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.