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Leaving Bahia San Quintin, we would spend a night at Isla San Geronimo and then head to Isla Cedros. San Geronimo was essentially deserted. A few shacks and a lighthouse. We couldn't get ashore because of the surge, but it provided a restful evening so we could pass by Sacramento Reef in daylight. Our plan was to head to Cedros Island for a few days, but the wind and seas kicked up. So we headed into San Carlos anchorage, which is supposed to be the only 'decent' anchorage if shelter is needed. As we entered the bay, the winds were howling, and our engine would not start... a fuse had blown. So we found a suitable anchoring spot and got settled in, under sail. It was rough, so Buddy was going to have to "hold it" until morning... when we expected things to calm down a bit. It was a night of sleeping diagonally in the v-berth do to the wind and waves. We really should have slept in our 'underway' berth in the cabin. The next morning, we headed to Cedros with a double reef in the mainsail and about 50% headsail. Our speed put us at Cedros before dawn, so we 'hovered' a bit until daylight. We stopped at one anchorage- then decided to head south a bit to the Las Palmita anchorage... which is really just a sandy shelf off the island and a place to land the dinghy. It was nice for a quiet evening and some sleep. The east side of Cedros is somewhat protected from the normal NW swell and winds, so it was a nice change.

Then off to Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortugas) for a few days. The Baja HaHa group stops here, so we figured it would be a good rest stop for fuel and beer- and we could get internet access. Our cruise book describes Turtle Bay as "coyote ugly", which pretty much sums it up. The people we met were all quite nice... folks would wave and greet us. We felt very welcome... but the scenic side of town...

We had fuel delivered via panga. An open boat with a big fiberglass tank (with diesel fuel) came alongside, he started a portable generator to power a pump... and we topped off our tanks. We could have used the fuel dock to get ashore, but because we had Buddy- it wasn't an option. At the fuel dock, you have to climb a ladder up about 15'. While Buddy is somewhat talented, we figured he wouldn't be able to handle that one. So it was dinghy landings on the beach.

For Cindy's first time in a 'somewhat' surf landing, I explained the procedure to her. Outside the surf line, we would lower the dinghy wheels, time the waves, and when it felt right... we would ride in on the backside of a wave. When it broke, we should be in really shallow water, and we simply jump out and pull the dinghy ashore. Voila!! Pretty simple. All went as planned, except when we hit the shallow water and I jumped out, I lost my balance and fell over backwards into the water. Buddy was jumping off the bow, and got caught in the bow line. What a fiasco. Cindy didn't help matters much by laughing and repeating a 'Larry the Cable Guy' line: "I don't care who you are, that's funny!" Hmmph- you try it next time. An older gentleman sitting in a pickup on the beach was watching the whole show. He called us over, and started speaking to us in Spanish. We understood that he was giving us instructions on how to land the dinghy. I insisted that our only problem was that I had lost my balance- communicating with hand signals and gestures, along with a few words in Spanish. He chuckled and pointed to his watch... he wanted to know what time tomorrow we were going to do this again, so he could bring his family to watch. Great.

Turtle Bay is really economically depressed. It's mostly fishermen, and the main cannery had closed several years ago. They're about 150 miles from the paved highway via a dirt road. But the folks were very nice and accomodating.

From there- we continued southbound to Cabo San Lucas with intermediate stops at Bahia Asuncion, Punta Abreojos, Bahia Santa Maria, and Bahia Magdalena.

We had planned to spend the night at Bahia Santa Maria, which is 'just right around the corner' from Mag Bay. When we dropped anchor at Santa Maria, it was time to take Buddy ashore. A quick look at the guide book told us to anchor 'about .5 mile off the beach to avoid the disturbed waters associated with the heavy surf which breaks on the entire beach within the bay." The book says that if needed, you may be able to take a dinghy through the surf into a lagoon. We'll from .5 mile off the beach, it didn't look too bad, so we launched the dinghy, got Buddy in, and headed to the beach. As we neared the surf line, we saw the true challenge of landing on the beach. Oh crap, I thought. Buddy was thinking the same thing, but in a different sense. So we were going to go for it. Letsee, outside the surf line, lower and lock the dinghy wheels, and start timing the surf coming in, looking for lulls. Then when the time was right... start powering in. Except, we had to start over about 3 times due to the size and speed of the waves. When we 'went for it', the motor was full power to keep up on the backside of the wave. The wave broke and we were on the beach... completely dry. We pulled that one off without issue!! But looking back into the bay from the beach, getting back may be a bit harder... While Buddy was running and exploring, I considered wheeling the dinghy across the beach to the backside of the lagoon and trying to head out from there. At least we'd have full control of the dinghy prior to negotiating the surf. Nope, we (I) decided that we'd just head back out the way we came in. So, start floating the dinghy out to knee-deep water, keeping the bow into the swells. Buddy is aboard and ready. So, we start the outboard motor and slowly motor out to the surf line, watching for breaks. We would slowly power out, a wave would break in front of us... power over the wave, wait for the next one, power over, and repeat..... then "GO FOR IT".... but being ready to depower so we don't flip over backwards on another incoming wave. Whew.... we made it out without any problems or any water in the dinghy. I was feeling quite proud of myself... finally 'mastering' the surf landing. But not confident enough that we would stay and try this one again. Off to Mag Bay to wait out out a bit of weather and then head to Cabo.

We spent 3 nights in Mag Bay, and when the weather/seas cooperated, we did the 30-hour overnight passage to Cabo. On this leg, we were treated to great entertainment from dolphins.

Cabo, to us was just a tourist resort. Time shares, American music, and big $$ for everything. We did get dock space for 2 nights so we could reprovision (out of beer and wine again), get fuel, and do laundry, Then around the corner into the Sea of Cortez. We're ready for calmer waters and easy landings on the beach.