Kayaking in Sea of Cortez: Spam is Good! – Day 15       

I woke up at 4 AM to check out the wind at my camp south of Punta Candelero while kayaking in Sea of Cortez.  It seems like the waves were not quite as large, but it was still too dark to tell.  I had a hot chocolate and one of the tortillas for breakfast. After breakfast, I noticed the waves seemed to be breaking too high for me to launch right where I was camped. Also, the tide had uncovered some very large rocks close to me so I searched for a better launching point farther down the beach.  After finding a suitable spot, it was clear that I could not drag the loaded kayak all the way to that point, so decided to carry some of my gear down the beach and then pull my kayak when it was lighter. I had to make about 4 trips, carrying all my camping gear far down the rocky beach.  As the sun came up, I couldn’t find my shades and it turned out I had rolled them up in the tent.  Luckily, they weren’t broken.  I dragged the kayak across the rocks, sometimes using driftwood to reduce the damage to the bottom. It was heavy work and although it was a better spot where the waves seemed smaller, I still had a very wet launch and ended up with several inches of water that had to be pumped out.  

As I proceeded down the coast the waves seemed not too bad, but at the first point I had to go around the waves were bouncing back from the shore and were very big and confused, some of them with white caps.  It seemed like the tide should be with me because the tide was still going out but maybe there’s a counter current here that goes back north, making for very hazardous sea conditions.  Anyway, I decided to go ahead and went past two points with big waves.  The second point was a very scary and had big waves from my back that tried to catch the stern of the kayak, pushing it to one side and nearly rolling me over.  After I got past that point, I put on my life jacket.  I was able to pass one more point, but I decided the next one was just too difficult.   I stopped at a beach that looked much the same as the one I stayed on last night, but, incredibly, it was only seven in the morning.  I had only paddled for about 50 minutes, and I had only traveled about 2 miles. I was beginning to wonder if my food supply was going to last if I kept traveling at this rate.

I pulled the kayak up on the beach and decided to hike down to the next point about 1/2 mile away to see what was around the point.  When I got to the point and looked around the corner, incredibly I could finally see the perfectly shaped Volcan Coronado at Smiths Island, or as it is properly called, Isla Smiths, about 15 miles away.  This is the most northern of the group of islands in the Bahia de Los Angeles, and the one with the most distinctive volcano shape.  I checked my maps, and it seemed that I was at Point Remedios, or very close to it.  That would put me at about 25 miles from the Bahia de Los Angeles.  Still a long way to go, and I could not yet see any features on Smith Island, even with my binoculars.  I think it will take me two long days to get to Bahia de Los Angeles, if the wind lets up.

I pitched the tent to get some shade and relief from the wind.  I did some repairs on my sandals. I had broken a strap, so I used the “leather-man” tool to bore some holes in it and created some new straps using some nylon line that I had.  I slept for about an hour and, by about 11:00, the waves were much smaller close to shore, but the wind seemed to be blowing strong just offshore and at the points at both ends of this beach.  I was tempted to go, but it still looked rough out there and on the beach the wind was so strong that it attempted to blow down the tent every few minutes.  

I boiled a can of peas with my last 1/3 can of Spam in it.  When I first bought the Spam I kind of laughed to myself about the picture on the can that made the Spam look like a big roasted Christmas ham.  They’ve got to be kidding, I thought, but I’ve come to look forward to every meal that has Spam in it.  Here on the beach with very little food remaining for two long and exhausting days of travel, I cooked my Spam and peas.  I longed for the complete meal of Spam, potato, and onion, and I knew that I would never disparage Spam again!

I slept on and off for another hour or so.  The waves looked a little smaller, so I decided it was time to make my break.  I launched just after 2 PM. There were big waves as I launched but I made it out okay.  There were some tricky and scary big waves breaking over some rocks at the point, so I put on the life preserver. I went around the next two points, and the volcano at Smith Island came into full view!  As I went around Point Remedios, I saw that it had several large caves right at the tip of the point.

About a mile south of Point Remedios, I came to a long rocky beach that extended out into the sea towards the east.  The beach went on for a long time and when I finally rounded the end to go toward the west, it was like a pond.  There were no waves because the wind was blowing from the shore.  I went along the edge of the cobble beach that seemed to go on for a mile.  This was the northern shore of Bahia Guadalupe.  Deep in the bay was a long sandy beach.  I cut across the bay, leaving the protection of the shore, and went through heavy waves to get down to the Estero Alcatraz area.  I landed in a small bay, out of the wind; I think it was to the south of Estero Alcatraz.  I spent the night here in the protection of some sand dunes.  The Bahia Guadalupe area is very complex with many inlets, lagoons, and small bays.  There are also several fish camps here that must give the fishermen access to the area to the north of Point Remedios, from where I had just come kayaking in Sea of Cortez. I had made about 13 miles today to Bahia Guadalupe, putting me within striking distance of the Bahia de Los Angeles. 

Next:  Day 16 – “The Wine List”

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