Timbabiche, Punta San Telmo and Bahia Santa Marte

Thursday, April 26, 2012

025-30.254 N
111-1.030 W

Ahoy from the crew of the BlueJacket!

I have Internet access for the next several hours, so I'll try to get you caught up with our travels. When I last wrote we were in La Paz and had decided to head back N for a while instead of heading to Mazatlan on the mainland and exploring that side before storing the boat. I must say that I'm very happy that we made that decision as I find the section of the Baja that we're currently in to be absolutely stunning. I know that I may over-use that word, but the towering multi-colored mountains which cascade into a sea of green water is often breathtaking. In all of our years of cruising, this area has to be one of the most beautiful, in its own way, areas that we've cruised.

Our goal on this trip through the area is to stop at many of the anchorages that we've missed before, and believe me, there are many. However, some of the anchorages are only suitable in certain wind conditions. Luckily, for anchoring purposes, we've had very light winds for the most part. That also means that we haven't had much opportunity to sail, but it's made for smooth passages. I always have to laugh when I see sailboats motoring along with their sails up on glassy seas. I can just imagine some guy in the cockpit saying to his wife "Damn it, we're a sailboat and we're going to sail!"

Our first stop was back at Isla Partida, which is just N of La Paz. We went back to Ensenada Grande, which is beautiful and also provides better-than-most protection from nightly westerly winds which can whip through the area. I pulled into a little cove which allowed us to put out a stern anchor which would keep the boat pointed towards the opening so that we wouldn't roll if the wind held us at angles to the waves. That worked great, but a dinghy wheel (which was stored in the upright position) got caught under the stern anchor line and pulled out of the bracket. The next day, as we were departing the anchorage I looked back at the dinghy and realized that it was missing. We re-anchored where we had been located and I started searching the bottom via snorkel until I realized that I was looking in the wrong place as the assembly would float! We then spent a couple of hours searching the huge bay by dinghy without success. Oh well, another part to haul down to Mexico next year.

From there we headed to Timbabiche, which is wide open from the NNE to the SSE. Thankfully it was a calm night and the next morning I was up and about with my camera getting ready to catch the morning sun light up the Sierra de la Giganta mountains which tower above the area. There's also abandoned white two-story brick house which absolutely glows in the morning sunlight. I wasn't disappointed as the mountains absolutely glowed in the warm morning light and Casa Grande stood out like a beacon. Going back to my use of the word "stunning", well this was it.

From Timbabiche we headed a few miles N to Punta San Telmo which is another beautiful anchorage. One of the things that I really enjoyed was a sea cave that was located on the N side which was big enough to pull your dinghy into and then there were smaller chambers which went back quite always that you snorkel in to. It was very dark in the small chambers, but the view looking outward was very cool.

From there we headed to to Bahia San Marte, which was another short jump to the N. It's really nice being able to make small jumps like this and have most of the day to enjoy and explore the area. Last year were spent several days here and I dove at the reef. I dove again this year and had my best dives of the year and saw lots of small to medium fish as well as lots of interesting sea creatures. Last year the water was very cloudy, but it was much better this year, but quite chilly. Last year it was very hot, but this year the weather has been just beautiful so far. Sue & I hiked around the point and had a great time exploring tidal pools and clambering over rocks.

Right now we're in Bahia Candeleros where we can get Internet. A cold front will be coming through, so we're headed to Isla Carmen where we can find a protected anchorage.

-- Geoff & Sue

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For the cruiser:

At Timbabiche we anchored at N25-16.221 W110-56.383 in 15' over sand.

At Punta San Telmo we anchored at N25-19.6, W110-57.250 in 18' over sand.

At Bahia Santa Marte we anchored at N25-30.25 W111-01.03 in 12' over sand. You can tuck way into the corner is needed.

Log ID: 1485