Day 14 - Agua Verde

Roca Solitaria, at the entrance to Agua Verde

Today we got further than what we had expected - from San Evaristao 44 miles to Bahia Aqua Verde (Green Water).

Overlooking Agua Verde, with Pachuca at anchor

With great discipline we were up at 6.00 AM in order to get an early start so that we could take advantage of the infrequent southerly winds this time of the year. We weighed anchor at 7.30 AM and motored north for two hours with a weak favorable southerly breeze. We were making between 5.8 and 6.2 knots running at 2300 rpm. Our goal was to reach Puerto Los Gatos, 29 miles away. At 9.35 AM we rolled out the jib to take advantage of what had become a moderate southerly breeze. We had an apparent wind of 14 knots and were making 4.8 kt over the ground. Ten miles from Los Gatos I suggested to Brenda that we consider taking advantage of the favorable wind and push on to Aqua Verde, another 18 miles to the north. Why not? We would pass Los Gatos shortly after 1 PM, leaving at least 4 hours in which to make the extra 18 miles to Aqua Verde. If the wind died down we could always motor. Brenda agreed and after a scare where our boat speed dropped to 3.5 kt and we actually started to head for Los Gatos the wind picked up and we were able to proceed at about 4 kt. During this leg Brenda saw a large sea turtle just a few feet from the boat as we sailed by, then spotted what she reckons must have been 500 dolphins while I has having a nap. I came out in time to see a large number of dolphins moving south, many leaping out of the water. After that Brenda reported "smoke signals from the shore" which turned out to be the spouting of whales - two of them. We could see their bodies and on several occasions saw their flukes.
We sailed until 3.45 PM when the wind had dropped and our boat speed was down to 3 kt. At this point we were only 6 air miles from Aqua Verde. We rolled in the jib and started the "iron jib" making for the passage between San Marcial Rock and Marcial Point. We got through this hazard with Captain Robert OK, given that he is prone to over navigating when in strange places.

Feeding Frenzy (mainly pelicans)

Diving pelicans at work

As we closed in on Agua Verde we encountered an unexpected delay: there was a whale in the bay, spouting away. We reduced our speed and proceeded with caution. We noticed that a group of fishermen in a panga about 120 meters to our port side had also reduced their speed and were approaching with great respect. We watched the whale as it approached, eventually passing very, very close to the panga, which stopped dead in the water to allow the creature to pass. Brenda said that she could see parts of the whale both ahead and behind the panga, and it may passed under the panga.
The whale then disappeared into the 45 m depths and we proceeded into the anchorage. To the right at the northern end of the bay were three yachts in the prime position during northerly winds. To the left in a tiny bay was another yacht. The prime anchorage dead ahead was wide open for us. We saw no need for shelter from northerly winds because the wind was from the south and was expected to be light and variable the following day. We dropped anchor at 5.45 PM in 5.2 meters of water. Our position was 25N30.9, 111W04.0.
The description of Agua Verde in the cruising guide does not do it justice, in my opinion. The bay is protected on three sides, with the rugged Sierra de la Giganta in the background, sandy beaches with houses and palm trees, tents of car and kayak holiday makers in the foreground, the dramatic Roca Solitaria on the north side and the distinctive Pyramid Rock on the south side. Brenda and I are looking forward to exploring the area, finding the tienda and restaurant, and doing some hiking.
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