CONFESSIONS OF A COLD WEATHER PADDLER
by Tom Bergh
March 1993
JANUARY. PEAKS ISLAND, MAINE. "Bone chilling north winds howl across Casco Bay biting at your face, snowstorms turn into frozen slurry, grey days are distressingly short, feet are frozen, loads of wood are needed to stay warm, dreams of summer paddling..."
JANUARY. BAJA SUR, MEXICO. "Isla Espiritu Santo off of La Paz is bathed in the delightful warm, transparent waters of the Sea of Cortez. It is unexpectedly beautiful with multicolored bluffs, sea caves & glorious abandoned sandy beaches sliding into 80 shades of turquoise water in deep indented coves. The rich marine life attracts pods of dolphins arching past our sea kayaks, pelicans cartwheel hilariously on the edge of our beach camp, cactus bloom in the magic of the desert which transforms into world class snorkeling where young sea lions may stare into your mask.
June and I are meeting 2 groups of guests flying into Southern Baja, Mexico for two 1 week trips. We've driven a dozen sea boats 4,500 miles from Maine to try some warm water winter paddling. We've hired Ariel Laraz, owner of Green Water Voyages to assist us and share his wealth of information on the history, the unique flora and fauna, Baja's customs and his Spanish skills. I've always been drawn Northward to the ice-bound waters, and lands of big snows, but this winter its Baja.
"...as our kayaks approach the headland, a bull sea lion and his entourage are herding fish up against the red clay cliffs and a fisherman's panga. The bull stares fiercely at us 50 feet away and sounds. Perhaps we don't want to swim with the sea lions as we'd planned ... On the sea's edge fire red crabs scoot sideways across the volcanic rock. We glide across the quiet, smooth water and marvel at the hundreds of rainbow colored angelfish, sargent majors, parrotfish and wrasses swimming lazily beneath us. We round the corner and Playa Candeleros opens before us. This fairy tale beach is split by a once molten ridge of red and brown rock that continues out through the pure white sands to form two rocky islets. The shallow sandy bottom reflects uncountable shades of turquoise and cobalt waters that dazzle this cold water kayaker. Pelicans stare at us with their long bills tucked up against their necks, gently lift off, glide 3 inches off the water and plunge in for a snack. Behind the exquisite beaches the canyons climb up through the huge cardon cacti to reach the pure blue desert sky. Yes this may be paradise."
The Sea of Cortez contains some of the world's greatest oceanographic extremes, and one of its richest fisheries with over 800 varieties of fish and sea mammals. Averaging 80 miles across to mainland Mexico its deepest basins reach 12,000 feet down into the San Andreas fault. 30' tides in the North fall to less than 2' in the southern reaches. Tidal currents and upwellings in the narrow midriff islands produce huge whirlpools and rips exceeding 7 knots while many areas offer lake type paddling on a windless day. Water temperatures vary seasonally from high 40 deg F to over 90 deg. Here it is late January and we're enjoying water that's 70.
"We've not seen anyone now for several days. Our layover finds us on the East side of Isla Carmen, a 1,500' high island that's 20 miles long. Our white sand beach is laced with dozens of kinds of three to nine inch shells from these rich waters. The first 30' of the walls protecting our private little canyon are nothing but ancient fossilized sea life embedded in white ash. We laze around in the warm sun over breakfast and have an eskimo rolling session in the azure waters. Its January, its warm and its delightful."
BAJA MEXICO offers the kayak explorer spectacular diversity in geology, vegetation and marine life and 2,000 miles of mostly uninhabited coastline. Averaging 70 miles across and 800 miles long it reaches into the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees north latitude. (Maine is 43 degrees N). Several distinct deserts with their unique forms of vegetation, lie between seven major mountain rangers reaching 10,150 feet. In places these escarpments plunge directly into the sea.
"Early afternoon 5 of us paddle north to see if we can find a spring to replenish our fresh water. Its hard to keep up the pace with all the magnificent fish darting amongst the boulders below us. We float past a few small beaches tucked beneath the cactus covered hills. Five miles later we arrive at a deeply carved canyon with an old fish camp in a cave. Behind the cobble beach climbs a mangrove lined canyon beckoning us up into the hot desert sun. A long 3" pipe runs down to the shore. We turn on the valve and are rewarded with a short joyful shower from the 200' of sun warmed water before it turns cool. On our return to Arroyo Blanco a pod of 8 dolphins merges with us and we spend the next 45 minutes paddling amongst them in the late afternoon calm. They are often surfacing within 20 feet of June's kayak, usually in pairs."
Navigation in the Sea of Cortez is straightforward in its warmer southern reaches. With little fog and few islands it is primarily an exercise in evaluating weather and sea conditions and following a shore to where you want to go. Baja's wonderfully moderate winter weather is regularly interrupted by North Pacific cold fronts with their fierce El Nino winds of Force 5 to 9 blowing over 700 miles of fetch. Charts are very hard to come by. We relied on Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) charts and an 1873 survey done by the U.S.S. Narragansett.
"On our drive North to Loreto and our trip out to Isla Carmen we cross over to the Pacific to visit with the Pacific Gray Whales that swim down from Alaska to birth in the warm waters of Bahia Magdalena. We hire a local fisherman to take us out in his panga (a skiff) as kayaking here is seriously frowned upon now to protect the whales. In the distance we see 40-50 spouts at a time, and every few minutes these giants surface near us. As we approach this large bay's entrance, a 45' Gray Whale swims gently up to our panga and slowly lifts her great nose up for us to rub her. For the next hour and a half we're excitedly playing and hugging her. She often rolls slowly over on her side and opens her 6 foot long mouth so we can reach inside and rub her soft gums. She loves it, and we can hardly believe it. As other pangas arrive, this amazing ambassador of the sea gently drops down and rises again 6" from the new boat to provide each of us with this amazing encounter. As we return to San Carlos, we watch mothers teaching their young 10' babies to swim in the 15' deep waters over a sand bar..."
We've all heard horror stories of dire illness and Montezuma's revenge, but Baja has less exposure than mainland Mexico. With Ariel's help we remain free of any bugs for the entire month (though June suffers through an exceedingly painful encounter with a Stingray). We were careful what we bought in the open air markets, but we drank the water in Loreto and La Paz.
"Its hard to believe the landscape before us. We're on Isla Danzante where its 800' ramparts plunge past wild beaches and into a narrow deep ocean channel before rising westward into the awesome 5,000' serrated Gigantas mountain range. Multicolored rock walls are charged with the yellow and green delights of a desert in bloom. Awed we sit quietly on our beach drinking in the grandeur...we hear a large whale breathing in the distance...suddenly its tail flips toward the sky and slides gracefully into the depths."
BAJA! Its a winter dream - an escape. The people, landscape and sea here offer a unique and magical desert and ocean environment for the winter paddler. We've had beautiful day after day. I wonder how its been in the Northeast. Next January I think we'll explore Baja's.....
For questions please call us at 207-766-2373. For a partial reading list on Baja Mexico search out:
Baja California, A Lonely Planet Survival Guide
Bernhardson & Wayne.The Baja Book
Miller & Hoffmanÿ, Baja Adventure Book
Peterson, Marine Animals of Baja California
Gotshall, Baja California Plant Field Guide Roberts
Weather is influenced by the cool California Current on the Pacific where it meets the Davidson Current from the south. Baja's wonderfully moderate winter weather is interrupted by North Pacific cold fronts with their fierce El Nino conditions of Force 5-8, winds blowing over 700 miles of fetch. Tropical storms help bring the 2" to 12" annual rainfall (in New England we average 60") although we heard of a storm that dropped 46" in 24 hrs in the Cape Region.