St. Patrick's Day: our friends Claes, Lue and Joey of SV Whiteshell II radioed that they had left their anchorage north of us very early this morning and are now anchored in Bahia Salinas on the east side of Isla Carmen. That gives us an opportunity for a long awaited reunion and off we go, leaving Puerto Escondido at 10:00 am. There was still considerable swell left over from the winds of the previous day, which had gusted to 28 knots in the anchorage, but once we reached the south side of the island and on up into the east side, it was much smoother. Four hours later we anchored near SV Whiteshell II and dinghied over for a much anticipated visit. We'd last seen each other in La Paz over 2 months ago. The anchorage was almost deserted, quiet and peaceful at the moment.
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| Lue and Claes of SV Whiteshell II - Bahia Salinas |
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| Salt pans of Bahia Salinas, Isla Carmen |
Isla Carmen is part of the Loreto Bay National Marine Park and lies about 20 nm east of the Baja Sur coast. Bahia Salinas in the semi-circle in the upper south of the island.
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View of Loreto National Marine Park - Bahia Salinas lies under "Isla Carmen" tag
(courtesy of bajakayak adventures with thanks) |
The next morning we four left Whiteshell's boat cat Joey in charge of anchor watch and headed to the shore to get permission to visit the abandoned village and salt pans. We discovered that a small guest lodge is in operation there now, very rustic and quiet. We spent several hours exploring, taking photos of the blinding white salt and the rusty, dark hulks of old machinery and pretending it was snow and we were back home in the frozen north.
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| Glowing salt crystals |
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| Abandoned salt works buildings |
We then walked through the decaying buildings of the old community, which had housed offices, workshops, and even a municipal office. Claes checked out the rather prickly seat of this tractor! The equipment appears to have simply been left standing and the vegetation has taken over!
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| A prickly seat! |
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| Two Captains too tall for these doorways |
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| The village church appears to be available for worship but is worse for wear |
Our stay was tempered by concern over wind direction and whether we'd have to up anchor in the night and leave for an anchorage protected from south and east winds. Deploying our flopper-stopper helped alleviate some of the pitching, but it was not a restful night. By early light both boats were ready to head our separate ways and we wished each other fair winds. INTREPID II had a 40 nm run north to Caleta San Juanico, while Whiteshell II was headed to Puerto Escondido. All of us were sleepy cruisers, but hopeful for a good day's journey.
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| View through a doorway |
