Month: July 2018

Hola Amigos! We ventured to Santa Rosalia with hesitant hopes of it being a cool town. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it is a wonderful stop. The town holds an enormous amount of mining and hurricane history, therefore making it an interesting place. There is only one place to anchor in Santa Rosalia and that is inside the marina area. Luckily there was plenty of room to choose a comfortable spot along with Magic Dragon.

This is no place to jump off the dinghy and swim, but we quickly dropped the dinghy with plans to explore shore. Brad, Sydney and I met Dave and Jamyne outside the marina office and began wandering the streets. This is the best way to learn a new place, just get out and start walking. Along the way we saw old mining remnants, the beautiful Santa Rosalia sign and colorful buildings all around.Santa Rosalia was once a busy mining town controlled by the French. The French sourced workers from the local Indian population until the Indian workers abandoned them. This pattern continued with mainland Mexicans and eventually to the Chinese. The working conditions were terrible and the mortality rate was high. If you’re interested in learning more about the mining and the evolution of Santa Rosalia, then check out this link: http://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1989/january/history/.In addition to terrible mining conditions, hurricanes have not been kind to this area. One marina has been wiped out and their broken dock still stands. While in Santa Rosalia we dropped off laundry, provisioned at the local grocery store, had a couple of meals, searched for a water spicket for our filtered water, and climbed the switchbacks to the cemetery. We had a great time checking out this unique town. One of my favorite stops was the local bakery. We all chose our “poison” to snack on and I indulged in not just one, but TWO donuts!!! They were that good! We all suffered from a sugar crash afterwards, but it was worth it.

Views from our time touring the old mine and some hurricane damage…Views from the cemetery. The cemetery was on top of the mountain overlooking the sea. It was a beautiful location but we were shocked to see so much trash amongst the graves…Below is the beautiful church that was imported from Paris along with a stunning mural across the street…The sunsets were to die for! Thanks to Jamyne, we have some beautiful photos of Perspective basking in the sunset glow.After a couple of days we decided to leave Santa Rosalia and head some place that we could snorkel. This place happened to be called Isla San Marcos, specifically Sweet Pea Cove. It was a quick 11 mile motor to our new and improved back yard.We were immediately met by another couple in the anchorage, they kindly dinghied over to say hello. They were wrapping up their 17 year circumnavigation and preparing to leave their boat in San Carlos for the summer season. It was great chatting with them and they gave us some intel on the island.

On the southern end of San Marcos is a gypsum mine. There is a conveyor that loads gypsum onto ships that creates an immense amount of dust. From what we saw, this went on 24/7. Luckily our anchorage was miles away and we were not affected. We spent several days anchored in Sweet Pea Cove and spent many hours snorkeling and spear fishing. Being in the water was our only escape from the intense heat, and bees! The bees were looking for water, and would do anything to get inside for it. We put screens on all our port lights and shut the hatches to keep them out. This also kept all the heat inside!Enough sweating, let’s check out the snorkeling! Here we have a school of angel fish…We saw a few creepy moray eels. Boy do they get your heart racing as they swim under you…Brad grabbed a beautiful starfish for me to check out up close. Also pictured are angel fish, Sergent Majors, and burrito grunts. Could you believe the grunts sound like snorting pigs under the water?!?More shots from under the sea, the yummy fish LOVE to take cover under rocks…Dave and Brad were unstoppable with their spears and we had to remind them only to kill what we could eat that day. Sometimes we ate fish twice a day! Here are some of the fish we ate…Pargo, Cabrilla, Snapper, Hogfish, and a tasty Green Jack. Jamyne cooked up a wonderful chowder for all of us and oh boy, it was to die for!

We heard there were a couple of caves to explore on the island. So we ventured out and found a cave large enough to dinghy through but decided to swim through it. It was my first cave experience and it was erie, but amazing! Here’s a shot as we approached the end, if you look closely you’ll see tiny fish in the water…Our time in Sweet Pea Cove was bittersweet. It was the best snorkeling we’ve seen so far, but so hot and the bees were chasing us out. We looked for a good weather window to cross the sea and head to San Carlos. And the time to leave could not come soon enough! I’ll tell you all about the crossing and San Carlos in our next blog. Until then, I hope this blog finds you happy and healthy! If you’ve got any questions, shoot them our way! Cheers from SV Perspective!

One more sunset before we go…

Hola Amigos! We are pretty much caught up after you read this post, yahoo! We headed for Concepcion after our wonderful stay in La Ramada. The trio of boats made the journey together and once again gathered in the same anchorage. As we made our turn into the bay, we were met with 23 knots of wind, and a cell tower that provided 4G coverage. Both were very exciting! The internet has been better than expected down in Mexico but the winds have been mostly absent when we need them.

Our first stop was La Posada which is next to a large RV destination called Santispac. La Posada is a very exclusive community that does not allow outsiders to come into the neighborhood so we often took the dinghy to Santispac to enjoy a meal and drinks on shore. Thanks to Kathy we have a photo from land displaying our boats in the anchorage… It was routine to call the fleet, Tabula Rasa and Magic Dragon, each morning and ask if they wanted to go for a snorkel or spear. The boys became masters of their spears and we never went hungry! We have tried a variety of fish thanks to their spearing efforts, including: grouper, cabrilla, snapper, grunts, golden trevalle, hog fish and mullet. The ladies have laid down the law that they are not allowed to spear the “pretty” fish because we enjoy looking at them when we snorkel.

Here are some fishies to check out thanks to our GoPro…the glowing blue fish is a juvenile Damsel, and the large grumpy looking guy is a Cortez Angel. The angel fish were very curious and checked us out frequently. Mullets at the surface…A hogfish looking for a hiding spot. He was off limits to the boys because he’s beautiful!Here’s the gang doing their thing…Bay of Concepcion has many great places to snorkel, and we only went to a few. We found the 90 degree water and the 95-100 degree indoor temps to be deflating. We decided to move cabins. We gave up our large aft cabin for the forward cabin. The V-berth gets much better airflow than the aft, which in theory should keep us cooler. Even with a slight breeze and the fan pointed directly at our heads we still struggled to stay cool. So we resorted to sleeping on deck!The morning views from sleeping on deck were gorgeous…Chores were done early in the morning, including laundry. Who doesn’t love a colorful laundry on the boat photo?! When it was time to stock the boat up with fresh groceries we decided to dinghy over to the next anchorage, El Burro. We wandered around for awhile but could not find the tienda and finally asked someone on shore. It’s funny what happens when you ask people, we ended up talking to a bungalow owner that does the weather report for the Sea of Cortez every morning. He’s been living on the beach for over 20 years, in the same house. He let us know the tienda was actually in the next anchorage, called Coyote.Getting to Coyote took less than 5 minutes. It appeared that the houses were all gated in and there was no way out. Luckily, a nice woman asked if we needed any help and we asked her about the tienda. She was quick to lend us her gate key and gave us directions. Little did we know this quick interaction would turn into much more. It turns out that this woman, Bobbi, has a boat anchored in La Posada which was next to us. Later that day we saw her snorkeling to her boat and she offered to take us to Mulegé. The girls were all happy to accept and the boys stayed home. We had a lovely time and completed some much needed errands while in town.

Bobbi ended up inviting us to her beach house for dinner the following night. It turned in to quite a cruisers potluck with delicious food and great company. It was fun getting to know “Bobbi on the Beach” for the next several days.Unfortunately our time with Bobbi had to come to an end and we needed to get to Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo is located near the entrance of the entire bay and is an understated anchorage. The shore is lined with beautiful shells, the water temp was 86 degrees and the winds kicked up each afternoon. It was paradise compared to the heated conditions we experienced inside the bay. Views from Santo Domingo…Gathering shells…Hosting game night on the deck of Perspective as we say “See ya later” to Tabula Rasa. They are heading to San Carlos to haul out for the season. They will be missed!!!Sydney and I enjoying the amazing afternoon breeze…Speaking of Sydney, she’s got some words for our readers…Hey it’s Sydney here. I need your help, it’s hot here and I need more beach time! I give my humans all the signs, I stare at shore constantly. I let them know that a fresh water rinse does not cut it, and I’ve resorted to tantrums on the couch! You see, I just can’t cool off!!! Would you believe I met a dog that lives on the beach? I think my humans should quit playing on their floaty toy and get a beach house just for me! And another thing, I’ve ran out of treats. Apparently none of the stores in Mexico carry dog treats, I’m ready to bail! Send help!!!

Well on that high note, I think I should wrap this blog up and get to work on the next one! Stay tuned and I’ll tell you all about Santa Rosalia next. Hope you’re having a great weekend, cheers!!!

Hola Amigos! Once we left Loreto it was quick sail to Caleta San Juanico. Gene and Kathy on Tabula Rasa were already there and helped us choose a spot to drop our hook. We chose to drop between two large rock formations with an acceptable depth below us. We quickly dropped the dinghy and went for a swim. Who knew anchoring could be so hot?!

It wasn’t long before Dave and Jamyne on Magic Dragon pulled into the anchorage and we all made plans to go for a snorkel/spear fishing excursion the next day. Dave just bought a Hawaiian sling in Loreto and was eager to give it a try. As it turned out each event was successful and the boys were excited to go again the next day! While the boys had plans to fish, the girls made plans to paddle board to shore and search for Apache tears, aka obsidian stones. The story goes that the roads used to be covered in obsidian, but the rocks were too sharp and were causing damage to tires. Eventually the obsidian stones were shoved aside and new gravel was laid. We searched and searched but didn’t find any stones. What we lacked in stones we made up for in pleasant conversation and girl time. The rock formations in front of and behind Perspective…Sydney’s taxi service and Brad’s spear fishing bounty…Life was good in the anchorage until the wind picked up to a consistent 15-20 knots. Remember how I mentioned we were anchored between two rock formations? Brad and I were no longer comfortable staying so we made plans to move to a new anchorage, La Ramada, around the corner. It was a short trip that packed a punch. The consistent winds had caused the seas to build. We were faced with large, quick interval swells on our beam. Rather than take a side to side beating, we headed out further and then took the waves on the stern on our way in. This is where our large motor comes in handy, Brad kept the boat going with the waves and it was actually a smooth ride in. Once inside the new anchorage we were treated to calm, clear waters. The protection there was great!

We spent a few days in La Ramada and spent plenty of time in the water. The temperature outside was climbing and the only way to cool off was to stay in the water until your core cooled down. This takes awhile when the water is in the mid 80s. We also had reason to celebrate. Gene’s Birthday was on the 4th of July and they hosted all of us for the celebration. Jamyne baked the most delicious drunken, upside down pineapple cake in the world! We enjoyed several hands of cards before calling it a night.Sunset and sunrise views in La Ramada…Thanks to Dave and Jamyne, we found Apache tears in La Ramada!It seemed that our time flew by and before we knew it we had plans to go somewhere new. This time we would be heading to Bay of Concepcion. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you all about it in our next post. Hope you are all doing well! Cheers my friends!

Hola Amigos! We’re currently anchored in a bay that has internet so now it is time to get all caught up! Our sail from Candeleros to Ballandra was mostly a motor due to fluctuating winds but we made the best of it and made water along the way. We typically make 30-36 gallons an hour depending on the water temperature. The warmer the water, the higher the output. As we headed north the water temps were creeping up into the 80’s!Puerto Ballandra is located on the northern end of Isla Carmen, basically parallel to Loreto.Once we arrived we were taken back by the views. The water was very clear and full of life. We watched a ball of fish move throughout the anchorage for the entire stay. If the water is clear, one of the first things we do is lower the dinghy and jump in the water. It’s a refreshing way to get settled in to the new neighborhood. We spent a couple nights in Ballandra and experienced our first encounter with bugs. In the evenings the wind would die down, and the bugs would come out. It was here that we discovered Brad is a much tastier specimen than me. He woke up to around 100 small bites covering his body, I didn’t have a single one! But as luck would have it, I wound up cutting my foot on a rock that same morning. We were taking Sydney to shore and I hopped out of the dinghy barefoot and stepped sideways on a rock. I looked down, saw blood and wanted to cry. It wasn’t the pain, but disappointment of having to miss out on our upcoming snorkel. Brad doctored me up and I was only out of commission for the day. Thankfully it was just a scratch and not a deep cut! The next morning we pulled anchor and headed across to Loreto. We would be meeting up with our friends on Magic Dragon. They had been there 2 nights already and were enchanted with the town. Once we arrived they met us at the dinghy dock and led us to the best markets in town. With their help we shopped til we dropped, filled the scuba tanks, had our laundry done and stocked up on pesos at the local bank. It was time well spent and we appreciated their company and knowledge of Loreto! What we didn’t expect to find in Loreto was our first cockroach. Jamyne, Dave, Brad and I all loaded into the dinghy after sharing a wonderful breakfast on shore. Jamyne discovered a large moth and was holding it as we motored away. Suddenly I felt something crawl across my foot and I kicked at it. Shamefully I admitted to possibly murdering the moth only to find out it was still in Jamyne’s hand. Uh oh, so what the heck ran across my foot?! It wasn’t long before the offender ran across Brad’s foot too. From there it was chaos and I believe I mentioned we should set the dinghy on fire! We watched helplessly as the offender snuck between the pontoon and the anchor locker. Feeling deflated about the whole situation, and assuming this cockroach was laying 1 billion eggs, we thought we were doomed. Luckily we spotted her when we opened the anchor locker and were quick to dispose of her once and for all! Cockroaches are not allowed as crew on Perspective!

With a fully loaded boat, sans a cockroach, we made plans to head to San Juanico the next morning. Magic Dragon and Perspective would be reuniting with Tabula Rasa at the new anchorage. I’ll tell you all about that in our next post. Until then I hope this post finds you happy and healthy. Cheers!