After several weeks in San Diego seeing family (thanks to my folks for letting us take over their kitchen, freezer and laundry room and to all the family who made the stay so much fun) and provisioning the boat (we included Scott and Janet's bottle of tequila in the picture to keep us warm until we could get some in Mexico), we welcomed Tim Cottrell aboard, and on 11/11 headed out to Point Loma and turned left. Tim and I learned to sail in the Chesapeake when we worked together in Washington, D.C. in the 80's. He's still just as funny as he was then.
It was exhilarating to be back on the ocean. We sailed to Ensenada, Mexico and spent two nights in the Coral Marina. Once our entry paperwork was completed, we had a drink at Pappas and Beer and prepared to head south. We left on 11/13 for an overnight passage. That evening there was a glorious full-moon - it was beautiful to see its reflection on the ocean throughout the night.
We arrived in Bahia San Quintin on 11/14 at 7:45 a.m. On the way, we saw lots of schools of dolphins and were greeted by two seals in the bay. Once the anchor was secured, we commenced our celebration with cerveza and rum punch! Note our attire. We are not yet in the tropics. There is a beach and a small hotel in San Quintin - and not much else. We took the dinghy to shore and walked around a bit. Upon leaving, we learned in short order how to get the dinghy moving in fairly high surf. In our case, we could only fit two at a time, so Ralph delivered me to the boat and then went back to pick up Tim.
After another two nights out on the ocean with one quick stop in the San Benito Islands, we arrived in Bahia Tortuga. As the sun rose during my watch, we passed Cedros Island and the ocean became alive with porpoises. As far as I could see in all directions, there were hundreds of porpoises breaching. Priceless! We then arrived in the Bay and quickly discovered that Tortuga is Enrique Jr.'s town. He has the fuel delivery concession, the taxi service, the only beach restaurant and the laundry service. It seems that all his family works for him. And they all work hard. We spent two nights in the bay. On the 18th, we were in town eating at a restaurant owned by someone other than Enrique Jr. and as we looked out the window, a funeral procession passed by. A pick-up truck held the casket, and it was followed by 40 or so walking mourners of all ages. The procession was followed by several more pick-up trucks including one with a bed full of flowers. It was very touching to see this ritual and reminded us that life goes on as we are continuing our grand adventure. The next day we left for Bahia Magdalena which is a two day passage.
Again on this passage, we saw plentiful shooting stars and a gorgeous moon rise. We noticed that we can get kinda rummy and very tired when out for two days. We keep watches and can sleep when not on watch, but the boat motion sometimes makes it hard to sleep for long. It just gives us an inkling about those sea crossings that last for days and days and days. But, there is a certain routine we get into and I think you get used to it with repetition. At any rate, we made it to Puerto San Carlos in "Mag Bay" in good order. It was foggy on the approach and fishing pots were plentiful. Ralph saw a whale breach. We saw humongous pelicans which gave rise to Ralph and Tim making up pelican, boobie and cormorant jokes. We also saw our first frigate bird which means we are about in the tropics and we have now shed our hats, scarves, coats, and sweaters. You can see from the picture that Puerto San Carlos is another dusty, fishing town. The Baja is pretty much desert and, I hate to say it, but not all that picturesque. We took the dinghy to the dock and went to Hotel Alcatraz for drinks and dinner. Great shrimp cocktail. Not much else was happening.
There are some services here for "yatistas" including fuel. Sometimes it is a challenge to get that fuel. Here, we had to tie up to a large fishing vessel. It had its own bird patrol watching our every move. While we were still tied up to the fishing boat, it started its engines and we thought for a moment or two that it might leave with us still attached! But, all worked out and we moved closer to the entrance to the Bay on 11/22 as we didn't want to get fogged in before our departure to Cabo on 11/23. At the entrance to the Bay we saw a Marine World Baja style - porpoises, seals, what we thought might be sharks and lots of pelicans and other birds.
We left Mag Bay at 7 a.m. on 11/23. Next stop:
