Bahía Concepción Area, Baja California Sur, Mexico
05/22/2003 - 05/31/2003
Sailing in the Sea of Cortez has been wonderful. Another broad reach under gennaker alone.
We weighed anchor from La Ramada around 10 AM and motor-sailed north in less than 5 knots of breeze. By noon, the wind was coming over our shoulder at about 5-8 knots -- enough to fly our gennaker. Yeah!
We rigged and unfurled the gennaker from its "snuffer sock" and doused the mainsail. Under gennaker alone, we enjoyed a wonderful broad reach in 8-14 knots of wind with 4-6 knots of boat-speed.
Just after lunchtime, we hooked a large fish that was taking one of our two hand-lines on a large arc around our stern. When fishing with hand-lines, the boat does all our "fighting" once we hook something.
Most fish can't wrestle for long with 250 pound test fishing line and a boat traveling at 6 knots. Within a few minutes, the fish is usually fins-up-exhausted and skimming along the surface behind the boat.
We pulled in the beautiful "tuna-like" fish, hoping we had caught something tasty. Unfortunately, even with lots of teriyaki sauce and a good grilling, this Mexican Bonito was not too tasty. Future Bonito will be returned unharmed to their homes.
Late afternoon, the shifty winds caused Duncan to spend lots of time futzing with the sails, but most of the time, we kicked back and enjoyed the whoosh of water passing under Whisper's hull. Yet-another awesome sail in the Sea of Cortez!
Sailing north, about 2 miles off the mountainous Baja coastline, heading for Los Pilares.
First stop, Los Pilares
Around 6 PM, we arrived at Los Pilares the last "protected" anchorage before rounding the corner into Bahía Concepción.
In four cruising guides, Los Pilares was mentioned in only two. This means that at least two cruising guide writers did not even consider this an anchorage! About a mile or so south of Punta Concepción, a small point of land sticks out into the Sea of Cortez about 1/4 mile. This point provides limited protection from from south (and southeast or southwest) winds. It is completely open to the north, northeast, and east.
We rounded the point and found two boats anchored behind "the pillars" of rock (thus the name) that form the point.
The anchored boats appeared to be bouncing a bit, so tucked in closer to the shore and the reef. We dropped back between the shore and one of the boats. Duncan then took a quick snorkel on the anchor and a nearby "dark-spot" in the water to see if it was a garden of weed, or a rock reef. The anchor was set well, but the dark spot was a rock reef, rising up from the sandy bottom at 15 feet, to about six feet from the surface. Whisper draws almost 7 feet to the bottom of her keel. If she did a 180 degree swing, she might end up bumping on this rock. We re-anchored away from any dark spots in the water.
Robin snorkels around as the Mexican Navy approaches.
Unfortunately, after the second anchoring, Whisper ended up in only 10 feet of water (but on a rising tide). This is very shallow and would become dangerous if weather or swell conditions worsened. However, anchoring deeper in the anchorage would expose us to significantly more wind and swell, creating uncomfortable sleeping conditions. Heading north into Bahía Concepción would put us in after dark. Since we did not like any of these alternatives, we stayed put -- keeping a close eye on the wind, depth and swell. Duncan set an aggressive anchor alarm (to go off if Whisper moved more than 60 feet) and documented an exit bearing in the log. Once settled, we snorkeled over to the reef for a quick exploration before dark.
We enjoyed a quiet, comfortable night in the anchorage and the anchor alarm never went off.
Hola... The Mexican Navy appears in Los Pilares -- dressed in dark clothes, heavily armed, and driving a damaged gray panga.
The next morning, Robin jumped in to snorkel around in better light. Just as she headed over to the reef and beach area, a gray panga came around the corner of the point.
Even at a distance, the drab panga (most are white with colorful stripes), and the dark figures (with dark long sleeve shirts and slacks) indicated they were likely Mexican Navy.
They motored up to Whisper and Robin, the snorkeler. The elder, carrying only a sidearm, drove the boat and did the talking. The younger, sat quietly, holding his matching dark gray M-16. After exchanging greetings, the elder asked, in Spanish, where we were from. Robin quickly tried to figure out what they asked and proudly responded "San Francisco" and then commented on the beauty of the area.
With that, they realized that we were (probably) harmless and (probably) not engaged in nefarious deeds. They did not ask to come aboard, and (uncharacteristically) we did not invite them. With the Navy guys staring over the side of their panga into the clear green water for a few minutes, we wondered what was next. Then, they started the motor and moved on.
Santispac Area, Bahía Coyote in Bahía Concepción
The next day, we left Los Pilares and headed north and around the corner into beautiful Bahía Concepción. The bay opens to the north, but plunges about 20 miles almost due south between two Baja Mountain ranges. It is about 5-7 miles wide and scattered along its shores are dozens of islands and anchorages awaiting lazy gunkholing sailors like us.
As we sailed into the bay, the southeast winds wrapped around the corner and sent us flying toward our first destination, Bahía Coyote. A great 12 mile sail into the bay with winds up to 20 knots and 8 knots of boat speed provided more great sailing. The aerial photographs from the cruising guides made this area look ideal for relaxing at anchor, exploring the region, and having fun.
Santispac Anchorage at the north end of Bahía Coyote (in Bahía Concepción). This photo is looking south into Bahía Concepción. The bay reaches 20 miles inland.
We pulled into a quiet anchorage with one other boat and dropped the hook in about 25 feet of dark water. The anchor did not grab on the first attempt to set it, so up came the anchor. When the anchor came up covered with weeds (and a turquoise sandy patch emerged on the bottom 25 ft down), we discovered that the darkness of the water was due to a very weedy bottom. The second time, the anchor found the sand, bit deep, and set well.
An exhilirating, tiring day led us to the conclusion a quiet, relaxing evening alone was in order. Friends on Crusader and Citation were just around the corner in the next anchorage, but we were going to wait until the next day to deploy the dinghy and visit them. About five minutes after making that decision, Dick on Crusader called on the radio to invite us to head in-shore for dinner with Crusader and Citation at a local restaurant. (Note: we frequently refer to people by their boat names!). The prospect of going to a restaurant for the first time in weeks was too good to pass up. We deployed the dinghy, headed around the corner into the Santispac anchorage to meet our friends at Ray's Restaurant. We enjoyed Ray's immensely and visited again the following week.
Ray's Restaurant at the Santispac Anchorage. Our first restaurant since Loreto! Left to right, Kevin (Citation), Dick (Crusader), Robin & Duncan (Whisper), Betty (Citation), and Pat (Crusader).
Whisper anchored in Playa Santa Barbara, at the south end of Bahía Coyote in Bahía Concepción.
Playa Santa Barbara
"Hey you guys, where have you been, we've been waiting for you". Kate on Lionesse heard us on the radio and asked us when we would join them in a nearby anchorage. We spotted them about five miles south in the Playa Santa Barbara anchorage. Mañana - Playa Santa Barbara.
Playa Santa Barbara is one of the few desert anchorages on the Baja with a few palm trees to provide shade on a white sandy beach. We headed south the next day to find Jim and Kate on Lionesse and their next door neighbors, Doug and Pat on Sonsie.
We'll spend the next six days playing in Playa Santa Barbara.
Kate and Jim from Lionesse.
Beautiful Lionesse, a 65ft Cheoy Lee motor-yacht anchored next to us in Playa Santa Barbara.
Playing on the Playa
We had not visited with Lionesse since Puerto Vallarta and we looked forward to catching up with them. They only planned on hanging around Bahía Concepción for a couple days with a plan to move north to Santa Rosalia. We slowed them down for an extra couple of days!
Shortly after arriving and saying hello, we made dinner plans, but mentioned that we were low on provisions. Kate offered to treat us to dinner on Loinesse and we offered up cocktails and hors d'oeuvres on Whisper. Robin found some fancy canned crabmeat (real! $10US/can) and she made (an awesome) hot crab dip. Chaika, a boat in a nearby anchorage, heard of our low-provision plight and offered to pick us up some provisions before they headed down to Playa Santa Barbara. They helped re-stock us with some fresh veggies and bananas!
That afternoon, we headed into the beach to "hunter-gather" dinner for the next day. In this case, butter clams were on the menu, and we found enough for four people. We then hang them aside in clear saltwater for 24 hours to let them "clean out" before preparing and eating them.
Dinner that night on Lionesse was a wonderful gourmet experience. The galley, dining, and living areas on Lionesse are nicer than you find in many luxury homes. We enjoyed baked chicken, fresh asparagus, tasty rice, and Ghirardelli chocolate brownies for desert. Dinner was served on china and wine was served in crystal. We had a wonderful time and committed to prepare dinner the next night with freshly-collected clams.
The next day we snorkeled around the point and then returned to the boat to prepare dinner for our guests. Robin's recipe called for "clean" clams to make the broth for clam sauce. Duncan spent a couple of hours in the blazing sun cleaning the outside of dozens of our little mollusk friends. After only 2/3 of the way through, he said enough already and Robin got started with what she had. Kate & Jim brought over ice from their ice maker and we enjoyed grown-up drinks - vodka tonics. An hour later, an excellent spaghetti with clam-sauce emerged from Whisper's galley.
After dinner, we ventured into shore to enjoy a beach bonfire with other cruisers from the anchorage.
Playing on the beach in Playa Santa Barbara. This is either Robin's new hiking stick or her contribution to the bonfire firewood.
The beach bonfire night. BYOB -- bring your own blanket (to sit on). Darn, no one had s'more makings in their provisions!
Robin relaxes and enjoys another cloudless Sea of Cortez sunset.
Doug on Sonsie was quite the boy scout. Nice job on the fire! When it cools way down to 78F, we need to warm our bones beside the fire.
After a recent leg shave, Robin no longer resembles her new friend.
Exploring Playa Santa Barbara
The next day we hiked a nearby ridge and point and enjoyed the rugged beauty of the surrounding mountains. In the evening, most of the anchorage met for dinner on Lionesse. The theme is heavy hors d'oeuvres, where everyone brings a potluck appetizer to share. Robin had great success with her last hot dip, so this time it was a hot artichoke dip. It was one of the first appetizers to dissappear.
Fourteen people gathered quite comfortably on the upper outside deck of Lionesse. Cruisers from Citation, Crusader, Chaika, Sonsie, Whisper, and Lionesse were represented and we enjoyed the very social evening.
In general, we try to hide the fact that we were computer geeks. Computer geekdom served us well in the past as well as the present. However, lots of cruisers have lots of problems with their computers. Occassionally, we take precious time away from our busy days to help folks out with computer problems. The next day, we spent the morning helping Crusader with some computer issues, then splashed around some more and enjoyed the warm clear water of the anchorage. Lionesse planned to leave the next day. They invited us to join them for dinner at Ray's Restaurant. To get there, Jim launched "Kate's Boat".
Kate's Boat is a 15ft hard-bottom Novurania inflatable tender. With a console and steering wheel, comfortable seating for six, and a 50 HP Yamaha 4-stroke outboard.
We covered the five miles to Ray's in about 15 minutes and enjoyed a great dinner ashore. When we returned to Lionesse, we had a "movie night", watching Bridget Jones' Diary DVD on the large flat-screen TV.
Before Lionesse left, they also helped to sustain our caffeine addiction by re-supplying us with four pounds of Peet's coffee (Major Dickason's Blend!). Kate performed the calculation of how many of her remaining pounds of coffee they needed during their trip back to California, and determined that we could buy four pounds without straining their supply. This is the second time Kate and Jim have been kind enough to restock us with Peet's! At least we're not roughing it too badly out here.
Playa Santa Barbara Photo Gallery
Dunc hiking, with Whisper on the right in the background.
Robin, with Whisper, Lionesse, and Sonsie in the background.
The Playa Santa Barbara anchorage at the south end of Bahía Coyote -- in beautiful Bahía Concepción.
The rugged landscape encouraged us to stay on the trail.
Robin at the point on the north end of Playa Santa Barbara, overlooking Tecomate rock and Bahía Concepción.
Lots of soft corals, sponges, sea fans and colorful "lichen" type organisms. This is some beautiful "live rock".
"Interesting" Snorkeling
Bahía Concepción snorkeling cannot be characterized as great, but it was certainly interesting. Much more "plant-like" material exists all around each of the shores and rocks than we have seen before. This is cool to look at, but leaves you with an "icky" feeling when it touches your arm or leg as you are swimming along. The visibility varied from 6-25 feet, and the water temperature was 80-85F. We finished snorkeling by chocolate clam gathering -- which are much harder to find here than in Ballandra. Robin is finally getting the hang of free diving with a total of 12 chocolate clams to her credit.
This wacky "fabric" of plant matter (?) covered much of the bottom in the shallows. Another floating "sargassum" type weed reached to the surface like kelp, fouling anchors around Bahía Coyote.
A 12" Round stingray cruises by.
As sleepy as some of the other Mexican fishing villages we've visited, but with paved streets, no trash, and little dust!
Mulegé
Mulegé (pronounced Moo-la-hay) is the nearest town with any decent sized stores for provisioning. We had a map and a recommended store, but no easy way to get there.
First, we needed to find an anchorage near a road and well protected enough to be able to schlep back a bunch of groceries in a dinghy. We decided to motor Whisper north, five miles back to Santispac.
When we came ashore in Santispac, we walked up to the road and began hitch-hiking. Robin commented that this was her first experience hitch-hiking, and Duncan could not remember whether he had ever hitch-hiked. We waited only about 10 minutes for the first vehicle to come along and we had our ride! Thank goodness - it was hot just standing there.
Our first experience hitch-hiking. A sweet 80ish widower from Oregon offered us a ride in "Old Yeller". No kidding, that's the name on the bug deflector.
A big yellow Ford Econoline with a roof-rack pulled off the road just in front of us. A cute old gringo in his late 70's (early 80's?) climbed out of the van and walked around the front to secure his open hood. On the bug screen along the hood was lettered "Old Yeller".
At this time, it was not clear if he was stopping for us. He said he "didn't have room", and initially we interpreted that he was not offering a ride. Then, he proceeded to open the side door and re-organize the rear area of the van.
The van had been converted into a camper, and the plywood "bed" was balancing some computer gear (an old monitor and printer) he was taking to Mulegé.Sitting in the back on the plywood shelf, we chatted on the twelve mile trip into Mulegé.
An outdoor shoe store, toy store, and, electronics store. The clerks were watching soap operas on the few TV's on display.
We learned this nice gentleman was widowed a year earlier. He and his departed wife had lived at least some of each year in Mexico for the last 27 years. He was selling his Mexico RV-trailer and moving back to Oregon. He asked us if we wanted to buy an RV, but we politely declined.
Duncan held onto the computer gear (that had been moved to make room for us), and caught the occasional pan that fell off the galley hooks and clunked onto his head. Our new friend drove like he had negotiated these roads and curves many times in the past.
We arrived safely on the outskirts of Mulegé and walked into town. Later we spotted Old Yeller parked on a Mulegé street and snapped her picture for the log.
A cute pink bungalow, nestled on the riverside and buried in bougainvilleas -- is now dwarfed by the new 2-story CA-style home next door.
We walked all around town, stopped at a pharmacy, an Internet cafe, and a restaurant for lunch, then we shopped at the market. As we explored town, it struck us how trash-free the town seemed. Many other Mexican towns we have visited are a mess with plastic bottles and trash.
At the market, we stocked up well on many staples and a few luxury "junk food" items. Before leaving the market, we removed and disposed of all the cardboard containers. Cockroach eggs frequently end up on cardboard containers, so we remove all cardboard before the groceries near the boat. So far (knock on wood here), we have been vermin and insect infestation free.
With big canvas bags in hand, we briskly walked into the town square to find a cab back to Santispac.
The Santa Rosalia river runs through Mulegé. It was surprisingly clear water (and trash free!).
As the cab came to the outskirts of town and we got close enough to see the gulf again (Mulegé is 2 miles inland up a small clear river), all we could see was deep-blue covered with huge whitecaps! Afternoon winds can blow as high as 25-30 knots and when they arrive from the wrong direction, dragging anchor is a real possibility.
We worried for an instant, then quickly rationalized that the wind was coming from a direction that would cause our anchor to bite harder. When we came over the rise and saw the Santispac anchorage (with smaller, but many whitecaps), we were happy to see Whisper pulling steadily on her anchor, just bouncing on the waves.
The cab driver dropped us off right at our dingy and helped us get the groceries into Shout.
Launching the dinghy was difficult because of the surf and the shallow water. With Robin and groceries in the dinghy, Duncan walked Shout out to waist-high water and started the engine. He climbed in and we took off. About 25 yards out, Robin's hat blew off her head and ended up in the water behind us. Duncan turned the dinghy around (in the large waves) and headed back toward shore. As we approached the hat, a wave pushed the stern causing Robin to miss the retrieval and Duncan to drive over the hat. The outboard ground to an immediate halt as the hat string wrapped around the propeller. Drifting sideways in the surf, toward shore, with a dinghy-load of groceries is not a comfortable feeling. Luckily, the hat string was easy to untangle from the prop and we were back underway within a minute.
After stowing the groceries and bouncing around on our anchor, it became clear that the night in Santispac might be uncomfortable and nerve wracking. With plenty of daylight left, we decided to move to another anchorage on a better protected side of the bay. Playa Santa Barbara would have been great, but after six days there, we were ready for a change of scenery. After assessing the wind direction and consulting the cruising guides, we decided to move to the south anchorage at Playa El Coyote -- about four nautical miles south of Santispac.
As we neared the new anchorage, we found glass calm and an empty anchorage. The nearby Playa El Coyote north anchorage was still windy and bouncing and contained about 10 boats. No one came over to the south anchorage and we enjoyed a great, quiet night alone.
The camping beach and palapas at Coyote South anchorage.
Camping Out at Playa El Coyote South
For the next three days, we relaxed and enjoyed the south Coyote anchorage as the lone boat. Campers came and went from the lean-to palapas on shore and seemed to be enjoying the Baja from their tents, campers, or RV's.
One French couple (about our ages) had purchased an RV in the US and they take their long summer vacations to explore the western US and Mexico. This year, they came down to the Baja. They seemed to get a kick out of our "water-RV" adventures, and we were interested in their "land-yachting" adventures.
Now zoom in. A pick-up under the palms, a tent, two beach chairs (with relaxed occupants from San Diego), and the shade palapa for storing gear, cooking, sleeping, and/or eating.
During a garbage run into shore, Duncan met a young couple from San Diego that had bee-lined down the Baja for 13 hours with their pick-up truck, tent, and camping gear. The guy had been visiting the Baja since he was 8 years old, so he knew exactly what to expect. His (new?) girlfriend had never been to Mexico before, and this was going to be her first impression. They had done a side trip to Mulegé and Loreto, and seemed to like Loreto marginally better than Mulegé (which she didn't like at all).
Her first impressions of Mexico (Baja) were junk cars, plastic bottles (and trash) everywhere, and the impromptu "dumps" in the arroyos and ravines. Just to top off her impressions, they were robbed the day before we arrived. When they were out snorkeling, someone went into their tent and stole some of his clothes, his hygiene supplies, and their cash -- leaving her stuff and a wallet with credit cards still in it.
Duncan and the San Diegans talked about "first impressions" of Mexico. Many of their first impressions coincided with ours, but we quickly realized that we were comparing Mexico to the ole USofA. After a few months in Mexico, we stopped doing this and accepted it as a different culture with different values, economic incentives, and priorities. As soon as we got over the desire to "fix things", we started to appreciate Mexico for its beauty and forgive its eyesores. Hopefully, this couple from San Diego will someday have time (more than 5 days) to come appreciate Mexico as it is.
Exploring Playa El Coyote (South)
While in Playa El Coyote South, we hunted for a hot spring mentioned in the cruising guides, but no jacuzzi for us. We circumnavigated Isla Coyote in Shout and snorkeled the southwest point of the island.
We acquired more butter clams to enjoy as steamers and on another day chocolate clams, which we grilled as appetizers. By the end of our time in Bahía Concepción, Whisper and crew were pretty "clammed-out". Maybe by this fall, we'll be anxious to enjoy another clam feast, but for now we are done!
A Coyote South anchorage panorama.Great south-protected anchorage, warm water swimming (with awesome nighttime bioluminescence), and friendly campers on the beach. Not a bad place to spend the last few days in this awesome bay. We never found the hot spring that is (allegedly) somewhere just to the left of the end of the sand beach.
Our beautiful Bahía
What had we expected in Bahía Concepción? Not much, really. Other veteran Baja cruisers had given us their reviews with lots of negative stuff. In the winter and fall, it is too cold and too windy (usually, out of the north). In the spring and summer, it is way too hot with little wind. The air could be 95-100F and the water 85-90F -- too warm even to "cool down" with a swim. We heard the bugs were thick, the snorkeling was poor-to-average, and you could encounter stinging jellies when you swim. There are rattlesnakes on land and scorpions fall out of the palm trees. If these were the conditions, we would probably want to get out of there ASAP.
Well, like other experiences, with our expectations set that low, anything will seem better! We enjoyed beautiful, warm (max 90F), consistent (5-15kt) daily winds out of the south or east. This kept most of the bugs away, but the little non-biting "no-no's (pesky small flies) did become annoying at times -- so on went the bug juice. The water was warm, but Duncan (who likes Jacuzzi's in summertime) had no problem with the 80+F water and we both enjoyed it daily. Swimming at night was great and the resulting phosphorescence was very cool! The snorkeling was interesting, and the surrounding mountains and views were spectacular. Not one rattler scared us on our hikes and no scorpions dropped out of the palm trees. The restaurants were good. Access to a town was fairly convenient. All-in-all, we had a great time in Bahía Concepción and hope others will give it a chance! Maybe this is the best time of year to see the bay? Or, we just got lucky.
Heading north to Isla San Marcos
Our plan and itinerary had us moving north by June 1st. Insurance requires that Whisper is north of 27N by the beginning of hurricane season, so today -- May 31st, we are sailing above 27N. The plan is to be in Isla San Marcos by the end of the day. Again, Whisper is on the move!