Overnight on a sailboat: A fun dud

Bahia Balandra

Well, I'm back from my first overnight stay on a boat. It could have gone worse I guess. But just barely. Sunday was fine; we got to the boat, motored out to Balandra Bay, and then snorkeled a couple times in the afternoon and at dusk. So then we moved from anchor point #1 over to #2. But then the wind just would not die down, so we moved back from anchor point #2 over to anchor point #1 at around eight or nine o'clock. Then we all tossed around for the next two hours or so and no one got any sleep. So then at around eleven Allen (the captain) decided that conditions were miserable and pulled anchor to head back home. So we motored back to the bay of La Paz and slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

So I pretty much think of this trip as a bit of a dud. It was really fun to stay on the boat all day, but we didn't catch any fish, we didn't get to do any night-snorkeling, and we didn't get to spend the night (or the whole night) at Balandra. Actually, the worst part about that is that we were supposed to go spend the night at the Island (Espiritu Santo), but lately every trip to that slab of rock has failed. I now believe it to be cursed to all organized events.
The one good thing that came from all this is that I found out that I really like being on boats; even overnight (that was the one thing I wasn't sure I would like). The swaying kept me awake sometimes, but I could definitely get used to it.
Oh yeah, did I mention we didn't catch any fish? Not spearfishing, not trolling, not casting... It was sad...

~Ian

San Juan Pier: Reloaded

San Juan Pier (Out-Dated Photo)

Ok, we went back to the pier yesterday to spearfish. It was pretty cool, dad was chumming the water with squid so thee were lots of fish around. I caught a sierra mackerel, so that was cool. Other than that catch though, the visibility was really bad (most likely due to the surf) and it was a huge pain to row that stupid dingy we used out to the pier.

Sierra Mackerel

After awhile we gave up on the pier area, and we moved onto to this spot my dad knew about a mile or so up the road. It was this big ole' cliff that sorta stuck out of the water. It could have been really cool, except that the surf made the visibility horrendous. In some places you measured it in inches rather than feet...

~Ian

Another Sierra Mackerel

San Juan Pier: Good Times for All

Yesterday I went to the pier site on San Juan de la Costa. It was amazing! There were schools and schools of bait fish, jack fish, even some dorado! There was also a shipwreck there with lots of fish in it. I'd like to go back with some scuba gear and check out the inside. Also I want to go back because i didn't explore all the pier supports, it seemed like it was getting to deep. And there was a structure on the south side of the pier that had some supports that looked promising. Overall it was pretty awesome.

After we got back in the car, my dad drove North for a bit to show this other spot. It was a cliff that plunged straight into the ocean. If there is a drop off it could be really cool. But we didn't have time to snorkel it to find out.

~Ian

#1. Numero Uno. The First.

Hmm... Blogger. Never used it before, so we'll see how i like it. Maybe this will be my last post ever. Maybe not.

Well, today I am still recovering from the cold I've had... It's just the remnants of the sniffles now. hopefully it will be completely gone by Monday. Yesterday Uncle Steve took us (me, Joel, Sam, Clair, Mr. Gato) to Bahia de los Sueños. It was lots of fun. I didn't catch any fish, but I explored more of the reef and that was cool. I did see some yellowjack though. I really wish my speargun was bigger so I could catch those things more easily. There were also lots of parrot fish, and a few trigger fish to boot. Even so, it wasn't nearly as many fish as last time we went there.
Even without the fish, I still had lots of fun exploring the reef. I found the tunnel Aaron and Joel saw last time, so that was cool. And I saw this little tiny fish with some super reflective scales that reminded me of a christmas tree... It was cool.
I attached an areal shot of the area we snorkeled at. We sort went in the water on the rocky side of the "hook" by the large beach there. Pretty cool place.

I think that will do for a first post, maybe I will post again someday.

~Ian