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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Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida to San Evaristo

During the night, the wind shifted to come from west, where this anchorage had no protection. When we woke up on Monday morning (January 23), it was very uncomfortable. We got Kosmos ready to go and pulled up anchor at 0700, as the sky was starting to lighten, but before the sun came up. Moin and The Mob were right behind us, going to the same destination. 

It was a 5-hour ride to San Evaristo. When we first left, the seas were rocky and uncomfortable, but it smoothed out after an hour or so. From then on, the ride wasn’t bad. As the day progressed, the winds calmed down, which probably helped. We pulled into the anchorage at about noon.

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Second Trip to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida, Day 2

Here was the sunrise on Saturday, January 21

The wind picked up overnight and was screaming by the morning. The wind caused a lot of noise — the wind itself was loud, the anchor chain/bridle moved a lot, waves slapped against the boat instead of gently lapping the boat, the wind generator sounded like a motor, and there were just a lot of thumps and rattles when the boat moved a lot. In addition to the sound, it was also rocky and uncomfortable. None of us slept well and we were all up early. As soon as there was enough light outside, we put both flopper stoppers down. That helped dampen the roll, but we were still moving a lot.

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Playa Pichilingue to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida

On Thursday, January 19, the little sliver of the moon was again in the east as the sun rose underneath it.

We left for shore at noon. Our plan was to walk over to the ferry terminal to catch the 1230 bus. As we pulled up to the beach, a man walked up to us and asked how we liked the Torquedo electric motor. He and Eric chatted for a few minutes. Then Christi said “We don’t want to be rude, but we have to leave. We’re going to the ferry terminal to catch a bus into town.”

And the man said “Would you like me to give you a ride into town?” We took him up on his offer. His wife was waiting in their van. It turned out they were former cruisers. And they also went cruising with son, who was a teenager at the time. They eventually switched from traveling via boats to traveling via a camping van.

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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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