Turtle Bay

27 41.4N 114 52.6W

We arrived here in Turtle Bay yesterday afternoon (Thursday 29th October).

The winds were very light or non-existent leaving Ensenada, though the forecast was promising increasing northerly winds. We had quite thick fog patches during the night so there was plenty to do on watch keeping a lookout and checking the radar screen.

We had been hoping to keep out of the way of the fleet of boats in the Baja Ha Ha rally but were soon in the midst of them. 170 boats all heading for Turtle Bay. One advantage being with the fleet was to be able to listen in on the radio position reports. The boats further offshore were getting moderate to fresh winds. The winds were being forecast to strengthen so we decided along with many of the Baja Ha Ha fleet to anchor overnight in Bahia San Quintin. It is a nice wide Bay so there was plenty of room for the 30 or so yachts in the Bay - which I guess would normally be deserted !

We weighed anchor at 0800 the next morning as the wind forecast sounded good 15-20kts. By lunch time it was blowing 25kts and the seas were building to 6 feet. So we were gett the downwind passage we had been hoping for except that the wind gods were a little more generous than we would have liked !

The seas continued to build during the night with wind gusts sometimes above 30kts. We had hoisted full mainsail on leaving the anchorage so we were getting a fast ride down some of the big waves which had built up to about 12 feet with the occasional 18 footer. We had a bit too much sail up for those conditions but its not much fun reefing in those conditions so just  kept powering on ! We were clocking 8kts boat speed most of the time which is pretty fast for the big heavy White Rose.

It was a different experience sailing with so many other yachts within sight and quite entertaining listening in to the "chit chat". A few boats were having finding the conditions a bit tough with gear damage and getting "pooped". One boat spent many hours getting disentangled from a long polypropylene fishing line that was poorly marked.

The seas moderated markedly once we  passed to the east of Isla Cedros though the winds still stayed fresh from the NNE. We had intended to anchor by the village at Cedros but the wind condition made that anchorage untenable. So we decided to stay with the Ha Ha fleet and continue on to Turtle Bay.

It is quite a sight to see 170 boats in the bay off the town. It must be wonderful for the small isolated town's businesses when they get invaded by the Americanos. We tried to keep out of everyones way by anchoring well away from the village only to find we had anchored right in front of the beach where they are holding their beach party !

The morning radio net is quite entertaining though it was disturbing to learn that one of the boats had been repeatedly rammed by a blue whale and sank within a few minutes. Fortunately the five crew were able to escape into their liferaft and were rescued by the US Coast Guard about 2 hours later. Its not nice to hear about incindents like that when we know we have many thousands of miles to cover in much more isolated waters and no USCG nearby for help.

We intend having a few relaxing days here in the calm waters of Turtle Bay before continuing south in what is likely to be much milder conditions - no doubt we will soon be complaining of lack of wind - we are hard to please !

Apparently there have not been turtles here for a hundred years but maybe should be renamed to Pelican bay as there are thousands of them !

Departed Ensenada

Departed Ensenada this afternoon on our way to Turtle Bay !

Hoping for a nice downwind passage for a change.

31 50.0N 116 37.9W

Where are we now - Ensenada

We are in Ensenada at the Baja Naval Marina.

Waiting on a new engine mount !

31 50.0N 116 37.9W