Bahia Tortugas, Baja's Oasis

Turtle Bay Welcoming Committee:  "Bienvenidos Bahia Tortugas Amigos!"

Arrived in Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortugas) at 5pm last night after leaving Ensenada Sunday at 10am.  If you look at a map of the Baja Coast, we are half way down on the south side of that giant hook in the coast, just below several islands (Cedros, Navidad and Benitos).  It is a long, approximately 300 nm run.  We took off on the first clear day after the storms.  The sky was good, but the sea state was still really big from the storms.  The first 24 hours were really rolly and tough to sail through.  For the most part, we consistently had light North wind to fill our mainsail the whole ride, but also needed the motorpower to give us consistent speed.

We are under that pink dot on the Pacific Ocean side, and yes, we have seen Gray Whales! 

Our Universal diesel engine, Goldie, is running fantastically.  She just did a solid 55 hour motor with no hiccups whatsoever.  She runs a consistent 185 degree temperature and Craig figured out that we can run her using her oil pressure gauge as our own tachometer (which we do not have on her currently).  Oil pressure goes up as the engine revs up, so Craig can put her in the sweet spot of Highest RPMs : Least Fuel Burned which is the goal.  We are burning approximately 1/2 gallon of diesel per hour which puts our fuel consumption for this leg at 27 gallons...   Not too bad.  Also, diesel fuel in Mexico is about $2.50 per gallon.  Way more fun to spend our pesos on carnitas tacos rather than diesel!

Dover Surveys the Scene as we Enter Bahia Tortugas 

Turtle Bay is the only fuel available on the coast, easily accessible, between Ensenada and Magdalena Bay which is why so many cruisers stop here.  Not a lot of amenities or local attractions are here.  If Ensenada is Las Vegas than Turtle Bay is Barstow.  It is utilitarian.  Helio (Ice), Basura (Garbage), Agua (Water), Cervesa (Good Beer, not like in the states!), Huevos (Eggs, not refrigerated, they last a long time that way), and most importantly, FUEL is what you stop for here.  If you are looking for specialty boat parts, you are probable not going to find them here.  You will find some very handy folks who may be able to help you jury rig something until you get to the next big port.  Your knowledge of Spanish will help immensely in those situations.  Turtle Bay is a great natural bay for anchoring in all weather conditions.  The last time we were here in December '04, the wind blew with ferocity from every concievable direction during our time here and we found comfortable liveable anchoring on many different points in the bay.  Also, the people here are very nice and amenable.  They are offering basic services at very reasonable prices and as long as you agree to a price ahead of time, you shouldn't get fleeced.  Bottom line is Turtle Bay is not Cabo San Lucas, but for the weary cruiser it is truly an Oasis on the Baja Coast.

A recap of our trip from Ensenada to Turtle Bay in pictures:

Our finger at Baja Naval:  It used to have an inset piece with rollers next to the pylon.  The last 24 hours of the storm it became so damaged that the staff at Baja Naval removed it so the finger and our two boats attached to it could float freely in a truly tremendous surge condition.  It should be noted that the staff of Baja Naval had workers on the docks 24/7 throughout the stormy week.  They saved numberous vessels from costly damage many times over.  They handled some difficult weather with great attitudes and fearless action.  They gave us peace of mind to be able to sleep through some of the worst weather we have ever experienced.

This is Capt. Craig very happy indeed to be out of the scary docking situation in Ensenada and on to better, warmer weather south.  This is just before we headed out to open ocean in the Bahia Todos Santos which still had some pretty big swells coming at us.  The next 24 hours was pretty rough on all of us.  Nobody lost their cookies, but I for one, came as close as I ever have to being really sea sick.  It was not the best ride, but man, when you finally do get to calm seas you really appreciate it...  Ying/Yang.

Craig finally able to relax into this cruise.  He put his first fishing line in the water to troll.  No bites, but it's great to start enjoying the ride!

This is sunrise at the west coast of Isla Cedros or Cedar Island.  Yes, there are cedar trees on this island which is totally bizarre for this area of the world and the topography of the mainland.  We rounded this island and did an S turn around the smaller Isla Navidad (Christmas Island) to get into Turtle Bay.

Looking back at the East Coast of Isla Cedros in the background and Punta Eugenia.  Out of frame on the left side is Isla Navidad.  Between Isla Navidad and the mainland is called the Dewey Channel and it is covered with lobster traps.  You definately want to come through this area in the daylight hours or you risk fouling your prop big time.