Down Baja’s West Coast



Sunrise Over Baja

San Quintin

Deploying the Rocker Stoppers

Sunset at San Quintin

Dolphins

Show Off Dolphin

We began our long journey down the west coast of Baja California with an early morning (3:30am) departure from Ensenada by the light of the moon and twinkling stars overhead.  The city lights disappeared behind us and the unseen motion of the waves could be felt rising and falling - a strange and wondrous experience.  After three hours of motoring in the dark, the sun slowly began to show its face over the mountains of Baja.  Several pods of Dolphins came by the boat while Leonard was at the helm; I was napping at the time, but not all was lost since more Dolphins visited us on the next leg of our journey.  We cruised 12 miles off shore in moderate seas, avoiding crab pots and any uncharted rocks and reefs.  We reached Bahia San Quintin around 5:30pm and anchored for the night just before the sun sank into the sea.  Ocean swell was present in the bay so we deployed the “rocker stoppers” for the first time and found that they really do help dampen the motion.  The next morning we left San Quintin around 8:30am; several small boats (pangas) from the village were heading out to fish.  We were greeted with calm seas and gentle swells for the 9-hour trip to Bahia San Carlos and made good use of the passing hours:  installed a solar film on the pilothouse windows to cut down on the heat and glare; studied some more Spanish; and Java tossed her ball down the stairs, watching the humans play fetch.  The Dolphins appeared again to play alongside our boat; one Dolphin sprang straight up in front of our bow; he came down with a big splash that soaked our shirts as we peered over the edge; he was probably telling all his friends, “watch this!”  We arrived in beautiful Bahia San Carlos around 4:30pm; a small village and RV park lie at the foot of imposing mountains with huge cactus along the ridges – it looked like a scene out of the Old West.  Interestingly, this tiny village once served as a coastal stop to off-load and pick up cargo for the mining ventures of the interior.  It’s a lovely spot - we could hear the surf crashing onto the beach and felt the warm breeze coming off the mountains.



Imposing Mountains at San Carlos




Village of San Carlos



RV Campers at San Carlos

Sunset at San Carlos