It was a long day of paddling yesterday. The wind never did pick up so we found ourselves camping on Isla Carmen last night. A great little beach between two cliffs. Isla Carmen is basically owned by Carlos Sims, a wealthy Mexican. He uses the interior of the island for a hunting area for the Dessert Big horn sheep. On the north west of the island, he has a hunting lodge. Rumor has it that a hunting permit for one of these sheep is 100,000 dollars. Camping is permitted along the shore, signs behind the beach inform us of private property.. Often going out to the islands in January can be challenging due to the North wind. This year the winds have been pretty mellow so far. Knowing that the wind can keep us stranded we are taking advantage of the calm days. Today we are paddling up the west side, Sally Light foot crabs cover some of the rocks. On one of the beaches is a water tank, that is filled with fresh water coming down from an arroyo. Hiking up the arroyo we find running water and fill a couple of water containers. At a large sandy beach we pull in as the wind started picking up. Further down the beach is the hunting lodge. We put up our tarp and make a hot meal. We plan to stay here unless the wind dies. If it does we will round the point and then try to make camp. The next part of the trip will be totally open to the North. As we are waiting the NOLS sailing seminar appears and pulls into the beach. They are behind schedule as the wind has been weak. We know most of the participants. The wind begins to die some so we quickly load the kayaks and head out. There is still some wind and waves, but we are able to make progress. As the sun begins to set, we do a surf landing and call it a day.
Isla Carmen
Sally Light Foot Crabs
Sailing Seminar