4/6/15

I woke up at like 330am and couldn't get back to sleep for an hour or more so then I slept in while Paul and Oliver went to do the one load of laundry. When they got back we pulled the anchor up and headed to Isla Danzante to 'honeymoon cove'. It is nothing spectacular. Paul and I cleaned up while Oliver took a nap, we swam off of the boat and then went to the beach. We walked around and Paul hiked up to take a picture. It has a lot of seaweed and gets really deep fast. It is nice just not extraordinary. When Molly showed up Paul dove on their anchor to make sure it was good and then they came to the beach with us. Christine, Oliver and I walked around and saw a almost complete skeleton of a sea lion (we think), I took a picture. The skull seems so vicious but I am not sure. We gathered firewood and agreed to meet up at dusk. We went in and Erik got a great fire going and we listened to some music then set our eyes on the stars. I know so much more  about astronomy now then I did when we left, it's so fascinating. Christine has the app where you can point it at stars and it shows you the different constellations. It was very cool and educational-bonus! We stayed up until 1030, there was a time change here I think that is different from the US. We were all screwed up for a few days but I think we got it right now so it felt like 930 which is still late for us. It was a good time. 

Skeleton of sea lion...maybe

4/7/15

Oliver and I went to the beach while Paul did some work around the boat. We drove the dinghy around the rocks first just checking out the starfish and fish then we parked it and walked along the rocks. It is amazing the variety here. I feel like every time I go in the water I see something I never saw before. While Oliver and I were walking I saw a bright pink starfish that was spiky, it was so cool I had never seen anything like it. It was one of the ones that has more than 5 legs. I saw today that they actually move pretty fast too if they want to. I watched one move around a rock in just a few seconds. By the time I got back with my camera it had moved I was bummed to not get a pic but glad I saw it. I also saw the biggest red starfish I have ever seen, I did get a picture or video of that. We went back to the boat to get Paul then went into the beach again to hang out, we walked the rocks more looking for that starfish but didn't see it. We stopped by a catamaran and talked to them, Canadians really nice with their son on board who's probably our age. Then we stopped by Molly to see if Christine wanted to go snorkeling with me, she did so I put Oliver to sleep, had lunch and picked her up. We saw a lot of stuff but it wasn't as clear as it had been. We did get to see the flat fish with eyes on top up close and some other fish we had never seen before. I got cold before she did so I went back and Paul went out that way to spearfish. 

Evening on friends Cat

4/9/15

We bummed around 'honeymoon cove' a few days then left today for Puerto Ballandra (a different Ballandra than the one near La Paz). This isn't near as nice as the other one but not much can compare to that place. I got some time to myself while the boys went to the beach to help a panga that had sunk. I guess the guy hit a rock and flipped it, he was ok and they got the panga out of the water so it was a success. I went to look for some shells but not much to pick from. It was cloudy today and mostly yesterday, I want the sun back.

4/11/15

Still cloudy, so sick of the clouds. The sun came out this morning for a bit but it didn't last. We bummed around yesterday (I wanted to leave but Paul thought it was going to be windy and that we should wait so we did and guess what no wind) and made sure the boat was ready to go. We left Ballandra at 845am and got to Caleta de San Jaunico around 245pm. It's a really big bay and so we anchored on the side where there were no other boats. If it were sunny this place might be perfect. The water is clear, shallow, beautiful green and blue waters, at least 6 different beaches to choose from, ect. Once we got anchored we headed to the closest beach. It was great, soft sand, private and warm waters. Paul and Oliver were catching crabs in the water while I found some really unique shells. We climbed over some rocks to get to another beach where we found even more shells and wildlife. Once we got hungry we headed back for supper and just in time because it started raining. It had rained a little yesterday so it wasn't a huge surprise but I thought we were in sunny Mexico. It has been cloudy for 4 days now. As we were eating the wind was picking up and from the wrong direction for where we were anchored so the waves were getting bigger and the boat was rocking up and down more and more. We decided that before it got dark we should move to the other side where all the other boats were, it was only a mile so it didn't take long and it was good we did because the wind picked up and it poured rain for a bit. Paul let out a lot of line on our anchor since we had the room so we just went down below and played.

First beach we anchored at

The pretty crab Oliver and Paul were harassing

4/12/15

It stormed all last night. Thunder, lightening, rain the whole shebang. I am so unaccustomed to hearing rain and especially thunderstorms it woke me up a lot. Don't get me wrong I like them but from living in California and now Mexico we just don't get those hardly ever. Anyways everyone we talked to said the weather was extremely unusual but that is the case all over and with global warming of course everything is going to be different. It scares me a lot because I honestly think humans are going extinct. Unless we change the way we live drastically immediately I don't think there is much hope. Not to be such a downer but I wouldn't give us 200 more years in my opinion. I know no one wants to think or talk about it. We just figure someone will figure it out I don't need to change I just need to keep buying crap I don't need. We just stay distracted by the celebrities and sports and someone else can figure out where to put my trash, I can have as many kids as I want we aren't overpopulated.
Ok sorry back to what we are doing down here…the sun finally came out and stayed out but it was still really windy all day. We went to a different beach in this bay which was really rocky but had great shells so we stayed for only a little but then went to a different one that was white sand. I worked on some stuff of mine and Paul and Oliver went for a walk. After lunch we met these kayakers and so we talked with them and then collected firewood for a bonfire later. There is a big dead eel on the beach, probably like 4-5 feet long, those things creep me out. Paul sees them sometimes when he is out spearfishing and he said he has seen some bigger than that and they don't look very afraid of him. I can't imagine accidentally putting my hand in their hole, they have a lot of sharp teeth.
Because of the storm our boat was rocking back and forth side to side so much you could basically step onto it from the water without climbing up the ladder. It was miserably uncomfortable but Paul didn't know where we could go to make it better because all of the 'good' spots were taken by smarter sailors than us. We decided to go have the bonfire and hope it would calm down, I was not very happy. We met the kayakers and started the fire, they were 3 days into a 12 day trip which seemed much more legit that the catered ones we saw in Gatos. It was just 3 guys who they have all their stuff and a guide who does do more but they all pitch in. The guide was from Canada, in his mid twenties and had started doing it straight out of high school, not a bad gig. He told us about a good hike that wasn't in any of the books and also showed us how the black light made scorpions light up neon green in the dark. It was awesome, we only found one in our woodpile but they said the night before they found 13. After having some s'mores we headed back and luckily the rocking was better but not great, however throughout the night it got perfectly calm.

                               
                                                               scorpion under black

Dead eel on beach

4/13/15

We went to go try to find the beginning of the hike the kayaker guide had told us about. There are 6 beaches he so he told us it was number 5 and to go through the arroyo until you would have to start rock climbing to go any further. He also told us there were cave paintings that weren't dated but at least 350 years old. He said that 90% of the natives died within 15 years of coming in contact with spaniards or whatever outsiders of disease of course. We actually saw them coming out of the hike as we were going in so that helped reassure us that we had found the right arroyo. At first it was easy and then it got pretty thick and a few times I went ahead to see if I saw footprints anywhere because we weren't sure which was to go but we found our way. It was pretty impressive to see them. We could definitely make out people and a dolphin but a lot of it was either smeared or we just didn't know what it was, different signs. The landscape had definitely changed since they had done the drawings, they were very close to the ground on rocks that were at almost a 90 degree angle. Oliver played around on the rocks and Paul and I took our guesses as to how they lived and what the drawings meant. I hiked out ahead of them because they wanted to stay longer, it's amazing how quickly you can do things when your 2 year old isn't slowing everything down. When I got back I threw down my stuff and walked down the beach, I found some awesome bones, a scapula, 2 vertebra, a rib and part of a hip. I love finding that stuff, also more great shells. I don't know what I am going to do with them all but they are irresistible to me. I am just blown away by the colors and shapes, nature is the most extraordinary creator. 

Cave paintings

                                                       

Once the boys got back we headed over to the calmer beach we were at the day before so Oliver could swim. The water was so warm near shore Oliver was calling it his hot tub. We walked down the other way and up onto some rocks that had millions of fossilized shells in them. Also the water is eroding the rocks underneath so the water sound were really unique. On the way we saw this tree littered with peoples plaques of their boat names and when they were there. Some of them were very creative and some just carved their names in the soft rocks nearby. Paul didn't like it and I can see his point, it was kind of trashy looking. I guess I thought it was cool since it was just the one place but he is right if people did this all over it would be awful and the obnoxious people who carved their names really big up on the mountainside did take it too far. Needless to say we did not add our names. We talked to a nice couple walking on the beach (the only ones, by evening there were some 10 boats in there but no one gets off of their boats, weird) then headed back to the boat to pack everything up so we would be ready to leave in the morning.



Junk tree

Oliver swimming

Oliver and his adopted dog for the afternoon, a nice stray

4/14/15

We left San Juanico at 730am. We motored sailed as usual just not enough wind to sail alone especially since we have 35 miles to go or at least that is what Paul says. We got to Bahia Concepcion at 430, yeah 9 hours to go 35 miles it drives me crazy, we need to go almost 10 miles further tomorrow down into the bay to be sheltered from the storm we heard is coming. It was a very long day and I do not look forward to sailing further in or coming back out of it in a few days to head further north. It took us two tries to get the anchor to set which is the first time that has happened to us.