Sights and Sites of Baja California Sur

It was a light-wind day of motorsailing and sailing (this was the time we had the most success so far with the spinnaker) to reach Punta Púlpito. We had left Bahía Concepción early in the morning and dropped the hook as the sun was setting. These passages seem to tire us out (are we getting older?) so it was early to bed. Waking in the calm morning, we were greeted with the hints of the new day on the horizon. Another sailboat had snuck into the anchorage during the night without us hearing anything and it, along with the huge rock "púlpito" (pulpit) that sheltered us, provided great silhouettes against an increasingly impressive dawn sky. (We just learned that the very popular guidebook is missing the accent in púlpito so every english-speaking cruiser has, unbeknownst to them, actually been saying Point Little Octopus rather than Point Pulpit. One accent can make a big difference!) Barb entertained herself photographing all the glory as it unfolded.

The layering in this rock looks a bit like the dough for a giant danish pastry

The dough is getting more mixed here

Bjarne went for a paddle and some clambering on shore. As with so many places on the Baja, the rocks are interesting and impressive. Punta Púlpito has a striking obsidian vein. It doesn't look that big in the picture until you take a closer look and see how tiny Bjarne is in the foreground.

While the sun was still putting on its show but not yet showing itself, we noticed some slightly fuzzy balls bobbing around. At first we thought they were grebes that had come to grief but as the sun rose, these sleepy birds roused themselves and began searching for breakfast. Having gotten into photography mode with the sunrise, Barb continued to amuse herself by trying to capture these cuties in the act of diving. Many pictures had grebes swimming peacefully or rings of water but persistance paid off. As if we hadn't already met our quota of joy for that day, a sea lion and then a small pod of dolphins cruised through the anchorage. What a morning!

Dive, dive, dive!

Our not-so-calm anchorage

Although it was breezy in the afternoon (we watched the dive boat dragging anchor) the winds were light by bedtime. Bjarne sarcastically noted that it was a good thing we'd gone to the effort to get to a spot with wind protection. Don't mock the weather deities. Within 5 minutes the wind was picking up and built over night. Barb's journal entry for the next day (Feb 7) starts as follows: "It's windy!! Bjarne saw a gust up to 40 kts but admittedly that was a particularly good one. We have plenty of whitecaps and sometimes enough wind to blow the spray off the tops of the waves." The next day, the wind continued to howl and the waves got pretty big due to the long fetch. We realized we had parked much farther from shore than we should have. It turns out that what the other sailboat knew, that we didn't, was that their depth sounder wasn't working, so they were just being cautious. We also learned from them that the wind at Puerto Ballandra, on the west side of the island, was about 10 kts less than ours. Apparently, that funnel is quite effective.

It wasn't all work of course. Whiling away the windy weather we also found time for reading, baking, yahtzee, a movie, and observing the world around us. We were impressed by the resilience of our little grebe friends as they bounced around on the waves, sometimes ducking under before a big one could crash into them.

Impending Wave

By the third morning, it was amazingly calm so we went snorkelling on the nearby wreck (which pre-dated the current blow). The surface was smooth but visibility was poor from the tumultuous action over the previous days (and of course the water was cold). By then we were tired of this place so didn't bother organizing a shore party to explore the remains of the salt production facilities.

Barb with Rainbow Wrasse

Sergeant Major

Our well-thought-out plans to anchor at the open roadstead off the town of Loreto were altered at the last minute when strong, unpredicted winds suddenly came through and set the waves building. This was not the time to leave Hoku Pa'a to fend for herself while we trekked through town. Ah well, off to Puerto Escondido (PE) where we could hang onto a mooring ball. Drawbacks are that it is harder to get from here into Loreto for provisions and the moorage costs money - about double what it did before the marina changed ownership last year. On the plus side, laundry machines and Internet are available, as are showers. Also, PE is more sheltered from that mystery wind that surprised several of us.

Cloudy day in PE anchorage

PE is a very large harbour and gets a big range of vessels from small sailboats to megayachts and cruise ships. We even saw the Sea Shepherd (radical environmental activists) docked here and heard them talking on the radio about the barbed wire on their boat, presumably to repel boarders. They may have been recovering from some conflicts with fishers in the Gulf of California.

Our yacht (No, not that one! Hoku Pa'a is far in the background)

Small cruise ship of approx 100 guests

While at PE we hiked up the Steinbeck Canyon, which has stunning scenery on a grandiose scale not fully captured by photos.

Tall date palm (would be hard to pick the fruit)

Loved the roots on this white-barked Fig tree

Less water than last time we were at this pool

Hiking back we noticed this humourous warning sign

Isla Danzante is a short 2 km sail from Puerto Escondido, a very convenient distance when you have delayed leaving PE in order to take as much advantage of the facilities as possible. But Danzante has much more going for it and is one of our favourite places. On the afternoon we arrived, there were several dolphins cruising the area. We couldn't enjoy the show fully while we were anchoring, but they cooperatively stuck around for a while.

Hoku Pa'a in Honeymoon Cove

Looking back at the mountains over Puerto Escondido

Frigate Birds snatch fish while flying, not getting wet

The next morning started out calm. As it happens, it was February 14th and we were in Honeymoon Cove - how appropriate! Over breakfast we enjoyed the local avian action in our cozy cove. Vultures perched on cactii with wings spread to catch the morning rays. A few egrets and herons stalked the shore and a tricolour heron landed on our solar panel. A kingfisher, tiring of its prickly perch, flew off making its distinctive and noisy call. Seagulls and frigate birds fished and soared. One drawback to this place is that the peace of the morning only lasts until the tour boats and kayakers start arriving.

Buzz the Buzzard

It was perfect weather for paddling. Bjarne started off the adventuring; Barb likes a more leisurely start to the day. In his explorations he came across a mushroom rock held up by a skinny pillar. Barb was regretting she didn't go out sooner because she had to work harder when the wind and waves livened up a bit. Things got more exciting when dolphins appeared. One dove right in front of the paddle board, its sleek body easily visible underwater as it swam beside the board! The workout intensity suddenly went up several notches as Barb tried to keep up with these speedy swimmers. Nothing like good coaches to motivate a person.

Barb paddling hard to keep up with the dolphins

View from the office

One of the things we like about this island is that it has a great office. If you hike up to the top of the hill you get not only an impressive view, but cell reception! Cactii and lizards share the trail, and we have spied dolphins, whales and pelican feeding frenzies while making our phone calls. We also enjoy the underwater life at Danzante.

Juvenile Giant Damselfish