On to Turtle Bay

On the morning of HaHa Day 4, Janet and Paul spent more time sewing up the genoa. There were tears in three places in the suncover on the leach of the sail. The most serious tear went all the way through and needed a patch. We were, by then, behind most of the HaHa fleet, but I was reluctant to leave Punta Baja until we had made repairs.

We then headed south in relatively light air, which was a relief. Stray Cat followed us by a few miles (although they later passed us during the night). The folks on Passage II elected to motor back to San Diego for repairs.

The swells were still large from the passing of the storm, creating a strong roll. It wasn't the most comfortable passage, but we made good progress. By the next morning we had reached the north end of Cedros Island. We elected to go inside and motorsailed down the island's east side in light air. We reached Turtle Bay at 3:30 pm, too late for the famous HaHa beach party, but in time to take a panga into town for dinner at a small restaurant.

The next morning (October 31) most of the HaHa fleet set off for Bahia Santa Maria. We elected to stay another day in order to refuel and refill our water tanks with purified water. We also needed time to address another problem--we had lost all our propane. A leak had developed in the connections between the supply hose and the new regulator. Luckily, the leak occurred in the propane locker, which channelled the gas safely out through the bottom of the boat rather than into the cabin.

During the morning radio net, we explained our problem and the folks on Julia Morgan offered to loan us a spare propane bottle. We were extremely grateful. We promised to return the propane bottle full in Cabo along with a bottle containing the beverage of their choice. The skipper of Julia Morgan asked for Cuba Libre--which we took to be a kind of rum.

Here is a picture of Turtle Bay. Also a picture of the helpful Julia Morgan. The boat, we later learned, is named for Julia Morgan the architect, who designed a number of important buildings in the Bay area, as well as San Simeon.