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.