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!