Us heading out
That's us, heading out!.
George Marcotte took this photo off the coast of Cal. some time back.
Note: George is now (Oct. 2004) in New Zealand, after sailing his Nor'Sea to Hawaii, then on to Oz.
Guenevere's Adventures

Cruising Pages


HOME Outfitting Guenevere Contact us
Our DVDs
Video Shorts
Short Hops
(Local Bay area cruises)
Our Plans and Tracking Our Position Reports
with photos
Guenevere's
Reading Room
Links we like

We are underway!
On this page you can read a copy (with photos)
of our "Position Report" 


 
Where we are now
Use your browsers back button to get back to this page

Position Report November 5, 2007

I know, I know. This report is WAY late! How is it that we ever had time to work? We have been so wrapped up in enjoying cruising and travels that we have not gotten around to write it down. After we hauled out and did the bottom job and a short local trip to the local islands, we spent 5 months up in the sea.

So, here goes… 

Just before we departed La Paz, we said goodbye to our good cruising buddies Gordon and Susie of SV Spirit.  They are selling their boat and purchased a trawler in the Pacific Northwest.  We will miss them. 

We also said goodby to Tanya from Amazing Grace who passed away.  She was a very warm and special lady.  She always had a warm welcome for everyone and we will always remember the twinkle in her eyes. She was a special person! 

We had a curious tragedy occur here in La Paz as we were prepping for the Sea.  A single-hander said goodbye to his friends and was heading to the South Pacific.  The boat “Smiles To Go” ended up on a beach north of La Paz early one morning.  An unknown person mentioned on the morning net where the boat was located.  From this point things became very confusing.  Authorities found Mark 4 days later.  He had died on board.  After an investigation, it was determined that some foul play may have occurred. We were on the outside of this and do not know much of the details. 

Enough of this sad stuff!  But it is a very real reminder that reality does creep in, even down here. Enjoy every day of your life.  

We departed La Paz June 4.  We wanted to get all the way north this season so we made a quick trip up to Agua Verde, one of our favorite spots. We did stop at Lobos, Ensenada Grande, Evaristo on the way. It is a very different year.  The water is much cooler and it has not cleared up as fast as it did in the past.  Which means, the water is too cold to swim in, and it is difficult to catch fish with a Hawaiian sling because we can’t see very far in the water. Also, it was too cold to stay in for hours at a time. We spent about a week just relaxing and getting used to hanging on the hook (anchor). 

We stopped into Maria’s Tienda to pick up some supplies. We bought some fresh made Goat cheese and Jill made a WONDERFUL goat cheese and salmon frittata. We sure do seem to eat well, even when we are out. 

Our goal this year is to try new anchorages that we have not been to before.  So, we are not staying in the anchorages as long as we might have if we did not have that goal. 

When we departed Agua Verde, we made a short trip to a place called Yellow Stone beach on Isla Monserrat. We did have a bit of excitement on this trip. 

We had the engine running, and we were also running the water maker. As we were motoring along we looked over the side and found that we were going through a patch of “Red Tide”. Now the question was, do we drink the water or not? As it turns out, when we were anchor down, Jill went below and found water all over the floor boards! I did a quick inspection and found that it was fresh water. I had gotten a drink and forgot to shut down the electric water pump. That answered the question for us. We had pumped all of the water out of one tank. I found that one small hose had worked its way off of a fitting. It’s nice to have two separate fresh water tanks! The next day, on the way to Escondido, we ran the water make and refilled the tank. Having a water maker is also VERY nice! 

We had the engine running, and we were also running the water maker. As we were motoring along we looked over the side and found that we were going through a patch of “Red Tide”. Now the question was, do we drink the water or not? As it turns out, when we were anchor down, Jill went below and found water all over the floor boards! I did a quick inspection and found that it was fresh water. I had gotten a drink and forgot to shut down the electric water pump. That answered the question for us. We had pumped all of the water out of one tank. I found that one small hose had worked its way off of a fitting. It’s nice to have two separate fresh water tanks! The next day, on the way to Escondido, we ran the water make and refilled the tank. Having a water maker is also VERY nice! 

In the past, when boats got to Puerto Escondito, the next stop after Agua Verde, they would take a mooring and refuel, and get a ride into town to reprovision.  This year the prices of the moorings were so high (5 times what they were last year), that many boats did not go there.  Many boats anchored in Jucalito, just around and north of Escondido.  This is where we anchored for about a week. Some boats anchored in the open roadstead just off the town of Loreto. This year we were very happy to find that they now have a very good “Farmers Market”. We even got fresh asparagus!   We had a chance to visit with several boats that we know.  It seems that unless you are at anchor, everyone is very busy with projects.  It’s nice to have a glass of wine and chat.

Farmers Market

As you can see from the photo, we loved it! 

From Jucalito, we headed up to the Bay of Conception with an overnight stop at Punta Mangle, a few days in San Juanico, and another one night stop at San Antonio. A lot of boats make this trip without the stops by making an “overnight”. But we enjoy exploring and taking it slow. 

The Bay of Conception is a very nice place. It has a number of very fine anchorages in it on both the east and west sides. This gives it a safe place to anchor in most wind conditions. 

After we entered The Bay of Conception, we headed to a small anchorage on the west side called El Burro Cove. 

El Burro is the home base for Gary. Gary is the guy who does the Sea of Cortez weather on the Sunrisa HAM radio net. As he lives on the shore of the bay, he does a VERY good job of letting us all know what to expect. Gary is a very friendly and welcoming host. 

The other driving force drawing us there was the 4th of July party that Gary puts on every year. He supplies the hot dogs and fireworks.
Gary at 4th of July party

The rest of us supply a pot luck item and lots of laughs.  

We made it to El Burro Cove for our second annual 4th of July hotdog fest.  Not as many boats there as last year.  But this year a boat showed up with a karokie machine!  That was good for many laughs.

There was even a shark sighting close to shore!

BB in her PFD

Or was it just BB, with her life preserver on? 

And need I say that ALL of the food was GREAT!

Pot-luck

As it turned out, we spent almost a month just hanging out in the anchorages in Conception.  Usually it is very hot here and most cruisers don’t stay for long. On days when we were anchored in El Burro cove, we would wait to hear a musical chime. The sound of “THE ICE CREAM TRUCK”! How wonderful it is to take the dink to shore on a 100-degree day and have a banana split! The sundae from the truck had 5 scoops of ice cream in it, along with the banana and all the toppings! 

There is also a restaurant there called Bertha’s. It was nice to dink in and have dinner once in a while. And the cost of a meal was very reasonable. 

After our extended stay in the Bay of Conception, we headed further north. We stopped at Santo Domingo, just at the mouth of the bay. We stayed there for one night, then made a quick passage to a place called Punta Chivato. What a place this is! Sea shells as far as the eye can see!

Miles of shells

Jill collected a few for our collection.

Collected shells

After spending a couple of days here, we moved on to a place called Sweet Pea cove. This is on an island called San Marcos. From Sweet Pea, we could look across the channel to the Baja. During this time of the year, the Squid fisherman are out at night with BIG lights at attract the Squid. It was like seeing stars on the water. During our stay here, we watched whales feeding on the same squid in the same area. 

We found the water here was a bit clearer, so Greg did a bit of spear fishing and we had a couple of fresh fish dinners. 

Sweet Pea is also very close to Santa Rosalia. It only took us a couple of hours to move to  Santa Rosalia. 

We have to tell you that Santa Rosalia is home to one of the WORLDS BEST taste treats! This treat is hard to describe. Although it sounds very simple when named, it is like none you have ever tasted before. It’s sold at a corner stand that does not even open until after 7 PM each day. Up until I had Jill take a taste of one I ordered, she swore that she would NOT eat one! OK, enough teasing, It’s a hot dog! But WHAT a hot dog. It’s bacon wrapped on a steamed soft sweet French baguette. It’s topped with fresh salsa, cheese, onions and other secret taste treats.  Similar hot days can be found in La Paz, but trust us they are not even comparable.

Our plans were to stay there for just 4 or 5 days. We got ready to depart and I started the engine. I then ran thru our departure check list and found that the Belmar charge controller had quit. NO POWER was getting to the battery. As it turns out, where we were staying, we were just one half block from the Baja Pack office. So, we ordered a new controller and waited for a few days for it to get shipped in to us. As we had some time to kill, we decided to walk the town and take notes and we put together a “Cruisers Map” of the town.

Once we got the new controller and installed it and were sure it was working properly, we headed out north. A lot of cruisers do an overnight sail to Bahia San Francisquito. We decided that there was just too much to see, so we only went as far as Santa Ana. It was an open roadstead, but not bad anchorage in calm weather with some magnificent scenery. We only spent one night, then moved on to another anchorage that is rarely used. It’s called San Juan Bautista. Once again, the views were stunning. 

After a night, we headed out and made it to Bahia San Francisco. We went in to the inner bay. A VERY well sheltered anchorage. As we approached, we had to stand a mile or two off of the point of land at the entrance. We are once again feeling the effects of tide and current. In the Sea of Cortez south of here, the tide is only a foot or two. From here north it picks up A LOT! As far north as BLA, or further, you can see tides as much as 16 feet. We have not had to deal with this since we rounded Cabo San Lucas. 

We spent a few days enjoying the anchorage and visiting a local who lives there. We then moved on to a wonderful island call Salispuedes. We anchored in the south slot. This island is almost 2 islands with just a small low strip of land connecting them. This provides two very nice but very different anchorages.  On our visit here, we found that the water on the north side was very much warmer then on the south side.  There is easy access to walk the island. This place is a treat to anchor in.  We saw a VERY large group of different types of stingrays here.  There are caves to explore, many birds and fish.
Salispuedes South Slot

On our 3rd day there, we got a weather report that it was very possible a hurricane was on it’s way to us. We had to leave earlier than planned, we headed to a place called Purto Don Juan. This is the “hurricane hole” in this area. It’s a lot like Purto Escondido. We motor sailed there as about every boat in the area was also heading there and we wanted a good anchoring spot. 

We managed to get what we felt was a very good spot. For the next couple of days, we, along with about 24 close friends started removing all outside equipment from our boats and stowed it below in preparation of the storm. 

As it turns out, all our work turned out to be a practice run. The hurricane never even came close. 

Once we were sure the weather was not going to act up, we moved the 2 or 3 miles to the anchorage in front of the city (village really) of BLA in the Bay of Los Angeles. This was a very nice small village that we got to explore for a few days. They even have a turtle preserve there. Also, it seemed that we could get a lot of provisions here. But, they were about twice the price as they were in La Paz or Loreto. There were lots of food items that were from the US.  Boxed wines cost $18.00 US.  Fresh produce was another story.  It could be very hit or miss.  Many times, I found produce for sale that I would consider time to throw away.  Whenever there was fresh stuff, someone would call on the VHF to let everyone know.  We are so spoiled in the US.

The village of BLA from anchor
 

We stayed in this area for a few weeks exploring different anchorages that are close by. We visited South BLA, Ensenada Quemado, Alacran, Mitlan North, and La Gringa. 

La Gringa was a very unique anchorage. There is a very large lagoon with a small narrow opening. Remember I told you about the big tides up here. Well, they get even bigger at the full moon. So, each month, on the full moon, the cruisers have a party/pot luck here. We took a floating toy we could ride on, and as the tide went out, road a “waterpark” type ride out of the lagoon! We dropped a large anchor near the exit with a sky towrope on it. Then a lot of us rode a surf board in the outgoing water! What fun it was.

Lagoon Empty

lagoon Full

After our stay in Gringa, we started our slow trip back to La Paz. We could feel the weather changing.  The wind clocked to the north and it is getting colder.  We added a blanket to our bed.  Northerly winds mean it is time to sail south. 

All in all, we had a good summer with only a few gear failures. See our 3 year gear report for more info on our gear. 

Once we got back to La Paz, we spent about 2 weeks and put Guenevere to sleep. That is, set her up so we could leave her alone for some time. We then flew up here to Phoenix. We are spending the holidays with 2 of our sons. 

When I looked, we took over 1,750 still photos and about 24 hours of video for our memories! Who knows, we may do another DVD.

 

Greg & Jill

Our last Position

When we send an E-Mail from Guenevere, our system automatically reports our latest position. If we have sent an email with the last day or so, you can
call us up on  a map and see where we are! To do this just click on the a link I have placed below...

Position Report - Where we are now