Day 19 - Mangle Solo, on Isla San Jose

Motoring in calm sea

We had a fairly long way to go so we began preparations for departure immediately after breakfast. Brenda noticed that our friend Manuel was visiting the catamaran "Magic" next to us and he had a young assistant with him. We exchanged greetings across the water and politely declined his offer of more fish, then had a brief conversation with the crew of Magic. Like us they were headed south toward La Paz and expected to be there in 5 days. I said that we might see them along the way.

Anchored close to shore

We weighed anchor at 8.50 AM and motored out in extremely calm conditions. Soon we were making 5 knots at 2200 rpm with a gentle following swell and the apparent wind created solely by our movement. An hour out Brenda pointed out that the depth sounder was flashing "Last" and displaying 18.4 meters. We must have gone from deep water of more than 60 meters over an underwater formation that rose to 18.4 meters then plunged to more than 120 meters (the deepest that the sounder will record) with cliff-like immediacy. The Sea of Cortez does not seem to be charted in great detail.

Isla San Francisco and Isla Espiritu Santo in background

The battery fault alarm went on as usual shortly after we started the engine but as usual the fault soon disappeared and we had no more problems during our four-hour passage. At the beginning of the trip the meter was reporting approximately 13.3 volts but I noticed that the voltage kept steadily creeping up over time. At the end of our run it was reporting approximately 13.9 volts. I need a better understanding of the criterion for a battery fault and the meaning of the voltage reading on the gauge. Two hours after we had shut down the engine the house and auxiliary banks were reading a healthy 12.8V and the starter bank was at 13.1V.

Mangle Solo

At 1PM we dropped anchor at Mangle Solo, on the NW side of Isla San Jose, marking our first visit to the island. The anchorage is behind a spit of land running east-west that forms the base of a triangle that encloses a salt water lagoon. Because the spit of land is so low it does not give direct protection from northerly winds, however it gives protection from ensuing seas. Fortunately by 6 PM the wind had dropped to 5 kt from the NNW and there was very little swell affecting the boat. We were expecting a peaceful evening.

Venerable cactus

Cacti have feet too!

One characteristic of this anchorage is the steep gradient of the bottom. We crept up to less than 100 meters from the beach and dropped anchor in 8.3 meters of water, then payed out all 35 meters of chain available. I was a bit uneasy about dropping an anchor on a steeply sloping bottom, but it was good holding ground and only light winds were expected.
After lunch and the usual nap we went ashore. I walked to the end of the spit and visited the light which is mounted on a tower. (All sailors regard navigation lights, be they on mighty lighthouses or humble buoys as friends.) Brenda headed for the salt water lagoon and adjacent cactus country in her quest for birds. (She seems to find new ones every day.) We met up 30 minutes later and decided that the cactus country was too rough and that we would try to approach it from the other end of the beach in the morning.
However, I haven't mentioned the bees. Within 20 minutes of our arrival the first bee arrived. Within 30 minutes the galley was literally abuzz with bees who seemed to know what a yacht is and where its fresh water taps are located. We don't want to hurt the little critters because they are just trying to get by like the rest of us. However, we don't want to encourage them either. I put out a pan of water on the foredeck hoping to divert their attention but that did not seem to work. They do not seem to be aggressive and allow us to move around freely, but their presence is a nuisance and we decided to move on first thing in the morning. [Note: at precisely 6.32 PM, just before dark, the buzzing stopped as though someone had thrown a switch and the bees were gone.]
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