We checked in at Ensenada, refueled, got our tourist visas and had our first fish tacos in Mexico – Baja style. We spent two days at the marina, walked into town and enjoyed showers and welcome cocktails at the marina hotel. We were impressed by the ease and efficiency of the check in service through the marina. Glad we stopped here!
Heading out from Ensenada we settled in for another two nights at sea. Natalie yelled “Viva Mexico!” before casting a new fishing lure. The conditions on the two night passage to Cedros were chilly with 20-25 knot winds and 3-5’ rolling seas. Everyone was layered up. We headed in to rest at an anchorage off Cedros Island, San Augustin fish camp. The anchorage waters were fairly calm and the winds were blowing a steady 20-25 knots with gusts to 30 all night. Time for a hot pasta dinner and a full 12 hours of sleep. We headed out for Turtle Bay in the morning. Lorin’s scratch made biscuits are becoming a crew favorite before passages.
Turtle Bay and Asunción – The weather is starting to change, leaving behind damp, chilly temps and getting into drier, warmer weather and sunny skies. After dropping anchor in Turtle Bay we jumped in for a swim and fresh water rinse on the swim step. A group of cruisers on a catamaran came by in their dinghy and gave us a sizable piece of ahi and we all had a shot of tequila. We grilled tri-tip for a dinner celebration that night, happy to be trading out the long underwear for shorts and t-shirts. The bay is full of sea lions and pelicans, falling asleep we could hear sea lions rubbing against the anchor chain and splashing the hull. We went into town the next morning and were adopted by a few local dogs who walked with us and waited as we went in and out of tiendas and stopped for breakfast. The locals are incredibly friendly!
We left in the evening for an overnight sail to Asunción. We lost our autopilot on a gybe underway, making for a squirrelly recovery in the dark. We arrived at Bahia Asunción around 6am and our new friends on the catamaran came in just behind us. We went into town for lunch and to stretch our legs. The locals all with big smiles and giving us the thumbs up passing by. We had a great lunch at La Palapa. John and Natalie went out fishing in the dinghy and after snapping their line while reeling in a fish, a local fishing boat waived them down and gave them three snappers as a gift. We feel so humbled by the local generosity.
We had a full day of chores at Asunción including making water with our RainMan desalinator, restocking a few supplies and recalibrating the autopilot. After a sea trial the autopilot seems to be fixed! We chatted with a local who runs a multi-service business, he also works hauling lobster pots everyday like many local fishermen and says here seawater is in the local blood. He tells us that aside from selling to a local restaurant, all lobsters from Ascuncion go directly to China. He says Isla Natividad, which forms the tip of the bay, has the second highest population of sea lions on Baja. We closed out the night with a dinner of fresh snapper, bottle of wine and homemade key lime pie to celebrate Natalie’s birthday!
Middle Bight – The first night of our passage through the middle bight was rainy and the autopilot is still having issues. We’ve now named the autopilot Esperanza (hope). We changed our watch schedule and everyone is taking turns hand steering for an hour. At daylight we saw a shark and our first turtle; another sign that we are headed into the tropics! After catching only bonito down the first half of Baja, we caught a yellowtail on the way into Bahia Santa Maria. The crew is stoked! We chilled down the fillets for ceviche and sashimi. Time to rest up before our passage to Cabo!
SV Solitude 