Ensenada to Ensenada de los Muertos

Ensenada November 2-5

We were able to check into Mexico without a hitch.  We had planned to stay here only 2 nights but strong winds were forcasted for the next day, so we stayed one extra night.  The cold front provided a good blow and a lot of rain, but we made the best of it by getting the kids homeschool done and swimming in the indoor pool.  We were itching to get south, so off we went on the 5^th.

 

  Grey whale swimming formation with us outside of Ensenada

Ensenada to Bahia Tortugas November 5-7

We had great wind and were able to sail much of the time on this passage.  It turned out to be a very eventful trip.  Not long after leaving Ensenada, we heard what sounded like a loud release of pressure.  Upon investigation, we found a 40ft grey whale swimming right beside us!  It practically touched our hull!  That really made our day.  The next day while cleaning the decks, Bob found a small squid on deck.  The girls promptly asked if they could discect it.  Yummy!  They had a ball looking at all the different parts of this creature.    About an hour outside of Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay), we started trailing a fishing line in hopes of catching dinner.  It couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes after we splashed the line when we got a bite!  We had caught a beautiful 25 lb. Yellow tail tuna!  We had a most delicious bar-b-qued fish dinner .  With the remainder of the tuna, we made ourselves a huge supply of poke (raw fish with soy sauce, green onion, ginger, sesame oil, onion, and ginger).  It was sooo good and lasted us a few days (I think that’s all Bob ate for 3 days straight-he was in heaven!).  Our stay in Bahia Tortugas was quite brief as we were focused on sailing South.  We were entertained by dolphins in the anchorage the one night we stayed there.

Bahia Tortugas to Bahia De Magdalena November 8-11

We were again able to sail much of the time.  At one point in our passage we had fairly steep beam seas and a strong quarter beam wind.  Not the most comfortable ride, but what can you do, right?  Luckily that only lasted for about 6 hours.  On this passage we caught another yellow tail.  It was much smaller, about 12 pounds, and we stupidly let it go, due to the copious amounts of fish we still had.  Well, wouldn’t you know, within the next few days we ended up losing 3 of our lures, and therefore putting a hold on our fishing.  We are waiting to get to La Paz where we can resupply ourselves with fishing accessories.  The day before arriving at Mag Bay, we were graced with the appearance and show of 4 beautiful Orcas.  They were putting on quite a show, jumping out of the water and flopping on their backs.  It looked as though one was a young calf.  They swam right under our boat and then  off into the sunset.  What a treat!  The morning we began entering Magdalena Bay, Shari was on watch at sunrise when she and Salty heard very strange noises.  It sounded like numerous kids doing belly flops in the water near our boat.  When they looked closer  they saw bunches of rays jumping out of the water and “splat!” landing flat on the water.  They continued their show from 5:30-6:30am.  Absolutely amazing!  Luckily Bob saw it, but the girls were fast asleep and missed it.

We were anchored in Magdalena Bay by 7:30am and on the beach shortly after.  The air was so warm as well as the water.  The beach was covered in shells and various bones from sharks, whales, and dolphins.  We all enjoyed it here, especially Salty!  He hadn’t been on shore since Ensenada and had loads of energy to burn off.  We stayed here about 36 hours.  Our next passage took us around and past Cabo San Lucas to a lovely bay called Los Frailes.

 Evening watch handoff at sea

Magdalena Bay to Los Frailes November 11-14

The passage was quite uneventful.  We began seeing more traffic (other pleasure boats and large ships) as we came closer to Cabo San Lucas.  We were more than happy to pass right on by Cabo and all of its bright city lights.  Los Frailes was a wonderful sight when we arrived.  The water was warmer than we could believe and the most beautiful clear aqua color.  People were jumping in off their boats all over the bay.  Of course, Bob had to join in on the fun.  The sand was warm and welcoming.  We played for hours there.  We all got some snorkel time in too.  There were numerous types of tropical fish swimming with us as well as pelicans diving in for a snack.  There was even a dog fish swimming around us.  He had black and gray spots all over as well as 4 legs!  Salty always has to be near us, even when we’re out swimming.  At night we pointed a flashlight into the water and were blown away by how many fish were swimming around us.  They had glowing orange eyes that made the water look like it was on fire when the light shined on them.  It’s been getting dark quite early here which has been great for star gazing.  Bob and I took Salty for a walk on the beach our last night here and for fun we brought some wine.  Salty had a great time as always playing with his Frisbee as Bob and I enjoyed an excellent night of stargazing.  There were soooo many stars out, it was almost impossible to find the constellations!

Los Frailes to Ensenada De Los Muertos November 15…

We left Los Frailes early in the morning to arrive at Los Muertos in the daylight.  We had a nice passage motor sailing the whole way.  We aren’t sure how long we’ll stay here, but it will probably be for a couple of nights.  There’s a resturaunt here with internet, so we’re definitely taking advantage of that.  After this we will slowly make our way north to La Paz, stopping on the way at some beautiful anchorages.  We will update the blog again once in La Paz.  We hope everyone is doing well back home.  Our love to you all.

 

 Bob's prize catch outside of Turtle Bay

Our attempts at making sushi while underway to Bahia Magdalena.

Annie doing a cannonball of the boat at Los Frailes.