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!