Bahia San Evaristo - March 21- 26

Fisherman netting bait fish at dawn - San Evaristo

Quietly motoring in to Bahia San Evaristo, with the small fishing village we visited twice last season, we had a choice of anchoringspots.  The Captian chose one just south of the small headland on the north side.  We left the dinghy on board for the afternoon, showered, tidied up and touched base by VHF with the folks on SV Star who are long-time cruisers who know the area well.  Cathy advised the local tienda was quite low on provisions, so not to rush in until Wednesday.  

Burros grazing on scrub



New cantina under construction - looking good

Boats came and went. Some from Isla San Francisco followed us in and we met the SV Sunnyside folks, Terry and Patricia and Fred on SV Aunt Sur.  Wednesday was calm enough to go ashore to the tienda for fresh produce and bread, milk, tortillas, treats; then walk the beach to the cantina.  Progress is being made on the new and improved palapa cantina.  We were pleased to renew acquaintances with Senor Augustine and his family who offer cruisers meals later in the day and a chance to stock up on cervezas when they are available.  We indicated our interest in having dinner at the cantina later in the day.

Returning at 17:00 (5 pm), we were served a tasty meal of fresh yellowtail, rice and beans, salsa, tortillas and warm cervazas, as there was no ice.  It was a breezy and convivial meal.  As the sun set, we quickly said our farewells and headed back to our floating homes.



Thursday was another breezy day.  A good reason to stay on board and attend to chores, including Kelly trying to solve radio transmission challenges.  We are told our transmissions are coming in quite garbled on the Sonrisa net.  Friday was calmer, so back to the beach for a walk; the school was closed, as was the tienda.  We admired the 'catch of the day', yellowfin jack which were being unloaded from two fishing pangas.  Unfortunately  none were for sale; we understand the fisherman are part of a cooperative and these fish were spoken for in the La Paz markets.

Catch of the day - yellowfin

Hopping into our dinghy, we toured the bay, admired some boats anchored in the north lobe and stopped by for a quick visit on SV Aunt Sur.  Thanks for your hospitality Fred; we enjoyed hearing of your journey to Hawaii and back.

Satuday morning (March 26) we raised anchor and motored out into San Jose Channel to be greeted by the cheerful sight of a small ray jumping into the air towards us.  Pangas were motoring up towards Nopolo.  We spotted a sailboat to starboard, coming our way from Isla San Francisco. Checking in with the Sonrisa ham net, we learned that SV Juniata was behind us, heading in the same direction.  Nearing the north end of the channel, we were hailed by crew of a southbound vessel which had lost its transmission.  They were under sail and using their dinghy when necessary to steer the boat.  Their request was for spare gasoline for the dinghy engine.  We advised that our fuel supply was limited as well with no spare fuel cans, but would relay their request.  The SV Juniata crew made contact and advised they could assist.  Juniata to their rescue!

INTREPID II encountered considerable swell and north east winds as our journey progressed. The swells topped out at 4 feet at times but we could not shut off the motor to simply sail.  Highlights on this journey were two large humpbacks surfacing 60 yards off starboard, heading south; a solitary orca doing the same, not 40 feet off the boat.  Kelly spotted two additional humpbacks as they blew in the distance.

Passing them by, we admired the stark red rocks surrounding Los Gatos anchorage.  We sang a Happy Birthday greeting in absentia to Jack, our great-nephew, who was 2 years old that day, far away on the east coast.  Nearing Bahia San Marte, an anchorage new to us, we kept a lookout for the various offshore rocks and reefs and set waypoints accordingly.  This quiet bay, around the corner from Aqua Verde, was empty and quiet.  A rare experience.  We appreciated the opportunity to have our choice of spots out of the north wind and swell.  By the time we had freshened up ourselves and INTREPID II, we were joined in the anchorage by SV Juniata.  A quick chat with its crew on the VHF and we were all ready for a long rest.



As we had experienced dragging anchor in San Evaristo (the Captain will eventually update his page on that topic), we have been trying to get our GPS anchor alarm to work. It basically wakes us up almost every hour even though we are not dragging.  But better safe and sleep deprived.  So it was nice to stay put for the day, row ashore to walk the sandy and rocky beach and stretch our legs.  There are steep cliffs and arroyos around the bay and apparently goat trails across the ridges, which we did not attempt.

San Marte anchorage

It was a treat to finally meet Marcia and Dave of SV Juniata.  Marcia is the net manager for the Sonrisa Ham Net and often relays our check-in if we are not clearly heard by a net controller in La Cruz or elsewhere.  We shared stories on board their boat later that afternoon, then had an early night. It was time to leave next morning towards Puerto Escondido.