Over the Hill

La Paz, BCS, Mexico

November 17, 2009

You may have thought the whole reunion entry was sappy and sentimental, but I am thinking that it will look downright dry compared to my fortieth birthday party. Ever since I realized that my fortieth birthday was going to occur during our adventure, I have taken great solace that I would be able to attack the milestone 1. on a beach, 2. in Mexcio and 3. with a margarita in my hand. There were a couple of other factors that recently made my confidence in being able to survive turning 40 soar. A few weeks ago, it became apparent that not only would I be helping Behan usher in her next decade in December but she was committed to being there for mine. Also, some people have friends who would walk to the ends of the earth for them; I have one who would fly there and she did! Being a pilot, Tiff was able to fly into La Paz to hold my hand as I went over the hill. Then, there were the boats that made the 16th in La Paz a part of their schedules so that they could join us.

SYC Members in La Paz, BCS, Mexico

Brad organized a beach party on the Mogote which is a peninsula that is across the harbor from the city of La Paz. Mogote means antler and since a good proportion of peninsula is made up of mangroves so that it has lots of pointy little pieces of land, the name fits. Anyway, the bay side has a very nice beach that was sheltered from the Norther that had been blowing since the previous morning. There was a little overcast that cleared the second that I sat in my princess chair (did I mention that I was wearing a tiarra). We used the dinghy as a table to set up our potluck (imagine our big window covers set across the open part of the boat making the table top). There was even a cake with a lego sailboat set on turquoise sea of icing. After the sun went down, a bonfire was lit and we enjoyed the rest of a very pleasant evening on the beach.
What a great way to usher in my next decade!

Reuinion Rendez-Vous

Caleta Partida, BCS, Mexico
November 14, 2009

After 15 years in the making, the Baker family and the Gifford family have redndez-vous'd on their boats in Mexico. We have been saying, "Tahiti 2010!" for so many years that it hasn't really sunk in that we are now cruising together. We spent two beautiful days (and windy nights) in Caleta Partida which is an anchorage between two islands (Isla Partida and Isla Espirtu Santos) that make up a National Park just north of La Paz.
Shortly after arriving and beyond the hugs and greetings, we all went for a snorkel. Austin has seen the light, and after the outgoing snorkel with Brad in deeper water, he snorkeled back in fairly shallow water with me and saw "about 10 times as many fish". It was the cutest thing ever to have him go from just wanting to get back to the dinghies to chasing fish and stopping and hovering above rocks excitedly pointing at his "finds". It is really exciting to watch him become a stronger and stronger swimmer everyday.
Totem and Capaz were joined by Blackdragon in the early evening. The hills looked very inviting, so we planned a hike for the morning before it got too hot. The wind from the Corumel (the local unpredictable wind), were still pretty strong which we looked forward to keeping us cool as we explored. However, they made our beach landing a challenge. We didn't realize that we could have gone around and landed in the lagoon, but the ranger (a couple of fisherman that he recruited) took pity on the ladies and their dinghy and carried the 30 yards over to calm of the lagoon. The going was pretty tough, steep and no real trail, so we didn't get very far but did get a great view of the bay, the lagoon and the shallow bite on the other side of it. After an entire year and then some of looking out for rattlesnakes, Behan saw her first one. I saw it too and I am hoping that means I won't "get" to see any more while we are here in Mexico.
There was a big group dinner on Capaz last night, followed by at least one of the kids not making it back his boat (Niall slept over). We are currently following Totem into La Paz where we will be doing some serious provisioning to get us through to Thanksgiving and our trip across the Sea of Cortez to Banderas Bay where we will be staying through the holidays.

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Night Class

Tropic of Cancer
Los Frailes, BCS, Mexico
November 10, 2009

We sit here on the Tropic of Cancer close to the largest coral reef in North America called Pulmo Reef. The vast variety of marine life is quite amazing. Last night another cruiser mentioned that if we turned on our deck lights (lights that shine down from the spreaders - think porch light), where it shines on the water, it would attract shrimp to the surface. As the shrimp were attracted to the surface the smaller fish that eat them would come too. Then the bigger fish that eat the smaller fish would follow. And so it happened between 7:30 and 10:00 last night we had three boys who got quite a biology lesson off the swim step of Capaz. When what we believe to have been Machete fish showed up their eyes flashed bright orange in the beam of our spotlight. Eventually, the fishing poles came out and after trying several methods, a fly used on regular line pole (we only have flies, no fly-fishing pole) got a couple of these guys onto the back deck for further inspection before they were through back.
This morning was another marine biology lesson commenced with 3 families of boys heading out toward the point here at Los Frailes (the coral reef and preserve are quite a ways around the corner from our anchorage). Everyone snorkeled for a good hour and we saw so many kinds of fish that it was incredible. The area was very rocky with several different kinds of coral growing on giant boulders. The 6 boys, ranging in age from 7 to 11 were so excited is was contagious. Even in this fairly remote area, a dive boat (panga) joined us for a few minutes before it moved its customer around the corner to the coral reef.
We visited the beach after anchoring yesterday afternoon and got to see the tracks of where a turtle was trying to find just the right place to make a nest. She dug several holes and ended up returning to the water without laying eggs. There is obliviously some sort of conservation going on here as there is another actual nest close by that has been marked and netting put over the eggs to keep out rats or lizards or what not.
I am pretty sure that the boys are learning a thing or two about what lives in the parts of the Big Blue that covers over 3/4 of our planet!

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Adios Cabo San Lucas

Motoring off of San Carlos, BCS, Mexico
November 9, 2009

We have left Cabo San Lucas. Being in port in a big city is both good and bad. There are things that can only be done then, so they all get squished into the limited time that you have in the particular place. It makes for a frenetic, exhausting existence that we are glad to leave behind when it is time to depart. However, part of the generally good feeling the accompanies departure from port probably comes from the laundry being caught up, the freezer being restocked, fresh fruits and vegetables abounding, pictures having been uploaded to the blog and emails having been read, responded to and sent.
Cabo San Lucas was particularly hectic as it was our check in port for Mexico, there were several Baja Ha Ha events and best of all good friends from Seattle arrived to their condo on the beach the same day we arrived in the harbor. We pretty anchored a two minute dinghy ride off of their place and spent some very relaxing time with them as they decompressed under the palapa.
The anchorage was OK on the whole, but from about noon to about 5:00, the jet-skiers were liable to drive one crazy. In the evenings, we were far enough from the main harbor and the beach front bars to not be bothered by them in the least.
An interesting note, two blocks from the condo was a "big box" store called City Club. It is a carbon copy of Costco. The cashiers and supervisors even wear red vests. Electronics are a little more expensive, non-perishables about the same and fruits and veggies pretty dang cheap.
We are now en route to a very exciting event. We are just days from our rendez-vous with Totem. We have talking with them on the radio and when we cannot connect via that mode, we have daily email chats with them. Fifteen years ago, we started talking about this cruising thing with them. Brad and I were already married; so it is now a marriage, 5 children between us, purchases of 3 boats between us, a post graduate degree, several jobs and two start-up businesses that bring us to the point where we are making the dreams of twenty-something selves come true.
That's some pretty heady stuff which is good because it makes my fortieth birthday milestone a little easier to swallow. Also, helping me over this hump will be friends joining us from Seattle. One friend is flying in from Seattle and hopefully our friends in Cabo will be able to drive over to La Paz.

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Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico
November 5, 2009
7:00am PST

We are currently rounding the cape of Cabo San Lucas. Once around, I guess we are officially in the Sea of Cortez! The sunrise on the Cape was gorgeous as was the sail from Bahia Santa Maria. We were able to sail most of the way in fabulous 12-17 knot winds from the North with pretty flat seas. The water temperature is currently up to 82*.
I am glad the day has started out so beautifully because ahead of me lies checking into Mexico and getting our visas, provisioning as we are pretty low on fresh fruits and veggies and possibly tackling the laundry. I am looking forward to our friends from Seattle are arriving in Cabo today! I think I might just put my feet up and enjoy this little lull between our finish and actually getting into the harbor.

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Bahia Santa Maria

Approaching Bahia Santa Maria at sunset

Bahia Santa Maria, BCS, Mexico
November 3, 2009

Wow! What a place this is! We arrived to the finish of this leg just before sunset. The bay was another hour or so away which meant that we entered in last light and proceeded to the anchorage in the dark. Luckily, there was another boat just ahead of us and four other Ha-Ha boats already anchored to give us clue as to the where to go. All that said, I still do not like anchoring in the dark.
Yesterday, there was alot of cleaning going on aboard CAPAZ, mostly because everyone went in for a beach day. Bryce has become very adept at taking the kayak in and out through some surf. We have all learned the string ray shuffle. The kids found great shells. There has also been alot of jumping off the pilothouse as the water temperature has reached 80*.
The hills (small mountains really) that protect this bay are tinged with green and everything is bloom because the Hurricane Jimena (sp?) that hit here in September parked and rained on this part of Baja that is normally very arid. The main bay just inland of us (Bahia Magdalena), really took the brunt of the storm - we heard they lost their clinic, their pharmacy and many businesses.
There is a lagoon and mangroves at the top of the bay. I did a little exploring by kayak this morning. At low tide a great sand bar dries between the lagoon and the anchorage (that was the site of the beach day, yesterday). The currents were a little weird go in, but there were all sorts of interesting fish and some different kinds of shore birds. I would have followed one of the sloughs, but I was all by myself (except for the guy doing yoga in the dunes) and I couldn't knock the feeling that it all really reminded me of the Florida Everglades where there are no kayaks for good reason and couldn't remember if there are crocs on Baja or if it just the mainland side of the Sea of Cortez. Needless to say, I headed back out to the anchorage.
Today there was an organized fish fry ashore. Everything has to be brought in by truck from quite a ways away. Then, there was the band, they were so great - really tight. We talked to one of the guys and they play this one gig a year for the Baja Ha Ha every year, otherwise they play with other bands usually. They played great classic rock dance music. There is sand, so of course there were sandcastles. The kids also rode their boogie boards in the outflow of the lagoon.
Anyway, tomorrow is an early start, 6:00 am Ha Ha time (we haven't switched to standard time or switched time zones, yet). We should reach Cabo sometime Thursday morning.

Bahia Santa Maria Anchorage

This very fast little crab decided that the best place to hide from Brad who had just released him onto the beach was under the blanket on which my butt was comfortably resting!

Pilothouses work well for water entries!

Fleeceless Night

Well, folks, for the first time since leaving Seattle, I had my first night watch that did not require fleece. That's not to say that we have not had warm nights; they just don't seem to coincide with being underway. We should reach our next Baja Ha Ha anchorage before sundown this evening at Bahia Santa Maria, just on the outside of Magdalena Bay.
We had a great sail for part of the afternoon and part of the evening. Around 9:00pm the wind died and the iron sail has been propelling us southward since. Despite the engine, it was a beautiful clear night with a full moon and lots of stars. We are all pretty much up and enjoyed this morning's beautiful sunrise and we celebrated the mellow seas with pancakes and bacon.

This Mahi-mahi was let go
It did not "get away"

Bryce caught his first mahi-mahi (also called dorado or dolphin fish depending on where you are), but the beautiful creature was a small one so we threw it back. He also caught two more skip jacks and bird. The bird picked up the lure once, then came back and when it tried again got caught on the hook. Now we know where the term, "bird brain" comes from. Brad carefully removed the hook and off flew the bird into the Big Blue.

Another episode of Gilligan's Island

We work our crew hard!

Brad's new favorite quote on cruising:
"This so does not suck!"