On Nov1 our friends, Ray & Mary Seed joined us to see what this boating life is all about. Ray and I have been friends since we met in the UC Berkeley dorms in 1976!
We picked them up in La Paz and, after getting them ‘moved in’ we motor-sailed through the La Paz channel, past the well-placed red (keep them on your left) and green (on right) marker buoys and headed out to the warm clear water of Bahia Balandra.
Balandra is famous for the ‘Hongo (mushroom) de Balandra’, a rock formation that appears on many tourist photos for La Paz and the area.
It actually fell in a storm some years ago and was put back up and reinforced because it is an important tourist attraction. There are often long lines of people taking selfies.
Early the next day (well, not too early!) we hit the water.
The water was a comfortable 81 degrees and reasonably clear so off we went snorkeling!
After a day in the water we all enjoyed sundowners (drinks) at sunset and a calm night at anchor. The next day we started with a dinghy ride to the beach for a hike up the hillside and around the north-east edge of the bay.
The next day we sailed north, past Isla Espiritu, to Isla Partida and tucked into it’s northern most bay, Partida Embudo. It is a small, west-facing bay that would protect us well from the swells coming from the northeast. We had the bay all to ourselves.
The next day, Nov4, we took the dinghy for a couple mile ride to a small island called Isla Islote which is a sea lion breeding ground.
We jumped in the water and several playful sea lions came to say hi!
Peggy had a ton of fun playing with the sea lions. One came by me and was very curious and playful. I got a bit nervous when he started chewing on the end of my flipper, but he was just having fun and no harm was done.
The next morning Ray and Mary took the kayaks around the bay.
They checked out all the little caves and inlets around the bay and came back reasonably dry (nobody fell in), not sunburned, quite happy and looking forward to kayaking again later! They also got a close look at this Heron.
More snorkeling in the afternoon.
That night was clear and the stars were amazing! No city light polution and just us in the anchorage.
Our next stop was in Bahia Candelero, a few miles south on Isla Espiritu. It’s a medium-sized bay with campers on the beach, several boats in the anchorage and a big rocky area in the middle which has good snorkeling.
The trail was well marked with some really interesting rock formations and an old well.
In this area the rock has cavities of all sizes. The rock is rhyolitic ignimbrite and when full of holes like this is called Tafoni. The interesting shapes are due to water, wind and sea salt reacting and eroding with the much harder parts remaining while the soft bits melt away.
The hike back down had great views of the beach and the bay.
After the hike, lunch and a short nap (hey, were on vacation!) we were back in the water snorkeling.
The Cortez Rainbow Wrasse has two phases. Juveniles and females are 1 to 4 inches long and have are yellow with black stripes with a touch of red.
As they age and grow the transform into males and have the coloring seen above in what is called the ‘terminal phase’.
Our last day in the islands ended with a GREAT sunset.
Nov7 we headed back to La Paz, anchoring just outside of Marina de La Paz. We spent the afternoon and evening in town, walking the Malecon and shopping. La Paz has more than 20 really nice sculptures along the malecon. Below is a bronze showing a mother and baby Vaquita which is the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world. Living only in the northern Sea of Cortez, they are often drowned by illegal gillnet fishing. There are probably no more than 10 left and they are likely to all be gone soon.
Above is my favorite. I think it shows that there is still some child in all of us, with dreams of great adventures on distant shores.
That night we had dinner at Estrella del Mar, telling stories and remembering our days together. It was a great time, but even the best of vacations come to an end. The next day, Nov8 Ray and Mary went back home to Bozeman Montana and we got ready for our next adventure.