We had great winds for the start, and thankfully much better seas. In fact we were able to sail the entire second leg! It was very late (or early) - about 3:30 am two days later by the time we anchored in Bahia Santa Maria. It was dark and we were very tired, and we'd become irritated with our young crew.
Perhaps it was just a generational difference. Between the ipods, kindles, and computers they were hardly ever "truly present" in the moment, they were always "plugged in" to something (or sleeping) during our entire journey. I don't know that they witnesses one sunrise. They saw some sealife, that which we pointed out to them. How sad for them, to miss this opportunity to be one with the sea and nature.
Tom caught an 8lb tuna as we passed the entrance to Magdalena Bay. Evan caught about a 12lb tuna, only to have it largely devoured by a shark before he could reel it in. All he landed we the head! Other than that, we kept hooking kelp, losing lures and had quiet poles. Oh well, the freezer was one of the tasks on the Boat Prep list that did not get finished!
Bahia Santa Maria was very nice, although coming it at 3 am was very scary. The next day we heard that a Haha "tag along" boat (single-hander, so unable to official enter) lost his boat on the beach outside the bay - he'd fallen asleep. About 50 sailors helped him salvage what he could and donations raised about $1000 for him. A grim reminder of what can happen to any of us with one bad decision.
The next day was the Beach Party. Tom went up the mast to run the spinnaker halyard as the splice had parted 10 minutes after we flew the spinnaker on the second leg. Jack Hembroke was a great help. He'd come by that morning to drop of a new pair of bifocal sunglasses Tom had ordered. Jack was happy to give us a hand. He and his wife Leanne had sold their business in Australia and the Haha had been a dream of theirs for many years too. We became fast friends with them.
The party was fun, although we spent two hour in line for food. When we finally got there we understood why - they were cooking the food in small frying pans one at a time! Fresh fish, generous portions of shrimp, rice beans and fresh tortillas made for a tasty feast.
We'd dropped both dinghies into the water to give our crew some freedom. We'd warned about the tide, to keep and eye on the tender. Tom had to run down the cliff and drag it up further to keep it from floating out on several occasions. This was after they said the motor wouldn't start. Turns out they ran out of gas and had to be towed back (a gas can was in the boat.) We left the Beach Party but they wanted to stay and party, so we said to be back before dark. When darkness came and they didn't, Tom went back to retrieve the Tinirini. A panga returned them.
The shore break was pretty sever, and while Tom tried to demonstrate the best method, they didn't follow the advice. Youth always knows better I guess. The next day we had a talk about respect and responsibility. Tom tried to explain the dangers of beach landings- hitting a wave wrong and capsizing. If they drown, it would be Tom's responsibility as Captain. Tom's words fell on deaf ears. We decided they would not have the privilege of using the Tinirini again. For boaters, their lack of knowledge and respect for the power of the sea was surprising.