Swimming with the seals!

Let’s just say the first night, neither Steve nor myself slept very much. The wind picked up in the evening and got stronger as the night wore on. We had wind from every direction, I mean every direction. There was a large fishing boat next to us, then rocks to our west. About every ½ hour, we’d poke our heads above deck and have a look. Every time the wind changed, you could feel the anchor re-position and “set”. Knowing that we wouldn’t have much time to react with the rocks so close made it all the more interesting.

The next morning, we motored up to a little cove just at the N. tip of the island. We anchored there and took off in the dinghy (dink) to swim w/ the seals. We packed 4 beers and 2 bottles of water. It was about a 20min ride out but well worth it. There are plenty of mooring balls to tie up on, we picked one square in the middle and nervously jumped in.

As we got closer, we could hear the seals above land. Then, before we knew it, we were just a few yards away from a family. The babies liked to play, swimming within a few feet, then making a sharp turn away and taking off. If they were trying to scare us a little, they succeeded. Every now and then, the mother would swim by and give us a look. This was fine but if we got too close, “el heffe” or in this case, the old male would swim by with a presence that screamed “back off”. We took the hint and slowly put it in reverse.

After an hour or so, we made our way back to the dink and had a beer. What an experience! We made out way back to Spirit and cracked a few more as we tried to recap what we just did. We had some Dorado fish tacos from the other day’s catch, and then finished the night sipping on some Tequila as the sun went down.

The next morning, we woke up and still had the entire bay to ourselves. We had minimal wind so we both slept most of the night. We decided to go back to the seals in the morning, then make our way south to another anchorage in the afternoon. This second trip was awesome. The seals were going off, we swam towards the tip of the island that had a little cave/canyon between the two. It looked like a giant washing machine that would spit us out if we tried to swim through it. As we decided to make our way back, 2 hot senoritas (and unfortunately, their boyfriends too), swam by and went right into the washing machine. Steve and I quickly followed the female flounders into the turmoil.

Girls were hot, unfortunately the dink and they got picked up in was bigger than my boat. Regardless, epic dive and a great morning. We then pulled anchor and motored back South to Ensenada Grande. We anchored between a sailboat and a yacht. It was a little more closer than I would have liked however it’s the best based on winds and protection. So far, the winds were good but you never know down here.

Ok, time to come clean and tell the truth. Steve is in bed and I’m drinking Maker’s. For those who are not familiar w/ Maker’s, pick up a bottle at Costco and call me in the morning. Then and only then will you appreciate where I’m writing this from.

We just went for a swim before the live Sirius broadcast of Jimmy Buffet from the Fillmore in SF. We used shampoo and the whole deal. I can finally say that “I’m living the lifestyle”. I’m not sure who said that or phrased it but whatever or whereeve they were at, I’m there. I’m sitting on a sailboat, watching the sun drop in Mexico, swimming in crystal or “gin” clear water as they call it down here, listening to Jimmy Buffet live via Sirius from SF. All I need is a few naked senoritas and I can literally call it heaven. We’re sailing back to La Paz tomorrow in search of the last piece of the puzzle.