La Paz to Isla San Francisco

Right before New Years my friend Anne came down to help crew the leg from La Paz to Loreto. It's a good thing too, cause my cold and I were not enjoying the prospects of another long journey alone. We spent a quiet New Years Eve in La Paz and then cast off on the morning of the 1st. Thankfully the fuel dock at marina Costa Baja was open. We needed fuel and couldn't leave without it.

Espiritu Santos Again

By the time we got fuel, ice and beer it was past midday. Thankfully the anchorage at Caleta Pardita was only a few hours away. As we started to motor out I noticed that the boat was really sluggish. We were still making progress but couldn't do more than about 3kts. I was a little confused as to why that might be but concluded that I must have something on the prop that was aftecting the flow of water. I would jump in the water once we got to Caleta Pardita and check it out. Once we got there I jumped in to have a look. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the prop and a large percentage of my bottom(ahem.. the boat bottom!!) covered in barnacles!! This was impressive becuase not one month ago I looked at the bottom and there was nothing at all growing there. All of this growth happened in a month while anchored in La Paz. I took an hjour and scrubbed off as much as I could

Isla San Francisco

In the morning we headed off for Isla San Fransico. The boat performed much better without the barnacles fouling the prop and bottom. It was a short run to the anchorage at Isla San Francisco. I did some fishing, Anne had a nap and overall we enjoyed the spectacualr coastline that you see in this part of Baja.

This anchorage is the classic deserted island with the cresent shaped beach. We didn't have the nicest weather but it was still really pretty. We took the dingy to shore and managed a nice hike up the small ridge surrounding the beach..