After refueling our internal fuel tank (35 gals.) and 6 jerry jugs (30 gals.), we departed San Diego at 2:30 PM on Dec. 2, 2005. Again we had less than 5 knots of wind so we motored the entire way. At 4:31 PM we entered Mexican waters and raised our quarantine flag thus making this our first truly international voyage. The entire trip was uneventful and, at about 2:00 AM, came within sight of the lights of Ensenada. We entered Ensenada Harbor at about 3:30 AM and, after a little confusion as to it’s locale, were tied up at the Cruiseport Marina by 3:45 AM. Following a brief discussion with the security guard about checking in with the office in the morning and a quick dog walk, we fell into bed.

December 3, 2004

Ken dragged himself out of bed to be at the office when the supposedly opened at 9:00 AM only to be informed by the guards that, in fact, on Saturdays the office did not open until 11:00 AM. Returning at 11:00 AM with all the boat’s documentation, the office manager assisted with prepping additional documentation so that Ken could proceed to Immigration, Customs, and the Port Captain’s offices.

While in the marina office Ken got into a discussion with a couple from Santa Rosa who had arrived the previous day and were headed to La Paz in their new Nordhavn 43 power trawler. They formed an instant bond, both being new cruisers and, after cocktails that evening, decided to proceed down the coast together.

Ken then proceeded to do the check-in "Cha-Cha" which was surprisingly painless. After hearing horror stories about having to run all over the place, Ken hooked up with a cab driver who took him to one office were all the check-in process was completed within the same building. (Notice to cruisers: when you get your Temporary Import Permit insure that you have serial numbers for as much hardware on the boat as possible, not just engine numbers). Ken did have to return to the boat to get serial numbers for the GPS’s, RADAR and miscellaneous other gear, but in the end the entire process took about 2 hours and, by 2:00 PM we were legally cleared into Mexico.

That evening we got to know Patrick, Susan, and their son Jonathan aboard Paloma and discussed the trip south. As both crews wanted to get around the tip of Baja as soon as possible we settled on a routed that involved 3 stops, Bahia San Quintin, Bahia Tortugas, and Bahia Santa Maria. After a day of rest on December 4^th and a nice dinner at a nearby hotel, we prepared to depart around mid-day on December 5^th.

After topping off our fuel tanks in Ensenada we departed at about 1:15 in the afternoon to ensure a daylight arrival into San Quintin. We maintained hourly radio checks with Paloma which was particularly reassuring especially throughout the night. We had the occasional school of dolphins play alongside the boat and settled into a passage making routine of watches, meals and relaxation. During this leg we experienced an especially strong southerly current which moved us along, sometimes in excess of 8 knots. Again we had no wind to speak of and motored the entire way. This scenario was to repeat itself on every passage and we ended up motoring the entire distance to La Paz with the jib out occasional when the wind hit 10 knots.

We arrived at San Quintin at about 8:30 AM on Dec. 6^th and immediately lowered the dinghy to take the doggies ashore for a well needed bathroom break. A note on the dogs: Dale can go about 24 hours without peeing and Ben can hold out about 36 hours. Both have occasionally peed in the cockpit but only after much encouragement. For the first time we pulled the dinghy broadside to the starboard stern steps and both climbed down, with some initial hesitation, and jumped into the dinghy (a pressing bladder can be a strong motivator). Once the bow of the dinghy hit the beach they where off and running. By the second and third stops, even Ben was jumping out of the dinghy into water a foot or two deep without any fear. For those who know Ben and his aquaphobia, (is that a real word?) it is a major step.

As we took the dogs ashore for their evening walk we noticed our friends on Paloma were moving out further in the bay and, when queried over the radio, they indicated that some local fishermen had stopped and said that we were anchored in a location where a surf line could develop. So, in the dark, we also moved further out into the bay and settled in for the night.

The next morning, in anticipation of an early departure, we took the dogs ashore, tanked off our fuel from the jerry jugs, gobbled down some breakfast and, by 8:15 AM, were headed out the bay for our next leg to Bahia Tortugas (aka Turtle Bay).

The passage to Turtle Bay was at first uneventful. The first day passed smoothly and at around sunset the Dawn Princess, a ship we had cruised through the Panama Canal aboard passed us going north. At around 3:30 AM we altered course so as to pass between Isla Cedros and Isla San Benito with Paloma following us in trail. The channel is about 6 miles wide and, with both the GPS chart plotter and the RADAR going it was fairly easy. Sunrise found us rounding the south end of Isla Cedros and, as we crossed the channel between Isla Navidad and mainland Baja the wind picked up to about 15 knots. We popped out the jib and, with the engines throttled back were making almost 9 knots over ground. Then the wind waves started to build to around 4 to 6 feet with periods (the time between crests) of about 5 seconds. It was very uncomfortable and we turned in towards shore to get into the lee of Punta Eugenia. Once in the lee things settled down, we cleaned up the cabin as a few items had gotten tossed around and from then into Turtle Bay it was simple a matter of dodging lobster traps. By noon we were safely anchored in the bay and took the dogs ashore for a visit to the small town at the north end of the bay.

This is a very poor place by American standards and even Ben & Dale gave us some looks as if to say "we’re not moving here are we". As we walked through the dirt streets we noticed there were basically two types of dogs, those that lay in the sun and quietly observed our strange procession (leashes on dogs seem quite alien here) and dogs that ferociously guarded their masters homes. We stopped at a small store and bought some bread, fresh tortillas, and a box cookies. By the time we returned to the beach we had a group of about 6 or 8 kids trailing us expressing great interest in "los perros americano". We handed out cookies to the kids which they promptly began feeding to Ben & Dale. After a bit we asked the kids to keep the cookies for themselves which they, somewhat grudgingly it seemed, did. They kept their distance from the boys until we explained that the dogs were not peligroso and, through some miming, indicated that Dale’s jumping was not an attack but rather and attempt to lick them. On little girl said, "Ah, besame" and daring leaned into Dale and let him lick her cheek. Then all the kids wanted a kiss and, to tempt the dogs forward more cookies were offered. At on point one of the girls mother yelled down from their house (as near as we could translate) "You’d better not be asking for money" to which the girl replied she was not.

We got back to the boat and then made two trips into the pier to refuel via our jerry jugs. The pier here is about 20 feet tall and the standard way to take on fuel is to drop your bow anchor, back into the pier and toss lines from the stern to secure your vessel after which the fuel hose is lowered to you. After observing this being done we (Ken) was too nervous to attempt, so jerry jugs it was. When we approached the pier several pelicans swim up to the dinghy and, as Ken reached for the stanchion to secure the dinghy, one pelican reached out and chomped his hand. Fortunately pelicans do not have any teeth and no wounds were incurred but, as Ken was up on the pier, Kim had to continuously fend of the fearless "pelicanos".

I must note that our friends on Paloma offered to act as a gas station for us as they carried about 1,000 gallons compared to our 70 gallons but, once we realized that involved disconnecting their fuel lines from the engine, we decided to that that would only be done in an emergency.  In the spirit of cruisers helping cruisers, the crew of Hibiscus, another catamaran out of San Rafael, gave us an additional 5 gallon jerry jug to carry fuel and refused any type of compensation.  I was able, however, to partially compensate the Captain of Hibiscus when I saw him on the dock in Cabo and gave him a cold Guiness to help him cool down. 

That afternoon we went ashore at a deserted beach and Kimmy went for a swim from which Ben attempted to rescue her and went almost neck deep into the surf before he realized she was OK. Dale had a great time running along in the shallows until a 2-foot wave crashed into him and then he would run up onto the beach any time it looked like a wave was coming in.

The next morning was spent with the usual routine of taking the dogs ashore and preparing for an afternoon departure for the longest passage of the trip to Bahia Santa Maria.

At 3:35 PM on December 9^th we hauled up the anchor and headed out of Turtle Bay and proceeded south for the longest leg of the trip down Baja, again under power. The day passed uneventfully with dolphins playing around the boat and the occasional whale sighting in the distance. During Kim’s night watch, at around 3:45 AM, she and Susan, aboard Paloma, were on watch when both witnessed what appeared to be a huge explosion in the western sky. Most likely it was a meteor but, to this day, we have not determined what it was.

The morning of the 10^th found us pounding into 5-foot seas making the ride very uncomfortable. After discussing the conditions over the radio with Paloma and several other boats in the area we decided the conditions were localized and we continued south rather than heading inshore. By noon the conditions had abated and we enjoyed another lazy day at sea. At around 1:30 PM we were buzzed by a Mexican Air Force P-3 Orion with a large RADAR dish on top of it’s fuselage but no radio contact was initiated. The night was quiet except for both Ben & Dale deciding it was time to get off the boat to pee. Dale attempted to climb into the dinghy and was finally persuaded that going in the cockpit was OK. Ben followed soon there after and we were quite glad we had the watermaker aboard so clean up was not a problem.

We arrived in Bahia Santa Maria Dec 11^th at 6:30 AM and Ken took the dinghy out to scout out beach landings. The surf was not that big but was enough that the dinghy could have flipped and we were concerned about the dogs safety. After some discussion we decided to head 15 miles south to Bahia Magdelena while our friends Paloma remained in Bahia Santa Maria along with a number of other boats.

At around noon we anchored off the abandoned whaling station at (we love this name) Punta Belcher. As we let the dogs roam the beach we discovered the most beautiful and desolate place on our trip so far. Whale vertebrae littered the beach and we had to keep the dogs away from a decaying dolphin that they found fascinating. About half a mile up the beach a group of vultures clustered around some type of carcass which we elected not to investigate. All the guidebooks say that folks usually pass up Santa Maria on their way to Magdelena and recommend stopping in Santa Maria. We found that, while there were 8 to 10 boats in Santa Maria, we were the only boat we could see in Mag Bay. It was fabulous!! At around sunset, a sailboat flying the German flag arrived and anchored about 300 yards away but, other than a wave, no contact was made. Nada problema! If we’d had the time I think we could have spent several weeks exploring this wild bay which is as big as San Francisco Bay.

On the morning of Dec. 12^th and, at 8:30 AM, we upped anchor and headed out to the mouth of Mag Bay to hook up with Paloma which left Santa Maria at around 7:00 AM. AT around 9:30 AM we put our fishing pole to use for the first time and, 10 minutes later, hooked up to a monster mackeral.  Thinking that the best thing to do was to throw the first one back to apaise Neptune, we released the mackeral.  Of course we havn't caught anything since although we did hook up to something on the way to La Paz that spit the hook.  Again the day passed uneventfully as did the night. Around 6:00 AM the morning of the 13^th we realized we had arrived back in "civilization".

As the sun came up Ken was on watch only to find Summerwings in the middle of the morning commute. What seemed like 100’s of sport fishing boats, large and small, were racing out of Cabo San Lucas in search of large game fish. One large Bertram Sport boat came within 100 yards doing about 20 to 25 knots throwing out a huge wake which is why our chart book now has large coffee stains all over it.

As we got closer to Cabo, RCL’s cruise ship "Vision of the Seas" passed close aboard (no wake amazingly) and we could see dolphins jumping around her bow. By 10 AM we were tied up in the Cabo marina which it turns out, is the most expensive marina in the world. The crew of Summerwings was ecstatic over our accomplishment. We had travelled over 1,200 miles and were none the worse for wear. The sun was warm and, within 10 minutes of docking, had met folks who will be, hopefully, life long friends. We even had dinner on night with some high school buddies of Dick Cheney’s and Kim didn’t even punch them!!!