Cruise Log #20, Isla San Marcos and Santa Rosalia
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Updated August 15th, 2005
Route map from Isla San Marcos to Santa Rosalia.
SolMate has been making her way north in concert with ten other boats that will be
summering around Bahia de Los Angeles. We've been crossing paths
all along the way. A few of us are new
at this cruising life, it's our
first season in the Sea. We're taking our cues from the old-timers, seasoned cruisers who've
learned by experience, like Jo and Lance on Milagro, Maria and Earl on Dos Brisas, Hermy and Jack
on Iwa, Rita and Darryl on Overheated, and John and Reenie on Scarlet O'Hara. They've all
summered in the Sea numerous times and are a wealth of information...plus they're alot of fun.
Linda and John on Nakia, Mimi and Kalen on Rhythmic Breeze, and Sherrell on
Sarana are part of our newbie contingent. We new guys have had many
opportunities to learn from the old hands...not only survival tactics, but also cruiser etiquette, and fun
and games.
In the fun and games department...
Nothing happening in the heat of the day, no projects in
sweltering boats, no fishing from frying-pan dinghies, and certainly no forced marches
through burning sands - the air temp in Sweet Pea Cove, Isla San Marcos, was 95 degrees,
humidity was up to 75 percent.
Water in the 80s felt pretty darn good, but with a rocky shore, how to enjoy it?
The cove provided great snorkeling around its rocks, but the
stinging rays, spiney urchens, and toothy eels living in the rocks weren't
conducive to beach games. Therefore, Jo from Milagro invented the noodle party.
Armed with an assortment of floaties, six boat-loads of cruisers stayed cool by
bobbing around in deep water, aqua-blue, clear as a swimming pool, and safe from the prickly
creatures lurking in the rocks. While we played, though, I kept an eagle eye out. We were
floating on the same piece of real estate where the killer whales had been feasting on manta rays a
few days
earlier. Jo called the gathering a noodle party, I called it trawling for orcas.
Left to right, Bill (Rocky and Brew) on a noodle, Linda (Nakia) on the air mattress, MJ on
the inner tube, Stan flippering, Lance (Milagro) and John (Nakia). Not shown, but in attendance,
Debbie and Keith (PocoLocoDos) and Earl and Maria (Dos Brisas).
Linda (Nakia) and Guard Puppy Rocky (Milagro) at the noodle party
(photogenic Linda also graces
the cover of January's issue of Latitude 38).
While some cruising pets joined us noodling to keep cool, the heat wasn't bothering Gale.
He slept through the heat of the day, taking the concept of "siesta" to a whole new level,
snoozing from 10 AM to 6 PM. After the sun
set, though, he'd get his second wind and amuse himself on deck,
chasing cicadas, moths and other unsuspecting critters that wandered into his territory.
Gale's territory is the whole boat, the
companionway stays open all night for him to gallop around on deck in the dark, chasing
critters or his imaginary friends. Our cruising kitty really does live the good life with
lots of entertainment.
More entertainment...ship's cat enjoys the luxuries of
fine, green lawn and a
picture-window view.
In the cruiser etiquette department...
All six boats in Sweet Pea Cove were staged to enter the tiny Santa
Rosalia harbor twelve miles to the north. The harbor is so small we had to wait
our turn to make an assault on the
grocery stores, the world-famous hotdog stand and the ice cream shop.
The single dock can only accomodate
fourteen boats, the anchorage, not many more. We were all
just biding our time out at Isla San Marcos, keeping ourselves
occupied, noodling, snorkeling, and hiking.
While we were all patiently
waiting our turn, an inconsiderate couple on a ketch barged the line. Not only did
they jump the queue, but when they reached
Santa Rosalia, where a cozy nine boats were already at anchor, they dropped their hook right smack
in the middle of the fleet, then tried to compensate for the tight quarters by re-anchoring
seven times in two days, each time crowding other boats. That guy wasn't a popular fellow...
he was surrounded by irate boat owners and the cause of much grumbling by his fellow cruisers.
You can bet SolMate will be watching her P's & Q's after hearing all about
that fellow's fiasco.
And in the survival tactics department...
Finally, it was SolMate's turn, a slip came open and we cruised into Santa Rosalia. Phew,
what a harbor! Squid season was in full swing. Hundreds of pangeros were parked in the
harbor, where they sluiced stinky blood and guts out of their boats right into the harbor.
It didn't take us long to figure
out why experienced cruisers spent only one day provisioning in town and
then headed right back out to fresh air.
Slow learners, we stayed a week.
Santa Rosalia Marina's one and only dock - scratch and sniff would add more realism.
One of the reasons we spent so much time in Santa Rosalia was to explore. A French copper mining company built the town in the late 1800s. It reminded me of Roslyn in central Washington with its slag heaps and old wooden mining buildings.
Stan above Santa Rosalia.
From Santa Rosalia on north, the Baja pinches in toward the mainland and the Sea narrows considerably. As we turned SolMate north we began seeing the effects of the narrows, larger tidal swings and stronger eddies. More about that next time....
