Charter Days 4 and 5
The eco-camp at Ensenada Grande
Our charter continues. Today I'll give you days four and five. Day five was the climax of the trip, so be sure to read all the way through to the end.
Tuesday, May 21st 2013 – Ensenada Grande
The life of a charter guest is so hard. We started our day as usual with coffee, fruit and pastry. As usual, Dawn made a scrumptious breakfast. We had our usual discussion about what we wanted to do today, then raised anchor.
Once again, we motored the short distance (five miles or so) to Ensenada Grande. Dawn and I anchored here a couple of years ago and we know that it’s a great place to go ashore.
When we arrived in the bay, we discovered an Eco-Tours camp on the beach. The University of Richmond was having their field work for an oceanography class. Can you believe an oceanography class in a West Virginia school? They’re totally land locked.
Anyway, there were sleeping tents and a big mess tent on the beach. Twenty or so kids climbed aboard the Fun Baja dive boat and went off for a day’s exploring the reefs around the island. I talked to a couple of kids who remained behind. This was the field work for their class. Spring term in a tent on a white sandy beach on a deserted island in the Sea of Cortez, what’s not to like?
Our guest went ashore to explore. The bay has a fresh water laguna behind the sand berm. The clear, cool water supports a myriad of life. There is a little oasis of green on its shores. Three of our intrepid explorers choose to follow the trail up the canyon to the top of the island. B_, the oldest of the group, decided to stick around the camp and enjoy the day rather than make the trek.
We left a walkie-talkie with the team so that they could call us when they were ready for me to bring the dinghy ashore to pick them up.
Back at the boat Dawn and I were busy with cleaning, cooking and routine maintenance while they were gone. After a couple of hours, I wondered how long they would be away. I called on the radio to check on them and got no response. When I looked at the beach with my binoculars, I saw a couple of guys who looked like our guests walking along the beach.
I decided I better take the dinghy in and investigate. What if they wanted to come back and couldn’t raise us on the radio?
I discovered B_ on the beach. He was ready to come back, but the other guys were still somewhere in the interior of the island. The problem was that they left the radio with B_. When they got back, they’d have no way to contact us.
I took B_ back to the Victory and we kept a sharp eye out for the rest of the group. We had a couple of false alerts when we saw people on the beach that could have been our crew, but in both instances they turned out to be other people. Finally, our guys showed up and I made a final trip into the beach.
On the way back, I hit a rock with the outboard and dented the propeller. The dinghy would no longer plane. The miss-shaped propeller no longer gave me enough thrust to go top speed.
The guys were hot, thirsty and exhausted from their trip ashore. They had hiked all the way to the top of the island. What did they see from there? Lots of water. They had a view of the Sea of Cortez and the rocks to the north. I could see the Sea of Cortez and the rocks from sea level without all the exertion of climbing a mountain in the 90-degree heat. I’ll stick to the boat myself.
Naturally, we had a cool down period. Here in the Sea, you just jump overboard and swim for a few minutes to get your internal body temperature back down to normal. Then Dawn fed the crew and all was right with the world.
While we were cleaning up and getting the boat ready to put to bed, a cribbage game broke out in the galley. I was glad that our guests felt comfortable enough to just enjoy themselves.
Dawn, being the consummate hostess that she is, produced a plate of cookies and chocolates for the card players.
We’re getting used to sleeping under the stars. I think that when we come back north by ourselves, we’ll probably sleep on the aft cabin top again. The cushions are as comfortable as our bunk and we make the bed up with sheets and blankets. We could be in any nice hotel, except that the view is spectacular. The clear skies are filled with stars and the Big Dipper is right over our heads.
The air is clean and clean here. We’re hundreds of miles away from any big city pollution. I wish I knew the stars better, maybe someday I’ll get a book and study them. But for now, we picked out a few familiar stars and planets that we see every night. They are becoming familiar friends.
Tuesday, May 21st 2013 – Ensenada Grande
The life of a charter guest is so hard. We started our day as usual with coffee, fruit and pastry. As usual, Dawn made a scrumptious breakfast. We had our usual discussion about what we wanted to do today, then raised anchor.
Once again, we motored the short distance (five miles or so) to Ensenada Grande. Dawn and I anchored here a couple of years ago and we know that it’s a great place to go ashore.
When we arrived in the bay, we discovered an Eco-Tours camp on the beach. The University of Richmond was having their field work for an oceanography class. Can you believe an oceanography class in a West Virginia school? They’re totally land locked.
Anyway, there were sleeping tents and a big mess tent on the beach. Twenty or so kids climbed aboard the Fun Baja dive boat and went off for a day’s exploring the reefs around the island. I talked to a couple of kids who remained behind. This was the field work for their class. Spring term in a tent on a white sandy beach on a deserted island in the Sea of Cortez, what’s not to like?
Our guest went ashore to explore. The bay has a fresh water laguna behind the sand berm. The clear, cool water supports a myriad of life. There is a little oasis of green on its shores. Three of our intrepid explorers choose to follow the trail up the canyon to the top of the island. B_, the oldest of the group, decided to stick around the camp and enjoy the day rather than make the trek.
We left a walkie-talkie with the team so that they could call us when they were ready for me to bring the dinghy ashore to pick them up.
Back at the boat Dawn and I were busy with cleaning, cooking and routine maintenance while they were gone. After a couple of hours, I wondered how long they would be away. I called on the radio to check on them and got no response. When I looked at the beach with my binoculars, I saw a couple of guys who looked like our guests walking along the beach.
I decided I better take the dinghy in and investigate. What if they wanted to come back and couldn’t raise us on the radio?
I discovered B_ on the beach. He was ready to come back, but the other guys were still somewhere in the interior of the island. The problem was that they left the radio with B_. When they got back, they’d have no way to contact us.
I took B_ back to the Victory and we kept a sharp eye out for the rest of the group. We had a couple of false alerts when we saw people on the beach that could have been our crew, but in both instances they turned out to be other people. Finally, our guys showed up and I made a final trip into the beach.
On the way back, I hit a rock with the outboard and dented the propeller. The dinghy would no longer plane. The miss-shaped propeller no longer gave me enough thrust to go top speed.
The guys were hot, thirsty and exhausted from their trip ashore. They had hiked all the way to the top of the island. What did they see from there? Lots of water. They had a view of the Sea of Cortez and the rocks to the north. I could see the Sea of Cortez and the rocks from sea level without all the exertion of climbing a mountain in the 90-degree heat. I’ll stick to the boat myself.
Naturally, we had a cool down period. Here in the Sea, you just jump overboard and swim for a few minutes to get your internal body temperature back down to normal. Then Dawn fed the crew and all was right with the world.
While we were cleaning up and getting the boat ready to put to bed, a cribbage game broke out in the galley. I was glad that our guests felt comfortable enough to just enjoy themselves.
Dawn, being the consummate hostess that she is, produced a plate of cookies and chocolates for the card players.
We’re getting used to sleeping under the stars. I think that when we come back north by ourselves, we’ll probably sleep on the aft cabin top again. The cushions are as comfortable as our bunk and we make the bed up with sheets and blankets. We could be in any nice hotel, except that the view is spectacular. The clear skies are filled with stars and the Big Dipper is right over our heads.
The air is clean and clean here. We’re hundreds of miles away from any big city pollution. I wish I knew the stars better, maybe someday I’ll get a book and study them. But for now, we picked out a few familiar stars and planets that we see every night. They are becoming familiar friends.
Los Isolotes
Wednesday, May 22nd 2013 – Ensenada Gallina
Today was the climax of the trip. It was our last full day and night with our friends/guests. We also saved the best adventure for last.
After breakfast, we weighed anchor and headed north to Los Isolotes. Los Isolotes are a group of rocks just north of Isla Partida. They are home to a colony of sea lions.
Like with any other eco-tourist site, they are exploited by the tourist companies in La Paz. We are at the end of the season, but there were still several rubber-necker boats that came out to the rocks to let the touristas swim with the sea lions.
That’s right. We swam with the sea lions. We picked up a mooring buoy on the north side of the rocks and got out the snorkel gear.
First of all, I decided to scope out the rocks in the dinghy to see where the best place to snorkel was. Our guests climbed down into the dinghy and off we went.
There is an arch in the rocks that leads to a tunnel about eight or ten feet wide and probably a hundred feet long. I decided to give our guests a thrill and take the dinghy through the arch. We crept cautiously through the rock, seeing the crabs, sea urchins and other marine life in the clear water. The rock above us gave me the impression of being in a cathedral. High over our heads, volcanic rock formed Gothic arches.
We came out the other side and found several tour boats tied to mooring buoys. One of the guides shouted over to me in Spanish that we aren’t allowed to take a boat through the arch. Oops! No one told me. We may not be able to do it again, but I’m glad we did it even if it was illegal. It was a neat journey.
A few minutes after we’d been warned about going through the arch, the Park launch showed up. I’d met and talked with the park rangers earlier in the week and they were decidedly friendly, but I dread to think what would have happened if they got there sooner and saw us going through the arch.
The rocks are lousy with sea lions. They form a year-round colony. May is the mating season and our cruising guide warned us that the big males can be a little territorial if they feel that you’re threatening their harems.
We saw hundreds of the creatures in and around the islands. They playfully leapt from the water like a pod of dolphins keeping up with the boat. Many of the animals lay on the surface on their backs in groups with their flippers in the air. At first I thought that they were sunning themselves, then I decided that they were mamas nursing their pups.
The beasts pulled themselves out of the water onto the rocks. I couldn’t believe how well some of the sea lions climbed the rocks to a high perch. It didn’t seem possible that such big clumsy (on land) animals could climb rocks.
The big males are longer than the dinghy and can weigh up to eight thousand pounds (according to our book). They are comical and ungainly on the land, but poetry in motion in the water. They slice through and under the water with no visible effort. They’re like torpedoes flying this way and that.
As we circled the island, we saw a bit male laying on the rocks sunning himself. We were about twenty feet off the island when he spotted us. His face and eyes were curious, then with a look that I’ve seen on cats’ faces, he barked at us, then rolled over on his back. I had the distinct impression that he was showing off for us.
These guys are used to humans. Tour boats bring loads of tourists out every day to swim and snorkel with the sea lions. They showed no fear and pretty much ignored us. I even had to maneuver the dinghy around and out of their way as they thought that they always had the right of way.
Today was the climax of the trip. It was our last full day and night with our friends/guests. We also saved the best adventure for last.
After breakfast, we weighed anchor and headed north to Los Isolotes. Los Isolotes are a group of rocks just north of Isla Partida. They are home to a colony of sea lions.
Like with any other eco-tourist site, they are exploited by the tourist companies in La Paz. We are at the end of the season, but there were still several rubber-necker boats that came out to the rocks to let the touristas swim with the sea lions.
That’s right. We swam with the sea lions. We picked up a mooring buoy on the north side of the rocks and got out the snorkel gear.
First of all, I decided to scope out the rocks in the dinghy to see where the best place to snorkel was. Our guests climbed down into the dinghy and off we went.
There is an arch in the rocks that leads to a tunnel about eight or ten feet wide and probably a hundred feet long. I decided to give our guests a thrill and take the dinghy through the arch. We crept cautiously through the rock, seeing the crabs, sea urchins and other marine life in the clear water. The rock above us gave me the impression of being in a cathedral. High over our heads, volcanic rock formed Gothic arches.
We came out the other side and found several tour boats tied to mooring buoys. One of the guides shouted over to me in Spanish that we aren’t allowed to take a boat through the arch. Oops! No one told me. We may not be able to do it again, but I’m glad we did it even if it was illegal. It was a neat journey.
A few minutes after we’d been warned about going through the arch, the Park launch showed up. I’d met and talked with the park rangers earlier in the week and they were decidedly friendly, but I dread to think what would have happened if they got there sooner and saw us going through the arch.
The rocks are lousy with sea lions. They form a year-round colony. May is the mating season and our cruising guide warned us that the big males can be a little territorial if they feel that you’re threatening their harems.
We saw hundreds of the creatures in and around the islands. They playfully leapt from the water like a pod of dolphins keeping up with the boat. Many of the animals lay on the surface on their backs in groups with their flippers in the air. At first I thought that they were sunning themselves, then I decided that they were mamas nursing their pups.
The beasts pulled themselves out of the water onto the rocks. I couldn’t believe how well some of the sea lions climbed the rocks to a high perch. It didn’t seem possible that such big clumsy (on land) animals could climb rocks.
The big males are longer than the dinghy and can weigh up to eight thousand pounds (according to our book). They are comical and ungainly on the land, but poetry in motion in the water. They slice through and under the water with no visible effort. They’re like torpedoes flying this way and that.
As we circled the island, we saw a bit male laying on the rocks sunning himself. We were about twenty feet off the island when he spotted us. His face and eyes were curious, then with a look that I’ve seen on cats’ faces, he barked at us, then rolled over on his back. I had the distinct impression that he was showing off for us.
These guys are used to humans. Tour boats bring loads of tourists out every day to swim and snorkel with the sea lions. They showed no fear and pretty much ignored us. I even had to maneuver the dinghy around and out of their way as they thought that they always had the right of way.
The place was lousy with sea lions
Back at the boat, Dawn had lunch ready for us. While we ate, I decided that the best place to go in the water is where we were.
After lunch, R_, J2, Dawn and I donned our masks and swim fins. J2 didn’t stay in the water very long, but the other three of us swam to a deep spot near the rocks. The sea life was amazing.
The water was lousy with all sorts of tropical fish. They swam right in front of my mask with no fear that I might harm them. There were schools so dense that I thought I could walk on them.
Did I mention that I hurt my shoulder? I don’t know what I did to it, but the day before we left I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder and I couldn’t lift my arm above my head. I ignored it for a couple of days because we had guests coming. I couldn’t cancel their trip after they flew all the way down here to see us.
So I toughed it out. It’s what Papa would have done. There were several times when it was difficult for me to do my job and run the boat, but you do what you have to and compensate. I had to keep reminding myself that I was left handed (at least for a few days until my shoulder healed) and used my left arm for lots of stuff that I would have normally done right handed.
I’m not complaining, I’m telling you this to explain why I dropped out of the snorkeling expedition. R_ and Dawn continued on and swam around the island, but my shoulder was hurting so I headed back to the boat.
They were gone for a long time, then finally, B_ spied them coming through the arch. They swam around the tip of the island, and came back to our side through the hole in the rocks.
It was spectacular snorkeling, but the real high light was swimming so close to the sea lions. They totally ignored us and went about their business. Maybe they thought we were some kind of sea lions ourselves. At any rate, they swam close enough to us to reach out and touch.
A couple of young yearlings played with Dawn, but when a big bull came up to her and started barking in her face, she backed off and gave them room.
While Dawn and R_ were off snorkeling, a tour boat picked up the mooring buoy next to us. I spoke with the people on board. They were mostly pretty girls in bikinis, but I was interested in picking up some of the culture. They spoke excellent English, but were Mexican tourists. It seems that almost all of the tourists coming out to the rocks were Mexican.
I don’t know if it’s too late in the season for Americans to be coming down here or if the Americans are all still scared by the wild stories of drug violence in Mexico, but there are no tourists here in La Paz. My friend who owns a charter business says that the tourist industry has almost died since 2008.
The Los Isolotes adventure was the high light of the trip. Our guests were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Their cameras were in non-stop action.
Finally it was time to head for an anchorage for the night. Reluctantly, we slipped our mooring buoy and headed back to Isla Espiritu Santo.
We motored down the islands to Bahia San Gabriel where I planned to spend the night. We entered the bay and made our way to the deep water hole where boats anchor. The wind screamed in from the south west and the waves flowed in unhindered. This was not a good spot for the night.
Reluctantly, I retraced our path to Ensenada Gallina for the night. We dropped the hook in the lee of the cliffs and had a comfortable night.
After lunch, R_, J2, Dawn and I donned our masks and swim fins. J2 didn’t stay in the water very long, but the other three of us swam to a deep spot near the rocks. The sea life was amazing.
The water was lousy with all sorts of tropical fish. They swam right in front of my mask with no fear that I might harm them. There were schools so dense that I thought I could walk on them.
Did I mention that I hurt my shoulder? I don’t know what I did to it, but the day before we left I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder and I couldn’t lift my arm above my head. I ignored it for a couple of days because we had guests coming. I couldn’t cancel their trip after they flew all the way down here to see us.
So I toughed it out. It’s what Papa would have done. There were several times when it was difficult for me to do my job and run the boat, but you do what you have to and compensate. I had to keep reminding myself that I was left handed (at least for a few days until my shoulder healed) and used my left arm for lots of stuff that I would have normally done right handed.
I’m not complaining, I’m telling you this to explain why I dropped out of the snorkeling expedition. R_ and Dawn continued on and swam around the island, but my shoulder was hurting so I headed back to the boat.
They were gone for a long time, then finally, B_ spied them coming through the arch. They swam around the tip of the island, and came back to our side through the hole in the rocks.
It was spectacular snorkeling, but the real high light was swimming so close to the sea lions. They totally ignored us and went about their business. Maybe they thought we were some kind of sea lions ourselves. At any rate, they swam close enough to us to reach out and touch.
A couple of young yearlings played with Dawn, but when a big bull came up to her and started barking in her face, she backed off and gave them room.
While Dawn and R_ were off snorkeling, a tour boat picked up the mooring buoy next to us. I spoke with the people on board. They were mostly pretty girls in bikinis, but I was interested in picking up some of the culture. They spoke excellent English, but were Mexican tourists. It seems that almost all of the tourists coming out to the rocks were Mexican.
I don’t know if it’s too late in the season for Americans to be coming down here or if the Americans are all still scared by the wild stories of drug violence in Mexico, but there are no tourists here in La Paz. My friend who owns a charter business says that the tourist industry has almost died since 2008.
The Los Isolotes adventure was the high light of the trip. Our guests were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Their cameras were in non-stop action.
Finally it was time to head for an anchorage for the night. Reluctantly, we slipped our mooring buoy and headed back to Isla Espiritu Santo.
We motored down the islands to Bahia San Gabriel where I planned to spend the night. We entered the bay and made our way to the deep water hole where boats anchor. The wind screamed in from the south west and the waves flowed in unhindered. This was not a good spot for the night.
Reluctantly, I retraced our path to Ensenada Gallina for the night. We dropped the hook in the lee of the cliffs and had a comfortable night.