Sunday, June 30

North 23° 27.642’
West 109° 26.169’
Distance: 7.88 miles

We paddled 7.88 miles today. We got a late start after making pancakes for breakfast.and just hanging around having a good time. Just about when we got into the water the wind came up hard in our faces with rough waves. We paddled for two hours and forty five minutes, then took a break for a few hours and just relaxed. The wind has blown out the fishing and the water is cold. Mike has changed from being slow to being ahead of me all day like he suddenly switched into a new gear. In the afternoon we took a nap, read, and had a nice lunch with most of the rest of our fruit. About 6:30 we got back into the water for another hour and fifteen minutes, and then paddled to a nice beach for the night. It is all nice white sand with no access other than by water. There was a lot of driftwood on the beach so we made a fire and watched stars for a while before going to sleep. I have noticed that as I work hard pushing the boat I have become very interested in both food and sleep. I sleep like a rock every night and I eat at least three times as much as I would at home. Fresh food tastes much better than anything I ever have at home and a bed of rocks or sand feels great after a hard day of paddling. I think this will be our easternmost camp site and we will start heading back west tomorrow as the cape narrows at the bottom.

Saturday, June 29

North 23° 33.783’
West 109° 29.449’
Distance: 15.6 miles

We paddled 15.6 miles today. We woke up early and cleaned up a bit, then went into town. A couple people stopped to see what we were up to and they were all very nice. The laundry was closed, so we went for tacos while we waited. Then Mike started laundry while I hiked to the ATM or Cajero Automatico as they say down here. While laundry was going we went shopping, used the internet, made phone calls, and got ice cream. Then we bought 30 fresh hot tortillas at the tortillaria and ate 6 of them immediately. There is just nothing like a fresh, hot tortilla as they make them in Mexico. Then we packed up and left at around 2:00pm. At 2:15 I remembered that my plug was open and I landed. At 2:30 I was dry and plugged and started again. I think that is the sixth time I have forgotten that plug, but the first on about a month. Some day I will learn not to do that. Mike was feeling slow and tired so I had to kinda drag him along till about 6:00pm. Then he woke up and I was chasing him for the next two hours. We landed on a perfect beach just north of the lighthouse and made our favorite food – tortillas with beans, avocado, tomatoes, onion, lime, cheese, and salsa piqante. Mike made a fire. It was cold from the time we landed, so the fire felt great. This is the first time I have been cold for at least a month and it was a nice change. We are both ready to fall asleep after a long day.

Friday, June 28

North 23° 41.352’
West 109° 41.750’
Distance: 7.41 miles

We paddled 7.41 miles today. We took an easy day and crossed the 600 miles from San Felipe line today. We woke up on the beach under the palapa at the hotel in Punta Pescadero. We got up early and packed the boats because we knew the hotel guests would soon be coming down to the beach. I went up to the hotel bathroom and shaved the five days of beard off my face, then went and met Mike for breakfast. I ate at least a plate of fruit and drank four glasses of their good orange juice. The hotel guests were all interested in our trip so we showed them our map and hung around the pool all morning. After a few miles Mike got sunscreen in his eyes, so we went to shore to clean it out. A nice lady named Julie asked us if we needed help. We asked her for water and she filled us up and fed us each a couple beers. Then we went down to Los Barriles and landed in front of Nolan’s house. We stopped at Kevin and Betsy’s house, but they weren’t home. We left them a note saying we had been by, and then continued to downtown Los Barriles. We got carne tacos, used the internet, had a couple more beers, played pool, and just relaxed for a couple hours. I called Gail and Mom, but got no answer. Then I called Heidi and got to talk to her while she was walking Sumatra, so that was a treat. Tomorrow is shopping, laundry, and maybe a big paddling day.

Thursday, June 27

North 23° 47.778’
West 109° 42.008’
Distance: 20.0 miles

We paddled 20.0 miles today. We crossed the 24th degree of latitude – just one more before we make Cabo San Lucas. We got up this morning and discovered we were just a few hundred yards from a huge fish camp. Last night Mike asked which side of the lighthouse we should land on. I kinda randomly picked the left. If I had picked the right we would have been right in the camp. I am amazed that with all those people and vehicles that there were no lights last night. No fires, nothing. This lighthouse is a large concrete tower with a wall around id. Some one made stairs over the wall by pounding out the cinder blocks, so I climbed over. The tower is a cylinder with stairs up the middle. The door was off its hinges so I climbed up to the top. On top are the same light, battery, and solar panel as the other lighthouses. We watched the view for a while, then took off. We paddled past Ensenada de los Muertos – lots of pretty beaches and some houses. I caught two large Mexican Needlefish. Fun to catch but not worth eating. They have lots of long sharp teeth, so we have to be careful when taking them off the hook. Mike said he was going to catch a fifty pound dorado at 1:30pm, but that time came and went without a hookup. About 5:00pm we came to a beach to rest. There was a nice little hotel on the beach. Nice people – the guy is from Spain and his wife is a local. They have a pile of cute girls from 4 to 14 years old. Mike started a water fight with them and we had giggling girls all around us while we had beer and food. We got back in the boats around 8:30 and paddled for another hour. It got very dark and when we were ready to land we had no idea where the shore was or if it were sand or rocks. We found the hotel at Punta Pescadero and remembered that they had at least some sand, so we decided to land there. We could kinda see some of the rocks by the light of the hotel and we crashed on the beach through the light surf. We occupied a palapa and went to rinse ourselves in the hotel pool and to have a beer or three. Finally we went to sleep under the palapa in front of the hotel at the foot of the cliff. We need to get sleep now because the sun comes up early and we will want to be up and packed before the hotel guests started coming down.

Wednesday, June 26

North 24° 03.666’
West 109° 49.887’
Distance: 6.88 miles

We paddled 6.88 miles today. We woke up on Cerralvo this morning and it was such a nice place that we put up our sun shade and made ourselves comfortable. We made breakfast and read for a while. I went for a walk to see if I could find any sign of sailboats around the point of the lighthouse. None. I found a sign saying that it is illegal to be on the island without permission of two Mexican officials. This seems to be widely ignored and I suspect it is just there to impress American conservationist extremists with how sensitive the Mexican Government is toward their sensitive ecological areas. I am guessing that the 20 fishermen who live here are no more sensitive to their environmental impact than any of the other Mexican fishermen I have seen. About the time we decided to go, the wind came up strongly. We waited till about 4:00pm, then gave up and went to look for goats. I had seen the skin and heads of three of them which had been left on the beach by the fishermen, but I saw no live ones. I did hear some while paddling last night. We also tested the flair gun which Johnny gave us in La Paz. It is fun, but it doesn’t go very far or very straight. We also saw a pelican with his left wing missing. This is the second one I have seen like this in the past week and I wonder how that happens. Maybe they get bitten off? Both were taken at the joint and were pretty clean. Maybe they get caught in fish nets and the fishermen cut them off, but I would think they would kill them at the same time. Perhaps they are torn off – maybe by the birds themselves when they are trapped. However it happens, it is sad to see. I would have killed it if I had the means. This way it will die slowly of starvation. About 6:30 the wind died down some and we crossed back to the mainland. The wind and current were against us so we went pretty slowly. It was about 9:00pm when we landed at the lighthouse. From where we are we can se three lighthouses – each with a different light blink pattern. We climbed the one by our last camp today for a view from the top. There is an old lighthouse right next to the current one. It is badly rusted and has a bird nest at the top. After we landed we made pasta for dinner. Once again the whole thing was gone in minutes. We are now about 24 miles from Nolan’s place in Los Barriles. It has been fun to go a bit slower and see things these past few days, but I think I am now in the mood for a good distance day tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 25

North 24° 09.183’
West 109° 52.373’
Distance: 13.2 miles

We paddled 13.2 miles today. We are now 28.6 miles from La Paz and 571 miles from Pete’s Camp. We are again as far south as we were when we left La Paz, but are much further east. Today we crossed the 110° line of longitude which is the last one we will cross on this trip. Today we are east of Cabo San Lucas. We will go a little further east but will start back west in a couple days. Again today we woke up late and relaxed in the morning. The palapa we found last night is a nice place to just hang out. We had shade, protection from the wind, and nice soft sand to stand on. We had comfortable chairs. The seal on my hatch started to leak so Mike and I glued it back on with Marine Goop. Both of Mike’s had come off early on the trip but mine had been fine until now. They just seem to randomly come off. We started out at 2:00pm and went five miles to Punta la Gorda. The wind and waves were against us so we put in and did some shore fishing and snorkeling. We got three puffer fish – one on a krokadile and two on the spear. At 6:00pm the wind died down and we started to cross Canal de Cerralvo to Cerralvo Island. This is about an 8 mile crossing and we got to the island just a few minutes before full dark. We hung out for about an hour until the moon was up over the horizon but hidden from our view by the island mountains. This gave us a little light and we knew we would have full moonlight soon. We paddled to the south end of the island to a sand beach just before the lighthouse. There was a fish camp with a fire so we stopped to ask directions. Mike thought it might be American boaters and hoped that they would have beer, but it was just fishermen. The beach we found is nice with a cooling breeze, nice sand, and a view of the coastline of the mainland. We can see the glow of La Paz and lights from El Sargento andLa Ventana. This is more humanity than we are used to, but it is interesting and fun to run into people. The last paddle we did in the dark was really fun. We had phosphorescent plankton lighting up our strokes, a full moon to light our way, and stories of orcas eating fishermen bouncing around our heads. Mike was attacked by a baitfish which jumped into his boat and hit him on the chest. Kinda spooky and lots of fun. We had expected to see sailboats out here but so far have seen none. This island has few of the bugs we have come to expect on islands. Maybe it is the time of the year, or maybe there is just enough breeze to drive them away. Either way, I am happy with this island landing. Tomorrow we cross back with a short five mile crossing. We will make a course for Punta Arena de la Ventana, then around the corner to spend the night at Ensenada de los Muertos.

Monday, June 24

North 24° 12.158’
West 110° 04.493’
Distance: 13.5 miles

We paddled 13.5 miles today. We are now 16.2 miles from La Paz and 561 from Pete’s Camp. We are still north of La Paz and will be tomorrow, too. Today has been great. We woke early, but with the shade of the palapa or shack we were in last night we stayed cool. We made coffee and just read and relaxed for a long time. When I made coffee, Mike said he didn’t want any. I made him a cup anyway and he drank it. Then he made more. We became so ambitious we made a list of Spanish words to memorize and spent a lot of time playing with the dictionary. When we took off at 2:45 the day was hot with little wind. The sea is full of life and we had a great show of rays jumping. Mike saw a Dorado and there was a lot of bait jumping and sheeting. After a couple hours we decided to take a break on shore. We saw a nice beach and headed for it. When we got close we saw that there was an American looking house on the beach. The house was deserted so we rested in the shade. After a half hour or so a Mexican man came to see what we were up to. His name is Roberto and he lives in the ranch house back from the beach. He gave us water and talked to us for a couple hours. He gave us excellent coffee and told us about the area. He said that there is a hotel at Las Cruces five kilometers to the southeast but that the food was very expensive. By this time it was after 7:30pm and we wanted to move on. We got back in the water by 8:00 just in time for the sunset and the moonrise. The moon was a huge orange ball in front of us. Roberto told us to be careful because there are orcas in this part of the Sea of Cortez and that they were seen here a few days ago. He claims that they have eaten four fishermen. I don’t know if it is true or just an urban legend, but it makes kayaking at night just a little more exciting. An hour or so later we heard American voices on the beach, so we decided to say hi. They were Greg, Nicky, and another guy who refused to identify himself even by first name. We decided that it would be fun to assume he was a Mafioso in the Witless Protection Program. Before we landed Nicky told the others that if we had come from San Felipe that he would buy us a drink. He ended up buying us two and then invited us to dinner. It turned out that Nicky runs the hotel which is part of a family-owned chain in Baja California. Dinner was an American steak – melt in your mouth tender – a fish taco, chili relleño, rice, beans, and tortillas and finished with ice cream and all washed down with another beer. Then he told us about a palapa we could use down the beach a quarter mile or so. The palapa was very nice with a wall, sand, and comfortable chairs. Life has been very good to us today. As Gail would say, “It’s good to be Chuckie.”

Sunday, June 23

North 24° 19.959’
West 110° 14.089’
Distance: 13.5 miles

We paddled 13.5 miles today and are now 548 miles from Pete’s Camp. We woke up at about 7:30, had coffee and donuts, and got in the water at about 9:00am. Johnny and Gordon followed us in Gordon’s inflatable kayaks for about a mile. We stopped at Irish Rose to say goodbye to John and Mary and arranged to look for them near Isla Espiritu Santo in two weeks. Johnny has expressed interest in flying down and renting a kayak to join us for a 4 or 5 day visit to the islands. We paddled for a couple hours while thinking up “Damn! It feels good to be a kayaker” lines. Bad ones. It really does feel great to be in the ocean again. I was getting soft living in the city for so long. About 11:00am we found a beach with shade and relaxed for an hour or more. Mike fell asleep for a while. Just after noon we took off again for another two hours. We started passing party beaches full of Mexican families. Before this trip I had believed that Americans on the beach in Mexico were the rudest, loudest, and most destructive people on earth. I have learned here that they are just following the lead of their Mexican hosts. I couldn’t wait to get away from the jet skis, trucks, motorcycles, and boom boxes that the Mexican families bring to the peaceful beach by the hundreds on Sundays. We finally found a quiet beach about 2:30 and took another short rest. We got going again about 3:00pm or so. We were just about at the point where we were starting to go east instead of north. Mike and I were paddling close together talking when a baitfish started jumping off to our left. I watched it while finishing a sentence when suddenly a large dorado jumped behind it. Each fish must have jumped 10 times while passing less than 40 feet in front of my kayak. The bait would jump, then the dorado would jump. The dorado was all lit up and maybe 10 feet behind the baitfish. It looked like he was jumping to see where the bait was. I started yelling incoherently, and Mike was struck speechless. The water was blue, the fish sparkled in the sun. The bait fled and the dorado chased it. It probably lasted no more than 10 seconds, but it seemed to go on forever. A film of that moment would have gone on Animal Planet or National Geographic. Mike and I had been fishing, but I am sure the dorado had eyes only for the baitfish. We are now excited about the possibility of hooking one up. It would clearly take both of us to land a monster like that and we would likely lose it, but what a thrill that would be! Shortly after we made Punta El Coyote and started into the bay on the other side. There are a few houses on the beach at the back of the bay. Clearly a person could keep a truck in La Paz and fly in and get here in about an hour. Isolated but accessible. The water is warm and full of life. This place would make a great vacation house. We found a fishing shack on the north side of the bay and occupied it. It is just a tin cover and a brick fireplace, but it is relatively clean. Mike took a nap in the shade and I relaxed with some writing. Then we made dinner – beans, avocados, tomatoes, onion, lime, and salsa in tortillas. I feel like a new man getting out here again. The city life was starting to wear on me. It feels great to have sore arms and to be tired and hungry at the end of the day. We went into the water at least five times today. The hot sun and cool blue water just feel like heaven. This is what I came down here for. We have a full moon this week, so we might do some night kayaking. There is a nice sandy spot a few yards away and I think I will sleep well tonight.

Saturday, June 22

Another night on the boat. I am really getting used to luxury! Again we went to the internet café, stopping for a malteada at La Fuente. In the afternoon we washed the boats using Gordon’s hose. I was afraid Bad Girl would fall apart with all that fresh water. This is the first time she has been washed with fresh water for almost three months. Then we went shopping for supplies and water. In the morning we went to the Irish Rose for breakfast with John and Mary. Their boat is small but nicely laid out and is neat and simple. They are living on it for two years and are one year into that plan. They clearly know what they are doing and have figured out how to live simply. After shopping we took a last advantage of the nice showers here, packed the boats for tomorrow, and went out to our taco stand with the transvestite waitress with the guys in the next boat. She kindly went and bought us a couple six-packs of Modelo and we had tacos for a couple hours. I will be going back there – the food and service are great. Then a last malteada from La Fuente. At dinner I bet Mike that he couldn’t talk me into having one. 1 peso. He tried and tried, but I held firm. But when we got there and he offered to buy, and go get it, I gave in. It takes a little planning to get a free shake. Tomorrow we are leaving for Cabo San Lucas. After 10 days I feel like a fraud when I tell people I am kayaking down Baja. Five, six, seven days I was OK with it, but now I feel it is time to put up of shut up. The city is great, but I am getting fat from all the food and beer and I miss the water. My hands don’t hurt anymore. I want to go again. It is just short of midnight and this is my last night in the luxury of the yacht.

Friday, June 21

We woke up on the boat today. Gordon’s mast howls in certain kinds of wind, and the kind of wind we had last night was it. This kept a bunch of people awake and pissed off some of the neighbors. I slept like a rock as usual. At least the ground was flat. Mike tried to sleep on the swim step, but after water splashed him a few times he moved to the dock. We went to the internet café for breakfast, stopped at La Fuente for a malteada, then back to the boat. New people moved into the slip next to us where we had left the kayaks. Gordon moved them to the other side for us. In the afternoon we went for a walk around town and had another malteada. A couple beers, then to see a movie. There is a taco place with a transvestite waitress. Nice but a bit strange. We had carne tacos and papas rellenas. Great food! The movie was interesting but not great – Sandra Bullock as a homicide detective. The town was pretty lively when we got out, but we were tired and went back to the boat to sleep. John and Mary invited us out to the Irish Rose for breakfast tomorrow. Johnny and I spent some of the afternoon paddling the kayaks around. There are a lot of dying boats in that harbor.

Thursday, June 20

We woke up late today and went down to the café Callejon for more food, coffee, and internet use. We saw the French kids again and had a great time using the web. We got an ice cream at La Fuente again. Those are really good. Then we came back and checked out. Felix tried to talk us into staying. Then he tried to talk us into paying for an extra day since it was 2:15 and he said checkout was at 2:00 pm. We brushed him off, got our stuff from our room, and then left. We gave a cheerful goodbye to Felix who was still trying to get more pesos from us. Then we walked over to the marina and put our clothes in the wash at Lavamatica Polly. We bought a shower, cleaned up, and returned to put our clothes in the drier. I tried calling the international number Johnny had given me without success. Then I called Gail and asked her to try. Twenty minutes later I called her back, but she was unable to get through. I walked back to “Polly” and told Mike. He was trying the VHF radio at the dock. No use. We looked at the book exchange, then took our clothes our of the dryer. We left the lavamatica and there was Johnny walking by. We went and met his friends Gordon the boat owner, Jeanne, his girlfriend, Karen – another friend. The boat is 47 feet and is called Phantasma del Mar. We were invited to stay on the boat so we got our kayaks moved over there. Then we hung out, talked, had another malteada, and went to bed. This has been a fun day. It is great to see Johnny and I enjoyed meeting and talking to his friends. Gordon is retired and plans to take his boat for as long as he can. Jeanne will go with him for the first 14 months, then has to go home and work. He wants to spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez, then go south in the fall. Johnny will likely hook up with him from time to time over the next years when he isn’t working. He has spent much of the last year traveling and feels compelled to get back to work.

Wednesday, June 19

Interesting day. We got up late and walked down to the internet café from yesterday. We like it because they have good machines, coffee, food, a nice location, and good prices. On the way we met a woman named Norma who was trying to rent us a room in her house. We agreed to go see it at 2:00pm. We had breakfast, used the instant messenger for a while, checked out Dorians department store, then it was 2:00pm. We hurried over there and met her husband and kids and her sister. Her sister works at our favorite Ice Cream place and recognized us. We talked to her in Spanish for a couple hours, had lunch, and mike learned to make tortillas with her. Her husband, Gregorio wants us to help him find a contact in the US toy market so he can be a toy distributor here. I think that if he can’t find his own contact that he will be unable to do all the other things needed to import and distribute toys. Then we stopped back by the café for their 10 peso beer happy hour. We met some French kids and spoke Spanish with them for a couple hours. It was easier to communicate with them since their Spanish is about like ours. Some of them also spoke a little English but we didn’t use it much. Then we went and watched Blade 2 which is the worst movie I have seen in years.

Tuesday, June 18

Today we woke up and went to use the internet café and to eat breakfast. John Gorton sent us email saying he would be in La Paz on the 20th, so we decided to stay a couple more days. We paid for the room at 130 pesos a night and boat storage at 10 pesos a night. I bought some cable and fittings to fix my boat but have not yet made the repair. I think I will wait till it actually breaks first – it might go for some time the way it is. Then we took a nap and went out to explore for a while. We had food and Ice Cream and later watched the movie SpiderMan or Hombre Araña. It was in English with subtitles in Spanish, so we were both distracted reading the Spanish. We haven’t done much here except eat ice cream, drink beer, and walk around, but we are having a great time doing it. Tomorrow another day of doing nothing, then a day or two of doing nothing with Gordzilla. Then back on the water. The guy who runs the hotel is named Felix and is kinda strange. I guess he wants us to continue spending money at his hotel without it costing him anything. He would do better to just leave us alone. As typical, Mexican style hotel rooms do not include maid service which I guess suits me just fine.

Monday, June 17

We got up, cleaned and packed everything. Mike said there is a 9:00am bus and an 11:00am bus. We got there about 10:50 and started waiting. We asked around and got 4 different answers about when the bus comes. About 12:00 Mike figured out that he had left his keys at the house. He walked the 5 miles or so back, found them, and made it back to the bus stop about 1:40. About 3:15 the bus came. We met a nice girl who studies law in La Paz and talked to her for a while. We got back, checked our gear, and I went to find boat parts and a hotel room for the night. 150 pesos. Interesting place. While I was gone, Mike met John and Mary. Santa Cruz communists who are living on a boat for a couple years. They took us for a tour of the town and we got ice cream. Finally we bought a six-pack and went to our room and went to bed. Tomorrow we want to shop, pack, and get back on the water for the stretch to Cabo San Lucas.

Sunday, June 16

Father’s Day. It was good to be with my dad in such a place on Father’s Day. Thanks again to Nolan! We watched more golf, used the internet, went out to dinner. More just hanging around.

Saturday, June 15

Mostly the same as yesterday. We went to town and watched golf a bit. Later we went for a walk and Kevin invited us to use his pool. Nice people.

Friday, June 14

This was a big hang around day. Nolan’s house is great for this and we just relaxed and ate most of the day. We did laundry and I washed my pillow. It feels great!

Thursday, June 13

North 24° 09.287’
West 110° 19.529’
Distance: 10.3 miles

We paddled 10.3 miles today. Our goal today was to get to Los Barriles to visit my dad and Nolan Johnson. We got moving reasonably early and paddled along the sandbar which protects La Paz harbor. It is kinda a bummer we had to go all the way around wince it would be a short paddle otherwise. On the way we saw two boats beached and abandoned. The first was an old wooden fishing boat – maybe 25 feet. The second was a steel sailboat. The weather was easy – not too hot or windy but just nice. Once we made the corner we had to decide what to do. We thought for a while about hiding our boats in the bushes and walking in but decided in the end to go to the marina. Good decision. Mary, the woman who seems to be in charge, took care of us. She showed us a place to leave the boats for a dollar a day and we bought a shower each. These were great showers and we cleaned up pretty well. Then a meal and a couple of beers at The Dock which is a restaurant at the marina. Then we packed what we needed and headed for Los Barriles. Our thought was to hitchhike there, but after an hour and a half with no luck while walking toward the edge of town we came across a better idea. We saw a bus with “Los Cabos” on it. For 60 pesos we got a nice, comfortable ride to Los Barriles and got there about 8:00 pm. I called Mom to try to make contact and also used the numbers she gave me. No luck. We found the Playa del Sol hotel and Juan, the guy who helps Nolan. He took us to the house just as they had gotten back from dinner. The boys were all baracho and were watching slides. Jerry is an underwater photographer with some great stuff. Frank is a doctor friend of Nolan. There were also Kevin and Betsy who live a few doors down. It was great to see them and we were invited to stay the whole time they were there. The house is wonderful and Nolan made us feel welcome while we crashed his party. We all finally went to sleep about 1:30 in the morning.

Wednesday, June 12

North 25° 23.206’
West 110° 59.937’
Distance: 21.7 miles

We paddled 21.7 miles today. We are now 137 miles from Loreto and 548 miles from Pete’s Camp. We woke up early at our cool camp on the ledge. The water was down, so we were a little higher off the water than we were last night. We ate breakfast, had some coffee, and just hung out for a while. There were blowholes all over which were fun to watch and listen to. The rocks felt good under our feet and some were curved nicely for sitting on, so we just stayed till about 11:45. We had a bit of adventure getting the boats back into the water. There were waves smashing on the rocks and we were still at least eighteen inches higher off the water than when we came in last night. We finally just threw the boats into the water during a lull in the waves and jumped in after them, then hurried in and paddled away before the next set of waves smashed us into the wall. I cut my thumb a little where it joins my hand and it was a little uncomfortable all day. A couple hours later we came to a mine with a pier. We paddled under the pier for fun. Then we saw on the road the guys from San Evaristo. Too bad we couldn’t talk to them. After the mine the road was paved, so we saw more traffic. Later we stopped for a break and a snack of pineapple, nutella, and an apple. Then we got back in gear for a couple more hours. Mike caught a couple sierra, but lost one of them. When we landed he cleaned it and cooked it and we had fish tacos with rice made with dried black beans. This has been yet another great Baja day. The water, the air, everything is wonderful. There is a tiny sliver of moon which is just now going down at 9:45 pm. We are being attacked by spiders right now, but that should end as soon as we turn out the lights.

Tuesday, June 11

North 24° 27.580’
West 110° 41.208’
Distance: 24.1 miles

We paddled 24.1 miles today. That is my second best day and the best day Mike and I have had together. We got up early, ate a couple eggs, and were in the water by 7:45. Before 8:00am my rudder cable broke on the right side. We made two hours of paddling into the wind and then pulled over for a break. Mike and I took the rudder apart and repaired it with the BuckTool, the Leatherman, and two shovels. Pretty crude, but we got it working. We were hungry so we made 3 ½ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each. We used all the bread, peanut butter and jelly. The bread came with soccer trading cards – three of them. We ended up with an empty jelly jar and two empty peanut butter jars, so we wrote three messages and put a trading card and a note in each and set them loose. At 1:00pm we started again. The day got better and better. The water has been cold because of the wind, but I took a bath around 2:30 anyway. We stayed on the water until about 7:15, then found a great ledge on a cliff with rock and a little gravel a few inches off of the water. We made bean burritos and started on a little tequila. We are now 115 miles from Loreto and 527 from Pete’s Camp. I am constantly looking around at my life in amazement. I love it out here and keep thinking that I want it to go on and on. The night is calm, the sunset is orange and purple. Another great day on the Sea of Cortez.

Monday, June 10

North 24° 48.539’
West 110° 39.666’
Distance: 8.31 miles

We paddled only 8.31 miles today in what was some of the roughest wind and waves we have seen. We woke up, make breakfast, and got going about 11:30. We paddled up around the punta and immediately hit big wind and waves. We made the port at San Evaristo and bought apples, water, and tortillas. After loading the boats we headed out into the wind and waves again. We were both especially careful to get the hatch covers tight since we were both swamped frequently on the way in. A couple hours and 8 miles later we decided to pull in to shore in the lee of the next punta. There was a fish camp there, but nobody home. We went for a walk around the point and found a lighthouse. We climbed up to see how it works and to see the view. It is battery operated and has a solar panel to charge the battery. We ate some of our new hard boiled eggs and just wandered around and read for a while. When it became clear that the wind wasn’t going away today we decided to cook dinner. We had two kinds of pasta and Mike cooked all of both. We added oregano and a little corn oil and topped it with salsa picante. It looked like way more than we could eat, but 10 minutes later it was all gone. I could have eaten more if there were any. Working against the wind and waves takes a lot of energy. We will certainly be having this again – it was a welcome treat. For once Mike didn’t burn anything. He is becoming quite a good little homemaker. Then we sat and watched the sunset for an hour or more and talked about the rest of the trip. Time is going by far too fast. The adventure is already more than half over. We intend to get up and out early tomorrow in case the afternoon is windy again. I have a feeling the weather will improve tomorrow and be better still the next day. We will want to get a couple more 20 plus mile days in order to make it to La Paz in time. My rudder cable is breaking slowly and I hope to get it fixed when we get there, too. About half the strands are broken now and I am using it as carefully as I can in the hope that it will last. Every day I see more places I would like to see again. Baja is a wonderful place and I could easily spend quite a lot of time here.

Sunday, June 9

North 24° 55.213’
West 110° 42.633’
Distance: 15.7 miles

We paddled 15.7 miles today. We are now 85.6 miles from Loreto and 498 from Pete’s Camp. Tomorrow we will cross the 500 mile line for our trip. Today we crossed the 25th parallel of latitude makes a total of seven which I have crossed. The place we camped last night was perfect. There was a little wind, but after the long push yesterday I certainly slept well. This morning we made coffee and oatmeal for breakfast and had a feast. The weather has been so perfect that I am tempted to just sit and enjoy it rather than do anything. Cool in the shade and still pretty good in the sun. About 12:45 we started going again. We saw two pods of dolphin today – the first I have seen in a long time. One of them gave us a show of jumping at least 12 feet out of the water just a hundred feet from us. Mike caught two fish – a bonito and something else. Neither was very good cooked, but the something else was pretty good raw. He was silver with blue/green stripes. Red meat. We saw a group of nice block houses and stopped to ask for information. The houses were interesting because they were by far the nicest we had seen in a fish camp and they were in a place where the block has to be brought in by boat. It seemed odd. He gave us directions to San Evaristo which has a store. We got juice, eggs, tortillas, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and cookies. We also met a group of guys from Solana Beach. We visited them for a while, but they didn’t seem to interested in company, so we left after a while. We were disappointed that the store didn’t have avocados, tomatoes, bananas, cheese, or beer. Still, we will be able to get water there tomorrow and we will be in La Paz in a few more days. They make salt here in San Evaristo and we camped next to the field where it is dried. We had to walk about a kilometer to the store. On the other side of the punta there is a harbor and the town. Tomorrow we will paddle over there to stock up our water and get more tortillas before we head out. As usual I like getting stuff but an anxious to get out of town. It is a warm night and the wind is dying down, so it might be pretty comfortable to camp here. The country around here has been as pretty as any I have seen. Certainly better than I imagined when I planned the trip. Much of it reminds me of Lake Powell in Utah, but much more remote and unspoiled. The best places are those with no road access. I see people camped in the worst places and wonder why till I remember that they just can’t get to the good places with all their gear. I guess that is good.

Saturday, June 8

North 25° 05.817’
West 110° 52.086’
Distance: 21.6 miles

We paddled 21.6 miles today, mostly in the face of the wind. We had fruit for breakfast and then got going about 9:30. Mike wouldn’t let me have an coffee today so I punished him with a long day. Almost immediately I hooked up a nice sea bass, so Mike and I made ceviche. Back in the water the the wind started up in our faces. We caught no more fish, but Mike hooked his $9.00 lure on a rock and lost it. He was a little miffed about that. Mike also got sunburned in a couple spots which he had missed with the sunscreen. We stopped a couple times to rest, but otherwise just spent the day paddling. The wind kept us cool along with a few dips in the water. At 7:15 we pulled into a nice beach with walls for wind protection and what we think will be shade in the morning. Our fresh fruit and vegetables are running out. The avocados are not too good and we finished the bananas. We hope for a store tomorrow. We are camped on a ranch with a ruined mission nearby. We have already been visited by cows. The days go by quickly and especially when we push for distance. I really want to make La Paz early to visit with my dad and Nolan. Mike cooked rice tonight to go with our ceviche and tortillas. We used the last of our habanera sauce with it. He only burned the rice a little which is a huge improvement in his cooking skills. I wish he had practiced cooking a little while he was gone.

Friday, June 7

North 25° 23.206’
West 110° 59.937’
Distance: 11.5 miles

We paddled only 11.5 miles today. This is getting to be a bad habit! We are now on the east side of the 111° west line of latitude, but just by a few feet. We are 48.8 miles from Loreto, 462 miles from Pete’s Camp, and 632 miles from home. We woke up this morning tired from going to bed at 1:00am and had coffee with our people from last night. They fed us more, entertained us more, gave us food and water for our trip, and were just generally great to us. I helped Mike diagnose a problem with his van. He had a broken part on one of his break calipers. We made the problem less irritating and then bolted it back together. We finally departed at 12:30 and had perfect weather for paddling. The day was warm but not hot, the water was great for swimming, and the wind was light. We had fun catching a couple junk fish. We took an hour break in the shade, and then continued paddling. There was a lot of bait boiling around us for over an hour. I saw a Dorado showing his colors at close range chasing a school of bait. I passed my squid jig within 10 feet of him, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Mike saw something hit my jig, but it didn’t stick. Mike got a few nibbles, too, but nothing was caught. After 6:00pm we saw a nice beach and took it. We used the GPS to find the exact 111° line and marked it. Then we wrote this:

Damn! It feels good to be on the 111°
At least within 14 feet.
Kayaking down the Sea of Cortez
Thinking about what we are going to eat.

Pretty bad, but we have been out here a long time. The country here is as pretty as I have seen and I feel like I am into the core of the trip now. This is my life now and I don’t really think about home. I am pretty fit and have adapted to the life. The beach feels like home. We are going with a light meal tonight since we have been pigging out so much the past days.

Thursday, June 6

North 25° 31.462’
West 111° 06.130’
Distance: 8.97 miles

We paddled 8.97 miles today. This has been a wonderful day in every regard except for distance. We camped in a place where we would be protected from the morning sun. We slept well and late. In the morning we took advantage of the shade to relax and cook banana pancakes. They were great and we stuffed ourselves. We are now out of pancake mix and I want to be sure we get some in La Paz. After breakfast we rested, read, and captured wasps in our mason jars. The wasps are a frequent visitor, but they are slow and stupid and don’t seem to sting. Mike caught two and I caught one. I also killed one with a towel while Mike cooked. We finally got moving at 1:00pm and went a few miles. Then we pulled up to a beach to rest. We left and paddled another 20 minutes till Mike noticed a couple boats coming toward us. He waved as they went by. A half hour later they came back and offered us a beer. Then they invited us to their house for cocktails. We accepted and asked where their house was. One of the guys pointed vaguely to a distant beach which looked deserted from where we were. When they left we followed them with our eyes and marked where they were headed. We pushed another two hours and with a little care and some lucky guessing we found it at around 4:00pm. It is a trailer under a palapa like so many of the homes down here. It is in a great location with a private bay and up against a cliff on the southeast. The mountain arm going into the water and the little island protect the bay and make a great location for their boat. They have several miles of white sand beach to the north. Lots of trees for shade and wind block. Their names are Fred and Rainey. They had about a dozen guests and made us feel at home. Beer and wine and cake and quiche. Then later a turkey dinner. We stayed up talking till about 1:00am and played darts and had crab races. Fred is an old co-worker of my uncle Chuck from his Convair days and has been living here for the last 15 years. He is also a 100 ton boat captain. Mike, another guy there, is a hardware geek and another mike is an ex-professional darts player. In all, it was an interesting bunch of people. We were invited to stay at their place in Loreto on the way home. We had a great time and will try to visit on the way home. This is all a wonderful area and I would like to return here for some camping.

Wednesday, June 5

North 25° 37.390’
West 111° 11.718’
Distance: 15.1 miles

We paddled 15.1 miles today. This has been an almost perfect day – perhaps my best yet in Baja. We woke in our palapa and had shade as soon as the sun started to get hot. The weather was perfect – dry and cool. Chris came to visit us and to tell us about snakes and lizards. He claims to have caught hundreds of rattlesnakes with his hands. Perhaps he has. Anyway, he is an interesting guy. We stayed and talked to him and his wife till noon, then departed. It was a little windier than I would have liked, but that kept us cool. We saw two turtles today. One was the best I have seen. I saw him before he saw me, so I stopped paddling and drifted toward him. He hung out with me for maybe 45 seconds or a minute till Mike caught up. The second was a little closer, but very brief. The fish are changing, too. All pretty tropical fish and millions of them. Every hour or so we jumped into the water to cool off. The water temperature is ideal now – not cold but still refreshing. We stopped after three hours to rest in the shade and to have a snack of pop-tarts and hard boiled eggs. Then about 4:30 we started out again. Mike left his snorkel and mask on the beach and had to go back after about 20 minutes. After that we busted it for a while and pulled in about 7:25. A nice beach with trees and walls. We have a nice place to sleep protected by a wall from the morning sun. Mike threatened the trees with gasoline if they cause too much wind tonight. So far there is just a nice cooling breeze. We have been looking at the map and are thinking of hurrying a bit and trying to re-do some of the parts Mike missed. Or at least as much as we can before time runs out. That way we can finish up with four weeks of hard work to end up as fit as possible. Otherwise we will end with weeks of easy paddling. There is certainly a lot more traffic in this part of the sea of Cortez! We saw several boats today at a distance close enough to wave or shout. It is nice after being alone so long, but I think I will miss the solitude, too.

Tuesday, June 4

North 25° 48.892’
West 111° 18.801’
Distance: 14.4 miles

We paddled 14.4 miles today. This is the first time in weeks I have been able to start this sentence out with the word “We” instead of the word “I.” It feels great to have Mike paddling with me again. It started out very foggy. By the time we paid our bill, said goodbye, and ate the treat the hotel people made us it was 10:30 in the morning. We left in a fog so thick we had to use the compass to navigate. This is rare! I drug a line in the hope of catching a Dorado. No luck. Maybe it was because of the fog, but the water was very smooth – almost glassy. We made good progress for two hours stopping to swim every once in a while. Mike’s shoulder was good and he had no problems with his back. His hands were hurting, but he has gloves to put on for that. After about 1:00pm the wind came up pretty strong and in our faces, so we turned toward land. There was an island we had mistaken for a point. We went between the island and the mainland looking for a place to rest and wait out the wind. Since the beach we were headed toward was on the island, we kept going looking for another beach. We have had bad experience with island beaches and this one was covered with pelicans and pelican guano. As we approached the next beach on the mainland I saw masts on the other side of the rocks. We had lucked onto a window for Puerto Escondido. When we landed I pulled in my line and found I had a little cabrilla hooked. Mike cleaned it and we made ceviche. We wanted to catch another so Mike went back out and paddled up and down the beach for a while. He got a couple hits but nothing stuck. When we pulled the lure in we saw why – the hook had fallen off when the crimp slipped. Mike decided to try with the spear. I fixed the hook and gave it a try from the kayak. Neither of us caught anything else. Mike had a great time trying, though. Finally we pulled our boats over the rocks to the bay side and paddled on. We couldn’t find anyone on any of the boats so we stopped at a palapa by a half finished hotel. We met a guy who gave us a ride to the little store. His name is Chris and his wife is Pam. They live in a trailer in a palapa a little distance from the bay. We bought Ice Cream and beer and a few more tomatoes. We returned to the palapa and had a small feast. The little bay is pretty with about 100 boats at anchor. In the morning we are pulling for Agua Verde which is about 27 miles to the southeast. We will probably need two days to get there. I would like to do 20 miles tomorrow and then have an easy cruise in the next day so we can spend some time there. I have heard the snorkeling there is fantastic. I can really see now how much I have learned in the past six weeks. I have 2/3 or less of the gear Mike has. He hasn’t yet had time to learn what he really wants and what he doesn’t want. I threw away more gear in Loreto and am very light now.

Tuesday, May 28 through Monday, June 3

I rested an entire week at the hotel Las Trojes in Loreto. Many great things happened. I ate and drank all the good stuff I wanted. I discovered the internet cafes in town and set up an email account on Yahoo. I met a young police officer named Felix who has been very helpful and interesting to talk to. He is the kind of man every small town needs for the police – more interested in maintaining peace and order than in giving tickets. On Thursday Mike and Megan arrived. It was great to see them again. Gail sent a batch of good home made chili for me and we had a little feast along with a small bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey. I met a guy named Sam in Tiffany’s Pizza who was the father of the owner, Denise. She made great espresso. He is an interesting old man who was drafted for World War Two in 1943. The town was pretty empty since this is the lull between tourist season and fishing season. I ate a lot of tacos and ice cream and drank a few beers. Finally on Friday night, Heidi arrived. We picked her up at the airport and then all went to dinner. That night at about 3:00am, Mike knocked on my door. “This had better be important, Mike!” I said. “I was just stung by a scorpion,” he answered. I let him in and he told us the story. He was sleeping and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He got up and tried to figure it out. After a few minutes Megan pulled back the sheets and found the scorpion. He said it suddenly hurt twice as bad. Since he was stung over the heart, he was pretty sure he was going to die pretty soon. Megan captured the scorpion in a Snapple bottle. I looked at it and it didn’t look too bad – just a slight swelling and redness. I asked him if he was having any trouble breathing or feeling any swelling in his throat. He said no, so I gave him an antihistamine and told him to call me if there were any problems. Since my girlfriend is an optometrist, I am qualified to practice medicine. In the morning Mike was still alive, but the scorpion wasn’t. I think Mike’s blood poisoned him. Saturday, Mike, Megan, Heidi, and I took a drive to see the San Javier mission. It is a real beauty way up in a valley in the hills. There are water and fruit trees and a few ranches up there, but the mission is the real gem. On Sunday, Heidi and I visited the mission in Loreto. They have a museum and the church is still very active. We spent the afternoon there and then went out for a nice dinner. Saturday and Sunday went way too fast. Soon it was Monday morning and Heidi and Megan had to leave. They were on two different flights a half hour apart, so we took them to the airport together. It will be another two months before we see them again. Loreto is 413 miles from Pete’s Camp and we have maybe another 325 miles left to go. We hope to meet my dad in La Paz. He will be in Los Barriles June 13 – 17 and may be able to drive up if we can tell him when and where we will be. That is 10 days from now and we have about 150 miles to go to get there, so we will have to average 15 miles a day. Our first day destination is a place called Puerto Escondido. Mike is now under orders not to hurt himself.