Playa Bonanza, Isla Espiritu Santa

After a short motor sail around the south end of the island and through the San Lorenzo Channel we arrived at Playa Bonanza.  The wind was flat and there was virtually no swell coming into the bay.  We had found the paradise we were looking for.

Playa Bonanza has a crescent shaped white sand beach that wraps around the bay for a good 2 or 3 miles.  Including us and sv Enchante there were a total of only 3 boats on our end of the bay and we could see two power boats way over on the other side of the bay.

Once anchor down and set, we made plans with Al and Lindy for a hike on the island.  The plan was to follow the arroyo across the island back to Bahia San Gabrielle.  We set out with high expectations but managed to get only about 3/4 of the way there before we all said enough.  It was hot and we had forgotten our water on the boat.  It was a beautiful walk though with some amazing views of the island landscape.

Al and Paul took off in the dinghy to check out the snorkeling off the reef on the far side of the bay.  Unfortunately, Paul's mask was leaking so much he wasn't able to enjoy himself.  They had a great run in the dinghy though and a good swim off the reef.

Our second night there we had dinner aboard sv Enchante and traded some videos.  It was good to get to know each other better.

On our third day, sv Enchante pulled anchor and headed up and around the island to some of the anchorages we had been to last year.  We had been keeping a close eye on the weather and it looked as if a good three or four day window for making our crossing of the sea had opened up.  After that, the long range forecast was for a big honking norther to kick up.  Not wanting to get caught up in that and concerned that the norther might keep us pinned down for awhile we decided to pull anchor as well and at noon did just that and were under way for a 42 hour crossing of the sea to Mazatlan.

sv Enchante as she sails off in search of yet
undiscovered destinations.