Bahia Santa Maria (Oct 31 to Nov 2)

Leaving Turtle Bay for Bahia San Maria

The voyage from Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria was about 250 nm and took 3-days and two nights. The wind was light for much of this passage so we motored about two-thirds of the way. During this passage the VHF was lively with many Ha Ha boats reporting “fish on”; “landed dorado”; “5-foot wahoo caught”; “3 tuna on boat”; “boat looks like a butcher shop after cleaning all this fish”; and  “anyone wanting fish should come alongside our position is …”. This was the leg of our journey that Alex landed the 46” Dorado. One boat reported catching 3-tuna, 1-dorado, 1-wahoo, and several jacks and finally reported seeing a sea turtle. I called them back on the VHF radio to ask if they lost their way and were sailing in an aquarium!

Bahia Santa Maria

Eco-tourist hut on Bahia Santa Maria

Baja Ha Ha tenders line the beach during our beach party

Bahia Santa Maria is a very large bay with a very small fishing camp that maintains a primitive eco-tourist camp that consists of two very rustic cabins. Its very poorly maintained and not for the faint of heart tourist. The locals live in palapas (thatch roof dwellings) in the mangroves about a mile away. A shallow estuary and dry river bed lead from the shore to their tiny settlement. As soon as we arrived we inflated the dinky and put it over the side so Cindy and Alex could go for a walk; I was meeting “Doctor Electron” later so I couldn’t join them. Fisherman used their pongas here as water taxis just like they did in Turtle Bay, but we wanted the freedom to come and go as we pleased, so we inflated our own dinky.   The surf made landing the inflatable tricky: getting flipped over was a real possibility. I caught a wave as I drove the dinky in to shore and we all scrambled up the beach carrying the dinky with us so it wouldn’t get swamped by the next wave.  After dropping Alex and Cindy off I turned the dinky around and pushed it off into deeper water; jumping in at the last moment.  I thought I timed the waves correctly and started rowing out. As I turned to look over my shoulder I saw a 3-foot breaker about to break on the bow of the dinky. I pulled hard on the oars and the dinky drove right through the curling wave. The wave sent a cascade of water over my head and shoulders and the dinky got about 10 gallons of water in it but we made it past the worst part. I felt like a commando heading out on a mission. Of course Cindy and Alex saw the whole thing too. Alex said, “good thing dad is big enough to get away with that”.

La Playa  (the beach)

  

We arrived at Bahia Santa Maria on Halloween Day, and the dozen or so kids that live in the fish camp know well it was Halloween. The first children that we saw running up to us as we landed the inflatable asked us for candy. We felt bad that we had forgotten the holiday and had no candy to offer. The children offered to help us carry the inflatable back into the water, and after doing so we gave them each a $1 USD. Word soon got out and more children gathered around offering to help us in exchange for U.S. dollars. They laughed and giggled and then ran off to help some other sailors.

Local children playing

Cindy and Alex went for a long walk down the beach, toward the mangroves and away from the bluffs were the eco tourist camp was situated.  They returned with several beautiful shells (Murex, Conch, and Cone shells) and a skull that looked like it might have belonged to a wild boar. Later, we were told that the year before a sailboat with the Baja Ha Ha had sunk here during a storm. The wreck was somewhere behind the beach and over the sand dunes from where Cindy and Alex were collecting shells.  

I picked up “Doctor Electron” aka Allan from the boat he was crewing on and we returned to Cool Breezing to see what could be done about fixing the auto pilot. He climbed down into the engine compartment and checked the solenoid and motor while I pushed buttons on the autopilot console. His diagnosis was that the hydraulic system was probably fixed correctly. I asked him a few more questions about testing the unit and asked if we couldn’t fix it ourselves if we could fly him down to La Paz to fix it for us. He said he’d be happy to fly down. With work done for the time being, I offered a shot of rum to him for his troubles and he accepted the offer.

Big activities were planned for Bahia Santa Maria the next day. The Baja Ha Ha organizers were sponsoring another beach party. The fisherman’s wives were in charge of cooking for the 130 Baja Ha Ha boats that gathered in the bay, while the men folk took charge of serving the cerveza and running the water taxi service. A rock band from San Carlos had travelled over the rough mountain roads to this isolated bay to provide music for the fiesta. The residents of the fish camp caught the fish and did all of the shopping for food and beer, and they set the price for the food they served at $15 per person, plus $2 per beer. The band worked for tips and beer.  Everyone was happy with the arrangement. The food was good and the band was great. They know just what music these middle-aged sailors and beach party goers wanted to hear.

After everyone was working on their third or fourth beer we began to ask where were the bajos (bathrooms)? After searching around we found a small toilet building behind the camp that served this purpose. A few of the local boys decided to charge $5 for use of the bathroom, for which they would provide a bucket of water to flush the commode.  I saw one or two sailors take them up on their offer, but most refused to pay the exorbitant price and just headed to the bushes. Later, after many more cervezas were served, I saw one guy go behind a building where an old porcelain toilet was discarded and relieve himself at that convenience. I thought the sight was so comical, I lamented that I didn’t have my camera with me.

Baja Ha Ha Cruisers Partying

Most all the sailors who had not yet gone swimming did so at Bahia Santa Maria. The water was so refreshing and it was so hot on the beach. Some probably decided they could cool off and discretely relieve themselves at the same time. Sailors can be very innovative and tend to use their time as efficiently as possible.   

The Band

Alex at the party listening to music 

We had a great time at Bahia Santa Maria but it was time again to continue on our journey, so we said good bye to the friendly people at the fish camp and weighed anchor early the next morning, headed for Cabo San Lucas.