Leaving La Paz and Caleta Lobos
After one last Zumba class, one last almond croissant, and
the purchase of a few boat supplies from Lopez Marine, we lifted our anchor at
La Paz in the early afternoon of Monday, March 28.
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| Joanneke and Doug drinking IPA at Harkin SUP in La Paz |
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| Last night in La Paz-- dancing in the street with Jan and Joanneke |
As it was later in the day we decided to only go as far as the Caleta Lobos anchorage, ten miles north of the city. We stopped along the way to top up our fuel at Marina Costa Baja and oogled Steve Jobs’ incredible yacht which was moored there.
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| Ka'sala at the bow of the late Steve Job's high tech yacht at Marina Costa Baja |
Sailing with our friends Jan and
Joanneke aboard Witte Raaf, we were expecting to drop anchor in Caleta Lobos on
that hot afternoon for a swim and a relaxing evening with an early-to-bed. Why is it nothing turns out as planned? Within minutes of dropping the hook we were
set upon by a cloud of bobos, the most obnoxious of flies, which look like
black flies but don’t bite. Instead,
they flit into your eyes and ears, crawl along your hairline, tickle up your
arms, and try to join you for dinner.
Ugh! We put in ourscreens and
cowered below, eating a simple supper.
Then the wind picked up. Caleta
Lobos is a great anchorage, except when winds come from the west. Guess where they came from? Straight in from the west. From my journal I wrote:
Soon as the sun set a
south westerly wind began and quickly increased, giving us 20+ knots of wind
throughout the night. The seas built and
in a couple hours we were hobby horsing through close set white caps, driven
across the Bay of La Paz and into the anchorage. We had the AIS anchor watch on and we held fast on the lee shore.
It was so bumpy, I moved from my forward berth into one of the settees
and rigged the lee cloth. Both of us
slept fitfully. In the morning I was
scared to leave and scared to stay but, in the end, common sense prevailed and
we departed about 7am. It was a bit tricky
getting the anchor up, as we leaped up and down, but I got it up and tidied
away without falling overboard or getting too wet. Doug cranked up the engine rpm to motor
against the wind and waves out of the bay and - we were free!
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| Caleta Lobos on a calm day - we were in the upper middle bay (picture from SV True North blog) |
Our original plan had been to go from Caleta Lobos to Caleta
Partida, an anchorage between Isla Espiritu Santos and Isla Partida to do some
hiking. From there we would continue on
to Ensenada Grande and Isla Islotes to swim with the sea lions. Unfortunately, these anchorages would also be
exposed to the south westerly winds predicted to continue at night over the
next few days. Instead, we decided to
move out of the Bay of La Paz, where these winds were the strongest, and head
for San Evaristo, a small bay and fishing village on the Baja mainland 45
nautical miles north. After our dramatic
start to the day, we found ourselves motor sailing by the early afternoon and
arrived in San Evaristo a few hours later.
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| Beachfront - village of San Evaristo |
Unfortunately, our dream of a calmer anchorage was not to be. As I wrote in my journal at the time:
We have been getting to know our anchoring gear a lot better these last few nights as we find ourselves in more exposed areas. At 8pm the wind comes up as if a
switch has gone off. It blows in from
the west and accelerates down through the mountains - upwards of 30 knots. Ka’sala dances back and forth on the chain
and the wind generator howls.
Fortunately, in San Evaristo, there is no fetch and we are not on a lee
shore. It is a
sobering thought, however, when you look out into the pitch black, star-studded sky and
try to imagine dealing with a dragging anchor. We never want to find out!
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| Ka'sala downwind on the way to San Evaristo (Joanneke photo) |
San Evaristo
We stayed in San Evaristo for three days, waiting for the
westerly winds to play themselves out. There was a steady flow of sailboats in
and out and it felt like the bay was a transient spot for sailors moving up and
down the coast. The inside of the bay
was lined with a white sand shell beach.
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| The road leading to San Evaristo |
Set just behind the berm was a series of fish shacks and we watched with
fascination as the pangueros went about their business. They had several floats in the bay with huge
blue barrels filled with what I think was bait.
We watched them transit back and forth between them, the beach and out
to sea. Behind the shacks was a tiny village
with an even smaller church. It’s illuminated
cross is a beacon for the returning fishermen.
Behind the village, the steep, striated craigs and cliffs of the Gigante
Mountains form a surreal backdrop.
Illuminated in sun and moonlight, their unusual colours and shadows give
San Evaristo a moody vibe. There is no
electricity, but the hum of generators could be heard, especially from the
desalination plant during the day.
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| Ka'sala and Witte Raaf in the San Evaristo anchorage looking east to Islan San Jose |
We also went for a hike along a dirt road leading to an area
of salt pans and up into the hills beyond.
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| Rough hiking through the cactus and prickly bush |
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Jan and Doug on the way to the salt pans
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| Looking at the salt pans from the hills |
We had kayaked to the beach and, as we were dragging them ashore, we
were joined by Bobby, a medium sized brindled dog who proceeded to accompany us
for the rest of the day.
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| Bobby loved having his ears scratched (Joanneke photo) |
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| Bobby |
We passed a
couple of rancheros behind the salt pans and continued back to the village to
visit Maggie Mae’s – a little restaurant on the beach. She made us some of the best fish tacos I
have ever had, accompanied by ice cold cervasa.
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| Ranchero - notice the solar panel (Joanneke photo) |
Bobby lay panting beside us.
While waiting for our lunch, Joanneke and Doug painted our boats on
enormous chocolata clam shells. These
small works of art would join many others decorating Maggie Mae’s patio.
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| We're looking forward to seeing this shell in the collection next year |
We learned from her that there were about 50 families living
in San Evaristo, but not at the same time.
Most of the children go to school in La Paz during the week accompanied
by one parent and staying with family.
It takes three hours to get to La Paz on dirt back roads. Although there is a small, local, primary
school, there is no regular teacher.
Instead, student teachers come on a three month cycle to educate the 15
or so students in Grades 1 – 6. Although
most families get their groceries in La Paz, there is a fruit and veggie truck
that comes to visit once a week and a buyer comes regularly to purchase the
fish from the locals and those who live on the outer islands. There are three “fancy” houses in town
inhabited by “important” people such as the director of the fishermans’
collective. San Evaristo seems a vibrant place, though I
wonder if the children will return, full time, once their education is
complete?
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| Imagine living in this San Evaristo landscape! (Joanneke photo) |
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