Bahia de los Angeles,(October 13, 2010)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
I was up before sunrise. I needed to charge the battery in my Sony camera so that I could continue to shoot video. I wanted to give it at least a two hour charge.
Breakfast was a layer of three tortillas with a thick coat of peanut butter. I hated it but I had to eat something substantial to have enough energy. I finished breakfast off with a bowl of cereal.
By 9.15am I was on the water. Today’s paddle was only about 4 miles so I took it easy. Nothing was happening on the water so I paddled at a leisurely pace past the east side of Isla Cabeza de Caballo and then the last mile to Ventana. It was very hot but with the sun at my back it was still bearable to paddle. I could feel that I was starting to overheat, though. The PFD is very hot and I could not cool down enough, even while drinking lots of water. I stopped at Ensenada las Correlitas at Ventana, a small inlet on the south side of the island and just dangled my feet in the cool water for about 10 minutes. I have found that this is the best way for me to cool down when I get very hot, short of jumping right into the water.
A snack and a few cups of water later I was ready for the final part of today’s paddle to the cove at the north west side of Ventana called Punto El Bony where I was going to camp. On the way there, I passed a rock called Isla Calavera “the skull”, because it looks like one, all covered in guano with cave-like openings where the eye sockets would be in a real skull.
The last time I was at Ventana was many years ago, the time that Martijn introduced me to Bahia de los Angeles. I remember that day as being extremely hot. Today is no different. Although there is a breeze blowing, there is no cooling off. This time I do jump into the water, both to snorkel and to cool down. The snorkeling is disappointing; the water is clearer than in the south bay but there is not much to see. I wander the shore in search of treasure and only find a number of small barnacles which look like miniature volcanoes. There are a few small shark skulls and one or two dead birds but that is all.
It is now around 3.00pm as I am writing this entry. I found a place of shade next to the rock walls on the west side of the cove and am now quite comfortable with the exception of the flies and bees which are driving me crazy. There is a lot of fish activity in the little bay; fish jumping and being chased by bigger fish. I just saw an opportunistic pelican get itself a meal. A number of fish were jumping near by and the pelican dove just as one jumped out of the water. The fish fell back into the water and the pelican followed a split second later, to come up with its beak full of something. When it swallowed it looked like it had caught quite a sizable fish, probably one of the jumpers.
I was on my “pad” by 7.00pm. It was completely dark by then. The sun set was beautiful and I must have taken at least 30 pictures.
Dinner had been pretty bland; pre-cooked rice with spinach. I was very disappointed in the taste of the rice and won’t take the remaining packages on the rest of the paddle. I had boiled water for a cup of hot chocolate but had forgotten the chocolate at Campo Archelon so I had to make do with plain water.
I was watching the night sky; satellites crisscrossing as always and the odd shooting star. The wind picked up during the night but I was somewhat sheltered by a pile of rocks so it was of little concern to me.