San Francisco is Not Just a City by the Bay

On leaving Aqua Verde on May 13, we again saw hundreds and hundreds of dolphins. This time there were two groups. The largest was traveling north, and kept leaping out of the water over and over again for miles. Those traveling south got closer to the boat and some swam with us for a couple of minutes, but this time they stayed mostly just under the surface of the water without much leaping. Still incredible, though.

We anchored at Timbabiche (25 16.221'N, 110 56.383'W). We rowed to shore and set out in quest of ice and an up-close view of the "Casa Grande," an impressive ruin noted in our Sea of Cortez cruisers' guidebook. The Casa Grande (large house) was built early in the last century by a pearl fisherman who struck it rich upon harvesting a large, rare, green pearl. The place may have been a marvel for its day and location, but all that remains is a shell which stands out against the surrounding landscape as you cruise into the bay. The pearl industry died sixty years ago and now Timbabiche subsists by fishing and raising cattle.

Timbabiche sits on a wide sand beach, nearly two miles long. Unfortunately the beach is a mess, with flotsom and trash everywhere and deep ruts from truck tires as the locals drive the beach to get to and from the fish camp. We walked what seemed like miles down the beach and then down a sand and dirt "road," through roaming cows (and even a bull) on our way to the village, which turned out to be a scattering of shacks and fences constructed of tree limbs strung together with barbed-wire, and a few small geodesic-type buildings. The latter, one of which appeared to be a school, probably were built from kits and were the most interesting things in the town. We saw virtually no people, except the toothless man we hailed from his "porch" fifty feet from Casa Grande to ask if there was a tienda. We could barely understand his inarticulate reply, but we did find the "store," which made those with the bare essentials in San Evaristo and Agua Verde look like supermarkets by comparison. We got a few bananas and an orange soft drink. No diet coke though and, unfortunately, no ice.

Leaving Timbabiche at First Light

The next day we went to San Evaristo, under sail most of the way, which was a real treat. We anchored at (24 54.596'N, 110 42.372'W), more or less the same place we anchored for three days in April, when we were there with Julian and Janet Galpin. We were only a few hundred yards from the small reverse-osmosis (RO) plant on the beach. In April we did not notice any activity there, but this time the machinery was making a loud racket. As soon as we dropped the hook, we took the dinghy ashore in quest of ice and groceries. A fisherman Sally queried said the place to get ice was at the RO plant. This sounded promising, because in April we had obtained some ice of doubtful cleanliness at the tienda across the dirt road from the RO plant.

The plant operator turned out to be very friendly and helpful and when we asked about purchasing ice, he led us into a small room, new and clean, in the center of which was a pile of randomly shaped pieces of ice. He proceeded to scoop 10 kilograms of ice into our proffered plastic bag, using a new and immaculate shovel. Cost for 10 kilos? Ten pesos. We were elated and clearly had become beneficiaries of the RO plant and the presumably Mexican government program that had placed it in this fishing village. On the other hand, when we got back to the boat, it appeared that the racket from the plant as it produced water would go on all night. It was Saturday night in San Evaristo and a party with live music was taking place on the front porch of a house on the beach. With binoculars we could see the musicians, but the sound was spoiled by the noise from the RO plant. Luckily the plant finally shut down at 10 PM.

Norwegian Steam, Anchored in the Hook, Isla San Francisco

On Sunday, May 15, we came to Isla San Francisco and are currently anchored in the bay known as the "hook", at (24 49.232'N, 110 34.082'W), close to the spot where we spent a single night sheltering from a Norther in January, when Jennifer, Andrew, Amy, and Jon were with us. (Too bad we were not able to experience the beauty of this island with them at the time.) Soon after arriving, Sally swam to shore and Alan rowed the dinghy. We walked the beach and crossed a dry salt pond to reach the other side of the island, where Sally swam some more. Sally swam back to the boat with Alan rowing right beside her, keeping very close, because there was a big power boat, possibly Mexican, with three personal watercraft, which were buzzing around between NS and the shore and the other anchored boats. We believe that personal watercraft are not allowed in the park, but perhaps rich Mexicans can ignore such restrictions.

Sally Surveys the World from the Hook

On our second day at Isla San Francisco we hiked the ridge trail at the south end of the island. From the ridge, you get a fabulous view, both of the hook and of the other side. We got some great photos as well, some of which will eventually be added to this blog. We also walked to the light tower at the south end of the beach. We've seen some great blue herons, a number of frigate birds, a lot of geckos (or possibly small lizards, hard to tell), and a sea turtle swimming along very close to shore. We're anchored close enough to row the dinghy in and there's no surf to speak of so we can land without even getting wet feet.
Today we had intended to leave SF, but the water looked so inviting that we decided to stay another day to go swimming. We jumped off the NS deck hand in hand and Alan swam for about fifteen minutes. Sally stayed in the water for almost two hours, and also swam to shore so that she could walk the rest of the beach.

Tomorrow we leave for an anchorage on Isla Partida, possibly our last stop before heading back to La Paz. Not only are we nearly out of diet coke and beer, we also are very low on other provisions, so we are of necessity becoming creative with meals.

Taking Flight

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