Hola! We are now in La Paz in the Sea of Cortez on the west coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. We've had a very enjoyable month of cruising since we left Mission Bay just north of San Diego on December 10th. We made our way down the coast in a series of two- and three-day offshore hops, spending several days in each of the anchorages we stopped at before making the next jump south. For most of the trip, we enjoyed fast downwind sailing in 20 knots of wind. While the large swell and shifty winds made for a bit of frustration at times, Hawk was sailing incredibly well so the little discomfort we had didn't last long.



This is the 41st country we have reached aboard our own sailboat. Since leaving Chile in 2002, we have cruised Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Canada and the US, all countries we had spent time in before on either Silk or Hawk. This is the first time in almost five years we've been in a country we've never visited before, and we're both remembering all the things we love about exploring a new culture. This is also the first time in five years that I've needed my Spanish. Most Mexicans working in the tourist industry speak better English than I speak Spanish, but they are more than patient with me while I struggle with my verb conjugations.



The Baja peninsula stretches more than 750 nautical miles south from San Diego - Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of the peninsula lies about the same distance from San Diego as Portland, Oregon. For most of its length, the Baja peninsula is less than 100 miles wide. The climate is even drier than in Southern California, and most of the land consists of brown soil and sand eroded into ravines and gulches by the wind and the occasional rain shower. Cactus seem to be the most common form of vegetation, though many people plant trees and bushes around their houses to shelter them from the sun and share their precious water with them to keep them healthy.



We reached Ensenda, a bit less than 80 miles south of San Diego, after a ten hour sail, arriving around 10:00 at night. The next morning the flotilla of sea lions that lives on a barge in the middle of the harbor woke us at dawn with their harsh chorus of barks and grunts. We only stayed in Ensenada for about 36 hours, long enough to clear in and take a quick look at the city. A forecast for strong southwest winds had us heading out sooner than we had anticipated, for the harbor entrance was open to the southwest, the anchorage had questionable holding and several boats had already dragged (one right into us) in the moderate afternoon breezes.



Our next stop was Bahia Tortugas, better known as Turtle Bay, which we reached after 36 hours. As we approached the entrance, dawn was breaking in a pink blush all across the eastern sky. The sky reflecting in the water turned it rose and pink, and the long rays of the rising sun painted the rugged hills on either side of the entrance in washes of copper and red. The golden light of dawn and dusk soften the harsh landscape and accentuate the sharp angles of the rugged hills, and it is at that time that the land becomes beautiful.



We had a marvelous Christmas in Magdalena Bay, the last large bay on the west coast of the Baja Peninsula about 150 miles north of the southern tip of the peninsula. We shared Christmas with the crews of ten other boats, all new cruisers who had left from ports on the west coast anywhere from three weeks to three months before, and all of whom had hoped to be in Cabo or La Paz or even Puerto Vallarta, where many had had plans to meet family or friends. But it had been a tough slog down this coast for most of them, and they found themselves days or weeks away from where they had hoped to be.



Once everyone decided we were going to be in Magdalena Bay for Christmas, we threw ourselves into making it a Christmas we would all remember. Everyone dug deep into lockers already picked over more than once to find something special for the feast and small gifts for the two children left stranded far from the treasures of shopping malls. At 1:00 on Christmas, 24 people climbed aboard Festima Lente, an Island Trader 45 owned by Greg and Nancy Hershman. While there was no roast turkey, stuffing or apple pie, we filled our plates with crab-stuffed chicken, turkey roll with gravy, canned ham, jambalaya, baked beans, mashed potatoes, yam and apple casserole, green bean casserole, fresh hot rolls and more. By the time we'd all sampled the brownies, cherry cobbler and yellow cake with chocolate icing, the boat was down another inch on her waterline.



It was a very special Christmas, one that reminded us of how little we really need when surrounded by the goodwill of friends and the magic of the Christmas spirit. When four of the crews headed south for Cabo San Lucas the day after Christmas, several of the voices on the radio were husky as they said their goodbyes. We had known one another for only a few days, but a half dozen of our new friends told me that they felt closer to those other crews than they did to people they had lived next door to for twenty years ashore. That's the magic of this cruising life, and one of the many things that keeps us out here.



We hope all of you found that holiday spirit and are looking forward to a healthy and happy 2007.



Beth and Evans



s/v Hawk