Our last week out... March 21 - 31st

Our last week out… wow… an unbelievable journey, an adventure of a lifetime, an opportunity to meet amazing people on significant journeys of their own, and a lesson in life as we learn (and continue to learn) more about ourselves as individuals and as a couple. When last I wrote we were anchored in our favourite little place, Isla San Francisco. We shared that particular anchorage with SV Keetya 1 and, with Rob and Kim leading, we followed them away from Isla SF and to a place called Bahia Amortajada. There, we anchored and took to our dinghies to explore a very interesting lagoon… accessed by travelling 'up river, it seemed' through the mangroves. We had to go into the mangroves at high tide and wanted to be able to return without having to carry our dinghies over-bars so returned after a short (1-2 hour) visit to the lagoon. Our anchorage that night was in San Evaristo, just across the way and we were treated to a display of high-jumping prowess by a juvenile Humpback whale as we made our approach. Once anchored we joined 8 other cruisers for a 100 peso dinner of fresh-caught fish at Cipriana's small palapa sometimes-restaurant at the head of the bay.

We returned to Isla San Francisco the next day and (finally) caught up with our dear friends Lionel and Barbara on SV Sea Whisper. Although Sea Whisper and Shannon left Canada at the same time, Sea Whisper charged south at a furious rate (at least faster than us) and has been on the mainland for the last several months. It was great to finally connect with them and to share some hiking and snorkeling time.. as well as some delicious meals (thank you Barbara). Both boats headed south on March 26th, stopping at Isla Islotes for another dip with the sea lions. We anchored this time, on the south side and had a great view of the sea lions as they cavorted and played with themselves and the snorkelers. Lionel, Barbara and Kathy had fun swimming with them and got some great photos and even some video. Sophie and I stayed on Shannon and enjoyed watching the whole thing. Once done with the swim, we carried on south and dropped our anchors in the beautiful bay of Ensenada Grande. It's really gorgeous here and we've never been here so it's yet another new adventure. We stayed for the next day and enjoyed swimming and just generally hanging out. SV Luna Azul joined us on Tuesday afternoon. They're from the Netherlands and have been out since the 1980's. They've circumnavigated the globe and are newly arrived to the Sea of Cortez with plans to spend a next while here before moving on. The six of us had a feast of home-made pizza for dinner last night and a good time swapping stories and the like.

Today, Wednesday March 28th… it's time for us to move on… continuing our trek south. We're still in search of the perfect tuna.. maybe today :-) and our anchorage tonight may well be a place called Bahia San Gabriel. It's about half way to La Paz and looks quite beautiful in the cruising guide. We're lucky with the weather.. it's calm now and should remain so for at least the next 3 days. Yippee !! So… with that.. we're on our way.. anchor about to come up.

Hope all is well with all of you…. talk to you soon… CJ & Kathy

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com