Category Archives: Cruising Guide

Information for other cruising boats. Our experiences finding places to anchor, dealing with officials, provisions, etc.

Bahia Agua Verde to Isla San Francisco

Posted on by
Reply

Sunrise on Monday, November 7

We got up early, did the last minute things to get Kosmos ready for sea, and pulled up anchor at 0620, as the sky began to lighten in the pre-dawn glow. As you may have noticed in the Bahia Agua Verde sunrise photos, while we got to see the beautiful dawn colors, we didn’t actually get to see the sun peek up over the horizon. After we turned the corner out of the bay, we saw the sun peeking out.

The seas were mostly calm, though we did turn on the active-fin stabilizers because of a small swell. The skies were dotted with white fluffy clouds.

We arrived at the northeastern anchorage in Isla San Francisco at about 1530 (3:30 pm). From the distance, the anchorage was stunning. It was a perfect crescent shape, with dazzling aquamarine blue water lapping up against a white sand beach.

Continue reading →

Bahia Agua Verde, Day 7

Posted on by
2

On Sunday morning (November 6), we were not in a good mood when we woke up. As we’d mentioned in yesterday’s post, the motion in the anchorage was uncomfortable, and the discomfort lasted all night. None of us slept well. 

The wind picked up again fairly early in the morning, this time coming from the south, where we had good protection from the swells. By mid-morning, the anchorage was calm enough that our moods improved.

The last few days we’d headed to the sand bar instead of the village because the sand bar was protected from the swell and safe to land at, while the village was exposed to the swell and dangerous to land at. With the swells gone, it was safe to go to the village again.

Our first stop was the restaurant at the end of the beach. It was owned by a husband and wife. The wife did all the cooking while the husband chatted with us. Thanks to our broken Spanish, we missed a lot of what he said, which was probably interesting and useful. Several people came and went. We sensed they were family members stopping by for a Sunday visit.

Continue reading →

Bahia Agua Verde, Day 5

Posted on by
1

Sunrise on Friday, November 4

We woke up to ominously grey skies and strong, cool wind. It looked like it was going to rain, though it never did. The anchorage was rolly and uncomfortable. Eric put out the other paravane first thing in the morning. The paravane helped, but it was still uncomfortable.

Anxious to get a reprieve from the rocking, we got ready to go to shore as soon as we were done with our morning chores/school. It was the coolest day we’ve had in Baja so far, with temperatures in the low 70s. It was the perfect day for a hike!

We were shocked when we were about to get into the dinghy and saw that there were several inches of water inside. Ugh. We quickly bailed out the water and took it to the big sand bar to inspect the bottom for cracks. In good news, nothing was wrong. The drain plug had gotten loose. Eric tightened the drain plug and all was fixed!

In the Agua Verde Day 3 post, the 8th photo was of the Sea of Cortez side of the sand bar. It was flat as a pancake that day. Today, there were waves crashing on the shore.

Continue reading →

Bahia Agua Verde, Day 3

Posted on by
Reply

Sunrise on Wednesday November 2. As the sun rose, a massive number of birds flew over to the rocks islets.

Christi was pleased to report that she was feeling better. The day of rest did the trick! After we finished our morning chores/school, we went snorkeling along the rocks directly behind the boat. It’s always nice when we are close enough to good snorkeling/diving that we can go straight off of Kosmos. The water had cooled down; Christi wound up putting on a shortie wetsuit.

Continue reading →

Bahia Agua Verde, Day 2

Posted on by
Reply

Sunrise on Tuesday, November 1

One of the sailboats left early in the morning. That boat had been on the edge of the most protected waters. We immediately picked up anchor and moved about 200 feet north into the spot where it had been. Even though we’re still not completely protected waters, this new spot was an improvement over the last spot. It’s amazing how much of a difference a couple of hundred feet can make.

Christi woke up feeling horrible. She did drag herself out of bed for a few minutes to help move the boat, but she went right back to bed and didn’t get up again until mid-afternoon.

The men got down the dinghy and went to shore. They checked out the big sand bar between the land and the big rock, then went and checked out the village. View of the shoreline looking northwest.

Continue reading →