Where we are--Mag Bay

Bahia Magdalena is a remote bay on the south west coast of the Baja. It’s 50km of shallow estuaries, white sand beaches and mangrove lagoons. There are only a couple of settlements on the bay—and they have the feel of a forgotten frontier to them. When we go into the village we’re surrounded by children; Cassandra and Alejandra are the most outgoing. We felt rich when the small dusty tienda had both eggs and onions in stock.

In September hurricane Jimena blew through the area destroying buildings and sinking boats and now, in January, most of the homes and the village church are still without roofs. But the kids are well dressed, they all have bikes and everyone greets us.

Despite the area’s poverty, or maybe because of it, there’s almost no development on the bay. Gray whales come here every year to give birth; migrating birds fill the wet lands; the waters are alive with marine life. A five minute dinghy ride from our anchorage takes us to places where our footprints are the only ones to mark the fine white sand.

Exploring is easy here—we’ve walked through the desert, swum in the clear waters and paddled through a mangrove lagoon. At night we watch the sky fill with stars so bright they’re reflected by the water.

Mag Bay isn’t the type of place to end up in travel articles or guide books, but it’s the type of place we set out for. It’s the kind of place that years from now, when we’re home and settled, we’ll remind each other of…

Desolation Sound

I always thought Desolation Sound was given a bum rap by Captain George Vancouver when he charted the area in 1792. Pretty much any cruising guide will tell you about its charms: zillions of islands, fjords and beaches nestled at the base of a snowcapped mountain backdrop, (dominated by 9,000 ft. Mt. Denman). But my guess is when Cpt Vancouver did his time, charting the rocky little bays that twist and turn with currents that don’t make sense and wind that comes from all directions at once, it was raining and blowing a gale.

In those conditions calling the place desolate is sort of a compliment.

The good news for us is Cpt V did an awesome job charting the place – so as the wind kicked up and the skies opened we took cover in a peaceful cove where we cooked up a pasta dinner, baked a cake, invited a friend over from another boat then let Mother Nature do her thing.

This morning the air is crisp and clear. We kayaked into a tidal lagoon and played in the rapids and decided that Cpt V was a bit of a curmudgeon who probably just needed a vacation or something. Actually, we thought something else, but this is a family blog.