San Juanico

Entertaining myself by stacking rocks!

So, on our way north through the Sea of Cortez (el Gulfo de California) we stopped at San Juanico. We had tried to get in here last year on a day when the wind was from the south and that was not going to happen. We ended up going around the corner to La Ramada and hiked over the hill to visit the Cruiser’s Shrine and leave our own memento to commemorate the occasion. The Shrine is just a tree at the waters edge so it gets regenerated every time a hurricane passes this direction. There was a hurricane last summer (Jimena) and it affected the shrine. Older items left have been rocks with boat names carved into the stone but the newer ones seem to mostly be last minute items hastily prepared and deposited; thus the older markers are still in place but the new stuff goes away. Our plaque last year was a piece of metal (about 2” x 3”) with our names on it as well as the boat name. I am very doubtful that I will find it here anywhere. (It turned out to be where we had left it!! See Sandy's blog for more info) One of the best things about this place is the shallow anchorage with its very turquoise blue hue. When you climb a hill and look down on it you are likely to gasp at the sight. We slowly putted through the boats already here and found a great spot closer to the beach in about 12 feet of water.

Very yellow rock wall

There is a small island in the midst of the anchorage and we slid in downwind from that like finding the perfect avocado… time to make guacamole! The wind the first night piped up but we got a fairly good nights sleep anyway because the boat was relatively stable and the anchor was clearly stuck to the bottom. I have always liked the idea of good ground tackle; it makes for a pleasant evening playing Mexican Train dominoes. In the morning Patty helped put the dinghy down and attach the motor so that anyone who wanted to could go to the beach and walk around some. We had only been aboard Faith for a couple of days but it is a good idea to get out and stretch when the opportunities come along. It is like renewing a friendship with your legs to get on dry land and not be compensating for the rocking, gentle or otherwise, of the boat. At this point (seven months into the season) I do not necessarily notice the small compensations and concessions that my body makes to the constant motion but I do notice when I am not having to adjust to the sway of the boat. In passing I should mention that I sleep MUCH better than a lot of folks when the boat is floating on a slight swell. It is akin to slumber in the best of hammocks! Here we are at 26˚ 22.070’ N, 111˚ 25.963’ W if you want to look at Google Earth to see “exactly” where we spent the last (few) nights. It is about as remote as anywhere you might want to be on the Baja side of the SoC (Sea of Cortez) albeit not the END point that some might prefer. In any event, on the first morning here I popped my head out of the companionway and there was a boat flying the Tucson Sailing Club burgee with the name Paradocs and I knew who had pulled in while we slumbered. No one was immediately in evidence but on the way into the beach we did a “drive by” spoke with the crew (guests) on the transom of the catamaran to confirm that I did, indeed, know the owners.

Cardon cactus atop a hill

They had just crossed over from San Carlos to San Juanico that night and had to heave to outside the anchorage from three in the morning until daylight. “Good plan,” I thought. The owners (Carl & Clare) were asleep, making up for the lack of snoozing the prior night. Here’s the thing; the night before had been boisterous outside the anchorage but we had been comfortable and happy with our ground tackle doing its job. Shifting onto other parts of this life at anchorage, when we went to the beach on the first day here there was the usual scattering to find shells and such. That is not something I do much of for some reason. Occasionally I will pick something up but if, when I show it to Sandy, there is little interest, I just drop it and continue down the beach. That is to say, I am no longer a collector… just a looker. One thing I have done for a long time is to stack rocks. I like to get at least four rocks atop each other to consider it a successful stack. If I can decorate with a few items from the beach to add a layer or two then it is truly a successful stack.

A red wall on the south side of San Juanico

It is not that anyone has to like my work, like the guys on the rocks at, say, Puerto Vallarta or San Diego, it is more about appreciating the balancing than anything else. A reflection of this is another of my past entertainments, which was balancing a salt shaker on the table. Okay, so that is a “TMI,” as is said! Hiking outside the normal confines of the anchorage is a fun thing and did manage to do that on our second day here. Last years anchorage (La Ramada) is just over the hill north from San Juanico and we followed a great trail to that beach. This is where the observant walker will find what I know as Apache Tears. These are essentially volcanic glass; when the top pops off the volcano there is heat and pressure enough to produce this jet black glass. One thing that HAD to happen here was that I needed to clean the propeller and the rudder (maybe the whole bottom after seeing it, yechh). At this point I should say that this year the water temperatures have been somewhat less than normal. My idea of a comfortable temperature is on the higher side of eighty. Okay, call me a wimp; I do not care in the least. I slowly, ever so slowly, got into the water and did the cleaning. It was probably only a minute or so before the comfort of the water was fully appreciated, but at least I finally got used to it and cleaning occurred as it should! The reward should be a slight increase in boat speed as we motor (yes, that’s right, given the wind direction we will likely have to motor-sail north from here) toward Santa Domingo just inside Bahia Concepciόn. Enough for now I guess.