Sunrise on Thursday, February 23

This morning, we got dinghy down and went to shore, along with a fellow cruiser named Garth. Not wanting to deal with the scary pier, we opted for a beach landing on the south side of the pier. With the waves coming into the bay, the landing was a little bit tricky, but the shoreline was sheltered enough that we managed just fine. Here are some shots of the buildings along the shore where we’d landed.

Jesus was on the beach to greet us as we made the landing. Jesus helped us carry our dinghy up onto the beach. The fact that he helped us and not Garth made Jesus’s lack of altruism clear; our dinghy was light and there were three of us, Garth was alone and had a heavy dinghy. Garth had already been in Bahia Tortuga for a few days and Jesus knew that Garth wouldn’t tip Jesus for the unasked for help.

Jesus offered to watch our dinghy for us for a fee. He told us that outboard motor thefts had become a serious problem of late, which was a true statement. The motors being stolen were high horsepower engines that could power a panga. We assured Jesus that no one wanted to steal our slow electric motor.

Garth escorted us to the grocery store, which was a few blocks down the main drag. Jesus tagged along with us. The buildings on this street were a mix of residential and small businesses. As we walked along, it was clear that the majority of the businesses had been permanently closed for a long time. 

From the large number of buildings that appeared to be abandoned, we got the distinct sense that this town used to be bigger than it was now; that when the seafood plant went away, many people also left, too. This town felt to Christi and Eric like many of the dying mid-west towns that we’d visited on our 2010 road trip across the United States.

The grocery store was good sized and well-stocked, comparable to the two markets in Bahia de Los Angeles. After grocery shopping, we went back to the restaurant for lunch. Jesus also joined us for lunch.

After lunch, we headed back to Kosmos for the night. On the way, we stopped to visit with the other two boats in the anchorage. We invited them to come over tomorrow. Here was the sunset: