November 24, 2019
We left Ensenada on Friday morning to head south. We used our time in Ensenada for boat projects (needed dinghy wheels for beach landings in remote anchorages) and provisioning (food shopping). Enjoyed sunsets, decent WiFi, the lead up to the Baja 1000 race, markets, local restaurants (including a ridiculously good queso fundido), a Spanish lesson for the boys, ice cream popsicles just like a shop at home (so we *had* to stop and sample), and a few too many churros…. all while waiting for the right weather window to head south. That happened on Friday so we left with our new buddy boat SV Pulsar. We considered stopping at Puerto Santo Tomàs but decided not to stop due to heavy kelp and surgey waves, so continued on to Bahía San Quintín, around 24 hours total. (We slowed down a bit to sail in low winds and so we wouldn’t arrive in the anchorage area in the dark.) The boys helped keep us company during overnight watch and remarkably weren’t cranky during the day, though they were a bit ”overexcited.”
People say cruising has higher highs and lower lows. We have experienced the lows – anxieties and hard work around sailing and boat maintenance – regularly since buying the boat, and we also have experienced some of those higher highs of cruising. Passage highlights: We saw whales! We caught our first fish (large bonito)! We caught our second fish (another large bonito)! (No more sarcastic comments about fishing gear from me….). Later at anchor Owen caught several small fish! Considered saving those to use as bait fish but we aren’t that organized yet. Also need to vastly improve our skills fileting and cooking fresh fish. Gorgeous sunrise and sunset! (We also made water with the watermaker, which we do routinely.) After we anchored, we cleaned up post passage, took care of other things on the boat and then took our dinghy to a beach to run and explore. Flash ran free, the boys played hide and seek amongst the sand dunes with friends, Owen and I found some awesome shells, and we enjoyed an incredible sunset. THIS is what it’s all about. We plan to set off today for the next leg of the journey.
Some gorgeous, large shells
