Blog Post 8 – The Todos Santos Islands

08/03/15 

31:47.67N - 116:47.18W

The Todos Santos Islands are 2 small islands about 10 miles west of Ensenada. There is a world famous surf break there that runs between the 2 islands where under certain conditions the waves can be upwards of 30 feet. The islands are uninhabited except for a small fish camp. The north island is small and flat almost like a table top rising 75 feet out of the ocean with cliffs all around it and 2 light houses on it, nothing else. Not sure why there were 2 right next to each other, who knows? The southern island is rocky and jagged with a small hill about 350 feet tall. The whole island is less than a mile long and about 500 yards wide. The shoreline is rough and rocky with lots of large rocks in the water that can be very dangerous if you do not know where they are.  Some of them are covered in the high tide, but they were well marked on our chart plotter. There is no anchorage on the north island and only 2 places to anchor on the south island. Although there are no humans on the islands there are literally thousands of seabirds. The islands are full of birds and their excrement. There are no trees on either island; only small shrubs and cactus. At certain times of the year the birds are nesting but they were not when we were there. We arrived mid-morning after an easy sail of about 1 ½ hours. After we anchored we all wanted to go ashore. There is something really cool about exploring an uninhabited island. None of us had ever done that before. We brought the dingy down, put on sturdy shoes and headed to the island looking for a place where we could land the dinghy. It can be very tricky doing that as the shore was very rocky and the tidal surge was very strong. Jirig is an expert at such things; he has never dumped us in the water. As soon as we put the dingy down in the water the colony of seals that inhabit the shore woke up and started taking notice of us. They were very curious of us and what we were up to. They kept popping their heads up out of the water and just stared at us with their huge black eyes. I do not think they are used to seeing humans; they could not get enough of us. About 30 of them followed us all the way to shore. As soon as we got ashore Nico and I immediately wanted to go to the highest point. But first we wanted to check out the west side of the island facing the Pacific. The whole coastline on that side were high cliffs and jagged rocks. As soon as we started moving so did the seagulls and the pelicans. They were very perturbed that we were on their island. They were screeching above our heads and circling us dive bombing us occasionally. As we started up the hill to the highest point we saw their old nests, probably from last year. All the way up the hill they followed us. As long as we were moving they were circling and screeching. For those of you who know me well, know that I have a bird phobia. I hate birds! I think my eyes were pecked out by birds in another life. Seriously, they give me the total creeps. Once we stopped for a rest, they calmed down. We made our way to the top if the hill and kicked back and enjoyed the view. When we went to head back they freaked out again. All of a sudden we hear a big thump nearby. What was that Jirig asked? We had no idea. Now another thump and then another. Then I saw a huge rock land. Are they dropping rocks on us to scare us away? Please understand we totally respect nature and would never do anything to disturb wildlife.  Jirig told us to cover our heads with our backpacks and get the hell out of there. We started running down the hill, hearing thump, thump all the way. This went on for 15 minutes. All of a sudden Jirig turns around and sees Nico with a huge rock in his hand. That little shit! He was throwing the rocks the whole time. We have to give him credit. He really got us this time. I can’t believe he pulled it off! He kept a straight face the whole time. When he least expects it he is elected. We cannot let this go unanswered!