Baja Sur: A Change in the Weather… and water temperature!
Hello again from
the healthy and happy crew of Sound Discovery! We’re getting a little ripe, but
managed to take a few dunks in the ocean to clean up along the way. No one has
gotten deathly ill from our restaurante
adventures in town, although we did invest in a strong anti-diarrheal drug for
our first-aid kit. Almost immediately after leaving Bahía Tortugas the weather
took a welcoming turn for the better. We’ve had warm sun and following winds
every afternoon, with calm mornings.
You might have noticed that I changed not only the blog image heading, but I also updated the "Schedule" page and the "Galley Time" page. Both of those you can access in the tool bar. If you're interested in reading about our Mexican cooking, check out the galley page after you read the blog.
Our Bahía
Tortugas visit ended very comically with a one-armed-man named Pedro. Pedro, we
had been told from other yatistas, was a great help, who could always be hailed
on VHF 16. Turns out, you don’t need to hail Pedro at all… Pedro hails you. Pedro
spends his says on the fuel dock, finding yatistas to “help” ensuring that it
is his job to be security for all touristas. Now, Pedro, being a one-armed-man,
seems to attract the sympathy of all the aging yachties that come into town,
and probably makes out like a bandit in propinas
(tips).
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| Pedro sits up top Enrique's Fuel Dock. |
Throughout our
day in town, Dad and I had seen Pedro several times, and he seemed to be very
attentive to us, also telling us of a big party that was happening that night.
Clif, willing to see what Pedro had to offer, allowed him to take us to “the
party,” which turned out to be a very empty discoteca
(night club) where his friend worked. We thanked him for the advice, and told
him we needed to get dinner…. Not drinks. Pedro again said, “Es ok, es ok, I
show you…” pointing to his eyes and waving his one arm. He promptly brought us
to another friends taco stand, next to the discoteca. Clif and I tried with a
little more effort to say “Thank you, but NO thank you,” in Spanish, but the
point wasn’t getting across. Pedro insisted that he was our bodyguard for the
evening and he would keep up safe and have a good time. And gosh darn it, he
better be getting a good tip.
Looking back, I
should have told Pedro right off the bat that we didn’t have enough money for a
tip… or maybe even that we wouldn’t give him a tip. Upon hearing that, he
probably wouldn’t have wasted his time.
But all went
well.
Pedro did end up
showing us a nice restaurant in a local home, and we did convince him finally
that Clif and I did not want to party
that night. He walked us back to the dock, received a small tip from me (funny
how the word ‘propina’ is one that I
remember very clearly form the restaurant business), and we were on our way.
Bahía Tortugas to Bahía
Acsunción
What a
beautiful, short run we had down to Acsunción! We left around 4am, with a sky
full of stars, motoring our way out of the bay. Clif and I watched the stars
start to fade as the little bit of sunlight began to hit the glassy calm water
that surrounded us. We motored half the day and sailed through the afternoon.
Along the way we ran into an abundance of sea life, including leaping sea lions, a whale, some
distance off, and an enormous pod of dolphins!! The dolphins were a especially
phenomenal. I grabbed the GoPro just in time to catch a great video above and
below the water of the dolphins swarming our boat. I can’t wait to put together
a little video and post it… maybe in San Jose del Cabo!
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| Clif and Dad take quick, cold dunk in the ocean! |
We also took a
little swim for the first time! We “parked” the boat, heaving-to, tossed a lone
line off the boat with a buoy attached to the end and put our little swim
ladder into the water. After soaping up on deck, we took turns jumping in to
rinse off. Because the current was still moving, we had to hold on to the
trailing rope, but boy, did it feel good!!
There’s Always Something…
We sailed into Acsunción,
just flying into the bay, sailing at 7 knots with an 18-20 knot wind speed.
Everything was going smoothly until we started taking the sails down and tried
to start up the engine. With a first churn of the key the starter would turn
and turn, but the engine wouldn’t start. We kept the main sail up, knowing that
this was NOT normal. A second try, still no start-up. A third try… and nothing.
We sailed onto
anchor (our very first time of doing do) with great ease. There were several
other sailing vessels coming in behind us and must have thought we were total
pros. After anchoring up, we tried our best to get the motor running, but she
was not a happy camper. It got dark and Clif had exhausted his resources, so we
made a wonderful meal of rice, beans, zucchini, and tortillas, washed it down
with some box wine and went to bed.
In the morning,
we called Jim Betts, a family friend in Juneau who works on Westerbeke Marine
diesel engines. He helped out tremendously, giving us a list of steps to walk
through to fix the problem. (Thank you, Jim! We will send you some Mexican
specialties via snail mail from Cabo). What we mutually decided was that we got
bad fuel in Bahía Tortugas. There was some water in the fuel, which ruined our
fuel filter. We luckily had a spare one on board, but needed a couple small
parts in town. With the help of some local pangeros (fisherman), we found a
diesel mechanic in town who could help Clif out—all out of kindness.
Back on the
boat, after rowing in and out together from our anchorage (which kind of looks
like a clown car with three of us piled in), we finished up the steps and got
the motor running!! What a relief to hear the engine turn over and rev up! Oh wonderful little Westerbeke… you brought
us this far and have worked so hard… we just need to get to Cabo!
With the engine
starting and running smoothly, we enjoyed a round of cervezas on the boat deck. Clif and I rowed back into town to give
the mechanics a 6-pack of Tecate beer and pick up a couple more provisions
(including ice and some tacos to-go). The surf in the afternoon increased,
making our beach landing quite the spectacle in our little dinghy. I jumped off
the bow, attempted to jump the surf while pulling in the bowline. Half of me
ended up in the water. I laughed, thankful that it was sunny and warm outside,
so I would dry out quickly.
A Perfect Day (and Night)
of Sailing
I woke up
Tuesday morning to an engine running smoothly and happily out of Bahía
Acsunsión. We had a good wind right off the bat, allowing us to sail on a beam
reach straight in the direction of our destination. It was 110 miles down south
to San Juanico, a Baja surfer-stop favorite that we intended to check out. The
morning wind grew strong and gusted from 15-25 knots. With one reef in the main
sail and a halfway furled jib, we clipped along at a speedy 5.5-7 knots. 7
knots is about as fast as we can sail, no matter what weather, so when we
attain that speed, we take advantage of it!
The wind died
down around noon, so we took a lunch break (thank you Dad for the yummy
quesadillas) and another quick swim in the glassy calm sea, which had been
roaring only hours before. I finally washed my hair in the ocean (8 days is
pushing it for my long, thick hair), and with a couple washes, I managed to
clean up pretty well.
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| Dad enjoying the high-side during a sail. |
At the end of
our swim, I was just getting onto the deck, Clif still in the water, when I
heard and saw an unusual splash behind the boat’s transom. Clif, also seeing
the disturbed water, leaped onto the swim ladder faster than the splash could
fade away! Not knowing what the splash was, we declared “swim time” over,
cleaned up the cockpit quickly and began to motor on.
The rest of the
day and into the partly cloudy evening we sailed downwind. I was glad my Dad
got to experience a night out on the open water with a bright Milky Way and the
sailing up, no clamoring of the diesel engine to disturb the night air.
Bahía San Juanico
San Juanico is a
quiet, “relaxing” little village, as one local told me in a beachside palapa.
San Juanico is a coveted surfer destination because of the easy peeling waves
that begin almost a half-a-mile offshore and continue over soft sand. We witnessed
a handful of SUP (stand-up-paddle) boarders surfing the small waves during our
brief stint in town. We rowed ashore onto the sandy, almost empty beach and
made our way through the dirt roads of town. We actually managed to find 5
gallons of diesel at a mechanics shop, which was a tad-bit spendy, but worth
the pesos in such a small, remote village.
We enjoyed a
little Internet access and a couple of shrimp tacos before riding back to the
boat in out dinghy. The surf was tempting, but too small for our little
fun-board. Yet another reason to invest in an inflatable SUP (on our water toy
wish list).
Before we left
San Juanico, we did load up on more delicious local tortillas from the grocery
store, as well as some new avocados, green peppers, eggs and cheese (pretty
standard Mexican groceries).
Through the
night, we motored our way 90 miles to Bahía Santa María.
What we are Thankful For…
Since this
section of the journey fell over the Thanksgiving holiday, we have had a
“thankful” theme in a lot of our conversations. Clif and I are thankful for so
many things; the list is endless. Of course, our first and foremost is being
thankful for the presence of my Dad as our Baja crewmember. We’ve had some long
runs, and he has made our dream of Baja that much more attainable.
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| Clif snorkeling and spear fishing in Santa Maria Cove. |
We spent our
Thanksgiving Day at anchor in Bahía Santa María. There were several other sail
boats in the anchorage, very similar in size and outfit (we saw lots of monitor
wind vanes, dinghies, and surf boards). In fact, we even had a couple from San
Clemente come up and wish us a Happy Thanksgiving in their dinghy! Santa María
Cove was a real landmark in a warmer, more tropical climate. The land was a bit
greener and the water just slightly warmer. The heat of the day made us swim
several times around the boat at anchor, and Clif and I even found a spot to go
snorkeling for the first time in our journey. It was a perfect, relaxing, day
in the water and sun.
In the evening,
we made some tequila drinks and talked about what we were most thankful for
during this trip. I said that I was thankful for warm, swimmable waters. Clif said he was thankful for not being able to
tell what was more beautiful in Mexico: the sunrises or the sunsets. Dad said
he was thankful to be with us on the boat.
***
Other important people we’ve been meaning
to thank again and again….
Jim Betts, of
Juneau, who has helped us out with our diesel engine both in and out of the
U.S. now, via cell conversations. It’s extremely nice to be able to call
someone with such experience and work on our own motor.
Ed Page, of the
Marine Exchange in Juneau, who gave us our underwater GoPro camera that we are
using more and more now that we can dive and swim off the boat!
Fr. Thomas, in
Petersberg, who gave us our Walker Bay dinghy and stressed the importance of
having a better dinghy for Mexico… you
were right! We love it. We were able to snorkel off of it yesterday!
And… especially
our friends Dave and Jill, who constantly send us loving text messages via our
InReach and make us thankful for our good friends.
The list could go on…
Our Last Leg into Cabo
On our last leg,
a long 180-mile stretch of mountainous, non-sheltering Baja coastline, we
started asking each other “What will be the first thing you do when we get to
Cabo?” My answer: take a shower and wash my hair… at least twice! Do a load of
laundry, wash all of our linens and scrub the cockpit clean. After three people
bathing/soaping up in the cockpit and then going for a swim, you can only
imagine the hair that has accumulated in weird places… mostly my long hair (sorry Clif). Clif’s first thing to do
when he gets to Cabo is… absolutely
nothing. Probably drink a Tecate, while Dad and I go window shop for
inflatable SUP boards.
Our first day
out of Santa María we saw a pod of humpback whales hanging out on the surface,
fairly close to the boat. One of the humpbacks actually decided to get a better
look of our hull, coming up right next to the bow and diving underneath. The
water was so clear, we were able to stand up by the mast and watch his massive
black body move gracefully under our boat, diving deeper as he passed to the
other side.
The reappearance
of these humpback whales reminded me of just a short three months ago, sailing
through Hobart Bay, two days south of Juneau, swarmed in a sea of humpbacks. At
the time, we were thrilled at the prospect of “migrating” with them down the
Pacific coast. Now, just two days out of our goal destination, it is a timely gift
to see these whales appear once again. We watched several put on a show, not
even a quarter of a mile off our port side, slapping their flukes and waving
their fins; just as happy as us to be in the warm Baja waters! Seeing the
humpbacks again, a whale that will always remind me of home, seems to put this
journey in a much larger perspective. Those great, slow mammals make this journey
twice every year! We are fortunate enough to get to share it with them, even if
just this once.
We took one last
dunk in the Baja waters with my Dad, hours before we would arrive in Cabo and
he would have to get back on a plane bound for the States. He’s off to Seattle
for a larger personal endeavor of another kind. I’m so grateful I got to spend
this time with him and that he got to share in our Baja voyage. He made this
section of the trip very special to me.
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| Checking out the village mapa in San Juanico. |
_______________________________________________________________
I asked my Dad if he was interested in writing a
little blurb for the blog. I’m glad I
did!
So
here’s another new section of our blog, hopefully one that continues with
future visitors…
A Word from the Crew
by Rich Stone
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| Dad doing the dishes! |
What an amazing
two weeks aboard the Sound Discovery with Giselle and Clif. I am so fortunate
to have been invited onboard for the Baja Run – San Diego to Cabo! I was asked
to write a few comments in the blog and am honored to do so. These are a few of
my many memories from the adventure along the Baja Pacific.
After I arrived in
San Diego the cabbie dropped me about a mile away from the harbor at 10 pm. The
driver thought I wanted to go to the Naval Base and the Shore Patrol guarding
the entry looked at me with some degree of question. I took this as a good sign
for my entry into Mexico thinking I would fit in just fine as an apparent
expat. After provisioning the boat and spending a day or so at the Point Loma
Marina we set sail out of the San Diego harbor weaving our way around three US
Naval destroyers toward the outside waters. It was my first sail offshore and
first night at sea (of several) which proved to be one of the highlights of my
time aboard the boat.
Orion rising!
Starry nights began with colorful deep red and turquoise sunsets resting on
dancing sea swells. The constellation Orion and his best friend Sirius divided
the night into north and south. The moon was full at the beginning of our
voyage and we watched nearly every night as it waned into a thin crescent.
Night sails ended in soft colorful sunrises to the east. My watch at the helm
left me in awe of the immensity of the ocean and sky. I felt a sense of being
very small and very whole at the same time.
Baja coast! As
we headed south the coastline was nearly ever present to the east. Thin ribbons
of distant arid plateau would drop away from view and then re emerge punctuated
by ragged peaks of rust and sage. The bahías
and puntas became waypoints and areas
of exploration. Sandy beaches provided sanctuary, as well as challenges for
accessing small Mexican fishing villages along our way. Unlike Southeast Alaska,
the coastline and shallows seemed predictable with safe anchorage. The Walker
Bay proved a worthy ships dinghy and provided taxi service back and forth from
the fuel dock to anchorage under sail.
Sea and swell!
Surprisingly enough I didn’t get seasick! The waters seemed clear and clean for
the most part with just enough salt to sting the eyes and straighten the hair.
The boat handled very well in waves that at the most were 5 – 6 foot sea swell
with 3 – 4 foot chop on top. Our daytime cruises provided opportunity with
flapping fluke whales and dancing porpoises, as well as sea lions and other
deep sea monsters that visited while swimming during a break along our run in
quiet waters. Clif managed to fight off the behemoth, saving his crew before
quickly skipping up the boat ladder to the ships gunwale.
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| Tacos Durados (Fried corn tortilla tacos) |
¡Tacos Durados! The cuisine on and off the ship was
incredible. After discovering “Dora’s” flour tortillas (the label on the package was a piece of masking tape with her name
written in felt marker), we consumed mass quantities of burritos,
quesadillas and peanut butter roll ups. We cleaned the eggs with an
antibacterial soap solution and had morning scramble hash – with Dora’s
tortillas. Tacos Durados was the order
of choice at the Mexican village cantinas: And of course Tecate. Tecate silver!
Tecate Red! And Tecate TI-Tanium!!! Between one-pot-wonders onboard, and
wondering what we were eating on land, we never went hungry. Any challenges to
the digestive system were quickly remedied with prescription strength Lomotil. FYI, two tiny pills will be
sufficient for pretty much any cure.
Amigos and
mates! The people of the villages were very friendly and helpful. Some offered
to be tour guides, security guards and escorts to evening social scenes (A tip is always expected). However, the
discoteca in Bahía Tortuga started their glitter reeling a little too late for
this crew – much to Pedro’s discontent. Even as friendly as the village locals
were, the crew of the Sound Discovery
twas me best mates. I didn’t realize it in San Diego, but Giselle and Clif had
provisioned the boat with ample quantities of trust, respect, competence and,
well gosh, I suppose a sailor shouldn’t be saying the word but I’ll say it,
love. Tis a great ship, but the crew made it an awesome voyage. Thanks Giselle
and Clif, for many amazing memories, most of which, I would need more time and
Tecate to pen. I am humbled by your spirit of adventure, your capable hands and
curious hearts. I am so grateful for your having me aboard. Safe journeys!
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From here... (back to Giselle)
Clif and I will be headed over to the La Paz area very slowly. It's time to relax and know that we don't have to be anywhere anytime soon. What a weird feeling. We've been pushing it for so long, it feels weird to think that we have no agenda; no dates to try and rush towards. We will be flying to Seattle for Christmas, to spend some time with my family, and then will come back down to La Paz and up to Loreto for New Years to see Clif's parents. I updated our schedule page, put a little calendar in there, so you can take a look if you like.
Looking forward to blogging more about swimming, snorkeling, sun-bathing and improving my Spanish!
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| Dad unties the dinghy for Clif on Enrique's fuel dock in Bahia Tortugas. |
