Turtle Bay to Asuncion Mon. 1/10

We left Turtle Bay about 8:30, after breakfast and motored down the coast as there was no wind to sail. It's still quite cold and we're wearing layers of fleece. Late in the afternoon enough wind came up so we could sail for a while. We arrived and anchored in Asuncion in 14' of water just before sunset. The whole bay is quite shallow and very calm, so we had a great night's sleep.


Asuncion to Abreojos Tues. 1/11

We were awakened early (6:00) by the wind whistling in the rigging. It was blowing offshore from the N.E., so now we were on a lee shore in 14' of water and decided to leave quickly before the wind chop built up. The wind increased quickly and by the time we left the bay it was at 20+ knts. We were sailing on a broad reach doing around 8 knts. We were making good time and enjoying the fast sail, when about 3 hrs. later (9:30), the wind died down quickly and we had to start the engine again and motor the rest of the way to Abreojos! Mid day actually warmed up (calm and no wind) enough to take off the layers of fleece down to t'shirts (yaaaay!) We're finally getting to a little warmer weather. Since Abreojos has many reefs and shoals, we stayed 5 miles off shore and went past the point, then turned to come in from the south between 2 big reefs. We anchored off the village in about 17' of water. San Ignacio Lagoon is near this bay, so Ed got on the radio and tried to talk to someone about going into the Lagoon to see the whales. Finally someone answered and gave him a phone number to call for information. He also said he hadn't seen any whales yet. Ed tried to call on Skype, but didn't get a good connection and the man couldn't hear him. So we looked up a website and emailed a contact person about the whales. We asked her if the whales were in the Lagoon yet and how we could see them. She replied and said "thanks for the invite, but I'm in San Francisco. Do you have a permit? You need a permit to go in the Lagoon." We thought her reply was a little strange as we hadn't invited her, so we gave up on the whales. I think we beat the whales to Abreojos and the Lagoon. We had only seen whales 2 times coming down the coast.


Abreojos to San Juanico Wed. 1/12

We got up early for a 6:00 departure because we had 66 miles to go and wanted to get in before dark. The morning was still very cold and we were wearing our fleece again. It's a good thing we planned to leave early because the wind came up at 6:00 again, offshore from the NE and we were on a lee shore in 17' of water again! The winds made for a really fast departure from the bay, and soon we had consistent 22-25 knts of wind. We were on a broad reach again (fortunately) so it was fairly comfortable. As we got farther away from shore the swells and wind waves built up pretty big so the autopilot had a hard time maintaining a straight course. The swells were on the stern quarter and really pushed our stern around. One minute we'd be rounding up into the wind, the next minute we'd be rolling off the swell too much downwind, so Ed disconnected the autopilot and steered by hand, and we had a much better ride. We were sailing at 8.5 to 9 knots. It was a very fast and exhilarating ride! But it didn't last. Just like the day before, it died out by 10:00 and we were motoring again!! Also the swells quickly died down and the rest of the day was spent motoring in glassy, calm water. Ed and Bob had been trolling 3 hand lines every day with no luck, until Ed got out a fishing pole. As soon as he put the lure out a bonita hit it. Unfortunately we had been hoping for a yellowtail or mahi mahi and weren't thrilled about the bonita, so we threw it back. We arrived in San Juanico (Scorpion Bay) about 3:30. It was still glassy, calm so there was no surf at any of the 7 surf breaks around the point. This is a well-known surf spot with surfers coming from far and wide to surf here. We anchored in 10' of water (all these bays are very shallow) and enjoyed a spectacular sunset and happy hour on board. The next morning we went ashore to walk around and explore the town. The weather was finally warm and we were in shorts and sandals. But the water temp. was still very cold at 53 degrees. With no surf it made for an easy beach landing. This is a pretty bay with nice sandy beaches and a quaint little town. There was a group of Americans with homes here. Everyone was very friendly-Americans and locals. We talked to a couple from Idaho who have a house here and come every winter for a few months. She's also a retired teacher. We had cervezas and fish tacos and visited with the locals. We found out that they catch lobster and ship it to Ensenada where it is put on a ship for China. They pack the lobster on dry ice to Ensenada, then it is put in tanks of sea water with air piped in and is revived, so that they arrive in China alive and fresh!!


San Juanico to Santa Maria Thurs. 1/13

Our next leg of the trip is a little longer at 90 miles, so we decided to leave San Juanico after dinner so we could arrive in Santa Maria the next morning. This is another calm night of motoring, the ocean is glassy, the half moon and stars are brilliant and reflect off the glassy water. We were enjoying the nice evening when Ed sees a Frigate bird trying to land on top of our mast! We couldn't believe it, he was trying to land on this moving target!! He's a big bird and can break the wind instruments on top of the mast if he lands, so we start yelling at him, shaking the halyards, banging on the backstay, and shining a bright light in his eyes. But he hardly notices. Then there are 2 of them. They take turns gliding up from behind to land on the mast. Every time they get close we yell, shine the light, bang on the stays, until they veer off for a minute or two, then they approach again. They were very persistent. This went on for over a half hour, until finally Ed decided to try shooting a flare at it. After that they left (or so we thought). About an hour later, Ed looked up at the top of the mast and there was that darn bird, perched on the arrow of the windex, swinging back and forth with the movement of the boat!! It took a lot of yelling, banging, and shining of the light for about 15 min. before he decided to leave. Finally we were rid of them and the rest of the night was peacefull. We arrived in Santa Maria and were anchored by 10 a.m. Two boats were leaving as we came in and on one of them was our friend Rick McCredie, the sailmaker, so we said "hi" and chatted for a few minutes. They were on their way to Cabo. After anchoring we put our dinghy in the water for some exploring. Connie was a little apprehensive about going ashore as she had always heard about the big breakers at Santa Maria and how hard it is to land your dinghy on the beach, having to line up with the lagoon entrance and timing the waves just right. Some people we know (Scott K.!! and others) have experienced landing through the breakers with not the best results. HOWEVER, it was flat calm, and a piece of cake!! We didn't even bother with the lagoon, but just went down the beach a ways, and landed and had a nice long walk on this beautiful, deserted beach. There were only 2 other boats in the bay. Later, we met the people from one of these boats. They were an Australian couple with 2 kids (ages 4 and 14). They left Australia in Oct. 2009, and headed to Japan, then Alaska, then down the coast. They will spend 2 months in the Sea of Cortez before heading back to Australia by way of the Marquesas. After having another nice calm anchorage and a good nights' sleep, we left Santa Maria on Sat., about 9 a.m. headed for Cabo. This will be an overnight leg and we should get into Cabo by mid-day on Sun. Ed and Bob are still trolling with 4 lines out, but still no luck. The Australian couple has not had any luck fishing either, so I guess it's not just us. Also we were not able to score any lobster in San Juanico or Santa Maria because the lobster fishermen were not catching any! We had been looking forward to some seafood dinners these last few nights, but I guess it was not to be.