Easter Sunday turned into the best day ever. I had spent the night on a crappy beach next to a
dirt racetrack with motorcycles, ATVs, and dune buggies racing by and just a little ways from a
large gypsum mine spewing dust. I paddled the 7 miles to Santa Rosalia easily. It would have
taken a hurricane for me not to paddle across the bay. I had low expectations for Santa Rosalia
and they were exceeded in every way. I paddled into the marina where I promptly met two
wonderful Canadians Russ and Gwen of S/V A-Train. I don't know if it is possible but Canadians in
Mexico may be even nicer than Canadians in Canada. They had absolutely no problem having me leave
my kayak tied up behind their boat and watching it for me while I went into town for a few hours.
Turns out randomly that it was Easter which I did not know until I got there. Easter is a big holiday
in Mexico.
I went to the store and got some supplies and water. The Mexicans were very interested in my
water bags as I transferred the water from the plastic jugs into them. Pretty much the consensus
about my trip is "hardcore" from the gringos and "su es loco" from the Mexicans. I then went and
ate a real breakfast of eggs,bacon, hash browns, and toast. The next trick was trying to find
Internet. All the places were closed since it was a holiday. I even had a Mexican guy try to help me
find a place, who later I learned had been deported from Tacoma (of all places) 2 weeks before.
I gave up on that mission but then on a whim stopped at a restaurant across the street from the
marina for a beer and they had Wifi. I got to chat with Kathleen and my Mom so all my main
goals for the day had been completed. I went back to my boat, loaded up, thanked Gwen and
Russ for their help and paddled a few miles out of town to where I knew there was a place to camp.
Morro el Fraile is the most spectacular camping spot on the planet. It is going to be really hard
to ever beat this spot. A flat ledge with water almost 3/4 around it that jutted out from the land. It
was made of sandstone and the rock was full of shells and fossils. I was able to jump off the ledge
and snorkel around the rocks, kelp, and coral. Sea lions and whales swam by a short distance from
the ledge. Because the ledge juts so far out into the water, people came there to fish and probably
have for 100s of years. Here the technique is to use a weighted hook with a piece of fish as bait.
They would twirl the hook through the air and then launch it as far as they could. Some of the guys
could really get it out there. It appeared that the further you could throw then the more fish you
caught.
A Mexican family (two brothers Javier and Marcos, their wives, kids, and Mom) caught some
fish and then invited me to have some ceviche they made right there. It is funny. The Mexicans are
always very concerned about me and their hot sauces. That day was the first day when I was truly
frustrated not being able to have conversation in Spanish. The sunset was of course amazing. The flat
water turned a rainbow of colors while the sky did its yellow to red to purple transition.
I killed the batteries on both my video and still camera. That was followed by a bazillion stars with
meteors streaking overhead. I fell asleep to the sound of whales breathing. It really was an almost out
of body experience kind of day and the high from it still lingers. The only thing that could have
possibly made it better was if Kathleen had been there to share the experience.
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