Across the Sea of Cortez

Quite a week! Jim arrived on schedule, we provisioned and took off for Balandra Bay, only about 12 miles. When the wind piped up unexpectedly during the night, it turned the normally peaceful anchorage into a washing machine. Although the wind never got much over 20, waves were slamming into the boat from several angles and it was a noisy, worrisome and miserable night. It finally calmed down in the wee hours. We still left pretty early the next morning and headed for what would hopefully be a quieter anchorage in Ensenada de La Partida. It was. Lovely spot where we spent two nights and a day. Then it was up at oh-dark-thirty to get to Muertos before dark. No problems, easy passage. Spent a nice day there and again enjoyed the lovely hotel Gran Sueno. Up again at 3:30 am to start the 35-hour passage across the Sea of Cortez. The first half day was unpleasantly rolly, but it was very nice sailing after that...wonderful stars at night, quiet and magical. But also exhausting for two standing watch-and-watch. Had a long visit from local dolphins and a real scare when a humpback whale suddenly and without warning breached right next to the boat as we approached Mazatlan Harbor. Once inside the harbor, we ended up wandering around for a while trying to find our slip. Eventually we did, of course. It's quiet, which we needed, but not much in the immediate vicinity. We'll do some more exploring tomorrow.