Leaving La Paz to Puerto los Gatos

We finally managed to cut the dock lines and get out of La Paz.  Our plan is to head north in the Sea of Cortez until it gets too hot.  It was a beautiful day when we left and we motored or sailed depending on the wind, until we arrived at Isla San Francisco again.  We were just planing to spend a couple of days here before heading to some new anchorages up north.  We found another boat that was on the HA HA with us, Interabang, anchored nearby and had them over for coctails and some of Cathy's now famous guacamole.  Derek and Trisha are basically doing the same thing we are, so we will probably run into them again over the summer.  A lot of other boats are also headed north now on their way to Loreto Fest.  This is a large cruiser party that lasts a few days and is attended by about 100 boats every year.  We are planing to be there, but we will see how our schedule goes.

We left Isla San Francisco at 0800 and followed Interabang towards San Evaristo.  But with a nice south wind pushing along, we decided to continue north to Puerto Los Gatos.  We arrived at 1500 and practically before the anchor hit bottom, we were approached by Manuel in his panga.  He was selling fish, lobster, clams, fuel, water, basically anything you want he would go get.  For a price, of course.  He goes through the anchorage taking everyone’s orders and then goes out and catches the fish and brings them to your boat.  He’s been doing this for years, and all the cruisers in the area know him well.  That night we were treated to a nice calm anchorage and a beautiful full moon. 

The next morning we went kayaking to explore the strange rock formations that this area is famous for.  They are like sculpted sandstone, but only in certain areas.  Other areas are more volcanic and have a very different look.

In the morning, we were the only boat left in the anchorage.  We considered moving to the north lobe of the anchorage in case a north wind or swell came up, but since none were forecast, we decided to stay put.  Big mistake!  That evening, 12 other boats showed up and crowded into the north anchorage.  Us and three other boats were left in the south anchorage.  Although we did not have any strong wind, there was some strong winds north of us which produced a 4-5 foot swell that rolled into the anchorage from the only unprotected direction, the east.  There were surfable waves on the reef near us.  The boat began hobby horsing and rolling rail to rail just after dark.  Here we go again, another sleepless night!  At 0130 one of the boats next to us dragged anchor and nearly collided with the boat next to him.  Our anchor held well all night, but it could not hold us in our bunks!