Voyage of s/v Cool Breez'n 2011-12: San Evaristo, Dec 2

We departed Caleta Partida at 9AM for a 5 hour sail north to San Evaristo. We had planned to stop at Isla San Francisquilto but the forecast called for strong southerly winds so we decided to stop at San Evaristo instead since it afforded some protection from southerly winds.

Sierra Gigantic Range

Boat is dwarfed by the huge mountinas

Cool Breez'n motoring up the coast

San Evaristo is a quiet little cove located just across the channel from Isla San Jose. There a about a dozen small homes scattered about the hills surrounding the bay and as many palm thatched fishing camps along the shore. On the north shore of the bay is a government run desalination plant that supplies the residents and fisherman with drinking water.

Government reverse osmosis water plant

View from south to north, San Evaristo anchorage

Fisherman cleaning catch

We found a sheltered spot offshore of the desalination plant to anchor and quickly setup the dinghy for an exploratory trip to shore. I spotted a Pacifico beer sign on the roof of one of the fisherman’s shelters on the beach, so I made certain before leaving the boat that I had enough pesos for a couple of cold beers.

Not much was happening on the beach. A few burros grazed near a fence just behind the beach. Four fisherman had just returned from a day of fishing and were busy cleaning their catch, while a flock of pelicans supervised the operation. An ex-pat retiree was climbing aboard his small sailboat and two Americas were sitting in the shade at the shelter that adverstised Pacifico beer. A number of women and a child were busy cleaning fish in the shade of the same shelter. We walked up to the Pacifico shelter and asked if we could buy a few cold beers. The two Americans who were already drinking beer got up to serve us and invited us to sit down and join them. Despite their efforts trying to clean the beer cans they still smelled of dead fish. I remember thinking, “ I should drink enough beer to kill any of the germs that I might swallow from the fish drippings on the can.