April 3, 2008 -- Caleta San Juanica -- N 26 degrees 22' 04.6"/ W 111 degrees 25' 57.6"
19 nm for the day; 220 nm total for the trip; house battery at 6 am: 12.42 volts

I rose at 6am to clear skies and a moderate land breeze blowing out of the cove at San Sebastian. I decided that this would be a good morning for an early start, with the chance of getting as far as Caleta San Juanita before the predicted north northwesterly wind kicked in. I tried sailing off the anchor, however ended up firing up the motor to get us swung around. The reefs guarding both sides of the anchorage didn't allow enough room for me to swing around under sail quickly enough. Once we had the wind at our back, we eased out under main and jib. The land breeze nearly died once we got a half mile out, however, we were content to drift along at a knot or less while we enjoyed our coffee and breakfast, and listened to the Amigo Net weather forecast. Don predicted NNW winds of 20 to 25 knots by early afternoon. That fit our day's cruise plan perfectly. We picked up a little more wind, and eased along at 2 knots for a while, before that died back and I reluctantly fired up the outboard.

While motoring along at about 5 knots across Bahia San Nicolas I spotted dolpin activity way out, almost to the horizon. It looked like a big group, moving fast. I held course, and in a surprisingly short time, they were only a few hundred yards off our bow. A sizeable group, perhaps several dozen, veered away from the main bunch and swam our way, like a bunch of puppy dogs wanting to play. Not wanting to disturb them I eased back on the throttle. They came right along side. I finally got the idea, and revved back up. They immediately shot to our bow and began running on our bow wave. Sandy went up to the bow pulpit with the camera, and got some amazing video footage as they raced along with us. They would swim on their sides and look right up at her. She could even hear them squeaking at her. Having never before experienced this behavior, we were entranced. While we were cruising along with the dolphins, the motor coughed once and then died. What a time to run a gas tank dry. We were quickly dead in the water. A couple of dolphins gazed up at Sandy with a look that said "So, you don't want to play anymore?", and then swam off. I switched over to the port side tank and got us running again, and the dolphins again came over to play. This time I went forward and enjoyed their antics. After a while, they moved off, and we watched the main group, which was tearing up the water a half mile away. We saw repeated leaps, sometimes by 2 or 3 dolphins at a time. Some of the leaps were at least 10 feet in the air. It was better than a Sea World show.

We continued onward, rounding Punta Pulpita, a striking promentory which rather does look like a preacher's pulpit. On the south side we started picking up a breeze, and I played out the main and jib. We enjoyed a great wing on wing sail, making 3 knots at first, but gradually increasing to over 4 knots. I rigged my preventer to the end of the boom, and then tried out an idea. Since the Macgregor 26 X doesn't have a traveler, I find it difficult to impossible to establish a good sail shape when the main is played out for a downwind run. It presses against the shroud and spreader, and the boom rises up. I decided to unclip the main sheet from the standard pedestal attachment and hook it up to the starbard railing, where the lifeline connects. This allowed me to put downpressure on the boom at a more favorable angle. Combined with a tightened vang and the preventer line, I was able to substantially improve the shape of the main. We enjoyed fine sailing all the way to the entrance to Caleta San Juanica. After reaching the turning point, I shortened the jib and brought the main sheet back to the pedestal. We did a controlled gybe and sailed into the anchorage on the opposite tack.

There were 5 other sailboats anchored in San Juanica, however, it's a roomy anchorage. We dropped sails and motored over to a nice inside position, at least a quarter mile from the nearest boat. Our arrival timing was perfect. The wind outside continued to build throughout the afternoon, but we were well protected in the San Juanico anchorage.

This is truly a lovely place, which easily earns its reputation as a major Sea of Cortez cruiser's destination. A series of beaches, separated by colorful, rocky headlands, form the perimeter of the bay. An island group near our anchorage takes the shape of several steep rock spires. Osprey have built nests on the tops of the pinnacles. The water ranges in color from emerald green to deep blue, depending on depth and bottom composition.

We ate lunch in the cockpit and then went for an explore in the dinghy. We went ashore and examined the cruiser's shrine, which in the Bahamas was called a signing tree. In this case, a moderate sized bush along the shore is decorated with signs and various artisticly arranged bits of flotsam and jetsom, recording boat names and dates of visits. We walked the beach and met a lady from one of the sailboats, Gail, who lives on Saltspring Island in the Canadian San Juans. We enjoyed a nice visit with her and her dog. We later ran the dinghy over to one of the beaches where we found a large concentration of olive shells.

Back at the boat, Sandy put together a pizza, which we baked up on the backpack oven. It turned out great, and capped an outstanding day.