BSM by Day

We arrived late last night and used the time at anchor to catch up on sleep. Bahia Santa Maria is a nice place to wake up. The sun was up well before us, so we wiped down the boat and hung out our increasingly-foul foul-weather gear to dry before putting it away for the rest of the trip. The last leg to Cabo will be warm enough that we won't need it. Hopefully.

Boat chores done and laundry hung, we took the dinghy back into the tidal canals in the mangroves. It was an interesting trip, wending our way through a leafy maze that looked more like the bayou than the Baja desert. Fish were everywhere in the canals, which attracted seabirds and local commercial fishermen who maintain rustic fishing camps along the shore. Richard called them "little boxes".

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of cinder block
And they all are full of fishermen
Here beside Magdalena Bay

The backcountry trip was followed by a surf session in the Bay's shallow tidal break with Dave and Kathy from Lightspeed. We took them up on their offer to visit later in the afternoon and were glad we did. They have been traveling by boat for the last six years and plan to do a circumnavigation via the southern capes next. We were all impressed with their outfitting of the boat and their ingenuity in dealing with the usual downsides of living aboard. Sprouting seeds, for example, is a nice way to provide fresh, healthy food aboard while breaking up the monotony of canned and dried provisions.  They keep a blog of their travels, including some nice photos from this trip to Baja: http://www.ecosailingcharters.com/