Monday, May 27

North 26° 01.323'
West 111° 20.751'
Distance: 16.4 miles

I paddled 16.4 miles today. I am now 81.5 miles from Punta Chivato, 413 miles from Pete's Camp, and right on the northern edge of Loreto in the Hotel Los Trojes. I started paddling at 10:00 am. I had intended to walk around this morning, but it was too difficult to get passed the cliffs and shrubs which surrounded my beach. There was no shade to hide in, so I just packed my things up and got on the water. A few miles north of town I saw an abandoned building by the lighthouse and stopped to explore. It was a nice stone structure, but it had been abused and vandalized and wasn't too nice a place to stay. I considered staying the night in one of the cleaner rooms that still had a roof and a floor, but a quick inventory of my food stock changed my mind. By this time I could see that I was very near Loreto and the thought of a carne taco, a cold beer, and a clean hotel room motivated me to keep going. I guessed at a beach, landed, and put on my second best shirt. Then I started looking for a hotel. I walked inland on the first street to the south of me and one block in I saw a sign for Los Trojes. I went and talked to them and they took me to see the rooms. The last one on the end had a nice stone floor and was more or less what I wanted with a nice stone patio and a palapa top outside. I moved my boat to the "Beach Club" at the back of the property along the beach, then carried my gear up to the room. Then I drug the kayak up to the patio. I had eaten nothing all day except three hard boiled eggs, so I really wanted to eat. I walked down to Chille Willie's bar and had a meal, two beers, and two bad margaritas. I met a few baracho Americans there, too. Then I walked around town a little and got an ice cream. Then I called Gail to get news about Mike. It sounds like he won't be here till the 30th so I have a couple days here on my own to relax and look around. Then back to the hotel to take a shower, read, write, and go to sleep. I am now laying on a real bed with sheets and pillows. Almost too much luxury! Tomorrow I want to do laundry and start cleaning gear. With the kayak empty I may take it out for some snorkeling.

Sunday, May 26

North 26° 15.367'
West 111° 23.878'
Distance: 17.8 miles

I paddled 17.8 miles today. I am now 65.8 miles from Punta Chivato and 397 miles from San Felipe. I am also 569 miles from home. I don't know what is harder to imagine - that I have paddled almost 400 miles or that this place is only 569 miles from my house. Today was yet another idyllic day in Baja, California. I woke up at about 7:00 am and read and ate for a little while. Fruit flies have ruined my bananas, but the rest of the stuff looks OK. Then I made coffee and sat in the shade for a while. Sitting in the shade with a slight breeze feels fantastic down here. When my shade went away I packed up and went for a little walk. I found an even nicer beach about 250 yards back up the bay. It still had shade, so I sat for another hour. About 12:15 I started my day's journey. I cut across the bay. The wind was at my back and the waves were perfect for surfing. It is hard work, but several times I caught the waves just right. I am sure I was going better than ten miles per hour for short bursts without paddling. Overall it is more work per mile, but it is great fun. There were five shrimp boats on the bay. After a couple of hours I made the point and there was a smaller bay with some sailboats. I wanted to go in and introduce myself, but I needed to make more distance since I want to be sure to be in Loreto by the time Mike gets there. A little later I decided to try out the lure Charlie made me last night. It sure worked! After 20 minutes I hooked up a nice bass. Maybe 20 inches. Five minutes later I hooked another. The second was bigger than the first, but either would have been a great meal for two. I threw them both back since I didn't need the meat. After that I stopped fishing because I didn't want to wear out the lure. Another 45 minutes and I found a beach to sleep on. Sand up to cliffs. By my calculation there will be about fifteen feet between the water and cliffs at high tide. Tonight is the full moon, but last night is the higher tide according to my San Felipe tide charts. The tides have become much smaller here and are not nearly the issue they were a month or more ago. I took a bath in the warm water. I love the water temp now and go in the water several times a day to cool off. I may sent the wetsuit home with Heidi or leave it in Mike's truck after Loreto. I have mixed feelings about ending the solo part of my trip. It will be great to have Mike with me again, but being by myself has opened me up to meeting tons of great people out here. Tomorrow I will probably get to within a couple miles of Loreto and the next morning I will be there. Being by myself out in these remote parts of Baja California has been an experience I will never forget. I just looked up and saw a big hermit crab lumbering by. What a great place this is and what a great way to live! There are a couple houses a mile or so away. It looks like there may be a road to them from here. In the morning I want to try to get to them and see if anyone lives there.

Saturday, May 25

North 26° 30.611'
West 111° 27.229'
Distance: 13.1 miles

I paddled 13.1 miles today. It was another great day. I started out slowly just hanging around camp and enjoying the great spot I had found. The shade lasted all day there which added to my lethargy. At 12:45 I finally had everything packed up and ready to go. I went a couple miles to the old fish camp at San Sebastian. The fish camp was gone, but there were a few American looking houses. There were also two very nice looking sailboats anchored. I paddled to the first one which was also the biggest and nicest to ask for information. They told me there was no store there but asked me what I needed. I told them I needed water and they offered me all I wanted and invited me aboard. Joel and Ann were the owners and their kids were Ellie, Charlie, and Emma. They are very nice people from Portland who are doing a year on a boat. The boat was a 50' Catalina and was very nice and well equipped. Ellie made me a couple ham quesadillas. Charlie made me a fishing lure. I stayed an hour and a half or so and would have loved to stay longer. Then they gave me a shirt with their boat name on it (Catherine) and sent me on my way. I paddled hard and made the point at 6:00 pm. It was a very pretty cliff with natural arches I could paddle through. The point was just past a nice little harbor and there was another harbor on the far side. I am starting to see lots of sailboats and will probably start to regularly hit them up for water. Joel suggested I try to get a job crewing a boat back from Cabo San Lucas or La Paz. It struck me as a great idea - not for the ride, but for the experience. Toward sunset I found a beach to camp on. Not great, but it will do. Last night it rained a little and I have my eye on the sky to make sure there isn't a repeat without my being more prepared for it. There is also an almost full moon which makes the night very pretty, but also makes me less interested in sleeping at night. This makes it hard to get going in the morning. Last night I experienced a new kind of bug. They look like little pill bugs, but seem to jump. They are annoying since I pulled at least fifty off of myself last night, but at least they didn't bite. The sun is down and the moon is up. It is another hot, muggy night. I miss the cool dry nights from up north, but I guess I had better get used to this. Boy, and I glad I have the sheet!

Friday, May 24

North 26° 40.232'
West 111° 34.052'
Distance: 22.1 miles

I paddled 22.1 miles today. This was a great day in pretty much every way. I got up and had a nice breakfast of two eggs and a banana. These are the best hard boiled eggs I have made - they really taste great. I got packed and on the water at 8:21. By 8:45 realized I had not put the plug back from last night. OK, there was a good beach right next to me. I drained the boat and was paddling again in a few minutes. At 12:00 pm I pulled over for a break. Another banana and an egg. Then a little tanning. I burned my butt a little, though. Then a little snorkeling. It was a perfect place for it. Lots of fish and warm, clear water. I got a shot at a trigger fish but I missed. It was a good thing I had the spear because I needed it to clear the sting rays from the sand on the way back in. Then back in the boat for a little longer. I wanted to make up for the short day yesterday and I was having a great time paddling. Each punta had something new to see. I saw a couple turtles today. Just for a moment - they are very shy. Just before I landed I saw a rock holding lots of fish. I put a line out and hooked a big trigger fish. He immediately went to the rocks and snagged me. I worked it loose in about 10 minutes and them pulled him up. He was a big one and was still full of fight, so I let him out a few feet and started paddling with him on the line for a while. He planed pretty well. I told him I was going to bring him to shore and feed him to a coyote for snagging my line and for fighting me after I got him up. I headed for a beach a mile or so away, but on the way I found a perfect cove. I pulled in and threw Mr. Trigger up on the rocks. Then I pulled the boat up and got the pliers out to get him off my hook. After I got him disconnected with no real damage to my lure, I took pity on him and threw him back into the water. The cove is a gravel beach with walls on both sides jutting out into the water. Rocks outside make a nice place for snorkeling and for fish. There is a twisty little canyon leading back away from it. There are a bunch of boats to the south a couple miles. There might be a town over there, too. I may stop over there tomorrow for more water. Dinner was a treat. Avocados, tomato, lime, cheese in tortillas with habanero sauce. Washed it down with good water. I do miss Jay's wine, but I feel that by myself I am better off without alcohol. The sun is going down behind the mountain and it is cooling off now. Time left to set up bed, clean up, read a little, then sleep. I am pretty tired after the long paddle, but I do feel much stronger than a month ago. Twenty mile days just aren't that hard anymore. Today I had the wind against me much of the day. Not too hard - just a little. The sea has calmed down nicely. I hope it stays that way for a few days. There was a little cooling cloud cover today, too.

Thursday, May 23

North 26° 53.238'
West 111° 49.849'
Distance: 8.9 miles

I paddled 8.91 miles today. I am now 122 miles from Punta San Francisquito where I began on my own. I now have much more confidence in being alone in Baja California. I meet people everywhere I go. Most of them are Americans or at least speak English, but a few are Spanish speaking Mexicans. The language and cultural barriers make speaking with Mexicans much harder, but there are a lot of good, helpful, and forgiving Mexicans who I am meeting on the trip. A few of them are at the same time scoundrels, so that makes things a little more interesting. One guy, Humberto from Punta Chivato lived in the US for many years but is now unable to return for unspecified reasons. I got out of Mulegé today at about 10:00 am, and got to the mouth of the Mulegé River at about 10:25. The wind was in my face, but I crossed directly toward Punta Concepción. About 2/3 of the way there the wind increased and the waves, too, so as soon as I made land I pulled in to wait it out. I fixed lunch and put up the shade when I got to land at about 12:30 pm. By 5:00 pm the wind was still high and out of the southeast, so I called it a day. Not great progress, but I got quite a workout beating the wind and waves. I expect better weather tomorrow, but I want to start very early if it is calm so I can still make good progress if the wind comes up in the afternoon or late morning again.

Wednesday, May 22

North 26° 53.710'
West 111° 58.502'
Distance: 12.4 miles

I paddled 12.4 miles today. This was my first progress in a week. I got up, said goodbye to Steve and Jane, and got started at 8:00 am. It was easy going for a couple hours, then I landed on a beach where some guys were doing a model shot for stock photos. Then I continued till 1:30 along the beach and up the Mulegé River. I stopped at a place called The Orchard. I immediately met Gary, Jeff and Carol. Nice people. They gave me a couple beers, took me to town, and cooked me dinner. I got supplied up for the next few days with Bananas, avocados, tomatoes, tortillas, limes, and water. Tomorrow morning I will be on my own again. At night Gary, Jeff, and Carol invited me up to a nice dinner of fish, pasta, and real broccoli. Then I met a bunch of kids in the camp space next to me. Two of them were from South Africa, two were from England, and three were from Canada. A little tequila with them sealed off the evening. I crossed the 27th parallel today. I will cross only four more on my trip. I have crossed five as of today. I have also crossed two lines of longitude and will cross two more before I finish.

Tuesday, May 21

Distance: 0 miles

There were high winds all day today. I hid in the lee of someone's house on their patio and read my crap novel all day. At night I am sleeping there. Two more meals in the cantina. I guess this kills my day to hang out in Mulegé. I'll have to do with one afternoon. If it looks nice tomorrow I will try to get an early start.

Monday, May 20

Distance: 0 miles

Today is my last day in Punta Chivato. I cleaned EVERYTHING including the boat, myself, and my clothes. Two meals in the cantina. Everyone left today except Steve and Jane. They made me coffee this morning and we sat and chatted. At night I got a cheap novel from the cantina. It is crap, but something to read. The big news is that I talked to both Heidi and Mike today. Heidi will be in Loreto May 31st at 7:00 pm. Mike will be there about the 29th. The plan is for him to take his truck to Cabo and leave it there - he should be able to deliver it and make it back by the time Heidi leaves. I can't wait to see them both, but Heidi a bit more so than Mike! That changes my plans to one day in Mulegé, then on toward Loreto. No time for Concepción. It is a pretty place, but I have been there before.

Sunday, May 19

Distance: 0 miles

I woke up early and had coffee with Mike and Mary. Then I walked to the store to call Heidi and Mike. Neither of them was home. I returned and T & T. I can't remember their names, but I will try to correct that. They are a crazy retired couple with a nice Toyota Tundra truck and a 4X4 popup camper. He gave me a tour of the camper. It is a great rig for down here. Eight feet long plus a cabover. Six feet wide. He has a three way fridge, two burner stove, sink, thirteen gallons of water. One bed over the cab and another foldout below, so it sleeps four. It is roomy inside and a roof rack on the popup part holds up to 1000 lbs of gear. The camper weighs only 800 lbs so it will work well on the rough roads. Steve and Cody left today and gave me light beer and Capri-Sun drinks. I hope to have dinner in the restaurant tonight with Brad and Heather if they get back from fishing in time. I also want to try calling Heidi again.

Saturday, May 18

Distance: 0 miles

Today was a big day for sitting around. I had quesadillas in the morning, then was given a pork chop by Cheryl, and then another. Brad and Heather made quesadillas, and then Steve and Cody - they guys who gave me the ride last night - gave me bread and meat for sandwiches. They also gave me some beer. Finally at night while going home I met Mary and Mike Macie from Bonita who gave me pasta, salad, and wine. I talked to them till late. They are here for their tenth anniversary and have four boys at home. They are nice, fun people.

Friday, May 17

Distance: 0 miles

Today was a big day. I got up early and got a ride with Blake and Pam to Highway 1. They are headed to Los Cabos for a few days before they go home. They left me at the bus stop. The locals said that the bus was coming in a few minutes. It soon arrived and the driver said it would cost 25 pesos to Santa Rosalia. The girl in front of me barfed out the window about 15 minutes later. She had been sticking her face out of the open window on and off for a while and finally released the flow. I had a roll of toilet paper in my backpack which I gave to her mother to help her clean up. A few minutes later I was in Santa Rosalia. First I went to the bank and got 4000 pesos from the machine. Then I walked around town a bit and found a random taco stand. The food was great and the people were fun. Eight pesos for a taco and five for a cup of coffee. Then I went and got my hair cut by an old barber - he used a real straight razor to shave me. Then ice cream and a bit of walking. I sat in the park for a while and met Dale and Heather - a couple living on a 38 foot boat. They are heading back to the US to work for the summer, then back to the boat in the fall. I visited the museum and the old hotel. Pretty hotel! I bought a beer and just relaxed in the shade of the old trees for a while. Then I started home. The next bus wasn't for four more hours, so I asked a guy with California plates for a ride. He is from London and runs a camp in Concepción. The pride of his camp is a 5000 watt sound system. He claims he has food and a bar, so I will try to check it out next week. He dropped me off at the start of the dirt road to Punta Chivato. While I was walking down the road, a truck stopped to ask me for directions. Steve and Cody from Santee. They gave me a ride to camp and a beer and I talked to them for a while. They are staying in the hotel. Home in Punta Chivato I discovered that the store has a phone for 15 pesos a minute, so I will be able to try to get ahold of Heidi and Mike more easily. Steve and Jane invited me to dinner, and that kinda finished off the day.

Thursday, May 16

Distance: 0 miles

I spent most of the day just hanging out. In the afternoon I went to the store and to look at houses with Pam and Blake. This was pretty interesting. They looked at a house and spent some time talking with the owner. He had a large palapa covered patio with an outside kitchen and an outside bedroom. There was also a nice living room and an upstairs bedroom and bathroom. It was all artistically done with 100 year old doors on the living room. It was all available for about 120 thousand dollars. The patio was great - cool with an ocean breeze. I want to do something like that at home. In the evening we went to the hotel for drinks, then found a house where a local Mexican woman sells food to the locals. 150 pesos for 5 people to stuff themselves. That about finished me off. We went back, had a beer, then went to bed.

Wednesday, May 15

North 27° 04.447'
West 111° 56.896'
Distance: 2.63 miles

I paddled just 2.63 miles today. I woke up early, ate an orange and packed up and left. On the water by 7:30 am. The 2.63 miles figure is deceptive since I went several miles around the point. I landed on the camping beach at Punta Chivato and met Steve and Jane from Tierasanta. They offered me a beer and then I imposed on them for a ride into Mulegé. I got bananas, gas, water, and flashlight batteries. I also got a lot of food and some ice cream. I restrained myself from getting more since I can't get more money till I go back to Santa Rosalia. There is no bank in Mulegé! Tomorrow or the next day I will hitchhike up there and make a day of it. When I got back from Mulegé I introduced myself to Brad and Heather - two kids from San Francisco. They are out here fishing for a few weeks and have Tarpin kayaks like mine. Brad gave me a fillet knife to replace the one I lost. I was pretty grateful for that! Then he invited me to join them for fish tacos for dinner. Then I set up camp on the east end of the beach under the only available palapa. It isn't much, but at least it provides some shade in the middle of the day. Then I went down to see Steve again and while we were talking we were asked to help unstuck a truck. It was an F-350 dually and the tide was coming in quick. The water was already over the bottom of the rear tires. We aired down the tires and Steve got a tow rope to his F-150 4X4 and with a couple efforts we got it out. Bob - the owner - was so happy he bought us a couple 6-packs of beer. In the truck issue I met Blake who with girlfriend Pam was also joining Brad and Heather for dinner. They are nice people from Oregon. So after one day I know everyone on the beach. Dinner was great. For a simple donation of a couple avocados and a tomato I got a feast! After dinner I started walking home and stopped to thank Bob for the beer and was invited in for a Seagrams and 7-up. That pretty much finished me off for the night.

Tuesday, May 14

North 27° 09.093'
West 111° 59.010'
Distance: 9.2 miles

I paddled 9.2 miles today - all in the last couple of hours. It is now 10:30 in the morning. The combination of a perfect and restful night with a lazy morning has done wonders to restore me. I have done nothing this morning except read, nap, and have a breakfast of avocado, tomato, and cheese on fresh tortillas. The tortillas here are wonderful. I bought two dozen in Santa Rosalia. The cheese is great, too. I am contemplating packing up in a few more hours and doing some distance. Perhaps to Punta Chivato or perhaps just close enough that I can easily paddle there tomorrow morning. In everyday life I am protected quite a bit from the variation of experience that I find here. The weather makes very little difference to a person living in a house, driving a car, and working in an office. Here it can be the difference between luxury and misery. At home I can easily get cold water or juice when I am hot and thirsty. I can turn on the heat when I am cold. The walls stop the wind. When I am tired I can easily shut myself in the house and relax. I know where I will be sleeping every night and can easily get food 24 hours a day. Here I need to constantly monitor my water storage. Food doesn't last long. I get cold drinks at night and warm drinks in the day. Every evening I have to search out a new camping place with no knowledge of the local geography and with limited mobility. The result is that some days are very bad and some days are very good. Much more day to day difference than I am used to. Jay said that one of the problems of a trip like this is that you forget the bad times and remember the good times. This causes you to repeat the mistake. Amusing, but maybe true. I often forget how miserable my first year at UCSD was. I had many hard days there, but only remember the fun. Business is like that, too. Victory and defeat. But I think the good of the good days overwhelms the bad of the bad days. Keep playing the game as best you can and the good will happen. As the day goes on, the wind is picking up. I read and rested till about 1:30 in the afternoon. With the hot sun there isn't much else to do in the middle of the day besides sit in the shade. After a morning of kayaking that can be very welcome, but today I have done nothing. I am bored and lonely. As usual in that state I am eating and feeling sorry for myself. This is the first time I have really felt like quitting.

I got up and took a walk and felt a bit better, but it was still a hard afternoon. I wondered how sitting doing nothing could ever possibly be of any value to my life. About 3:30 the wind settled down a bit and I decided to get up and go. I took a little time to get two bottles of water from the bowels of my boat into a more convenient place. Then I packed and got going by 4:30. The sea was rough but manageable. I immediately felt better and started having fun. When the sun started going down about 7:00 pm I hit the beach. I am still three miles from Punta Chivato, but am happy about where I am for the night. I made progress, I got exercise, and I am on a nice beach. I guess the American Culture is just too imbedded in me to like just sitting. I want to feel progress toward some goal. Just getting out there working made me happy. This was the first day I have really felt lonely since I have been alone. As long as I am doing something I am OK. If I had my geeky head light I would be fine. As it is I am using my candle trick again and I don't much like it. I sure hope I can fix it. I think it is time for me to get a room tomorrow. Time now to sit back and watch the stars.

Monday, May 13

North 27° 09.093'
West 112° 07.238'
Distance: 22.2 miles

I paddled 22.2 miles today in three runs. This has turned out to be a very hard day and not just because of the lack of coffee. I got up at 5:00 am to get out of the hole I was camped in last night. I paddled a half hour before I remembered the plug was out of the boat. Oops! I landed, emptied my boat, dried my things with a fire, and got going again. I wanted to make Santa Rosalia and find a phone before 10:00 am so I could talk to Heidi before she went to work. Santa Rosalia isn't especially friendly to kayakers. There isn't a really good beach to pull up to. I went just south of the marina and got a poor spot in the back yard of a restaurant. It was closed, so I moved on. All the public phones in the area use phone cards. I finally found a place to sell them, but they only come in 50 peso denominations. Calls to the US are 10 pesos per minute, so that means a card is only good for calls up to 5 minutes. I bought three. It was wonderful to talk to Heidi. She will be in Loreto in three weeks and a couple of days. I can't wait to see her. Then I went and got a meal and a couple of beers. Then I went shopping for food and got some ice cream. Yum! I tried to call Mike but he wasn't home. I called Gail and she was there. It was good to talk to her, but she had some very bad news for me. Mark Smitter, a friend from Blue Sky days, died a couple weeks ago alone in his house. He was only 43, but he had some health problems none of us knew about. I got back into my boat and started South looking for a camp. I heard from a guy I met in Santa Rosalia that San Bruno has everything, so I paddled thinking I might be able to make it. After a mile or so, lost in thought, I wandered close to the shore in heavy seas. A wave caught me sideways and flipped me over. I saw my shoes floating away and my boat upside down with the fishing pole in the pole holder running up on the rocks. I stood up and stepped right on a spiked something. I dropped back into the water. I again saw a wave taking my gear away, so I stood up again. Again I stepped on the spikes. I threw myself back down. A third time I stood up and stepped on it harder than ever. Again I splashed back into the water. This time I swam a ways in before I stood up. My feet hurt as I walked and each wave knocked me down, but in a couple minutes I was on shore. I caught my shoes and threw them up on the rocks and righted my kayak. Then I started hauling it up to shore. It was full of water, so I had to drain it to make it light enough to pull up. I had also lost my good fillet knife. This was a big loss and is probably not totally replaceable on this trip. Each step hurt, but I had to ignore that for a while. Once I got it up I dug out my medical kit and looked at my feet. The shore was a gravel bar just over the level of the low tide. The rocks were covered with pelican guano, so it was no place to stay. I used a scalpel blade, the needle from the sewing kit, and a pair of tweezers to clean the pieces out of my foot. It was a sea urchin I had stepped on and I had maybe 30 pieces buried in my feet. Most of them were in my right foot. Some were smaller, but there were at least 10 pieces over a quarter inch long to dig out. I would get leg cramps working on the bottoms of my feet, so I would cut one piece out and then rest for a few minutes. After a couple hours I had all or most of it out and I cleaned my wounds and started looking at my situation. The waves were rougher than ever, but the place I was in was no place to camp, so I gathered my courage and went back out at about 2:00 pm. About 4:30 I got to San Bruno after passing some nice beaches. No camp. No showers. No palapas. No restaurant. They had a tienda, so I bought water, cheese, and a cheap knife. The knife will do to cook with, but it is really garbage. I decided not to spend another night in a Mexican hovel. Too many trigger fish heads on the ground in the last few days. I want something clean and relaxing. Better to be on my own. At 6:00 pm - too late, really, I got back in the boat one more time. This area has seaweed everywhere and it collects in big buggy piles on the shore. It is not at all nice to land on or to camp near. A couple miles to the south I decided that with the sunset being over I needed to get to shore and camp. I picked a place with a dirt ramp up to a higher level. With much work I got my stuff up there. Most of my clothes are wet. My flashlight got wet and doesn't work now. I wish I had fresh AAA batteries for it! I hope Punta Chivato sells them. I am writing this with a citronella candle reflecting off the bottom of my stainless steel cooking pot. My mind and body are beaten from the past week and from today. I really hope I can get some comfort and relaxation in Punta Chivato which is at least two days away. I may stay here most of tomorrow to heal a little.

It is now morning. After I stopped writing last night I watched stars for an hour then went to sleep. The night was great. No wind, no bugs, no problems. I woke up a couple of times and just enjoyed the night wishing it could go on longer. This morning I woke up a little sick, but not too bad. I looked carefully at the map and I think I am no more than 15 miles from Punta Chivato. The wind is starting to come up and would be in my face if I were to try to go now. I will stay here till at least afternoon and maybe stay another night. I have five liters of water and can walk back to the store in San Bruno if I need more. I think it is about 3 miles and if I do I can get more flashlight batteries at the same time.

Sunday, May 12

North 27° 25.416'
West 112° 18.863'
Distance: 18.8 miles

I paddled 18.8 miles today. I am now 75.6 miles form San Francisquito, 299 miles from Pete's Camp, and 470 miles from home. Yet another interesting day on the Sea of Cortez! I woke up my usual lethargic self, had a little breakfast and found some shade to read and think in. It is certainly true that shade here is the difference between super comfort and miserable heat. About 9:30 I started packing up and by 10:15 I hit the water. I had some difficulty getting in the water because the waves were larger than usual and were breaking on large rocks. The good news is that my kayak is now much lighter! I have consumed 14 of my 20 liters of water and much of my food. Once I got going I made fair progress until about noon. The waves were big for no reason I could understand. I saw what looked like a house with a jeep next to it and decided to go investigate. As I got closer I realized it was just another abandoned fish camp. The power of wishful thinking! I stopped for an hour to rest, stretch my legs, and look around. It looks like it has been empty for a long time. To the Northwest there were several stone walls. They were each open on one side. If the open side were away from the water I would think they were foundations for wood structures that no longer exist. I can't imagine what they were. To the Southeast there was another hut with four tin walls. Just trash inside. When I got back in the water the waves beat me pretty hard. I lost the small deck bottle - 24 oz. - and had to jump out and find it in the surf. After another couple miles the wind picked up out of the North Northwest. Perfect for pushing me. I made good speed till just after 4:00 pm. Just sitting in the kayak I sometimes went at a slow walking speed and with modest effort I made a medium jogging speed. The waves got bigger and started swamping me from time to time. The scuppers were kept busy today. I made the mistake of passing too close to a sheer cliff wall which reflected the waves back and made some quite rough and confused water for a while. All the time I was passing lots of pelicans. They really stink! Finally I made a corner and saw a quarry in the next bay. I kayaked passed some nice beaches to get there, then to the other side. I wanted to take as much advantage as possible of the North wind, so I skipped some nice places to camp. This was a mistake. Just passed the quarry the land juts East for the next punta. I took the last beach before I would have had to go against the current, the waves, and the wind. This beach is a row of huts which I guess the quarry workers use. Those at the end were empty, obviously for a while. I pulled up, emptied a lot of water out of my boat, and made camp. This was just like a typical fish camp with fish bodies and trash strewn everywhere. I need to learn to stay away from these places because they are depressing. I made dinner and went to sleep as soon as possible. I found a place behind one of the huts which wasn't too dirty and was protected from the wind.

Saturday, May 11

North 27° 37.756'
West 112° 30.976'
Distance: 19.5 miles

I paddled 19.5 miles today. I am now 57.7 miles form San Francisquito and 281 miles from Pete's Camp. I am now on the other side of the AAA map. I started at 7:30 this morning and paddled till almost 11:00 am. Within a mile an a half the wind died down and has been calm since. That might have been a local wind. I should have pushed on last night instead of going to shore. At about 11:00 am I found a fish camp. I pulled in to see it. There were several structures including one with a small aluminum boat. The boat was registered in California with a 1967 - 1971 sticker. It looked pretty beat up, but was tied like someone was coming back for it. It was nice and cool under the shade of the structures, so I read, ate lunch, and slept for about 3 ½ hours. It was pretty obvious that the woman's touch was missing from this camp. The guys were pigs! Egg shells on the floor inside, fish skins on the floor just outside the door. Trash was everywhere. There was a piece of cardboard with the date February 2002 on it, so someone has been here pretty recently. There was also the carcass of a filleted trigger fish in the water. I would guess only a few days old. I packed up around 2:30 and was back in the water by 3:00 pm. Shortly after I left I rounded the next point and saw a pretty tattered looking and probably abandoned house and five palm trees. It's getting pretty lush out here - three palm trees yesterday and five today. That's 8 palm trees in just under 30 miles. I paddled past Punta Santa Ana and a couple more points, then found the typical rock beach with a canyon behind it. It is a pretty steep beach and in my tired state it took me a while to pull the boat up the rocks. There is a little firewood here but I am too tired to bother with a fire tonight. I think I will go to sleep in a few more minutes. After setting up a simple camp I took a bath. It feels great to be even a little clean. All day today I paddled through patches of seaweed. More that I have seen down here before. The water is very clear and I can often see the fish below while I paddle. I could have caught some today but with the seaweed it is a lot of work to fish. Every few hundred yards I have to pull in the jig and clean the grass off of it. I had no intention of cooking fish tonight, so it would have been just for fun. The sunset now is wonderful. I just took a picture of it, but I doubt it will turn out to be even close to what I see. All blue and orange with the mountains and sea hazy in the background and the foreground a silver red color blending into blue. Birds flying silhouetted against it. It is a pretty nice way to end a long, exhausting day. I think that after four days straight of paddling I am just tired and need a break. If I find a great spot tomorrow, maybe I will make it a short day. Otherwise, two more and I will be in Santa Rosalia.

Friday, May 10

North 27° 49.864'
West 112° 44.414'
Distance: 10.7 miles

I paddled 10.7 miles today. Between the late tide and just plain laziness, I didn't launch till almost noon. While I was sitting watching the ocean this morning I watched a pod of dolphins go by. Since I wasn't in the water with them they played for some time. Then a coyote decided I was in his space and barked at me for a half hour. Then I saw a solitary dolphin go by in the opposite direction of the earlier pod. I think he forgot his keys or something and decided to go back for them. The morning was cool and nice with a slight cloud cover and was perfect for just sitting and watching the world. Almost immediately after I took off I caught a sand bass. It wasn't nearly as large as the one I caught yesterday, so I tried to catch a second. The bottom kept hooking my jig and the seaweed continually snared it, so I made slow progress for an hour. Finally I decided to land and clean it. When I pulled to shore the sun was just at it's peak and was hot. When I finished I started trolling again and after a while I caught a cabrilla. I started for a sandy shore and on the way I hooked another bass. This one was bigger than either of the others and was quite a fighter. Just as I got him up to the boat he shook his jig and got away. That is OK since I turned out to have all I needed. Then I got a bite which shook off. I decided to reel it in and put it away. When I got it to the boat I saw that a large trigger was following it. I had no use for the trigger, so I pulled it out of the water so he couldn't get to it. The I cleaned my second fish and made ceviche out of my last tomato and the rest of my limes. I noticed today that I was talking to the coyote, talking to my jig, talking to the fish while there were on the stringer and while I filleted them, I was talking to the pelicans and to the seagulls. But, and I think this is important, at no time was I talking to myself. That means to me that my sanity is intact. After I made my ceviche I got back into the boat for one more paddle. About half way across Bahia San Carlos the wind suddenly came up strongly. I was less than a mile off shore, but the wind was from land. I decided to beat it for land. The wind got worse and a little chop came up. I was worried about the ceviche on deck, but it saw fine for the ride. I beat into the wind for about 20 minutes then since I was within the arms of a little sub-bay I turned left and took the wind from starboard for a while. I was then able to turn to where the wind was quartered from behind and as the land turned to the east I was eventually about to, with the wind at my back, make about 1.5 miles per hour without paddling. I needed it since I had worked so hard the previous hour. About a mile from the point I saw a nice sandy spot and landed. The water at this point comes up a long way and since the tides are pretty large right now I pulled the boat about 75 feet inland. This is pretty hard to do. I get about 2 feet per pull, and can do about 7 to 10 pulls before I need a rest. This is a much easier thing to do with two people! I set up a little shelter with two ponchos. One end I tied under the boat and the other went to poles and then to sticks buried in the sand. I then ate my ceviche without the beans because there was plenty to fill me up and because I didn't want to cook with all the blowing sand. I secured all my gear and crawled into my shelter. Today I learned a few things: First, stick close to shore unless there is a really good reason not to. If cutting a bay saves miles of paddling, maybe, but for a shallow bay it isn't worth it. If the wind is blowing, keep paddling till I find a gravel beach. A blow isn't as bad if the sand isn't in my face. In fact it can be nice. A shelter doesn't prevent sand from blowing in my face. It makes it worse because it causes vortices. Cover up and take it as it comes. Finally, if I am near shore, I can still make progress in wind unless it is right in my face and even then I can often make some progress. Being close to shore makes it easy to tell if I am making progress or not. The wind is settling down a bit and there is some hope of a good night. The country here has been a wonder all day. I saw rocky outcroppings in the water, red and green cliffs, rocks completely white with pelican droppings, flood plains, sand dunes, hills, mountains, a couple small islands, and rocks and fish through the clear water. The beauty is wonderful. Just before I stopped today I saw a bunch of palm trees. Jay had told me that I would see some and that they led to a ranch in case I needed water. He said it is quite a walk up to the ranch house. Shortly after I thought I saw a bunch of cattle. I hope they leave me alone out here. Mexican cattle are tougher and meaner than those in the US and they have real horns. I have certainly slept outside with them before but only in California or Texas. I expect them to keep to themselves, but I may sleep a little lightly tonight. I expect to get up and out early tomorrow and see if I can outrun this wind. I hope it keeps out of the West or maybe Northwest. With today's progress I am now about half way to Santa Rosalia from San Francisquito. The hardest part of my solo trip is now about half done. This area doesn't seem as empty as some earlier parts. I haven't seen any people since the first day, but I have seen signs of life like signboards and a cove with a whale bone marking it which held a deserted fish camp.

Thursday, May 9

North 27° 59.082'
West 112° 45.726'
Distance: 16.2 miles

I paddled 16.2 miles today and am now 29.8 miles form San Francisquito and 252 miles form Pete's Camp. Also 423 miles from home in Ocean Beach. This puts me below the 28th parallel of latitude, into Baja California Sur and onto Mountain Time. This was quite an interesting day. After a short paddle around Cabo San Miguel I crossed the little semi-bay between Cabo San Miguel and Punta San Juan Bautista. This was some of the prettiest land I have seen in Mexico. There must be a source of water because the valleys are green with thousands cordon cactuses. There are several valleys well set back from the mountains leading to white sand beaches. I saw one truck on shore. It looked like it might be stuck in the sand, but since I was already a couple miles passed them and at least a mile from shore, I decided to let them also saw a whale surface a couple times. About ¾ of the way to the other shore I caught a spotted sand bass big enough for dinner. I put him on the stringer and once I got around the corner of Punta San Juan Bautista I pulled in and cleaned him. I cut up the filets, put them in a ziploc bag and added a cut up tomato and 1/3 of an onion. Then I added the juice of four limes and some Habanero sauce and closed the bag and set it on the deck. Then I cleaned up, packed up, and crossed Bahia San Juan Bautista. There is supposed to be (according to the AAA map) a fish camp on the punta, but I saw no sign of it. Bahia San Juan Bautista isn't as nice as the previous bay. Just passed the point after the bahia I found a nice sandy beach and decided to camp. I set up for the night then took some pictures to remember this as a typical solo camp. There is a rocky beach with softball sized rocks for maybe 15 feet. Then there is nice sand going back into the desert. The mountains are a mile or two back at this point and the cordon cactus is king here. Some of the m are huge with many branches. They must be very old. A half hour before I landed a large sea lion was floating in the water in my path. I saw him swim down then come up with a fish in his mouth. He gave me the evil eye so I quickly changed course and gave him some room. Today while I was doing dishes I cleaned out the empty honey jar to use for food storage. I want to be able to eat a half can of beans and save the other half. I drink coffee from a mason jar which came with pasta sauce a couple weeks ago. At home I would just throw them away and buy more beans when I wanted. Or if I were to save food I would just buy containers. It is an interesting application of economics: People tend to conserve what is costly or difficult to obtain and waste what is in abundance. At home I would throw food away and jealously guard my time spent looking at the ocean. Here I conserve cans of beans which I cannot replace before Santa Rosalia, but I will sit and read ignoring the beautiful view which I can and do see all day. The weather now couldn't be better. Cool in the mornings and evenings. Perfect in the middle of the day if you can find shade. The water is cool but no longer cold like it was near the islands. The fishing is good. Without much effort I can catch one every day. This is such a nice area that I am such a nice area that I am surprised and pleased that it has not been developed. It is now 6:24 pm or 7:24 pm if I start going by Mountain time. I took the ceviche and drained it. Then I squeezed two more limes onto it. Two because the first had no juice. I heated up a half a can of beans to go with it. Then habanero sauce liberally over the whole. What a feast! That may have been the best meal I have ever made. If only I'd had some avocados and tortillas and maybe una cervesa bien fria to go with it. If I hook up another good fish tomorrow I know what I will do with it. It is interesting to me how much time it took to catch, clean, and prepare that meal. And the beans were canned. The women cooking in the fish camps must spend their lives making food.

Wednesday, May 8

North 28° 12.976'
West 112° 48.718'
Distance: 13.6 miles

I paddled 13.6 miles on my first solo day. We woke up at first light and Jay packed up and headed North to make the best of the tide. I had breakfast at the kitchen and spent some more time talking to Chary. I think she wants to set me up with her daughter Dori. She spent a lot of time telling me about her and that she can't find a guy who likes to do outside things with her like fishing. It was really cute. She forgot to pick up the apples and bananas she had told me she was going to give me. I told her not to worry about it since I could go to the tienda in El Barril. I also spent some time talking to Curt and Sybil - a retired couple who live in San Felipe. They said the live in Campo Ocotillo a couple miles from Pete's Camp. I had also met Sam and Wally - two guys from Denver who quit their jobs and are touring on motorcycles. I hope to see them again since they will be around the peninsula a couple more months. About 11:30 I pushed the boat down into the water and started going. I almost missed El Barril since 7 miles passed so fast. There was a really nice place a mile or so North of it which looked like real money. El Barril was interesting but the store was a bust. All I got was four cans of beans and a couple candy bars. Not even any beer. The people there were very nice, though. It was a short stop, then on the water again. I started trolling along the rocks after a couple miles. There was nothing to see in the rocks and nothing bit. Near the point I started seeing just a few fish and finally hooked a large trigger fish. I had him hooked by the bottom fin. I don't much like trigger fish, but it was better than nothing. I pulled into the first beach which was a nice cove with rocks followed by sand and a nice canyon. A few cordon cactuses. I cleaned Mr. Trigger after setting up the camp. When I finished a ponga drove by and they stopped to see if I needed any help. They were from El Barril, too. Nice people. Then I cooked up some beans and the fish. After cleanup the sun was going down. The days sure go quickly! With nobody else here I wasn't as interested in the food. It seemed more like a chore than a fun thing to do. Maybe I will stop getting so fat! It is fun and interesting being alone out here. I imagine I will be tired of it soon since it has only been a half a day so far. I am sure I will be writing more on this topic in the next week. The last glow of sunset is lighting the sky. I intend to watch that, read a little, then go to sleep so I can get an early start tomorrow.

Monday and Tuesday, May 6/7

We have been here two days. The beach here is the nicest I have seen. White sand, clean and nice. Camping is $5 per day and that includes a palapa and hot showers. They have little cabins to rent, but they don't seem like such a great deal since they use the same showers and bathrooms as the campers use and all you get is a room with a canvas door and cot beds. On the beach we have the palapas which are just about as nice. I would like to come back in my truck this fall maybe for a week. I'm sure Heidi would love it. Note to self: Bring lots of supplies. The food here is great and they have good beer. Other than camping things are expensive. We have had thirty beers and three meals since Sunday. Chary, the cook, is a nice lady from San Diego. She hooked us up with eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, water, and limes. She also spent a lot of time talking to us about camping in Baja and about her kids. She has 5 - 3 boys and 2 girls who live in San Diego. She also has a house in Gonzaga at Punta Final which her kids are working on now. We have had our breakfast late and in our camp, but have dinner from Chary every night. A couple more meals and we are going to leave. We had hoped that Mike would be able to meet us here, but he was not able to do so. At least it looks like that. He should have been here by now if he were going to make it. There is no phone available here or I would try to call home and ask what his situation is. If he does not arrive by tomorrow morning I will leave and call him from Santa Rosalia. Chary says there is a tienda in El Barril, so I will stop there and see what I can buy. A few avocados, some tortillas, and some cans of beans would be great. If not, I will still eat pretty well the next week or so it takes me to get to Santa Rosalia. In the morning Jay will head North and I will head South. I will miss having Jay around, and it will be strange to be by myself. I haven't camped alone in recent years, so I guess it will be good for me. I have now had a month of experience living in a kayak in Baja, so it will probably be a great next step. I really feel I have learned a lot living here. My Spanish has improved some, but I wish I had my Spanglish dictionary with me. I also wish I had brought a Spanish grammar book. That would have been a big help. I will have to deal alone with talking to people in stores and bars and whatever. Tomorrow the next phase of the adventure begins!

Sunday, May 5

North 28° 24.595'
West 112° 51.472'
Distance: 14.1 miles

We paddled 14.1 miles today. Last night around 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning the wind died down. As soon as that happened the bugs came back. I got my sheet out and covered up. Jay got bit on the butt by a bunch of no-see-ems. It also got cloudy, damp, and warm. This morning I got up, got packed and got into the water as quickly as I could. Jay stayed for about 20 more minutes while I drifted with the tide and waited for him. He said that after I left the wind picked back up a little and the bugs were OK after that. We paddled uneventfully to Punta Ballena. Jay predicted two and a half hours to make the crossing and I guessed three and a half to four hours. Jay was closest at two hours and forty five minutes. When we got to land Jay packed as much as he wanted of the stash and we re-hid the rest of it. I took a GPS position at 28° 26.055' North and 112° 50.861' West. The position is just southeast of the lighthouse on a very landable beach by a very old and large Cordon cactus. It is about 10' toward the ocean from the cactus base. We saw some whales from land once we had done that and before we took off for San Francisquito. San Francisquito is a nice place. I would hardly call it a resort, but it has food, showers - hot ones!, Beer, and little semi-cabins for rent. We spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, bathing, reading, and just sitting in the shade. There is a bit of wind which is good for chasing the little flies away. I kinda miss the cockroaches!

Saturday, May 4

North 28° 35.560'
West 112° 45.241'
Distance: 29 miles

Big day today - 29 miles. We are now 217 miles from Pete's Camp in a straight line. This morning we got up earlier than normal and headed east by 8:00 in the morning. I paddled about 30 strokes and caught a good sized Cabrilla. We took it ashore and gutted it, then put it in the boat near the water to keep it cool. By 8:24 we started again - this time with the precaution of not dragging a lure. We headed straight to Isla Las Animas which was about a fifteen mile crossing. When we got to the beach at about 1:00 pm we sat down to rest a little. Not for long! The little flies were everywhere. They seem to be thick on the islands because of the bird poop. We think the birds live there because of the lack of predators. We got back in the boats and paddled Southeast to look for an escape. We went through the narrow channel between Las Animas and San Lorenzo to the east side of the islands. We tried a few more landings with the same result. At about 5:15 pm we got to the end of San Lorenzo. We had determined to cover up with sheets and wait for night to chase the flies away. Luck was with us, though. As soon as we got to the rock spit on the southeast end of the island and were past the mountain we got a nice little wind which got rid of the flies. Thank God for the wind. When Jay and Kurt were here two and a half years ago they found a package of marijuana which had floated up onto the shore of the island. Maybe a couple of kilograms. They had buried a couple jars of it in an arroyo near the rock spit. Jay and I went up and found them and took a little for after dinner. In the afternoon while paddling Jay and I decided to switch boats for a little while. Jay's boat is fast! It takes almost no energy to do 4 miles per hour. It is a little tippy and not as comfortable. The lack of a rudder would take some time to get used to. While I was in the Mariner a pod of dolphins came by. They got to within 15 feet of me which is the closest I been to one in a kayak. There was an empty seagull nest near our camp with an egg in it. Large, brown, and spotted. After dinner the seagull came back to sit on it. I don't think they much liked us being there, but after almost 30 miles in a kayak I was in no mood to move. Dinner was pasta with sauce and the fish. A great end to an interesting day. In the morning we cross again to Punta Ballena and San Francisquito.

Friday, May 3

North 28° 45.512'
West 113° 11.556'
Distance: 6.8 miles

We paddled a grand total of 6.8 miles today. We are now 193 miles from Pete's Camp. We made a short day today because Jay suggested we go out to the islands tomorrow and the land falls away after this point. By paddling another 6 miles today we could save ourselves maybe 1 mile of paddling tomorrow. The sea was flat and calm with no wind at all today and we expect similar tomorrow. We plan to kayak to Isla Las Animas, camp there, go to the southern tip of San Lorenzo the next day, then come back to the mainland and San Francisquito. We hope Mile will be there to meet us with the truck. It was a perfect day and is now a perfect night with all the planets in view.

Thursday, May 2

North 28° 49.832'
West 113° 16.248'
Distance: 10.5 miles

We paddled 10.5 miles today in rough water with a medium to fast wind. Lucky for me it was out of the Northwest most of the time and we were going mostly Southeast. I have only made about 7 or 8 miles to the South the last two days while I have gone about 17 miles East. 120° seems to be the most important heading on this trip. Last night we had a great meal of avocado, tomato, onion, garlic, beans, and cheese in fresh tortillas. Wonderful! Then we opened our jug of wine and it was a disaster. It turns out to be something other than wine. 38 proof and it tastes like something that will make my children have three heads. The night was nice but cool and the wind started to blow in the early hours. I think today we have paddled our way out of the cool weather. Around 12:45 we found a nice beach, had lunch and went for a walk. We saw a coyote head on the beach. The head was mostly in good condition but there was a hole in it and the body was gone. I don't know what could have happened to the rest of the coyote. We found another beach up the cove a bit and I bet Jay we couldn't walk along the beach all the way back to camp. I won, but just in the last hundred yards. We walked at least a mile along the beach before we were stumped. We are now just about at the end of Guardian Angel Island. Technically we are south of it a few miles but it is still across the channel from us - just the Southern tip. Last night I had a dream that my cat Johnny really missed me and that she hardly knew me. She has been dead for over 14 years now and I still had a dream about her. I was pretty sad when I woke up and that thought has been haunting me all day. It makes me think about getting a new cat. I didn't use sunscreen again today. I am a little burnt on my nose and legs but I think my rash is getting better. Tomorrow I will try putting a shirt over my legs while I paddle. The hat helps but I dislike wearing it. My skin gets pretty dry from the constant salt and I have been using lotion every day. By the end of the day my arms and legs are white with salt. Cortaid on everything seems to help but I will run out of it eventually. Thanks to Gail for giving it to me.

Wednesday, May 1

North 28° 56.250'
West 113° 23.651'
Distance: 9.96 miles

We paddled 9.96 miles today mostly east. We were going north for a while which was kinda aggravating. It was nice sleeping in a bed last night. I have developed a new theory about the itchy bumps all over my body. I had thought they were bug bites but now think they may be an allergic reaction to something. Maybe sunscreen. I didn't use any today and wore a shirt and hat instead. I noticed that there are no bumps on the parts of my body where I don't use sunscreen. If this is the case I will have to figure out a different brand or maybe just wear it for the hot part of the day and wash carefully when I get out of the sun. I started using the sunshade again today. It is much better with more pole sections. Thanks, Greg! We got up today about 8:00 am, took advantage of the shower. I washed the fishing pole well. Then we packed and ordered breakfast. I took advantage of the time to call Heidi. She was home and we talked for 10 minutes. I think she will be able to meet me in Loreto! She also said that Mike is in Sacramento and that is why he isn't answering his phone. She will call him and get the information to him that we will be in San Francisquito next Wednesday at the latest. As of last night I have finished/survived/enjoyed my first month down here. There have been quite a few setbacks and I have gone only 176 miles in a month. That puts me a bit behind schedule! Still, I have gone and done and enjoyed quite a trip so far. I have high hopes that Mike will be able to join me at least within the next 4 weeks and I hope in the next two or three. It seems like I am making friends wherever I go here, so if I have to do it on my own it won't be too bad. I will certainly have plenty of time to read! It has been great to have Jay along and I wish he could do the entire trip with me, but by the time he leaves next week or in 10 days I feel I will have had enough experience to handle things on my own for the week or so it will take to get to Santa Rosalia. After that I am pretty sure Mike will be ready to go. If not then at least I won't be far from help any time. The shade and the breeze are making this a nice time and place for a nap. I wasn't too happy about the wind whipping the waves up and throwing them into my face this morning, but now it feels great!