Isla Carmen, Revisited (Sea of Cortez, Loreto Area).
It has been 2 full weeks since we left the dock in La Paz. Adjusting to life at anchor has been much easier than in the past. I think it must be due to the combination of a new, modern-design, slightly oversized anchor (a 77# Spade) that seems to hold like a vise, as well as very mild and pleasant weather conditions. With the hubbub of buddy boating over (for now), it's gotten quiet, with only Sylvia and I to amuse each other. Our lives are ruled now by the rhythms of nature, of the sea, and of the weather instead of by the trappings of society, like the internet, the news, the city, neighbors, obligations, etc. Since the weather has been great thus far, so has been our mini 'cruise'. However, there is a possible hurricane brewing in the E. Pacific a few hundred miles S. and W. of the Baja tip that we are keeping our eye on. The dreaded official hurricane season started May 15.
We have been enjoying Isla Carmen, 20 miles off the Baja central coast, near Loreto. Turns out we've been here before, 25 years ago (Sep 1990 - Gulp!), when we did a bareboat charter with the now defunct Moorings base in Puerto Escondido, just S. of here. We had two boats: Sylvia, I and two other couples (Phil/Kathy, Brian/Jody) on a Beneteau 51 ("Mary M") and my good pal Mike and friends on a Moorings 43 (Karen, Debbie/Frank, Ron). I had some sailing certifications and a couple of bareboat charters under my belt, but I barely knew what I was doing. On our first night out, heading to Isla Danzante, I remember Kathy caught a good-sized tuna-looking fish which we were excited to barbecue - low and behold, it tasted like cat food! Blech! It was then that we learned that skipjacks were not good eating! We had better luck with the Chocolate Clams in Agua Verde. We had a great charter, neverthless, excepting Brian's profane-laden fit when he had to fix a clogged head in 100 F heat!
Back in the day, we went to Bahia Salinas on the east side of Carmen, but must've missed this spot on the north end where we've now been anchored for 5 days. It has great views, cliffs and grottos, clear water, abundant sea life, a just-right beach, some good hiking, and it's BUG FREE!. Part of the sealife attraction was covered in the previous blog post, but one thing not mentioned was a couple of giant fish schools, or bait balls, that hang out in the shallows. In about 8-12' of depth, over the brilliant white sand, there are two different fish schools of about, I don't know, 3,000-6,000 fish in each. The fish in one school are about a foot long, silvery with thin horizontal yellow & black stripes spaced about 1/2" apart - I think they are a type of grunt (yes, that's a fish species!). The other fish are slightly smaller, about 8-10 inches, plain grey with no markings, but they are more active swimmers. The two schools swim together but, incredibly, do not intermix! When you maneuver with smooth, easy motions, the fish surround you like a giant cloud, swimming in perfect synchronization with each other. Many have seen a similar sight with the anchovy display at the local aquarium, but this is 100 times better - you are sharing the same realm. The play of flickering sunlight, wave shadows dancing on the sand, the zillion eyeballs all staring at you, the warm water, the blue background, it all coalesces into a living dream. I float there for an hour at a time, just mesmerized. Almost, but not quite, becoming one of the pupils. It was the type of exotic scene I would expect to occur in say, the S. Pacific, like in Papua New Guinea or the Solomons or Vanuatu. But here it was right in our backyard in the Sea of Cortez. The only thing that disturbed the natural waltz was the occasional visit of an apex predator - like a leopard grouper or (incredibly, yes!), a yellowtail/YT jack - that would panic and cleave the cloud by hurtling through the middle. I did not witness any successful catches.
If ever I was missing my long lost GoPro camera, or any underwater camera for that matter, it was now. Oh how I wish I could have captured the stunning beauty of it all. Memories will have to suffice. Sylvia was a witness and will concur. The only picture we have to show is of our land hike above the cove, still picturesque and beautiful in its own right, but the hypnotizing schools of fish are hidden in the azure water below.
--TC
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