Caves and octopus

We've been at Isla San Marcos (Los Arcos anchorage) for three days now.  It's an anchorage 10 miles off the coast of Baja, near the town of Santa Rosalia.  We can see the lights of Santa Rosalia across the Sea at night, which adds to the beauty of this anchorage.  The island has a small gypsum mining community and we hope to explore it's tiny town of 600 this week.  Two other kid boats are here...Liberty and Eyoni, boats we have been traveling on and off with for the past two weeks. It's wonderful to make new friends out here and to explore nature's beauty together.

Yesterday and the day before we snorkeled, combed the beaches for shells and rocks, sat at the edge of sea caves listening to the water lap against the rocks and observing the sea life around us.  That's one of the many activities cruisers do that differs significantly from their day-to-day life in the U.S.  They really do "stop and smell the roses," and we are learning to do the same.

Highlights:

Pirate-style tunnels, caves, and lagoons to explore on dinghys, decor-quality shells to collect and reefs for snorkeling.

Spotted a bread loaf size octopus flowing around the rocks hunting for fish eggs. Spotted yellow and black striped Sargeant Majors buzzed around it. It turned from maroon brown to spotted turquoise as if a wand passed over it, then it hunkered into a corner and grabbed a fist-sized hermit crab as a shield to fence itself in.  We poked around and watched it, and then out bolted a green moray eel, who chomped and wrapped around the octopus and sprang back again gapping up at us as if it were selecting to charge its next victim.  The wounded retreated, the eel took a victory lap and our heads popped up above the surface of the water with our eyeballs filling our masks.

The kids explored the beach and saw a baby seagull was getting its sea trial while 6 - 8 guardian seagulls squawked from the shore.  A pelican made a pass and was chased off by the airborne squadron of gulls.  It was Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom "live".

Two pot-luck dinners aboard Eyoni to wish Liberty fair winds on it's closing MX voyage. B-B-Q fish speared daily by Eyoni's captain, Ethan along with cupcakes made by Eyoni's "Admiral", Nancy, and first mate/daughter, Zada. Ann's homemade spaghetti sauce; Liberty's French touch of crepes and tuna salad; great yarns shared of travel and special features told by Ethan about Palau, Phillipines, and Guam; tiger sharks, Comodo dragon hunts, free diving to the abyss, 100 lb groupers, and Stateside Forest Smoke Jumpers. Life's an adventure!