Repairs in Bahia Concepcion, Surfing Trip to Scorpion Bay/San Juanico

State-of-the-art weather station predicted good weather for our trip. Read on...

This year our annual trip to visit the McGuires in Bahia Concepcion was by land, not by sea. After assessing some of the damage to their property (courtesy of Hurricane Odile) Mike sent us a shopping list and Tom and I headed off to the La Paz Home Depot to pick up items such as outdoor lights, ceiling fans, bags of dry-wall repair, buckets of stucco repair, and much, much more. It was quite an experience to try to find the correct materials when reading directions in a foreign language! My eye gets a nervous tic just thinking about it. Luckily, our relationship survived the shopping trip (barely), we loaded up the tundra with the materials and the next day (March 24) drove north to Bahia Concepcion.

We arrived about an hour after dark, and were soon comfortably at rest in the private Casita of Casa de los Suenos. It felt very odd to be perched high up in the Casita and not have Cinnabar anchored below as part of the view.

What's missing from this picture? No red boat!!

Luckily, the Casita seemed untouched by the hurricane. The only drama was one night a huge centipede tried to eat my arm, but luckily Tom managed to squash it after a high speed chase through the Casita. Did you know that centipedes can run up to 16" per second?

Picture from "What's That Bug?", but my centipede looked JUST LIKE this one, same size, but a pretty green color.

The next few days were spent enjoying the area, snorkeling (me), and helping out with repairs (Tom). 

Tom and Mike doing one of the numerous light/fan repairs.

The annual surfing trip to Scorpion Bay was on the agenda, so after a few days of Home Improvement, we loaded up our two trucks, Tom and I in one, and the McGuires (including cousin Preston and friend Mackenzie) in another, and set off across the Baja for the Pacific side.

Preston, Mac and Savanah make breakfast for us before the trip.

There were many spots along the highway, including entire bridges, that had been washed out by hurricane Odile. Most of the sinkholes were marked merely by white rocks, dead cacti, or other debris, so we had to drive carefully to avoid the treacherous areas. 

Random rocks and stuff = Warning! Sink hole or road washed out!

This entire bridge was destroyed by the hurricane and flooding.

We missed our turnoff, and ended up on an hour or so detour across the Baja outback.  Stephanie and I were skeptical that we would ever make it to our destination, and wondered if we would be camping outdoors or taking shelter in a goat farm...

These goats were the only traffic we saw on our off-road adventure.

...but we eventually popped out at the highway and soon found our campsite at Scorpion Bay/San Juanico.

We made it! Maybe we'll survive after all.

The campsite overlooked the entire Scorpion Bay and the view was stunning...

Sunrise over Scorpion Bay

...but one night in the mosquito-infested palapa was more than enough for me, and I moved myself back into the Tundra so I could get some decent nights' sleeps.

Go ahead...ask Stephanie and me what we think about palapa living.

The first day everyone grabbed their boards and headed down to enjoy some of the some of the best surfing in the world, while Stephanie and I enjoyed some relaxing "alone" time reading and walking along the bluff. Scorpion Bay has something like six different surfing spots, ranging from long beginner waves to very advanced waves out around the point.

The kids head for the most excellent surf break. (photo M. McGuire)

The town of San Juanico is all about surfing, but they do have a couple of stores and restaurants. We ate at El Burro restaurant a couple of times.

Mesa para uno, por favor?? (photo M. McGuire)

Mac just turned 18 and is old enough to drink in MX! Just kidding, give our drinks back girls.

...And had the best fresh halibut tacos ever at Christy's Tacos and Burgers.

Christy rules her kitchen with a wicked spatula.

We had heard that Bobby and Denise Davidson might join us, and sure enough, our second day there we spied the familiar Vanagon driving into the camping area. These road warriors had just completed a 3-day marathon trip from Santa Cruz California to join us! 

The Davidsons and their intrepid Vanagon. 

Tom and Bobby were happy to be back on such world-class waves, and Mackenzie, Savanah and Preston were soon surfing like champs. The waves at Scorpion Bay were so amazingly easy, and the water so warm, that even I gave surfing a shot. 

It kinda looks like I'm about to catch this wave with expert surfer BobbyD. Looks can be deceiving, LOL!! (photo M. McGuire)

I got as far as surfing on my knees and never actually made it up, but I still had a great time. 

Tom and BobbyD after a great session.

We had arrived just before Semana Santa, the Easter holy week, which is the traditional time for families to camp at the beaches for a week of celebration. While we were there the long beach became absolutely packed with families that had set up large compounds with tents, fire pits, outdoor showers, and a stage for entertainment. 

Public beach PACKED with families.

Families enjoying the water.

The McGuires had to get Mackenzie back to Mulege for her flight home to the SF Bay Area, and Kelston would soon be arriving from Colorado so, much to Stephanie's dismay (NOT!) the McGuires left us and only the Vanagon and the Tundra remained. 

After BobbyD and Denise had made the long trip down to Baja no way were Tom and I going to leave so quickly, so we spent another glorious 2 days surfing, enjoying the local color, and meeting other surf vagabonds.

All happy after the guys enjoy their last day of surfing.

Denise and the hunks.

Denise tries to remove all the nasty stickers from their rug.

These little buggers (aka goat heads, devil's weed, puncture vine) got everywhere!!

When it was time for BobbyD and Denise to continue their road trip to Arizona, we followed them along the washed out roads all the way to Ciudad Insurgentes...

We follow the Vanagon to Insurgentes.

...and then we went our separate ways. They headed back up the Baja and Tom and I continued our return to La Paz.

We had heard about a little town on Bahia Magdalena famous for its whale watching, so we turned off the highway to Lopez de Mateos to check it out. 

The whales had pretty much gone for the season, but the town was busy with fishing and we enjoyed a tailgate lunch on the beach.

We arrived back in La Paz before sunset...

Cows on the freeway? Yep, we're back in La Paz.

...tired from our adventure, but happy to have spent an exceedingly fun time with great friends.

Now we just had to rest up and get ready for meeting Tom's cousins in Cabo, the arrival of my friend Dina, and our trip to Antigua for Classic Race Week. More on that soon!

Album: Bahia Concepcion and Scorpion Bay

Once again our beloved Tundra gets it done.

Memories of Mexico

Oh the shame of it all! We have been home nearly a month, a month I tell you (!), and are finally now getting around to updating our final days in Mexico. We could do what some of our friends have done, i.e. hang out with others and then link to THEIR blog post and photos instead of doing one of our own. (Props to Tivoli for teaching us that nifty move.) Nah! That would be way too clever for the Cinnabarbarians. So, urged by some phone calls from worried friends (“Are you guys home? Are you OK? Why no updates?”) we are pulling ourselves away from all the busy-ness that has forced us to be delinquent and are forging ahead with some pictures and words of our Last Days In Mexico.

We spent our final days in Bahia Concepcion getting to know some of the locals who live in the area. They are VERY interesting as you might expect. 

Jerry used to play piano in honky tonk bars. Here he serenades local windsurfing legend Ramona.

It takes a certain kind of person to choose to live in the desert in a foreign country with no electricity or municipal plumbing. All power is via solar panels and generators and the water is delivered into a communal tank by truck. The water is non-potable so all purified drinking water must be purchased in the nearby town of Mulege.

Two nights before we left Concepcion we went over to Armando’s restaurant and bar on nearby Santispac beach for DJ night. 

I take a break from Rob's birthday to drink a Margarita for my friend Dina's birthday.

Nancy from sv Shindig got the place rocking and Tom and Nancy dazzled the crowd with their dance moves. 

Tom and Nancy rock the house.

Tom was very impressive when he started busting out his Michael Jackson moves. The locals now call him “Michael”.

We were going to have a beach cook-out for Rob’s actual, real birth day (If you recall we celebrated Shindig Rob’s birthday for several days!) , but we managed to convince neighbor Jerry to host us one final time. Rob and Nancy (sv Shindig) dove for clams that day and hauled the fixins for clam pasta up to Jerry’s house. Friends of theirs on the boat Lanikai sailed into Concepcion just in time for the party.

Very fresh clam pasta for Rob's actual birthday.

Host Jerry with Sylvia, Nancy and Leilani from sv Lanikai

May 18 -The next morning, as Cinnabar, Shindig and Lanikai left Bahia Concepcion, we got numerous radio calls from the neighbors with whom we had partied at Armando's, wishing us all a bon voyage and hoping to see us next year. Clearly Tom and Nancy had made an impression.

Shindig and Cinnabar buddy-boated south toward the beautiful bay of San Juanico, but we decided to anchor just north of there at La Ramada, an anchorage we had never been to before. It was HOT when we dropped the anchor and I immediately went in for a snorkel to cool off. Shortly after that, Rob and Nancy launched their dinghy and came over for an impromptu gathering of cold drinks and snacks. 

Trying to look cool, but feeling REALLY hot!

Rob and the "Tequila Lover's Guide" doing a better job of looking cool.

We heard on the radio that the cruisers in nearby San Juanico were going to gather on the beach for happy hour, BYOB, so we decided to dinghy over to our beach and hike over the hill to join them. Rob and Nancy met some of their old friends and Tom and I got to meet some cruisers we had only known by radio contact.

The proper collective noun...a Convocation of Cruisers?

The next day Tom and I left for our next leg of the journey, La Ramada to Bahia Candeleros. (The resort at Candeleros has good wifi access and I wanted to Skype into a Pacific Cup board meeting that night.)

After a pleasant night in Candeleros we left early the next morning with San Evaristo or Isla San Francisco being our destination. Speaking of San Francisco, as we left Candeleros a fog bank settled over us, making us feel like we were back in our own San Francisco!

San Francisco or Baja?

The fog wasn’t cold but it did cool things off and soaked the rigging causing big dirty, wet blobs to fall down on us and all over the deck, which made for a good excuse to give Cinnabar a wipe-down.

That day no matter where we went it seemed the wind was going in the wrong direction. It had been southerly on the nose all day but as we approached the north anchorage of Evaristo, the wind shifted and became a northerly, with wind and chop blowing into the anchorage. Not good! So we headed over to Isla San Francisco because an island SHOULD have a lee side, right? But no matter where we motored looking for a calm spot the wind seemed to blow us into the island. 

We decided to finally drop the hook in the NE anchorage which seemed pretty calm once we got inside, although we could see numerous boats in the more popular western anchorage. 

Isla SF, NE anchorage, SW anchorage in the background.

Who was right? We were hoping that if the Coromuel winds piped up that night (strong SW or W winds - cooling to people on land, annoying and potentially dangerous to sailors) that we would be in the good spot. At any rate, the snorkeling turned out to be phenomenal, the anchor had a great set, and the anchorage was only slightly rolly that night.

The next day, May 21^st, we got an early start with a stupendous sunrise but no wind...

My watch says 6:57 a.m.

...and we motored all the way to La Paz. We got there so early that we motored into the city along the Malecon for a new perspective of the city.

Motoring in La Paz, the Malecon as seen from the water.

Once in La Paz we got busy starting to decommission the boat for her summer storage. I had a ticket to fly home in 9 days so time was of the essence! We had a long spreadsheet of all the things we needed to do to store the boat for the summer, including getting her “hurricane ready” by removing all the sails and canvas on deck so, in case of a big blow, they didn't fly off the boat taking bits of boat with them.

Dropping and folding our jib on deck.

Of course we also made some time to hang with friends!

We reconnected with Leif and Lisa from SV Finisterra, here at Harker Board

One day Tom even helped out with delivering a boat to a freighter anchored off La Paz. Tom and others prepared the boat for shipping... 

Hired divers preparing the lifting straps.

...before it was hoisted aboard the freighter which had been contracted to transport a boatload of sail and powerboats from La Paz up to British Columbia.

SV Indigo gets lifted onto the freighter which is already full of boats.

Our album of last days in Bahia Concepcion and La Paz is HERE. Tom’s version of Bailando con las Estrellas (Dancing with the Stars) is a must-see.

The weather in La Paz was becoming oppressively hot.  I left on May 30^th and Tom followed about a week later after tying up some loose ends in La Paz.

Since arriving home we have been LOVING the temperate climate of the SF Bay Area. We’ve been hanging out at my sister’s place and for one week we had a great house-sitting gig and all we had to do was feed the cute kitties and water the plants. (Thanks Deniz and Lissa!)

Tom has been busy and I have been fully occupied inspecting boats doing my part in helping to get the Pacific Cup fleet ready for the big race across the Pacific Ocean from SF to Oahu. 

Inspecting Scarlet Runner from Melbourne, Australia, just arrived by way of the Caribbean race circuit, Cape Town to Rio (de Janeiro) race and Sydney to Hobart race. Boat not shipped but sailed everywhere for deliveries!!

So I am still immersed in all things boat, just can’t get away from it! Boats are arriving from out of town from as far away as Australia, there is the big push to make sure all boats get inspected for safety gear, and the Pac Cup festivities start raging next week. We had an exciting and busy summer last year and it looks like this summer might be just as crazy.

Bahia Concepcion Update Weeks #4 and #5 - Telitha Drops Anchor and the Bomberos Blast Into the Bay

Our first 3 weeks in Concepcion were all about friends and family visiting from north of the border. Things got a little lonely after Mati left, then our hostess Stephanie also had to leave for a week, then with Sonja and Erik leaving it felt like our "family" was doomed to shrink and things might become gloomy.

No worries...new Eagle Scout Kelston kept things exciting by shooting this rare big game Roosterfish. They are known as huge fighters. Nice job!

Luckily our cruiser friends Kitty and Joe aboard the sailing vessel (sv) Telitha would soon arrive to liven things up. Kitty and Joe are from Taos, NM and have been coming down to the Sea of Cortez every year for the past 12 years or so.

We met Kitty and Joe from sv Telitha in this very bay last year, had a stupendous time hanging out with them and sv Iolanthe last year, and they even came to visit us in San Francisco last summer, pictures  HERE. 

Joe, Tom, Sylvia and Kitty watch the America's Cup/Louis Vuitton cup and bicycle from SF to Tiburon

The day that Tom and I drove Sonja and Erik to the airport, Mike and the kids went for a dive, got some more fish and scallops...

Savanah and scallops

Kelston cleans the scallops

Mike and Dogtooth Snapper - Can you see why we ate so well?

...and the kids even used up their tanks cleaning Cinnabar’s bottom! Hooray for Kelston and Savanah!

Bottom cleaning crew reporting for duty!

We had been expecting Telitha, so I kept a pair of binoculars handy. That afternoon Kitty and Joe sailed into the bay and dropped anchor in time for dinner. They were blown away by the selection of fresh seafood and immediately hit it off with Mike, Kelston and Savanah.

Lots of fish prepared lots of ways (Kelston, Tom, Savanah, Sylvia, Joe, Kitty)

But would they pass the famous (or infamous) McGuire tests? The next morning we all piled into Mike’s panga to see if Kitty and Joe were Jump-Off Rock worthy.

Kitty goes first!

Then Joe!

No problem with jumping off rocks! So were they part of the McGuire clan? Well…almost. The ULTIMATE test would come the morning Mike zoomed over to Telitha in his panga, dragging a SUP, and challenging K&J to a morning “surf” tow. Minutes later Kitty and Joe were zooming around Cinnabar performing all kinds of stunts for their adoring spectators. Talk about hams!!

Kitty and Joe - both up for the challenge

These guys are good!

In addition to jumping, snorkeling, and surf towing, we also enjoyed a night at JC’s restaurant at Burro Cove where Savanah and Kitty took a supply of clothespins and “pinned” numerous unsuspecting victims at the restaurant.

Savanah gives us our tutorial

That night we had a surprise when we ran into cruisers Leif and Lisa of sv Finisterra. We met them in 2011 while racing aboard Tivoli in the Banderas Bay Regatta. Imagine our shock to re-meet these fun folks 3 years later in a completely different location.

What a surprise to run into Leif and Lisa after 3 years.

In the next day or so we would also connect with our friends Ben and Lucie from sv Georgia, whom we know quite well from the SF Bay Area, and Dave and Merry from sv AirOps, whom we met in the Sea of Cortez last year.

Week #5 promised to be extremely interesting as Mike had booked a spearfishing charter with 5 bomberos* (*Spanish for firemen)/spearfishers, aka The Spearos (well, 4 bomberos and 1 bean counter with cojones) from the US (Sacramento and SF Bay Area) who were coming to perfect their blue water free-diving and spearfishing techniques. 

Phil, Mike Curtis, Will and Ethan

Tom and Mike’s son Kelston would assist with guiding the dives, and Stephanie, Savanah and I would be the chefs with Joe and Kitty providing backup. Luckily the Spearos were VERY competent and comfortable in the water, which made the spearfishing days fun for guides Mike, Kelston and Tom.

Guides Kelston and Tom (left) with The Spearos and Captain Mike (right)

The week was jam-packed with the guys leaving in the early a.m. to drive out to the fishing pangas, diving their brains out all day in both Victory at Sea and Lake Placid conditions, then coming home to clean their fish and gear before dinner.

Trip leader Will demonstrates that hunters eat EVERYTHING they shoot.

Phil and Ethan with dinner!

Looks like Mike will be taking home some fish

Curtis shot this monster 48# amberjack on the last day

Meanwhile the kitchen crew did our best to cook up a variety of tasty seafood dishes.  

Pasilla Pepper Princesses Sylvia and Stephanie

Tataki Tutoresses Kitty and Savanah

That week we prepared wahoo, cabrilla, yellowtail, snapper, pargo, grouper, roosterfish, rainbow runner, amberjack, clams, scallops, cockles, octopus, and lobster. We steamed seafood, boiled seafood, served sashimi, sushi,  tataki (where Savanah almost caught fire!), tiradito and crudo, ceviche, Hawaiian poke, on the half-shell, seafood stew, marinated and grilled fish, salted and grilled fish, al mojo de ajo (lots of garlic), fish cheeks, fish teriyaki, ranchero-style, fish tacos, grilled fish on pasta,  pibil-style, and Chilaquiles! 

Breakfast is served!

And that’s not even counting Stephanie’s amazing smoothies and desserts such as banana bars, chocolate decadence, strawberry-balsamic cheesecake, chocolate chip bars, puddings and fresh fruit. Whew!!

Galley staff loving their work. Literally.

The utter irony of the Spearos trip, however, is that they came down to shoot yellowtail, and the entire week they were here the guys didn't even SEE one yellowtail. Hey Spearos, were you making those heinous faces underwater? Is that what scared off the yellowtail?

Tom surprises the guys with local microbrewed beer. Note that Kelston is not excited.

As we approached the end of week #5 it seemed that everyone (except Tom and I) was busy making their preparations for departure.  On Friday May 2^nd Tom and I drove the Spearos to Loreto with all their fish frozen and packed on ice for the trip home.  When we got back to Concepcion both Telitha and Finisterra had left the bay. That afternoon as we helped the McGuires  pack up their beach toys Georgia raised her anchor and also sailed out of the bay, planning an overnight crossing to San Carlos on the Mexican mainland. We had a final dinner with the McGuires at Armando’s restaurant in Santispac, and very early the next morning they left for their long drive back to the states.

Things were a little lonely for the next couple of days, but on Sunday we discovered that someone left a bag of lobster tails, so at least we had a great lobster dinner (2 in fact) to console ourselves. 

Classic retro meal of steamed lobster with garlic butter and wedge salad with avocado green goddess dressing. 

(Our noses also discovered that one of the Spearos had left a single pack of fish in an unplugged freezer…pew!!)

At night we have been enjoying the vast sky filled with stars, waiting for the satellites and space station to cross the sky, and enjoying the occasional satellite flare. Early Tuesday morning I rose at 4:00 a.m., looked outside, and was treated to a meteor shower. Stars were shooting in the sky, and the bio-luminescence was sparkling in the sea from the numerous fish swimming under our boat. Both sky and water were equally brilliant, a magic moment indeed!

What’s next? I guess we wait for a suitable weather window and then start our journey back south, final destination La Paz where Cinnabar will live for the summer.  At the moment we are “recovering” from our non-stop excitement visit with Los McGuire, marveling at the million dollar view from their VRBO Casa de los Suenos, and counting ourselves extremely fortunate indeed to be blessed with such wonderful friends who generously share their home in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

More pictures of weeks #4 and #5 can be found HERE.