When we think back on our first season in Mexico, Bahia Agua Verde stands out as one of our favorite places. Peaceful anchorages, clear water, good snorkeling… and time with our friends on Sassona and Theophilus!
We were lucky to get great south winds for the sail up. Always concerned with protection, Toro wanted to drop the hook in the more sheltered north anchorage. Unfortunately, it was a bit crowded there, so we motored around awhile before we gave up and went to the south anchorage. Theophilus arrived shortly thereafter and joined us there.
The next morning, a number of boats left the north anchorage, so we radioed Theophilus and told them we were planning on moving there. They agreed that, given the forecasted north winds, it would be wise to move. No sooner had we got off the radio, than we heard the unmistakable clanking of an anchor chain. There was Captain Ron on his foredeck, cranking in his anchor. “Oh no you didn’t!” yelled Toro, flying forward and yanking up our own anchor. I’ve never seen him move so fast! In less than a minute he yelled “Anchor’s up!”
I drove slowly, because I had turned on the refrigerator for the short trip over to the other anchorage. (If the boat is moving too quickly, the fridge pump can’t get cooling water.) Toro looked over his shoulder and saw Theophilus, hot on our tail. “Mind if I turn this off?” said Toro, flicking the fridge power switch. Before I could answer, he grabbed the throttle and pushed us up to 2400 RPM. “Take that, Captain Ron!” he snickered.
At the same time, Sassona was just arriving from La Paz. There we were, all three boats steaming for the small anchorage at full throttle! I imagined the people already anchored there looking up and thinking “Holy crap! We’re being invaded!”
“This is ridiculous,” I said firmly, easing way back on the throttle. Capn Nascar looked alarmed. “But… but… we’re winning!” he pleaded desperately. “What?” I scolded, “Are you trying to steal a spot from our friends?” He fell silent, pushing his bottom lip out in a pout. I started to say, “This isn’t a race,” but I stopped myself, as my eyes followed Todd’s gaze to Theophilus‘ quarterdeck. There, Captain Ron was enthusiastically dancing a victory jig.
Once he got over that disappointment, Capn Paperback was glad that the nights were calm, and he had plenty of time to read. A typical day’s schedule was: get up late, eat, read a bit, eat, go snorkeling, eat, read some more.
I enjoyed all the good food we got to eat. One morning, Leslie on Sassona invited the women over for tea and scones; we put on big hats and fancy (read: clean) clothes. When I told him men weren’t invited, Toro called the guys over for beer and porn on our boat. (Since we didn’t have any porn, he made it beer and chips instead.) Later, we had a couple of cook outs on the beach, celebrating Dave’s birthday and eating yummy fish tacos, made with fish that Captain Ron speared with his Hawaiian sling.
But the crew member who had the most fun at Agua Verde was definitely Koiya!
The folks on Sassona had a tent, so the kids set it up on the beach and camped out. We gave them a hand-held VHF radio and told them to give us a call if they needed anything. The first night, I saw their flashlights flickering on the beach at about 11pm. Oh well- not like they had to get up for anything the next day! We started calling them “Swallows and Amazons”, after the children’s book that features kids camping out on their own island.
It was pretty cute the next morning when we got a call on the radio: “Uh, Mama, I’m getting hungry.” I rowed ashore with some scones to sate their hunger until they cooked their lunch on their campfire (hot dogs and potatoes).
The following night there were spiders in the tent, so the campers opted to sleep back on their boats. (It was probably a good thing, because they would have really been spooked by the coyotes howling later that night!) First thing in the morning they cleaned out the tent, so they were ready for another day and night on the beach. Koiya relished her new-found independence, and we were happy that she was enjoying herself so much.
The week flew by, and all too soon we had to move on to make our haul-out date. We were so sad to leave Agua Verde, because it meant saying goodbye to Sassona. They’re going to make the long sail back to British Columbia this summer, so they didn’t want to head too far north in the Sea of Cortez.
See all of our Agua Verde photos here:
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I never noticed how nicely the Glacier Bay blue paint on the inside of the dorades goes with the sail covers and the spinnaker until seeing that picture of Cap’n Anchormuscles reading.
your story’s bring back memories – we too loved Aqua Verde! But you’ll find some more nice spots-as you travel up north- just different!
Always enjoy reading your blog.