It is November 1st and we are anchored snugly in Bahia Santa Maria, a broad bay. We are about a half mile from the shore and most of the Baja Ha-Ha fleet is between us and the beach.  During the morning the head gave me new problems, this time the plunger had stopped working. George and Carl went ashore by Panga at 11:00 am to join the beach party while Anita and I stayed behind, Anita to tidy up and me to fix the head.

I was very grateful that I had brought a full box of surgical gloves with me. Disassembling a head is a messy, smelly thing and something that most boats owner eventually do, if only to service them. I had done this twice before and already knew where the problem lay. It was with a small nut behind the plunger valve that had worked its way loose and dropped off. Sure enough, as soon as I had pulled the plunger apart, the nut dropped out onto the floor. This time I added a large washer and lock washer behind the plunger so this will not happen again. By 1:00 pm, we were heading to the beach in a Panga to join in the fun.

Bahia Santa Maria is a large a sandy beach with some good surf. There is no town, the nearest is at Magdalena Bay and both bays are separated only by a spit of land.  open bay flanked at either end by a range of hills. The Bay itself consists of There is a small fisherman’s camp but no town or village. A band drives in from Cabo to play for the party and the locals put on a very fine dinner of fish, shrimp, chicken and other tasty items in a fine hearty sauce. Everyone spoke highly if the food as it was very tasty given we were in quite primitive surroundings.

To get to the beach party, the Panga had hugged the edge of the small river that flows into the bay while dodging the breakers. The fishing camp is a couple of hundred yards up the creek and the party was on a bluff overlooking the bay with a fine view.

We stayed until mid-afternoon, returning to the boat to take a swim and a siesta. Tomorrow we begin the final 192 mile leg which will take us to Cabo San Lucas.