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Was s/v ‘Freedom’ Anchored in the Sea of Cortez?

Our recent photo of Kirk and Char Wagner’s boat Freedom, and her dinghy resting ashore, prompted a question on where the photo was taken. Well, we sure did get a lot of responses.

Most readers guessed the location was somewhere in the Sea of Cortez — Chris Boome for example gave the Sea of Cortez as his chosen location. Probably a safe bet given the layers of hills, or mountains in the background.

Freedom on Sea of Cortez
The photo that raised so much curiosity.
© 2021 Kirk and Char Wagner

Others took the plunge and were a little more specific with their answers. Sylvia Stompe picked Isla Partida; David Pressley and Geoffrey Breckner both said Puerto Balandra on Isla Carmen; for Susan Adams and Harrison Walls, Isla Espiritu Santo was the spot. Bob Huntsman ventured Bahia Concepción, as did Mitch Matthews; Don Currie suggested Puerto Balandra, Isla Carmen; Dean K. voted Isla Danzante-ish (keeping his options open).

Pat McIntosh got very descriptive with, “That sure looks like the beach in Puerto Balandra looking west, out the entrance to the Sea of Cortez and the town of Loreto someplace in the distance.”

… as did Brian Timpe — “South end of Isla Coronado (aka Smith Island), with the northernmost mangroves in the foreground. Didn’t know Kirk and Charlene were that far north already. I won’t be up around BLA for another month or so. Nice hiking area in that area, as I recall.”

Someone even said Tiburon. Erm … you had your eyes closed, right, Robert?

boat on map
Okay, so it’s not the best picture of a boat ever drawn, but surely we get credit for trying.
© 2021 Map/Google Maps

However, the majority of readers came back with Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. Jim Coggan, Randy Fraser, Skipper Steve, Arjan Bok, Lauralee Church, Mark Thompson and Steve Bondelid all said Honeymoon Cove. And Steve in particular ought to know, as, “Last time we decided to go in there, the black flies attacked by the millions!!”

But, as we are somewhat investigative in our approach, we don’t want to just assume that the majority is correct. So we did actually email Kirk and Char Wagner to ask where the photo was taken. At the time of writing this story we hadn’t yet received a reply. If you happen to be in touch with the couple, please ask them to check their inbox!

11 Comments

  1. Brian Timpe 3 years ago

    The beach is too nice & sandy for Honeymoon Cove…

  2. Greg Clausen 3 years ago

    Yes for a second I thought it was from Keil Cove Tiburon looking South towards Angel Island, maybe a long time ago before the Bay was settled?

  3. Michael Kary 3 years ago

    Balandra looks nothing like this! No high cliffs coming right down to the water.

  4. Curtis Johnson 3 years ago

    Absolutely Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. Here’s a photo of our boat there on Nov 25, 2014. We rode out a 4 day blow with 40-50 knots out of the north. Photo was taken from the same bay./Users/curtandkt/Desktop/IMG_9230.jpeg

  5. Paul Petraitis 3 years ago

    Looks like Aqua Verde to me

  6. Kirk Wagner 3 years ago

    Congratulations to all the people who guessed Puerto Balandra.
    It was taken on Christmas Day 2020.
    Kirk and Char
    S/V Freedom Kirkland

    • David Hume 3 years ago

      That photo was taken from Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante. I have almost the exact same photo taken from a space just south of the moored boat and the mountain silhouette matches exactly including the four pinnacles close to the shore.

    • Kirk Wagner 3 years ago

      Correction
      The photo was taken at Honeymoon Cove

  7. Sumio oya 3 years ago

    We were there in 2018 and shoot some drone video. This photo was shoot from the Honeymoon Cove, shooting direction was due south. see and check my photo on the FB’s comment area.

  8. Greg Carter 3 years ago

    Still not sure, good people? Have a look at minute 18 in this video shot during s/v Ravenswing’s trip LaPaz to P.Escondido last year.
    https://youtu.be/IGS3M4Fosj0

  9. Michael Crews 3 years ago

    Incredibly, this view can be seen on Google Earth Street View.

    https://imgur.com/VImCi8N

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