We left Mazatlan Saturday morning, April 13, to cross the Sea of Cortez and arrived at Bahia Los Muertos early Sunday evening. The crossing took 34 hours, 191 nm, with an average speed of 5.6 knots. We sailed most of the way the first day on a broad reach with the wind coming from the south. "Flipper", our wind-vane, did a great job of keeping us a bit high of our course to put some miles "in the bank" so we could lay Los Muertos Sunday morning.

Night watches prove to be entertaining and memorable. On this particular night watch, the wind changed from a southerly to a westerly. Right on Pinocchio's nose, as usual! Westerly winds combined with choppy seas, made for a bouncy ride. Motorsailing helped us along, but we were heeled over and bashing, with green water over the bow. On one of my watches, sleepless David popped up out of the companionway to see what all the crashing and banging was about, to find out that our speed was 7.4! I like going fast through the night under the stars, with waves splashing the topsides. It's exhilarating! Needless to say, he slowed Pinocchio down to a more comfortable speed to allow him to sleep.

As we neared Los Muertos a humpback breached several times off port giving us quite a show. Always nice to see whales from a safe distance! We arrived exhausted from the crossing, but without bruises or damage to the boat, despite my wild and speedy night watch at the conn.

Whether you call it Bahia los Muertos or Bahia de los Sueños, it's a beautiful bay by any name. One could say that the names "Bay of the Dead" and "Bay of Dreams" are similar in meaning. When I'm in a deep sleep and dream state, it surely must be like the sleep of the dead; although, I wouldn't know...and hope not to find out for a long time!

Getting back to this beautiful bay. Light blue-green turquoise water contrasts with the sandy beach and dunes; The water is so clear you can see colorful fish of many varieties as well as your anchor on the bottom! The surrounding desert-like shore rises up to dry, rocky hills.

Monday evening a southwest coromuel-like wind started to blow off from land. Gaining in strength as the night wore on, it kept David on his feet tightening down things on deck and both of us awake anticipating chaos. Tuesday morning the wind was still strong; Campers had their campsite items collapsed and strewn all over the beach. We pulled up anchor and headed 55 miles north to La Paz, hoping for a fun sail!