in Cabo San Lucas, or is it Oz?

Hi again. We’re back. Well not quite.. Actually it’s been so long since i’ve written here that there will be stuff i’ve forgotten by the time i get back to internet access. So i’m writing at dawn, anchored in Bahia Santa Maria while my crew sleeps. When we get to La Paz i’ll post this. But at this point it feels like i need to back up and get some things down before i forget them.

Let’s see…I’m having to look back at photos to remember stuff. Oops! I notice one photo of (drum roll please) a pound cake! Thank you Cynthia (and Cody for packing it here) very much. Seeing the photo gives me a pang. Especially as we whittle down our store of food…that cake deserved all our appreciation. Thank you again.

So that was Santa Cruz (when the cake arrived – with Cody and Lomo, by the way). Rollicking sail from there to beat a storm into Oxnard (whew!) where a sail loft picked up a torn sail for repair. We enjoyed dinner and a night ashore at Susan’s in LA (thank you for schlepping us to and from LA!); dropped off Lomo at the airport; and restocked food.The three of us had a good sail to LA, if calm (lots of porpoise, and went for a swim); nice sail, anchorage and hike at Catalina; a night of motoring thru flat calm and fog to San Diego; good fun there with Jimmie (thanks for being our chauffeur, and for including Tyler in the open mic you host) and the addition of Quinn to our crew; then motored (darn calm!) to Ensenada – breaking “the law” and getting in to anchor after dark. I left you all off after a day of bureaucracy.

(Hey, it just started raining here? Wouldn’t that be ironic? To sail to Mexico…for our first sail in the rain? But the sound of it on deck is welcome, and the feel of it in the air. Guess i must be from the great Pacific Northwet.)

It used to be that cruisers would stop in San Diego to take care of their entry paperwork. The consulate there is an easy walk or bike ride from Harbor Island. But when i got there they told me that that service/chore was taken away from them two years ago, that i should take care of it in Ensenada. Plus the services (entry visas, temporary import permit, fishing licenses…) have all been centralized in one building in Ensenada – as opposed to other ports where each service is in a different building across town. So that’s what we did. On the way down, at about sunset, Quinn spotted our first whale in the distance. “Thar she blows!” Well, no, he didn’t say that. But he might as well have.

In Ensenada, the port captain said that to be cleared in i had to have a receipt from one of the marinas in town – that anchoring out is no longer permitted. This was made less fun when, while walking the waterfront to look for a slip, the wind piped up and my lazy anchoring job from the night before started to drag. Ty and i paddled out to the boat but a local panga got to her first. They had the anchor up and were about to pull her to…a marina (which we were looking for anyway). So we fired up the engine and followed them to one…and paid them for their help. Argh! Another serving of “humble pie.” So much for being tired while anchoring - back to fundamentals! So all this is probably why Ensenada didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth – partly my own embarrassment.

(In Ensenada, at the bureaucracy, we weren’t the only “yatistas” there - of course - checking into the country, struck up conversation with our kin and made some new friends, whom we seem to see in one bay or another. Especially Dina and Anastasia aboard a new Island Packet 48 named Ithaki. Very friendly. Anyway, four or more boats seem to be on the same page we are today…our first chance to “race”/cruise. So we’re getting underway – i’ll hope to resume writing to you later today…

Okay, i’m back. It’s early afternoon. We’re doin’ a very comfy 7 knots, maybe 20 degrees above our course to keep sails full on a broad reach, sailing well, passing up most of our companions. I’ve chilled down the fridge, charged up the batteries, run the watermaker…and made granola, sort of. Spoiled rotten.)

Next stop was about 300 miles south at Bahia de Tortugas. This leg was lots more fun. We went thru lots of sail change…trying to keep the motor off (except for topping off whatever the solar panels can’t keep up with – which i now use the generator for). We left with full main and genoa, but soon switched to the solant jib. At one point it looked as tho three whales were following us! We could see the shape of the back of the one plowing along closest behind – where the spine peaked and the sides sloped away. Powerful! Big! I added 5 degrees to our course to get out of his/her way and it worked, we parted ways. Wow! As dark came on we decided to see what the main looked like triple reefed and liked it. Then it was jib alone. In the morning the wind got light…we looked at the genoa by itself. Then the drifter. Main and spinnaker. Main and genoa. This is what willing crew is good for! If i had been alone there would have been far fewer sail changes. Another highlight was catching our second tuna. Cody didn’t hardly have time to put the lure out – fishing lasted maybe 15 minutes that day – like goin’ to the grocery store.

Once anchored, we inflated the dinghy to go ashore – to find that the valve for the floor leaks now (will have to see if the manufacturer can offer any help, it’s a new dinghy). Left the dinghy at the fuel dock, and walked around town. Mostly i remember the osprey atop the church peak. I found it a dusty, remote place, not much to write home about. The next day the crew went beachcombing ashore while i did stuff (don’t remember what) on the boat. We left at sunset for our next stop 80 miles south.

Reading the guidebook, Abreojos (Open eyes) sounded like a good stop some 90 miles south, especially if there were any “early” whales in the Bay of Saint Ignacio – but we were indeed a month early. The book calls San Ignacio is “ground zero” for whales – birthing, mating, and limited human access. On our approach, we lost our fishing lures as we passed too close to lobster pot buoys. Damn! We liked Abreojos quite a bit. It finally felt like we were really in Mexico. I kayaked in, my crew hitched a ride in soon after on a panga (thanks to pangureo Javier). We all commented that THIS felt much better than Ensenada or Turtle Bay. Probably due to their thriving fishery, along with the seasonal guided whale watches into the nearby bay, for the first time no one panhandled us, everyone waved, we finally thoroughly enjoyed fish tacos from a kitchen overlooking the beach… Now, how to get back to the boat? I packed the crew’s stuff into my kayak and they swam the third of a mile back.

We left late morning to make the 140 miles to Bahia Santa Maria outside of Magdalena Bay. So far, THIS was the best sailing day yet! Puffy tradewind type clouds (like cotton balls), steady winds to 20 knots on our beam, we averaged 6.5 knots, sailed thru the night and dropped anchor early the next morning. It was a sailing day to remember. As we rounded up for the tack into the bay and under the headlands, the dish locker popped open! I think something stacked inside must have touched the finger latch on the aft door. Anyway, we lost most of our dishes, which i expected over time rather than so suddenly and soon. I’d had them since before i married. 30 years. So now i look forward to the memories the Mexican dishes i get will create…and we eat out of bowls.

One of our new friends had described luck buying lobsters from the local fishermen here for a dollar each! So we had hopes. Again we pumped up the dinghy, now dubbed “sea cow” – Cody dissin’ my dinghy – and made our way thru the surf to shore. Here there were only a few small buildings – i’d call the place a camp instead of a village. We wandered down the beach to see two fishermen cleaning their catch - six sharks. It looked like they were getting a lot of good meat…but no langosta (lobster). A hike up the hill gave us a great view of this really remote spot.

This coast is beautiful! There are many layers to its beauty. Rugged, remote, arid, but there’s something more. And surprisingly green. Maybe i’m not used to so much unspoiled terrain – where there’s not much to spoil it for. I can’t find the right description (yet). Anyway. That’s all for now. My watch is about to start – noon to four. Then we’ll have dinner, get into the dark watches…so probably won’t be back with you here until tomorrow. Here’s wishing for a smooth night.

Back again. The wind held thru the night. We were a bit over canvassed with the full main and jib. Saw lots of 8s on the SOG (speed over ground), and occasional 9s. In the morning the pattern of the wind going light continued, and we found ourselves under drifter alone on the last tack into Cabo San Lucas.

This place is a ZOO! It couldn’t be a more insane contrast compared to Bahia Santa Maria. Absolutely wild! Personal watercraft zipping around, ultralight airplane buzzing overhead, hundreds of 20ish foot glass bottom boats full of tourists, sportfishing boats in and out, cruise ship arriving, a boat pulling an inflated “banana boat” full of tourists who can’t waterski in and out of it all, noisy, choppy. We pulled into the marina and inquired after a slip for the night. When they said sure, for $166 US (! wow, just hearing that was an experience), we understood why so many boats were anchored out in front of the beach and joined them. (Which was very neat in its own way – the water here is incredible! Very clear. We can see the anchor and chain on the bottom in 30’ of water. Swimming on the surface with mask on, looking down at the ripples in the sand, the illusion is that it must be only ten feet deep.)

The crew swam in (shirts in a ziploc, tossing it back and forth) while i caught up with e-mail here, thanks to someone’s wi-fi nearby. When they got back they described it as Las Vegas type unreality. Still, we may catch a water taxi in and take advantage of the Costco(?) here to restock some. Or maybe wait until we tie up in La Paz, 140 or so miles away. To depart today or tonight.

Okay, there you are. Caught up, tho stuff is missing here. Details. I.E. at one point we realized the mistake of storing the liquor bottles on their sides, after losing most of a bottle of cointreau and half a bottle of tequila. Darn! Each sunrise and sunset significant. Hoperfully photos can fill-in most of the details. This post seems more of a travelogue than anything else. About the external adventure. Being in transit is, frankly, tiring. I expect the cruising to be more relaxing, feel more optional. Maybe so far we’ve been “out there” more than “being there.”

One thing i want to thank you for again. My friend Sara just wrote it to me –“There are many of us out there that love you, i hope that you feel good knowing that. I am so grateful for my friends, my children and grandchildren, just knowing that i am cared about.” Yes, yes, yes. Wise woman! Thank you. Lucky me.