Left the bay with a dozen other boats in calm conditions so I plotted a course to stay far outside of all the other boats. The Haha is great training for being attentive on watch, reminiscent of sailing the bay. A few dozen boats on the AIS(a system for identifying boats and ships with their location and direction) to avoid.
A quick comment on AIS, it is a great tool and I am amazed how many boats have the equipment to transmit a location. $500 to $1000 plus installation. It can lull you into being a little lazy on watch. We need to remember not all have this tool. Panga fisherman, actually most little fishing boats can’t afford it. I’ve seen some pretty nice yachts show up on the horizon or radar that don’t have it.
Anyway Predict wind shows more wind out here by ourselves anyway.
We arrived at first light, found a place to drop the hook along the shore in front of the 30 or so boats that had arrived earlier, so had a front row seat to the beauty of this remote anchorage.
We spent the day relaxing, doing a little exploring in the dinghy and on foot when we found a little beach we could land on.
On the second day here there was a party organized by locals. A meal from folks that traveled by boat truck and foot to feed all 400 of us. A band that traveled from La Paz the same way. Pangas showed up to ferry us the ones of us that didnt want to get soaked riding the breakers across the bar. Most if not all used the service. We took a break from the festivities to swim across the channel to the long beach that led to the sand dunes. Scattered over the beach were thousands of enormous sand dollars. Miles of unspoiled beach with not a footprint.
It was hard not to step on sand dollars there were so many.
We even had a visitor while we were here. This osprey took up residence on our mizzen. He was a welcome guest for the show he put on when he went fishing and luckily with the steady breeze his ability to projectile poop over the side kept the deck clean…until… one night the breeze died and he gorged on a passing school of squid all night. We awoke to a sceen of mayhem only matched by a holiday meal with the Clark clan. Chunks of squid littered the boat. Along with the content of his bowels. He was summarily banished by shaking a halyard every time he tried to land. Luckily we weren’t in California anymore where I’m sure i would have been charged for violating some law about harassing a raptor.
HOMEPAGE Adventures with Dr. John 