Cruise Log #30, Out of La Paz
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The Near Islands
Updated March 31st.
Counterclockwise circumnavigation of two islands, anchoring in Punta
Lobos on the east side of
Isla Espiritu Santo; Ensenada Grande on
the west side of Isla Partida;
Bahía San Gabriel Foyer on the SW side
of Espiritu Santo; back around to Punta Lobos and then back to La Paz.
Punta Lobos/Bonanza Beach. Expecting south-westerly Coromuel winds, typical only in this little
stretch of the Sea of Cortez near La Paz, we picked our first anchorage of the year
on the east side of Isla Espiritu Santo, nineteen miles north of La Paz, someplace we'd
never been. What a great discovery - pat on the back for the planning committee.
As we arrived in the anchorage, large sand patches were visible through the aquamarine water, easy to spot
and easy to
target with the anchor. The beach, itself, offered a wide variety of shells, fossils and crystals
for our beach-combing pleasure, as well as wild goats, overnight camping kayakers, and a couple of mid-sized
cruise ships.
Two crew were really jazzed about making the great marina escape, one was not. Three days later, Gale's
sensitive stomach finally acclimated. That's how long it took us to realize that
we'd sabotaged him. We had set him up with a nifty new litter box - with a nifty canopy lid.
Unfortunately, the confined space did him in. Everytime poor ole Gale climbed inside, he
climbed out woozy, foaming at the mouth and gagging.
Gale back to fun and games,
retrieving his favorite hairy toy for Stan.
To atone for our sin, not only did we remove the lid from the litter box, but we also re-anchored closer to
Bonanza Beach where the reduced roll saved wear and tear on both kitties and humans.
Coromuels did blow most nights we were out, except for the three days we had a screaming norther, but by that time we had
hightailed it around the islands to the protection of Ensenada Grande.
Looking south from Punta Lobos to Punta Bonanza before
we re-anchored SolMate a mile closer
to Bonanza Beach.
One of our favorite conservation groups, The Nature Conservancy, is partnered with a couple local conservation groups to administer Sea of Cortez marine parks. Park islands are favored destinations for kayakers, campers, hikers and snorkelers. As the park sign indicates, some areas are more protected than others, and the rules are ambiguous. The purpose of the parks, as we understand it, is to protect the delicate Sea of Cortez marine life, and yet many of the islands still host flourishing fish camps. The administrators just don't have the manpower or infrastructure to make or enforce strict park rules, yet. In the two weeks we spent exploring two islands, we only saw one park ranger.
