Friday, April 1, 2011

What We Love About the Sea of Cortez

"...Let us go," we said, "into the Sea of Cortez, realizing that we become forever a part of it; that our rubber boots slogging through a flat of eel-grass, that the rocks we turn over in a tide pool, make us truly and permanently a factor in the ecology of the region. We shall take something away from it, but we shall leave something too." And if we seem a small factor in a huge pattern, nevertheless it is of relative importance. We take a tiny colony of soft corals from a rock in a little water world. And that isn't terribly important to the tide pool. Fifty miles away the Japanese shrimp boats are dredging with overlapping scoops, bringing up tons of shrimps, rapidly destroying the species so that it may never come back, and with the species destroying the ecological balance of the whole region. That isn't very important in the world. And thousands of miles away the great bombs are falling and the stars are not moved thereby. None of it is important or all of it is.

John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez



Some of the things we love about cruising in the Sea of Cortez include:

* The Mexican people in general and those of Baja in particular.

* The opportunity to experience and learn a new culture.

* The opportunity to learn a new language.

* Seeing the abundance of sea life.

* The clarity of the water.

* Sailing destinations within a days' sail.

* The pristine anchorages.

* The camaraderie among the cruisers.

* The rugged remoteness of the Sea.

* The tranquility to be found.

* The night sky with all the phenomenal stars and planets.

* Experiencing the historical city of La Paz and others on the peninsula.

* The opportunity to share this experience with friends and family.