ENSENADA TO CABO SAN LUCAS

We took shelter in Ensenada for 4 days to wait for the winds to die (3 days of 25 kt+ winds and 12 to 18 foot seas!!). On Friday, October 30 we departed early under clear skies and calm winds (sea swell was still high but diminishing) but also very cool for the area (47 degrees).

The sun warmed the day and the seas were comfortable.

Picked up a passenger for a while,,,,,

Sheer cliffs and flat plateaus are easily distinguishable landmarks of Punta Colonet, where we anchored for the night. The anchorage was somewhat rolly, however, so we put out our "flopper stopper" to help stabilize the boat. We have always like to get an early start in the morning, so it's pretty standard to be up by 5:00 a.m., lift anchor and be on our way. We left Punta Colonet at 5:30 a.m. and headed south.

Don and Jacquie

Turtle Bay

About 3 hours into the day, we decided to do an overnight to Turtle Bay, which lies about halfway down the Baja California Coast. It is the best all-weather anchorage between Ensenada Bay and Magdalena Bay. We traveled 224 miles and arrived in Turtle Bay the next afternoon. Our friends from Blaine, Don and Jacquie aboard s/v Lil Christian were anchored in Turtle Bay and waiting for us. They were a part of the Baja Ha Ha 2009 rally this year. We had a great visit with them and will meet up with them further south.
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Early To Bed, Early to Rise
Along the way we passed Cedros Island, which is the largest island in on the Pacific side of the Baja. It runs about 20 miles North and South and has a large salt depot at the south end. We noted a small village just north of the salt depot. Though the island looks barren, there are remains of its once great groves of pine, oak and junipers. Early Spanish explorers named the island after identifying the junipers as "cedars".

Sunrise at Asuncion from the bow.....and

Moon set at Asunsion...at the same time from the stern.

Our next stop was only 50+ miles at Bahia Asunsion. The day cruise was fantastic-calm and quiet. We sat on the deck most of the day reading and relaxing. We also took some time out to do a little fishing but no luck. Water temperature was 76 degrees.......We saw some whales spouting and had scores of dolphins escorted us on our bow. When we were anchoring, the wind rose to 20 knots but calmed down after an hour or so. We continued our now nightly game of Mexican train.

FISH ON!

Moving on early the next morning, we again had a gorgeous sunrise. John and Wally caught two yellow fin tuna. Then Linda caught a large dorado but we didn't have a net out and it got away. But a couple of minutes later, she caught another one and the net was ready. Success! They made for a great dinner. We continued south overnight, seeing only a couple of fishing boats on the radar. A full moon again lit the night. We arrived at Belcher Point in Mag Bay by noon the next day. We spent the rest of the day catching up on our sleep and just plain relaxing. One more overnight brought us to Cabo San Lucas. We traveled 800+ miles from San Diego to Cabo and enjoyed the entire trip.......

Once in Cabo, we launched the dinghy and found a restaurant that served fish tacos and cervesas (bucket for $10) while we were serenaded by a Mexican that played/sang The Eagles and Eric Clapton tunes along with other beautiful Mexican songs. We picked up a few items at the local store and took the dinghy over to explore the rock formations.

We left early the next morning and crossed the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan (190 miles), where we dropped Wally and Linda at their boat in the marina. We will stay here for a few days for boat maintenance and some sight-seeing. Our plan is to depart Mazatlan on the 14th for La Cruz, more down the road.....water temperature 84 degrees....