Traveling north
in the Sea of Cortez
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| Trisha, Lisa (Gypsy), Unidentified, Kevan (Entre Nous), Sally (Entre Nous), Neil (Gypsy) and Crit (Jasdip) enjoying the party |
Despite Bahia
Conception’s notoriously high temperatures in early July, Geary’s annual party in
El Burro Cove continues to be a popular event.
This year about thirty boats showed up.
Geary supplies the hotdogs, the shade and arranges for a beer tent
(Pacifico this year rather than Tecate, yeah!).
Attending cruisers contribute a potluck dish. Dan on Dazzler
also contributed a cache of fireworks/flares, and the event wrapped up with a
dazzling fireworks display. A good time
was had by all. The next morning boats
began to disappear, anxious to escape the heat.
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| El Burro Cove from above - Site of the party and Geary's palapa. Interabang is anchored on the left. |
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| This is how we got the picture of El Burro Cove from above. |
On July fifth
it continued to be hot in Bahia Conception.
The inside of the boat was only getting down to 90 degrees at night. With the water temperature also hovering in
the 90 degree range, going for a swim made one more salty than cool. Nevertheless, we were ahead of schedule and
decided to hang around for a few days before continuing north. We moved the boat north ten miles to Bahia Santa
Domingo near the mouth of the bay where the sea breeze is stronger and more
constant. We were soon confronted by
very aggressive bees and both of us came away with stings. After a couple days of fighting the bees, the
heat didn’t seem so bad. We ventured
twelve miles south back into Bahia Conception and anchored at Playa Santa
Barbra. There, we were pretty much captives
on the boat. It seems that someone has
bought the land around the anchorage, built a lovely palapa, erected some first
class tents, installed an array of private property signs, and secured the area
with a couple of Rottweilers and a caretaker.
By now we
were getting a little low on provisions and were considering how we might get a
ride into Mulegé (moo-la-hay). Mulegé is
the big city in these parts and about a fifteen mile drive north on Highway 1. After listening to the morning radio networks,
we gave Weatherman Geary a call on the VHF to see if he might be making the trip
into town any time soon. Lucky for us Geary
was driving that way the next morning and we were welcomed to come along. We moved the boat to El Burro Cove and
anchored in front of Geary’s palapa. At nine o’clock the next morning we met
Geary and his friend Sonya on the beach and climbed into his pick-up
truck. Geary and the women rode in the
cab and I rode in the back. Sitting in
the open truck bed with my back against the tailgate, the wind and little bits
of sand blasted my face as Geary pushed the truck to 70 MPH
on the straight stretches of road. Understandably,
I missed out on the stream of historical tidbits that Geary provided during the
drive. On the upside, the ride in the
bed of the truck was like a trip back in time.
The long forgotten sensations took me back to when I was a kid in rural California
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| Trisha and Geary in Mulegé |
We soon
arrived in historic Mulegé. This quaint
little city got its start with the establishment of Mission Santa Rosalia de
Mulegé in 1705 on the banks of Rio Santa Rosalia. The combination of the river and many nearby
springs make this a lush oasis in the middle of the desert. Water is plentiful and the date palms
flourish. A prison once operated at
Mulegé. With the surrounding desert
making escape unlikely, most prisoners were allowed to work in town during the
day and return to the prison at night.
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| View of the river running through Mulegé from the back of a pickup truck |
It was a real
treat to get to see Mulegé and replenish our supply of groceries and beer. Trisha and I were grateful for the ride and
the tour. Thanks Geary and Sonya!
