07/25/2012, A relaxing Day in Mag Bay
We had planned to pull anchor off the shrimper pier this morning at 8AM, but since I didn't wake up until sometime around 8:20AM, the fleet departure time was pushed back to 9AM. The truth is that when I called Hurrah and Sea Raven to tell them about our delay, 9AM was so quickly mentioned that they either over slept also or were just enjoying the easy relaxing morning knowing that the wouldn't be covered in sweat later today! I'm beginning to LOVE the outside of Baja in the summer!
We were nominated to lead the fleet out of the curvy channel and back out into the bay. Since we had the bread crumb trail on our GPS chart plotter from our entry, the chances for any drama were pretty low. So half because Jason was being a royal PITA and half because he needed the practice reading the GPS chart plotter and following a path, we put Jason in charge of leading the fleet out. Something I only mentioned to them once we were about out of the channel. He did a great job and I stayed down below for most of the trip so that he would have to pay attention without me noticing things for him.
Once we made it back to Man-O-war Cove, the girls spend a few hours on the beach loading up with more shells and rocks. I pretty much have spent all day working on the computer catching up on work emails and just relaxing. Four computers have now been running most of the afternoon, one for me, one for each kid to post on face book, and then one paying our Mark Mulligan Cruising tunes. Yes, we are power hogs and since we are carrying our friends Engle freezer back to California for them we have TWO freezers running along with our power hog 120v AC refrigerator. Most of this trip will be motoring to windward, so the alternator will be able to keep up with our power demands and we even ran the washing machine off of the alternator through the inverter this morning as we exited the channel. Just because we are "Bashing" doesn't mean we can't have clean clothes!
It's only taken less than a week, but I'll say this right now. This area on the Pacific side of Baja is being completely over looked as a legitimate summer option for those that don't want to deal with the heat of the Sea of Cortez and don't want to return to the land of high prices and chaos known as California for the summers. As we continue up to Turtle Bay hitting the anchorages that weather will allow, we will be taking notes and making plans for the next place to summer in Mexico without the heat. The one "negative" that I can see so far is that you could quite possibly be the only cruiser in the area, as everyone else just bashes by rather quickly on their way home, like a horse seeing the barn door of San Diego.
Cruisers as a whole like to portray and think of ourselves as independent trail blazer adventures doing our own thing. Perhaps that is somewhat true when compared to the vast majority of people that wouldn't even consider the thought of casting off to Mexico in a small boat. But the truth is that the majority of Cruisers are a "follow the leader" lot that love to be second, third, or better yet 100th to try something new or waiver off the tried and true Cruiser Conveyor Belt Circuit Itinerary. The guide book gives the coordinates for a suggested anchoring spot in an anchorage and it's not uncommon to see 9 boats all cramped in and clustered around that anchoring spot. The rest of the bay could be wide open and protected, but the reflex to follow the leader is sometimes too strong to over come, even for those that normal society looks at as the risk takers and adventurers.
Could it be that this Follow the Leader phenomenon is what makes the Summer in the Sea the thing to do leaving the outside of Baja the odd man out choice? Well, I've certainly asked stupid questions before but this one is looking more and more "less stupid" to me all the time. Especially when I know that the cruising fleet directly across the Baja Peninsula from me is currently enjoying 100 degree days cooling down to 88 degrees at night....I know....I've been there!
Oh but what about hurricanes?
Well they hit the Cruisers in the Sea also, so what's the difference with a cruiser on the outside of Baja running up to Turtle Bay to avoid a hurricane while the Cruiser in the Sea runs up to the Bay of LA?
Oh what about provisioning?
If you have provisioned in the Bay of LA...well then what's the difference with Puerto San Carlos, San Juanico, or Turtle Bay? Nada really.
We will be looking for that negative that keeps Cruisers only passing through this area in the summer rather than hanging out in the cool climate of Pacific Baja.
HEY....just about as I hit the send button on this post, we may have found that negative reason! Killer Pelicans, but luckily Cortez was here to protect us.(Photo Pending)
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07/24/2012, Diesel Run in Puerto San Carlos
After our second good night at anchor in a row, Jason and I dropped the girls off at the beach just South of Man-o-war cove and we set out halibut fishing. We didn't have much time because at 10AM our little three boat fleet was going to start the trip to Puerto San Carlos to take on some Diesel fuel. A panga came up in the morning offering to bring us diesel for $1 per liter but since we haven't been to San Carlos ourselves, the fleet opted to make the motor trip up the well marked channel to San Carlos. The channel was pretty easy to navigate despite a few hair-pin turns to keep in deep water and by 1PM we were anchored off the shrimper dock making preparations to take on fuel.
Jason and I volunteered to play fuel barge running 5 gallon fuel cans back and forth from the fuel dock to our fleet at anchor. What Jason and I didn't think about when we volunteered is that it ended up taking 23 five gallon fuel jugs to top us all up. By the time we were done, the inside of the dingy looked like an inflatable Diesel containment boom and Jason and I were both covered in diesel. If the weather would have been calm, it would have been easy. But the wind chop was bouncing the dingy around and bouncing us against the barnacle encrusted fuel dock.
I've never showered before with dish washing soap, but it did do a nice job of getting the diesel fuel off but it also bubbled up and about poured bubbles out of the shower stall! The day was topped off with a nice dinner at anchor and we watched the two hour series finale of Star Trek the Next Generation.
Wednesday morning the fleet will motor back to Man-o-war cove, and prepare to head 23 miles around the corner to Bahia Santa Maria on Thursday and then a nice weather window is forming on Sunday for the 93 mile run to San Juanico. The nice thing about not having a return schedule date is that we can let the weather tell us when to go and try to have an easier trip. Then what happened from Cabo to Mag Bay? That's easy...the weather man is a liar! Lets hope he doesn't lie to us all the way to Port San Luis!
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07/23/2012, Man-O-War Cove in Mag Bay
We just picked up our first internet since leaving Cabo here in Man-o-war cove in Mag Bay and I notice that my Day 5 and Day 6 SSB radio posts didn't make it up on the blog. So I will upload them again because you wouldn't want to miss out on the adventures of Lori being sea sick and literally laying on the cockpit floor. The good news is that she AND the autopilot are now ok!
As we float here in the summer coolness of Mag Bay, an immediate question comes to mind:
Why in the world do all the Cruisers summer in the Sea of Cortez when directly across the Baja Peninsula is this cool summer paradise of Mag Bay?
The answer could be something obvious that I've over-looked in my almost delusion of happiness to have the Cabo to Mag Bay trip behind us, but really it's a question that needs an answer because after one day here I have plenty of questions of "Why Not".
Tomorrow morning we will motor further up the bay to Puerto San Carlos to take on some diesel and explore the town. How long we will be in Mag Bay will depend totally on when our next weather window opens up to continue north first to Bahia Santa Maria (25miles) and then to San Juanico (93miles).
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