Bahia de Los Angeles aka LA Bay

We pulled into LA Bay this morning, and it was a welcomed event!  We left Gonzaga Bay on Monday, November 8th after getting to paddle with not one but two whale sharks- one north of Gonzaga Bay, and the other right in front of Alfonsina's hotel and bar where we spent one night.  

We made good time paddling around Punta Final and had a nice campsite, but then it blew hard the next day before we got a reprieve and clicked off another 20 miles towards LA Bay.  We camped at a place called El Mesquite and it was  a nice place as well, but the only problem was that we were pinned down there by a ferocious Northerly for the next 3 days before we could move.  We were conserving water by staying in the shade and sipping water like a hummingbird.  Mark gave me a hard time about the fact that I went the whole day on a coke bottle full of water!  And we are talking a 16 oz bottle- not a big one!

Then our luck improved, and the wind died down a little and we were able to again rack up about 17 miles and make it to an abandoned fish camp in a beautiful crescent sandy cove called Punta Meurto - I think it means something dead, so we were happy to make it through that and get out of there.  There are lots of Coyotes around and every night they cut loose with crazy howling noises!

The next morning, Nov 15th is was absolutely flat calm and we were able to travel at a pretty rapid pace.  We saw fin whales, lots of turtles, some fantastic rock structures, and Mark was able to catch about a 8 pound yellow tail tuna!  As usual, we had a couple of pods of Dolphins that we ran into along the way, and we even saw a handful of pangas- the first signs of people since Gonzaga Bay other than an occasional airplane!  We even felt so confident in the weather that we took a break 3 miles north of the dreaded Punta Remedios and went for a snorkel seeing lots of marine life and beautiful fish including the Sea of Cortez Angel.  We may- no we probably were the first people to ever snorkel that area!  We are also some of the first people not able to rotate our pictures, maybe we will get it together on the next round.

We kept on ticking off the miles and took a break right on the end of Punta Remedios and ate some lunch.  Lunch to us consists of one Clif Bar and a swallow of water!  Dinner always means the same thing- grilled fish.

We then set our sights on a point past Isla Alcatrez which would put us farther up into LA Bay, and we were beat by the time we got there.  But our reward for going in a strait line off shore to that point was a close encounter with a Fin Whale.  When we did stop for the night, it was on a spit of cobblestone with no real good tent platform, but it was good enough for us.  We ate the entire Yellow Tail, and even threw a rice dish in with it!  We also drank an incredible amount of water, making up for lost time with our hummingbird rationing!

We went to bed late last night- maybe 6 pm?  All night long we had maybe 50 or more pangas fishing right on the shore by our tent.  Most of the Pngeros ( the fishermen that fish the Pangas) were friendly and waved to us- they probably think we are nuts anyway.  We couldn't figure out if they were using nets, longlines or hooks, but we later found out today that they were fishing for Humboldt Squid!

Today we paddled the 11 miles or so into LA Bay proper.  We talked to a couple out in a Hawaiian Outrigger, and they were the first people we had talked to in 9 days, and the first kayakers we had seen.  We have also been watching out for rattlesnakes on land and haven't seen one, but as we paddled into LA Bay we passed a sea snake on the surface!  I didn't know we had to watch out for snakes on the water too!!!!!

We paddled to a place we though was our first bar, a place I thought was called Villa Bar, but instead it was a residence called Villa Bahia.  We were bummed, but then two guys that are housesitting the place- Shawn and Garrett- invited us in and gave us a cold Ballena ( Big sized Pacificos), and let us use the internet!  Thanks to Shawn and Garrett- you guys rock!!!!

If you happen to have access to a map of Baja, you will notice that this is a big milestone for us.  We have now completed 1/4 of the entire peninsula, and have now paddled over 150 miles as the crow flies.  But as Mark and Doug paddle, it was probably closer to 200 miles!!! We plan on hanging out here recuperating for a couple of days and then head south to Francisquitos. Will post more later, and we appreciate all of our followers!