Full Moon Party, hiking volcanos -this is the life!

We left the Bay of L.A. with a months worth of provisions. Since this community does not have electricity, needless to say it doesn't have an ATM or accept credit cards. We are down to about $5.00 in cash. Fortunately, we don't anticipate needing money until we get to Santa Rosalia a few more weeks from now.


Osprey atop cactus

Our first destination was the anchorage at the marine park island of La Ventura. We had this secluded bay to ourselves for the three days we were there. It was a great stop where we hiked the island every day.

From here we went to the large bay of La Gringa for a party with other cruisers in the area. This was a gathering of 17 sailboats and it was a terrific opportunity to meet everyone that we had been communicating with over the ham radio the past months. The reason for the location and date was that it was the full moon with a tide of about 18 feet. At La Gringa there is a lagoon and when the tide turns, you swoosh out of it on any kind of floatie into the bay. It was like a bunch of 12 year old kids all on floaties and hanging out in the water for hours (except for the addition of beer, wine and cocktails).



The next day I went for a couple of hours hiking through the hills, where I was rewarded by 360 degree views of the surrounding islands. That evening, one of the boats called Hipnautical hosted an "outdoor concert" at sunset where we all took our dinghies, tied up to them and were entertained by their guitar and harp. A truly magical night!

The next stop was at Isla Smith, which attracted us because of the 1,550 foot volcano. We got up and left before sunrise to tackle this. It was virtually straight up and there were spots that we were pulling ourselves up with our hands. We took lots of water (to avoid the dehydration that Peter got on the last volcano) as the heat index was already over 100 degrees. The 4 hour return trip was definitely worth it and we continue to seek out anchorages that offer seclusion and hikes onshore.

(Yes, Peter, we just go straight up)

We will be staying out at the various midriff islands for another 5 days or so when we will be heading back to the Bay of L.A. for a net controllers party. These isolated islands are teaming with sea lions, birds of all varieties, lots of beaches, hiking, snorkeling and incredible sunrises and sunsets. The perfect venue for us to continue learning our Spanish and bridge!

Until next time….Remember…"Worry is like a rocking chair…it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." Unknown.

Peter swimming with Whale Sharks

Peter swimming off our stern with the whale sharks

Whale Shark Photos

Chuckwillies on San Estaban


WHALE SHARKS...





Awesome underwater photos supplied by our fellow Whale Shark swimming friends Jay and Janis on the Sailing Vessel Ceilidh.



Peter - Net Controller

Heading into the Northern Sea, Tropical Storm Warning & Swimming with the Whale Sharks!!!!

(note: my photos aren't uploading right now...update...I was able to add them above on September 12th).

After celebrating Peter’s 54th birthday in San Carlos and getting fully provisioned for 6 weeks, we up anchored and set our sails northward to unexplored territory for us. The next 5 days we visited remote anchorages where we didn’t see any other boats. We love these “swim naked” spots and Peter thrives on going days on end without having to put on any clothes.

The claim to fame at the island of San Estaban is being the home of a special kind of lizard called a Chuckwillie, which we were able to spot during our hike onshore. During these decadently relaxing days, we put up the other new SunShade that Doug brought down with him…so now we have total sun coverage from bow to stern.

While on San Estaban, we got the dreaded “call home ASAP” email from Kylie, so we up anchored before dawn and motored for 10 hours to get to The Bay of L.A., which is the closest village, where we dinghied in, and walked to the store where we were able to use their satellite to connect to Skype to phone her. We were very relieved to find that it was just a cash flow problem due to tuition being due and an unexpected brake job on the car.

The trip over was exciting as we went through a huge pod of Fin Whales, plus we were escorted on two different occasions by a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins. It was a day out of a National Geographic magazine!

WHALE SHARKS…..yahoo, yahoo!!!!!!

The Bay of L.A. is a popular summer spot for cruisers as it offers an unlimited amount of anchorages within easy sailing distance to the best hurricane hole in the Northern Sea. We spent a few nights anchored off the village where we were able to re-provision, go out for a few great meals and meet some of the cruisers that we’ve only talked to on the radio. The great attraction is also the elusive Whale Sharks that are resident here in the summer months. We heard one of our fellow cruisers announce that they had seen them yesterday, so we quickly moved to the Southern Bay in hot pursuit... The first day we didn’t have any luck, but had a nice walk on the beach and a dinghy ride in the marsh. The following morning, we got a call on the radio from our new friends, Jay and Janice from a neighbouring boat saying that they had spotted one, so we dropped what we were doing and headed over in QuickStar.

As fast as we could, we anchored and jumped in the dinghy to join them. Within minutes we were in the water with our snorkel gear, swimming with this mammoth Whale Shark. Ironically, it was only a baby at about 15 feet! We spent about an hour in and out of the water with this gentle giant and when it swam away we headed back to the boat. I stayed on “Whale Shark” sighting duty from the boat, and was well rewarded just an hour later when another Whale Shark (20 feet) swam all around the boat. It was incredible. Shortly afterwards, another Whale Shark came swimming by to say hello so Peter jumped off the boat and got back in with it. Just too exciting for words!!!! We spent the rest of that afternoon onshore at Jay and Janis’s palapa, with our other new friends, Jim and Susan from Windward Bound.

Peter has volunteered to be a Ham Radio net controller, which basically means he is the host of one of the evening broadcasts for the cruising community. It is a vital service, especially since we have a weather expert on each evening, which is important during this hurricane season. There is currently a Tropical Storm “Lowell” that is expected to make landfall tonight – although we are out of its’ path. According to this expert, and historical data, we are still anticipating another five named storms before the end of October

I’m able to update this blog from the internet café, which is also the local gathering place for the cruisers in this area, so this is taking longer than normal with all the socializing, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

We will be heading out to the boonies again tomorrow…..
Until next time…do something that scares you.