October 28th, 2011

Another rough day in paradise… I should probably label my blog this. It seems that every morning gets just a little bit better than the last. The boat had a rolling wake up between 6:30 and 7:30 and we were welcomed back to the land of the living with a sunrise to end all sunrises. The geography around Turtle Bay is completely devoid of all greenery and natural vegetation. We have been referring to it as the Mexican moonscape because it really is just like that. There are rolling tectonic hills that look like something out of the Wrath of Khan or The Red Planet and when the afternoon wind kicks up there is a fine layer of dust that takes to the sky and covers everything. It is easy to tell the vehicles that are not used because they have been buried in this sand. So when the sun rose this morning, the reds and oranges were reflected by the red hills and it was simply breathtaking.

The rest of the morning was relatively slow and laid back. We had our morning coffee and shooting the breeze session, and then had a 'fend for yourself' breakfast, and then we had to wash down the deck because of all the dust and sand that had settled on it over the past 12 hours. After that I went to town trying to get the ship’s knives back in order. It took me about an hour to get the boom knife in any sort of reasonable shape. But I found the perfect recipe to turn any knife into a first class serrated knife. Take one stainless steel blade, leave out in rough marine conditions for 10 years, and never take out of its sheath- bada bing, instant serration. I swear I filed down half of the blade to take out all the rust and pock marks, but now I will trust my life to the blade.

Once the small tasks for the boat were down I was able to relax in the sun and read some Steig Larson, my newest mind candy. There was a Latitude 38 sponsored pot luck and beach party so after a few hours of relaxed reading and working on my sun burn, Jamie and I decided to hop on a panga and head on over. It turned out to be a great time. We chatted with a bunch of the cruisers that we have heard on the net each night/morning, talked with the owner of Latitude 38, and basically managed to network quite a bit. There was a ton of great food, and surprisingly there was a plethora of tuna. We played some volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, and tug of war. The party went on from noon till at least 5 when Jamie and I left, and I am sure most likely awhile longer.

There was one calamity that struck during the party and that was the fact that some incredibly brilliant individual had tried to bring his 45 foot catamaran in close to the beach to play some music or something. He clearly did not realize that there was already a Mexican DJ on the beach, or that there is actually a tide in the Pacific. Next thing we realized he was aground and there were about 20 individuals and 3 pangas trying to get him clear. After about a half an hour of help trying to get him back into the water, the owner informed us to all stop helping and he would just wait. Wait for what you might ask- who the hell knows. The tide was still going out and he was just settling further and further in to the muck and sand. Instead of taking any proactive steps he proceeded to wash his deck and have a few beers. A few hours later we got panicky when he realized everyone would be leaving shortly and he would still be stranded. We organized about 100 people to try to push him out but to no avail. Due to his gross incompetence, he will not be able to get that boat off the beach until high tide and even then not without considerable help.

Once all the onlookers realized that he did not want our help, we went back to the beach party. I chatted with a great couple that is on similar sailing routes as us for the next few months. They will finish the Ha-Ha and then spend some time in La Paz and the Sea of Cortez. From there they will go to Zihuatenajo and the wife, Anne, hopes to make it as far south as the Galapagos before they head over to French Polynesia. They will also be partaking in the Pacific Puddle Jump around the archipelago. In addition to this couple, I chatted with a few other cruisers of varying experience levels and ages. Despite people coming from all different walks of life it was fun to see a common interest bring them together. As the beach party went on I met up with a group of younger guys in their late 20’s and mid 30’s and we organized an awesome Ultimate Frisbee game. This group of guys is also incredibly proactive and they organized a surfing expedition beyond the break in Turtle Bay and will be doing the same in Santa Maria as well as Cabo. All in all it was a great time.

After Jamie and I finished at the beach party we decided to head in to town to grab some cervezas and dinner. Since Mike and Joe did not come, being the antisocial gremlins they are, we radioed them and had them come to meet us. Dinner was uneventful but good and we knocked back a few more beers while watching the final game of the World Series. It was then time to board the zodiac and head back to the boat. Needless to say it was a bit dark and, in our foresight, we had all forgotten to bring a decent flashlight. On top of that, Mike and Joe had not left a single light on inside the boat. For the next half an hour we toured around the giant bay trying to get our bearings and locate our boat. Unfortunately in the dark, all the anchor lights look identical especially when you are as turned around as we got. Thankfully we found it once we reoriented ourselves. We just finished raising the zodiac and preparing for our 6 am wake up and 7 am departure for the next leg tomorrow. The only thing I can say is that Turtle Bay was a great location for a first destination. It handled this many cruisers quite well and I will definitely be coming here again.