SAILING CAMELOT

Well it has been 23 days since we departed Santa Rosalia. We headed north through some of the most remote areas of the Sea of Cortez and the Baja Peninsula. We crossed a Mexican State line from Southern Baja California to Baja California and even changed to the Pacific Time Zone.

The Sea of Cortez is truly the world’s aquarium, we have seen whale sharks, bottle nosed dolphins, sea lions and sea turtles, as well as hundreds of different bird species. The water has been a constant 80 to 84 degrees.
The Baja peninsula is as beautiful as it is desolate. The Baja peninsula is mostly desert, with many volcanic mountains surrounded by hard white sand. Colors range from light tans to orange to black, many times layered like cakes. The land is topped off with the ever present cactus and scrubs. Many of our anchorages have been empty with Camelot being the only vessel for miles.

During the evening you can frequently hear the coyotes barking and howling; in the morning we frequently see them walking the beaches at low tide, looking for an easy meal.

We have had some company over the weeks. We were visited once by the Mexican Army and then several days later by the Mexican Navy on routine inspections. None of soldiers or sailors looked over 22, and all were armed to the teeth but even so, they were extremely courteous, very professional and seemed as curious about us as we were of them.

We keep in touch with other boaters through regularly scheduled HAM Radio calls. Last weekend was the first “Full Moon Party” for the cruising boats down here. Arranged through the HAM Radio, fifteen boats anchored in La Mona at the south end of Bahia de Los Angeles. We shared a potluck dinner on the beach, swapped stories of the Sea of Cortez and watched the International Space Station do a fly over. The next day, most of the boats raised their anchors and headed out to their favorite anchorages.

We remained behind in La Mona and were treated to spectacular shows from bottles nose dolphins, jumping Devil Rays and a small (14 foot) whale shark.

Today, we sailed a short 4 miles and anchored in front of the Bahia de Los Angeles Village, which is about 170 miles southeast of San Diego, California. Over the next 4-5 days we will provision and do some exploring. It is the first town we have seen since Santa Rosalia and we look forward to someone else cooking tonight. Rumor has it there is a restaurant with Internet. If so, we will update the web site sometime over the weekend.

Until then we wanted everyone to know. Life is Good South of the Border!