Heading to Refugio to Hang with our Fishing Buddies

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By Lowell | May 26, 2015 | Category Baja 2015

Saturday May 23rd (Memorial Weekend)

Whale channel the easy way!

What a difference a day makes!! We head north up Whale channel relaxing on the bow drinking bloody-maries instead of extreme sailing we did heading south. Forecasts seem to indicate weather will return to something more typical and we’re very happy. Today the Pacific slot is either finished or didn’t blow so we are motor sailing with winds lightly up the channel from the SE. 10 miles out from Puerto Refugio we spot catamaran slightly bigger that us shadowing 3 or 4  whales down near the Isla Angel de la Guarda shore. Entering the anchorage the shot right shows the beauty of the anchorage and Isla Mejia nice landscape. Anchor down 4ish after making a pass through the slot to the east bay hoping for a fishing hookup.. Still nothing caught so it will be good to hang with our fishing buddies. Speaking of fishing buddies the anchorage is empty and no sign of any campers. A satellite call to Victor and they indicate the it’s been very rough in Puerto Lobos and they were hesitant to launch our way. After our report of smooth seas here they headed out 6ish and arrived in the anchorage 9ish with seas going flat as they got away from Puerto Lobos.

We anchor in the north wind anchorage near the slot with the small shrine overlooking our boat.

 

Visiting the shrine things are in good order with a fresh coat of paint. Many a candle has been light here making offer of safe passage or good fishing.

The view shows our anchorage the camping spot (right) the fishing crew will make home when they arrive.

 

 

Sunday May 24

Lots of activity in the fishing camp on shore and before long they’re off to begin reeling them in. Channel 11 is their party line channel and it’s entertaining to lesson to chatter and the excited hookups. Whales are still all over the north bay and before long we hear a very excited call as “Gata Go” tries to avoid a collision and gets lifted slightly by the whale they were trying to avoid.

Meanwhile we move the north bay mid-bite where there’s a mile long beach. We’ve been on the boat too long and it’s time for a walk. Weather is perfect and winds have been calm through the night and today.

The beach is open to north seas and is sand and stone that is eroded from the cliffs above. Small wall caves are even formed in some places.

Afternoon winds come up and we sail for hours passing through groups of fin whales working the bay over and over. Very cool.!!

Our fishing buddies did very well and were very generous to us. There’s 3 boats… Victor and crew on Nine Lives, Harvey and Crew on Gata Go and Val and crew on All About Me. Overall they say the fishing is not as good as last year probably because the water is 10 degrees cooler than normal the yellowtail are probably still north in warmer waters.

Below, Harvey on Gata Go shows us his big Yellowtails and Sheepshead fish.

< Gato Loco Ladies working the galley

To our pleasant surprise our Swiss friends from the Don Juan anchorage slip in to our anchorage. They are very impressed with the area but had a rough sail north with strong winds. With lots of yellowtail to go around Jeffrey and Lynnie fixed a wonderful Veracruis fish dinner with Rolland and Jocelyne joining us. We’re becoming good friends even though Jocelyne speaks very little English.

Our Memorial weekend is going quite well. We will be hanging here in Refugio until Tuesday morning, heading back to Gonzaga to enjoy Alfonsina’s another time.. Since we’re not going back to the Bay LA we should be back in Penasco this coming Thursday of Friday.

Until the next update