Wednesday 03-26-08 ~ Los Frailes to Bahia de Los Muertos

Before the sunrise we all heard this very strange kind of growl/screech/bark thing about 6-8 times. It was getting louder and louder. In our half asleep stage, we thought it may have been some of the larger sea lions right off the back of the boat, or one trying to get on the boat (or a sea monster). As we were leaving at first light to head to Muertos, we all got up and stared off the back of the boat. The guys got up before me (actually Pam never heard it or got up), and finally figured out it was a HUMPBACK WHALE right behind our boat making this noice as he would surface (or a few of them). It was unreal! But since the sun wasn't up yet, we have no photos...

Pulled anchor just as it was getting light and motored out of the bay.Watched the sun come up and then started getting double hook-ups of skipjacks (had two fishing lines out and kept catching these non-edible fish that bleed all over the place if you just look at them). Stan kept catching them one after another. As Jim has always been known as the "Skipjack King", we now had to give Stan his nickname of the "Skipjack Prince" (he did not want to be a "King"). I even made his crown...Then we got into a really thick fog bank! It was very strange and kind of scary, as we were off of Los Barriles and had pangas and sportfishers going full speed across our bow (bows?). We could see them on radar (and hoped they had radar to see us?) and then felt their wakes. Tim stood on the bow and used the airhorn and hoped for the best. I did not enjoy this part at all...

The fog finally lifted (yahoo!) and we had beautiful blue water, but no more fish.

Into Muertos right at the time Jim estimated - 12:30 on the nose!

Beautiful Sea of Cortez turquoise water once again!



Watched a panga head for us and realized it was our friends Ricardo and Arnulfo! Had them come aboard for a tour - Ricardo is one of our partners in La Paz and is John Donnell's closest friend. He was VERY happy to see us and to have his friend "Jimmy Boy" here at last! They headed out to go fishing.

Not long after that we saw Jim's brother John arrive on the beach. We dinghied in and brought him out to the boat with some fresh provisions he had bought for us (tomatos, limes, peppers, tortillas and sangria!)...

Water was getting warmer, so I went for a float under the boat. Jim's shorts were getting pretty salty so we stood them up (this picture is for Alan, as Alan and I had a contest when we cruised the Sea of Cortez in 2000 to see who's shorts could stand up - his or mine...)


Jim wins...


Took John back to the beach and spent a little time with Ricardo's wife, Vera and Arnulfo's wife, Estrella and their boys. The boys had all found a bunch of brittle stars and were playing with them - kind of creepy to watch their appendages squirm around, so I made the boys put most of them back in the water...

Back to the boat to enjoy the late afternoon.Chicken with mango chutney, rice and salad for dinner. All tired, so off to books and bed!