After leaving New England, Eitan and I headed back to California for a couple weeks to recoup before going back to Mexico. Eitan stayed in San Diego to work, while I headed back to northern California to see family and friends and get caught up on my routine doctor and dental appointments. The time flew by quickly and the next thing I knew I was boarding a flight back to San Diego to meet up with Eitan and his parents. The plan was to fly back to Loreto and charter a boat out of Marina Puerto Escondido for a week for the four of us to sail to a nearby island while S/V Sierra Wind had her bottom painted.
After a short flight from Tijuana, we arrived in Loreto, headed to the marina, and moved our bags onto the boat. The charter boat Eitan’s parents reserved was a Leopard 44, a catamaran similar to the one we had been on in New England. We were surprised to find the weather had transformed to hot and humid with water temperatures rising into the upper 80s, compared to the dry heat and cold water we left just 4 months prior. Luckily for us, Eitan’s parents were adamant about reserving a boat with air conditioning, which was the first thing Eitan fired up once we were onboard.
The plan was to circumnavigate Isla Carmen, a large island just off the coast of Loreto. After provisioning, we set off into a calm and windless Sea of Cortez. Having gotten a bit of a late start, we arrived in the afternoon at the first stop, called Balandra Bay. As soon as we arrived, the bees found us. The islands in the Sea of Cortez are notorious for bees swarming boats in search of fresh water. After a not-so-wet rainy season, they seemed extra desperate to find moisture and showed up wherever we were. Luckily, we had the air-conditioned interior to seek refuge until the bees retreated at dusk.
This became our daily routine for the week: wakeup, travel to the next anchorage and spend the day swimming, snorkeling, or hiding from the bees inside with AC running. Evenings were spent outside on the trampoline and we would watch the stars came out as dusk turned into night. We had a new type of visitor to the boat at night, giant moths, which I assumed are seasonal, since Eitan and I never experienced them in the winter or spring. With wing spans ranging from 3 to 4 inches, they clumsily fluttered about as they investigated the boat at each anchorage. While they were a fun an interesting new aspect to the trip, they became quite a nuisance once we were back on S/V Sierra Wind, which I’ll share more of later.
Most days there wasn’t enough wind to sail between anchorages and we ended up motoring. We were once again surprised by more fluttering friends, thousands of yellow butterflies and an occasional monarch butterfly. There must have been some kind of seasonal migration as the butterflies made their way, hovering a few feet above the water’s surface. I was surprised by their agility to gracefully maneuver around the moving boat without any impacts. They hardly ever landed and seemed to share the moths’ curiosity about the boat, coming to briefly investigate before continuing on their way.
Aside from the bees, butterflies, and moths, it was a beautiful trip around Isla Carmen. Our first night was spent in Balandra Bay, which wasn’t to eventful as we hid inside from the bees. The second night was spent in V-Cove on the north side of the island, offering good snorkeling and a lovely beach with sand dunes to spend the evening onshore. The third night we arrived at an old salt mining town, which has since been partially abandoned. We tried to explore the town once the sun set but were bombarded with mosquitos and promptly left.
The fourth and final night on Isla Carmen was spent at an anchorage called Punta Colorado, another stunning landscape facing east. As we enjoyed the AC in the hot afternoon sun, we suddenly heard the generator turn off, which was powering the AC. This became a clear priority to fix as soon as possible and Eitan set about trouble shooting for several hours. He tried cleaning the sea strainer and replacing the impeller and belt, but to no avail. We tried messaging the charter maintenance guy from the satellite phone but he didn’t offer up any new ideas. Finally, just as we had accepted that we would be sleeping without AC and opening the salon up to our bug buddies, Eitan checked the generator’s coolant and found it to be bone dry. Luckily, we had extra coolant onboard and a half-gallon later, the generator was back in business and we rejoiced.
Later that evening, as we were getting ready for bed, we received another message on the satellite phone from the maintenance guy. He warned us that Hurricane Olaf was hitting Cabo San Lucas and schedule to come up toward La Paz before turning into the Pacific. Although the hurricane would stay away from where we were, it would suck wind across the Sea of Cortez, causing some wind and swell to hit us in the eastern-facing anchorage. We decided to leave first thing in the morning but the swell began picking up in the middle of the night. Eitan made the decision to move to a different anchorage or else we would be subject to more wind and increasing discomfort if we tried to stay until the morning. So, we pulled anchor and set off to a different, western-facing anchorage on Isla Danzante called Honeymoon Cove. It was a bit of a bumpy trip at the start but it calmed down as we entered the protection of the islands. We were partially escorted by bioluminescent dolphins, racing along the hull. Honeymoon Cove was the perfect place to finish out our last night. The water was crystal clear and I spent over an hour each day snorkeling.
It was great to be back in the Sea of Cortez again after spending 4 months on the east coast and Eitan’s parents were great company to have along for our return to Mexico. Our final night was spent back in the marina, enjoying pizza and margaritas at the restaurant. We rode into town with Eitan’s parents for a final lunch, then left them to enjoy Loreto while we provisioned for the trip ahead. Now it‘s finally time to splash S/V Sierra Wind and get back into the cruising life!
