Puerto Ballandra to Aqua Verde - Monday Feb. 13

On our Monday morning departure from Puerto Ballandra towards Aqua Verde, we had a beautiful sunny morning, a slight ripple and swell to the sea and a smiggin of haze over the Baja peninsula. We motored slowly over to SV Daydreamer to say farewell, then headed down the west side of Isla Carmen.  Soon afterwards, we spotted some fins between INTREPID II  and the island but nothing we could capture in photos.  As the splashes became more exuberant, we determined there were more than a few dolphins in the area.  Out came the cameras; soon we had a pod of Bottlenose dolphins swimming over to check us out.

Such an event is a major treat. With the calm seas, we were comfortable leaving the auto pilot on and moving forward on the deck; Kelly to starboard and Carol to the bow.  We try to remember that experiencing these encounters is more important than taking photos.  It is extremely difficult to duplicate in a photo the awe and connection you feel when a dolphin turns on its side and regards you with its very knowledgeable look.

These photos offer a glimpse of our special treat.

Catch up: San Juanico to Puerto Ballandra

Courtesy of Moon Publications

Puerto Ballandra is a small bay on the north west side of Isla Carmen, a large island to the east of the small city of Loreto which is an historic mission location.  It  is approximately 24 nautical miles in a southerly direction from San Juanico as the dolphin swims, so we estimated between 4 - 5 hours for our journey.   The forecast was for afternoon winds of NW 15 - 20 knot winds and NW seas in the 2 - 4 foot range.  As 'afternoon' is not precisely defined we headed out at 09:45 into a light swell to take advantage of lighter winds and smoother seas.  As we mentioned in our brief earlier update, Ballandra is a great anchorage and we enjoyed our first time very much.

Cactus high on ridge over beach

Red sea star in clear shallow water

Shale formation on south west headland

Window rock

However on Sunday we had to decide whether to stay or move on?  We were enjoying the peacefulness and ability to relax in a protected spot, so one more day was the answer.  Noon-ish brought another welcome surprise when we spotted SV Daydreamer anchoring to the north; we wondered if they knew something about the weather changing that we hadn't heard?  John and Diane paid us a visit shortly after.  We caught up on their travels, including a trip to the Copper Canyon, before the wind picked up and they headed back in somewhat choppy conditions.

Another quiet night with a decision made to haul anchor in the morning and set our sights for Aqua Verde.

Sunset looking towards Loreto to the west