McGuire's Midnight Moonlight Malacostracan Madness - Bahia Concepcion Week #2

Week #2 in Bahia Concepcion - Thank you Mike and Stephanie!!
NOTE: I think we've run out of internet time here, so this post doesn't have quite as many pictures as I would like. Every time I get greedy and try to upload another picture my internet crashes. I don't even think I can link to my google album.

UPDATE: Thanks to an internet café in Mulege I can now post a link to my google album of Bahia Concepcion Week #2 (well, week #2.5 really) right HERE.

Santa Rosalia - The day after we said goodbye to Clint and Mackenzie, and hello to Bryce, the newest addition to Casa de Los Sueños, some of us decided to take a day trip up to the historic copper mining town of Santa Rosalia. Mike and Stephanie had some business in town, and Tom, Jake and I insisted on tagging along. The French Company El Boleo founded the town in 1884 and actively mined there until they closed down in 1954. I found a very thorough history of the Santa Rosalia mining operations HERE. Allegedly, the S. Koreans have now obtained a 30 year lease to resume mining operations. 

There is a terrific museum perched on a hilltop that looks out over the town and harbor.

The building once housed the offices of the Boleo company, and many of treasury, payroll and accounting artifacts can be found there along with the actual mining artifacts.

Entry level miners (local peasants of course), started out barefoot and with a loincloth.

Promotions, for those who lived long enough, included an upgrade in uniform, namely a miner's hat, shorts instead of a loincloth, and boots instead of barefoot.

An unusual church built of steel plates is located in the center of town. I was surprised when I read the church plaque, the church was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

We heard there was an authentic French bakery, there since the mining days, that made real baguettes! Instead we found regular Mexican sandwich rolls, a meager selection of uninspired pan dulce, and an exceedingly cranky patroness.

Whale Sharks!! - The next morning Mike, Jake and Bryce dinghied over to Coyote Cove for a bit of spearfishing. They did get some fish but, more importantly, they spotted Whale Sharks! That night, as we enjoyed their freshly grilled catch, the guys made plans to go fishing while I made plans to dinghy over to Coyote Cove at the first opportunity.

Mike kept us busy with sightseeing and activities for the next couple of days but all the while I was itching to get over to those Whale Sharks. I finally got my chance when the guys went on another fishing trip. At last!! After my morning cup of tea I jumped into the dinghy and zoomed over to Coyote Cove. Mike said to look for the telltale fins but all I could see was flat, mirror-like water. I waited while one or two pangas zoomed in, also looking for the elusive Whale Shark, and zoomed out to continue their search around the point. I continued waiting. Finally, about 15 minutes later, a black fin broke the smooth water and slowly moved toward me. Then I saw another fin closer to shore. And then another! I watched three Whale Sharks that morning, one big, one medium and one small. I watched them for a good 45 minutes, keeping my distance so as not to disturb them.



You always see the fin first.

Then the shark!



The murky water is a sign of zooplankton-rich food for the whaleshark

However there was one shark that kept trying to swim close to me. In fact once, when I had turned my outboard off, it turned toward me and totally freaked me out as it swam underneath me, bumping under the dinghy as it passed underneath. Not surprisingly, this shark had a mangled fin. Soon, other boats and kayaks realized I was getting the show all to myself, the cove became a bit crowded, and I left.

Later that morning Stephanie and the kids kayaked over to Cinnabar so we took another spin out to Coyote Cove so the kids could swim with the sharks. We saw the whale sharks several times over the next week. Once one of the sharks even came into our anchorage and swam around Cinnabar! A few of us jumped into kayaks and spent time following this magnificent creature out to an island.

More Fishing - As I mentioned before, Mike took the guys out on another fishing trip. This time with a local guide named Chuy. Apparently this Chuy really knows his stuff and so they had another successful day. The guys caught 5 (one each) Yellowtail using rods and reels...

Pole fishing (live mackerel bait)  in the calm morning fog, pod of fin whales exhaling in the distance - Isla San Idelfonso

Fish On!! Yellowtail (TY) are powerful fighters. A week earlier, our guide said, an 11 yr old boy was pulled off the boat while fighting his YT.

Tom's first catch of the day! Bryce is fighting YT #2.

...then jumped into the flat calm water and Mike and Tom shot another two each using spearguns.

Tom lands another beauty - It is a special thrill to hunt and an honor to be nourished by these sleek, noble, bluewater fish of the sea.

That night we had our favorite sashimi platter of sliced yellowtail served with nori, avocados and rice. That, served with Stephanie's famous blended smoothies, made for a perfect meal on this hot evening.

Kayaking Mulege River - One day Mike wanted to explore the Mulege River to see if there was a place we could put in on kayaks and paddle either up or down river. We went to the Mulege Mission, high on a hill that overlooks the river, and we saw that there was a dam right underneath the mission, then we discovered the river went underground a short way up from the mission, so going inland was out of the question. We were able put in about 2.5 km from the river mouth, and we rowed against the wind all the way to where the river meets the sea. It wasn't very far, but it was a good workout since we were paddling upwind. Not to mention we paddled very fast at first, since we seemed to be in some questionably brown, kind of smelly water.

One of the seemingly few year-round rivers in the whole Baja landscape.

If you read this we'll have to kill you -
1) Stealth Reef Project: The moon was their only witness...

...It was a success, and that's all I can say about the subject.

2) McGuire's Midnight Moonlight Malacostracan Madness at Punta Chivato: Local dive shop owner Robert and his lovely wife Laura guided us to Punta Chivato for a beach party, bonfire, and some nighttime free-diving...

The guys gear up to dive at sunset. Turned out to be a bit of a washing machine out there on this windswept point.

Mike prepares the night's catch. Small but tasty! Sorry, can't tell you what it is, you'll have to surmise it.

We Say Goodbye: The moonlight beach party and bonfire would be our last hurrah as a group. Bryce and Jake would be leaving the next afternoon so the morning of their departure would be Mike's last chance to use their muscle power. They moved the kayaks and outboard into storage, flipped the skiff upside down and stored it high up on the beach, cleaned up the beach, and did all manner of heavy-lifting. Then Mike loaded up a cooler for each of them filled to the brim with frozen fish. Stephanie and I took them to the airport in Loreto, then consoled ourselves with a lunch of ice cream from La Michoacana ice cream store in Loreto.

It was a slightly glum afternoon, knowing that the McGuires would be heading back to Colorado the next day, so Mike and Tom gave Stephanie and me the night off from cooking. The McGuire's treated us to a pleasant dinner at JC's Restaurant, across the highway from Burro Cove.  

As we were driving home the huge, perfectly full moon rose from behind the mountains to our East. It was so startlingly bright that we had to pull over to get out of the car and enjoy the moment. It took at least 15 minutes for Mike and Tom to get the perfect "Moon over the Cactus" photograph. In fact they got many perfect photos!

Mike's got the whole moon in his hands.

The next morning, Friday April 26, was full of a flurry of chores, cleaning and packing. The McGuires loaded up their car with all their goods and coolers bursting with frozen fish, and drove away from Casa de Los Sueños, leaving Tom and me alone. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, reading and moping, boo hoo!

Yesterday, still exhausted from the McGuires' breakneck pace of 24/7 activities, we hung out at the boat, exercised some of the systems that hadn't been used in a week (genset, watermaker), and talked about our plans. But then we got the happy news that our friends Joe and Lisa are flying down next Saturday to visit us for a week! We enjoyed happy hour in the cockpit with some cold beers, a couple of turtles that kept popping their heads up next to the boat, and plans for what to do when our friends arrive.

As I mentioned above, we visited El Candil internet café in Mulege yesterday and I was able to link to my google album of Bahia Concepcion Week #2 (well, week #2.5 really) right HERE.