We left Isla Carmen and sailed to Puerto Escondido. We’re still 500 nm from Puerto Vallarta and we have about a month to get there. (We only have a month because Bev is flying out of Puerto Vallarta to go home to Washington to celebrate her mom’s 90th birthday).
After waiting on a few days of wind (it seems like we’ve waited a lot for wind to calm down this year) we headed to Aqua Verde with friends on SV Delaware Girl (Charlie & Wendy, and Charlie’s friend, Tony (a visitor from San Diego). Last time we were at Aqua Verde we heard about some ancient (thousands of years old) cave painting a few miles from the bay. This time we had a little better idea where they were and Charlie as a guide. We walked through confusing trails through an oasis of palms from near the mostly dry Aqua Verde river and along a beach to the cave a few hundred feet up a steep hill. We scrambled up the hill and found the ancient hand prints (along with the trail that would have been an easier way up). It was fascinating to think of natives living in or visiting this place and putting hand-prints on the wall during the stone age! After a few days in Aqua Verde it was time to say goodbye to our friends and head South. The hardest part of cruising is saying goodbye to the people we meet that quickly become friends. (The cruising community is We always look forward to finding them again on another beautiful beach.
We stayed overnight in a pretty little stopover called San Evaristo (photo above). San Evaristo is actually pretty close to La Paz but it feels like another world. Only about 20 people live there and it’s a nice spot with a palapa restaurant and shelter from the wind. On the way from San Evaristo to La Paz is one of the places that’s been on the list to visit, a place called Isla San Francisco. We skipped it on the way North because we were in a hurry and as we pulled up to it on our way South it was PACKED with boats. We pulled in, looked around and never even dropped anchor. Too busy. Instead we had a nice sail to Caleta Partida, where there were sting rays jumping out of the water among the 20 some boats anchored there.
The next day we headed further to a bay near La Paz called Pichilinque. When we dropped anchor there were 3 boats but by the time we went to bed there must have been 14. As we’ve moved closer to La Paz we’ve seen many more boats. We have mixed feelings about so many boats but it’s nice to be able to take the dingy into the beach for a cerveza and a nice plate of guacamole and totopos (chips).
With a couple days of relaxing in Pichilinque we headed to La Paz for a few days. Weather was moving through as we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary with a trip to El Mezquite in the town of La Paz, for some of the best (and most reasonably priced) filet mignon that we’ve tasted anywhere not to mention the yummy margarita’s made with fresh squeezed limes and oranges! Next up: a 220 nm crossing (equivalent to 2 nights, 3 days nonstop) We will be leaving Friday morning to cross the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan and mainland Mexico!
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