Into the Sea of Cortez, on to La Paz part 2

Bahía los Frailes

That’s our dink Bueno in the left foreground and Malo out in the center middle-ground.

We spent a few days anchored at Los Frailes in order to rest from the passage that we’d just completed and to dry out some of our things that had gotten soaked from the antics of Senior Norte and to repair a few things he had broken such as the deck hatch clasp and our push-pit brace.  Drying here was quick and easy with warm breeze and only 18% humidity.  The humidity had been usually 80% or more in La Cruz.   We also took the opportunity to service our steering gear that had gotten a real workout during the crossing.  All that we did on the first day there.  On the second day we did a sensible thing and relaxed by taking a dinghy ride into shore and strolled the beach in the morning.

Have you notice that almost every time we go to shore Bev is wearing a backpack?  The funny thing is that I’ve yet to discover all that she carries around with her.  I’m sure that it’s all useful. 

What lies behind the sand dunes?

A pond, who knew?






RVing at the end of the Baja. 

We met our neighbors from the anchorage on the beach, a wonderful family sailing Melu on an amazing 2 year journey from the Great Lakes, to the Atlantic ocean (via the Erie Canal & the Hudson river, down the east coast, through the Bahamas, the Caribbean Ocean, the Panama Canal then up Central America to the the Sea of Cortez where they plan to end their odyssey at Guaymas.

Snorkeling

In the afternoon we dinked over to a near by dive site, part of the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park.  Our snorkeling here was the best we’ve enjoyed so far on this trip that featured 25’ visibility, live coral and enough tropical fish to keep things interesting.  Unfortunately I don’t have any photos from this place as my underwater camera chose this time to end it’s life. 

Night Sail 

That afternoon we hove anchor and did an overnight sail, 75 miles to Ensenada de los Muertos, the next harbor to the northeast of Frailes.  Senior El Norte was just leaving the party and we decided to risk riding his windy coat tails up the coast hoping that the dying forecast would hold true.  It was a boisterous ride at first but things soon enough settled down as we shook one reef after another out of our main sail as we sailed through the night and the wind diminished.  This made for an interesting and fast passage to los Muertos. With hardly anyone living in this part of the Baja the night sky was a star-filled light show that made sky-gazing more than a joy, it was a heavenly party that entertained us through the night. 

Ensenada de los Muertos

This end of Los Cabos (The Capes) is at the eastern end of the southern tip of of the Baja Peninsula and is quite different than it’s nearest city, Cabo San Lucas. It is a very special place, so different from the busy and very populated western end.  Los Muertos is a barren place, austere and unpopulated with an otherworldly beauty that takes my soul to a timeless space beyond civilization and even people. 

The Temple of the Sea & Sky

The Sea of Cortez turns out to be an amazing place for sea and sky viewing.   We went SUPing today along a live reef in 25’ of clear turquoise water, looking down upon coral and fish.  Several turtles swam near us.  It was a mesmerizing and ethereal experience.  



Sailors end up spending so much time outside with almost unlimited vistas all around us and the air is so clear down here and the scenes so vivid that it takes my breath away. 



Sunsets, just as you would have expected, are when the sky shows take off, but what you may not expect is how captivating, mesmerizing and all encompassing they can be.  



The great depth and beauty of them is astonishing and their variety is remarkable. 



The ancient geomorphic quality of this place challenges my modern sensibilities, as the Baja often appears both simply familiar and at the same time exotically strange. 



The desert and the sea are in a constant state of incredulous juxtaposition here and the border between them is startling, abrupt and beautiful.  



Exploring that splendid border has now become our happy occupation.



After five lovely days at los Muetros it was time to move on again.  Another  El Norte had started to weaken so we jumped on it’s coat tails for another overnight sail this time to La Paz.  Bev took the first watch of the evening as the sun was just starting to set. 

I followed her watch 3 hours later with an easy one of my own.  Sun set and sunrise watch are my favorite but the middle of the night can be special too. Night watches can also be pretty hard and that’s what Bev pulled, her next watch ended up being challenged by difficult winds and large cargo ships and small, unlit fishing pangas.  She woke me at 5:00am to help tack the boat so I took the watch from there.  Bev gave me a situation briefing and then went below for a much needed rest.  My watch turned out to be as perfect a sail as any sailer would want and perhaps even dream of.  The sky was full of stars from the beginning of my watch with a crescent moon in the east.  



I got a favorable wind shift and was able to ease off the sheets off and let Malo glide smoothly on her way through the night.  While looking out to port I noticed a strange red light off in the clear, dark, cobalt night sky.  Upon closer inspection seemed to be more of a glow than a light.  I check it out with the binoculars and was shocked to realize what I was seeing was a structure fire.  A large two story house, perched high atop a hill overlooking the sea was completely engulfed in flame with a glowing plume of light rising up from the fire.  I could clearly make out the house and it’s windows with flames coming out.  I wondered if everyone was ok over there and then said a heart felt prayer to that end.  Seeing a house fire like that, especially without any emergency response visible is a hard thing to shake.  

After we passed by the fire, I noticed a new red glow, this time in the east.  The first rays fo the new days sun were blasting out, seemingly trying to heat up the caldron of the crescent moon above.  Oh my!  



I was shaken out of my skywatching by the VHF radio as the pilot of the car carrying ferry in the channel behind us call Malo, stating his intentions to pass us to port and requesting that we alter our course to starboard to ease his passage.  



The eastern sky continued to entertain me as Malo continued on her way downwind to La Paz.



A couple of hours later when we pulled into the Marina Cortez were delighted to discover that we would be dock mates, sharing a finger slip with out friends Curt and Lynn on Cool Change who we had first met in Crescent City Oregon on our way down the coast.  And now they standing on the dock, waving, ready to catch our dock lines.  Small wonderful world…