After a short 24 hour leg, we anchored (for the first time since June!) in front of a tiny little Mexican fishing village on a tiny little volcanic island called "Isla San Martin". There is a fishing camp onshore and about a dozen little pangas moored in the little bay. The bay is open to the NW winds, which are prevailing this time of year, however SW winds were in the forecast for the next day or so. This little bay is the best (and only) SW protected anchorage between Ensenada and Turtle Bay, so we were glad to spend the night there.
As we were just settling into the cockpit for a "hook's down" margarita, a young couple from Pender Island (S/V Prairie Rose) saw our Canadian flag and came over by dinghy to say hi... small world!
We spent a quiet night (aside from all the curious seals playing around the boat) and got up early to check in on the Ham radio nets for a bit of news about our other cruising friends and also a weather update. We could hear Lionel & Barb of Sea Whisper checking in from Bahia Conception, on the other side of the Baja from us. It turns out that low pressure system (with its strong SW winds) made landfall quite a bit further north than expected and so had missed us, so we're good to go!
We left Isla San Martin this morning in the sunshine and are now headed to Turtle Bay. We have a light SW today, so we are motor-sailing.
News flash: Carolyn got the watermaker going today!! We are making the 3rd gallon as I type this.
A large bunch of elephant seals come porpoising by the boat this morning as we were passing San Quintin. They were so cute! And curious about us, it seems, as a couple of them stopped at the stern and popped up out of the water to have a good look at us.
As I am typing this, a large pod of dolphins have come by for a visit with more coming up astern of us. The ones bringing up the rear slowed down to do some community fishing, with lots of splashing and circling behaviour. A few of them are jumping completely out of the water and tail-walking.
Princess Sophie is taking a nap (making up for lost sleep on the last leg from Ensenada) and so is missing the excitement. Her big news is that she has now successfully used the 'mat' while underway. This is a huge relief for us (as well as for her, of course). Her voyage should be much more comfortable for her (and us) now.
We won't be in Turtle Bay for a couple of days, so we'll post Position Reports enroute when we can.
cheers,
Kathy
