San Evaristo

Over coffee this morning Arnold and I discussed the gentle and favorable southerly wind. I obtained a GRIB file which indicated that we would indeed have southerly winds today and that they would become northerly tomorrow. We decided to take advantage of the fair wind and make for the little fishing village of San Evaristo only 9 miles away, across the San Jose Channel on the Baja peninsula. Once again the engine started with no problem, increasing our confidence that the rewiring of the cockpit starter switch had solved the problem. And the anchor foot switch worked beautifully. But it would, being all clean and dry. Time will tell if I've manage to seal it from the salt water enough to give me at least a few months between "services".

The sail was picture perfect. We motored out of the bay at Isla San Francisco at about 9.30 AM headed west, rolled out the job, and turned the boat downwind once we were sure that we would clear some small islands. The apparent wind was only about 7 knots and we were running almost downwind, but we had a favorable sea and the jib stayed filled most of the time, giving us a speed of about 3.5 knots. With the autopilot doing the steering it was a time to relax and enjoy the changing views, running down the 5-mile wide San Jose Channel with the Baja Peninsula on our left and San Jose Island on our right. We made San Evaristo in the one tack and dropped anchor at 12.15 PM in 5 meters of water, near the center of the bay and not far from the beach and the village.

The cruising guide gives the following description: "San Evaristo is a quiet little fishing village with approximately 20 full time families living there. Pangas come and go throughout the day as fishermen drop off their catch for the local and mainland markets and resupply with ice, fuel and water before heading back to their fishing grounds. Complete with a school, small tienda (store) and desalination plant, San Evaristo is a lovely little community with a dramatic backdrop of the towering Sierra de la Giganta range. The anchorage at San Evaristo is good for nearly all weather with solid holding."

Indeed it is as described in the guide, complete with Pangas (long aluminum boats with big outboards) whizzing in and out doing their thing.

After lunch and a short nap for me we launched the Zodiac hoping to purchase some fish and bread. We found a fisherman in the first open air shed that we came to and he had a selection of about 6 large gutted fresh fish on ice. The one we chose weighed in at 1 kg and he charged us 45 pesos (about $3.60 USD). We then found the tienda which we found well stocked with the basics, including Bimbo Bread and fresh vegetables. However, there was nothing requiring refrigeration because there was no refrigeration. We purchased four bananas and a loaf of bread then headed back to the boat.

I had a 10 minute swim off the boat then rinsed off with fresh water and put on fresh clothes. Arnold and I then resumed our watching of the steady arrival of boats sipping beer in the cool breeze. We had been the 4th boat to arrive. By evening there were 13 boats at anchor, all sail, three of which were catamarans.

I scaled the fish and managed to fillet it without filleting myself and cooked a simple meal of boiled potatoes and fish fried with onions and olive oil.

Our plan was to spend several days in San Evaristo. We were attracted by the safe anchorage, the village, the availability of fresh supplies, and some interesting walks and snorkeling places.

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