It was time to leave Cedros and head toward Bahia Tortuga. We had hoped to skip Bahia Tortuga but there was some forecasted winds coming and we were going to have to use Bahia Tortuga for a safety spot. But being fully provisioned and fueled we would really only stop if weather forced us. On our way back to the Baja we needed to go around Isla Natividad. We could go one of two ways and we chose to go between Isla Natividad and the Baja. There are reports of many lobster pots either direction and of currents. So we took the shortest route. As we set out the day was beautiful. We were sailing along at a nice slow steady pace. As we approached the channel between Isla Natividad and Point Eugenia we began feeling the current more and readied our selves to tack towards Isla Natividad. Which we did and did again over the next several hours. As the hours went by the current was pulling us faster toward Point Eugenia. That was no problem we just continued tacking and keeping a watchful eye for the lobster pots. Which we found. Thousands of them. We continued tacking out as needed to skirt the outside perimeter so as not to run over the said lobster pots. This took a constant lookout at the bow and the next hours neither of us spoke much except when we spotted the next pot.
As we began rounding Point Eugenia several thousand more lobster pots came into view. We made a quick decision to tack out toward sea. With the wind lowering to barely a puff we slowly crept out away from the pots. Still on the out side boarder of the pots we didn’t dare breath until we put some distance between us and the out side boarder. Just as we were clear enough to start our motor we spotted white sails behind us. We were taking bets on if it was the boys on Toy Box Express or not when over the radio we begin hearing Spanish chatter.
In a very urgent voice “Velero Velero Velero! “Punta Eugenia dose Veleros!!!” and then alooooot of rapid fire Spanish. As we quickly translated the Spanish words we realize that they could be trying to contact us. But we had cleared the lobster pot field. We take a quick look around making sure we don’t see any imminent danger and grab the mic to the radio just as Toy Box came over! In their broken Spanish we figured they were trying to hail us and maybe warn us of something. Then out of the blue a very stern sounding Siri told us to…. “ watch out for the colored balls, watch out for the colored balls, watch out for the colored balls. Stay away from shore, stay away from shore, stay away from shore. ” We quickly responded with the only thing we could think of. “Gracias…Comprende.”
We continued on to Bahia Tortuga with a constant look out for more colored balls. The thing about the colored balls is it can be a bright florescent new float or it can be nothing but a pop bottle tied to a line. The rest of the day and into the evening we continued watching for any sign of lobster pots. As the sun set we were still a little ways out of Bahia Tortuga and would have to anchor in the dark. One of our least favorite things to do; but maybe the more we do it the better it will feel? It was completely dark with no moon as we made our way in carefully watching our instruments. There were a ton of lights on shore but we were too far away yet to distinguish which were navigation lights and which were everyday city lights. Using our flash lights to scan the bay we slowly moved forward. Spooked by the lobster pot fiasco we jumped every time we would catch a reflection until our brains made out a bird or a sea lion head or another float.
About half way in we decided to turn off to the right and just get out of the channel for the night and then move in closer in day light. I made a hard turn to starboard (right) and we inched our way in. Still nervous about lobster pots and how fast or slow we really are going i creep along until 20 minutes pass and Sam askes if we are there yet. The chart looked ok but showed I could go further in. I try and after a few more minutes Sam wants to drop anchor. So we do. After we are all set and sound we look at our chart and realized that I had been moving at such a slow speed that we didn’t travel as far as I thought due to the opposing current. Lesson learned. Opposing current going to have to give more throttle. We were safe for the night and chuckled a little about all the lessons we were learning.
The next morning we wake and feel like we are smack dab in the center of the very large bay. Calm and quiet. The main channel is slightly to the side so we aren’t in anyone’s way. Just then a massive number of seals and sea lions swim by creating a huge wave. They continued to swim across the bay to the beach and back several times. Every time they passed us a few of them would turn their heads and look us dead in the eyes as if to say “what kinda fish you got over there?” It was like a real life sea world for hours.
That night was New Years Eve and Toy Box Express invited the entire bay over for a New Years Celebration. We joined them in celebrating along with another boat. Drinks and sushi and snacks. Good music and stories filled the night. Memories shared are memories made. Three o’clock in the morning came fast and we headed back to Hiraya. We slept until the sun came up. The wind event that made us hide in Bahia Tortuga arrived and for some odd reason it came from the South and just ripped through the bay. We had four to five foot wind waves bucking us around for the next couple days. Sam at one pint went to the bow, clipped in of course, to place some fire hose on our our lines. This was to stop any chaffing that might be happening. We should have done it in calmer weather but you know, sometimes we just roll like that. After surviving the rodeo on the bow he went below to try and raise up our center board and secure it. The mechanism holding it had come undone on our last sail. Again…another project that should have been done in calmer weather. He experienced sea sickness for the first time after laying head in the bilge trying to secure everything. “Welcome to my little world” I told him.
Instead of being stuck home in snow we are stuck on a boat that is rocking and rolling and there is no exit. For the next couple of days we rock and roll and hold on. We can’t use power to watch a movie or play music and we are moving too much to read or try and look at any thing. We literally can’t do anything but stare at each other. Which we do until we couldn’t take it any more. At that point we put on our life jackets, reefed the main, and sailed out of the bay. The winds were forecasted to be lessening, we see sun and clear skies at the entrance of the bay. With 20 knots of wind and our second reef in we head out. After exiting the bay and turning slightly to port the wind dropped to a lovely 10 knots we released the reef and had an amazing sail for the next several hours. Again, a lesson in local weather and what land does to wind. The sun was warming and we were no longer board. We danced in the sun in our bare feet as we happily sailed on.