People will probably be surprised by how noisy it was in Refugio. In this video of sunrise on Sunday, September 25th, you can hear the fish doing whatever it is fish do while the sea lions barked vigorously from their island (2 miles away). Sometimes the fish get so loud, it sounds like a rainstorm!
The winds were forecast to change tomorrow to be coming from a direction which would make this anchorage uncomfortable. So at around 0830, we lifted anchor and set off for the Bahia de Los Angeles area. We hadn’t decided exactly which anchorage we’d go to, but there were several in that area that would offer good protection from the new wind direction.
A: It is difficult to steal a larger boat, like ours. We’d report it to the authorities and it’d be found pretty quickly.
That said, dinghy theft is a little more of a concern. Dinghies that are fast with big motors have appeal to thieves, but even that kind of theft is rare. We have a slow dinghy with an electric motor, so no one wants our dinghy/motor.
The biggest concern is people stealing things off of the boats. As far as we know, all the places that we’ve stopped are safe. It was explained that because this part of Baja is off the trafficking routes, there is nothing to attract criminals. There are reports of theft being an issue in some other areas, such as Guayamas, but we don’t plan to go to those places.
On Wednesday morning (September 21), it was a bit rolly when we woke up. Eric put out the paravanes, which helped. While Eric was working on the paravanes, the family, on s/v Auryn, called on the radio and invited us to go for a hike onshore with them. Here was the view from the shore.
Blog Q: It’s kind of like a never ending party—with some boat repairs and a hurricane thrown in! How you figure out which boats have cool people to visit and which have the solitary pirate to avoid?
A: We think this year has been more social than most. Because of the hurricane, the cruisers were forced to congregate together in Bahia de Los Angeles when we’d normally be spread out. Everyone was eager to talk to one another in order to get feedback and advice on how to prepare, and more importantly, so that there was a friendship established with people who could help you if you needed it.
It also helped that a woman on one of the boats is a social coordinator by nature. She coordinated the majority of the cruiser social events, made fantastic food to share, etc. She is truly amazing and it wouldn’t be a non-stop party without her.
Finally, the lack of bugs in the Bahia de Los Angeles area lent itself to the socializing. It’s a lot harder to get together when you are being eaten alive by bugs that bite/sting.
That said, when people are not feeling social, they simply ignore the announcements on the radio that a party has been planned. We actually did that on Sunday (the 18th), when we went to The Village. The rest of the fleet had gone to La Mona for another party, but at that moment in time, we were craving civilization.
Here is the sunrise on Tuesday, September 20
Not long after we woke up, we left for Puerto Refugio, which is an anchorage on the northern part of Isla Angel de la Guarda. It will be the northernmost point of our Baja adventure.
When we woke up, it was rolly in the anchorage. The rolling made us so lethargic, so we had a hard time getting moving in the morning. Chris let us know that he’d decided to continue north today, so we said our goodbyes… or more accurately, our “see ya laters,” since we will see him again sooner or later.
In another fortuitous coincidence, four boats that we were friendly with, including one of the families, happened to be two anchorages south of us, in a bay called Ensenada El Pescador. We headed over to join them. It was a quick half-hour ride.
When Eric woke up, on Sunday (September 11), a few of his toes were bruised and it was a bit hard for him to walk. Not a fun way to start the day. He is glad he did not fall farther on the stairs.
The almost full moon was visible — and magical looking — long after sunrise.
A few boats had left the Bay of LA on Saturday, but most had stayed for the party. Today, people began to part ways. One by one, people announced on the radio that they were leaving and where they were going. Even though we’d only known most of these people for ten days (some more, some less), after so much fun socializing and going through the hurricane together, we felt bonded with them. It was sad to see them go.
We weren’t going very far, just to the northern tip of Bahia de Los Angeles. Before we left, we had some of the boat kids over to play D&D for a couple of hours.
We pulled up anchor at 1315 and headed for La Gringa, about a 1.75 hour ride from La Mona. We knew we were in the right place when we saw a giant sign on a hill that said “Welcome to La Gringa.”
