The Whale and Cruising south in baja

Well we decided to start our trek down the coast of Baja the same day as the Baja 1000 started in town though be it a lot slower trip it just somehow seemed appropriate. As a few of you know we decided to gunk hole our way down the coast rather than going straight shot to here then to Magdalena bay and then of coarse Cabo.

Well for all our sailing buddies the anchorages down the coast are almost without exception very poor for getting a good nights sleep. So guess what, no more stopping at every anchorage along the way. One more stop in Magdalena then around the bend to Cabo. We have seen a lot of wild life along the way, some too close for comfort, and the weather has been foggy for a few of the days. We were going to stop on an island named San Martin but it was so foggy we couldn't see more than 50 meters so we bypassed it and went for the bay of San Quintin. It is a well protected from the north west swell but it is shallow with many shoals. Reluctantly we entered and anchored in 13 feet of water and were settling in for dinner when I heard a blow hole of a whale followed by a tremendous stink. It was a thirty five foot Gray wale. He or she, we couldn't tell, was circling our boat for a bit then came in straight to our port beam, left side in the middle, and gently began to rub its nose on the keel and side of the boat. This went on for twenty minutes and then it went to rub on the rudder of the boat. We felt the boat raise up and that was enough for me.We started the motor and revved it in neutral a few times. This kept it away for a few seconds then back it came. By then it was almost dark so I grabbed the flashlight and shined it in his right eye. This he did not like and off he went to circle us a few more times then vanished into the bay. You can be aw struck and scared to the point of shiting yourself. The rest of the night we barley slept because every little noise woke us thinking it was you know who.

Our next stop was San Carlos bay. It turns out to be a surfing mecca of sorts. It consists of a small fishing village of about ten huts, all with solar panels, and a small air strip. We were there Saturday and were treated to a surfing exhibition. Even a small plane landed early in the morning. Also that day a boat came in and anchored next to us. After setting up we watched one of the crew climb up the mast to the spreaders and dive in the water. He turned out to be from Santa Cruz and was crewing for friends going south. Our next stop was ninety five miles south to Cedros Island. To be sure to arrive in daylight we decided to cross the bay in the night. Winds were higher than we expected and the swell was higher than we would have liked. To date this was the hardest leg of our trip south. We had hoped to split the night watch and sleep but it was not to be. Wrung out and very tired we pulled into the harbor of Cedros village around 9AM the following day. There we were welcomed by three boys flying kites on the brake water we waved back went below and cat napped for a couple hours then set about our duties as parents. You see Phoebe can sleep through anything and was bright eyed and bushy tailed wanting our attention. To her credit she was quiet while we napped. We hit the hay early that night, the anchorage was smooth and we slept deep and well. Cedros is an often ignored anchorage due to it only being thirty miles from turtle bay. But from what we saw and heard from others in the anchorage the port captain is a very engaging personality. He has been known to take visitors around for personal tours. He wishes more cruisers would come and enjoy this villages hospitality.

In the morning we got the boat ready and pulled up at nine a.m. Two hours later after clearing the islands influence on wind and swell we were treated to the best sail of the whole trip. Following seas with eighteen knots of wind. We arrived in Turtle Bay in about six hours. We set up for a few days stay and found many of the cruisers with kids we have met along the way turned out to be here as well.

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