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.