Bahía Ballandra, Isla Carmen
05/12/2003 - 5/17/2003
More great sailing in the Sea of Cortez. Check out the live action
"Destination unknown" is becoming a common theme for us in the Sea of Cortez. With an abundance of anchorages throughout the Sea, lots of factors influence where we end up at night. First, the cruising guides provide lots of pictures and information to narrow down the choices. Then, many veteran Sea of Cortez cruisers share their opinions on where to go. Other factors include the desire to meet up with friends in an anchorage or the possibility of finding more provisions at tiny stores. These factors point us in a certain direction. Once we weigh anchor and start the voyage, the wind direction and wind speed affect the desire to sail versus "just get there." Sometimes we "drive by" an anchorage to evaluate whether it looks like where we want to stay for a night or more.
Only one hour of our six hour sail gave us no wind, but time to enjoy the incredible scenery
Upon departing Puerto Escondido, the choices for anchorages included Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante, Bahía Marquer or Bahía Ballandra on Isla Carmen. Honeymoon Cove sounds romantic and multiple cruising guides indicate Bahía Ballandra is one of the best anchorages. The wind simplified the choice. We enjoyed a wonderful, mellow sail to the furthest anchorage on the list.
Bahía Ballandra is a popular anchorage
Bahía Ballandra is difficult to spot from any distance away from the island. As we approached Isla Carmen and the general vicinity of the bay, we spotted several masts. Found it! "Whisper, Whisper, this is Sonsie" broadcast through the VHF radio as we furled the sails outside the bay. Friends, Pat and Doug, on Sonsie provided information on the anchorage to assist us in choosing a spot to anchor. Lots of familiar boats greeted us as we arrived in the bay. Susie from a powerboat, Cabaret, shouted on her loudspeaker " Hello Whisper. Welcome to Ballandra". After anchoring, Sonsie called with an invite to a clam party. Apparently, Ballandra is well known for an abundance of chocolate (pronounced chok-uh-la-tay in Spanish) clams.
BYOC - Bring your own clams to share.
We did not have any clams to contribute. Consequently, Robin only contributed a stick of butter and a very fancy appetizer of cheese and crackers. Friends from Citation, Pacific Jade, Cabaret arrived at Sonsie with chocolate clams prepared in many delicious ways. Barbecued clams with butter and garlic, steamed clams, clams stuffed with a bunch of tasty ingredients all melted in our mouths. In between bites, the techniques and location for acquiring the mollusks were divulged by the hunter-gatherers.
Duncan clams up
Having sampled the tasty treats, the desire for clams motivated us to go clam hunting. With the knowledge gained at the clam dinner, we anchored Shout in 10 to 12 feet of water near the recommended area and donned masks, fins and snorkels. Duncan hovered on the surface looking for the telltale sign of the clams. The experts told us to look for 2 holes about a quarter inch apart. Once the holes are in sight, dive down and dig about 4 to 6 inches below the surface to find the clam. Within a minute, Duncan headed down to the bottom. Frantic flippers twisted, slapped and disappeared. On his first dive, Duncan dug up a clam. On his second dive he came up with 2 clams. Meanwhile, Robin is still trying to figure this whole thing out. On top of it all, Robin is not a great (or even mediocre) free diver. The concept of keeping the snorkel in the mouth, having it fill up with water, holding breath, diving down, digging, frantic flippering, grabbing a clam, surfacing with the clam in hand and blowing the water out of the snorkel is overwhelming. To top it off, Duncan is now grabbing up to 4 clams in one dive. The pressure is mounting. For 45 minutes, we hunted and Duncan gathered clams. With determination, Robin made her final attempt. Dive, dive, dive. Dig, Dig. Feel the clam. Keep digging. Frantically kick flippers. Clam in hand. Surface. Breathe. Woo Hoo!
Bevy of chocolate clams
With a bag of clams heavy enough to look like a meal, we returned to Whisper to assess the bounty. Final score - Duncan 45 chocolate clams and 1 big white clam, Robin 1 chocolate clam. Proper clam cleaning involves leaving the clams in salt water for around 24 hours to allow them to expunge the sand inside the shell. Duncan attached the mesh bag to a line tied to Whisper while Robin researched recipes for linguine with white clam sauce.
The next day, after rinsing the clams in fresh water, we shucked a dozen of the clams to barbecue for an appetizer. Then, Robin started preparing the linquine. What a great dinner! Thanks Sea of Cortez.
One of the rare times Robin is able to get back in the dinghy without a boost from Duncan
Great snorkeling with interesting rock formations, drop offs and tons of different kinds of fish kept us busy. Every location in and around the bay provided great snorkeling. Even though the water temperature was in the high 70s/low 80s, we wore wetsuits to protect us from jellyfish stings. At first, the thought of being stung by a jellyfish is scary. However, it really is just annoying - depending on the type of jellyfish. The predominant jellyfish is the "string of pearls". They are very difficult to see, but you can definitely feel a little irritation on the skin if you happen to brush up against one.
Look over there
Look at the pretty fish swimming
On one snorkeling adventure, Duncan spotted the antenna of a lobster poking out from a crevasse. Upon returning to Whisper, the prospects of a lobster dinner dominated the conversation. Miraculously, a scrumptious dinner of lobster filled our plates the next evening.
Stalking the wily lobster
2 appetizers and 2 entrees
Dick and Pat from Crusader caught a yellowtail. What a catch!
Each day, most people in the anchorage went snorkeling and dinghy fishing. Several days we trolled for fish in Shout. Sierra, a type of mackerel, predominated the fish caught by cruisers. A few bonito, one yellowtail and one pargo added variety to the catch. We did not have much luck catching anything. One fish consumed a large part of our gear by taking the lure, hook, swivel and 10 feet of line. Alas, no fish for the crew of Whisper.
Susie and John on Cabaret hosted a fantastic fish fry to share in the treasures. Folks from Crusader, Citation, Pacific Jade, Sonsie, Red Sky, and Whisper arrived on Cabaret to the decadent smell of fish frying. A great meal of sierra, pargo, french fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce (homemade by Robin) left everyone satisfied.
Surrounded by a large school of dolphins - while kayaking
Bahía Ballandra included lots of "firsts" for us. Another first was observing a total lunar eclipse. Very cool! We debated how often a total lunar eclipse occurs. Consulting Encarta, the software encyclopedia, we learned the answer is not that simple. The bottom line is we were in the right place at the right time to see a total lunar eclipse.
Six spectacular days in Bahía Ballandra treated us to the bounty and beauty of the sea. What a great place!