April 17, 2010 - Isla Coronado

We headed north to San Juanico, a beautiful anchorage that we had visited before. On the way we did see occasional whales off in the distance and a small group of porpoises close up. What they lacked in numbers, they made up for in their jumping, flipping and spinning in the air. The weather was just about perfect. The slight overcast was actually a blessing, reducing the sun and heat, and the sea was pleasant. We arrived at Juanico at about 3, and we all took naps, which was a good way to recover from the total absence of stress. A tough life, but someone needs to do it.

The next morning, Earl, Howard and Daisy went fishing in the dingy and Howard hooked two small yellow tail which unfortunately came off the hook when Earl tried to get them in the boat. Louise and I kayaked to the beach and looked for shells and then kayaked over to visit friends who had come in. Mary Ann and John on Old Moon were tied next to us in November at Costa Baja and we later saw them in Mazatlan. They are touring the sea for a month before heading back to San Francisco for the birth of a grandchild. They have loved their trip down here and promise that they will be back next winter.

Around noon we took off and headed south to Isla Coronado, retracing a route from the day before. Almost immediately after leaving Juanico Earl saw a large group of porpoises. They were on a mission, swimming on the surface and going south. Earl had to speed up to keep up with them but we were in the middle of them for five or ten minutes. It was very special as always. Earl told the Esslingers that we only provide the porpoises in these numbers on the premium cruise. We were hoping that we would be fortunate and run into the large pod of whales that Earl and I had seen the week before. We did see a couple large whales, very close to us. They were not the type we had seen before, much larger, but as usual we were unable to identify them.

We anchored at Isla Coronado, hoping to see the small rays we had seen when last here. According to the internet they are called mobola and these small ones appear to jump more often than others and to be found in large groups. The local fishermen call them tortillas. They were a no show – hopefully we will run into them somewhere south.

Louise and I kayaked around looking for large king angel fish. We saw a few and then had Earl tow us back to the boat behind the dingy. In the morning, we all enjoyed watching a flock of grebes in the water. They are enchanting. Somehow they all stay together, diving and surfacing as a group.

We are off to Loreto to replenish our veggie supply before headed south to La Paz. We will take most of a week to cruise there.