Magdalena Bay

Setting Sun on Isla Magdalena

After leaving San Juanico we set sail for Isla Magdalena about 90nm away at about 2am so we could arrive before dark. Motored for quite some time, running over a couple fish traps in the darkness without getting caught up in them (nice thing about a full keel boat) and finally got some good wind around 11am and turned off the motor. We caught a dorado soon after that and man was it good. We arrived in Bahia Santa Maria just as the sun began to set.

Village of Puerto Magdalena

Next morning we headed for Magdalena Bay and anchored in Man O War Cove near the small village of Puerto Magdalena. Puerto Magdalena has a population of about 130 if you count the dogs and is a WiFi hotspot, at least it is in the evenings when the generator is turned on. Met the guy who helped get computers for all the residents of the village so they would be able to get online and learn for themselves about the future plans the government has for the bay, give them a better idea of what they are voting for or against.

Some of the Plant Life on the Desert Island of Magdalena

Went ashore to stretch the legs, meet the people and see if anyone had beer to sell. The lone restaurant was closed, seems only to open for the cruising crowd in the fall during the HaHa, there's also a market and a deli, same deal I think.  Woke several people up in the process of looking for the guy who another fisherman had told us sold beer, guess we arrived during siesta, but did eventually end up with some Tecate Light, hardly worth the effort. Met some Italian tourists who had rented a little house there for a few days so they could get some sun and do some fishing, certainly wasn't expecting that.

Ponga on Magdalena Bay

We then headed up the bay to Puerto San Carlos to get some supplies and top off the fuel tanks. That's where we met Mark and Jane on their way up to Ensenada (that's Jane in the green with the smiling face). We went and found the grocery and the beer store, a good taco stand, then met Jorge who proceeded to get us all shit faced and then tried to do again on the following evening. Jorge works on one of the fishing boats and gave us a bunch of fish which we cooked up, made some awesome fish tacos.

Getting fuel at the dock in San Carlos

Pelicans waiting for the next boat full of sardines

Super Taco in San Carlos

Ernesto Butchering a Baqueta

Ernesto has a little market where he sells beer and also a seafood restaurant where we got some good seviche tostadas. He showed us how to prepare the red grouper for the grill. He cut it from the back and then gutted it and took out the back bone leaving the belly in tack.

The Wednesday Market in San Carlos

Jorge told us about the 'farmer's market/flea market' that is held every Wednesday morning. We were able to find much better produce there than what we had seen in the stores. You can also by fresh meat there and underwear and things like that.We bought some pork chops for the next leg of the trip just in case we don't catch another fish.

Mexican Truck Ferry

We left San Carlos to go back and anchor at Man O War after spending one too many nights bobbing around with the current holding the boat in one direction and the wind pushing us in another. The current running past San Carlos is wicked. Marcos, the guy who runs the internet cafe, told us that next time we should anchor near the Pemex pier, not so much current over there. Anyway, that is when Jim somehow spotted the above spectacle off in the distance. My camera has a 57X digital zoom and I was somehow, from the deck of a moving vessel, able to get this shot. I had been wondering how they got the trucks out to Magdalena Island seeing how there is no pier, dock or anything and this is the way they do it, 2 pongas lashed together and the truck riding on top. Vehicles that make it to the island stay there until they die and then usually abandoned right where they took their last breath.

Uncharted Navigational Hazard in Mag Bay at approx Lat 24.36'.9 N and Lon 112.05'.4 W, NE of Punta Belcher.             Pass on the outside, on the inside is the shoal that this boat struck before it sank.