San Evaristo to Punta Salinas on Isla San Jose

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.

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Third Trip to San Evaristo, Days 3 and 4

Sunrise on Wednesday, January 25

The wind was pretty much the same as it had been yesterday. One World called us on the radio and told us that he’d heard that if we went around to the reception desk and asked to eat, they’d open the restaurant for us. He offered to pick us up in his fast dinghy at 1100.

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Third Trip to San Evaristo, Day 2

Sunrise on Tuesday, January 24

The wind had picked up during the night, and by morning the wind was back to screaming with sustained winds in the low-20-knot range and gusts to 30 knots. We even had one gust of 39 knots! There were whitecaps in the channel.

We all slept poorly from the wind causing so much noise and motion. The motion was different here than it was in most anchorages — there wasn’t much fetch, so we weren’t really pitching or rolling; instead, the erratic gusts were causing us to glide side to side. It wasn’t an uncomfortable motion by any means, but it was still motion none-the-less. We were well aware of how uncomfortable it would be in other anchorages and were grateful for the motion was mild.  

At 1300 (1:00 pm), we met some of the crew from One world, The Mob, and Moin. One of the boats with a fast dinghy kindly gave us a ride, since our dinghy was a little tenuous in the heavy winds. We went on a walk to the salt flats, which were on the north end of town, on the other side of the ridge that made up the north side of the San Evaristo Bay. As we were putting on our shoes, a dog came up to us and jumped into one of the kid’s laps.

We walked over to the road that paralleled the beach (the road that the market was on). The dog happily followed us. At the north end of the beach, the road veered inland.

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Second Trip to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida, Day 3

Sunday (January 22) was another rolly morning. First thing in the morning, we coordinated with the other families to go for the big hike. We encouraged everyone to meet onshore ASAP so we could all get a reprieve from the rocking.

We met on the main beach at 1030. It felt good to be on dry land! The older kids took off hiking right away. The adults and younger kids didn’t get moving until after 1100. We’d mentioned that on the day we’d arrived, there was a fourth boat in the anchorage that we didn’t know. It turned out the fourth boat was also a family, and that family joined us on the hike, too. 

Probably around 1120, the kids and adults passed one another as the kids were on their way down. Keith reported that they hadn’t gotten as far as we’d gotten last time before they decided they were hot and turned around.

It wasn’t nearly as green now as it had been last time we’d hiked the trail, but there was still plenty of plant life. The first photo was looking back at the beach, and the second photo was taken at the same spot, but looking up the trail.

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Third Trip to Playa Pichilingue, Days 3 – 4

Sunrise on Tuesday, January 17. The crescent moon looks fuzzy in this photo because it was blurred by a cloud.

The waves built through the night, and it was another uncomfortably rocky morning. After we finished our morning chores, we went to the Cantamar for Elevensies (late breakfast/early lunch. Eric ordered chili rellenos stuffed with seafood in a cream sauce. They may have been the biggest rellenos we’ve ever seen, and they were great.

After we ordered, Christi walked over to the reception desk to ask if we could leave our dinghy on their beach while we went to La Paz. The reception staff told us that we could for a $10 per person fee, so $30. When Christi said that were spending more than $30 at the restaurant, they made it clear that the fee was to have the dinghy on their property, and that the fee was on top of anything we purchased at the hotel. Christi said that we’d leave right away to avoid the fee.

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