Isla El Requesón - Bahia Concepción

We spent three nights here - anchored off of Playa Buenaventura. We enjoyed the food and the company of the Restaurant La Bienvenida, plus got free internet on the boat - can't beat that!

We did some hiking, we played some bocci ball, we relaxed...




And thoroughly enjoyed the clams that Doug "found"...

Today we are heading to Mulege to provision and will continue our migration North tomorrow.

It is definitely warming up here in the Sea - water and air temperature and the humidity.

We hope to catch some Dorado as we travel to Santa Rosalia. Wish us luck!

Helluva hike!

The buzzards were circling, but we showed them. We made it all the way to the top! Of course, there were lots of stops and lots of huffing and puffing along the way.

This hike was recommended in our cruising book as "fantastic" and "steep". It was both, but we are glad we went for it.


This is the view from the bottom - check out the switchbacks!



The trail was marked by "cairns" - rock piles that fellow hikers had built to mark the trail. Of course, this just made us think of our amigos in Albuquerque, Joe and Leah Cairns!




Moondance is behind me - the bay farthest right - but we could only see the mast.




After the hike, we celebrated with cervezas - of course. And, a swim at the beach at Isla Coyote.

A very good day!

Bahia Concepción

After San Juanico, we sailed/motored about 51 miles to Bahia Concepción. It took 9 hours, but we enjoyed the wildlife along the way, read our books, and tried (unsuccessfully) to catch fish.

Bahia Concepción is a huge bay with lots of islands, anchorages, beaches, etc. We spent one night in Bahia Santo Domingo and then over to Playa Coyote. This is an interesting place. We are right next to Highway 1. There is one small store, two restaurants, and hundreds of houses, RV's, palapas - everywhere! We are definitely in civilization - even get wireless on the boat. How funny is that?

For an adventure, we hitchhiked to the town of Mulege', which is 13 miles north. A local picked us up and let us ride in the back of the truck. It was a little scary. Doug swears he was practicing for Nascar as he flew around the curves and cliffs! As soon as we crawled out of the back, we went searching for margaritas to calm our nerves.

Needless to say, we chose alternate transportation for the return trip. The autobus was great - AC, plus a movie!

We enjoyed Mulege' and highly recommend the Enchiladas Azteca at Doney's, plus the margaritas.

We plan on spending more time in Mulege' playing tourist and provisioning before continuing our migration North. We will be taking the autobus again!

Caleta San Juanico - Baja Peninsula

Next stop, San Juanico. which is a beautiful bay with amazing beaches, water, and geological formations. We liked it here!





We hiked around the point (without trails) -






We added our contribution (squished orange fender) to the Cruiser's Shrine -






We worked on chores (dingy maintenance) -





We fished (yummy Yellow Snapper, Cabrilla, and a Hogfish) -

Plus, enjoyed the amazing light shows. At night, the phosphorescence in the water made all of the fish glow neon as they swam around. Doug was brave enough to dive in (several times) - he glowed too. I sure wish the photos would have turned out!

Migrating North

Well, we have thoroughly enjoyed our time (and our company) in the Loreto area, but it is time to start heading north before it gets too hot and humid, plus we need to get out of the hurricane zone!

Our plan is to be in San Carlos (on the mainland) on June 15 to secure Moondance for the summer and then back in the States by July 1. Until then, we are going to enjoy life on the Sea.

Our first stop, the quiet little island - Isla Coronados - where we were shocked to see a big cruise ship, The World, in the bay! It looks so out of place here. There is nothing on this island - no shopping, no restaurants, nada. Just a beautiful white beach where they shuffled everyone back and forth.

We just set back and enjoyed the entertainment along with our fabulous dinner: filet mignons and a bottle of Rosenblum Zindanfel - yummy! Did we tell you how much we have missed the California Zins? Thanks to Phil and Danette for smuggling the bottle of "Carla's Reserve" in your luggage - it was very tasty!

Our first visitors - Phil and Danette!

Phil and Danette (Brother and Sister-in-Law from Washington) joined us in Loreto for 10 days and we loved having them!


As you know, there isn't a whole lot of room on a sailboat, but they fit right in.

We weren't ready for Phil and Danette to leave, so we made a new Moondance rule: You can't leave until we get tired of you and make you walk the plank.

We spent one night in Loreto checking out the "big city". Loreto used to be the capitol of the Baja and has lots of history, plus great people, food, and shopping.

The rest of the time, we spent exploring the islands, fishing, and generally having a great time.

A few highlights:

Danette caught our biggest/best fish (not pictured here) - using hot dog as bait...




Phil caught Phil - using squid - which required some minor surgery (use your imagination on this one)...

Doug caught one fish three times - he was a flopper and didn't want to stay in the bucket...


And the dolphins that wanted to join us...

Phil and Danette: we miss you all ready and are looking forward to your next visit!