Not sure of the Lat/Lon because I’m in the cockpit typing this under the stars and not near the GPS (and too damn lazy to go look), but we’re in Cabo San Jose, about 15 miles around the Cape past San Lucas (and it’s blessedly quiet and peaceful).

Took Ann to the airport today as she alas, had to depart for work and real life (or are we living real life?  An existential conundrum I’ll have to think about for the next month or so)

Had a great couple of days here exploring the town with Ann.  Gorgeous ceramics and textiles and we each bought a few things to remind us of this wonderful trip.

Ann, you will be sorely missed by both of us (me especially, but Geoff said how much he’s been enjoying your company too.  After 1000 miles on the Pacific, you’ve turned into an accomplished sailor and have earned your title as the “Salty Dog”).

Now we’re on to phase three of the voyage: The Two Bachelors.  Yup, it’s down to Geoff and me.  Here’s an example of our schedule now that we’re two (from Geoff):

• went to the beach
• took pictures
• drew pictures in the sand with local fishermen speaking random spanglish
• walked back to boat, stopped at local market, bought terrible beer
• took a nap

Yup, we’re gonna be busy.

Evening now and we just finished the dishes.  Dinner was mouldy frijoles, shriveled vegetables and leftover cheese on tortillas, drinking Charismatini’s.  Might have been the Charismatini’s, but dinner was delicious! Talked about trimming mustaches (really we talked about nosehairs, but trimming our moustaches sounds so much more manly).

We were actually a bit productive today though.  Here’re a couple examples of how we have entered into The Cruiser’s Economy (which is a corollary to “The Simple Life” as noted in the entry about Diane’s birthday):

1. One of our neighbors here at Puerto San Jose, couldn’t get his shortwave radio to work.  I mentioned I knew a little about them (practically an outright lie, but only if you are caught) and they invited me over to have a look.  Well, it was a pretty old Kenwood, which I really know nothing about, but with a little effort (and to make this story shorter) I’ll just say that I found the problem, tested the radio by calling from ours and a mystery that was unsolved for their whole trip down from Washington has now been solved.  They were so thrilled to get their radio working, they gifted us with a huge bottle of Maple Syrup.  A commodity we were out of, so willingly received!
2. Another neighbor mentioned his chagrin that he had a rope or something caught in his rudder and couldn’t seem to get it out.  Geoff to the rescue.  He dove on the rudder, looking resplendent in snorkel, mask and fins, and cut out the offending piece of rope (which looked to be part of a crab/lobster trap they must have run over).  Again mission accomplished and in this case, Geoff charged $240/hour for his services (and after the five minutes it took him, he earned twenty bucks!)

We’re getting rich I tell you.

Tomorrow, we’re leaving early for Los Frailes about 40 miles up the coast on the Sea of Cortez.  We’ll start out bearing around 080 degrees and then about halfway up, we’ll finally start heading almost North.   I hope to be able to have a positive report on the fishing.  I also hope to report that we anchored somewhere during daylight.  Would be a nice change.  So far every harbor and anchorage we’ve entered on this trip has been at night. Even with radar to help, it’s not so fun when you’ve never been there before and don’t have a clue what the area actually looks like.

We won first place in our division in the Baja HaHa race from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas!  Charisma really performed. More to follow. Just wanted to let everyone know. Now that the awards party is done, we’ll be heading up the Sea of Cortez tomorrow so new adventures beckon.

22degrees53minutes North, 109degress54minutes West,  November 5th

Bunnies and Bats.  Who would have thought.  This may take a bit to explain, but first let me mention a couple other things.

We’re in Cabo San Lucas now.  Got in late yesterday.  We were hoping for a change to arrive in the daylight, but didn’t quite make it.  Entered the harbor in the dark.  In this case, we found Cabo to be a shock, as it’s crowded and noisy.  On the way in, pangas were weaving in and out without any lights on (someone later said one of the pangas was using an iPhone as a light).  I just crossed my fingers and held my breath.  Got inside the harbor and found our berth and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.  Another leg completed safely and in this case the final leg of the rally.  We’re now 1594 mile from the start of our journey in San Francisco.   From here most of the crew fly back to the States and Geoff and I are on our own to meander a bit up the Sea of Cortez to La Paz and then retrace our route all the way back to San Francisco, hopefully by mid December.

The last five hours getting here were a little wild.  Some of the participants have described it as gale winds (the dreaded Baja Easterlies).  We saw solid wind of 26 gusting to 28.  Definitely breezy and a number of boats ducked into other harbors up North to wait it out.  We pressed on.  This kind of wind is what Charisma was made for and she showed she was a happy boat.

So, what do Green Tomatoes have to do with this?  Well, our good friend Terry Lippert (from our cycling adventures) gifted us with green tomatoes from her garden back on the 15th of October and said; “store these, they’ll turn red and be great”.  I was dubious, but Ann was adamant.  So store them we did, and we’ve been enjoying them along the cruise since then.  Today, 21 days after leaving we found the last two in the storage locker.  They were absolutely perfect and we had them with lunch.  They were delicious!

And Bats in our Belfry?  Well, you would never believe this if you didn’t see it, but about 15 miles out of Cabo and off the coast, a bat showed up flittering around the boat!  We were all ducking our heads as it ducked and weaved about the boat.  We were astounded and a little, well, cautious.  I mean a bat!  On the ocean! Amazingly it finally settled down, upside down of course, on the mast right below the gooseneck (for you lubbers, it’s where the boom connects to the mast).  We didn’t have the heart to disturb the little guy since it was so far from land and seemed very tired.  Little did we know it was a sign of the impending gale.  In retrospect, I think it was probably blown downwind on the gale and found itself too far offshore and exhausted to get back.  Anyway, we gave it a ride back and it finally flew away when we had to put in a second reef about three miles offshore due to the increasing wind.

OK, The Bunnies are coming, but first let me explain the Simple Pleasures.  Day before yesterday was Diane’s birthday.  Now you all know what birthdays entail on land.  But on sea, there are fewer options.  So we followed the Simple Pleasures rule.  Make due with what you have and really enjoy it.

Here’s the recipe for Diane’s birthday.  It was really nice:  It started by us calling the fleet on the radio and telling everyone it was Diane’s birthday, then we turned up the radio really loud and over a dozen boats responded with everything from; “Happy Birthday Diane” to impromptu, made up birthday songs just for Diane.  I think I saw a tear in her eye as we were listening to the well wishes over a twenty minute period.

Second; an email from John (via the shortwave, which is performing magnificently) wishing her a happy birthday.

Next:  Give Diane the entire Sun Shower to bathe and wash her hair.  If you haven’t sailed a long distance, you might not appreciate that water is at a premium.  You can’t waste it.  But since it was Diane’s special day, she got the whole shower allocation for that.  A new definition of opulence, and she even left enough for the rest of us to have a rinse.

Next, Ann baked muffins with raisins which was what we had on board, that had some resemblance to a birthday cake.

Lastly, “The Boys” made a fabulous dinner that Diane’s been talking about ever since; Sesame crusted Mahi Mahi with rice and a pineapple ginger reduction sauce along with a salad of our last avocado, cucumber, zucchini and lettuce (again, thanks to Terry, our lettuce has stayed good for several weeks based on her great advice to use Green Bags for storage!)

Diane’s comment on her birthday: “I’d like to celebrate every birthday like this!”

OK, we’re covered Bats, Simple Pleasures and Green Tomatoes, that only leaves Bunny Madness to explain.  Oh, wait a minute; how about The Dolphin Whisperer and Flying Manta Rays?

Dolphin Whisperer.  Turns out Ann (“The Salty Dog”) has an affinity for dolphins and vice-a- versa.  We sailed through a pod the other day and Ann was up in the bowsprit when they decided to swim over to the boat and play under the bow.  WELL, I have to tell you; Ann literally SQUEALED in delight when she saw them, and the more she squealed, the more excited the dolphins got.  They came under the bow, turned sideways (I’d swear they were winking at Ann) and then they leapt out of the water, turning a corkscrew and plunging back into the water.  Amazing!

Flying Manta Rays.  During the last couple hours of sailing into Cabo, at the very tip of Baja, we were treated with another show.  Manta Rays, leaping out of the water.  Again, I’m afraid I can’t do the sight justice.  You just have to imagine that you’re looking out at water as far as you can see, when suddenly the horizon is broken by a huge bat-shaped creature leaping clear out of the water.  Very humbling.  As Ann put it today; “I’m never swimming out there!”

OK, if you’ve made it this far you get to find out about Bunny Madness.  You no doubt know about our young gentlemen’s predilections for the crew of the Bunny Boat (aka MoonTide).  Well, there must be a magnetic energy or something going on there, because on the last night going into to Cabo at about 0300 we saw a green light abeam (F Scott Fitzgerald, eat your heart out).  I looked through the binoculars and determined it was very close and closing so we altered course to our left to sail behind them (since we were on Port tack and they had right of way).  Someone on their boat then panicked and turned 90 degrees, directly toward us.  That in turned resulted in PANIC on both boats as they were now heading RIGHT AT US and I envisioned slicing their boat in half (they are a catamaran).  I grabbed the helm, put it hard over and crossed my fingers.  We both passed about 20 yards apart with our spinnakers flogging when I heard someone on their boat ask: “what tack are you on?”  My response; “Port tack and I was trying to pass behind you”, when I also heard; “Oops, my bad”.  Then they asked; “What boat are you” and I responded; “Charisma”.  They came back; “OOOH, where are the boys??!!”  That’s when Diane, Ann and I realized that these were not really Bunnies, but Cougars in Bunny clothing and they were really after our young gentlemen!! (We think the hunters have become the hunted!)

(From Ann) So yes, we made it to Cabo!  Here’s a memory to share that is priceless.  As a group of five we started this journey with a little knowledge of each other.  After 11 full days on a 37 foot boat together we sat in the cockpit approaching the cape of Cabo San Lucas laughing and sharing.  Other boats in the fleet have actually had crew members jump ship and entirely abandon the trip.  Not here.  Tight quarters with little down time and little privacy did not bring us down.  I have always heard that company is like fish – after 3 days they smell and it’s time to go.  I was concerned that after 11 days we’d be a little unhappy – not so.  Supreme Captain Sir (as Bob became fondly called) rallied us and encouraged us all and we laughed our way into Cabo. What a fabulous adventure.  Thank you, Captain Sir.

24degrees 19minutes North, 111degress 45minutes West and heading south at 5 knots boatspeed and 6.2 knots apparent wind, with the asym up.

We’re on the final leg of the rally.  Left this morning at 0700 and expect to make Cabo sometime tomorrow afternoon or early evening.

Pretty gentle sailing, not much to report as of now (1530).  Mostly just wanted to check in.

Fish tacos for breakfast.  Not even an hour after the start, Geoff broke out the grill and cooked up a bunch of the Mahi Mahi we caught a couple days ago, and grilled some veggies and tortillas.  I wasn’t really hungry, but one taste and I went for three!  I honestly have never had such awesome fish.  I think this fresh fish thing is spoiling all of us.  We have to eat it too, as there’s a ton still in the ice box.  With fish every day, it won’t be long (I think) before we’re yearning for a box of Macaroni and Cheese.  Well, maybe not.

So that’s about all the excitement for now.  Time for a nap.

Diane and Ann are doing the blog today to give you another perspective of this trip.

Infamous quotes from an exhausted Captain Sir.

A little background.  Commander Crunch (aka Bob) only got three hours of sleep in the last 24 hours so when we got around to dinner the night after we entered Bahia Santa Maria, he was – shall we say – very tired.  So tired in fact, that after our signature drink; “The Charisma” (some rum, pineapple juice and other ingredients are involved) and a couple glasses of wine, he was, well, ready for bed.  We sent him up to the head to brush his teeth and after tottering away and locking himself in the head (that’s bathroom for you landlubbers), we heard some odd sounds followed soon after by hilarious exclamations.  The first one was when our Supreme Commander dropped the water glass and it bounced all over the bathroom.  He was nonplussed and a simple; “oops” was all we heard .  But the next was classic; after muttering a much more dramatic; “OOPS” and hearing some crashing around in the head, he added; “OH MY, Don’t use that toothpaste anymore” – we will leave this quote for  the Captain to explain – but believe me, we didn’t use the toothpaste and we can now attest that the “Charisma” drink does wonders for exhaustion.

“Reef the wind scoop” – this is a beautiful bay but the wind really picks up around 3 pm.  Again, our colorful Supreme Commander uttered this unique command.

“Apple, carrots & beer; we are set for life” (Supplies are starting to dwindle but our adventurous spirit still soars!) –  Another quote that almost describes how mellow it is to be here.

In preparation for the dinghy ride into the beach, our Commander uttered the soon to be immortal words; “Bring dollars in case we need a tow truck” -mind you – we’ve only seen two trucks here and they were four wheel drive to get into the fishing village and we truly doubt that they’d be much help in the surf.   We think he takes after his Father.

Sushi for all:  Turns out the Bunny Lair likes sushi rolls as well as young gentlemen.  Geoff pulled together the last of the Nori and made tuna rolls for our crew plus sashimi and rolls for appetizers for the singles party on Hugh’s Bunny boat.  We’ve been using the tuna for Poke & the Dorado for fish stew (the pressure cooker rules!) for simpler dinners.  Eric (of Berkeley Marine Center fame) had a great birthday but did not catch any fish this second leg.  He had told Geoff and Jansen in Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortuga) that he would not eat fish until he caught his own.  We delivered huge tuna steaks for the entire boat yesterday morning as a birthday present and they were not rejected!

Mangrove Adventure:  Ann (aka Salty Dog) and Captain Crunch Sir, (also known as our Supreme Commander) headed out early in the morning before breakfast and roll call to explore the mangrove swamp back into the “heart of darkness” several miles up to the fishing villages. Absolutely amazing ride into a whole world that we just don’t know about.  Nets drying in the morning sun, fish drying stations and houses made out of driftwood.  Poor doesn’t describe it, but happy and content are the expressions on everyone’s faces.  We’re going to buy some school supplies in Cabo and bring them back to these wonderful villages on our way North as these folks live so far from any towns, supplies are hard to come by.  The tide was high and they went right over the sandbar on the way back. Ann gives a giggle every time the pelicans dive and there were lots up there in the swamp!  (There was a lot of giggling on the trip up the swamp)

Party on the beach this afternoon in the sun left us a bit dehydrated but the shrimp and fish tacos and live band that came from LaPaz (using generators for electricity) kept everyone grooving.  Coming out of the surf on the way home was a wet experience.
Back on the boat, the dinghy is stored, thanks to assistance from Salty Dog & Diane and the decks are clear for a 7 am start on Wednesday morning.  We still don’t have the rest of the crew on board so may have to wait for the bunnies to deliver the youth.

It’s 6:15 and must be Charisma time so we sign off now!

November, 2nd, Bahia Santa Maria. Tuesday.  N24 degrees 46 minutes, West 112 degrees 15 minutes

We’re set to start tomorrow, the last leg of the trip South.  We should be in Cabo in about two days.  We’ve had a delightful time here in Bahia Santa Maria hiking, swimming, watching sunrise and sunset from the cockpit with our morning coffee and evening sundowners.

After Cabo, the trip changes.  Ann, Diane and Jansen have to go back to their other life while Geoff and I will continue cruising a while up into the Sea of Cortez to La Paz and then retrace our route back up the Baja Peninsula and ultimately San Francisco by mid-December.  We’re particularly interested in seeing these stops in their more natural condition with essentially no-one around.  We’ll keep these posts up via shortwave radio (thank you so much to my friend April for managing these – I’m going to owe you when I get back), but the tone will no doubt change as one adventure and group of friends changes to another.

By the way, before I sign off, I just want to mention that while cooking huevos rancheros tonight for dinner, I managed a Benihana, spatula double flip over the shoulder, catch.  It was brilliant.  It is on film so will be immortalized once we get internet access.  Yes, it was THAT amazing.

The next two posts are crew perspective of this stop, so here goes:

North 24degrees 46minutes, West 112degrees 15minutes, November 1st (I know it’s the first, just not sure what day of the week it is!)

We tucked into Bahia Santa Maria last night about 3AM.  (Once again, the radar has really been a big help in taking some of the guesswork out of entering a strange harbor in the dark).  Had a spectacular run down from Bahia Tortuga.  Yesterday I mentioned the Dorado, but that was just the beginning.  After that we put the lines back out (two handlines and one pole-we’re running with a cedar plug, a rapala and a squid combo that has four little squid being “chased” by a large one which is where the hook is.  This latter is catching most of the fish) and had the most amazing fishing experience I’ve ever encountered.  We were running DDW at around 6 knots wing and wing, when I saw what looked like a big torpedo fly out of the water about 50 yards off the starboard bow.  Ann saw it at the same time and we both gasped.  At was a six foot  plus Tuna apparently chasing squid and it leaped at least 8 feet in the air.  That was just the beginning.  Next there were dolphins AND tuna leaping clear of the water chasing the squid and we sailed right through the chaos.  You can guess what happened next; ZIIINNNNGGGG, the reel started screaming and SNAAPPP, one of the handlines got hit. We had hit two fish at once with tuna and dolphin madness all around.  Everyone jumped to.  We had to slow the boat down RIGHT NOW as the line was already halfway off the reel and if we couldn’t stop soon, the tuna would get to the end of the line and break it.  We quickly roller furled the jib and headed the boat up, essentially heaving to.  Pulled the handline and a small tuna was on.  We had a good amount of fish and a big one still on the pole so we shook the little one off the hook for another day.  Now for the one on the pole. What a fight.  Turned out to be a 50-60 pounder and it took over an hour to get him on the boat.  Biggest fish I’ve ever encountered.  The meat takes up all of one of our iceboxes.  Geoff’s making some sushi rolls, sashimi and tuna poke for dinner as we speak and we’re going to share much of the rest at the beach party tomorrow.

A little sympathy today for a fellow sailor who got in trouble in our midst last night.  At the 0730 roll call we heard of an emergency that happening the early morning hours.  Not part of our fleet sailing to Cabo, but a single hander went on the beach a couple miles North of here last night (it was pretty windy).  The sailboat apparently is a total loss since it went through the surf and is well up on the beach, the good news is no injuries.  A group from our fleet hired a 4 wheel drive truck from Magdelena Bay just South of here and drove up the boat to dismantle and salvage what they could.

Woke up to a nice day.  Set up wind scoops on the two hatches to funnel the breeze down below.  Very comfortable.  Made huevos rancheros for breakfast which were a big hit.   Then Ann and I took a hike to the top of one of the hills surrounding the bay and enjoyed a 360 degree view from one side down into the bay where our boats are anchored and on the other side out into the Pacific.

Diane has been enjoying being back here in Baja, having done this sail both from North to South and the other way.  She spent the day soaking up the sun and reading on the deck.

Geoff and Jansen did NOT get into any trouble today YET, (there’s a party tonight on a couple of the other boats who are rafting up for the event).  Jansen did some scrounging and scored some gas for our dinghy which was low on fuel; he’s looking to see if we can get some water as I think we’re running low and he’s found someone willing to loan he and Geoff a surfboard.  They’re planning to get up early (if Sailor Jerry doesn’t keep them up too late) and hike over the hill to the Pacific side and do some surfing.

A busy day.  I thought this cruising stuff was supposed to be relaxing.

Oh and the Tequila; once we anchored last night and were sure the hook was set, we adjourned to the main cabin for shots of Tequila to celebrate being in Baja with another fantastic leg behind us.  3AM, Tequila and the promise of a bunk that wouldn’t roll 45 degrees to either side while you’re trying to sleep and hang on at the same time.  Sweet!

You really had to be there, but Snap and Crackle (or is it Crackle and Pop, I can never remember) aka Geoff and Jansen were lured into Hugh’s lair on the Catamaran “Moontide”.  I really can’t profess to know much about the evening other than they didn’t make it back before the Pangas shut down for the night and when “Hugh” (aka Bill Lilly) brought them back on Moontide just in time to raise anchor for the next leg, both young men were wearing bunny ears and a big grin!  Seems they had been regaling the crew of Moontide all night with our heroic trip down from San Francisco and had become quite the popular pair.

Short update for now as it’s pretty windy and bouncy, therefore hard to type.  We’re a day and a half out of Bahia Tortuga and about 40 miles from Bahia Santa Maria, or about 6 or 7 hours at this speed (ETA 8 or 9PM tonight).

Beautiful night last night (I know, it’s getting boring hearing that).  The moon didn’t come up until after midnight, so the stars above and phosphorescence in the water were spectacular!  I could sail forever in these conditions.  It’s 15 to 20 knots right now and the water is deep, deep, blue with crystal clear wave tops.

The big event today was our first Dorado (also known as Mahi Mahi).  Around 1000, the line started screaming out.  Geoff grabbed it and wrestled a striking blue, green and yellow, 40 inch Dorado.  Not a really big one, but once it was filleted; it was obvious that this will be our dinner for at least the next three nights. We’re planning bbq’d fillets tonight, probably fish tacos tomorrow and then Ann and Diane are going to make fish chowder with what’s leftover.

The fishing lines are back out because a lot of the fleet are not catching fish and really appreciate the chance to try fresh Tuna or Mahi Mahi.  There’s often a beach bbq and we’ve found that our fish is very popular when someone sets up a grill on the beach.  We traded some two days ago for fresh caught oysters that we grilled and ate out of the shell right off the coals.

OK, that’s it for now, I’m hanging on down here to keep from flying across the cabin.  I’ll post more tomorrow when we’re at anchor.

Today was a “land” day.  Our last day in Bahia Tortuga at anchor and the annual beach party later in the day.

Started the day with a simple pleasure; a hot cup of coffee on deck watching the sun coming up over the water.  Great to feel the warmth of the day begin to glow while sipping a cup of java.  Good for the soul too, to start a day so gently.

After the morning radio net, we hailed a panga for a ride to town.  Today was a Huevos Rancheros day and it didn’t disappoint.  We walked up to La Palapa where Carlos and Magdalena took care of us.  Ran into Eric and Laura from Berkeley and had breakfast with them.  Since we already had our morning coffee, the other pleasure of Huevos in Baja is that we enjoyed them with our morning bottle (or two) of Pacifico.  Ah, the simple life!!  The Huevos were fantastico, the owners were simpatico and el bano out back was a new experience for Ann (aka The Salty Dog).  She’ll report on her findings below (By the way, my sister is worried that we’re picking on Ann.  Sue, she’s the rookie and of COURSE we’re picking on her and she’s loving every minute).

Meanwhile, after breakfast a walk over to the Mercado for some fresh (?) vegetables for the next leg and then back to the boat for some clean-up before the beach party.  Since we start tomorrow at 0800, it’s best to get everything ready now so when our bleary eyed crew head for the start all we need to do is hoist the sails and not worry whether someone’s underwear is still drying on the jib sheet or something.

The beach party was fun.  It was pot luck, so we brought the rest of our tuna and a small roast we bought in San Diego and the guys bbq’d them over some charcoal on the beach.  Jansen and Geoff quickly become very popular once people realized that we were sharing.  (Not very many boats caught fish on this leg).  Another boat brought oysters that they acquired from one of the panga drivers and shared some oysters bbq’d over “our” coals.  Yum!  The panga drivers are all fishermen most of the time.  One guy who drove us to the party had his filet knife on the seat and fresh fish and calamari he had caught in various stages of preparation in the boat as he drove us to the beach.  Very fun day, then back to the boat and more clean-up.  We’re just chillin’ now∑.Diane and Ann are reading, I just finished plotting the route for our next two days at sea heading to Bahia Santa Maria and the boys are in town partying (I can hear the partiers from the boat if I step out on deck)

OK, here’s Ann’s take on el bano and other important issues at Bahia Tortuga:

“The fake flowers on the back of the toilet were a nice touch to the bano with no door handle – don’t close it too hard or you’ll never get out  – until someone misses you and comes looking.  And being the child of a lightbulb salesman I particularly appreciated the back up light bulb stored on the window sill next to the toilet”

Bob forgot to mention the fabulous hike up and the hill overlooking the bay and the party.  What a sight!

Not yet mentioned here in Bahia Tortuga are our morning visits from our dolphin friends and the ever-entertaining dive bombing pelicans.  They just make me laugh!

I hope you are all enjoying this even 10% as much as we are being here!  Love to all!
Ann