Cedros Island…The friendly place. Those are the words you will hear over and over about the people of Cedros Island and that is exactly how we felt. We arrived Christmas Night in the dark to a silent island. Not a bit of movement on land. The bay was calm and flat. So we anchored just out side the small harbor. The weather should have been calm and we didn’t want to bother anyone on Christmas day. We slept well that night. The next morning the bay was still calm and the island quiet. It was Sunday morning. The weather was still calling for calm and little wind so we enjoyed the peace. During the night the winds picked up in an unfortunate direction making us feel that we were in a bull riding rodeo but just as the sun was breaking over the horizon the wind and sea calmed. We sat in the cockpit bewildered about the conditions and watching the Pangeros preparing for their day. The harbor was alive with music and friendly chatter as they prepared their pangas. As they left the harbor each and everyone of them gave a huge wave in our direction. With big smiles the friendly chatter continued until they disappeared into the horizon. They get an early start! By the time we ate breakfast, enjoyed our morning coffee, and unloaded the dinghy all while bucking and rolling around, the pangas were returning. We dinghy into the harbor and asked them about the Harbor Master. They all shook their heads eagerly and one motioned he would take us. With very broken English and Spanish we had a comical conversation. He showed us his home and pointed at buildings around town. He dropped us off at the Harbor Masters door and told us to stop by his house on the way back down.
Speaking with the Harbor Master he was eager and happy to have us there so he could practice his English. He is retired Navy and an outstanding man. Friendly and courteous. Quickly gave us a verbal guide to the Island and caught us up on mask wearing policy on the island. Where to anchor in the harbor and where to eat and where to get the “best tortillas”. He was right the tortilleria is the BEST! We spent a good 30 minutes chatting with him and his assistant. We showed them Utah on the map and our route down to Mexico. They were impressed. They shared with us where they had traveled to. After collecting all our information and returned our papers they waved good bye as we started our walk through town back to the Dinghy.
We were quickly approached by locals who wanted to know if we needed help getting into the Harbor. Why we were out there out side the wall. All of them making the rocky rolly motion with their arms pretending its the mast of our boat. They were sincerely concerned and baffled that we staid out there in that state. With out broken Spanish we try to explain we didn’t want to bother anyone on Christmas. With friendly waves we return to the dinghy and back to Hiraya to raise anchor and come into the Harbor. I was nervous. I haven’t driven the boat into any of the marinas or harbors. I’m still uneasy watching the instruments in shallow water and moving and this time we are going to pull the dinghy behind Hiraya instead of loading it on top. This makes for one more thing to watch so I don’t accidently run over the line and get it stuck in the prop. The Harbor appears tiny. Aside from the pier and Pangas there are two large fishing trawlers and a Navy boat docked. The only instructions are “ anchor in the middle section away from the entrance.” In the middle away from the entrance makes you feel like you are exactly in the middle and blocking the entrance. But after watching the pangas coming in and out and the larger boats maneuver out the Harbor magically gets bigger. Two more boats end up anchoring with us over the next couple days and there is still room. It was crazy really. I wish we had a range finder. Things seem so much closer in water than on land.
After getting anchored and settled we made plans to go back into town. Of course we would go when the Fisherman are there. They are fun to chat with and they seem to really like us being there. We don’t get up and moving very early in the morning. The pangas leave before sunup but they return around noon or 1 depending on how long it takes to check the pots. Then they are done and head home. No wonder they are all smiles! Many of them say how happy they are to live and work there. Everytime we go to the dinghy dock they tell us its ok to tie up there and how safe it is. We explain we lock it because we lost it once because we didn’t tie it correctly. They laugh at our stories. We stand on the pier and talk to the fisherman one by one as they come and go. There are two that know us by name now. Rarrule a fisherman and Jesus a young fisherman that is tasked mostly as being the Panga taxi for the fisherman. They would always approach us when they seen us coming and would talk. They liked watching the sun move in the sky as we shared stories. One day while Jesus was waiting for the fisherman to need them he brought his panga over and asked if we had and basura (trash) we needed to get rid of and if we had any spare line. We had very small line which wasn’t exactly what he wanted but he took it anyway. To make up for it I gave him a couple peanut butter no bake cookies I was making. He happily motored back to the fisherman munching on his cookie dancing and bobbing his head as he munched. I think he liked them.
Since leaving Ensenada, Cedros is the first town we have been to. The island has about 1500 inhabitants. It is a popular sport fishing destination in the Summer which doubles the population. In the winter the visitors leave and some of the locals move back to the Mainland for work. Those that leave board up their buildings while they are away. Some never return and those building crumble. This vacancy of people gives Cedros a left and forgotten look to it. But those that live there all year have brightly colored, freshly painted homes. Gardens growing in broken pots and mounds of dirt. Some created irrigation systems from the cisterns in their yards with small pieces of tiny hose. The older part of town has cobble stone roads worn from the years of passing feet, tires, and salty environment. The newer roads are dusty dry desert dirt. The wind kicks up the dust along with the wheels that travel over them. The wind also blows the trash from one place to another and back. The kids run around with their well feed puppies that they eagerly introduce you to. After introducing you to their puppies they run in and get their parents who eagerly come out to say hi, all smiles.
One day we met Purple. He hollered out from behind a truck…”you guys need anything? Diesel?” “I can get you some diesel”. We explained that we do need diesel but thought they didn’t have any on the island. Purple explained that they have to go over to the salt plant but will deliver it to us. He assured us it was clean and not “dirty like Turtle Bay”. He knows of the rumors and horror stories plaguing Turtle Bay. Purple and his friend Jesus (not the fisherman kid another one) have a mechanic business and are trying to grow that business to include fuel station. If they show enough of a need they can get help growing the business. We arrange for the fuel and they bring it to us. It went well. The fuel was clean, we did run it through our filter regardless. We ask if we can give his number out to our friends who are following us down. He was so happy that we were happy. Of course we can give his number out! Which we did!
We spent three days on Cedros. On one of our walks along the dusty road looking out over the town as the wind blew the trash around we talked about poor. What is poor? At first glance you would say this place is poor. These people are poor. With the crumbling buildings, dirt roads, barren landscape. It may seem that they have nothing and certainly none of the comforts we have at home. Then your eyes move from the dusty, dirty, crumbling town to the people who are there. They are well feed, well dressed, their homes are cared for. They care for each other and those they don’t know. They have food, water, shelter, clothing. They also have community, family, and pride. But what was spread like glitter was happiness. They are happy. As the wind blew the trash around it also carried with is music, laughter, and happiness. Our visit was quickly coming to an end and we were quickly saying good bye to the friends we had made. With big smiles and twinkles in their eyes they shout “adios Amigos!” “Buenos Tardes”.
When ever we think of Cedros we will remember them. Smiling with their eyes. Kindness and happiness pouring out of them. Dusty, desert fishing town where a third of the buildings are derelict and a third are boarded up. But the last third are brightly painted, fresh laundry on the line, fat puppies running from laughing children, parents providing a better life for their children. And the kindness they showed to us.