March 16, 2016: the forecast called for continued light winds, north-northwest 9 to 12 knots, and that is exactly what we got. Seas were flat with at most only a low chop, and we enjoyed a fair current for most of the day. We motorsailed with inner foresail only and made the 58 miles to Punta Chivato in 9 hours and 45 minutes.
Critter count: en route, several sightings of whale spouts, especially around the northern end of Isla San Ildefonso. No fish were biting GB's trolling hook. Skunked again. Many boobies and terns seen, especially as we entered Bahía Santa Inez in midafternoon when the small commercial fishing boats were working.
Punta Chivato is an anchorage commonly used by cruisers to either begin or end a northern crossing of the Sea of Cortez. In case we ever wanted to do the same in the future, we laid GPS waypoints and a track as we rounded the Santa Inez Islets on their southern (offshore) side and approached Punta Chivato with a view toward using that track if Punta Chivato were ever our pre-dawn departure point (or post-sunset arrival point) for a northern crossing of the Sea to (or from) the Guaymas/San Carlos area.
We anchored near two other sailboats in about 20'-21' without incident. We kept a somewhat greater than usual distance from each of them, assuming that one or both of them intended to leave some time during the night for their own northern crossing.
Punta Chivato is moderately protected from the prevailing northerly winds, and I recalled that its beaches had offered excellent seashells the last time we'd explored there. The hotel on the point just east of the anchorage was now closed, but it and the roads leading past several vacation homes were still open for a nice walk and a look-see. GB is always ready to stretch his legs, and I am an avid collector of shells, so after a calm night at anchor, we spent the following morning ashore. The seashelling was not as outstanding as I had recalled, and the species of shells on the beach had changed since my last visit. Perhaps climate change had caused some critters to migrate out of the shallow waters, and others to migrate in…Or, perhaps, one or more summertime hurricanes had caused the shift in gastropod and bivalve demographics…
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