We raise anchor and sail and set off toward the North. It feels good to be moving again. Next stop is Isla San Francisco. Nearly 20 miles of bright blue sea, whale spouts, and acrobatic rays. Lots of sunshine and just a bit of wind. We switch off motor and sail. With the Baja to the West we see open water to the East and a small bit of brown land jutting out of the crisp blue water on the horizon ahead.
Through moments of silence, talking, and laughter we move closer to our destination. There is a known crescent shaped anchorage on the south west side of Isla San Francisco. We knew it would be busy and we quickly checked the weather. We should be protected if we chose to go around to the south east side of the island. There is a smaller anchorage that not too many people go to because of it’s potential to be rolly. It also has only black cobble stone beach so some would say not as picturesque. As we approach we take the chance and go to the smaller anchorage. As we round into the bay we are met with our quiet little piece of Sea and not to mention front row seats to a spectacular sunset. We anchor, enjoy dinner and the solitude as each star begins to show in the night sky.
In the morning we get ready to go to shore. We will hike the peak and hopefully get some fantastic pictures. It is a short paddle board into shore and then a quick walk up the dark cobble rock beach to a white dune with a trail to the other anchorage and also to the peak we will hike. It still peaks our curiosity to see the color change of the water, rock, and sand so close together. Around every corner there is a new earthly wonder to examine. We pass a small area of gathered feathers, sea shells, and sea creature bones. A shrine to nature that has passed.
The hike up to the peak was over a mix of red, green, and brown rock, the sea gulls watched our every step. Sam went to the left I went to the right. Magnificent rock cliffs hover over the sea below. A stunning view. Enjoying the view out into the sea we capture whale spouts. It is a wonder we can see them so far away but magical just the same.
We hike from one end of the cliffs over to the other and drop down onto the beach right in front of Hiraya. We enjoy a few days of exploring and then decided we should make a move. The anchorage we were in did experience some roll that wasn’t extremely uncomfortable but was getting old. We heard rumblings the the west winds were going to kick up and that meant if we left where we were we needed to get west wind protection where ever we were going. We choose Punta Cabeza de Mechuda. It will give us west and south protection. Proud of our selves for making a decision with more data then just a whim we set off.