Bahia Asuncion & Bahia Santa Maria

Bahia Asuncion is 50 nm south of Turtle Bay.  After a wonderful downwind sail with our asymmetric spinnaker flying, we anchored off this active fishing village for a few nights.  The beach made for excellent walking, shell collecting, and surf swimming.  The town is rustic, but had one main paved road with “handicap accessible” sidewalks amidst dirt roads. The tiendas had produce we sought, as well as some treats to celebrate St. Nicholas Day with the kids. 

As we walked, we heard a bike horn honking and, to our delight, the Donut Man was pushing his cart of freshly made donuts.  Yes, we bought a few! 

We solved “The Mystery of the Holey Shells” after we found thick white shells with perfect circles cut out of them on the beach???  Initially, we thought large starfish or octopus must have drilled these.  However, we then found small shell circles that fit these holes perfectly.  There used to be a shell button business here, shipping these buttons to Europe! 

The kids enjoyed beach and surf play with other boat kids from Canadian SV Kamala. 

We also spent some time hanging out with SV Flora, an experienced cruising couple from Germany, as they treated us to freshly baked almond cake.

A highlight was sitting on the bow with Cora under the stars, while watching the phosphorescent trails of sea lions around our boat before they burst to the surface in sparkles.  However, the magic of that moment turned a bit sour the next night, as a group of 30-40 sea lions decided to sign up for the SV Terikah Sea Lion Bed & Breakfast, gorging on small fish that were hiding under our boat in a frenzy that would cause them to hit our hulls all night long.  Finally, all four of us got out of bed around 3am to a louder noise – the sea lions were taking turns jumping up our swim steps and then lounging!  They were sad to see us leave the anchorage, following us along for a bit before they realized we were no longer open for business.

We started out at first light for a two day overnight passage to Bahia Santa Maria.  There are so many decisions for each passage and location; our decision was based on wanting to get away from some Santa Anas (winds off the land blowing out to sea), as well as wanting to get to Bahia Santa Maria to spend a significant amount of time.  The downside was passing a few villages we wanted to visit, as well as putting us out in bigger predicted swells.  As I write this, we are at the end of our 188 mile passage that will have taken about 34 hours.  Highlights of the passage included seeing the “green flash” at sunset for the first time and Calder’s amazing fishing abilities (kept one large tuna and two mahi-mahi, let many smaller mahi-mahi go). 

However, this passage was challenging for us.  The seas were bigger (up to 10 feet) and closer together for most of the passage, which made for more active steering and adjusting and minimal sleep.  The kids are learning the boat but are not ready to take watch on their own yet, namely in these conditions.  Also, trying to take down the asymmetrical spinnaker, a wind gust smacked it and the line tore threw my grip, causing a shearing burning pain and 2^nd degree rope burns blistering my fingers. 

The passage was the darkest passage we have been on, as the moon was just a sliver.  We did grow from the experience, pushing us all to take passages in sportier seas in the pitch black.  We also realized that a strict watch schedule would help everyone get some sleep along the way, rather than us all being out there active at all times.  This is definitely a journey physically and mentally, as we seek out new horizons both outwardly and inwardly.

Bahia Santa Maria was just what our souls needed, as we spent five glorious nights anchored in this remote quiet bay. 

Upon arrival, a panga brought over fresh live lobster, of which we purchased 3 at a price of $4 per lobster!  Our dinner that night consisted of tuna poke, mahi tacos, and lobster. 

The ocean waters have continued warming up to a lovely 24 degrees and we enjoyed our daily swim and fresh water rinse; we haven’t been this clean in weeks!  To conserve energy heating water, we fill our sun showers with fresh water and let the sun do the work for us, bathing in the salt water and rinsing with a cockpit sun shower.  We did haircuts on the back deck this week. 

The hiking here was outstanding, trails along the bluffs and across the peninsula to the eroded steep rocky shores. 

The surf dissuaded us from entering the mangroves at the head of the bay, where a few fishing camps are situated.  We were excited to get our water maker going, the technology mind-bending that can produce fresh drinking water from our ocean home.  We still live on “water conservation” mode daily, but it sure is nice to do a bit of laundry, our clothes drying in the sun.  We also have our floating social life, enjoying the company of others along our way, from hiking with the crew of SV Flora (Ralf & Wiebke from Germany) to hosting Happy Hour with SV Flora and SV Pelican (Pat & Camille), to buddy-boating today with SV Antargatis (Matt, Elyse, Ruth, & Ava). We share resources, stories, fish, and camaraderie. 

As I write this, we have just changed course back to our planned destination of Mag Bay under sail, having a 3 hour detour due to a May Day call on the VHF from a motor boat in distress.  Our crew and SV Antargatis were the closest boats and we started the trek out to the distressed boat’s position, while other sailing vessels in nearby Mag Bay (SV Pelican and SV Wind River) helped to coordinate the Mexican Navy rescue.  We were elated to see the Mexican Navy blast by us at 45 knots toward the distressed boat. 

We are on to our next destination of Mag Bay, Cora with tired arms from hauling in her first feisty tuna. 

Due to our unplanned detour, we arrived well after dark, dodging minimally-lit pangas fishing in the dark.  We are now happily at anchorage and plan to tuck in for the night.