Sunrise on Friday, January 27

We were pleased to see that the wind had calmed down significantly. However, it still at about 16-knots sustained, so it was still windy. 

The four boats had all agreed to go to Punta Salinas (also called San Ysidro) on the southwest side of Isla San Jose this morning. According to the cruising guide, there were ruins of an old salt mining operation that sounded interesting. We’d wanted to go there before, but we’d heard that bitey bugs were a big problem there. Now that bitey bug season was over, it was the ideal time to go.

Since it was only a 45-minute ride, in the morning, we took our time getting ready to go. We were last ones to leave. The ride over was uneventful. It was 56-degrees Fahrenheit (13-degrees Celsius), the sun was totally blocked by dark clouds, and the wind was bitter cold. Christi was freezing as we anchored, even in a heavy jacket. The first shot is looking northwest, at the tip of the point that protects this anchorage. In the distance is Baja. San Evaristo is just north of what you can see of Baja in the photo.

The beach that we were anchored in front of

Looking southeast towards the southern tip of the island

This anchorage was protected from the direction of the wind, so there was no need to put out the paravanes. Like in San Evaristo, there was a lot of motion — not an uncomfortable motion by any means. But we were starting to get tired of perpetual motion.

After lunch, we all met onshore. We walked around for a bit, exploring the ruins on the stretch of the beach between the water and the salt flats. Things had eroded considerably since the photos in the cruising guide had been taken. Most of the buildings didn’t have much left to them.

This was the most intact building.

Under the rubble, this building had colorful tile floors and a built in table

This building was full of shoes, as well as several hats an a few other articles of clothing. Many of the items were relatively new and in good shape. Many of the shoes were in pairs. Why they were there was a mystery to us.

View of the water on the left, salt flats on the right, taken from the window in the discarded shoe building.

There were also several decaying vehicles

Here was a giant pile of salt, with the salt flats behind it

Then we walked out to the salt flats

The salt was pretty solid to walk on, but when the salt broke, it smelled bad. Eric followed what he thought was a path into one of the salt pools, and his feet got covered in black gunk that didn’t wash off easily.

After we were done exploring the area, some of the adults practiced archery while the kids played on a sand hill nearby.

In the evening, everyone got together on one of the boats. Eric and the kids played D&D while the rest of the adults socialized.

It was another gorgeous sunset. Looking at Baja.

Looking at Isla San Jose