April 12, 2008 -- Layover day, Puerto Los Gatos
House battery 7 am -- 12.48 volts; weather clear, dry, and breezy

I listened to both the Amigo Net and the Sunrisa Net on the SSB this morning. They both agreed that it would blow 20 to 25 knots in the central Sea of Cortez today, but would die down by tomorrow morning, with several days of settled weather in the offing after that. Sounded like a good time for a layover day. I got to know Brian and Elaine on Exodus while out in the dinghy first thing. They spend much of their time on board their 34 foot boat, and have been living here in Baja for the past 4 or 5 years. They have a porta-bote dinghy similar to ours, which immediately gave us something in common.

Sandy and I got things together and set out in the dinghy for shore. Along the way we stopped by Polar Bear out of Sitka Alaska, and met David and Nancy. They invited us aboard, and we spent the next hour in animated conversation, mostly swapping sea stories. David played a key role, during the '80's, in modifying the Forest Service logging practises in Southeast Alaska. He was also very familiar with Pete Johnson, at Little Harbor in the Bahamas. We had a great time with them. They plan on having a beach bonfire this evening for the cruisers anchored out here in Los Gatos. Favorite beverages, munchie snacks, some music -- sounds like great stuff. We finally made it to the beach, and went for a nice walk to the south, with our new friends on Exodus. I climbed the small hill above the beach, and took some beautiful panoramic pictures of the anchorage and surrounding rock formations. We walked back to the dinghy, and then continued northward, toward the rocky point and some intruiging tide pools.

We're back on board, and the afternoon winds haven't given up yet. We're bouncing around a lot still. If I moved closer in to shore we'd be more protected, but I'm not sure I want to go to the trouble. For now, we'll just go with the flow, or bounce as it were.

Tomorrow we'll resume our cruise south. There are some traditional Baja fishing villages along the way. We're hoping we'll be able to trade or purchase some fish there, and maybe even some lobsters.