Leaving Muertos

We decided to spent a day in Muertos putting away the last few items that were loose on the boat and enjoying the anchorage. We have never been here before and found it to be a lovely bay and easy anchoring. We took the dinghy ashore to drop off some garbage and found fishermen cleaning beautiful yellow fin tuna. We returned to the boat to relax for awhile before dinner. There are four other boats in the anchorage with us, all of whom are crossing. and we all decided to have an early dinner ashore at the Giggling Marlin. Steve and I went in around 3 o'clock to have a cerveza and enjoy the beautiful view from the palapa restaurant. The others started arriving and by 4 o'clock we were all ready to order. Steve and I split one order of fried fish, which was exceptional, and one order of garlic shrimp. It was a great afternoon, and we all talked about things other than the crossing.

There are varying ideas about the best route to take, and several discussions have taken place. Steve and I decided before we left that we would round the cape at Cabo San Lucas and make our departure from Cabo Falso. A point of departure is the last prominent landmark or promontory. A passage begins at the point of departure but it is not a voyage until you return to the point of departure - that could take a while. We will head southwest towards an imaginary point somewhere near the doldrums, which could be 128W and 07N,then turn due south to cross the equator. Once we pick up the SE trade winds, we will resume a great circle route directly for Atuona, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas in French Polynesia. So far the weather forecasts look good for this route.

We left the anchorage around 0900 this morning with virtually no wind. We have seen turtles today and more whales. It is a beautiful, clear day, but we have very light winds. We needed to make some water, so having to motor is not a bad thing, except that we are burning precious fuel. The wind is slowing picking up so we hope to be sailing in a short time. If the wind builds enough, we will continue past Los Frailes anchorage and continue on to Cabo San Lucas overnight. We don't want to stop at Cabo unless we have to get more fuel, but right now, it looks as though we will have enough.

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