December 17, 2005 So happy to arrive in Mazatlan

See more photos of our stay in Los Frailes at http://www.flickr.com/photos/svserenity/
Click on the photo group "Mexico."

Matt framed by cactus We hiked to the Los Frailes peak with Matt from Sohcahtoa. I get a great photo as he takes a rest.

Los Frailes anchorage There were about 20 boats anchored, all waiting for the wind and waves to subside before heading north to La Paz or across the Sea of Cortez. It was a great place to wait, with plenty of hiking and snorkeling to keep us busy.

Pelican This guy landed on our dinghy in Cabo San Lucas and stayed for a while. He had trouble keeping his balance since the anchorage is so rolly.

Arrival in Cabo San Lucas at daybreak I am still alive after being sick all night.

The distinctive arch and rocks off Cabo San Lucas rise out of the water The harbor lies behind the rocks. There is a schooner between the rocks, as well as a cruise ship that can't be seen in these photos. We anchored behind the rocks and in very close to the beach.

On the beach at Bahia Santa Maria

Sandollars all over the beach

And crabs making little balls of sand

Jim tries to catch crabs but they are too small for eating.

Zorro of the Westsail 32 Patience hiking with us and Lee, his owner, at Bahia Santa Maria.

Serenity and Patience Serenity (right) and Patience (left) are anchored side by side and photographed from the mountainside. Patience is being singlehanded by Lee from Mexico to Hawaii and he has outfitted her with extreme thoughtfulness and attention to detail. He has redone much of her interior himself and it looks warm and homey not to mention expertly done. It was inspiring to us to see such a beautiful Westsail.

Bahia Santa Maria photographed from the mountainside during our hike with Lee from the Westsail 32 Patience. The anchorage can accomodate hundreds of boats as the bay is so large. You can see the few boats that were there at this time, maybe 10 of them. The top photo shows the entrance to the lagoon where the small fish camp is situated. From where we are standing, we could see both the bay and the Pacific Ocean.

More Turtle Bay birds Cormorants in beautiful formation cross the bay.

Pelicans diving for fish in Turtle Bay The big splash is from a pelican that just dove. To me, they look like mosquitoes because of their long beaks as they point down into the water. There were often hundreds of pelicans doing this at dusk every night. 

Jim catches a bonito underway from Ensenada to Turtle Bay. It was caught with a purple-feathered squid-shaped lure and pulled in easily with a hand line. We don't like to kill things, so we weren't quite sure what to do with it at first. But we did what we had to and were able to eat 2 good meals.

Concentrating in the big wind we encountered just before arriving in Turtle Bay. Under reefed main, we were surfing waves and trying to keep them on our stern. Winds were sustained 20 knots with gusts to 40 knots, as reported on the radio by other boats near us.