28 hours from Ensenada and we're in Turtle Bay. This is my 9th visit to this little fishing town with dirt streets, a bunch of fancy cars and a very cool baseball stadium! The ride down was ok for a day in February. The rather large following sea tossed us around through the night but the 18 to 20 knots of wind from behind wasn't an issue. We did stumble across a huge fleet of Mexican fishing boats all lit up with every color of light imaginable making it hard to discern what direction said 80' boat dragging a net might be traveling. The good news is that the compelling desire to avoid colliding is mutual! We cruised along the lee of Isla Cedros through the Canal de Keller and the Dewy Channel in bright sun and flat seas into Turtle Bay without snagging a single lobster trap - another success. This morning a sailboat arrived named Tivoli which looked like some friends from our 2010/11 Mexico cruise. Sure enough - Torbin and Judy on their way home to NorCal after cruising since we last saw them in Las Hadas in 2011. They have sailed the Caribbean, across the Atlantic, in the Med, throughout Europe, and now here they are - resting up in Turtle Bay before heading on to the Bay Area. What are the odds.
Finally, under the “who knew” category get this. The Coronavirus is having a sizable impact on the local Turtle Bay fishing fleet (mostly 2 hardworking guys with a panga and a hand line from which they pull in 25 3 to 4' long fish at one time - I saw the pictures). Turns out most of the fish, clams, and lobster caught here are next day shipped to China. Mexico apparently is not permitting flights to or from China thus no Turtle Bay fish go to market in China at present. Not good for the local economy (still scratching my head over the “next day shipping” of fish from a place that doesn't even have internet). Here for another day then to Bahia Asuncion.