{"id":19066,"date":"2018-05-30T18:56:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T23:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlinecruisingguide.com\/stage_aug23\/free-luff\/the-beautiful-baja-and-sad-so-longs\/"},"modified":"2021-11-08T17:16:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T23:16:21","slug":"the-beautiful-baja-and-sad-so-longs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlinecruisingguide.com\/stage_aug23\/the-beautiful-baja-and-sad-so-longs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beautiful Baja – and Sad So-longs"},"content":{"rendered":"

After taking care of some logistics in Mazatl\u00e1n<\/a> (which have changed since making all the arrangements – more on that in the Addendum below) in preparation for summer travel, boat work, etc<\/em>., we sailed across The Sea to The Baja (approximately 300 nm, depending on where one makes landfall). The docket looked like this: Get to La Paz; reconnect with Thad and Kristin of She’s No Lady<\/em>, Mike and Nancy of Shanti<\/em>, and Vicki and Jason of Volar\u00e9<\/em>; hit up some of our favorite LP haunts (Harker Board, La Fuente, Dulce Romero); doddle our way north to Puerto Escondido where we would meet up with the fleet gathering for the 10th Annual West Coast Multihulls Baja Rally; hang out with Rand’s childhood buddy, David, for a few days in the Loreto area; and then beat feet back to Mazatl\u00e1n (which instead became getting back to La Paz) to put FL<\/em> to bed and head home for a bit.<\/p>\n

As evidenced by all of the photos and video, we had a wonderfully busy few weeks with friends, friends, and more friends. The blissful yet sometimes sporty sail across The Sea landed us at places we’ve blogged about before – Playa la Bonanza on Esp\u00edritu Santo, Puerto Balandra, La Paz – and then firmly in the laps of our brethren, Thad and Kristin, where we would remain, very happily, for the next couple of weeks. We buddy boated to Isla San Francisco, where we tried to raft-up, but were forced to detach at midnight because of sideways swell; Rinc\u00f3n, where we rafted-up again, but were too stubborn and rode out some minor sloppy chop; then we ventured further north to Punta San Telmo, Candeleros, and Honeymoon Cove, where we were witness to one of the most amazing wildlife spectacles of our lives – hundreds and hundreds of schooling and breaching mobula rays<\/a>. As Tannika would say, with typical enthusiasm yet understatement, “WOW!”<\/p>\n

After a quick provisioning trip to Loreto and a fun overnight with Craig and Krystle of Small World<\/em>, it was time to grab a mooring at Puerto Esco and watch all the multihulls and our token monohull, Volar\u00e9<\/em>, roll in for the Rally. It was a gathering of 15 boats (more than double previous years) and more than 40 sailors. We’d anticipated the Rally for many months and were even more excited after a wonderful meet and greet on the docks and the kick-off dinner catered by Pepegina’s at the Puerto Esco Marina. Our first stop was Bah\u00eda Salinas on Isla Carmen. We enjoyed a slow sail\/motor-sail, but the evening was a bit lumpy – churning things up.<\/p>\n

The following morning, the fleet would move on to Isla Coronados, and that was when the trouble started… Over the fleet net, it came to light that several people were experiencing some, um, gastrointestinal distress. Was it the ceviche? Was it the salad? Not sure we’ll ever know. In all, over the next couple of days, 13 of the 15 boats were affected and all but 4 or 5 of the sailors were struck down by Montezuma’s. But let’s be clear, this was an anomaly for Pepegina’s. We’ve eaten there numerous times and enjoy the food immensely. We attribute the outbreak to catered noms they don’t normally serve and\/or the food handling. We’re pretty sure they brought people in to help with the event, and, well, we can only guess what happened, but we know the outcome. This little intestinal bug resulted in us and SNL<\/em> breaking off from the fleet and staying put at Coronados to recover. It was a good call, but we were sad to see all those boats and the rest of our friends sail away.<\/p>\n

Once we felt well enough, we buddied back down to Candeleros, which would be SNL<\/em>‘s last stop before pushing south to San Jose del Cabo, where they would turn the helm over to our friend and delivery captain, Jim, for the bash back to San Diego. Volar\u00e9<\/em> caught up to us here and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, a contentious euchre challenge (girls against boys, of course – AND THE BOYS WON! WHAT!!??), and a final toast to SNL<\/em>. We awoke at first light to see her weigh anchor and putter out of the bay. Sad to see her go, but excited for Thad and Kristin, as they move into a new phase of their adventurous life together. Sigh…<\/p>\n

Then it was back up to Puerto Esco, this time to see Vicki off and spend a few lovely days hangin’ out with David, playing cribbage, sailing around, and chewin’ the fat. Fun, fun times with wonderful friends on The Beautiful Baja. Despite some waves of melancholy, our hearts are happy.<\/p>\n\n\t\t