Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico - We were warned of pretty good winds for leaving Turtle Bay (about 1/3 the way down Baja), but they were AWOL upon departure. They showed up two hours later and we sailed all day with the spinnaker, making 9-10 knots with six foot seas and blue skies. Occassionally it was Mr. Toad's wild ride with big rollers, but overall a great sail.
On day two, we needed to turn more southeast, so we took down the spinnaker and pulled out the genoa sail on port tack and had a good, if slower, sail all day. At sunset, Kat made an awesome pasta salad and we ate in the cockpit. The elusive finish line was still about three miles away and we poled out the the jib to catch all the dimishing wind we could. We still made around seven knots.We crossed the leg 2 finish line at 7-ish and still had 15 miles or so to go to Bahia Santa Maria. We continued to sail since we were doing almost as fast under sail with just the jib as we would under power. We pulled into the bay and took down the rig and in the dark didn't see that the jib furling line had gone overboard, fouling the prop. That's what made the engine stop unexpectedly as we were looking for an anchoring spot. We were exhausted and went to bed.
Diver Down
The next morning, Brian (he's a big diver) dove under the boat and unfouled the (severed) jib line. The prop is fine and we'll deal with the furling line.
Bahia Santa Maria
Bahia Santa Maria is a huge bay with hills on the north side and a white sand beach wrapping the rest of it. There is no town, just a few hardscrabble shacks for the handful of fishermen who live here.
Lest I Forget...
...the thunderstorms coming into Turtle Bay.
...my backache; Steve's leftover soft tissue injury in his hand from Washington; Kat's fight with sea sickness; and Brian's general stiffness from being the strong-arm on the boat.
...the flying fish that flew in the galley window while I was standing there.
Cool
Baja is Usually dry, but is rather humid now. Hurricane Norbert crossed it three weeks ago and we know there's been a low pressure system west of here. The humidity is causing our refrigerator to go haywire. At first, it caused the compressor to freeze, so when we hit dryer air offshore, it started working again. Then, in Bahia Santa Maria, it stopped working again. Steve tore apart the boat and spent the day researching it and fixing it.
Election Day
Novemer 4 was party day in Bahia St. Maria. We went ashore for swimming, beach combing, and fish dinner for all "Haha-ers." That night on the boat, we listened to XM radio for the latest on the election. At 10:00, we heard Obama's acceptance speech and knew the country will soon be on the right tack again. Happy Obama Day! Yes We Can!
