Blog Post 32 – San Juanico to San Evaristo

2/04/16-2/08/16

26:22.09N– 111:25.94W

I had wanted to stop in San Juanico on our way north but it did not work out. There was no way that we were not going to stop headed south.  We had heard great things about it from fellow cruisers. The best way to find anchorages is to talk to others who have been there. A perfect anchorage for us would include a good reef to snorkel/dive, a good beach with not too big of a break so we can land the dinghy, good shells and things to do ashore like hike, swim, and maybe even eat, if it is a cove with a beach palapa restaurant.

San Juanico, also called San Basilio on a roadmap, is one of three bays that form as the coastline stretches to the southeast, Bahia San Basilio, Bahia San Juanico, and Bahia San Nicolas. I liked the San Juanico Bay as at one end there is Punta Santa Teresa and the other point is Punta San Nicolas. Caleta San Juanico is the smallest of the bays and most cruisers favorite. It offers protection in any weather and as the Northers were about to blow again we wanted to best protection afforded.

The area surrounding San Juanico has a rich volcanic history and brings out the Jr Geologist in me. I love the rock formations in Baja, you look at some of these rocks and can’t help but think about and appreciate their violent and turbulent beginnings? What must have happened that could make rock formations such as these? There are entire veins of obsidian (very hot lava that was cooled very quickly) among the layers of rock and sediment. Shells buried in ancient layers of sand line the shoreline and the black obsidian dubbed “Apache tears dot the dirt road connecting San Juanico to Mexico Hwy 1 that is 1.7 miles to the west. Dry and cracked lagoon beds, with blooming cactus and crumbling gypsum create stupendous desert landscapes. The desert, the mountains, the rock formations and the sea make for a spectacular anchorage. This was by far my favorite anchorage in the Sea of Cortez. I wish the weather would have cooperated while we were here so we could thoroughly enjoy it.

As we arrived late in the afternoon after a vigorous sail we decided to stay on the boat and have dinner. Unfortunately it was windy and cold and no one wanted to go ashore and risk getting wet. Early the next morning we launched the dinghy and went to shore. There are no dwelling of any kind I for miles around save one, an isolated compound owned by none other than Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico and also the world. They say that he owns all the land around here and never wants to develop it, except for his home. I hope he stays true to his word and protects this amazing place. Nico and I wanted to climb a rock formation jutting out into the bay from the shore but Jirig would have no part of it he said it was too dangerous. Nico and I scrambled up the rocks and took some amazing pictures of the cove and our boat.

There is something special in San Juanico called “the cruisers shrine”. It is a small tree on the beach where cruisers hang ornaments, name tags and tokens of their boats. Some were very elaborate, some very simple. A lot of them had been for years and others had just been placed. It was pretty cool. Our plan was to go back to the boat and make one from Savarona and hang it. We walked the beach and hiked the trail that skirted the bay. The tide was going out so we needed to retrieve the dinghy and get it back to the boat before it got grounded on the sand.

The wind continued to howl for the next 2 days. The water was cold and rough and did not make for good snorkeling or swimming so we pretty much stayed on the boat. We have hundreds of movies and television and cable series so we had plenty of things to keep us entertained. I baked bread and brownies to indulge in. We were done with the Sea of Cortez. We were anxious to get back to La Paz and get ready to cross the sea. We braved out the weather until we had a good window to make the 125 mile run to the little fishing village of San Evaristo. It would be our last stop before returning to La Paz.