No reason to stick around Mulege, come sunrise we upped the anchor and got underway for our 50-odd mile passage to San Juanico. It was a mellow morning, just smooth seas and light winds. Eddie had the fishing lines out and as we crossed structure over the bottom, nada. Oh well. Around the point and headed southwest the breeze gave us a few tenths of a knot. We finally got a strike on the pole only to reel in a skipjack. Back overboard he went. A couple other big strikes as we continued but unfortunately no more hook ups today. Most of our propulsion for the last few hours came from the wind which was nice. The wind kept building as we arrived and we took full advantage sailing until the very end.
I led the group up and over the hill to the north beach where I mistakenly remembered there were shells. Opps, just a sand/gravel beach but it was a beautiful view. Even better was the view of the anchorage as we hiked back over the hill. Blue waters and Gato Loco proudly pointing into the wind. We did a bit of shore walking and I started chatting with a couple and their daughter who are headed for San Carlos to remain in the water for the summer. I was fun to hear about the highlights of their first season cruising. We have run into so many first year cruisers this trip, the cruising community is definitely growing down here.
Marcia was interested in the beachcombing a bit further south, so off we went. The wind and swell had picked up and it made landing the dinghy tricky. We were a bit slow jumping out and managed to get a few gallons of water over the stern before pulling it up on shore. Blerg (Lowell has a new dinghy/engine, fuck it would have been bad to swap it!) Lowell and I drained while Marcia got to hunting and Eddie checked out the estuary. For our return to the water, I found we could get a 10-12 second lull, with using the oars we should be fine. Our execution was less than ideal as we had a jumble of people and restricted access to the oars, however we pulled it off and remained dry, whew!
I went down for a nap after all that adventuring, waking up to a young voice an hour later. Turned out to be the daughter I met earlier, she was only 9 but had paddleboarded a long way to our boat and was selling jewelry she had made. Quite the salesperson, Marcia picked up a necklace and ring set. Deal made she was off to the next boat. Such a cutie!
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