Down the Baja Coast

Excerpts from our log for the crossing to the Baja coast:

1102 Start Engine

1110 Out of slip

1145 Packing glad too hot. Loosened ¾ turn locked with cold chisel & hammer

1234 Packing gland cool, dripping more but looks about right will check on the hour

1410 Average speed greater than 6 kts. Large beam seas very rolly Rhea is a little nauseas Packing gland cool. Set up a 2 hour radio check for the rest of the crossing with Mija (me ha). They are about an hour ahead of us. Very experienced sailors starting about their 7th year. They are going to Puerto Escondido also but left before we did from an anchorage about 5 miles from us.

2150 Seas way down still have 10 kts from the N.W. Slowing down because we don’t want to approach land before sunrise. Radio checks with Mija keep the night interesting.

Tonight is the new moon, i.e. no moon and it sets one minute before the sunset. Total darkness except for the stars, which are brilliant Cool but warms as we near Baja

Dawn 0600 to 0700 Some of the navigation lights are out but no confusion because of our radar and we have enough light to see before we enter the channel between the islands. Dawn reveals the beautiful rugged coastline with flat seas. The last 20 n mi leg is slow because of a ½ to 1 kt counter current but the view is spectacular so we just soaked it up.

Our Passage from San Carlos was 131 n mi average speed 5.9 kts.

Puerto Escondido (hidden port) is a totally enclosed natural harbor. Known as the best “hurricane hole” in the Sea. Very large, can hold well over 100 boats.

Had hot dogs & beer at the Hidden Port Yacht Club. After considerable discussing with the Purser/Admiral and financial calculations we decided to join for 18 months for $15 US. Tee shirt and burgee not included.

Saturday morning we went into Loreto (15 miles North of here) for the day with the crew from Kokomo (from a Beach Boys song). We rented a taxi/van/driver for the day ($55 US) split with Kokomo. A large cruise ship was anchored off town. Crowded but our driver knew where to get all the items we wanted. Kokomo wanted watch batteries and we wanted a bakery so we could get food for a potluck brunch Sunday. Kokomo is expecting overseas guests next week to fly into Loreto so we looked at two hotels. The neat one had a lot of old Mexican charm and what looked like a glass roof over the lobby with many old heavy wood beams. It was in fact a rooftop swimming pool with a glass bottom. I will post some pictures. Kokomo is starting their 4^th year of cruising. They recommended getting some local dish to take back to the boat for dinner. The driver found it after a couple of tries. We heated them up back on the boat and really enjoyed dinner. Perhaps after a couple more years we will learn how to pronounce its name and even know what is in them.

Loreto also has a mission, if fact it is the first mission in the California’s. The first three missions are in Baja California the fourth is in the states; I think it’s the one in San Diego. This mission was founded in 1697! I will post pictures. It’s still in use today.

Sunday morning we attended a potluck brunch at the Hidden Port YC attended by X patriots who live in the area and cruisers. Below are two short stories we heard.

Years ago a development was started at Puerto Escondido. Extensive sea walls were installed. A series of canals were dug to make more waterfront lots. Miles of roads were started; some paved divided roads with two lanes each way. Streetlights installed and underground utilities were being installed. Tons of concrete was poured.

Then all worked stopped. Now you can walk down a street, some paved some not, and come across a five-foot square and deep hole where a manhole was going. We saw a good size mesquite tree growing out of an almost finished five foot deep manhole.

The local term for the place is “modern ruins”.

Another modern ruin was created years ago. A ferry service was planned to and from the mainland. A ferry was purchased, and a pier was built. The President of Mexico, the Governor of the State and a host of other dignitaries plus a large crowd of locals attended the opening ceremony.

The ferry entered the channel right on time, and pulled up to the brand new pier. The pier was 25 feet higher than the ferry so it couldn’t unload or load. So the boat goes back to the mainland and everybody leaves. The pier is crumbling and in 15 years may be about the right height.

Putting this in perspective, this happened in the 1980’s a time when the World Bank was giving huge sums of money to Mexico, which was not equipped to properly invest the money. They also couldn’t pay it back. This created what to this day is referred to, as “the crises” In the 80’s Mexico was a single party state. All the construction then was done without any private participation. Things are very different now, and it shows.

There is a marina building being constructed in the harbor, by the tourism arm of the government, which of course is called the “new modern ruin”. We will back about May 1^st. I will report on the progress.

The weather was ideal when we arrived. Saturday was the same. Today, Sunday a Northerly is blowing in the 25+ kt range and could peak to 35 kts tonight and Monday. Then the winds start to drop so we may leave Wednesday or Thursday.

We left Puerto Escondido Wednesday (12/7) morning. Arrived Saturday in La Paz. I’ll post something on that trip soon.