Bahia San Gabriel, Isla Espiritu Santo

At Anchor, Bahia San Gabriel
Sea of Cortez

Image Source: Moon Travel Guides

Yesterday we hooked up with Colin and Margy from Pacific Raven out of Victoria, a great couple we met in Manzanillo and again in Mazatlan. After a dinner out last night, we decided to join forces and go out for a week’s exploration of some of the neighboring islands.

First stop was Isla Espiritu Santo, and anchorage in Bahia San Gabriel, a large, beautiful bay lined with a picture-book white sand beach and a bottom the turquoise of a swimming pool. (It’s the big bay on the lower left-hand side). It was a beautiful spot and a quiet evening, with cocktails aboard Pacific Raven to watch the sun go down.

Ole and I opted to take a snorkeling trip out in the dinghy to Punta Prieta on the northwestern corner of the bay on Saturday, and discovered so-so snorkeling but a lovely little cave on the point in which someone had erected a shrine hidden among the rocks. The island was a base for a pearl fishery many years ago, and it might have been a tribute to a long-ago pearl fisherman.

Our New Home in La Paz

Marina de La Paz
La Paz, Baja California Sur

Given a favorable weather window, we decided to leave on Sunday the 25th to cross over to La Paz, with a rest stop in Ensenada de los Muertos. The crossing was another Emma Jo night of magic, with winds less than 5 knots and seas less than 2 feet, dropping off to nothing in the very early morning hours. Coupled with an almost-full moon, we were enchanted.

Ensenada de Muertos

The sea was like glass, the ocean swell disappeared about halfway across the Sea of Cortez (sheltered from the swell by the Baja Peninsula), and the water shone like a mirror. We dropped anchor in Los Muertos about 10:30 a.m., had our first anchor dram (the Emma Jo tradition upon our safe arrival) from a bottle of Norwegian Akavit called, oddly, Anker Dramm. [Read more…]