Well, as you can tell from the greeting, we are finally in Mexico. Interlude left San Diego on October 29, 2002 with Captain Kurt, First Mate Katie and two crew members; Gail Braun (Kurt’s sister in law) and Jim Rockwell (our friend, ex delivery captain and data storage specialist). Interlude took part in the annual Baja Ha-Ha rally organized by Latitude 38, a Bay Area sailing publication. This year boasted a record 107 participating yachts with over 400 yachties. The start was at 1100 off Pt Loma in San Diego. As soon as we fulfilled the required 5 minutes of sailing after the start we turned on the engine as the wind speed was under 10 knots, on the nose and dieing. During our first leg to Turtle Bay of the 40 hours it took us to get there we motored all but 10 hours. A handful of boats sailed the whole way, although all of them were in the smaller boat divisions that left a day earlier and had better wind. The benefit of being able to motor at 9 knots was an early arrival into Turtle Bay, right at sunrise. We soon headed off to the small village for some enchiladas and cervesas. The next day we hiked some 500 feet of vertical up a hill for some breathtaking vistas of Baja. Later on, Katie and Gail danced off their afternoon margaritas at the Vera Cruz restaurant which was soon overrun by the Ha-Ha fleet. The migration of yachts post hurricane season from the US on their way to Cabo San Lucas is the biggest thing this isolated village of a couple hundred people sees each year. The whole town comes out when the gringos are in town and the kids get in on the action by agreeing to "watch" your dinghy on the beach for one dollar (which amounts to using it as a playground until you return). On the third day the Ha-Ha fleet held a pot luck barbeque on the beach complete with a number of the cruisers supplying all the freshly caught Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) and Tuna that you could eat. With music, volleyball, tug-o-war, and other games a good time was had by all.

On Sunday, November 3 it was anchors up for the 0800 start of leg two heading for Bahia Santa Maria. Our log noted sunshine at sea at 1000, a first since leaving San Diego. Our second leg was also blessed by 10 to 20 knot winds, enabling us to sail 28 hours and motor less than 48 minutes. At 0400 on Monday, 50 miles off the coast we had our first encounter with a Mexican fishing fleet. Apparently these guys can lay out miles of long lines that are sometimes marked with strobe lights every mile or so. Fortunately, one can usually pass between the strobes and over the lines which are kept some 100 feet below the surface (more on fishing later). By 1720 we were anchored off Bahia Santa Maria, and by our calculation had the second fastest elapsed time behind Humuhumu a big Morelli 70 ft trimaran. The next day we hiked up another vista (this time 1000 feet high), then recuperated with cervasas and a $10.00 lobster dinner. It was very impressive to see just a few local fishermen and their wives crank out 400 dinners in just a shack with two propane burners. By now the water temperature had warmed up to 80 degrees with air temperature in the 80’s, marking the official end to the use of anything but bathing suits and tee shirts.

Tuesday, November 6 at 0600 was the start of leg three to Cabo San Lucas. This leg we saw variable winds of 2-11 knots resulting in 18 hours of motoring and 24 hours of sailing. The highlight of the leg was our first catch, a four foot Dorado which made for some great fillets and fish tacos. On Thursday, November 7 we dropped the hook at 0730 off Cabo san Lucas after being treated to a sunrise over los Arcos (or the arch off the point). While cleaning the breakfast dishes we dropped the screen to Kurt’s mom’s 1959 vintage coffee percolator overboard. The water was so clear we could see the shiny aluminum disc in 40 feet of water from THE SURFACE. Katie free dove down and retrieved it in the now 84 degree water. Lunch ashore to check in with the Port Captain, and five margaritas later, we were entertained by the sport fisherman bringing in their catch to be weighed for a very serious tournament. Over $400,000 in prize money was given out over three days with one boat winning over $100,000.00 alone. Of course, you have to pay to play with $5,000 to $10,000 in entry fees. This was only for the serious(ly wealthy) sportsman. The largest catch we saw was a 250 lb tuna! On Friday the 8^th we attended another Ha-Ha beach party and on the 9^th received 3^rd place at the free beer awards ceremony (only boats that motored the least won 1^st or 2^nd places – all others got 3^rd).

By now you probably have the impression that all sailors do is party - drinking beer and margaritas at every stop and in general goof off. True. About 10 % of the time you are moving the boat (when things are serious), 40% of the time you are provisioning, maintaining or fixing things and the balance of the time you are socializing with other cruisers or swimming, diving, snorkeling, hiking, exploring, etc.

Overall, we would highly recommend joining up with the Ha-Ha fleet. In addition to having company along the way, we have also made the acquaintances of other cruisers that will be spending the season in Mexico and in some cases moving on to the South Pacific with us in the spring.

We said goodbye to Gail and Jim in Cabo and we left for La Paz on Sunday, November 10, with a one night stop in both Los Frailes and Los Muertos. By now we have rounded the tip of Baja (Cabo) and are actually heading north to La Paz. Needing to meet Katie’s sister Karen and her husband Dave in La Paz on Tuesday we pushed on sailing about half the time with 25 knot winds right on the bow and short, steep 6 foot seas, all being a by-product of the Santa Ana winds in California. Every time we left the pilot house to adjust the sails we were blasted by volumes of water as the whole front end of the boat would be buried coming off one of the steep waves, readying itself for a climb up the next wave to repeat the motion.. Not wanting to get salt water below we would, once drenched, take off our bathing suits, rinse off with fresh water and put on a dry swim suit. After three changes, we finally decided to eliminate the step of wearing bathing suits altogether, leaving us to only worry about an accidental inflation of our PFD due to getting soaked by a wave. All of this made for the pukey action of the "Norther" induced waves somewhat tolerable. Many in the Ha-Ha fleet who tried to head north at the same time stayed longer in the two bays to wait out the wind. We had scheduled to meet Karen and Dave Thursday evening in La Paz and had to press on. This is when a common cruising phenomenon occurs: to quickly forget a difficult passage within five minutes of making landfall. We mostly just remember reefing the mainsail butt naked.

We checked into Marina Palmira in La Paz, quickly cleaned the boat and meet Karen and Dave that night. The next day we did some light provisioning at the local supermarket. Prices for typical American groceries were comparable to those in the states. However, the typical Mexican wage here is about one third of wage in the US. La Paz is the capital of Baja and the American presence is everywhere as the economy is tied to tourism and retirement for Americans and Europeans. It is easy to see why so many cruisers get ‘stuck’ here with friendly people, cheap help, wonderful weather and a relaxed pace. Interlude appears to be stuck for a week as we await a replacement inverter and parts for the generator.

With Karen and Dave aboard we headed out to the nearby islands. Our first stop was less than 10 miles up the coast to Puerto Ballandra. Here you will find one of La Paz’s identifying landmarks – the famous "mushroom rock". According to the guide book, a few years ago someone pushed over the original and not to be deprived of a landmark, a benefactor commissioned a fiberglass replacement that looks just like the original. In the bay we snorkeled to an assortment of fish, however the ‘Norther’ had churned up the bottom to less than 20 feet of visibility. The next day we motored about five miles across the channel to anchor at Punta Ballena. We donned gear to snorkel Isla Gallina’s back side with about 40 feet of visibility. Deeper water made for a more interesting dive. On the way back to the boat we dinghied over to the mangrove swamp to watch dozens of pelicans diving for supper and a handful of herons and egrets.

The following day we raised anchor at 1000, moved the boat to Caleta Partida, a broken vocanic crater providing the most sheltered anchorage between the islands of Isla Partida and Isla Espirtu Santo. We took the dinghy to the low sand spit that separates the two islands, wandering around the fish camp with its handful of shacks, volleyball net and small shrine.

Sunday, Novemeber 17 we headed a few miles further north up the coast of Isla Partida to anchor at Ensenada Grande. An afternoon snorkel treated us to six foot a moray eel out of its den. Shy by nature, these creatures tend to hide the bulk of their bodies within rock crevaces. We were snorkeling in about 15 feet of water around the beautiful large rocks that had eroded off the cliff face providing a spectacular geological habitat for sea life. Our eel swam right up to us until we noticed each other at about 10 feet apart. With a menacing face that doesn’t look any friendlier in the open than it does in its den it swam out off/we gave him wide berth. We are told that they are more afraid of us than we of them, but with a face full of sharp teeth that angle back and can’t release we not about to test any hospitality.

The next morning the ‘Norther’ calmed down for a bit and we headed ½ mile off the north end of Isla Partida to anchor in 60 feet of rocky bottom about 50 yards off Los Islotes - two rocks that are home to a large colony of sea lions. Local tourist boats bring dozens of snokelers to the area, but we were fortunate to show up between two large groups. Nonetheless, the frequent human visitors have tamed the sea lions to a point of unbelievable familiarity with intruders. We snorkeled in 20-50 feet of water, with 50 feet of visibility to within INCHES of these magnificent creatures. The playfulness of the pups left us unprepared for the territorial ness of the beach-masters. While attempting to pass between the two rocks, with harems on either side, we were viewed as enough of a threat for three (about 500 lbs) males protecting their turf to jump in the water and circle us within ten feet to prove they were master. Not to argue, we kept our hands by our side, tried not to make eye contact (although this proved very difficult when you are wondering if you need to prepare a breath of air in the event that you get rammed by their massive snouts, or worse, bitten). After a few seconds of stillness, they decided to let us pass. Talk about a RUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Back at Marina Palmira, we have been entertained, while waiting for parts, by our dockside neighbors, Mike and Sheri McGettigan. Having started coming to the sea of Cortez in the sixties, they have seen many changes. Depletion of the shrimp population has lead many of the boats to adopt long line fishing (Mike tells us that this is so detrimental that the Pacific Coast of the US has not allowed additional permitting for this type of fishing). While maintaining a business of taking out charter dive groups to spear 400 lb tuna while free diving or for National Geographic documentary crews filming 70 lb squid in the Sea of Cortez, they have founded ‘Sea Watch’, a non profit organization with the purpose of preserving wildlife along the Baja coast. Please check out their website at seawatch.org. So far they have been instrumental in getting the Mexican officials to declare several beautiful wildlife spots as national parks (including a favorite set of islands off the coast of Baja where Sheri was filmed free diving with 15 foot manta rays).

Currently we are experiencing common definition of cruising: ‘fixing your boat in exotic places’. After replacing the inverter, Captain Kurt is now awaiting a new crankshaft pulley for the auxiliary generator, resulting in our likely stay in La Paz for Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays to everyone, we miss you all!