We missed many of our cruising buddies by one day, as they were leaving this anchorage as a group of five boats. We were able to have a quick radio chat with our friends on Whiteshell II as they headed down the coast towards Los Cabos. However, we've enjoyed maintaining our own pace and the chance to catch up on boat projects and we do meet up with cruising friends in most locations. The one sailboat at anchor here has been anchored for some time. Its captain advised that he had helped the village set up wifi here -- a pleasant surprise for us.
Catch up details: We left Turtle Bay on Saturday, November 21st, at 7:05 - sunrise, with pelicans and sea lions greeting the day. Swells were waiting for us outside the bay and continued all through the day. Even 4 - 6 feet of swell makes for interesting balancing below even in fairly benign conditions. We were headed for Bahia Asuncion and motor sailed most of the way, gybing our jib from time to time in winds up to 15 knots. Our concern was to round Isla Asuncion and be at anchor before sunset and we made it just in time, at 17:50 hours, settling in near Pamdemonium. Nice to see them so soon again. Asuncion is a pleasant looking village, but we did not go ashore on Sunday as most things were closed. No one came to offer us lobster in trade - we keep hoping.
Monday, November 23rd: both boats left Asuncion close together before 7 am, headed for Bahia Santa Maria. INTREPID II needed to make at least 5.3 knots per hour over the next 36 hours or so to arrive before dark - our usual dilemma. It was a treat to have a buddy boat near by and a successful fishing buddy boat at that. Thanks for your generosity Pam and Dennis! This leg was closely logged and monitored to keep our speed up through the day, overnight and into the next morning. A few fishing boats at night and the radar was kept on, but nothing we couldn't dodge.
This is one of the first times in a long while that we've had the main up as well as the jib. We kept one reef in to be cautious, but the winds did not pick up much. Sunrise was beautiful - a glowing orange ball at 7:00 am. We had been using our water maker but it has 'acted up' and we need to check into that project soon - add it to the list. The weather suddenly was HOT the next afternoon as we neared our destination so up went the bimini. A whale to starboard! This area is near one of the breeding grounds of the Grey Whales; however they aren't expected until next month in greater numbers. Each sighing is a treat.
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| Bahia Santa Maria mid left - Bahia Magdalena centre (permission requested from Moon Travel) |
Bahia Magdalena is only 25 nautical miles away. We decided to head out Wednesday November 25th, as there was a chance to obtain diesel if we could arrange it with the Port Captain. The day was hazy, the water much calmer, down to flat calm in the bay once we entered. For a few minutes we felt like we were on the only boat in the world. The village here was quite damaged by hurricanes in the recent past and there is considerable rebuilding going on. There was no sign of the pier mentioned in the cruising books. There are few cruising boats here, but we enjoyed reading the log book of the Port Captain when he paid us a visit on Thursday to see our official papers. He arranged to fill our 3 - 20 litros fuel tanks which will help as the next few days look like motor-sailing days.
Looks like we'll head off early - 6:00 am before sunrise tomorrow (November 28th) for another 35 hour plus journey. We've hoped to avoid Cabo San Lucas, but will need to spend at least a night and day there or at nearby San Jose del Cabo to do some serious provisioning.
Hope all is well - bye from the INTREPID II crew until the next time.
