Cruising North Along the Coast

Above Agua Verde

Isla San Francisco is one of those picture perfect anchorages; a large crescent shaped, turquoise  bay edged with a white sand beach. Straight out of a postcard. Plenty of room for a number of boats and pretty good protection from the ever present north winds. The hike on this island rose to a ridgetop above that gave views of the bay and the other side of the island as it narrowed at our anchorage. The plant life here confirms that its hard to improve on mother nature’s landscaping. Cactus tucked perfectly in to rocks, windblown twisted trees, flowering (but thorny!) small shrubs and towering Saguaro’s cover the hills. I had thought the primary color would be brown due to the desert feel of the area. But the rocky hills are covered with a lush, green blanket and backed by the Grand Canyon-like Sierra de la Gigantea mountain range. At Isla San Francisco, the mountains guide our port side for hundreds of miles. Truly like having an ocean in the Grand Canyon.

The winds picked up and died each day as we droned, snorkeled, swam and visited with a couple other boats in the bay. We stayed 4 nights to let the winds die down before we would continue north along the Baja coastline.

On our 3rd day, Jeff woke early in the dark and said “we have a cruise ship in the bay”. Huh??? It was Andromeda, the 360’ private yacht we saw out of La Paz. She and her two 70’ security/scout/servant boats had arrived. Word among the cruisers is that this is Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht now. I guess Facebook is making money. Andromeda is a stunning vessel that rises 6 stories, has a crew of 30 and the requisite helicopter sitting aft of the bridge. It was a bit crazy and amusing to watch them prep for the owner’s arrival. The scout boats made a small compound on the beach with umbrellas, poofy lounge chairs etc… Meanwhile, Andromeda vomited out more boats and toys than a water park. Two boats - 40’ and 30’ - were craned off the bow while 2 to 3 other smaller 25’ runabout types emerged from somewhere down below. A “garage door” opened on the side and the crew unfolded a 50’x50’ dock and 3 story waterslide. I guess you need that to tie all your small boats and the 4 jet skis and foiling wake boards and god knows what other toys they have stowed away. The helicopter flew away and came back a bit later with 2 on board - Mark and his wife? Then flew away again and came back with a few more. We watched with binoculars and cameras on the first flight. By the second, we became bored with the whole show. Oh, and the beach blanket bingo area set up by the support boats earlier; never used. After picking the water toys out of the water after the guests just left them there, they packed everything up during the night and all, including the big girl, were gone by daylight. Absolutely crazy, beyond any idea of excessive and as Jeff noted “we have the same view of the sunset as they do”. 

As we headed north towards our next anchorage, Agua Verde, the San Jose Channel entertained us with a dolphin show and Mobula Rays jumping! Lots of them! These little guys (maybe 3’ across) lob themselves (should they be called Lobulas?) 5-10 feet out of the water and bellyflop down. No knows why they do this but it looks like fun. There were so many we would just point and say “mob” when seeing one. Five hours later, we pulled in to Agua Verde and quickly joined our friends on Taj for happy hour. As usual this “hour” led to 3 more of meeting two other couples (and their smart, mature 10 yr. old daughter Ellie) stories, laughter and fun. They all weighed anchor early in the morning and we were left with only 1 other boat in the bay. I’m still wondering where is everyone? Still in La Paz I’m guessing.

We took the Hobie and SUP down the bay to Brisa del Mar, the very, very small restaurant. Small as in 1 table, in the sand, under the palapa. But, oh the food was good! And, Leonor and her “staff” were incredibly gracious and lovely to meet. We walked to the Tienda (store) which was more like a garage with old coolers and found most everything we needed for a quick resupply. The produce truck had just arrived the day before so plenty of fruit and veggies. I paid for an hour of wifi and sat on an old plastic chair, in the dirt yard among chickens while suffering through the slowest wifi. Sounds tough? It wasn’t. I also had a stunning view of the hills and steep mountains - the Gianteas - that made all cares and worries of slow internet fade. I turned off the iPad and listened to the family laugh and chat at their outside picnic table and watched the world go by. Simple, quiet and oh so nice.

Table with a view at Brisa Del Mar

The next day we hiked to the ridge for stunning views and to see the goats! A small goat dairy lets their critters free range the area. While sitting in the cockpit, you can hear the tinkling of their bells as they make their way across the steep hills. The main billy goat shoed his girls away from us as we hiked closer; pretty possessive and camera shy. Agua Verde is aptly named as this was the greenest water I have ever seen; not turquoise like the other bays but deep green. A swim around the point, with Jeff as my ever-present Hobie escort, was surreal with the color of the water. The winds had kicked up so it was a bit murky but a bit like swimming in emeralds. Another windy night on the hook with the moon lighting up the small bay like a spotlight.

After 3 nights in Agua Verde, we left for a quick stopover in Puerto Escondido. This is the only marina north of La Paz and its just 14 miles south of Loreto; where our friends John and Sheri arrive next week. Puerto Escondido is a hurricane hole - called this because the bay surrounding the marina is nearly completely enclosed by hills. Super protected! About a hundred moorings and room to anchor make this a popular stop for many. There were transiting boats here like us but many stay here as they have a small but active cruiser community. The marina was formerly a government investment (they developed a number of marinas in the Baja area over the last decade) but is now privately owned. Very modern, excellent staff but I worry how will they make it. There were plenty of open docks. The side streets are paved with street lights around the waterfront just waiting for development but nothing happening. We see a lot of this in Mexico; big dreams that seem to wither for different reasons. Fingers are crossed this one makes it and remains a great marina for cruisers. 

We hung out with new friends from Agua Verde, Sharon and Rich. Great dinner at the small but elegant restaurant at the marina and killer margaritas led to a late night for all of us. Well, 10 pm is really late for us. A quick trip to Loreto with a rented car and we are off again tomorrow for Honeymoon Cove on Danzante island. The plan is to stay the weekend there and head back over to Puerto Escondido on Sunday night. We pick up our friends on Monday afternoon and will stay a day or two in port. Another big wind is coming - they predict bigger than the string of northerlies we’ve been having - on Monday and Tuesday. Plenty to do around PE with a great small town, Loreto, beaches, hikes (Steinbeck Canyon) and history.