7) 2010 Baja Ha-ha Cabo San Lucas

(You Tube clip w/Cliff at the wheel, Craig getting wet, John, and me inside)

approach to round the point at Cabo San Lucas

The final few hours of the end of the run was the wettest and roughest water in this area in collective memory.  After rounding the point and making it in to the fuel dock the eastern Pacific seems a world away.  Cold beer, warm showers and comfortable beds awaits us all.

S/V Rainbow in Cabo San Lucas marina.

6) 2010 Baja Ha-ha Bahia Santa Maria, Baja, CA

Bahia Santa Maria, Baja, CA

 Woke up in the morning to a beautiful blue sky in the anchorage at Bahia Santa Maria after having dropped the hook in the wee early hours.  We heard lots of chatter on the VHF that S/V Tachyon, a single-handed sailboat, went aground and they were gathering up volunteers to hike out and see if they could help. 

  

This particular venture would entail taking the dinghy thru a break; motoring up the river to fish camp #3; disembark and walk several miles to get to the north-eastern part of the beach on the north side of this peninsula.  This was too good to pass up.

John, Cliff, Dave

 (You Tube clip)

Motoring up the estuary

It might look deep enough but this is a thriving tidal area with lots of shallow spots and sand bars.  We managed to sneak thru.

Fish camp #3.

The local fisherman commute to the fish camps in diverse trucks and travel along well-carved roads consisting of sand.  This entire area seems ruled by the wind and waves and even inland remnants of the sea can be found.  The lowlands are especially affected by the water action as the highest of tides and wind-driven water carves its way thru.  After ascending the low hills out of the fish camps this is the first view of ship-wreck beach and an isolated lagoon.

 

 (You Tube clip)

walking the trail to the beach

whale bones

Everything washes up on this beach.

(You Tube clip)
S/V Tachyon

(You Tube clip)
the work is done.

S/V Rainbow at anchor.

5) 2010 Baja Ha-ha sailing clips

Latitude 38 was gracious to pick up one of my You Tube clips and post it in their on-line newsletter:

Nov 15, 2010

Here is what they wrote:

Bountiful Sailing off Baja

November 15, 2010 – Baja, Mexico

Some folks think there isn't much good sailing on the way from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. It's true that it can be light but, as you can see from David Berke's YouTube video of Cliff Shaw's Emery Cove-based Crowther 10m Rainbow, there is actually great sailing to be had.

S/V Rainbow Crowther 10m 17.6 knots 10.31.10 1130am Baja, CA  (You Tube clip w/Cliff at the wheel, John on the rail)

While the wind didn't fill in for the second leg until about 4 p.m., when it did it was wonderful. We were carrying a full main on Profligate along with a Santa Cruz 70 chute in what we estimated were 17 to 19 knots of true wind, and we were constantly surfing in the low- to high-teens. It was so smooth that if you were inside the salon, you could hardly tell — except for the sound of the water passing the hulls — that the boat was moving. It was some of the best sailing we've ever had. Around about 3 a.m., a bit of a cross swell developed, so it wasn't quite as smooth as before, and thanks to overstanding the layline, we had to go to white sails after gybing. Nonetheless, the Baja coast proved to once again be a cat's playground.

Spinnaker sailing off Baja can be really spectacular.
© 2011 Mark Leonard  

Yes, the sailing was spectacular with high winds and small seas.

(You Tube clip)

Sailing Rainbow off Baja, CA 10.31.10 

Cliff at the wheel and John on the rail.

(You Tube clip)

Blowin' by a mono-hull

We blew right by this mono-hull.  Granted, it could have been a full-keel but in reality this cat is flat and mono-hulls suffer in sloppy seas at a certain heading.  You can see the sails collapse when the boat heels and that effectively puts the brakes on extending the duration of the passage.

Cliff cleaning a fish.

...and the boys caught a tuna. 

I found a quick meal in a bag.

(You Tube clip)

Overtaking that same mono-hull 

(You Tube clip)
...off the bow 

(You Tube clip)
dolphins off the bow 

(You Tube clip) 
Sunset
 

4) 2010 Baja Ha-ha Bahia Tortugas, Baja, CA

Turtle Bay, Baja, CA

...somewhere out there Rainbow swings on the hook.

One of the joys of passage-making is arriving and dropping the hook.  I'm not sure which is greater of dropping the hook, getting a beer or taking a land-based shower.  There is still that pesky broad expanse of water between the anchored boat and the shoreline that must be traversed by dinghy.  But, luckily after  treading across the pier there is an unmistakable sign from above, or, well painted on a wall, directing us to the mythical ice cold beer.

 

It may sound cheesy but this watering hole and its vantage point is one of my all-time favorite places.

Restaurant Enrique's

...the no-hot-water $5 USD shower.

   

 

By far one of the greatest qualities of Turtle Bay is the friendliness of the locals.  Next on that list is the many unique characteristics of the town itself.  It would be a mistake to travel this far and not foot-trek thru the streets.

...the famed Vera Cruz restaurant.

...that's the kitchen window.

And, these are on the hill below the kitchen window.  I think we can all do the math on this one.

John and I taking in some r&r.

 

 And of course the beach party...

Why am I smiling?

(You Tube clip)
Baja Ha-Ha beach party tug-of-war Ha-Ha beach party tug-of-war

Rainbow departing Turtle Bay