Bahia Santa Maria
05 March 2011 | The Long Bash Home Continues
Capt Frank
The sailing reports will get a little shorter now as they begin to sound repetitive. I do want to report that I had another whale join me as I left Bahia Santa Maria. I am now just above Magdalena Bay where the whales go during the winter to have their babies. They are now on their way back up to the Bearing Sea in quite large numbers. It is not surprising, given where I'm, that I'm seeing a lot of whales.
This leg offers the second large bay to be crossed when heading north from Cabo San Lucas. Before reaching Punta Abreojos I will be up to 50 miles offshore. I really like being offshore more than sailing close to shore. It allows me to get more rest as I don't have to check my position quite as often and the radar keeps a good lookout for traffic. It has a function that sounds a warning whenever a boat or the shore comes within it's sixteen mile range. This allows me plenty of time react to the situation.
I had a great afternoon sail, on 15-18kts. of wind, very close to the course line. The wind dropped off at around 8:00 in the evening and I motored the rest of the way to Punta Abreojos. I was about 5 miles off Punta Abreojos around midnight. I wasn't comfortable entering in the dark so I hove-to and had a great night's sleep. Up at dawn I motored in to the anchorage and put down the hook around 9:00 a.m. on march 6th..
While in Abreojos I put the dingy in the water and went ashore. It was a nice little town with few services. They did have a school where I was able to leave the last of the children's books I had brought from home. The principal was very interested in them and spent quite awhile going through them. He didn't speak or read English so we spent a lot time with the translator. I also took a walk on the beach. I walked the entire beach. This is no small feat as the beach here is about five miles long.