| Thursday, March 6, was another beautiful day with not a single cloud in the sky. We sailed, then motored for about 6 hours until around 4 p.m., then sailed for another 4 hours, and then motored the rest of the way into Bahia Santa Maria where we were planning to put down our anchor for a couple of nights. Because the coastline in this leg was mostly low-lying, the headlands all looked like islands until we got closer. We could see Cabo San Lazaro about 30 miles away. Coming in at night into Bahia Santa Maria, just behind Cabo San Lazaro, was most exciting. The stars were out, and the illumination from the few small communities surrounding the area outlined the headland. Using GPS and radar, we navigated our way into the bay. You could hear, but not see, the surf off in the distance. In the olden days, with only a sextant, we would have had to wait until daylight to enter a new anchorage. We finally put down our anchor around 1 a.m. Friday, March 7, was a layover rest day. Bahia Santa Maria was a very pleasant anchorage � peaceful � even with the winds howling at times. Cabo San Lazaro and the surrounding landscape were quite barren; one truly realized one was in a desert. There was a small fish camp off in the distance and sand dunes along the beach. Our last leg along the western side of Baja was from Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas. We pulled up our anchor at Bahia Santa Maria at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, so that we would be approaching Cabo at first light on Monday. We passed the entrance into Bahia Magdalena (the last port to get fuel along the western side of Baja) around sunset, but again, since we had been able to sail quite a bit, there was no need to stop. This last leg we sailed off and on. The skies were mostly overcast. On Sunday afternoon, March 9, the cruise ship �Sun Princess� passed us headed north from Cabo. Around 5:45 p.m., we could see the light from the lighthouse at Cabo Falso, just north of Cabo San Lucas. We were making much better time than expected, especially with the help at times of a knot of current. Thus we arrived at Cabo ahead of schedule. We rounded the famous rocks at Cabo San Lucas about 2 a.m. on Monday, March 10. In the calm of the night we approached the rocks from the west. The illumination from the city Cabo San Lucas silhouetted them so perfectly. Then, we slowly motored around the rocks, staying only about � mile off. As we rounded the rocks, the lights from the city highlighted them. It was truly breathtaking! We spent about an hour motoring slowly through the bay, only about � mile offshore. All the hotels had their lights on; so we could see everything quite well. We followed the coastline, motoring about � mile offshore, up to Cabo los Frailes, about 45 miles from Cabo San Lucas. We were lucky that there was not much wind, as now the wind from the NW was not to our advantage. We stayed as close to shore as possible to keep out of the worst of the swell. As we traveled along the coast, we were amazed at the number of large houses (many could be classified as haciendas) out in the middle of nowhere. Also, it was amazing the dramatic difference in temperature once we turned the corner into the Sea of Cortez. We took off our sweatshirts and sweatpants and put on shorts and T-shirts. It was finally hot! We anchored in Bahia Frailes around noon on Monday, March 10. |
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