Ensenada El Pescador – Up Close and Personal with Pelicans

If you think adventure is dangerous,

Try routine; it's lethal.

Paulo Coelho

Mike's first time kayaking near an island covered with pelicans

We had one small adventure during our two-day sail, a female gull kept landing at the top of our mast with two males in pursuit and they would at times fight, endangering the delicate and very expensive equipment we have up there. We tried everything to get rid of her but couldn’t so Mike ended up climbing the mast, at dusk, while under sail. 

She did not want to move on; he had to physically make her leave the mast. He then had to wait up there about 15 minutes longer to ensure she wouldn’t return, which she tried to do several times. While there, he enjoyed the view of a moonrise combined with a sunset from 45 feet above the water. Upon our arrival in Santa Rosalia, a week later, Mike went to inspect the mast and found that the antenna was so loose, it was about to fall off, and that the wind indicator was crooked. All was fixed JUST IN TIME...

Our trip south was very quick. We made 181 nautical miles in less than 48 hours and are now enjoying Ensenada El Pescador for a couple of days, arriving, unbeknownst to us, just in time for a birthday party of someone special we knew. The winds were definitely with us this time… We had planned on anchoring somewhere else but the winds and currents would not allow us to do so; this was our plan B anchorage… S/V Lolo was at the entrance of the bay, their sailboat dressed up with flags, they were waiving hello as we entered. It was great to be welcomed back this way.

In El Pescador, we christened our two new kayaks, our new way of transportation to/from boat and shore. We are hoping to adopt this new way of traveling while getting rid of the inflatable dinghy and the outboard so that we can truly claim we are a fuel free boat. Our upper arms and shoulders are quite tired after a couple of miles of paddling for we are not used to it but need to build up the upper body strength which is also needed when sailing. We love these kayaks, and with a couple of enhancements (handles to tie them to back of boat and slings to help raise them onto boat); we are ready to use them.

These kayaks come in two pieces that tie together so they can be stored in our small V-berth when on passages as not to obstruct the deck. We had been looking a long time for something small enough to store inside instead of outside and we finally came across it. By Point 65 N (North), a Swedish company, they are called Apollo. We can even purchase a third middle section to make one kayak become a kayak for two. We may look into that in the future but for now this is what seems to work for us.

We kayaked around a small island plastered with white headed pelicans. They would quickly fly away but stay within sight of the island when we paddled close to the island. They would create an almost perfect circle around the island, spaced rather evenly, while waiting to safely return to their ‘home’ after our visit. The smell of guano is bearable from a distance but doesn’t encourage a ‘taste’ for a closer look/visit.

Thanks to the hard shell kayaks, unlike our soft bottom inflatable dinghy, we are able to get much closer to nature. We no longer have to fear hitting rocks while gliding to take a closer look. Of course we get wetter in kayaks but we can prepare for that and work with it.