Loreto was once the capital of Baja California Sur. The anchorage is an open roadstead exposed to N, S and E winds. Fortunately, there was a fair amount of West in the wind when we anchored off on Monday 19th February.
We went ashore in the dinghy and tied up in the small boat
darsena. It was a short walk into town, where there was a large, pedestrianised
area called The Plaza with several restaurants and many shady trees. Close by
is the historic mission church, Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto and the Museo
de las Misiones. From here, twenty-three missions were built throughout Baja
California.
View from the top of Isla Coronados |
We had lunch at a popular, roadside, open air café, where we
sat at plastic tables on a dirt parking lot enjoying beef tacos. Afterwards, we
stocked up our supplies at the two supermercados, El Pescador and Leys.
It was calm overnight, so we stayed off Loreto and motored
down to the marina at Puerto Escondido
the next day. A large investment has been made at the marina providing
pontoons, an office, a shop, a laundry and hot showers. Sadly, it was too
expensive for us at 90USD per night, so we chose to go on a mooring ball in the
lagoon for 18USD. Each time we went ashore it was a 7-10 minute dinghy ride
depending on the wind waves.
Inside view Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto |
The wind blew strongly from the north and it was cold. Out
came our fleeces and thermal socks once again. Ashore, only the office with a
work area for cruisers and the shop gave shelter from the cold wind. The food
in the restaurant was good but it was open to the weather on all four sides. We
had three nights at Puerto Escondido. There was a Cruisers’ Net every morning
at 0800 on VHF 22A with a good five day weather forecast.
Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto |
The data on my phone had stopped working at Puerto
Ballandra, after only 12 days’ use of the 30 day contract. Soon afterwards,
Jeremy’s data stopped working as well. Jeremy topped his up online translating
the Spanish instructions. I was not prepared to give the phone company any more
money, so I used the Wi-Fi at the marina office to book flights and some of the
attractions for our Canada trip in May.
Picking my way down from the volcano |
Early on Friday morning, 23rd February, we left
Puerto Esdcondido and motored back to the anchorage off Loreto in a very light
southerly wind. When we returned having had lunch and been shopping, the wind
had turned to the NE and the wind waves were building. Sal Darago was bouncing
on her anchor. We knew strong northerlies were coming, so we weighed anchor and
motored seven miles to Islas Coronadas.
The only other vessel at anchor was a catamaran called InnCredible.
On top of Isla Coronados |
The gas ran out as the pressure cooker was coming to the
boil. Fortunately, we had more cylinders on board. The NNW wind blew to 24
knots, wind waves were breaking on the beach, so we did not go ashore. We spent
the day navigating and booking rental cars, hotels etcetera for our land trip.
We ventured outside for sundowners in the late afternoon and it was cold in the
wind.
The lighthouse and darsena wall Loreto |
The sea was quieter on Sunday and a few pangas landed
passengers on the beach. We went ashore in the dinghy and decided to hike to
the crater of the volcano on Islas Coronados. The first part was easy walking
on a path through the sand dunes. The middle part was a scramble over rocks and
boulders and the last part was a slippery, slidy path, which zig-zagged
upwards. The spectacular view at the top was worth the effort. I put my knee
support bandages on for the downhill crawl.
Moorings in the lagoon Puerta Escondido |
On Monday 26th February, we had less wind and
only 22 miles to go to Caleta San
Juanico. The swell through the inner passage between Islas Coronados and
Baja was quite big, but it was long with no breaking waves, so SD glided over
the sea giving us a comfortable ride. All this was to change by mid-day when the
5 knots of WNW wind shot up to 19 knots from the north. Yes, we were going
north. Short, sharp, breaking waves smacked against the hull.
One of the windows in the lagoon |
Two hours later, we reached the shelter of Caleta San
Juanico. We saw a yacht aground and heeled over on a reef near the shore. It
was S/V Veraison with Andrew and Tamara on board. They had offered us a lift
into Loreto when we were in Puerto Escondido. We anchored behind S/V Quick,
launched the dinghy and went over to help Veraison. Nothing more could be done
until high water. On the way back to SD, we saw a motor cruiser, named Suzie,
from Yellowknife, Canada. Our friends of five continents, Ann and Barry from
S/V Cat’s Paw IV, come from Yellowknife, so we had to stop and say hello. Janet
and George invited us on board and soon we were drinking tea, eating scones and
talking about the games of Bridge, we had all played, at different times, with
Ann and Barry.
Early start. Marina Puerta Escondido |
At high water, the combined efforts of many cruising men and
women careened and tugged Veraison off the reef, just before dark. Thankfully,
she was not taking on water.
Tequila Sunrise! |
Playa Santispac Bahia Concepcion |
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