With the prospect of the port closing again we got an early start before the winds picked up. This wasn’t a bad thing since we also 53 miles to cover which would take eight plus hours and approaching the winter solstice the days are getting shorter.
Dawn departure from Santa Rosalia
In hanging out with Jolly Dogs we had talked about the idea of using the jib and screecher at the same time when downwind sailing. This passage was a perfect chance to test it out, so with the screecher pushing us along we tied a line to the jib clew and rigged up a block on a stanchion base. Pulling the jib tight, we found it worked well even with the wind at 150 (or 210 on a starboard tack). This was a winner and something we will use often when downwind sailing.
Double head sails, woohoo!
It was a great day sailing and we only turned on the engine when we got to the narrow spot after entering Bahia de Concepcion. Damn, it feels good to sail. Sliding into El Burro cove there were two other boats at anchor. Which we would find out later are owned by a local who hadn’t yet returned from their summer spent in the US.
Local homeowner’s sailboat
As evening rolled around, we were feeling lazy and seeing Pepe’s (formerly Bertha’s) restaurant on the beach we caved and dinghied in to shore for some dinner. The food was okay, mostly hamburgers with a few Mexican dishes. But props to the salsa which was quite tasty.
Ho hum another gorgeous sunset
We really wanted to snorkel but unsure of where to go so we took a morning dinghy/fishing trip around a few of the points of land and small islands nearby. We were skunked on the fishing but we did find what we hoped would be a good snorkeling spot, so it wasn’t a complete loss.
After a little breakfast and a walk on the beach seemed like a good idea. In El Burro, there are about 25 homes which look to be owned exclusively by expats from the US and Canada. Walking by we met a women whose son and daughter-in-law were visiting for their honeymoon. Hard to picture a more relaxing or more beautiful location for a honeymoon, and the price couldn’t be beat. She filled us in on the live music over at Juan Carlos’, aka JCs tonight. Seems our timing is right with this being a sort of “welcome” back weekend since everyone is just starting to return. Score!
In order to let the sun get a little higher for better visibility we suffered through a bit of boat work before gearing up and checking out the underwater world. We covered a fair amount of distance looking for fish and found a few but nothing like what we had in San Francisquito. It was a good workout as there was a current to swim against for our way back. Feeling good about getting our exercise for the day.
So that we could see the trail we headed to JC’s just before dark. Only had to sneak around one locked gate to get the Highway 1 and see our destination. Settling in you could tell it was reunion weekend with lots of people hugging and catching up on their summer adventures. A deal on six Tecates solidified our plans to stay awhile and enjoy the musics and experience, and get crazy by eating out for a second night in a row. Nuts I know, but hey why not. Since they would be busy the menu was one item – a hamburguesa (burger). As the evening progressed the newly weds showed up with mom and invited us to join them at a table of their neighbors on the beach. It was great enjoying the music, talking, and drinking too many beers. We were all impressed by the lead singer’s young daughter (13 or 14 years old) taking over the mic and singing a number of songs. Her excitement for getting a chance to perform and obvious talent was a perfect cap to the evening. And we even scored a ride back to the beach, El Burro is already high on our list of places to return!
El Burro Sunrise
The cruising guide mentioned a hike with petroglyphs, so early (before it got too hot) we headed to shore and up the surrounding hills. The start of the hike was a bit difficult to find but we did see some cairns so a bit of bushwacking got us on the trail. It was clear that we were early in the tourist season as the trail was overgrown and required beating some plants to submission. Before long we were treated to some great views of the bay.
A few cairns to mark the path
There was a rock scramble to the peak but the view of El Burro and El Coyote bays made it completely worthwhile
Wanting a bit more hiking I continued down the backside of the peak and along the ridge to the next peak which was smaller but made of an interesting volcanic rock.
Looking back at the peak overlooking El Burro
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