Cruise Log #25, Santa Rosalía to Isla Carmen

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November 1st to November 15th
On Our Way to Our Winter Port

Updated December 3rd

The route south from Santa Rosalía to Isla Carmen, 120 miles.

A couple of caveats about anchoring in Santa Rosalía Harbor; one, the holding ain't so great if the wind gets up a head of steam cuz the bottom is slime; anchors tend to slippy-slide through the ooze (ala Ensenada Harbor). The other caveat is that the harbor can be crowded if the fuel barge is in town because it takes up half of the available anchoring space. We dawdlers, Nakia and SolMate, the last of the cruising boats heading south, happened to arrive just as the fuel barge departed, so we had sufficient room to anchor; and for four days the wind didn't blow, either. The anchor gods smiled and gave us plenty of time to visit the internet cafe, the museum, the hotdog stand, the pizzaria, six mercados (food stores), the Pemex gas station, and the Pacifico beer store. Phew! Thank goodness the weather turned crummy and we had to leave....

(l to r) SolMate, Nakia, True Blue, Ceilidh, and Slip Away anchored in little Santa Rosalia harbor.

SolMate and Nakia bugged out of Santa Rosalía the day before big northerlies were forecast. We hid out on the southern end of Isla San Marcos in Bahía Puerto Viejo - after hunkering down under a white cloud for two days, SolMate's crooks and nannies were filled with a fine gypsum talc from the island's strip mines. Didn't consider the mines when we picked the anchorage - so much for the perfect hidey-hole.

As soon as the wind eased, we escaped the grit and grime, even though the seas were still lumpy. We overnighted in Puerto Gatos and Puerto de la Lancha on Isla Carmen, but neither was comfortable, so we kept on truckin' around the island's NE corner where we came to rest in the deep bay of Bahía Salinas, which was nice and calm.

Swarms of bugs chased us out of the defunct salt-mining town, but on the water, life was good. We discovered great snorkeling in the "gin clear water" (Linda's description) out toward Punta Perico. The number of colorful fishes, fans and coral living out among the rocks was amazing. John and Linda, avid snorkelers, proclaimed Perico the best snorkeling in the Sea.

Linda (Nakia) and Stan poking around the old saltmining buildings at Bahía Salinas.

Isla Carmen is part of the Loreto Bay Marine Park, which was formed with the help of the Nature Conservancy to preserve marine life around Loreto and the surrounding islands. Access to the park islands is controlled by permit, kind of like access to the Channel Islands in CA; except funding and manpower aren't available to administer the program in Loreto. Sad but true....

Jay and Janice on Ceilidh had raved about the "moon walk" at Arroyo Blanco, and recommended a stop there if we could. Hm. Arroyo Blanco wasn't even six miles south of Bahía Salinas...the weather was settled, the seas were calm - why not just pull in and see what developed? Permitted or not, we stopped. Nakia, with their handy-dandy fishfinder, helped pick a good anchoring spot at the mouth of the arroyo. We both dropped our hooks and dinghied ashore.

Arroyo Blanco, Nakia and SolMate at anchor.

John and Stan examining the eroded rock formations in Arroyo Blanco.

Returning to the mother ships after hiking through Arroyo Blanco's wonderland, the weather was still cooperating, so we settled in for the night and enjoyed calm slumber right there on the open roadstead. The next morning Nakia headed off to Candelaria and SolMate set sail for Aqua Verde, where we snuggled into the south anchorage and then hiked over to Maria's Tienda for some fresh food (their goat cheese is famous).

The larder full, we decided to take advantage of a northwind push and headed out for Los Gatos. It was a sloppy downwind sail, only twenty miles, but bumpy in closely-spaced, choppy seas. In Los Gatos anchorage, the wind blew us side-on to the swell and we rocked uncomfortably all night. But for the entertainment provided by the local charter fleet, this would have been just another nondescript overnight stop.