Dehydrating fisherman on our way to Loreto

It has now been more than two full weeks since we left La Paz. On two occasions we had had to wait our some weather for an extended period, but life was finally allowed to move on and we took advantage. Immediately we motored Meriwether out of our protection at Evaristo and pointed her bow to the North. Not far up the channel that separates the Baja Peninsula from Isla San Jose is a small fishing village that we originally intended to stay a day, but we ditched that idea just before dropping the anchor. Instead we motored across the channel to the much more inviting Mangle Solo on Isla San Jose.

This island anchorage offered some minor protection from the northerly winds, but no winds were forecast for the next few days anyway – as it goes after a big blow. A long sandy spit extended from the island out into the channel before making an abrupt turn to the north, forming a triangular lagoon. The waters inside this lagoon were horrid and discolored, but the waters on the sea side were crystal clear and teal. It was a nice place to overnight, go for a walk, and just relax in some solitude again.

Staying only the single night, we got to motoring again the following morning. There was no real hope of sailing yet so the old Perkin’s got the job for the day. We arrived four uneventful hours later at Ensenada Timbabichi, yet another small fishing village. The anchor had barely been set by the time a local panga pulled up beside us offering some lobster for sale, which Kerri immediately jumped on – two tails for $5 USD each, and she was set for meals for a couple days. After we paid, the fisherman asked if we had a soda, which we did not. We did offer him one of our beers which he took and added to the small pile of like-canned beverages at his feet. It was then that we concluded that the dehydrated fisherman was really not in need of more beer, but actual hydration and we had missed it. We learned soon after that he previously asked a neighboring boat for a soda and received a beer as well. I do hope he is okay.

The next morning we hiked out to a family’s residence not far out in the desert. There stands a multi-story house built by a well off family member of the past, but has long been abandoned by the current family. They now live in small houses sprinkled around the larger house. It felt awkward to be there taking photos, so we quickly moved on, with Kerri trying to get us lost in the desert in the name of hiking a different path on the way back. She failed thanks to my pigeon brain always know which direction to travel. This I inherited from my Mother and still, nearly 52 years later, I am happy I did. Thank you Mom.

We eventually made it back to the boat and prepared Meriwether for departure. So, one thing I have been noticing as we crawled up the coastline is that a breeze would arrive each afternoon, no matter what the forecast said. So, I talked Kerri into waiting until 2pm to leave Timbabichi. Our next anchorage was only a few miles to the north, as the crow flies, so we didn’t need a lot of time to make it there (about 30 minutes if we motored). That meant we could take a little extra time and sail to our next destination for a change. As luck would have it, at 1:45pm we sailed off anchor, out into the sea for a half hour, tacked, and sailed back towards land for another half hour to get to our anchorage. Sure, it took an hour to travel 30 minutes, but it was worth every second of not hearing the engine running.

The highlight of the area, and main reason we only travelled a few miles, is the well documented red rocks on Puerto Los Gatos – our new home for another single night. The red rocks were very cool, of course, but I couldn’t help but to keep looking out in the distance as the mountains were simply amazing. We both could not help but think of the Sedona area of Arizona while standing in this painting that we live in. And, it is good to be on the move once again.