Punta Chivato, April 20/21, 2010

From Santa Rosalia, we said good-bye to the northern Sea of Cortez and headed back south around the outside of Isla San Marcos towards the multi-pronged headland around Punta Chivato. When you read the guidebooks, you'll see that the water gets a little skinny between the headland and the low-lying, reef strewn Santa Ines islets. Reefs and shoals extend from both the shoreline and the islets, making the passage a little "interesting." The low point seems to be about two fathoms of water around Punta Mezquitito. It's a pretty passage with the wild, rocky desert all around you, but a little nerve-wracking until you've done it once. And, of course, just as the water was getting the skinniest, we had dolphins show up to relieve the stress. We had two or three dozen dolphins doing their version of a Sea World show, leaping and dancing all around us. It was hard to tell who squealed louder, us or the kids. To quote Kelly “It was like going to Sea World without having to pay the admission.” These dolphins put on a show. It was almost as if they were all competing to show us which could do the best aerial maneuver. We anchored in 15' over sand next to the luxury hotel on the point and in front of the beautiful homes on the beach around the private, dirt airstrip.

One of the better acrobats that we saw

It was blowing pretty good when we anchored and we were debating whether we should go ashore when one of the other cruiser boats brought their dinghy up alongside our boat and told us we had to go ashore for if no other reason then to collect shells.

Just to give you the scale of the size of some of these shells

There's a picture in the Sea of Cortez Cruiser's Guidebook (which we call the "Om Shanti" guide after the authors of the guide’s boat's name) of the shells in this anchorage, but even that doesn't do the place justice. There's at least a mile where the shells are stacked up 3' deep, and go inland for 20 or 30 yards. 20 minutes on this beach and you'll have enough perfect shells to fill your bag.

We decided to search for the restaurant in the Om Shanti book, but were told by a couple of local construction workers that it has closed. Never fear, across the dirt runway, over a couple of barbed wire fences, and through the dirt golf course, there's a great little restaurant that's taken the other one's place. On the way there, we met "Baron", a dog belonging to one of the gringo families on the beach. He's only a puppy, but at 75 pounds or so, he was a bit too aggressive for the kids' taste. The restaurant is posted as "pet friendly", so those with pets feel free to bring them along. Maybe that's why Baron tagged along with us? Anyway, according to the bartender, Baron gets his own burger at the restaurant when his owners take him there. No telling if he gets his own Margarita or not. The food was excellent and the margaritas icy-cold. It was getting close to dark, and there were no other customers, so the bartender even gave us a ride back to our dinghy. How cool was that?

Even cooler was the fact that the same couple that stopped to tell us about the shells came by later to drop off some used movies they no longer wanted and they brought to our boat what would come to be the BIGGEST hit ever – JOHNNY ENGLISH. Over the course of the next month our kids would make every other kid boat endure that movie. I never want to see it again.
The unusual east winds continued through most of the evening, bringing swells curling around the point towards us. It made it a bit rolly last night, but the anchor held nicely in sand. I know it held because the anchor alarm went off twice last night, waking even the Phil out of a dead sleep. Phil had to get up to check the anchor at 3 AM and 5 AM. And, yes, it was seriously dark then, but the stars were gorgeous. Turns out that Phil had the alarm set to go off if we moved more than 60' from our position. Well, with the better part of 100' of chain out there and shifting winds, we drifted over our chain about 150' from one extreme to the other. Yup, that's more than enough to set off a 60' alarm! Of course, it was sunrise before the cobwebs cleared enough for Phil to figure that one out. Chalk one up to reviewing all those default settings on your electronics.
West winds predicted for tonight so that wipes out our plan to go to Bahia Santo Domingo just inside the entrance to Bahia Conception since Santo Domingo is wide open to the west. Come to think of it, Santo Domingo is pretty open to everything except in calm weather. Looks like we'll be heading deeper into Bahia Conception to Playa Burro. That'll be an extra 10 miles into the bay today, and an extra 10 miles out tomorrow morning on top of what already was supposed to be a fairly long day. Hmmm, that sounds like we'll be getting underway early tomorrow since those extra 10 miles will take an extra 2 hours against the tide coming into Bahia Conception. You've just gotta love it.

Santa Rosalia, April 18-April 20, 2010

Santa Rosalia(27 20.24'N, 112 15.67'W) is as far north as we went on our trip. Phil fixated on the copper mines, the old buildings and, of course, those "exquisitos" for so long that we were going to sail here if there was a hurricane brewing. So, it was up early to get underway for another 45 mile day.
It was flat calm until nearly noon, when the north wind finally started to build up to a whopping 5 knots. Phil likes to think he's an optimist, so I guess we'll look at it positively and just say that the batteries were well-charged by motorsailing most of the day – that made the crew happy. We went around the outside of Isla Santa Inez and Isla San Marcos looking for wind, but didn't find any. Although we didn't find any wind, about 300 dolphins found us and swam around Sabbatical for 20 minutes until they got bored, then sped off in search of more fun.

In the late afternoon, the wind finally kicked in with 10 miles to go and as his his S.O.P. (standard operating procedure) just as we were about to get somewhere early, we had to sail the rest of the way which means we got in about 5 o’clock. We sailed towards the coast looking for the tell-tale chimneys of the old copper smelters that point the way into the harbor, picking them up in the afternoon haze at about 8 miles. If nothing else Phil was fixated on those hot dogs and that stand does not open until 6 o’clock so why rush into port.

We tied up to a slip in the Singlar marina around 5 PM. The marina is right inside the break wall inside the harbor. It is the freakiest harbor I have ever seen. Right in the middle of the lane is a giant rock marked with a flashing light. You would think that the rock would have been removed to make passage into the harbor easier – but no the rock just sits blocking the channel and boats have to maneuver around it. No telling how long the obstacle has been there.

Well, we've talked about them long enough, so we'll get to it: How were the "exquisitos"? Exquisite, of course! That and messy as all get out. We made a bee line for Chuyita's hot dog cart as soon as we got everything tied down. It's on a side street off the main square, just around the corner from the Eiffel-designed church. OK - take a double dose of your cholesterol pills and get the defibralator ready - here goes: You start with a bacon-wrapped hot dog, grill it in a little bacon fat from the previous 10,000 hot dogs, stick it in a warm bollilo bun from the French bakery in town, add some minced, raw onions, squirt on ketchup, mayo and Philly cheesesteak-style melted cheese, and you have the basic dog. Add some fresh salsa verde, a little mustard, some cooked, spiced onions, and, finally, lay a couple of grilled "Caribe" chilies on top. Need you ask? Of course the chilies are grilled in the bacon fat too! Oh, man! We're talking heaven on a bun! The entire crew feasted on 2 dogs each, all for about $1.25 per dog, Rolaids not included. And, conveniently located just across the street from Chuyita's, is an ice cream shop where you can really bump up the daily caloric count with a double dip, soft-serve ice cream cone. Good thing we had to walk back to the boat - it kept us moving after that gut-bomb of a dinner. We'd have gone into a major food coma if we'd sat down.

The sign marking the corner where these dogs are actually sold

Phil's masterpiece - remember he ate two of these

Ryan loved the buns as much as the dogs

The family that runs the stand

The ice cream shop across the street from their stand

Yep Ryan had a cone after two dogs!

The Eiffel church is an interesting structure.  A metal buliding that is barely surviving the harsh environment of a sea-side town.  The church is meticulously cared for by the local community and I suspect it will be held up with scaffolding if necessary.

The front of the church - it's not that big

The inside of the church

One of the many stained glass windows that grace the walls of the church

Ryan took a picture of Phil and me

The history (in English) of Santa Barbara Parrish

Santa Rosalia really was a company town. Everywhere you turn, you see the French colonial architecture and the grid-like layout of the city. If you squinted, you'd wonder if you were in Southeast Asia, Polynesia, or on the set for the movie "Indochine." Many of the old company buildings are still in use, often by the Mexican government. Who knows, however, how long that hundred-year old lumber will last. 

Phil and the kids in the main square

Main Street Santa Rosalia

Ryan posing on the main drag.  The old men on the bench got a kick out of Ryan.

The pavillion in the main square

There is a great produce market on the road between the marina and the main square.  The colors alone tell it all.

The company built a hotel to accommodate visitors to the mine, and the hotel is still in business and still serving a great breakfast. The old company administrative offices are just down the street from the hotel, and along the way you can climb on an old steam engine, ore cars, and other remnants from the mines. The Administrative offices are now a museum, complete with original furniture, some old office machines, old photos and other displays. The kids asked me what one of the machines was and I had to explain what a mimeograph machine “was.” It's an interesting visit and well worth the time. The old power plant and smelter are down the hill from the hotel and general offices. Unfortunately, they haven't been maintained and are in a sad state. They're rusting away and collapsing on themselves. Still, it's interesting to see the old ruins and imagine what it must have been like here when the mines were in operation.

The train found at the town's center

Visiting the mine with Christopher and Barry from Grumpy

Family photo op

Inside the old company hotel for breakfast

The museum

The kids investigate an old accounting machine

Kelly at the helm (this is a "little" larger then the wheel on our boat)

Ryan looking at the tools of the trade in mining

The scale used at the mine to measure the ore

The history of the mine in English

The manager's old office

Most of the yachtistas we met here were heading across to San Carlos for a few more weeks of cruising before they haul their boats for the season. They take the summer off when it can be so brutally hot down here, head home for a few months or go do other things. They'll be back around November 1st when hurricane season ends officially.
We were the only kid boat in the marina, but we know more will be heading this way after Loreto Fest at the end of the month. At least we'll cross paths with them again before we continue south to La Paz.

A shot of the town from the museum up on the hill

After two nights here, it was time to fuel up and go. We decided to wash down the boat and get rid of all the salt crystals that accumulate on the boat. We went to bed with a clean boat and awoke to a boat that had been officially bombed by the local fowl population. There are more kinds and gross numbers of birds here then in any other location we have visited.

The turkey vulture tree in the center of town down near the pier

This picture was taken in the cockpit of the boat - "our hood."

It took us an hour before we could get underway. In spite of that we still think Santa Rosalia is a great town. I'm glad we visited.

Next stop: south to Punta Chivato.

What makes a wake like that? April 18, 2010

As we were leaving Sanispac for another long day of sailing up to Santa Rosalia - the northern most point on our trip -we were coming around the headlands near Santo Domingo when Phil got concerned that we were going to run into a reef.  We could see all this white water in the not too far off distance and when you see white water, water has to be breaking over something. 

Phil ran below to get his binoculars and then he turned to me and said it's not a reef.  It's a pod of over 1,000 dolphins feeding.  Here are some pictures of what that looks like.

What is that out there?

The wall is getting closer

Here they come!

I can see some of them

Feeding frenzy - birds and dolphins

Playing in the water

There are even more coming

Along side the boat

Playing the the wake of the boat

The orange is Ryan's shirt as we stood on the bow of the boat to take pictures

Gliding along side

We captured one all by itself

Dolphins coming along side

Dolphin fun

This was to be the first of about 4 such pods that we ran into over the course of the next week between Bahia de Conception and Santa Rosalia.  The best display of acrobatics we saw was when we entered Punta Chivato - about a week away - stay tuned for more on that one. We discovered that there were several varieties of dolphins in the different pods we came across.  Kelly would sit with the mammals book for hours trying to figure out just which type of dolphins we had run across.  She got pretty good at identifying the species by the middle of May.

Stay tune for more on our adventures.