The Baja Paddle

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

After a surprisingly calm night, still punctuated by strong gusts of wind but generally much more quiet than the four previous days, I woke up to a heavily overcast sky with clouds being pushed into an easterly direction. Although there was barely any light, I got up in a hurry and decided now was the time to get off the island.

I did not take breakfast; I did not drink anything. The only thing on my mind was to get going as soon as possible before the wind would pick up again. I rushed to get all the gear into the boat; I emptied the last bags of water, except one which I wanted to keep if it turned out that I could not get to Bahia de LA. I was also determined not to have a big bag on my rear deck which would catch a lot of wind and make paddling very difficult. I stuffed into the hatches what I could and carried the remaining items between my legs in the cockpit; one shoe, one bag with food, one groundsheet, one bag of water, one bottle with water.

As I pushed off the shore, the first rays of the sun came through the clouds; beautifully orange but only a thin sliver; the rest of the sky was heavy and gray. I only needed to paddle a few hundred feet to round the southernmost point of the Isla Coronado. I got there in a hurry with the wind in my back. Close to the point I was checked out by a frigate bird which hovered very briefly above me; it put on the air brakes and spread its tail and I was expecting something nasty to fall out of the sky but fortunately the bird was only curious and had no bad intentions.

I could see the breaking waves beyond the point and realized that I would be in for some heavy paddling. There was no let up in the strength of the wind behind the point. The waves were big, the waves were breaking, the waves were moving at considerable speed in the wrong direction. Still, I felt fine; not having stuff on the rear deck which would act as a sail, I had very good control of the kayak and it was a case of keeping the paddles in the water and be prepared for freak waves’ after that it would only be a matter of time and hard work before I would get somewhere where I could either shelter from the wind, or land on a shore.

The difference to the previous days was that the wind was not gusting. It was strong but steady and, at least for now, not swirling around too much. I was working hard, getting sprayed by the breaking waves and dipping into and out of the 3 – 4ft troughs between the waves. I was paddling more or less during slack tide so the current was not going to help or hinder me. About one half of a mile to the southeast was the “skull”, the rock which looks exactly like one when seen from the west. This was the nearest point where I could get some shelter and since it was more or less in the direction that I needed to go to, I aimed for the east side of it. I half paddled and half ferried across the water; the wind being at just the right angle that I could get it to push me sideways without totally forcing me sideways to the waves. From a distance it looked as if the “skull” was growing some stubble on its head and as I came nearer I noticed that the “stubble” was birds who were sitting all across the top of it. From a distance I could hear the honking of the sea lions that live on this rock. One by one they were sliding into the water and before long I was checked out by a whole bunch of them. There must have been at least 15 heads peeping out of the water looking me over from near by and others honking from the slopes of the rock. I was in sheltered water at this time and would have loved to take a picture of this scene, but my camera was inside one of the hatches.

I did not linger in the wind shadow; the waves were not giving me too much trouble and although I was moving pretty slowly, I was making steady progress. Rounding the rocks at the southern point of the “skull” was no problem. I was right back into the thick of wind and waves but my confidence was high by this time. It seemed that the wind was not getting any stronger and the closer I would get to the shore of Bahia de los Angeles, the less fetch the wind would have to kick up really bad waves. I did decide, though, to keep paddling from wind break to wind break; I have been surprised by the Sea of Cortez too often to take the conditions lightly and there were still considerable waves and strong wind to contend with.

My next target was Isla Pata, about one mile away. This is a slightly bigger island and if necessary I could paddle along its eastern shore in the wind shadow until the south point and then paddle the short distance to Isla Flecha and hide behind its eastern shore, paddling south before crossing the final channel. I was in a good rhythm now and though I was still very much concentrating on the paddle, I was also beginning to take note of the environment a little more. The heavy clouds were still covering the sky but they were not racing as much as they had done earlier in the morning. Suddenly I see a beam of light piercing the clouds and lighting up the top of one of the hills above Bahia de LA; this is a beautiful sight; the hill is dark gray with a band of ocher colored rock on the top, like colored icing on a cake. The light is unbelievable; it is still somewhat orange which highlights the color of the reddish rock while making the gray look a little less forbidding. It is only this ridge that is lit up and it only lasts for may be 30 seconds but it is a sight that I will not easily forget.

The clouds are opening up a little and more hill tops are lit up. One very distant hill looks just like Table Mountain in Cape Town. This “table” is lit from the top and a little down its slopes. Below is the gray rock and above is the heavy gray of the storm clouds. Another unforgettable sight.

More and more light is coming through, and then suddenly the clouds close up and all the light is gone; it now looks again like a storm is brewing and is about to burst.

Isla Flecha is nearby and I have decided that I do not need to paddle in its wind shadow; I’ll take the direct course to the shore. I have been paddling for about one hour and am feeling fit and on top of the world;I can easily handle the conditions as they are now.

It does not take long for the wind to lose a lot of strength; it happens gradually and I notice it more through the fact that the waves are getting smaller and the white caps disappear from the water than I feel the wind diminishing. The high tide current should be starting to flow but I expect that I will not notice any effect for the remainder of the paddle. I have only about one more hour to paddle before I am back at the Campo Archelon.

The wind has disappeared all together and I paddle in near perfect conditions; a slightly agitated sea only. The swell is now down to about one foot and is still moving in the direction of the wind; east. After a few minutes the wind is back but now from the southwest and immediately the water becomes more turbulent. The wave action to east had not run its course, yet, and now the wind is pushing from the southwest. This creates a little more turbulence and is stays that way until I get to the Campo Archelon where I get strange looks from a few campers who seem to wonder where this guy suddenly comes from at this early hour in the morning.

As I get to shore, I see Antonio at the same time that he sees me. A big shout: “Hi, Herman. How are you, good to see you” Antonio at his best again, always very enthusiastic and kind. Before I have the boat pulled up on the beach he is already explaining to the campers that I am “ a friend from Holland, who has just paddled the islands”.

“Herman, I have to go to a meeting today. When are you leaving? Tomorrow? Then we can have our glass of wine tonight”. Antonio absolutely wants to have a glass of wine with me; he has already said so a few times and I do not have the heart to tell him that I do not drink alcohol. I will probably end up having a glass of wine with him; he is such a great guy. Then, tomorrow it is back home to Rosarito, until the next paddle somewhere in Baha.

The storm starts really building in the afternoon; heavy clouds and threatening rain, which does not fall until I cross the mountains to the west the next day.

Monday, October 18, 2010

I got up just before sunrise. This must have been the longest awaited dawn in my life. I was sore, stiff and tired and the wind kept on blowing much harder than any forecast that I had recorded in the planning of this part of the trip. But, I was OK and felt ever more that my decision not to try to cross the Canal de Ballenas to Isla Angel de la Guarda was the right one. I believe that I might have gotten myself into a lot more trouble than I care to think about and although I was in a way still disappointed, I had no regrets whatsoever about my decision.

Today was the day to explore the southern part of the island. The wind was too strong and swirling too much to think about fishing so I decided to climb some of the hills to see what lay on the other side. I went south first; this hill was not very steep, or very high and I got to the top in about 30 minutes. The spot I had targeted was a slight depression in the hill which would allow me to look south, in the direction of the frigate bird rookery. I also hoped to get a glimpse from the top of the spot where I had seen the whale carcass. When I got close to the top the wind became very strong indeed and I went the final 50 ft on hands and knees to keep my balance and to make sure than I was not going to be blown over the ridge. I lay on my belly and looked at the sea and rocks below. I could see neither the rookery nor the whale carcass; there was another ridge in between my position and the spot where I knew these two sights to be. Crawling further up the ridge and to the east to get the view I had hoped for was out of the question; the wind was far too strong since the depression that I was in acted as a funnel and the wind came barreling through at horrendous speed. I backed off until I was well below the top of the ridge and then followed another gully further to the west. I knew that I would be able to look across the island to the west side of Isla Coronado and expected to be able to see Bahia de los Angeles also. This turned out to be correct,but the interesting view that I got was of the second estuary on Coronado, which I had not found the the day before while on the water. This estuary was quite a bit smaller than the other one but that seemed to be the only difference. If I had not known that there was this smaller estuary I might have mistaken it for the other one, except for the fact that this one stretched to the north and the big one to the east.

Back at camp I noticed that I had left my water bottle at the ridge overlooking the south side of the island. I was contemplating retrieving it and had started walking along the shore with that in mind. All of the morning I had had to lean into the wind and I was doing so again now. The wind constantly changed direction and I was leaning sideways when suddenly there was an enormous gust of wind from behind which nearly flattened me; I stumbled forward a few steps before I regained my balance and decided that I could do without the bottle and returned to camp.

Cooking under these conditions was very difficult. There was very little firewood so I had to use the alcohol stoves which Martijn had originally built for our trip in the beginning of the year. They still worked very well but are so light that even when filled with alcohol they would fly away in this wind. I dug a hole in the gravel, close to the rocks and built a wind break around it with smaller rocks and pebbles. The stove fit into the hole and the pot stand which I had fashioned from two coat hangers fit nicely around it. The aluminum wind shield that I have been using for the last 25 years was of no use this time. Even in the wind break it kept flying away since it weighs virtually nothing. I needed about one half of a bottle of alcohol; I must have ignited the stove at least ten times and poured a lot of alcohol on top of it and around it before the pressure was sufficient to keep the flame burning. I heated Madras lentils and mixed them with mashed potatoes for a very tasty meal.

It was still only just after 4.00pm when I finished my dinner. I needed a better place to sleep and went off again in search of one. Although I did not have much hope of finding one this time, it was at the same time a sort of physical therapy to go on a search instead of just hanging around camp and getting frustrated with the weather. A little further to the north, actually just around the corner from the rock formation where I was camping, was a small cove with plenty of rocks and pebbles in between. I had previously considered a spot there but had decided against it because it was very small and not very level. This time, and because beggars can’t be choosers, I decided that with a little work this spot could be made into an acceptable sleeping place. It took me a while to more or less level the pebbles and when I tried it out, it seemed to be OK. I moved my groundsheets and other sleeping paraphernalia to this spot and was able to organize it, again with pebbles all around it to keep it from flying away. The sun had set by this time and after I had secured all the loose lying stuff at my original camp site I moved into my new sleeping quarters.

It appeared that the wind had diminished in strength somewhat and I was able to get into my bag without the commotion of the previous night. I was getting a little tired of the weather by now and I noticed clouds moving in very quickly. This worried me even more and I expected that this change of the weather could only be bad news. I needed to get off this island and back to Bahia de los Angeles before the weather turned really nasty.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

After a good night’s sleep, I was up with the sun. The wind was a little stronger than yesterday. I had a good breakfast and felt fit again, so I decided to tackle the volcano, which Antonio had told me is about 1000ft high.

I packed a little rug sack with water, snacks, some basic first aid, my PLB and cameras and off I went. Initially the going was rather easy; big rocks and certain foot holds. It got somewhat more challenging the higher I got and there were some spots where I was nearly on hand and feet trying not to lose my footing, or slip down the slope because of the loose rocks and scree. I noticed that the sea was rather agitated, especially to the west although the wind was not very strong.

Close to the top the slope became very steep but I found a small track which led around the most challenging points; others must have been there before me. It took me about 1.5 hours to get to the top which has various levels but which are mostly flat. The view was stunning, as expected. One can see all the surrounding islands. To the southwest Pata, Iota, Jorobado,Flecha, Llave, Cerraja and Ventana. To the south Calavera, Rasita, Cabeza de Caballo and Los Gemelitos and as far as and beyond Punta El Pescador. To the southeast one can see Piojo. I took my time exploring and walking around the edges of what must have once been the crater rim, enjoying the 360 degrees views which looked so familiar but also so different from up high. Earlier visitors had left cairns and even a book, surprisingly enough about the development of the financial system in the USA.

I found it interesting to see that there was more vegetation on the top of the volcano than there was on its slopes; on the way up, I had also noticed some small lava tubes below the rocks and stone rubble. On the top itself was no ash; I only found that on the lower slopes and around the foot of the volcano.

Going back down was more challenging because of the loose rock and scree. I was very careful to take small steps and have a hand hold before making the next step, especially in the few sections where there was a lot of loose rubble. Despite that, I took two heavy falls; the first one flat on my back which was broken by the camera case and which caused no bodily damage. The second one was on my butt, pretty hard and painful on one of my sitting bones; this one still hurts when I sit on it. I had another few near misses but made it back substantially without damage, but extremely hot and tired.

I did not even bother to strip. The sweat had been pouring freely down my body so my clothes needed washing anyway. I took off my boots and socks and walked straight into the water. And then I stopped dead in my tracks. Not two feet away from me was a stingray. I had not expected this at all. I had been very careful everywhere there was a sandy bottom and faithfully done the “shuffle” to avoid stepping on one, except at this beach the shore was nearly all rocks and I had not expected to ever see a stingray at a spot where it could not dig itself into the sand to hide. Anyway, I chased the ray away and put on my rubber booties to have a surer footing and then went and wallowed in the water until it started feeling cold.

My energy level was low at this point. I took some food and drink and found a spot to relax and read a book. I rested for about two hours when I felt I had enough energy to load my kayak and paddle to the designated camp site at the south east side of the island.

By late afternoon I was established at my new camp site. Not very comfortably; the best on offer was small pebbles, but at least I had found a level spot in one of the tidal ridges about three feet above the high water mark for that day. The paddle to this spot took about one hour in increasing winds, from which I was mostly somewhat sheltered. The winds varied from west to north and were strengthening but the white caps started to appear only after I had landed.

This spot was as windy as below the volcano. I had expected to be able to find shelter behind some of the rock formations that are here but that turned out to be an illusion. The wind was getting stronger all the time, but it was also changing between directions, varying from northwest to northeast and swirling around the rocks. It made no difference where I went, the wind was there, varying from strong to very strong. Once again, not at all as forecast.

I settled on a spot at the northernmost point, unloaded the kayak and then carried the kayak to another tidal ridge, higher than the one I had chosen to sleep in. Dinner was mashed potatoes with cabbage. I made a big portion and loved it .For the first time during this trip the dinner tasted great. I finished with a small package of cookies and chocolate milk.

Trying to get to sleep was another matter all together. The wind was so strong than it defied all my efforts to put down a groundsheet. I ultimately had to lay on top of it and load gravel all around the edges to keep it down. My sleeping mat and sleeping bag also kept flying away and I had to put a load of pebbles on them to stay put until I had myself organized and I hoped that the wind would abate somewhat after the sun had set.

The sun set by around 6.00pm and the light was fading. I had no desire to get into my sleeping bag, yet. I found the most sheltered spot, put on my head lamp and started to read a book. The temperature had dropped noticeably after the sun went down and I put on my neoprene swimming top to keep warm and I wore my PFD so that I could lean against the rock without hurting my back. By 7.30pm I was ready for bed. The wind was still blowing as strong as before.

My ground sheet was still held in place by the ring of pebbles. The process of getting into the sleeping bag went as follows: I took my sleeping mat and put it on the groundsheet, then I put my sleeping bag on top. I was in the process of putting my sleeping bag liner in the bag when the whole caboodle flew off, taken by a gust of wind. I got the gear together again and sat on the mat while putting the liner in the bag. The mat and bag were now on the groundsheet but it was clear that they were not going to stay there very long unless I secured them somehow. The somehow was to put another groundsheet on the top and line the sides again with pebbles. This went quite smoothly. The next step was to get into the bag,inside the liner. This did not go very well at all with the result that at some point I had the liner around my neck while I was holding on to the bag to make sure that it would not fly away again. All of this happened by the light of the moon. To cut a long story short, I was not able to get the liner in the bag the right way so in my frustration just pushed it in any old way and followed myself. I had the liner around my feet and that is the best I managed to do. I was now in the bag myself but needed to weigh the groundsheet down again because in the commotion a lot of the pebbles had fallen off and the sheet was flapping. Half in and half out of my sleeping bag I was able to weigh everything down sufficiently to try to get some sleep.

I was in the bag but wide awake. The wind was driving me a little crazy because it swirled around all the time and no sooner did I think that I had things under control when something else would pull loose and start flapping. I threw a whole lot of pebbles on and around my feet and then wrapped the rest as best as I could around my shoulders and head. Most of the time I use my sleeping bag as a blanket which is far more comfortable; I find the bag very restricting and no warmer anyway. I could not do so on this occasion since everything went flying off in all directions all the time and only me being “in the bag” provided enough weight to keep it in place. It had become pretty cold and I was shivering. The only warm piece of clothing I had with me was my neoprene vest which I use for swimming and snorkeling. Wearing this kept my body nicely warm, but my neck and head were unprotected. I wrapped my life vest around my head and pulled it into my sleeping bag as much as possible to give my neck some warmth. This way I spent the night. I do not recall that I slept at all because I had to hold on to the groundsheet with one hand to keep it from flying away while constantly adjusting my life vest to keep it in place and somehow keep it bearable as a pillow, a function for which I can now vouch it is totally unsuitable for.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Yesterday I rounded about two-thirds of Isla Coronado and today I wanted to do the rest. I paddled north for a short distance until the shore turned westwards. The scenery at this point was not very interesting; the gray ash of the volcano mixed with rocks was all there was to see. I noticed that the vegetation on the side of the volcano is limited to a cactus every now and then.

When the coastline turned south again the scenery quickly changed to brown hills with a lot of loose rocks and only slightly more vegetation. This really is a barren place.

The shore is very irregular, numerous small inlets and rocks sticking out into the channel. Some nice little bays started to appear but everything was always pebbles or rocks; not very interesting to land on and certainly nothing to camp on.

It was a very quiet day. This must be the first time in the past week that the forecast was somewhat accurate. There was only a very slight west wind blowing, not even enough to have a cooling effect; the day was very hot. I continued paddling and wanted to find the estuary where I had seen the sting rays and the crabs yesterday. After more than an hour on the water I noticed a reef which looked like it could be the entrance to the lagoon. It was sheltered by a row of smaller rocks which created a corridor-like entrance to the lagoon itself. At it’s entrance the lagoon is pretty deep; the water is a deep green and the bottom is not visible. It stays like this nearly until the end is reached where it becomes very shallow. This is the area in which the rays and skates are plentiful and I saw many scuttle away quickly as soon as I got near. I wanted to take some video shots so I floated with the current and stuck my hand with the camera under water when I saw something interesting. I was not very successful in getting close to any of the fish I saw and it took me a while to realize that it was the shadow of the kayak which chased them away before I got close enough. It was still early in the morning so the shadows were still long.

I paddled to the other side of the lagoon and drifted back facing the sun and what a difference it made. I was now able to get very close, sometimes right above the fish before there would be a reaction, if any at all.

After a while I beached the kayak and went on shore to find the crabs again. They were busy feeding in the mud and I was able to approach quite close before they would all scatter. The biggest crabs were no bigger than approximately one inch across. They were colored from bright white to dull brown and gray to red. Only a small number had a pincher, some were left-clawed, others had their claws on the right. I took some photographs and some video. As long as I did not move, I was able to observe them through the tele lens from very near by and I was amazed at the speed with which they picked up from the mud whatever it was that they were eating and putting it into their mouths.

When I left the lagoon and paddled further south I paddled through some inlets and rounded one of the many points of this island until I was back at the spot where I had finally found some wind shade the day before.

The wind was only a little stronger by now and it did provide some cooling without being really strong. I was looking forward to the frigate bird rookery again and hoped that I could find a way to beach the kayak and get out on the rocks to take some shots with the canon camera, which is not waterproof and is carried in one of the hatches while on the water. As I got close I saw a group of vultures at the water’s edge feeding on something which was laying on the rocks. I needed to round a big rock to identify what it was; a whale carcass, but obviously one that had been there for quite a long time. There was not much skin left, there was no smell and some ribs and vertebrae were scattered quite a distance across the rocks, but still, there was apparently enough left for the vultures to be feeding. I took some video before I paddled on and contemplated trying to take a vertebra with me for Martijn but immediately realized that this was an impossible undertaking in view of all the stuff I carried on the kayak already. Anyway, I now know where it is so we can come back and try to find an interesting body part the next time that we are in Bahia de los Angeles.

Paddling further and getting to the frigate bird rookery I realized that it would be very difficult to execute the plan that I had to get some close up shots. There is only one tiny little cove in that area and I would not be able to get a good angle on the birds from that vantage point. I would either have to do it from the kayak and hope not to get the camera wet, or use the little waterproof camera which does not have the same magnification. I decided to leave that decision to another day.

I paddled closer to the shore than I had the day before and kept a very good look out for a spot which was designated as a camp site. I did indeed find it, not far from the rookery; a small, insignificant sign nearly blown over had the sign of a tent on it. I landed and found a very interesting site, but again only rocks and pebbles. But, this site had a lot more to offer with regard to scenery than where I was camped below the volcano so I decided to move my camp there in the next few days.

Around mid-afternoon I arrived back at the volcano; I had circled the whole island and done plenty of sight seeing within the space of 6 hours and I was very hot and tired by now. A quick dip in the water and a snack restored my energy. I lay with my back on the hot pebbles again to relax my back muscles which were stiff and hurting.

I was still in two minds if I should climb the volcano. I was tempted to do it and I was not at all pressed for time so the only thing that really kept me from spontaneously deciding to climb it was the weather; I did not fancy climbing this hill if the weather was going to be as hot as it had been the last few days.

Friday, October 15, 2010

The wind was up before I was. There was a slight breeze blowing which was not very strong, but it certainly was stronger than the forecast of 2 knots.

I had organized my gear the evening before and was quite certain that I would get everything into the kayak, with the exception of my tent and sleeping mat. It took me a long time to pack and re-pack until it finally fit and the hatches could still be closed. I tied the bag with my tent and sleeping mat onto the back, rolled the kayak to the edge of the water and then went to park the car and hand the keys back to Gloria.

By this time it was already more than a half hour past the time that I had intended to leave and I was at risk of losing the benefit of the last hour of high tide. Launching was a challenge because I needed to get 7 water bags, each with ten liters of water into the cockpit with me. I struggled to get this done and after first losing two bags which floated away while I was trying to get organized in the cockpit, and then losing my water bottle, I finally managed to fit it all in and was on my way.I was packed really tight in the cockpit and it did not take long before my legs felt very uncomfortable with the weight of the water on them and around them. The weight was such that I could not move them and after about 30 minutes my feet started to hurt and then my legs fell asleep. In the meantime, the wind had picked up considerably and was blowing from the west at at least 10 knots and it was kicking up big swells and breaking waves. The bag on my rear deck was catching a lot of wind so I was bracing much of the time to keep more or less on course. With this strong wind at my back I was moving quickly across the channel towards my intended goal for the day: Isla Coronado. However, mid channel the water was so rough that I had to put all my skills to use to stay upright. I had trouble keeping a course because of the wind the bag on my rear deck caught and I could not move my body to compensate fast enough when hit by the waves from behind or from the side because of the way I was wedged in the cockpit by the bags of water.

I had a few anxious moments and felt even more challenged than the days Martijn and I fought our way through the wind and waves and swells at Agua Verde in March of this year. I did make it finally to the lee of Isla Pata and then had less than 1.5 mile left before reaching Isla Coronado where I would be able to paddle to the lee on the east side of the island. I took a break, had some water and a snack and decided then, after less than an hour on the water, that a crossing to Isla Angel de la Guarda was out of the question. Quite frankly, the last 30 minutes of this crossing had scared me and to think that I would be trying to cross 14 miles of open water with well known big swells, strong currents and unpredictable winds was something that I could not see myself do as long as I had any sanity left. I was afraid that, even if the winds were at only 2 knots, the strong currents and swells might be taxing me to the max, if not more, and I was not ready to take that risk.

After I had gathered my wits again and managed to get a little less uncomfortable with the water bags on my legs and feet I struggled across the channel to Isla Coronado and as soon as I had reached the most southerly point I felt the first of the reduced wind and swells and could relax. The southerly point of this island is stunning; the rocks are multicolored from various shades of red and brown to gray with rock spires and rock gardens all around. I had read that there is a frigate bird rookery at the most southerly point and was looking forward to seeing this. The further east I paddled, the calmer the water became and the more I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery. I felt comfortable enough to take out my little camera and take some photographs and video and indeed, when I rounded the final point and had a view of the southerly tip, I saw the frigate birds.

I had expected them to be all black but I actually saw more birds that had white heads and bills and rather a large number with their trade mark red throats. This was a bonus that I had not expected and I took video to the extent that the water and rocks allowed me to do that without getting stuck or blown on the rocks. Surprisingly, many sat quite contentedly on their rocks while I paddled by quite close. I am used to gulls and pelicans flying off when getting to within a certain distance, but the frigate birds did not seem to mind very much. I noted a number of them, those with the red throats, sitting with their beaks open and throats trilling and seemingly very concentrated on this activity. I am not at all sure what the meaning of this was; I could not hear any vocalization and their throats also did not extend into a firy red balloon shape which they do during the breeding season.

I was now completely relaxed and happy again and paddled at an easy pace to the next point of interest; a lagoon which extends from the west of the island nearly to the end of the east side. There is only a very narrow band of shore that links the two halves, otherwise Isla Coronado would be two separate islands.

At the same time I was looking for the camp site which is supposed to be on the south-eastern side of the island.

I found the lagoon quite easily and took some time to explore the shore. The east side is where the lagoon is very shallow and I saw some sting rays and crabs shooting off in all directions as I got closer. I was careful not to step into the water so as not to run the risk of getting stung by a sting ray. I walked around the perimeter of the water; the tide was out so I walked on a mud flat which fortunately was quite firm. At one corner I noticed hundreds of tiny crabs moving about on the mud, feeding. They were only about one inch in size and scuttled in all directions when I got closer.

The camp site was probably not sign posted because I did not see anything that might indicate a designated camp site. Since I had not seen any sandy shore either, yet, I hoped that that was still going to be found. That expectation turned out to be an illusion because as I paddled further along the shore I only saw gravel and rocky shores; no sand anywhere in sight. Once I got to the north-eastern end of the island it was clear that I had missed the camp site, but it was also clear that it would be a site of gravel or pebbles, so not very comfortable.

I landed at the foot of the volcano, a pebble beach, and decided that this was the place where I was going to camp. After some searching I found a spot which had fewer rocks and pebbles than the rest of the area so I cleared a spot just big enough for my sleeping pad. This would be my first night ever of sleeping in ash, volcanic ash that is, although it felt no different than ash from a coal fire.

By this time it was mid-afternoon and I called it a day as far as exploring was concerned. I still had to get all my gear out of the boat, get the boat up high enough that it would not start floating away on the high tide and organize my stuff and prepare dinner.

Having done all the organizing and emptying two bags of water which I was not going to need anymore, I was famished and cooked a big meal of macaroni with cabbage. I had cooked far too much to eat so some of it went to feeding the fish. Anyway, it did not taste well. For some reason, the food that I liked during our long paddle six months ago, just does not taste the same today. I have not had a meal that I really enjoyed on this trip. Which means that things can only get better.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I was up by 6.30am, after nearly 12 hours on my sleeping pad. The tide had come up quite high and the rear of the kayak was floating. It could not go anywhere, though, because I had secured in before I went to sleep. I must have been bitten at least a million times by no-seeums; my feet, legs, arms, shoulders and face are covered in small little bites which already itch terribly. This is going to be pretty unpleasant.

The bees were out in full force again; there seemed to be even more than yesterday. At some point I could not get to my water bottle because the whole top half was covered in bees and I had to make a cup of very strongly sweetened water to give them an alternative so that 15 minutes later I could retrieve the bottle which I then immediately rinsed very well in the sea water to remove all traces of sugar from the outside.

I was packing the boat ready for the return paddle to Bahia de los Angeles when a panga with two fishermen came in to the cove. It was clear what they were going to do; clean their catch of fish and leave the offal on the beach. They did not take very long but the gulls were already congregating in numbers and were squabbling before the panga had even left.

There was quite a racket going on once the birds had the beach to themselves, so I walked over to see what all the excitement was about. It turned out to be the head and intestines of a shark. The head did not get too much attention but there were several tugs of war going on with the intestines, some of it in the water while other pieces were fought over on the beach. I was able to get some good video of the action. I could get quite close because the birds had only eyes for the remains of the fish and took no notice of me at all.

Just after 9.00am I was on the water. The wind had largely died down and I had a leisurely paddle back to Campo Archelon where I arrived after 90 minutes in very hot weather. I checked the temperature and it was around 100F. I got settled in, took a shower and washed my clothes and then I went to look for Antonio to get my car keys. Antonio was not there; he had left a note on my car window explaining that he had to go to Tijuana unexpectedly to meet his sister’s daughter and that he would not be back this weekend. The keys were at “Gloria’s”.

After I got the keys, sorted my stuff in the palapa a little more, I went back to “Rachel and Larry” for a tuna sandwich lunch, a chance to check e-mail, re-charge my laptop and get the weather information I needed for the next leg of the trip.

The best site which I had found for the wind was “off line” so I checked for others. I did find one or two but the information was so high level that I could not really do much with it. The one thing, though, that gave me hope was that they confirmed for Friday and Saturday what I had found on the earlier site about one week ago: Friday and Saturday were going to be very calm; both days there was going to be west wind at only 2 knots per hour.

Larry kept coming to talk to me about the crossing and in passing mentioned that every year a paddler was lost in their area. I explained to him the same things that I had explained to Antonio a few days earlier and promised that I would not do anything stupid.

When I left after dinner, Betsy gave me one last word of advice about the wind and then said “we’ll expect you back in about two weeks”.

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.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The sun had been very hot every day. I was in shade for a little while when I got up because I camped right below the cliffs. I used this time to break down the camp and move all the gear to the kayak before the sun cleared the hill. This done, I took my time to eat breakfast; tortillas and jam, which I did not enjoy, but I needed the energy. I finished off with two bowls of cereal which went down very well.

I felt reasonably OK again; still not much energy but I did not have to paddle very far today.

It took me less than 30 minutes of easy paddling to get to the area where the whale sharks were supposed to hang out most of the time. I was wrapped up in clothes against the burning sun and was quite comfortable sitting in the kayak waiting for the whale sharks to show up. After three hours of cruising around the area I had had enough. By then my butt was sore from sitting in the same position for a few hours, my eyes and neck hurt from scanning as much area as possible all around me and the sun was getting very hot.

I decided to paddle to Puerto Don Juan where I was planning to camp. This spot is a well hidden bay just before one rounds the point to paddle south; the point where Martijn and I got beaten up by the sea when we tried to go that way in March.

I nearly missed the entrance to the bay because it it fairly hidden by a curve in the land; the entrance is not forward or to the side; it actually is slightly behind one when one paddles the normal route.

I was paddling at a very easy pace. It was around midday, very hot with very little wind and I had no need to hurry. I spent some time taking video shots of pelicans and some underwater shots of thousands upon thousands of tiny schooling fish which were practicing choreographed swimming.

Much closer to the Puerto Don Juan I noticed dolphins jumping out of the water. I paddled in that direction as fast as I could but unfortunately a zodiac with fishermen had also seen them and got right in the middle which broke up the action. I still paddled towards them since the zodiac left as soon as the jumping stopped and at least they were still in the general area. I did have some of them swim around and quite close for a little while but the jumping was over and they disappeared shortly afterward.

I had just turned into the entrance to the bay when I heard slaps on the water behind me. It did not immediately dawn on me what that could be, but then I realized that it could be jumping manta rays. I turned around in time to observe a number of small rays jumping rather high out of the water but they were quite a way off and went away from me so that I did not watch them for very long.

The day was already very good. No whale sharks, but I had seen some yesterday. The weather was hot, but not a lot of wind so the paddling was easy, and I had seen dolphins and manta rays.

I turned into the bay and looked for the beach at the end. Nothing was visible but I noticed that this bay has some twists and turns before the far end comes in sight.

About two thirds into the bay I noticed the wreck of an old boat on a beach. I went to investigate and while I paddled that way I noticed a few round stingrays shooting off into the distance; a good reminder to be careful when stepping out of the boat.

The wreck turned out to be the San Agustin from Bahia de los Angeles. I found it interesting to notice that it was tied to the rocks although this boat was never going to float again. After some pictures I continued to the deep end of the bay and found a tiny little beach on which to camp.

Fishing was next on the agenda. I sorted my gear and decided to try my luck with one of the lures that Martijn had given me. First I had to tie it to the line; this went fine but when I went to cast I found that I had tied the line on the outside of the reel so that I could not cast and instead had my line in a terrible tangle.

It took me a few tries to get it right and I had to re do various things a several times but then I was ready to cast. The cast went perfect; it went quite a way out and when I was reeling it in I felt a strike; a very firm one, so strong that I had trouble reeling the line in. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had caught the line on something other than a fish and that I was stretching the line rather than reeling in a fish. I kept tension on the line, got into the kayak and reeled myself to where the line was stuck. Once there I managed to get it loose and continued to fish, now from the kayak.

It did not take long for another strike to occur; also a rock. I managed to retrieve the line and lure from this mishap also and promptly had a real strike; I had caught a 10” spotted sand bass, the same fish which Tiny always caught during our paddle. Since I had not expected to be fishing from the kayak, I had nothing with me to get the hook out of the fishes’ mouth which was at a very awkward angle. I struggled for a while but finally got it out and released the fish; it was too small to eat. When I pulled out the hook I also broke the leader which held the bait; the rock catches and the pulling of the kayak to loosen the hook must have weakened the line to the extent that the last pull was just too much and it disappeared into the water, out of sight with lure and all to the bottom of the bay.

I continued fishing with new line and bait and ultimately caught six fish, all the same type and ranging from about 6” to 12”. I kept the 12” fish to make dinner.

I had to gut the fish to eat; I had never done this and the only skill I had developed up to that point was watching and re-watching videos on You Tube which demonstrate how to do this. On those videos they always started with a dead fish, but mine was still alive and swimming in my water bucket. I procrastinated for as long as I could but when I had everything ready and the fire burning, there was no more postponing. I had forgotten the board that I had brought along just for the the purpose of cleaning fish. I looked for a flat rock, in vain, so in the end I had to gut it while holding it in my hand.

Fortunately the fish did not struggle much when I picked it up out of the bucket. I had decided to cut its throat and hoped that this would be an instant kill. When I cut the throat, the guts came out. This was unexpected but very welcome. Then I cut off the fins and sliced it open and cleaned the rest of the guts. All this was not at all as bad as I had imagined. The next thing was to pull the head back and remove the skin. This is where things did not go so well anymore since I could pull as much as I wanted but the skin stayed on. Ultimately I cut the head off and sliced two fillets which went into the heated oil in the frying pan, complete with skin.

The fillets were done in about 10 minutes. I took a very small bite to see what it tasted like and whether it was completely done. Bingo! Right on target. The flesh was white and firm, the skin fell off by itself and I had two small fillets which were exactly the right size for a meal for one. I ate it together with mashed potatoes and spinach and was very proud of myself.

From late in the afternoon until it got dark, a lone sea lion patrolled the shore in front of my camp, it kept swimming from left to right and vice verse, without stopping to say “hello”.

.In the morning I had been reminded why it is a good idea to put up a tent under any circumstances. I went to find a spot to do my ablutions and virtually ran into a black and yellow scorpion of about 3” in size with a big poison sack at the end of its tail. I had decided to sleep out in the open all the same. There was not really a good spot to put a tent so I leveled an area large enough to put my sleeping pad down and lay on my sleeping bag watching the sky by 8.00pm.