I'm writing this entry from the boat, which is about a mile offshore, and uploading via our sat phone so I will upload pictures when I am back in wifi range.

Tortuga in Spanish means, "turtle," however, much like the deceivingly named Iceland and Greenland, there aren't any turtles here, so the name doesn't aptly describe the bay. However, after my disappointment in finding this out prior to our arrival, this is a great stopover with a little village that I have loved being at. It's about halfway down the Pacific Coast of Baja (see map page to get a better visual) Especially after our longest to date sail of 53 hours and 256nm, this was a much welcomed stop and resting place. It's a large bay, with a spattering of other traveling sailboats and local fishing boats/pangas. A tiny rickety pier with a few pangas are tied off and it has a very quaint, small beachside feel. We arrived mid-morning on the 5th of Feb. Coming into the bay, we were welcomed by a few dolphins and a large group of whales. I wish I had captured on video, but was so transfixed on watching the whales, I lost interest in trying to fumble with the GoPro, and instead, just enjoyed being in the moment. There must have been about 5-7 if not more whales all circling the entrance to the bay, likely enjoying breakfast. May of them puffed out their spouts, which look like cotton candy clouds of white sea water, giving you enough time to spot them as they gracefully breech, sometimes giving you a show with their tails before diving back into the deep. I know it goes without saying, but damn they are massive.

After dropping anchor, (and BOAT is totally fine following our mishap in Punta Colonet anchorage, just a few gelcoat cracks and broken line which we now have stowed away) we were exhausted and just lazied around the boat the remainder of the day. Temperatures have finally warmed up, so we switched out of our long pants and puffy jackets into shorts and t-shirts. Jay and I spent the day sunning ourselves in the cockpit and cat, err, rather more appropriately sea lion napping in the sun.

The next morning we woke up rested and refreshed. Busied around the boat with our morning coffee and making plans for the day. We wanted to head into town and go exploring. Our travels books indicated there were markets with fresh produce, Pemex for diesel and local restaurants with wifi and laundry services. All of which we needed. Our friend on LAMANEE would be joining us for this excursion. We started into shore, when a man on a nearby sailboat stood out on his bow motioning us over. Jay maneuvered our dinghy towards this very obviously dilapidated and unkept boat. The older man onboard, probably in his 60's or very well weathered 50's, shirtless, stained cutoff khakis, and sun-bleached salt white, disheveled/wind blown hair leans over his safety lines and yells "Can you grab me a pack of Tecate? My dinghy was stolen and I can't get to shore" I hear a dog bark in the distance but not sure if coming from his boat or elsewhere. Jay moves closers and asked again what he needs and exchanges a few pleasantries with who we were introduced to as "Steve" So a few anchorages back, where Steve was for about 5 months with a broken engine, his dinghy was stolen and now he has no way to get to shore. He managed to make it to Turtle Bay where he has presently been for a bout 4 months. Shares he knows the town very well as well as the people. So naturally Jay tells him we can take him to shore if he would like (Um, we can?!) Steve then asks if we would mind taking his small dog, who always travels with him along with some garbage and a water canteen. Jay's like, "Sure!" (uuhhhhhh, uuummmm, ok??? just roll with is Courtney and stop being such a stuck-up priss)

As Steve readies himself, we make a trip over to Kandy and Dennis to share we will be bringing "Steve" back with us to shore. When we get back to pick Steve up, he is ready with a large and quite mangey looking elderly dog, a large bag of trash, large canteen and a large backpack. So....i guess I am now sitting on this guy's lap?! Somehow we all fit into our dinghy, snuggled together amongst trash and dog. I realize at this point that Steve probably hasn't showered in about....oh a month or so. Awesome-thanks Jay. Steve is friendly and talkative, telling us all about the town and its people. In the 5 minute ride it takes to get to shore, he has already given us a full rundown of the town's offerings and is telling us where he will take us, assuming the role of Town Mayor. We pull the dinghy onto shore and are met with Pedro, whom Steve had already told us about. Pedro is a massive dude, legs like tree trunks and stand at an impressive 6'4". Pedro has one arm and is alway s found on the beach here, greeting the cruisers as they come in on their dinghies. He greets you and then launches into his "yohbs" Since Pedro speaks little to no English, his sentences are short and punctuated by forceful mannerisms with his massive right hand, pointing at objects to help communicate. Pedro's jobs are straight forward. He will watch your dinghy and your boat for you, he wants to take your garbage and will ask if you need fuel. He is also very persistent in asking these things-over and over again. So as we pulled our dinghy onto shore, he follows me around telling me, "I watch, ME watch boat" "Garbage, ME. Me, garbage." "Gasolina?" He keeps repeating these same sentences in Spanish, all with a big smile on his face and beating his overly large chest with his finger each time he says "me". I kindly decline and thank him watching our boat--we will just be in town for a bit and then come back. He reminds me of a character from a movie or book, but I can't quite place it just yet.

Crazy Crusty Steve is saying his hello's to a group of locals sitting in the nearby shade at the beach while ushering us towards the town. His dog at this point, whom has merely been off the boat for all of 5 seconds is off to the side taking a massive poop. Now, I realize that I could have chosen to use much flowerier language to describe that, but there really isn't any other way to describe a dog that really needs to go and I am not too impressed with Steve at this point. So to mask his terrible dog owning skills with pretty language isn't a nicety I am going to grant him here.

and..this goes without saying, "Um, ew" and now moving on--I think you get the picture about Crazy Crusty Steve now, and his poor, poor backed-up elderly dog, yes?

Steve takes us around town, which despite him being kooky and smelly, was quite helpful with showing us around to where all the markets are amidst the small windy dirt roads around town. The town itself is quite small and extremely clean. There aren't many people or cars on the road, seeing the occasional shy young child peeking out of front doors as we walk by, scampering away, if you say hello to them. All the houses are brightly painted, in shocking colors of turquoise, hot pink and bright Kelly green; reminiscent of Caribbean towns with the bright building colors against the brown dirt roads and hills. We go to the local grocery store--which surprisingly is large and carries a HUGE selection of items, including some Kirkland brand, which is oddly misplaced seeing it amongst rows of Spanish label products. Kandy and Dennis grab some beer and snacks. Crazy Crusty Steve goes food shopping (naturally)

After a decent tour of the town, and learning more about Steve and his travels, we go to Maria's which is the big restaurant just on the beach, where they do laundry and there is wifi. We all sit down, Steve busts out his laptop to check internet, as do Kandy and I. We order beers and some snacks to pass time while Kandy and I download/update apps and check our emails/check-in with the outside world. While sitting here, Steve gets into a heated discussion with someone just inside the restaurant. It's all in Spanish and in somewhat hushed tones, but I can hear Steve saying, "I know I know and I understand, but that's not what the books say and its much more expensive that way"

Steve sits back down, returning to his computer and muttering under his breath. We later find out when we are all happily (note my sarcasm here) snuggled back into our dinghy, me mushed up against Crazy Crusty Steve and his dog, holding my breath. He was actually speaking to the Federales, as he had caused issue in the town. He was telling other yachties over VHF 16 that they don't need to be getting fuel from the overpriced pangas, but to head into town to the Pemex where it's much cheaper. The Federales were telling him he cannot do this nor transport fuel via jerry cans via dinghy as its illegal and an environmental concern. Great, so our first visit to land and introduction to the village is by association with someone who is already in trouble with the Federales. Awesome! Needless to say, after dropping Steve back off to his boat, I had a stern (and completely agreeable) conversation with Jay about not doing that again.

And that I needed a shower....with bleach.

DAY TWO: Turtle Bay

Jay spent the day on the boat getting much needed tasks done; switching out our macerator pump for our aft head and organizing his tools. I went into town with Kandy and Dennis to drop off laundry and get online to get a few things organized back home via email. Kandy, Dennis and I spent the entire day at Maria's, drinking beers and chatting while we waited for our laundry. Of course, the wind had picked up today which had us all itching to start planning our next passages further south. At some point during the day, a few of the local fisherman returned back towing another panga whose transom was...well, gone? Interesting to watch them haul this panga up to shore using a large tractor. With some struggle to load onto the bed which is fully submerged in the low grade shoreline, within 30 or so minutes they had it on shore and were scooping out water and rocks. I'm guessing it was a salvage? The owner at Maria's and her husband had our laundry done by 4, so we headed back to our boats with fresh smelling and wonderfully clean laundry. Two loads of laundry with basically a "fluff and fold" service for about USD$15--not bad!

That evening, Jay and I cooked stir fry and headed to bed early. Since moving onto our boat back in October, our sleep schedules have begun to match that of the sunrise and set. It's kind of a nice pattern and while we joke about being sleepy around 8pm, we throughly enjoy being well rested and easily able to get up around sunrise, having a full day ahead of us.

During the evenings here, you can see little crabs in the water surrounding our boat. You can hear little popping sounds as they feed off the algae on our hull--thank you little guys for cleaning our boat bottom! Meanwhile, the large pelicans will swoop down and sit surrounding our boat, fishing and hunting the little crabs and other small fish. We have been putting our transom light on and enjoy watching the pelicans feed. Such odd looking creatures, with their large beaks and massive wingspan, flying around quietly in the night, then swooping down into the water with a large "splash" catching fish and these small crabs. Smaller birds, will sometimes try to get in on the action, tempting to steal the pelican's meal. I giggle watching this as I always anthropomorphize animals with little voice over in my head as they "quarrel" over their fresh catch. The little birds always lose to the pelicans and its hilarious to hear the twitters and shrill squawking between them as t hey "argue"

While it's been awesome here and I have fully enjoyed the breather stop after a series of long and exhausting passages, We are definitely ready to move on and travel further south.

We don't anticipate much internet connection until we make it to Cabo, so will check in again once we arrive in Cabo.

Until then
xx
C