Our journey down Baja

I have been busy with boat stuff so I have not composed anything for the blog. Paula, one of the crew, has been sending wordy emails to here husband and friends so I will just cut and paste her posts here so everyone knows what is going on so far. I will take the time to update the blog once I am in Barra Navidad.

Paula writes;

Hi Byron, here is an update so far. Will try to send more as things progress.
Sunday, motored into Ensenada. Got there at night and tied up to the fuel dock in Coral Harbor. Next morning had chance to take a quick shower, last chance till turtle bay, about three days out. We ran into John & Jeannie Burzan (NMA)on the dock, small cruising world. As I walked up the fuel dock I was shocked to recognize the bathroom facilities as being the ones we used when Astor docked here - deja vu. Went with Monica to see port captain which turned out to be a three hour tour. The captain insisted that all hands be present so we had to send Becka and Glen to see him after we returned.
Monday, we left Ensenada around noon. As we approached the Coronado Islands, a pod of dolphins escorted us. They were playing in the bow wake, and as I leaned over the edge of trampoline, I got sprayed in the face by a surfacing dolphin. "Thar she blows," has a whole new meaning. While B & I were sleeping, M & G saw whales. Later, when I got up I saw two spouts and whale surface. Becka missed it. Fashionably late as usual. What a rock star!
Yesterday the seas were calm today we are getting swells and everyone is a bit quesy. Despite all this we all managed to scarf down Monica's great meals. Becka and I are doing 3 hour shifts but doubling up with G & M in the evenings. We will be sailing straight through the next 3 days to turtle bay. The nights have been frigid. We are about 3-4 blankets deep and sleeping in our clothes. Definitely looking for changes in latitude!
Tuesday, started my shift at 5:30. The seas are calm, the moon is reflecting on the water; the Sun is about to rise; and two brightly shinning stars are determined to cast their brilence to the end in the coming dawn. Quite the stellar morning!
Everyone appears in better spirits this morning - a reset after yesterdays rock and roll. Rebecca is holding her own without taking anti-seasick medication although she can't sit in the salon for too long. Today she saw a blow spout. The rest of us think she is full of it.
What's that streaming across my face, why its the wind. Wind! This is the first day we have been able to turn of the engines and put up the new jeniker sail. For four hours we were actually sailing and we hit 8 knots. Glen was hopping around like a proud papa.
Tonight's meal is the one-pot-wonder of chile mac. And in honor of our better appetites and our first bit of actual sailing we broke out a bottle of two buck chuck.
Please forward on to my list of people.
Love, Paula


Byron, here is the next update.
Wedn morning is overcast and we are currently motoring past Cedros Isle. We should be in Turtle Bay around noon.
I find it curious that we are traveling about 2 miles off shore and we are being invaded by flies. Curiosity quickly turned to annoyance and Monica broke out the fly zapper. This took the form of a tennis racket that electrifies insects on contact. What does one do when they land on ones sister. Smack! Zap! Two pests in one.
We must be getting close because we are picking our way through lobster pots like a mine field. As we round the corner into Turtle Bay we start seeing multiple spouts of water and an occasional fluke waving salute.
We set the anchor and poured a round of cocktails to celebrate our arrival. Paula had a mango & rum. Anyone for a little "Captain." Glen is in constant "MacGyver" mode and installed outside speakers for the evening mood music. Meanwhile, Rebecca, beer in hand rocks out to Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise." We followed this up with steak on the barbie and a bottle of wine. We managed to stay awake long enough to watch a movie, but we were secretly longing for our first night of uninterrupted sleep since Ensendada.
Thursday - The town of Turtle Bay is a relatively small fishing village. They have two warring fuel suppliers and pongas(boats) from both, race out to meet incoming cruisers vying for their patronage. Glen has been here before and has his preference.
This morning we heard the bells of a church on shore that Rebecca swears looks like IHOP. This of course set the tone for breakfast. We splurged and had pancakes and Monica's banana fosters topping.
Today is overcast and rain has finally caught up to us. It's a good day to be inside and several of us pull out cherished books which we were unable to read previously without being ill. We watch all day as a few other cruisers motor into the harbor and set anchor. Glen took the ding over to say hello to "Fantasia," a boat that tied up next to us at the fuel dock in Ensenada. After dinner we got into a rip roaring game of Mexican train(Dominoes} before calling is quits for the evening.
Hope all is well. Any new updates on Astor or Lannie? How is Kitty? How is the progress?
Love, Paula


Friday morning we were happy to see signs of clearing. For the last several days we have been walking around dressed like Eskimo. Today however, the sun came out by noon and we were finely able to put on shorts and T's.
This change in weather also signified the first opportunity for showers. The sun shower bag was hoisted by halyard and the nosel feed through the bathroom skylight. While most hands were on deck securing the line to the water bag, Paula ran to the front of the line and locked herself in the shower before anyone could beat her to the punch. First one in, warmest water. Ahhhhhh!
We pulled up anchor and motored over to "Fantasia" to give our greetings. Fantasia's crew consists of Jeff, Ann and their two daughters Julie and Krista. The day before we agreed to cruise out together to San Ignacio, our next whale adventure. Jeff tells us there are already five other cruisers ahead of us in San Ignacio.
As we head south along the coast, Fantasia trailing behind, we continue to see an occasional whale sunning itself at the surface. The air is so clear and the mountains multicolored like the painted desert in Arizona. Rebecca and Glen are trying their hand at fishing from the back of the boat as we again motor southbound.
We are officially back on shifts again and there will be no more sleeping in for another day and a half.
More to follow, Love Paula
27 41.1N 114 53.2W 1455 hours


Saturday - 5:30 on deck and no sight of Fantasia. Apparently we got some wind last night, raised the sails and left them far behind in our wake. They'll catch up to us later.
The morning is overcast but at least not as cold. I can see the lighthouse at Punta Abreojos where we intend to anchor. San Ignacio is just across the bay.
San Ignacio Lagoon is a protected whale refuge and is closed to vessels and dingy's. We hope to catch a tour that is licensed to take us into the lagoon.
We arrived at our destination and there is a NE wid that causes us to anchor an inlet sooner that we wanted. We hunker down for the day and wait out the blustery weather. A neighboring cruiser "Nomad" hales us to say hello. Shortly thereafter we hear them talking with Fantasia who is approaching and just visible on the horizon.
Later that morning we arrange for a panga(small boat) to pick us up and take us to the whale lagoon. Paco arrives in his fiberglass fishing boat that smells mildly of fish. We all jump in and Paco takes off at a screaming pace across the bay. Unfortunately, the wind and waves are against us and the boat begins to pouond into the waves. I do believe that this ride has far surpassed the organ, rearranging Botz dots of the Mexican roads.
About one hour later we arrive at the entrance to the lagoon where we met Victor from Yukima tours. We all transfer to his panga and begin to motor into the lagoon. Unlike the wind swept waves outside, the lagoon is as smooth as glass and we begin looking for the tell tale signs of whales nearby.
All is quiet for a few moments when someone shouts and we all look to the right in time to see a spout. Then another yell and off in the distance we see a peeker. A peeker is a whale that comes out of the water vertically so that only its head is exposed (peeking to see what all the ruckus is about,) before sinking back under. Our guide navigates our panga in a meandering fashion, searching for any close by.
To be continued. See next email.

0600 hours 26 42.7N - 113 33.9W
Love, Paula


The the following information is rated (EE) Extreme Envy and may invoke undesirable feelings in some readers.
Suddenly nearby we see a hump crest the surface and a moment later a smaller hump next to it. At last we have found a mother and her baby swimming side by side. Monica estimates that the baby is about 14 feet long and mom is about 35 feet. Victor maneuvers the panga about 20 feet away and begins to match their pace and we watch as the humps surface and submerge several times. All goes quiet and we lose track of where they have gone. Without warning a spout sounds off along side the boat and the baby lifts it's head up to get a closer look.
And then the crowd goes wild! There is a frantic scramble to focus the cameras and a drastic shift in the boat from side to side as we vie for better picture taking vantage points. Paula yells "I got it, I got it," then with a look of disgust she cries, "Oh no! My thumb got in the way." Rebecca chimes in, "No, that's your nose," and everyone starts howling. Several of us had issues with trying to focus the camera before the shot was gone. After a few minutes we just stopped trying and started enjoying the show.
For some reason, the baby was very inquisitive and mom was tolerant and they hung around our panga for quit awhile. At one point baby and mom dove under the boat and we hung over the side to watch and we could see their ghost like shadow pass underneath. We immediately ran to the other side and some of us were in time to receive a spout of water directly in the face. Baby came up to the edge of the boat and I reached out and rubbed its face. Whiskers. It has whiskers! Mom surfaced right next to her offspring but always stayed just out of reach. All of us had many opportunities to touch the baby whale and we did. It was and experience beyond our wildest hopes.
Toward the end our our visit, both surfaced along side our boat, and as if on que, sat stationary at the surface, as if posing for the elusive pictures we had so far been unable to obtain. And when they deemed our time was done they turned and proceeded deeper into the lagoon where pangas were not allowed to follow. But we were treated to one last "Hurrah." Baby who was still feeling frisky, jumped out of the water twice for us before scurrying ahead after mom.
As we headed back to our boat we were all in a stat of amazement. I had actually touched a whale and it had whiskers! I looked over at my sister and despite the pounding of our panga, she had a grin on her face from ear to ear and wore the "whale snot" on her glasses like a badge of honor. Life just doesn't get better than that!
____________________
Byron, I hope you will put this together with the previous email and send it out. Please fix any mistakes that you see. Also, I think we may need need batteries for my camera. I thought I charged them fully, but one or two didn't seem to have much charge. I missed a few picture opportunities with the whales, but thankfully Monica got good ones and I have a CD of them. I wish you had been here. It was awesome! Love, Paula

That's it for now, more later. Glenn