Even before dawn, we could hear the sounds of the pelicans diving for breakfast. Soon the fisherman came in their pangas looking for bait for the day’s catch. After a quick breakfast, Marilyn secured the lines for the dingy and we were off to Honeymoon Cove, our last anchorage before going back to the big city of Loreto. The winds were light and the seas calm. Bill set the Gato Loco on autopilot (best thing ever!) and we all settled in our usual positions for a nice, leisurely sail. Bill was up on the bow, mumbling to himself in frustration (as usual) while doing Sudoku, Marilyn and Sally were enjoying the breeze, while I was blogging to my heart’s content.

Soon enough, the winds were running on the stern and we were able to raise the spinnaker. What a beautiful sight! The photos don’t show just how majestic it is…Captain Bill wanted to compliment the crew on working together admirably. He was very pleased to come back to the stern and have all the lines put away where they belong without even asking. See, you can teach old dogs new tricks!

We got into Honeymoon Cove in Isla Danzante, with Bill looking forward to his favorite spot. Unfortunately, it was taken when we pulled in. There were already several boats anchored here. The winds had really picked up and Bill didn’t think it was a good idea to anchor here, so on to Plan B…Bahia Marquer on Isla Carmen…

I wanted to show the way, but all Marilyn wanted to do was her yoga! Then she decided she better give herself a sailor’s pedicure by hanging her feet off the stern as we were sailing along. Poor Bill and Sally, having to put up with us crazies…

We hit some rougher water on the way to our Plan B, but lost our wind on the stern, so we lowered the spinnaker and motored the rest of the way. Once we got to our new spot at Bahia Marquer, the water smoothed out, but we still had a nice cooling breeze. We relaxed for a while after out very tough day before heading to shore to try some snorkeling (our last chance). We hiked around the beach and found some whale bones that has washed to shore. Poor little guy! When we went to the rocks to snorkel, it was way too murky to see anything. There was a ton of algae it the water that made it too hard to see anything. Instead we hopped in the dingy for a water taxi tour of the bay. We were chaperoned by two sets of little, black ducks that have a point on their heads, a read beak and bright red eyes. We first saw them at Isla Coronado in huge numbers, but here there were only a few.

We headed back to the boat where we played our card game early. Dinner was awesome fresh fish tacos from our Trigger fish from Agua Verde yesterday. Everyone was pretty worn out. Sally and Marilyn turned in early, Bill tackled more of his frustrating Sudoku, and I am blogging the night away…

Around 10:30 Bill and I heard a bunch of fish all around the boat. Bill turned on the light and we were surrounded by tons of small- to medium-sized, silvery fish and bright blue needle fish. After the excitement, Bill turned in and I am finishing this blog. Tomorrow will be our last blog since we will be getting off the boat tomorrow afternoon to switch crews. I don’t want to let Lowell down by slacking off on the blogs! Hopefully these will turn out the way they are supposed to. Without internet all week, who knows what they will look like. Just know that they are created and sent with love from Leg 5!

Tomorrow we will be off early for a short sail to Puerto Escondido to refuel, refill water tanks, and let Bill do some laundry since he has about 3 more weeks on the boat. After that we are off to Loreto where we switch crew for the next leg, Leg 6. Brian & Heather Heffernan will be joining Bill, while Sally, Marilyn and I stay the night at La Damiana Inn in Loreto. Leg 6 will take off on Sunday for parts unknown and the three lovely ladies of Leg 5 fly to Guaymas and drive home to Puerto Penasco on Sunday. Soon enough our Baja adventure will be over…signing off for Leg 5…Buenos Noches, familia y amigos…

Until the next Update… The GatoLoco Crew

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Leg 1 April 11-19, Crew: Bill, Bruce & Cynthia Tegge, Clyde Betts sail from Puerto Penasco to San Carlos
Leg 2 April 19-26, Crew: Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Bill, Victor & Leslie Rangel. San Carlos to Loreto. Santa Rosilia, Mulege and visit new friends (overnight anchorage) in Bahia San Marcos
Leg 3 April 26-3, Crew:Bill, Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Kerry Fahey (AU). Seawind Rally to Loreto Fest. Sail from Loreto heading south to meet Seawinds coming from Cabo, maybe meet 2 days south. Kurt will be sailing north from Cabo with California Seawind owners.
Leg 4 May 3-10, Crew:Bill, Frankie ,Lowell, Neely, Bob & Chris Sanders, Kerry Fahey (AU). Sail the Loreto area …. Steve and Cindy will also be in the Loreto area this week.
Leg 5 May 10-17, Crew:Bill, Lisa Wendt, Sally Dalton, Marilyn Haney. Frankie, Neely and I head back to San Carlos flying or by Ferry.
Leg 6 – May 17-24, Crew: Bill and Brian & Heather Heffernan sailing in the Loreto area.
Leg 7 – May 24-31, Crew: Bill, Mike Clark, Liane Guathier, Mike & Gill Panasewicz sail back to San Carlos
Leg 8 – May 31-?, Crew: Bill & his family sail San Carlos back to Puerto Penasco