While in San Diego we spent a few very enjoyable days as guests of the Southwestern Yacht Club, anchored a couple of weekends in La Playa cove and spent a few nights at the public docks where we paid a very inexpensive $10 per night.

There are now several consumer related tourist sites in Ensenada that seem very helpful. There is one on the main road by the fish market, another across the street just a little North of Baja Naval and one on the East side of the main road near the Cruiseport marina.

Ashore was a small fishing village with dirt roads. But this place seemed very well kept. The townspeople were clearly proud of their town, telling how great the fishing and surfing were. Especially windsurfing which seems highly likely given the relatively strong winds that we experienced there every day.

One fascinating feature was the large number of ospreys which used the power poles as foundations for their homes.

The winds died as we rounded Punta Entrada, entrance to the Bay. They picked up again once clear of the point and we decided to tack North to Man-o'-War Cove. A long port tack to the northeast set us up for the starboard tack into the anchorage at which point the wind died and we had to motor the rest of the way. We dropped anchor in the wonderfully calm cove among a few other cruising boats. Puerto Magdalena is a tiny village on the edge of Man-o'-War Cove. The popularity of this location with cruising boats earns it a full-tim Capitania del Puerto – Gregorio Sanches. Capitania Sanches pulled his panga alongside Trick almost a soon as the anchor hit sand. As we are habitually discovering, he was very friendly and helpful. It took only a couple of minutes to complete formalities then we sat chatting over coffee for about a half hour. We asked about getting money at the much bigger port of San Carlos just across the bay (about 10 miles away! – Mag Bay is HUGE!). He told us the nearest ATM was in Ciudad Constitucion, a 35 mile drive from San Carlos then offered to take us and another cash depleted cruiser to get cash the next day. We happily accepted and arranged for him to pick us up at 8 the next morning.

We arranged with the crew of Stella Blue to go hiking the next day. The high winds persisted and weather forecasts picked up on our SSB radio suggested that they would continue for several days. Other boats came in and anchored to await better weather and a small cruiser net developed as people radioed welcomes to newcomers. Some, we were even familiar with as they had introduced themselves on the SSB nets which occur morning and evening. It didn't take long for a few informal get-togethers to while away the time we spent waiting. There is an excellent restaurant on the beach although prices are closer to American than Mexican. Apparently, it is a favorite lunchtime stop for the whale watching panga trips. The food (local shrimp, lobster or fish) was outstanding and you couldn't ask for a better location than overlooking the peaceful beach. Perhaps the only awkward feature of the place being the abundant signs of the once-intensive whale hunting that went on in the vicinity.

We had also heard through our Sailmail account that fellow SMWYC members Joe and Sharon Boyle were nearby in their Catalina 39, Lucky Lady II. Much to our surprise they came on the air when we were making radio calls from Trick. They were just a few miles away in Bahia Santa Matia on the outside of Mag Bay.

The tip of Baja appeared in the next glorious sunrise and we pulled into Cabo San Lucas in dying winds and warm sunshine. Despite John's concerns about this busy tourist town, it has turned out to be a very appealing place. The East facing bay is spectacular with a mountainous peninsula on the Southern side (ending in the famous arch) and beaches surrounding the rest of the bay. The harbor at the Western tip of the bay is very busy with dozens of glass-bottomed water taxis ferrying people along the rocky peninsula to the famous arch and beaches with their abundance of sea life. We topped up with diesel at one of the several fuel docks, paying somewhat less than prices at US fuel docks. Rumors of $100+ per night dock rates persuaded us to anchor in the bay where we found Whistful and Bungee. We eventually verified that a slip for Trick would be $180 per night! The anchorage would be very comfortable were it not for the hordes of PWCs and water taxis creating quite a chop. This also makes the short dinghy trip between Trick and the harbor something of an E-ticket adventure. The other 'feature' of Cabo seems to be the very noisy beach parties with loud music extending into the early hours of the morning. Of course, March is Spring Break month which may have something to do with that.

Restaurants and stores in Cabo seem to be about the same as US prices. Only the language seems to distinguish it from any US city. There are several good marine stores in the mall developments surrounding the harbor, dive shops for air fills, internet cafes and US style grocery stores among the mass of restaurants, fishing charter booths and tourist trinket stores.