Bahía San Bartolome (Turtle Bay; 27 41 26N 114 53 34W)
Environmental conditions: Air and water temp getting there. Swimming and cruiser showers a must.
Fridge temp: Perfect
Battery state: 13.2V (i.e., perfect)
Euchre score: Overall, cumulatively, the girls are winning.
We departed Isla Cedros ~0900, and started out the day in calm conditions, motoring. The wind filled in early from the northwest and we were happily sailing under full main and full genny. Once we passed Isla Natividad (but didn’t stop to surf because we are bad people), the wind cranked up and we reefed – then quickly double-reefed the main, reefed the genny, and chicken gybed our way to Turtle Bay. It was pretty darn rambunctious and fun! The Advance Team arrived first to scope out the scene, then FL rolled in – all a day before the Baja Haha and we had the place to ourselves. The town was obviously preparing for the fleet’s arrival, as this is Turtle Bay’s big event of the year — these couple of days appear to make this quiet, dusty place. Kids came out to the boats to collect garbage and recycling for $2 USD/bag — and ask for candy. Kids, and adults, swarmed us when we approached the beach on our dinghies and offered to watch the little and the big boats (from afar) for $1 USD/dinghy. Very enterprising.
We frequented Maria’s lovely restaurant right on the beach and enjoyed a yummy fish prep and pretty speedy wifi. We went on a couple of walkabouts around town to get our bearings and to determine where we would watch the Cubbies game (i.e., 7th and last game of the World Series against the Cleveland Indians!). When the Haha fleet rolled in — to the tune of 150 boats — the place came alive. We watched the game with a handful of interested Haha-ers at the Vera Cruz restaurant/night club and believe it or not, after an electricity outage (which isn’t uncommon in these little Baja towns) for about 15 minutes in the bottom of the 9th and a rain delay in the 10th, the Cubbies won! Thad and Kristin cried. Then they raised the W flag on SNL and sang and danced and drank (and probably some other things) until 1 am. So happy for the Advance Team AND the Cubbies!
With a bay full of boats, Rand took CD for a sail through the fleet to make some new friends before the Haha baseball game that afternoon. The ball game is tradition and the community’s love for baseball shows — the stadium is really quite nice, complete with stands for all the fans and because it is so dry, they’ve laid astro turf in the outfield. Tons of fun. The Haha-ers even gave away thousands of dollars worth of baseball gear to the local kids who always come out to play. Very generous.
We did meet some new folks, like Gwen and Jim aboard S/V Sea Esta X (Catalina ~36), who were headed to Asuncion the same time we were; we connected with Ryan, Caroline, and India on S/V Waponi Woo (FP Lavezzi 40); and Rand sailed up to Casey and his crew on S/V Veritas in the anchorage. Fun was had by all despite a pretty spritely ride down the coast for many in the fleet. It was great to hook up with some new folks who we will likely see again down in Cabo and beyond.
