In the Gulf

Last night's run north from Cabo was phenomenal! We pulled out of the slip around midday, and set a northeasterly course. Seas were calm, and we even had enough wind to sail for a little while. We saw several humpbacks and gray whales, a sea turtle swimming and had a masked booby give us a close fly by. We also had a large group of bottlenose dolphins play "Sea World" with us. Although they're much larger than the other dolphin species we've seen so far, several came in to ride the bow and started leaping out of the water right next to us! The perspective is so different from this low to the water. I'm seeing things I've seen dozens of times before with fresh eyes because it's all so much closer.

Then things got even better... A cloud layer had moved in, and created the conditions for a mind-blowing sunset with the peaks of the Sierra de la Laguna in the foreground. The sky, sea, clouds and mountains turned every shade of orange and red that you can possibly imagine, and it lasted for nearly 45 minutes. At the same time, a gorgeous full moon rose out of the ocean to the east. I was disappointed for awhile, because the clouds obscured the beginning of the lunar eclipse, then the most amazing thing happened -- about ten minutes before the total eclipse began, the clouds cleared. Seriously. They were gone for just over an hour, exactly spanning the time of the total eclipse. During this hour of darkened moon, we were able to see some stunning bioluminescence. At one point, we had an entire sky full of stars, a burnt orange orb of moon halfway up the sky and the glimmering fairy dust of millions of bioluminescing plankters all around us. Like I said, the perspective is so much different from a dark boat, low on the water.

I was just coming into Cerralvo Channel at sunrise this morning, and watched the full moon set behind the ridge above La Ventana. Gorgeous. We'd hoped to stop at Isla Cerralvo on our way north, but local weather sources say the northerly winds are supposed to pick up today and blow through the weekend. So, we scouted the shoreline, and plan to come back in late April when there's less chance of getting blown out of the anchorage. Right now, we're on home turf -- sailing up the west side of Espiritu Santo Island to anchor in Ensenada Grande for tonight. It may seem crazy to stay in a place we know so well, but tomorrow, I FINALLY get to do the long hike.
~ Michelle