Friday, October 29, 2010

Captain Erik and Viking II on the Baja Ha-ha: Bahia Tortugas

Disclaimer:  beer is not the only thing involved in cruising …

 
I love Bahia Tortugas, Baja California (Turtle Bay).  Turtle Bay is not on any main road, just the route along the Mexican coast to the Sea of Cortez.  We arrived in the dark after a two and a half day sail from San Diego; sailed a little wing on wing … most of the trip was surfing down the waves … we motored the last ten miles due to a dead calm.   I have been here often enough to feel secure in the dark … Lowrance (the GPS) has several tracks that take me where I have been before.  We anchor, and per tradition, break out the tequila and toast a successful passage.

In the morning we move Viking II closer to the pier to shorten the dingy and panga runs.  Pangas are two dollars per person this year; I’d swear it was only one dollar last year … inflation in Turtle Bay.  At the softball game and around town, people appear to be in good economic shape; unemployment is said to be low; fishing is the primary industry … tourism comes next … that would be us.  The Baja Ha-ha has been coming here for sixteen years; with six hundred people pressed onto a normal population of four thousand, it is a big event.  Annabel is nowhere to be found, so I purchase fuel and water from Enrique Jr., El Gordo, the local tycoon. 
EJ, Marilyn, Jynene, Buffy, Jan and I, launch the dingy.  A $150 overhaul back home in Sacramento (under the watch full eyes of the Cal EPA) and the outboard will not idle … this will make it more of a challenge docking and beaching the dingy through the waves.  Off to town to catch up on the internet and see how cold the beer is.  My favorite is La Palapa with Carlos and Mercedes, proprietors.  A great visit with old friends, good food, internet access and yes … the beer is cold.

A new softball game between the locals and the Ha-ha’ers is a delight for all.  No one keeps score … the Ha-ha’ers get eight outs … the music is wonderful; a great event to share with the community.  As the crowd dissipates, Julio the beer concessionaire gives us free beer as we listen to the music in a near-empty stadium … just Julio, the musician from the ministry of culture, and us … this is the good life.  We arrive late for the Halloween party at the Vera Cruz but make up for it by closing the place.  Ha-ha’ers and locals danced the night away.
The beach party is in full swing as I deliver Jynene, Buffy and Betty through the light surf.   A little confusion with helpers on the beach and a stalled outboard nearly proves disastrous as a wave hits me and knocks me off the dingy.  I bail water as I return to the anchored fleet to pick up Alan, EJ and Marilyn ... our landing is uneventful.  The party is pot luck and concession beer; volley ball for the athletic and golf ball/horse shoes for casual play ... Jynene is obviously a ringer. Kites fly over the beach and the women whip the men in a tug of war.  Locals are selling trinkets and cool drinks; they have licenses … bureaucracy is coming to Turtle Bay.
Dinner at La Palapa is wonderful; I have estofa de pesca that Mercedes has prepared specially for us; Buffy does the best langosta impersonation I have ever seen.  Captain Fred, Alan and Betty, the crew of Aunt Sur, join in the revelry; conversation is lively.  As the Ha-ha’ers drift back to the fleet, the locals as well as the mayor come by to socialize.  The Ha-ha is not the sum total of life in Bahia Tortugas.  This is a solid, working class town; I could live here.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Captain Erik and Viking II on the Baja Ha-ha: San Diego to Bahia Tortugas

Viking II departed San Diego with the Baja Ha-ha fleet of 160 to 190 boats.  On board are Captain Erik, Jan, Jynene, Buffy, EJ, and Marilyn.   We set out with a full main and the light asymmetrical spinnaker.  Winds are light and the fleet soon scatters far and wide through Los Coronados Islas off the coast of Mexico. 


Standing watch on an ocean going vessel is both a safety necessity and a legal requirement.  We run 24 hours a day off shore with sails flying.  Watch rotation is set to match the need with the skills at hand.  I like short watches for novices as well as for experienced mariners to minimize fatigue.   We set up a rotation that starts with two hours on the helm where the helmsman needs to be sharp and alert; next is two hours in the cockpit to be a resource for the helmsman in the event of a sail trim, etc … this is a time to relax and take in the scenery; finally the crew member is off watch … eight hours with our crew of six.  Meals are cooked by the volunteer of the moment; dishes are washed by someone who did not cook (likely me).



Approaching Turtle Bay the wind slackens.  We have had light wind and I am bored with our progress so I tell Buffy, my watch mate, that we are going to have a little fun … wing on wing.  This is a dead-down-wind run with the spinnaker set to starboard and the main boom to port; it is unstable and hard to hold in a following sea.  It is fun for an hour; we make about one more knot in speed; the setting sun suggests a more stable sail set into the night.

It has been two nights out at sea with an after dark arrival in Turtle Bay.  The stay sail has a tear in it that will need repair; first sail tear on Viking II.