JULY IN GUAYMAS

Posted by Admiral
Jul 14 2010

July in Guaymas, Mexico is HOT!!  We have not had an update lately because we went back to the U.S. for about four weeks.  We had various doctor check-ups, some lab work, and then unscheduled dental work, but we are both back in Guaymas now working to get the boat ready to continue the cruising life for a month or two.

Our last contact was from the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez.  We were anchored at Isla Coronados, watching whales and mantas, and Larry was learning how to sew.  We left this cove the next day to seek a better-protected anchorage in advance of some weather (read: wind over 10 knots) coming our way.  Our next stop was in San Juanico, 26 degrees 22.013 minutes North, 111 degrees 25.860 min West.  We arrived Tuesday afternoon and departed Saturday morning.  The only reason I can tell you what we did is because I made notes in the log.  There is a wonderful relaxed air to this as well as a certain sameness which, I hope, will not lull us into carelessness!

San Juanico is a large anchorage with nice beaches.  I say beaches because various parts of the cove are separated from each other by rocky outcroppings.  One set of rocks consists of three “spires”, two of which have osprey nests at the top!Playa El Burro2 013

 

San Juanico 2 009 

San Juanico 2 095 This picture is taken with maximum zoom.  The bird is an adult osprey.

We did the most snorkeling of the trip so far in this cove.  There were many areas to choose from, and lots of fish to see:

San Juanico 2 083 San Juanico 2 065 Many of the folks on the other boats we are traveling with are avid fishermen.  One night, we had a bonfire on the beach and cooked fish and potatoes and drank large quantities of terrific Mexican wine (L.A. Cetto is the winery – try it if you can find some).  The men of our five boats were having a great time:

San Juanico 2 108 From top left:  Doug of Aquadesiac, Steve of Ubuntu, Harold of Seabear, Robert of Blue Dolphin, and ours truly, the Skipper of Peregrine.  After a couple more glasses of wine, they were having even more fun:

San Juanico 2 110 Fortunately for you, I didn’t actually get a picture of a naked butt!

At San Juanico, we joined Doug and Linda for a hike over a hill which connected two opposite-facing coves.  The other cove, open to the north, shows why we were in the southern cove:

Playa El Burro2 055 Remember, these are simply wind waves.  There is no real surf to speak of inside the Sea of Cortez.  This beach was littered with dead puffer fish:

Playa El Burro2 052

When we left San Juanico, we started a two-day trip to Playa Santispac inside Bahia La Concepcion.  At Playa Santispac, latitude 26 deg 45.8 min N, longitude 111 deg 53.0 min W, we found a happy home for several days. There are about a dozen largish (20 ft by 20ft) palapa-roofed structures on the beach.  These are rented for the season I gather. Lots of people just hang out/hide out here for several weeks or months every year. 

This cove and beach (playa) is located about 15 miles south of Mulege.  If you find Mulege on a map, you will see that it is located at the mouth of the Bahia.  Mulege sustained considerable damage during Hurricane Marty in 2003.

We took a taxi or bummed a ride into Mulege two or three times while we were here.  There is a wonderful hotel in town called Las Casitas which has free wifi.  So, naturally, we camped out there for the better part of the day, drank many expensive drinks and ate two meals!  Each night, we gathered on a different boat for drinks and dinner.  On about the third day of this, we relocated south by about half a mile to Playa El Burro.  Harold on Seabear expressed an interest in starting up the hooka, so he and Larry figured it out.  It worked great!  Everybody had a go at it, and the snorkeling here was amazing:

Playa El Burro 132 Doug using a breathing hose from the hooka.  Playa El Burro 099

Fish!  (Panamic sergeant Major)

Playa El Burro 124 Cortez Angelfish.

Playa El Burro 082 Stingray!  Safely at a distance on the bottom.

Playa El Burro 017 Photo taken from my kayak from above the water surface – a little different perspective.

Our friends, Arlene and Steve on Ubuntu, made a very special CD of many of everybody’s pictures from the last few weeks.  We will be bringing this home so that you may watch, too, if you are interested.

We had several adventures in cooking along the way – pressure cooked a chicken with potatoes and apples (Linda’s idea), fresh beets and broccoli (mine).  All efforts were successful.  Larry and Doug discussed our perceived engine overheating problem.  Doug lent us his laser heat sensing gun which we used regularly on the trip up from Playa El Burro to Punta Chivato.  We spent time at Punta Chivato in preparation for our crossing to Guaymas.  We wanted to be able to maximize our speed so that we could arrive in Guaymas well before dark.  The bay is a little tricky to navigate with many shallow areas.  Anyway, we convinced ourselves that the engine is not actually overheating, but the gauges are wrong.  The gauges are original (35 years old), so this is not unlikely.  We will buy replacement gauges when we are in California.

We travelled to Punta Chivato on Wednesday, May 26.  Lat. 26 deg 48.48 min Long 111 deg 51.13 min.  There is a beautiful hotel here which appeared to have no guests.  Apparently, they deal with a moneyed clientele which flies in by private jet to a nearby private runway.  A large group was scheduled to arrive in a few days.  We dinghied to a nearby beach where the shells literally cover every inch of the place, at least 3 inches deep all over!  I have never seen anything like it.  Needless to say, Linda and I went crazy, Doug and Larry waited loreto to guaymas 030 patiently!  Our big frustration was that we had to leave most of them behind.

The Guaymas crossing was beautiful.  I have forwarded a video to Patrick the Webmaster which says it all.  We achieved Nirvana!  (Whatever that is….)

In Guaymas, we worked.  Doug left the next morning after our arrival at 27 deg 55.342 N lat, 110 deg 53.152 W long.  He took a bus to Mazatlan in order to retrieve their Chevy Suburban.  Ernesto, their friend from the taco stand in Mazatlan, had let them store their car there after they returned last March.  Meanwhile, Linda, Larry, and I cleaned and organized and threw out stuff and packed.  When Doug returned two days later in the evening, we were ready to go!  We drove that first night to Hermosillo where we spent the night in a great motel.  For $60, we had finely decorated rooms with BIG beds (kings wider than we had ever seen) and all marble and tile in the bath.  Plus, we were able to have Tucker (the dog) come along.  Next day, off to Nogales, Mx, in search of a metal sculpture artwork that Doug bought for Linda for their house in Napa.  It had been shipped to Nogales and stored since their travels last winter.  We found the warehouse easily enough, they gave special directions for getting to the border, and we were through and inspected in an hour!  The car was loaded to the gills with the artwork taking up all the space between the luggage and the car roof.  The US Border Patrol asked us to unload the whole car, but they only searched a couple of bags.  The only item they were interested in (besides Doug’s pork rinds – no pork products allowed!) was a piece of driftwood Linda had stuck in her box with her shells.  It came from an endangered species of cactus! 

Then, it was balls to the wall to Stockton.  We arrived at Larry’s mom’s house around 3:30 am.  I will finish this update in another day or two.  Stay tuned!

5 Responses

  1. Wes & Barbie says:

    Wow! Amazing photos and exciting adventures! Thanks for keeping us posted!

    Be safe!

    W&B

  2. Rick Cloninger says:

    So, that means that all is well? I have missed your updates on where and what is happening. Take care and enjoy. I am not jealous, I am not jealous, I am not jealous.

  3. John Giorgio says:

    You guys are living the life!!! Thanks for the update. (…and Happy Belated Birthday Larry!!)

  4. Muggs Zabel says:

    Rick, did you really send that message at 3:21 AM!! That’s what I’m talking about when I advise you to not work too hard — you shouldn’t be sending e-mails at 3:21 AM!! LOL. Don’t be too jealous, either. I will be back in Stockton before the end of August, and I hope to actually have some work to do for a few months.

  5. Elizabeth says:

    I also am not jealous…I am not jealous, really I am not jealous. Oh what the heck you’re damned right I am totally jealous. Have another margarita for me Muggs!

    xx
    Elizabeth

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