Bumper Boats, Bugs, Al Capone, and High Tidal Ranges

Don't count the days,

Make the days count.

Muhammad Ali

Before the trawlers head out for the season

Many sailors don’t come to Puerto Peñasco for many reasons: It’s far and out of the way, there is no ‘cruisers’ marina, there are no chandleries, tides have wide ranges, and the town itself doesn’t have much to offer in terms of interesting things to visit nearby.

Puerto Peñasco – The Port of Shrimp Boats... And Amazing People

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;

Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Miles Kington

Shrimp boats tied together like a huge floating raft

Dreading in many ways getting back to civilization, but we have to get a few parts, mostly a new fridge, and check emails after a little more than 6 weeks of being ‘disconnected’. 

Bahia Willard, Gonzaga Bay – “Diesel Bill” meets “Photon Mike”

A journey is like marriage.

The certain way to be wrong 

Is to think you control it.

John Steinbeck 

Grand daughter Mia having fun!

We have a very slow sail to get here, averaging only 2.4 nautical miles/hour. We covered 20 miles in the first 12 hours yet were only 10 miles from where we started due to strong currents and having to stay somewhat off-course just to get enough wind to get moving… It was a little frustrating mostly because it gets so hot when movement over water is slow but we made it safely with temperature in the cabin topping 107F sitting in water nearing 88F – the highest we’ve seen in the Sea yet this season!

Puerto Refugio – Where is the Breeze?

The truth is, most of us discover where 

We are headed when we arrive.

Bill Watterson 

Sail Rock at west of Puerto Refugio
Completely white due to thick guano cover

At the north end of Isla Angel de la Guarda (Guardian Angel Island), this area is the antithesis of Alcatraz in some ways. There are no white sandy beaches or aqua blue clear waters. People come here for the various and attractive rock formations and the seal rookery, not for leisurely strolls on the soft sands.

Alcatraz Island in Bahia Guadalupe – Barefoot all the Way Up!

I'm not naked, 

I'm just barefoot all the way up!

Teddy 

Mike and Teddy

Not listed in most sailing guidebooks, this is a magical place. Very fine white sand beaches, nice breeze and cooler water than most places we have been since leaving the Isla Espiritu Santo area. There are thousands of birds fishing the area and you don’t want to be downwind from the rock where they prefer to roost for the smell is very powerful.

Puerto Don Juan and Return to Bahia LA for a Great Whale-Shark Treat

The journey of a thousand nautical miles

Begins with raising the sails.

Mike 

Wreck off beach in Puerto Don Juan

Because Puerto Don Juan is recognized as a hurricane hole; we thought we’d visit it upon our return to Bahia LA Village for a few more provisions before heading further north. There is not much to be said about this place and I’m not convinced it would offer the best hurricane protection. We much prefer La Mona, a few miles away.

Isla Smith (Las Rocas and Laguna Rada) – Sparkling Milky Way in the Water

Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid.

Those things are what happens when you don't have a plan.

Larry Winget 

Top left at back - 1,528 foot volcano
Our little home in the foreground

Two anchorages barely a mile from each other on the west side of an island flanked at its north end by a 1,528 foot volcano, the landscape is so bare it’s nearly lunar-like. Other than birds and a few lizards, we haven’t seen anything else crawl or walk on this island.

La Ventana - Blue Footed Boobies

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find

That I lived just the length of it.

I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Diane Ackerman 

Sailing with spinnaker on way to Bahia San Nicolas
July 9th, thank you S/V Lolo

A small island less than five miles away from the Village and we feel like we are a world away – no more music at night, no more pangas or jet-skis frantically buzzing by, no more lights, no more traffic, and a little more protection from the winds. 

Bahia Los Angeles Village - The Famous ‘Elefantes’ Winds

You learn a lot when you're barefoot.

The first thing is every step you take is different.

Michael Franti 

They don't call it Agua Verde for nothing 

Just as I was to post about our stay in Bahia LA Village, an email came in from s/v Moondance sharing June's pictures of Déjàlà in the bay of Agua Verde and leaving that bay...  Thought we'd share them with you before talking about our next location below...