Holiday Interlude Greetings!

It was blowing 20+ knots with a three foot chop half mile off the coast of Isla San Jose in the Sea of Cortez and our fishing line has just snagged something. We were 1 1/2 miles from our anchorage, Bahia Gacetero that promised shelter from the Norther blowing down from Arizona. It was late in the season to be heading north into The Sea but with French Polynesia beckoning in the Spring, this might be our only chance to see the magnificent Sierra Gigantes that march up out of the coastline in this part of Baja California some 5800 feet at their peak, resulting in some spectacular sunsets.

What exactly did we catch? So as not to get Katie’s hopes up Kurt says it looks like an old shoe. We decided to drag the fish into the lee of the anchorage and hopefully drown it in the process. It then required less cheap vodka to anesthetize it before vivisection. It was a two foot long fish, with the look of a tuna. Sashimi!

All cruisers dream of the perfect tuna, the kind they sell in your neighborhood store for $20/lb. We foster the belief that the diesel we have bought to go 1800 nautical miles to get here, the massive investment in our floating home and the time spent away from loved ones can all be justified by catching $20/lb fish for ‘free’.

While Katie skinned and de-boned the mystery fish (and made the sushi rice), Kurt got on the ‘Happy Hour Un Net", (ham radio) run by Gene in San Carlos, to find out exactly what we had caught. This turned into a twenty minute discussion with single sideband yachties as far as Matzatlan, La Paz and San Carlos all offering their opinions. The consensus seemed to be that we had caught a Skipjack and that 10 Skipjacks are caught for every Bonito and that, "...if you catch a skipjack, throw it back." Not the feedback we were looking for now that both of us were going to be tolerating fish wife hands for the next week until we grow a new layer of skin. A kinder sailor offered this cooking advice, "Marinate it in lime juice for two hours, cook it in the oven on a cedar plank for 45 minutes, take it out of the oven, throw the fish away and eat the plank." Still not convinced that our efforts were in vain, Kurt pulled out our fish identification guides. Regarding tuna, from the "Austrian Fisherman’s Companion" (one of 5 guides on board – all for the wrong hemisphere): "the flesh is inclined to be a bit meaty, the eating quality can be improved by cutting away the red meat and boiling the white meat for one minute before frying or grilling…the flesh is not especially good eating, unless canned," true to their British heritage, they recommend boiling and canning before tuna becomes palatable. And for Skipjack Tuna: "the flesh is very meaty flavored and not good to eat, it makes excellent bait for snapper and other reef dwellers."

Still unwilling to accept that we had caught a fish unable to contribute to our ‘boat expense amortization’, we sat down the next day for a lunch of ‘Skipjack Sushi.’ The first few pieces had us convinced that we held the secret of how to eat a Skipjack, although like a bad episode of ‘Survivor’, at about the fifth piece it became evident what we really were appreciating was the Wasabi, Sake and soy sauce. The following day we made a final effort by following the British advice and boiling our tuna.

Our next stop was Puerto El Gato where we meet Manual, our culinary savior. For $10.00, 4 D batteries and two cans of corned beef hash (that Katie had been trying to get rid of), we received three good sized lobsters. (We have heard of cruisers striking ‘better’ deals). Needless to say, our boiled Skipjack went over the side.

The next day, Dec 7, we made a morning stop at Ensenada de Ballena for a dinghy exploration of the sea caves. Equally impressive was the 50 feet of visibility enabling us to enjoy a ‘virtual snorkel’ without exposing ourselves to the ‘aqua males’ (stinging jellyfish which had made painful contact with Kurt at our last stop). After a short motor up the coast we shared sunset beers with Valerie and Walter aboard the only other boat in Agua Verde the 36 foot Canadian sloop named coincidentally ‘Interlude II’. Our next stop found us in Puerto Ballandra, enjoying homemade seafood chowder with Mark, Robyn and their son Aiton, and Mike and Lisa on a 28 foot cutter. When we say homemade, we mean Robyn had made a wonderful meal from clams, scallops, fish and oysters that they had gathered in the bay that afternoon. We supplied homemade apple pie.

The next day, Monday Dec 9, Katie was asleep when Kurt spotted a four foot Manta Ray jumping out of the water not 50 feet from the boat while motoring to Ensenada San Juanico. In addition to being a beautiful anchorage, San Juanico is home to a ‘cruisers shrine.’ Sailors, being a superstitious lot, have rituals for certain ports of call In the Azores, it is painting your boat name on the sea wall, in the Sea of Cortez it is making an offering to the cruiser’s shrine. Interlude donated a Hawaiian lea (graciously left by Gail Braun after the Ha-Ha) attached to a shell inscribed with our boat name and a peace symbol, thus ensuring us a safe passage on our journeys. The following evening the whole anchorage got together for pot luck on ‘Sundowner’, Ty and Tony’s boat from Alaska.

On Wednesday, Dec 11, our entrance to Baha Conception was greeted by about 100 dolphins, joyfully swimming along the bow of our boat. After a nine hour motor, we anchored off Playa Santispac, Coyote Bay where we have decided to take a mini extended stay awaiting a weather window to make a non stop crossing to the mainland. Bahia Conception, being 22 miles long and 2-3 miles wide is home to numerous RV parks, including Playa Santispac. We are one of two boats anchored in the Bay, with 20 or so RV’s on any given day. Many of the RV residents are year round gringos, extending their living space with semi permanent palapas. For $6.00 a day, you can get a beautiful beachfront site. Importantly, we have bonded with several land yachters. Many of these folks have been on the road for years demonstrating a strong nomatic tendency, much like yachties.. One such couple, Berman and Karen, joined us on our next adventure, a walking tour of some of Baja’s famous cave paintings.

Knowing we were going to Mexico our neighbors in Alameda, Chester and Elaine, gave us an August 2002 article from Smithsonian Magazine on Petroglyphs in Baja. We had hitchhiked to Mulege, some 12 miles up the coast, to visit the Mission, built in the 1700’s and during lunch Kurt inquired about the petroglyphs and made arrangements with Salvador a local guide. Later that evening we walked the beach in Santispac and meet Berman and Karen, two adventurous Canadians, willing to join us for our cave outing. The next day, on Friday, Dec 13, we were met at 0900 by Salvador in his taxi cab. He also has two tour vans, is building his own house, sending his sons to college and was taught native medicine by his grandmother.

Our trip started with a drive back to Mulege so that we could officially sign a book of participation at a local government office. Mulege is a town of 5,000 people and like most of Baja has roots back thousands of years but whose primary economy now revolves around ‘gringos’ (about 25% of the population is involved with tourism). One can only visit the cave paintings with a licensed guide although it is apparent that the bureaucracy in is only an effort to collect money from the local guide trying to make a living. At no point did we see any government improvements or controlled access. Quite the opposite, the road we took to the paintings was mostly unimproved, washboard type. After a brief stop at a citrus orchard, where we bought organic fruit for $1.00 a bag, we rode 15 miles away from the coast to a ranch where we signed in again and hiked, climbed and swam variable terrain some 2 miles back to two different sets of cave paintings. Constructed between 3,000 and 5,000 BC, these paintings are just a few of the 800+ petroglyph sites on the Baja peninsula. Equally impressive was the canyon hike, with the springs that make Mulege one of the most fertile areas in Baja.(only 8 inches of annual rainfall). Additionally, our guide Salvador, having been raised on a ranch, was a plethora of information regarding medicinal and ceremonial plants in the desert. He showed us plants to cure cancer, diabetes, infections, kidney stones, toothache, as well as hallucinogens and which are good for food and water. After the Skipjack and the Walkabout, we feel well prepared in the event we get stranded in this desert.

The next day our new friend Berman showed us the local hot springs where we attempted to recuperate from our physical beating due to the hike the day before.

With this update come our special thoughts for a healthy, happy and peaceful holiday season. The one thing cruising teaches you is prosperity is a relative term. We have learned that we live in such a small world, with everyone sharing a common goal, a peaceful coexistence. When you are without your family you are forced, in a very beneficial way, to cherish the people you are with and be thankful for what you do have. In this regard, here we share some pictures of a cruisers holiday. No fancy decorations, just as much Xmas spirit as we can scrape together. We also donated Xmas presents in La Paz to two 10 year old orphan girls. These gifts were organized by cruisers and limited to be fair to all the children in the orphanage. Our girls will receive a new stylish shirt, some hair clips and a Xmas card and greeting from us. The biggest disappointment is that we will not be there to deliver them.

As of this writing we have no idea where Santa will find us but he has already bestowed a treasure of gifts over the past five months that are nothing short of priceless. Although we very much miss our friends and family, we have come to appreciate the people we have meet along the way who have immediately become our friends and cruising family. People that regardless of economic means, religious or cultural backgrounds all share the same hope: Independence, individual enlightenment, pride in their children, strong relationships with others and peace in old age. In many ways we have already been blessed beyond our wishes. May God grant you these same gifts in the years to come.

Happy Holidays,

Kurt & Katie