Sea of Cortez Meandering

July/August

Being in Bahia Concepcion for a few weeks was like an endurance race. While the beauty of the landscape and clear blue waters was enticing, it was SO hot and probably the most trying times we've had this year. The air temperature was well over 40 degrees every day (some days up to 47/48 degrees) and the ocean temperature hovered around 38 degrees, so there was never a moment of reprieve from the hot, hot, stagnant, hot air and water!

We appreciated Bahia Coyote, partly because of the beautiful backdrop of mountain hovering above us, and partly because this same mountain created the opportunity for an early sunset. When the heat started attacking our mental status during the day, we'd strip down and jump in the water. It was clear and easy to jump into, but the underwater current was quite warm from the hot springs that fed into the bay.

This was the first time we'd made any attempt to step foot in a populated area since leaving Loreto back in April. This was the first time the kids have had any need to don a mask or be aware of any other humans other than themselves on land. We got up early one morning to beat the heat (ha!) and hike up the neighbouring mountain at Playa Burro with the SV Love & Luck and SV Utopia crews. There are petroglyphs on the pathway up the mountain that everyone was excited to see. I didn't think that Bronwyn and Lochlan would be up for the whole climb, so I decided to stay behind with them after the petroglyphs were found. We never did find the petroglyphs, so I headed back to Arena with the littles to swim while we waited for the rest to climb the mountain and back down again. We agreed to return later to pick up the rest of our family in the dinghy when we saw them descend. Karen, Julie and Mark did eventually find the petroglyphs after searching for a while, so only a picture of theirs is our proof that they exist.

Interesting paradox in Bahia Coyote. While we've been isolated for months and months, arriving here was a bit of a shock to our system as we saw the locals partying and camping on the beach, fully enjoying life, no different than pre-covid. It was difficult to process this. I found myself wanting to be a part of it, a part of anything remotely "normal". It confused our kids. Three adventuring locals swam out to our boat one day and asked if they could come aboard and swim off the boat. That was a really difficult moment for me as, in other circumstances, I would have LOVED to have new company and to share our space with curious people. It was very difficult for me to say no and, in fact, I pretended I didn't understand so that I didn't have to say no. I unfairly made Jamie explain our situation that we were technically in quarantine. I don't think the swimmers understood WHY, even if they understood WHAT Jamie was telling them. Tough call in tough times. We can apologize for the whole situation, but it is out of our hands. This part of life sucks. We decided to leave the bay shortly after this experience. The crowds and lack of distancing here were a bit too close for comfort.

Isla Requeson was an interesting stop with mangroves lining areas of the beach with a neat little “hiking” trail on a low-lying rock outcropping on the isthmus. Julie (Love & Luck) had found a geocache that the kids searched for and eventually found under a cactus that had died, fallen over and begun to decay over the geocache. Those Love & Luck kids have tenacity! Walking through the mangroves without our shoes on in the brackish water, my imagination made the experience much more lively with interesting Mexican snakes chomping my legs and sliding down the back of my clothes. This never actually happened, but I am now aware of fears that I never knew I had! Growing up on the farm, we had guts! We did all the wild and feral things, but somehow, the risks are so much less when the territory is known. We don't even know what lurks in these mangroves, so my fears and imagination made up a very biodiverse selection of poisonous and aggressive creatures. We celebrated Mark's birthday on their boat, watching the kids perform dance routines in the moonlight, and all was right in the world that night.

Playa Santa Barbara was a highlight for our family. I'm not sure what it was about this bay, but it brought a contentedness that we hadn't felt in a while. The palms and the mangroves at the water's edge painted the illusion of a lush forest. Maybe the green of the vegetation brought us a bit closer to home, or maybe it was just a nice change from the barren desert land we see day in and day out in the bays we drop anchor in. We snorkeled over a boat wreck (sailboat?) not too far from shore. The water clarity wasn’t amazing that day, but still neat to see. Lochlan loved this experience and is convinced that the boat had been captured by pirates!

One night before a late supper, we'd all decided to have a cool off swim when, seemingly out of nowhere, the most wonderful cold breeze rushed through the bay. It didn't last long, but long enough that climbing out the bathtub warm water and into the air gave us goosebumps. It was the most beautiful gift of reprieve and our moods were light. We loved the super chill turtles in this bay! Not quite so elusive as the turtles we’ve seen in other bays and it’s the absolute best to hear their funny gasping breaths whenever they surface. The bioluminescence in the water in all of Bahia Concepcion is out of this world, but this bay seemed extra special and extra bright!

Back in Bahia Coyote, we tried to stay as cool as possible by day and hopefully get half a night’s sleep by night. I decided to start sleeping in the cockpit which probably saved my sanity on a few stagnant nights. Any breeze at all and I would be the only one on Arena that might actually feel it! Jamie, Andrew, and Mark went to shore early one morning in an attempt to pick up some fresh groceries. They came back with an onion each, a loaf of bread, a few odds and ends, and Jamie bought 8...yes 8....packages of Oreos. Such luxury! No luck in the fresh food department, though. We have tons of canned veggies on board, but they are absolutely disgusting. The peas are hard, the carrots are mushy and the potatoes, if present in the can, crumble into liquid with a single chew. So it was disappointing to have to resort to the cans of veg instead of fresh colours and textures of new produce. Jamie was thrilled with the Oreos, so there's always that!

Our solar wasn't charging well due to the extreme heat on the panels. We had system after system conk out on us. It was getting frustrating. We were still having trouble with our chain and anchor and we knew we couldn't hold off much longer without dealing with the state of the chain. We tried letting out 250’ chain to rub on the sandy ocean floor in Santo Domingo, but it was a meager improvement at best. I'm pretty sure the bacteria was rampant in the waters of the bay because of the warm temperature. We all got body rashes that were itchy and uncomfortable, then the heat rashes began. Every night, we'd rinse in fresh water with sprayer on the deck, then I'd apply rubbing alcohol to the most itchy of areas on each of us. Calamine helped a bit. Our bodies looked awful, diseased even...

The day we left Bahia Concepcion was an amazing day. The weather forecast in our favour, we sailed speeds of 7-7.5 knots towards Isla San Marcos. We had a hand line out and noticed it was taught, so got excited for what we might find on the end. MAHI! Finally another Mahi, but it was a bit smaller than what we wanted to keep. We hummed and hawed about keeping it, and finally decided to let it go. That felt so responsible :) As soon as we let him go, we tossed the handline back in the water and almost immediately caught another mahi! Winding it in, we noticed that he was a little small too, so we considered letting him go and trying again. Once we got him to the side of the boat, we realized that the guy on the end of the cedar plug hook was THE mahi that we'd just released. He still had the previous hook mark on his lip!! Oh my goodness...it was like he wanted to be eaten for lunch. So that's exactly what we did. We fried him up quickly and were sitting in the cockpit to eat him, when the line was taught once again. Up came a beautiful Spanish Mackerel. They obviously like the faster speed of the hooks, so a great sail makes for a great meal (or two). Each time we catch a fish, Jamie immediately hangs it by the tail out the side of the boat to release its life force, offering a quiet whisper of gratitude for the fish whose life is taken to feed our family.

Arriving at Sweet Pea bay on Isla San Marcos, we fell in love with the island. It’s a gypsum mined island where over 600 inhabitants make a living in the blowing dust of the gypsum being excavated from the ground.  All along the shoreline, caves and neat incroppings can be found, piquing the kids’ interest. They got desperately antsy to get off of Arena and explore. Before we let them go, we had decided to clean up the boat, then take a little trip around the island as a family. BUT… the bees came. They infested our cabin, making it difficult to move without worrying about being stung. They were pouring into our boat faster than Jamie could scoop them out, so we left the boat. It was just too much to handle. We brought a bunch of water, the snorkel gear and a snack, and meandered our way to the north end of the island. We found caves to snorkel through, beautiful beaches to explore, rock walls to climb, shade for our tired but cooled off bodies, and the joy we had been missing for weeks returned to our whole family. All 6 of us talked about the happiness that was welling up in all of us - quite the moment with our little tribe. We went back the next day with Love & Luck and Utopia. Spent time snorkeling while some of the kids worked on their underwater photography skills. Even Willy, the resident dog aboard Love & Luck, was enjoying a nice swim through the caves! We parked on the beach for hours, talking about absolutely nothing of consequence when we heard the kids calling for us. Bronwyn had taken a large piece of driftwood into the ocean to play on when a scorpion climbed out of his hiding place to sting her on the hand. I think she was scared more than she was hurt, but I have to admit to initial panic myself not really knowing the best way to handle a scorpion sting. She handled it like a champ! With no neuro side effects over the remainder of the day, I was relieved that it was over and didn't seem to be causing further issues. It would have been a VERY stressful trip across to Santa Rosalia to deal with anything that had been more serious. Thankfully, she was just fine and you'd better believe I read up on every last sign and symptom that could be related!

We celebrated Jamie's birthday next, again on Love & Luck with the entertainment of a play that the kids had planned and performed for us adults. They are so incredibly lucky to be able to just be themselves with the most amazing group of free thinkers and adventurers. We thoroughly enjoyed their performances and the effort they went to to make Jamie's evening special. To top it off, Lochlan has discovered how AMAZING it is to have some boys around to rough house with him. Tristan and Max (Utopia) are such cool guys with such a big hearts to treat Lochlan like they do. Lochlan and Tristan had a few wrestling matches post birthday performance and Loch kept asking for more and more as they took each other down. The sweat was just pouring off his little forehead as he fought his little heart out with one of the "big boys".

Leaving Love & Luck that night, we noticed blue glowing areas everywhere in the water. Upon closer inspection with the dinghy, we could see hundreds, maybe thousands of large, bioluminescent-pulsing jellies everywhere in the water. It was a scene I'll never forget. I don’t know what kind they were, but the display they showed was magical. What can I possibly say to capture the whole incredible scene? I don’t have the words to portray the feelings that well up with even the simplest of creatures. We got back to Arena and leaned over the side, watching the jellies mosey on by. The rays in the bay were popping out of the water dozens at a time, making it sound like fireworks going off in the bay around us as they slapped on their bellies, paired with the visual of the jellies illuminating like they were the fireworks, exploding from the bottom of the ocean floor.

Up on the deck at night, we'd sit with a cold drink in hand, pondering the most meaningful corners of our minds. The comet showers and shooting stars were heavy on us. In our discomfort of the heat, we continued to feel awe for the creation we now feel so intimate with.

Although I had zero desire to be in a marina at the dock, we decided it would be best to head over to San Carlos to tie up to the dock to deal with the growing pile of repairs and need for boat supplies. It was a chance to escape the heat and frustration that was building in the boat. There was a fresh bloom of nematocysts in the water that made it a bit painful to swim due to the sharp stings on our skin. Loch ended up needing a parasite treatment on Bronwyn’s birthday, so we had to cancel her party in case it was something other than a parasite (it was, in the end, a parasite issue). Poor Bronwyn! She says that she is looking forward to her 11th birthday now J It made sense to go. It was a difficult decision as this would mean leaving Utopia, Love & Luck, and Momo to head across the sea for a number of weeks. The ‘see you later’ was emotional for the kids, but the hope of reconnecting made it a little less awful for them.

Leaving Isla San Marcos September 18th, we had no idea what adventure we were going to experience over the next 14 hours…..