I’ve read that once you have passed through the Lorenzo
Channel it is like walking through a doorway into a whole new world. There is no doubt in my mind that it is a
gateway to a different type of cruising lifestyle. Once through, the weary Canadian sailor
heaves a great sigh of relief as the entire passage out the Straits of Juan de
Fuca and Neah Bay, past windy Cabo Blanco, Cape Mendicino and Point Conception,
the entire desolate west coast of the Baja peninsula and the contrary East Cape, have been left behind. They can now kick back and enjoy their cervasas in easily
accessible clear water, white sand anchorages. We certainly heaved that sigh, but unlike the
majority of cruisers making this passage, instead of turning left and embracing
the city lights of La Paz, we turned right, unfurled our headsail, and tacked up
to Bahia San Gabriel at the south west corner of Espiritu Santo.
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| The sandy shores of Bahia San Gabriel - Ka'sala to the far left, Witte Raaf closer - Doug and Jan in the dinghy. |
We had spent a glorious week in San Gabriel when we were
travelling with Steve, aboard Silas Crosby, on our last voyage to this area. The shallow bay was glassy calm, the water
was 25 degrees and the sun shone down upon us.
We spent our time hiking, kayaking, beach combing, swimming and hanging
out in the cockpit. We were keen to
repeat the experience. The wide bay has
a shallow anchorage at the northern end and a deeper pool with a narrow
entrance at the south end. We chose the
latter as it was closer to the ruins of the old pearl farm - which we wished to
explore again - as well as easier access to the beach. As with any desire to revisit the past, the
present is never the same, and this adage is especially true when it comes to
the weather!
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| Bahia San Gabriel courtesy of Google - you can see by the colour of the water the deeper anchorage. The old pearl farm is to the right. The hike to the other side begins at the upper right corner of the bay. Yes, it really is this colour!!! |
We anchored in calm conditions and enjoyed a lazy
afternoon. About sunset the wind picked
up to 25 knots from the southwest and we found ourselves in a lee shore with a
steep three foot wind chop pounding our bow and causing poor Ka’sala to hobby
horse around. We were very
uncomfortable, but fortunately we had plenty of chain on the bottom and we
weathered the night, anchor alarm set, without incident. Although our
first night was the only time we endured winds from this direction, over the
course of the seven days and nights we stayed there, 5 were breezy with the
winds swinging primarily from the northeast to the northwest. Luckily, although we
swung around and the rigging whistled, from this direction the seas remained relatively flat and our bow
pointed to shore. We unleashed our wind
generator and for the first time we actually made more power than we used! You
can believe that the three calm afternoons we experienced, we enjoyed to the
fullest!
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| Rosy cliffs bordering the south shore of the anchorage |
Though windier than we would have liked, there are few
places we have experienced that compare to the beauty of Bahia San Gabriel and
that hadn’t changed. Rosy cliffs,
spectrums of vermillion colour threaded through the craggy landscape which
faded and glowed with the passage of the sun, contrasted with a blindingly
white powder beach stretching at least a mile.
The water close to the beach was sea glass aquamarine which gradually
deepened to an emerald green where we were anchored. The sky, for the most part, was an
astonishing blue, riddled with hundreds of juvenile frigate birds who had made
their home in the mangrove lagoon surrounding the old pearl farm. Over the course of our time there, we were
visited by a curious sea turtle, a leaping manta ray, a scavenging sea lion, a
school of well named skip jack, as well as tiny duck- like creatures singly and
in groups. The longer we stayed, the
more we saw.
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| Leaping manta ray |
On our fourth day we were joined by our good friends Jan and
Joanneke aboard Witte Raaf. We first met
Jan in Puerto Vallarta five years ago, just before we made the passage to
Hawaii. He and Joanneke soon followed
and we spent some time together in Hilo, then Honolulu. Their travels eventually brought them to
Comox several times and we have kept in touch over the years. When we last saw them we
promised them we would join them in 2015 for Christmas in La Paz. Be careful what you wish for, because here we
are together again! It was an amazing
feeling to see Witte Raaf sailing into Bahia San Gabriel, as we had been
anticipating the event for several years, and we knew we would have many happy
hours catching up with this inspirational Dutch couple.
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| Joanneke Backer and Jan Buurma |
One afternoon Doug and I launched the kayaks and
circumnavigated the bay. We were pleased
that our little Costco specials could handle the windier conditions. We were able to explore the remains of the
pearl farm by entering a break in the lagoon wall.
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| Doug checks out the frigates |
Mangroves had woven their roots into the old
masonary channels and were filled with frigate birds of all ages and
sizes. Pelicans fished from the shore
and elegant white egrets nervously glided along the waterline.
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| Old walls in the lagoon |
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| Pelicans, cormorants and frigates line the ruined walls of the pearl farm |
A cacophony of ticks, shrills and cries
filled the air as the frigates played, groomed, ate, courted and slept while
keeping a cautious eye upon us. We were
able to repeat this tour when Witte Raaf joined us.
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| Juvenile frigate bird in the mangroves |
On another day we took the dinghy ashore and hiked over to
Bahia Bonanza on, the other side of the island.
The four of us threaded our way through the cactus, thorny bushes and
arid arroyos, enjoying each other’s company, the heat of the day and the
spectacular scenery.
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| Doug and Joanneke |
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| Jan and Doug |
When we got to the
other side we were surprised to see a large group gathered on the beach and a
small cruise ship anchored in the bay. It was quite a windy day and the group did not look particularly happy
to be there and they did not respond to our friendly waves. They trudged away back the way we had come.
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| Jan and Doug traversing an arroyo |
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| Parched earth makes interesting patterns along the trail |
We assume that because the weather was so windy, we were not
joined by many other boats, though we did discover it is a favourite anchorage
of Signor Slim, owner of the Mexican TelCel network and one of the richest men
in the world. He didn’t seem to mind sharing
it with humble sailors.
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| Signor Slim's yacht - the sailbot behind is about 40 feet long |
It was with some regret that we raised our anchor on
Saturday, December 19 to head into La Paz.
However, it was time to join civilization again. We had been without internet or cell coverage
for almost 10 days and we needed to get caught up with family and friends. Christmas was just around the corner and we
hadn’t even begun to plan for it. We had
Michael, a friend from the Pacific Mariners Yacht Club in Marina Del Rey
joining us and there were preparations to be made – not to mention over a
month’s worth of laundry to be done, fresh provisions to be found, and a
thorough bath for the salt encrusted Ka’sala.
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| Hundreds of frigates circle over Witte Raaf |
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| Good friends on Bahia Bonanza |
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