Calenta San Juanico, Dec. 10,11,12,13
As you can see from the dates for this entry, the strong northerly blow lasted for four full days. Thankfully, San Juanico is a well-protected anchorage, with several arms and lots of places to explore. The beaches are accessible from land and 5 RV’ers were parked along the beach shore.
In the morning while sitting on the boat, Ron rowed up in his kayak and shared the locations of the best places to fish. He owns a bicycle shop in Sitka, Alaska, and has been coming down to Baja for several years to spend 7 winter months in the sun. He lives in a small camper and his primary protein source is the sea. He spends his days biking, exploring, snorkeling, and fishing. A little while later, Jan and Whitney stopped by in pedal-powered Kayaks. They were in a large custom made RV with trailer on shore. They had one dune buggy that they carried on a trailer and two large Doberman rescue dogs. Whitney was a professor and his wife Jan was a teacher. They have been coming down to the Baja for 45 years. At our request, they explained the advantages of the pedal-powered kayaks. These RVer’s that choose the more remote and inaccessible camping spots are very independent and enjoy the solitude of their location, but at the same time are friendly and very helpful.
In the morning while sitting on the boat, Ron rowed up in his kayak and shared the locations of the best places to fish. He owns a bicycle shop in Sitka, Alaska, and has been coming down to Baja for several years to spend 7 winter months in the sun. He lives in a small camper and his primary protein source is the sea. He spends his days biking, exploring, snorkeling, and fishing. A little while later, Jan and Whitney stopped by in pedal-powered Kayaks. They were in a large custom made RV with trailer on shore. They had one dune buggy that they carried on a trailer and two large Doberman rescue dogs. Whitney was a professor and his wife Jan was a teacher. They have been coming down to the Baja for 45 years. At our request, they explained the advantages of the pedal-powered kayaks. These RVer’s that choose the more remote and inaccessible camping spots are very independent and enjoy the solitude of their location, but at the same time are friendly and very helpful.
Alice wanted to go ashore, play on the beach and go swimming, but when Chris started rowing us ashore, we strangely wound up away from the sandy beach, over by the rocks. Chris wanted to check out the middle anchorage. Making the assessment that the middle anchorage was better, in light of the fact that the winds were picking up and our current anchorage was a bit too exposed, we returned to the boat to re-anchor without ever touching a foot on a sandy beach. The middle anchorage proved to be a secure and safe for the rest of the time we were in Calenta San Juanico.
The waters got disturbed and choppy, so Alice no longer had interest in swimming. We rowed to another beach and did some beach-combing. On the way back to the boat, we met Paul on a paddle board and Shawn in a Kayak. They were on Ascension a 37’ Prout Snow Goose Catamaran. They were very helpful telling us about the anchorage; the trails, fish, and Amerindian paintings.
The waters got disturbed and choppy, so Alice no longer had interest in swimming. We rowed to another beach and did some beach-combing. On the way back to the boat, we met Paul on a paddle board and Shawn in a Kayak. They were on Ascension a 37’ Prout Snow Goose Catamaran. They were very helpful telling us about the anchorage; the trails, fish, and Amerindian paintings.
The next day, Chris went ashore to do some hiking in the hills around us. There was a trail that led up over a saddle between two hills, and he could see Punta Pulpito to the north. There was a lavish villa compound overlooking the anchorage built by a Spanish Contessa a few years ago, only to find out she didn’t have title to the land. (A not so uncommon occurrence in Mexico.) Determining title to land can be very difficult. The villa has since been sold and is owned by a professor in San Diego. Chris hiked up to the top of one of the mostly limestone and ancient coral hills embedded with fossil shells and ancient corals. He hiked down the backside to a dirt road that led back to the beach. As he came down the trail, he found small raisin-size pieces of round obsidian, known as Apache tears. The name "Apache tear" comes from a legend of the Apache tribe: about 75 Apaches and the US Cavalry fought on a mountain overlooking what is now Superior, Arizona in the 1870's. Facing defeat, the outnumbered Apache warriors rode their horses off the mountain to their deaths rather than surrender. The wives and families of the warriors cried when they heard of the tragedy; their tears turned into stone upon hitting the ground. (Taken from Wikipedia.) They are a reminder of the travesties suffered by the Amerindians at the hands of the “white man”.
Walking along the beach towards the boat, Chris came across a large turtle shell. He picked it up and as he was walking by the cruisers shrine, it occurred to him that this would be a perfect object d’art, with some modifications, to leave at the shrine. Meanwhile, Alice had decided to go swimming and do her water aerobics. The water was clear, 68 degrees and smooth. Chris was pleased that she was confident enough to swim without him there. While she continued to swim, Chris got on the boat, pulled out his Dremel tool to inscribe the shell with our names, the boat’s name and date of our visit. This cruisers shrine is an old tree adorned with flotsam and jetsam, inscribed and left by earlier cruisers. There was a similar memorial on Octopus Island in British Columbia. Several years before he had found a piece of driftwood that looked like a seal which he inscribed and left there. When we went back to Octopus Islands this year we just added the new date to the “seal’s head”.
That evening we were invited to visit with Shawn and Paul on Ascension for drinks and appetizers. They are from Colorado; Shawn was a teacher and Paul and entrepreneur. He perfected ski skins which allow back country skiers to climb uphill on back country slopes. He opened a business producing these which he eventually sold to a major sporting goods manufacturer. They have an awesome refrigerator, freezer and produce cooler which allows them to stay at sea for a long time. Paul had gone out fishing that morning and served us some wonderful ceviche and scallops. Oh to be able to do that! Chris mentioned we were running low on drinking water and Paul offered to give us some since their water-maker produced plenty to share.
That evening after a lovely meal of pasta and clam sauce and Dragon Fly Time Tempernillo made by our friends John and Sue Kline, Chris still beat Alice at cards even with the heavy penalties for missed plays! We didn’t sleep well. The winds blew very strongly and we worried about our anchors dragging and hitting rock.