Day 20 - Punta Salinas on Isla San Jose

Punta Salinas

We weighed anchor at 8.30 AM before the bees arrived and began motoring the 8 miles or so along the coast of San Jose Island to our next anchorage at Punta Salinas, at the southeast corner of the island. On the way out we saw a group of about 6 young dolphins and Brenda thought that the bay was being used as a creche where the youngsters were safe while the adults were out doing their thing.

Panoramic of anchorage

There was hardly any wind and the water was extremely smooth and calm, making it a very enjoyable passage. After about 90 minutes we rounded Punta Salinas and made our way along the beach and dropped anchor .75 miles from the point in 5.8 meters of water, 150 meters from the beach. Our position was 24N54.85, 110W37.65.
The wind came at about the time we rounded the point and soon it was blowing at 15-19 kt from the NW. The low terrain north of Pachuca was not providing much protection from the wind, however the boat was rock solid due to the short fetch of water ahead of her and lack of swell wrapping around the point.

Disused salt works

Abandoned machinery

After lunch we made a 2 1/2 hour visit to the island. Punta Salinas is the site of a large abandoned salt harvesting operation. We looked at the ruins of several cement block buildings, some abandoned machinery, and the salt ponds. In one of the buildings was Reno the Beachcomber's "shoe shop", where he throws all of the shoes that he finds on the beach. There was a wide range of sandals and Crocs - such a large range of styles, colors, and sizes that nothing matched. I selected a pair of sandals for landing the Zodiac on rocky beaches.

Careful selection at Reno's Shoe Shop

Painting on shoe shop wall

I then climbed a high hill for some photography from the superb 360 degree vantage. Brenda found three interesting birds.
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