We departed Turtle Bay at 14:15 in the afternoon looking forward to three nights at sea after deciding to skip Mag bay to ensure we would be in Cabo for Halloween and Dia de los muertos.
Sunrise to start our second day at sea
While everyone slept I made myself a tasty breakfast
Becalmed conditions make for a comfortable passage but poor for sailing…
We made it through another night, sunrise on Day three
Cruising past Mag bay, next stop Cabo
Bubbles! We broke up the day with silliness like this.
Of course reading was a pass time too
Thunderstorms on the horizon
Thankfully they dissipated before we reached them. However we did find a more concerning danger, in 1,000 feet of water we came upon the occasional fishing buoy (for octopus). Even though we were more than 25 miles offshore we adjusted our course even further out to try to avoid them during our upcoming night.
Sunrise on our approach to Cabo
Sunrise was a welcome sight – overnight we ran into a few hiccups. After our shift change, around 12:15am, I was at the helm while Vicki and Janis were sleeping. I thought I saw something in front of the bow and slowed the engine (no wind) and went to grab the spotlight, As I came back to the helm station fishing buoys bounced under the boat. Fuck. It could have been bad but the luck was on our side and we floated right over them. It was shocking how fast they came up at night with the lack of visibility and depth perception. Whew.
However at around 1:30am we weren’t so lucky. I didn’t see anything but heard the bang of the buoys on the hull. I cut the engine and went to wake Vicki and Janis up. With my dive knife and tether securing me to the boat, I leaned over and pulled on the line attaching the four buoys to the fishing pot below. In this case we snagged both the port and starboard hulls. After trying to pull the line free, it was clear I had zero chance of getting the line off without cutting the line. So a quick swipe of my knife and wait. Luck was again on our side as the line slid off both rudders and behind us. We dodged a major bullet by not wrapping the prop with the line. Whew. Whew. Whew. Stress and adrenaline left me wired.
I felt badly for the fisherman who lost their buoy and lost money. I wish there had been another way to save them. At the same time, it was disconcerting how many buoys we had seen blanketing the area earlier in the day. It is clear that over fishing was taking place and there was a lack of concern for sustainability.
From that point on we had two people (one on each side) on look out. Of course we didn’t see any more buoys but the added watch was worth not having a more serious problem to deal with.
Janis watching us come up to southern most point in Baja California
North of Cabo along the coast
As we approached Cabo, there were a steady stream of fishing charters. This guy blew past us sending a big wake, thanks.
Back side of the famous Cabo arch
While we had a few issues the last night, overall it was a easy leg which we were again thankful for. We timed it perfectly to get around the point early and before the winds kicked up. With a sigh of relief and a smile on my face we cleared the point and motored into our anchorage for the next three nights.
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