The Northern Sea of Cortez

Ramada Cove

Our first stop north after the Loreto area was supposed to be at San Juanico, but there was a swell and wind coming from the southeast, so we wrapped around the north side to Caleta Ramada. We were referring to it as “The Ramada Inn”, or just “The Inn”. It turned out to be quite a great stop. Although it was choppy and windy right outside the cove, it was dead calm and very comfortable inside. Just before arriving, Tom and Sabine caught a nice Skipjack tuna and we caught a Mahi, so on our second night here, we went over to Selador for a fish exchange of Mahi ceviche and Skipjack tacos.

The run up into the ridge line was a surprisingly well-maintained trail and afforded a great view over the bay.

Another trail down a washed-out creek bed led to the beach on the San Juanico side, so even though we didn’t anchor over there, I did manage to check it out. Later on, the entire Sea Horse crew went back to see the ridge and beach as well, since it had impressed me earlier.

Bahía Concepción

Bahía Santo Domingo

Our next stop was at the northern end of the massive Bahía Concepción at a place called Santo Domingo. It wasn’t a place we planned to stop, but Selador was going to stop there to meet a boat they had ‘met’ through NoForeignLand, so we decided to join in. It turns out that Charles and Corri on Magick Express were another super fun couple from the bay and the three of us had several more encounters over the next couple of weeks. The running ashore here wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. We went ashore with Sabine and their dog Ozzy to look for shells and have a bit of a swim. It was an OK stop, but one day was plenty for us.

Playa Santispac

This stop was not great. Although Bahía Concepción overall is wonderful, this beach looked more like a dirty parking lot (which is basically what it is) than a great SoC stop. There was an extremely overpriced restaurant ashore that for an insane amount of money was willing to serve us really weak drinks and rather blah food.

I did get a decent run in from there that took me by a cool looking beach community, so it wasn’t all bad.

Posada Concepción

After a single night fighting the flies here, we moved a few miles south in hopes of escape. We didn’t find it, but we did end up finding this amazing anchorage that looked like it fell out of the Mediterranean and somehow landed in the SoC. Super colorful houses mixed with natural looking stone houses tucked in all over the steep cliffs that tightly surrounded our boats were quite spectacular.

An additional perk of this spot, although all of this area of Bahía Concepción was just as good, was that there are several small islands all within about a mile of each other with snorkeling and caves. This meant we got some great dinghy-touring in to check out the sights, which included some more blue-footed boobies. It also means great pictures of everyone with snorkel mask lines all over their faces!

Playa el Burro

For our fourth and final stop in Bahía Concepción, we went a little further south to a small beach spot with some of the best coffee and chilaquiles anywhere. We ended up eating there twice and were impressed enough that I bought a bag of coffee and a T-shirt (I’ve only bought a handful of shirts in three years). They had a sign about a pug that wasn’t there because it can’t handle the heat, and a guest book, which Fira had to write in.

This part of the bay was right up against the stunning Hwy 1, so I got a run in on a paved road, which is a real treat these days. The views were great and for the first few miles none of the camper van people were awake yet, so there wasn’t any traffic on the road either.

Isla San Marcos

We left Bahía Concepción a day after Selador but we found out it was Sabine’s birthday so we had to catch up to them to celebrate. They were headed to Sweet Pea Cove on Isla San Marcos, which is an active gypsum mine. Luckily, the underway went quickly and was smooth, so we were able to bake a cake for Sabine and meet up with them in the evening to celebrate with champagne and cake.

The high point of this island is the north shore, which is riddled with caves and arches. The largest cave proved to be just barely accessible at mid-tide for us, though we all had to get into the bottom of the dinghy to get under the entry arch.

Santa Rosalía

Our next stop was at the town of Santa Rosalía. The town was historically a copper mining town run by a French company. The company imported its church, which was designed by Gustave Eiffel, from Europe. It reminded me of the library in Fort-de-France, Martinique. It was built in Europe, then deconstructed and shipped over to Mexico and rebuilt.

The town was very picturesque and I got used to the large numbers of dogs roaming around while I was running. Part of the look was that many of the buildings in this town are built with wood, rather than the traditional stucco-type houses in the area. It is because a condition of the mining operations starting up involved duty-free import of wood from the Pacific Northwest, so they used a ton of lumber to build. We stayed in a marina because the anchoring is not good, the marina was very cheap, and our friends on Selador and Magick Express were staying there also.

Short memory. We went out for ice cream with a few other boats and while waiting to order, we were discussing the flavors and sizes. Some of the cruisers are pretty new to Latin America and don’t know a lot of Spanish so we were explaining that sencillo means single scoop and doble means double. After a back and forth of this a few times, one person finally said, “Doble is just a lot easier to say.” And that is now my favorite line about why I always need to order a double scoop.

Our stay in town was a bit jaded though, despite a few meals out, two ice cream joints, and time with friends. On our second to last day, Grete got sick to her stomach and threw up. She spent most of the day in bed and any time she tried to drink any water, she immediately threw it back up. It was in the mid-nineties, with the heat index near 110, and we have no AC and in a marina, not even a breeze to speak of. So all day she just kept feeling worse and worse. Eventually, her stomach started cramping and the pain was too much for her to bear. So, we hopped in a cab and went to the ER where she got pain meds and a couple of IVs. After a few hours, she wasn’t great, but was much better so we left. Luckily, we weren’t in the US, so it was all free and not 5-10 grand.

When we left the hospital it was after midnight and no taxis were running, so Grete got to walk (shuffle really) 1.5 miles back to the marina. The second we left the hospital, a stray dog started walking with us. She chased off a cat that she felt was a threat to Grete in her weakened state. Then we assumed she would head back to her neighborhood as we continued along. Nope. She just stayed with us. Over the next 1.5 miles, she chased off a few dogs, and also alerted us to a homeless man sleeping on a bench. She was so sweet. When we got to the marina, I went to the boat and got our shower stuff. She waited for me. Then Grete and I went into our respective bathrooms. She waited again. The next morning she was gone, but dang we should have smuggled that sweet girl away.

The next day, Fat Pawsie was acting a bit strange, and just kept getting worse. So, we took him to the vet for some fluids and shots. He was doing better soon after; his fever was gone and he was back to eating and slowly recuperated over the next couple of days.

One last thing we saw that was really strange. Every evening, about 200 or so pangas would leave the harbor and head out. It was a strange mass exodus. On our last night, we saw tons of the boats sitting right near shore squid fishing en masse.

Bahía San Francisquito

This stop is one of the ones we had heard about for quite some time. The reason must have just been because the inner bay is very well protected and it is known as a great place to wait out a hurricane. It was quite possibly the ugliest anchorage we have been to in a long time. It was really swelly, and there were loads of dead fish on the not great beach. One night was more than enough, although Sabine did get a good picture of me and Fira on our walk on shore with her and Ozzy.

Ensenada el Pescador

This nice little stretch of beach was almost a mile of soft, white sand from end to end. I did a back and forth barefoot run and we met up with Selador and Magick on shore for sundowners and exploring the dilapidated palapas, which sounds like it could be a band name.

At the end of the evening, shortly after sunset, we were launching our dinghies and spotted a SpaceX shuttle launch. It was so pretty and Sabine got a great shot of it from their boat.

Bahía Los Angeles

Our last village northbound was at the Bay of LA. This spot is supposed to be a great spot for seeing whale sharks, but they seem to have headed south before we arrived because we didn’t get to see any. The village was small and nothing too picture-worthy. They did have a truck that comes into town once a week with eggs and produce and it was cheap as well as the best produce we have gotten since we crossed over from mainland Mexico to Baja.

Outside of town, we went to a nice beach area called La Gringa that is very popular with loud campers. It wasn’t a bad experience, but they were indeed loud. We met back up with Selador and Magick who had left the day before us.

The beach was way too rocky to want to go ashore, but it was hot, so we had a float-downers near the shore which was a really fun time for us all.

Lastly, we headed down to La Mona at the south side of the Bay of LA. It was a decent little beach with a very rocky dinghy landing and pretty decent beach bar/restaurant that we ate at two nights in a row. Fira made some dinghy parking spots on the beach and found, as usual, some shells she just had to keep.

The dirt road leading to the beach was in great shape as well, so I got to explore nearby at sunrise one day. The desert at sunrise is definitely a special thing.

Puerto Refugio (Isla Ángel de la Guarda)

This stop is one we have heard of for a long time. It is one of the favorite spots of many cruisers due to its complete remoteness and the majestic raw beauty. It is super remote. It is far enough away from even the smallest towns that no fishermen come here and no tours come here. It’s just cruisers. There were a few cruising boats a couple of miles away, but in our bay it was just us and Selador.

That meant that we spent a few more days together having fun. We went ashore with Sabine and Ozzy, ate dinner and had a movie night, and the newest bit of fun, we got towed by Tom on the hot dog.

The conditions up here were very calm, so the water was flat and we could go fast. It was a blast and we were very thankful that Selador had the water toys and took the time to drag us around. It was extra special because the surrounding terrain was so rugged and the scenery while getting dragged about was a lot to take in. I couldn’t stop smiling for an hour and I’m smiling now just typing about it.

On our last night together, we watched our sixth consecutive Miyazaki movie aboard Selador and exchanged pictures of our boats at anchor :)

Selador was leaving in the early afternoon and the conditions were glassy, so we both drove out to a small island about 2 miles away that was covered with hundreds of sea lions. It was so cool getting to see them in their natural environment, unmolested by humans. We slowly traversed the entire southwest coast and then drifted partway back while dinghy-rafted with Selador.

But it was time for them to get moving on south and for us to get ready for our next hop north. So, with lots of tears, not any from me because I’m such a macho badass, we said our goodbyes and saw them drive around the bend. Never goodbye, but see you later.

So now, I type this out with the plan of heading north tomorrow. We will try over the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow morning to:

1. Go snorkeling
2. Swim in bioluminescence
3. Go standup paddle boarding
4. and Drive around exploring in the dinghy

All of it though, will be with tears constantly welling up and a strange hollow in my stomach. The reason is that we have decided, as a crew, that we have loved the cruising life and have gotten everything from it that we set out for. However, not all four hearts are in it and it is time for us to head back ‘home’. So, tomorrow afternoon we will set sail due north for our last overnight sail, to Puerto Peñasco for our final underway aboard Sea Horse.

I will write a post about the decision to transition back to land and our near-term plans, but unless something unforeseen happens, this will be my final cruising post. I have loved writing this journal to my future self, reflecting on our time out here ‘doing it’, and I hope that any of you who have followed along have had your fears about our being away subdued, and have felt close to us in some way even though we have been a world away.