Or Bay of the Dead. Named not after dead people, but “deadmen”:, which are big anchors buried in the bay for the working boats that used to deliver supplies here.

Nice day not only because it was sunny, blue sky, blue water, but also because we sailed the whole way! Yay. (A big event too, but you’ll have to read to the bottom to hear about it). Even though the wind was a bit on the nose, it was just off enough that we could sail up the Eastern coast of Baja doing 5-6 knots most of the way. 40 miles more or less. We left at 0730 and got in about 1900, which at this point, is after dark. I don’t enjoy entering an anchorage in the dark and this one was no better than usual as there were around 14 boats and not all had anchor lights. You have to really be aware as you are maneuvering in the dark so as not to run into someone who doesn’t have any lights on. Anyway, we’re tucked in just off the beach in about 27 feet of water.

It started to rain as we were entering the bay, so we were good and wet by the time we got the anchor set. Charisma needed a bath anyway, so the rain was welcomed. We took much needed sponge baths to clean up a bit (we’ll do the sun shower tomorrow and a swim) and then BBQ’d some sliced potatoes with a cut of beef we found in the store that looked somewhat like flank steak. It turned out delicious as were the potatoes. Mexican cuts of meat are quite different from what you find in Safeway, so it’s always an adventure when we buy meat here. You never quite know what you’ve got.

OK, so today’s excitement: Sailing down here is so interesting. One minute you’re just staring at the water and the next, anything could happen. Today, we had a whale sighting! A humpback was swimming on the surface, right in front of us. I altered course slightly and we passed a Southbound whale on our port side by a little less than 30 yards. He/she was very unconcerned by us and just stayed on top of the water blowing from his/her blowhole all the way. We were treated to very stinky whale breath, but had a glorious view of a very magnificent animal. Looked to be around 25-30 feet long.

Other sightings today; later in the day while Ann was taking a nap, I saw a Dorado chasing a bunch of flying fish. I could see the flying fish leap out of the water with the Dorado leaping out in hot pursuit. A beautiful sight, but despite having our fishing pole out we didn’t hook up. While I was taking a nap later in the day, Ann saw a whale tale about 40 yards off as the whale dove, not to be seen again. But, seeing a huge tail suddenly appear in front of the boat is excitement enough for the day.

OK, the clouds are breaking and there’s a lovely waning moon waiting to be seen. We’ll post some pictures once we reach La Paz, which should be in three or four days. Until then, fair winds to you all.

Ha, Ann likes numbers and is always remarking on special “number” days. So here’s one. We left Puerto Los Cabos (or Cabo San Jose as the town is called) around 0830 after taking on the first fuel since San Diego. At this point, we’re a couple miles off the coast heading North and unfortunately motoring because; guess what? The wind is right on the nose! One of these days, we’ll time our departure to favorable winds.

We’re got the watermaker running, making 7 gph. The water is so blue and so clear out here you can see the rays of the sun penetrating down a good 20 feet or so towards the depths. Shimmers and glimmers deep down like a perfect aquamarine gem.

Arrived at Bahia Los Frailes in the early afternoon and dropped anchor as the wind was building. Unfortunately it’s out the South, making this anchorage somewhat vulnerable since it’s completely open to the South. We’re OK as long as it doesn’t get above about 15 knots or so as the anchor is buried deep. Several other boats what have been traveling at the same pace as us decided to pass on staying here and wished us fair winds as they continued up North.

Taking a much needed swim to cool off at Bahia Los Frailes

Bahia Los Frailes: Went on a death march through the desert today. We were looking for a snorkeling spot in a marine preserve that’s purportedly “just over the hill” from where we’re anchored. It’s supposed to be about 2 miles, but that’s as the buzzard flies. In our case, this was too close to the truth. More of that later, in the mean time an update on our time here. Last night the most beautiful full moon rose out of the Sea of Cortez outside the anchorage and shone over our boat. One of the Canadian boats in the anchorage has a piper, so we were treated to a sundown bagpipe serenade including “Day is Done” , “Amazing Grace” and several other haunting tunes (everything on a bagpipe is haunting). Other highlights: We were being able to just jump into the warm water after we anchored. It was windy and rough, so we put out a safety line to hang onto, but so nice to enjoy that warm, clear water. I used the occasion to swim over our anchor and see that it was firmly dug into the sand. The chain just disappears into the sand. No sign of the anchor at all. A nice sunshower on the foredeck For Ann and I completed the day. So, back to the Death March to Pulmo Beach. We couldn’t find the road right away, so we all (three couples from three boats) decided it would be cool to climb the mountain right off the beach and work our way toward the purported dive spot. Not smart. Numerous scratches to legs and arms and lots of swearing later, we climbed a rock to look down in the valley and find the road. The good news is we found it. The bad news, it took us an hour of cactus whacking (the Mexican version of bushwacking) to get there. After at least an hour of hiking in the heat and cactus, one of our group discovered a dead and decomposed buzzard. Her comment: “Oh! A dead buzzard. This can’t be good!” But, ultimately we found the road and completed our hike over to the Marine Reserve at Cabo Pulmo/Pulmo Reef. Went snorkeling. Beautiful! It was Ann’s second time ever and she did great. We saw a ton of fish and had a great day. The hike back was much shorter now that we found the road. Only about two miles or so through the desert.

But, that wasn’t the end of the adventure. By the time we got back to the boat, there was a 20 knot wind and two foot waves pounding the beach. We hadn’t put the engine on the dinghy when we left, so we had to row the 200 yards straight into the waves and wind (in an inflatable), not to mention the harrowing launch through the surf to get back to the boat (which at this point was almost taking blue water over the bow as the waves were rolling down the anchorage). A challenge indeed, but with Ann directing our course we made it out to Charisma and the very much needed cold beer! It was truly like rowing on Berkeley Circle in the afternoon. The only tragedy was that Ann lost her lip balm which we saw floating away after some tricky maneuvering to get back on board Charisma with the large waves.

Later on the radio net we heard folks talking about the Epic Dive Adventure and asking; “Who were those crazy people launching the dinghies through the surf. There were also comments from one of our party regaling the anchorage about the wild bulls we saw along the way. Someone said; “weren’t you afraid the bulls would chase you?” I couldn’t help but jumping on the radio and noting that you just have to put your running shoes on. The guy on the radio said; “You CAN’T outrun a bull!” I came back; “You don’t need to outrun the bull, you just need to outrun your partner!” That’s when Ann slapped me.

Everyone can hear what you say on the radio.

A few facts and figures of what it takes to run this boat: -727 pumps on the air pump to inflate the dinghy (about 21 minutes) -20 pumps to flush the toilet -13 pumps on the water pump to fill the coffee pot -1 shot of rum to make a “Charisma” (but it’s a big shot) -2 times Ann has now gone snorkeling -2 times Ann has cooked dinner (if heating leftovers counts) OK, on this last one: Ann does the salads and dishes, so it’s a very fair trade off. -37 Pesos won by Ann when betting on the noise levels in the Cabo San Lucas Marina. -3 heads of lettuce that have spoiled since we didn’t eat them soon enough and don’t have room in the fridge for them -1314 The number of miles we’ve traveled since leaving Berkeley.

We’re about 25 miles to the North of Cabo San Lucas on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja. Sailed, er, motor-sailed here today. Winds were 25-30 right on the nose (what else?), so a reefed main and engine were in order since we knew the “fleet” of Baja Ha Ha boats wouldn’t yet be disbursed enough to guarantee a slip if we didn’t get here early. Sure enough, about an hour after we got here, boats coming in had to settle for the more expensive slips since all the cheap ones were taken. There were probably ten boats behind us that had to settle for the expensive side of the marina. We also got to park with a big group of cruisers, so there was an evening pot luck/party and we got to socialize with folks who we’ll be seeing for the coming months. It’s fun, since we’re all tied up at a really long dock normally reserved for megayachts. It’s called “Battleship Row”. Instead of the megayachts, there’re about 20 of us 40 footers tied end to end down the dock.

On the way up here after the umpteenth wave crashed over the bow and spray covered the cockpit and a gust hit 30 knots, I remarked to Ann: “Hmmm, no worse than a Sunday sail in SF Bay”. Her response: “Oh, it’s much better because you don’t have to go to work tomorrow!” Oh, so true. So, we’re here through Thursday. Tomorrow (Wedesday) we’re going to take a bus into the old town. Cabo San Jose is the kind of town you expect from Mexico and a great antidote to Cabo San Lucas which is more like Las Vegas than Mexico.

Also, as we were sailing here today, I mentioned to Ann that we’d be getting in by around noon and we could spend some time working on the boat. “Boat day” as it were. Well we got here, made some lunch and then we both promptly fell asleep. I, in my hammock on the foredeck and Ann in the cabin. Later, Ann came up and took over the hammock. In remarking on how tired we were, we realize that we’ve been gone a month now and it’s been absolutely non-stop. Each day is full of things we have to get done and places we have to be. We’re looking forward to the pace slowing down. On Thursday, we’re leaving for Bahia Frailes (about 40 miles North of here) where we’ll anchor off a nice beach for a couple days of doing little more than snorkeling and visiting the other boats. Finally, no schedule.

OK, no pressure, but I’ve told Ann that tomorrow it’s her turn to blog. The title: “Reflections on a month gone cruising” So, stay tuned.