San Evaristo to Loreto

We weren't catching any fish until about a month ago. Really. All this time on the great big blue and trolling lures much of the time, but still nothing. Until we met The Amazing Mylan. While on anchor in San Evaristo, a lone kayaker paddled up to the boat and asked about the weather forecast. Turns out, he was working his way down from Loreto to La Paz alone in a sit on top kayak with a small sail. And even cooler, he had to be over 70 years old. We eagerly had him over for dinner to hear how his adventure was going and about the 25 years he'd spent training Peace Corps volunteers in West Africa before retiring as a gardener in Kauai. But, back to the fish. Mylan had too many lures and gave us a few, which have been working like clockwork since then. Since he isn't the first person to provide fishing advice, and suggest a no-fail lure (it's a toss-up between who has more advice to dole out, fishermen or sailors), I can only attribute our new found lucky lures to his good karma.



This is the elementary school in San Evaristo, where we spent a few days helping with science week. The last day, the kids broke pinatas which they'd made the day before. Great fun with some learning about action and reaction thrown in for good measure.

We are currently anchored at Isla Coronado, near Loreto, and will spend about another week exploring the islands in the area before continuing northward. We took a month go the 100 miles here from La Paz, and could have spent more time in any of the bays along the way. Cell phone coverage was nearly obsolete however, and we thought our families would want to hear from us. Alex did, hear a rumor about a hill with cell coverage and hiked up it one afternoon to make successful calls to our mothers.

Some more pictures from the past month, including the amazing rocks in Puerto Los Gatos, flying our new spinnaker, and Kristi's new haircut and her handsome stylist who accepts guacamole as payment.

scary wildlife

The picture above is a dolphin scull that is part of an entire skeleton that a friend had on his boat when we caught up with him for on Isla Espiritu Santo. The Whale Museum in La Paz sent him and some college students to clean the carcass and bring it back. Usually an evening with Jack looks more like dinner and a music session, but chips and salsa over a dolphin carcass was an interesting twist.

In general, the wildlife has been both alive and friendly, and we're delighted to share our days with egrets, herons, osprey, pelicans, sealions, colorful fish, dolphins, rays, and just yesterday, an octopus swimming under our boat. However, sometimes, I can't help but feel that the creatures are out to get us. An evening paddle in a bug infested estuary on Isla San Jose over two weeks ago that left me with nasty bites on my face, neck, leg and hands which still itch. Watching egrets settling into the sunset was brilliant and sure made the bites worth it though.


The following afternoon, a swarm of bees came in search of fresh water and didn't leave until the next night. We hid out in the boat all day, only sticking our heads out when a couple from another boat ventured over to say hello. They suggested we place a bowl of fresh water on the bow to draw the bees away from the cockpit. They must have a much longer boat, because all this did was increase the number buzzing guests. The next morning, before the bees returned, we pulled up the anchor and scurried off to Isla San Francisco, making sure not to have any fresh water outside during the daytime.

A week later, I was swimming about 30 feet off the starboard side of the boat in Bahia Agua Verde and saw a pretty big shark fin about 100 feet off the bow. Yup, it was scary. I swam as quickly as I could (which isn't saying much) to the boat, hoping my dangly legs looked too scrawny to be a good meal. Just as I was heaving myself into the kayak, a panga with a local family motored up to warn us about the shark in the bay. As it turns out, it was a young whale shark, which is a docile, filter feeding shark. It stayed in bay for a few days, giving us a couple opportunities to paddle along side it as it fed. Alex even jumped in the water with his mask and swam with it.

To top off the wild creature experience, I was on the beach one afternoon with a Christine from another boat. We'd gone paddling when the afternoon wind started to howl, so we decided to wait it out over lunch and a beer. The neighborhood kids took a liking to our kayak, practicing their paddle stokes in the sand. Soon, the neighborhood dogs also came by to say hello. One of them, while quite friendly, had a look about him that suggested he might mark his territory if you stopped petting him. Which is exactly what he did on my leg. Thinking quickly, Christine poured beer on me, thinking human urine is a remedy for stingray wounds, so beer must work for canine urine.