopped by to say hello, immediately volunteered to drive us to the rental company. We arrived just before closing. We took only a 24 hour rental period hoping this would give us just enough time to get the visa renewal done. Now in possession of a car, we spent the rest of the day driving around town to different supermarkets to top up our provisions and fill up our gas cylinders.
The next morning at 5am we filled our picnic basket and hit the road. It was a Sunday and still dark, therefore very little traffic. Renate was driving and she followed a local SUV that was speeding. Her rational being that a local driver would know the places that the police favoured for traffic control. It felt like being on the German Autobahn though much more worrying for me because there are no speed limits on the autobahn. The dual carriageway road to the border is well sealed and usually well separated from opposing traffic.
The visa renewal at Nogales, as expected, went smoothly. It took nine hours of driving and five minutes for form filling, paying and stamping at the immigration post. A large of carbon footprint for a small task, where nobody actually checked, or seemed to care, whether we had left the country or not. I suppose its a form of revenue collection. It defies logic as to why this cannot be done at an immigration office closest to ones location.
After
dining with Pancho and his family that evening for a last farewell we
made plans to sail to anchorages further south on the Baja
Peninsular, making a last stop for
the night at our favourite little bay on
the way out of Guaymas harbour.
This time the crossing was much easier. We aimed for an anchorage further south to catch up with the fleet we left behind in Santa Rosalia. The angle to the wind was so much better and we had a nice overnight trip to San Juanico. When we arrived there in the morning we where the only boat there and could pick the best spot between two reefs to give us the best swell protection in the anchorage. In the afternoon the rest of our four boat fleet arrived, Susimi, Milou and at last Maraki. This very pleasant anchorage is where we had such fun last June celebrating Renate’s birthday.
The
next day the new stand up paddle
board, Renate’s Christmas present to
herself, was inflated for the first time.
Our first cautious
attempts to master it where a little
comical but it was not long before we started to enjoy its use.
We were even able
to paddle it with the two of us aboard in calm conditions. From a
safety view point, I wanted to know 
if
it was possible to climb back aboard after an accidental dunking. No
time like the present, into the briny I went. Surprisingly,
I discovered this was easier to do from the
side rather than the stern approach that one might use for capsized
kayak.
Within the covid bubble we had created with our group we undertook other activities beside the paddle boarding. We had several good hikes together and a 3 hour mule ride to an ancient cave painting site. The saddles provided were a very comfortable genuine Mexican type with a large leather chap that folds back over the rider’s legs. My first thoughts were that this was excessive for the type of riding I was expecting and that it would make a rider very hot. After turning off the four-wheel drive track into the desert it didn’t take long for me to appreciate the protective fold of leather as we rode through the spiky thorns of the desert scrub. Actually this protection was not hot at all, it protected against the heat of the sun as well. The cave paintings we saw were painted on fallen rocks that appeared to have once been part of a, now subsided, cave. They weren’t very spectacular and nobody really knows who painted them, or how old they are. But it was a nice shady place for the mules to rest and for their riders to eat the lunch that was brought with us. It was a pleasant day out but I wouldn’t recommend mule riding. The animal I rode was the most reluctant equine I have ever ridden.
Milou crew wanted a new Bimini over their cockpit because the existing one looked worn out and misshapen. After seeing our canvas work in Santa Rosalia they asked Renate if she was willing and able to make a new one for them. They already had the new canvas onboard. Renate looked carefully at their existing set up and suggested turning the frame through 180 degrees. This change alone made a big difference in the appearance of the bimini with the canvas fitting better on its frame. Better but not good. So Renate and Nicole, set about making a template for a new one. This was Renate's first attempt at Bimini manufacture so she was a little intimidated by the challenge, especially the cut outs and zips for the two back stays. She and Nicole needed to find a place that was relatively flat and sheltered from wind to cut the material. They went up to the house on the hill to seek out such location. The American owner of the house was very accommodating, allowing the two ladies work on his porch and giving them tour of his gorgeous home.
The actual sewing process had to wait, because it was time for our small fleet to have a change of scenery and a sail further south.
Sunrise in
San Juanico
Early in the morning, we looked out of the cockpit to see that Susimi and Milou had already departed. Maraki had their mainsail up but were still at anchor. There was little to no wind, so we had breakfast before set sail for the 20NM distant anchorage of Isla Coronados. As we often do, we hauled up our sails and sailed of the hook without using the engine. As we began to slowly sail away we noticed that Maraki remained motionless at anchor with the main sail up. We asked via VHF if they having trouble. They had an air lock in there fuel line and had to bleed it in order to start their engine. They said there were fine and would follow us soon. It didn’t take long before Maraki passed us under power while we sailed slowly out of the bay. The wind, on our port beam, started to increase and as our speed crept upwards to over 6knots we gybed onto starboard and headed south. It was a fast enjoyable run down the coast with two panels reefed in the mainsail. In a the strong conditions of 20-25 knots we eventually caught up with Maraki while approaching the anchorage. Maraki had been sailing almost all of the distance, somewhat precariously to my eyes, by the lee. It seemed that they were understandably reluctant to gybe in the prevailing conditions. When they did gybe there was some unfortunate damage at the mainsail mast track. Sailing is often about fixing your boat in remote locations. John, from Maraki, took some good photographs of us arriving at Isla Coronados in stiff conditions.
We remained at Isla Coronados for a few days, happy to be in an anchorage protected from wind and waves from where we could see the strong weather producing rough sea either side of the island. A strong cold wind blew over the deck so we stayed mainly below deck to keep warm. Not withstanding the brisk conditions our group managed an invigorating walk on the island. Renate began sewing together parts of the bimini for Milou. At the first sign calm weather a grocery stop was made in Loreto for couple hours before we continued our journey further south.
After re-provisioning in Loreto a stop was made at Puerto Escondido, where we anchored outside this outrageously expensive marina. I did the laundry while Renate worked on Milou’s bimini. The laundry was in motion while I took advantage of the marina’s wifi to download a large number tune lessons from www.madolessons.com. A little later I went to pay for the laundry service. The marina staff took a very dim view of the fact that Taiko was at anchor and not in their marina, nevertheless they took my money and I was able to continue. It is difficult to see why they begrudge the use of the laundry when you pay higher rate than at a laundry in town.
Very calm early mornings with mirror flat sea, followed by steadily increasing day time winds into late afternoon and then calm evenings and nights, gave us a relaxed journey south. Making several overnight stops along the way we reached one of our favourite anchorages, that of Agua Verde.
Here it took Renate several days to finish that big bimini for Milou. I didn’t mind her being so occupied as I used the time to finish reading a borrowed book on American history, that had to be returned before moving on, and began learning the tune Cooley’s Reel. The mastery of which still eludes me. Time was still found to do some tramping and have a meal at the beach restaurant cooperative. The restaurant is best described as rudimentary but the service was cheerfully executed by hard working and resourceful Mexicans, the food was delicious. I am always happy to spend a little money in a remote community where such spending by cruisers gives a small boost to the local economy. We were welcomed here, which was a real contrast to the avaricious attitude of the commercial marina mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Peak on aTramp
After a week here the captains of the small fleet felt restless again and it was time to move on. At a relaxed pace, we took several days with overnight stops, to arrive on Isla San Fransico. This was our last highlight before La Paz, our destination. On finishing Milou’s bimini we at last found some time to get a few boat chores done. While I tended to Taiko’s needs and stood watch as we sailed southwards Renate baked bread, deep cleaned the fridge and did some re-stowing of items below deck. I have to admit to consuming Renate’s freshly baked German bread with gusto.
Tacking to anchor at Isla San Francisco picture from John of Maraki
Isla San Francisco is fantastic place for walking, the summit of it’s peaks giving wonderful panoramic views of the surrounding sea and islands. The group went for several hikes. From the northern summit of the island, on a very windy day, it was interesting to observe the shoals, tidal streams and the topographic affect of the land on the wind. We were all happy to be in a sheltered anchorage.
In the knowledge that we would soon be arriving in La Paz each boat’s crew began to focus on their “to do” list. As the state capital and the largest city in the Baja California Sur, La Paz has broad range of services available to the boating community. While we were eager to conduct business, take care of our online financial affairs and resupply, though we had mixed feelings about mingling with the general populace once more in time of rampant covid infection.
On
the way down to La Paz we received a call via VHF from our
friends on
Boundless which
we met in Bahia de Los Angeles
last year. They
saw us sailing past
their anchorage
and because of
our unique sails they were
no doubt that it
was us. We
arranged a common anchorage for that night and had
a very warm-hearted reunion
and a lovely
evening meal
together. The next morning Boundless lifted anchor to sail over to
the mainland of Mexico, while we went in opposite direction straight
into La Paz.
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