Cruise Log #18, Puerto Escondido to Bahia Concepcion

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Updated July 4th, 2005

Route map from Puerto Escondido to Bahia Concepcion up the inside of the Baja.

As the weather warmed up, SolMate headed for one of the warmer spots in the Sea of Cortez, Bahia Concepcion, which ain't too bright, but there's a 4th of July gathering there we'd like to attend.

While in Puerto Escondido, seven of us boat people hired Gustavo ($10US apiece) for a day of Loreto sightseeing and shopping in his van. He dropped some of us at the internet cafe to take care of banking, he hauled some of us around to every tackle, dive shop and hardware store in town, and then he gathered us all back up and taxied us to the supermercado, fruteria, and panaderia for our monthly provisioning.

Gustavo loading Jane from Merry Dolphin into his taxi.

The Streets of Loreto.

Where it all started, the first California mission, restored.

SolMate visited quite a few anchorages on our meander north from Puerto Escondido to Bahia Concepcion, Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen, Isla Coronados, Ensenada San Juanico, and Medano Blanco. All were good spots, some were better than others....

Skipper Lynn on the vessel Wildflower experienced a bug problem in Bahia Marquer on Carmen. Her boat was mobbed by thirsty bees. Because we hadn't yet experienced the bees, Lynn explained her method for keeping the buzzing little critters out of Wildflower. She strategically places a bucket of water with a towel draped over the side, on the bow. Supposedly, it reroutes the little rascals to the bow and keeps them from searching for water below decks in the galley or the head.

Friends gathering on the bow, at our invitation.

Our anchor had barely settled into the sand at Isla Coronados before Lynn's method came to a test. A bunch of bees from the parched island scouted the boat looking to quench their thirst. We rushed a bucketful of water to the bow. It wasn't long before fifty bees congregated around the bucket, crawling all over the towel, slurping up the water, and then whizzing off to tell their friends. Pretty soon, more of 'em were on their way, buzzing around, over and through the cockpit, where we were sprawled, trying to relax.

So much for the diversionary tactic. Next we'll try S/V Milagro's method. They spray the scout bees with a mixture of ammonia and water. Theoretically, the scouts return to the nest and in their intricate bee dance, they say, "Yuck, that boat has awful water, don't go there!"

Bees continued to plague us, mostly due to their extreme thirst and our silly assumption that they needed fresh water. One day we left the ammonia wash water out, and they mobbed that. Another day we left the bleach filter-soaking water out, and they mobbed that, too. Both times they formed a scarey swarm down in the galley after they discovered the companionway open. Gale got sick both times, don't know if he injested a bee or was just stressed with the mass buzzing.

Returning to the boat to the swarms, all we could do was throw in the screens and swat everything that moved. Baja bees are mellow - no attacks and no stings. Within a few minutes we were bug-free down below, but the swarm up above didn't fly away until after the sun set.