Kayaking in Sea of Cortez: Destination Within Reach – Day 26

I was up early this morning just north of Punta Baja while kayaking in Sea of Cortez and got into the water by about 5:40. I maintained an hour of paddling followed by short rests for most of the day and covered about 20 miles. There was a section of about six to eight miles where there were some wonderful cliffs and caves composed mainly of dark lava.  One of the last points that I passed around had a rocky island offshore that they call Isla El Submarino (and that is what it looks like).  This whole section was one big feeding frenzy after another.  There were millions of anchovies with birds diving from above and fish feeding from below. I’m not far from Santa Rosalia, so I was surprised that I had not seen more boats or fishermen in this area.  It does seem like a good area to go fishing, or maybe there’s so much bait available in the water that the fishing was poor here, I don’t know.

I crossed a large bay about 7 miles north of Santa Rosalia, and a large group of about 20 porpoises came parallel with me, about 200 yards away.  Suddenly, they were flapping their tails on the surface, jumping straight up, standing, and jumping way out of the water.  Of course, it seemed like a welcoming party for me as a got closer to the finish line.

I finally landed for the evening at a point that was about 4 miles north of the main part of Santa Rosalia.  So, this wonderful trip is ending tomorrow.  I think tomorrow will be anti-climactic as I make a short run into this industrial town.  

This has been the best way to start my 60th year.  I’ve had lots of time to think in the kayak, but I’m such a poor planner I don’t really know what to do with the rest of this decade.  I want to have fun, but it seems like there needs to be some direction.

This trip has been about 340 miles, the exact distance to be checked on maps when I get back home.  That’s not too long of a trip, but doing it solo makes me feel proud of the accomplishment.  One of the books on Baja says that the 90-mile section south of Punta Final was the toughest and most remote area in Baja.  I’ve done it, solo!  I don’t know if this trip was sufficient for me to cross kayaking the Baja Peninsula off my life list, or not.  Certainly, this nearly 340 miles section has been a challenge, and I’ve done it, but in my heart, I wished I could do the rest of the peninsula.  I do have other things that I would like to do, and when you are 60 you begin to feel the pressure of time, so there are some decisions to be made.  They say the hardest part of any journey is the first step.  I know that once I slipped my kayak into the water at San Felipe, in the Sea of Cortez, I had completed that first step and without going even a mile further I had nearly accomplished my goal.

Next: Day 27 – A Dream Fulfilled 

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