A couple of days ago we had one of those days that makes everything else worthwhile, the kind of day that you dream of when you decide to go cruising.

The day started with a dinghy exploration of the North side of Coyote Bay in Bahia Concepcion. With the crew of Tao we dinghied out to a small reef to do some snorkeling. As soon as we dove into the 10-20 foot deep water we realized the bottom was scattered with clams, both the small butter clams and the larger chocolata clams this region is famous for. With an hour of easy diving we had enough for dinner.

After snorkeling we headed to Santispac beach to try and arrange a ride to Mulege for the following day. After walking around the beach and talking to a couple of the locals we looked out and noticed some huge fins only a few hundred yards offshore. Turns out that there are a couple of very large whale sharks currently calling Bahia Concepcion home! We jumped in the dinghy, and slowly paddled out to within a few yards of one, who was at least 25 feet in length. After a mild bit of coaxing, persuasion, and exhortation we all donned our snorkeling gear and jumped in the water to snorkel with this gentle giant. He seemed unconcerned by us, and would let us get quite close, within a few feet. It was an amazing experience, especially given the general turbidity of the water, to see coming out of the darkness the gaping mouth which was probably 4 feet across!

That evening we had a dinner of linguine with sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce, fresh clams steamed in a garlic, butter, and white wine sauce, fresh bread, and a couple bottles of great wine. The moon was almost full, and the anchorage was completely calm and the water was like glass reflecting the stars.

Lat 26 42' N, Long 111 53' W