Tidings of Joy: Anchoring in Agua Verde

The morning was slow as I prefer and as I sipped my coffee I took one last look around at the stunning orange rocks of Los Gatos before we pulled anchor at 10a.m. Today's destination a short two hour hop north to Agua Verde (green water). The winds were light and waves small and as we cruised more and more boats were showing up on AIS. One of the boats was Delos from YouTube and as we approached our anchorage we saw a long pod of dolphins feeding and jumping in the air. It felt like a special morning and we were both excited to explore a new anchorage. Agua Verde is separated into three basins- north, south and central and depending on the winds you choose the best location. For us due to the constant north winds we chose the north anchorage giving protection and no fetch. When we arrived there was only a troller and a sailboat in our basin. By evening the number grew to 8. No matter there was ample room for all. Shortly after our arrival and lunch we hopped in the dink and headed for shore to take the hike up the hill and see the panoramic view. Rocky and a little steep we followed the path the horses use to carry charter guests up for a ride avoiding their poo most of the way. Fortunately when we got to the top the view did not disappoint and we spent time taking pictures and taking in our new surroundings.

Last View of Los Gatos

Cruising to Agua Verde

Delos

Looking out From North Basin

Dink Anchored on Shore

Backside of Anchorage

Walking Up The Hill

Valley View

North Basin Anchorage

Central & South Basin

Exploring the Reef Area

On the Reef

Sunset

The next morning was slow with nothing to do but head into the central basin and check out the restaurant for lunch. Apparently the wind had picked up. We hadn't noticed so much as we were getting good protection in the north basin but as we took the dink into the central basin we could feel the wind and the waves were slapping against the dink. As we approached the waves rode us in and before we knew it we were on shore. At that exact same moment Jeff realized that we forgot to bring the anchor so as we tried to get ourselves turned around the waves continued to push on on shore. We grabbed the paddles and tried to paddle as hard as we could and were getting sideways and stuck in sand. Profanities flying (by one of us) Jeff flew out of the dingy and shoved us off the shore as I paddled as hard as I could. Jeff was soaked, thoroughly annoyed and as he lowered the motor and zipped us out of there he proclaimed we would not be returning today. Instead we had both lunch and dinner onboard, did some boat projects and relaxed the rest of the day and night.

North Anchorage

Sunset

All Quiet in the North Basin

If at first you don't succeed try try again. And that's just what we did. First we hiked up the mountain again this time going down the backside into the valley. We walked around the cemetery looking at all of the homemade graves and walked along the path in the valley for as far as we felt like before turing back around and hiking back up and down to the beach. After regrouping on the boat for a bit we attempted the central basin and lunch again this time remembering the anchor and thankfully the waves weren't as big as the previous day and we landed successfully. We were so happy that we made it to the restaurant because it was really charming and the view of the anchorage was stunning. We were the only people in the restaurant and enjoyed the company of a local dog while we watched hundreds of pelicans diving in the water right in front of us. It felt like lunch and a show. The lady who waited on us who I assume is also the owner prepared both of our dishes from scratch and as we waited on lunch to be cooked we quenched our thirst with some Pacifico's. Everything felt perfect. After some time our lunch arrived. Jeff had fish empanadas and I had chilaquiles. The food was excellent and we were both so full. We thanked the lady and said our goodbyes and made our way down the road to the store which was in somebody's home and had mostly dry goods with some produce too. I got a tomato and some bananas and Jeff got some sweets. Back at the boat we settled in for the evening.