Sail Cutthroat

9 November 0100 hours
N 23 35.145 W110 45.800

You could put a small Navy in Bahia Santa Maria! It’s huge with very adequate anchoring areas in 20 - 30 feet of water. We found a nice secluded place for Cutthroat and had the anchor placed and secure just before dark set upon us. This harbor is about the last place to safely anchor until you get to Cabo and it’s also known for it’s superb fishing - duh. Now sportfishing boats and sailboats are as different as their owners and that was reflected in where the boats chose to anchor. The sportfishers were all on one side of the saddle as you first entered the bay and the sailboats were on the other side. As more boats arrived they each went to their respective corner. It was if it was stated in the cruising guide - pretty humorous. Because of the effect of the hillsides and a little saddle there was a pretty stiff breeze now - more than we’ve seen in two days. Roger did another excellent job on the dorado we caught earlier - this exceeded our expectations and I secretly regret giving the “big one” back. Oh well - the next fish won’t be nearly as lucky. Speaking of fish, Roger and Carol saw a couple of whales at a distance but we didn’t see nearly as many dolphins or birds as previous days. All in all it was a quiet day and peaceful night. Yes, we had another spectacular sunset and star show. The moon is getting smaller again but very bright and keeping me company through this night watch.

This is my favorite watch by the way. It’s quiet, peaceful - I can keep up with my journal entries and email in the cockpit and listen to my Ipod. There’s usually someone to talk to on the radio at some point and now that it’s getting warmer we’re in shorts and t-shirts all day and night long. The water temperature is in the high 70’s. I don’t have to worry about preparing a meal and since it’s dark and there’s only one of us on watch at a time, we limit our activities to the cockpit as much as possible. We wear an auto-inflating life jacket with a harness and tether line. If you do leave the cockpit, you hook on to the jack line so you don’t find yourself in the water - not a pleasant thought.

Since everybody worked so hard the previous day, we had steak and eggs for breakfast. We were all al little tired this morning as we set out for Cabo - Carol didn’t even fish - didn’t think we could get the next one into the boat (the fish keep getting bigger). Listening to the radio, we discovered that the Baja HaHa folks had just left Bahia Santa Maria the morning before which means there are over 180 boats heading for Cabo just 24 hours in front of us. The Baja HaHa is an annual regatta that provides a group sail from San Diego to Mexico. It’s been going on for some 20 years now and continues to grow in size. Boats from all over the West Coast gather in San Diego in October for this floating 10 day southbound party stopping and partying in Turtle Bay, Bahia Santa Maria and ending in Cabo. It’s a great idea and way for people to have the safety of numbers in making this trip. The down side is the thought of 180 boats trying to anchor in any harbor - add a little alcohol, etc. - I think I’ve outgrown it. They also pretty much stay on their schedule and we wanted a little more flexibility. In any case, we left some behind today and passed several others. Yes, it was another windless day for the most part - at least it didn’t meet the 5 knot minimum. We spoke with several boats this afternoon cruising at 3-4 knots - I’ll pass! One had engine problems, but mostly they don’t have enough fuel. Fortunately we had neither problem. Where’s that 15-25 knots of wind that was forecasted? Oh well - on to Cabo!

Cabo is at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez come together giving it a bit of a cape effect. That means that it might get a little bumpy and maybe even windy as we round the cape towards Cabo. The strongest effects of this are typically in the afternoon so we’ve timed our arrival for the morning - we should be there around 0900 hours. The weather forecast is still very favorable and the winds light so this should be a breeze. We are actually going to avoid the main Cabo Harbor and stop at the next port over (actually more like a suburb of Cabo), San Jose del Cabo. They have a newly opened marina that sounds very nice and it should avoid most of the HaHa crowd.

It’s a little after 0130 hours with one light in sight but nothing picking up on the radar right now. Everything is in working order. We plan on staying in Cabo until Monday morning (there’s a Costco there and we want to top off the fuel tank). I should also get a chance to add photos to the website. Then we leave for Mazatlan.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been gone for over a week already. The time is flying and we’re getting into our cruising routine.

Thanks for joining us on our adventure. We appreciate all your comments and responses.