After a rather abrupt retirement from the Newport/Cabo race, the crew of Sauvage found themselves at the Mexican hamlet of Turtle Bay. Two of the crew opted to catch the 3 am bus out of town the next day, leaving 4 intrepid souls to bring the boat back. The next morning dawned bright and clear with the only injury from the night before Jeff's head. Brian Stepped on Jeff's head while Jeff was asleep. Brian was really in a hurry to get off the boat. In any case we got up to a sumptuous breakfast of Jim's famous half-cooked hotcakes and not maple syrup syrup. It (the syrup) is actually chemically enhanced high fructose corn syrup that has been altered to taste faintly of maple. So fortified we decided to head into town to explore, except Jim who stayed on the boat to enjoy some time away from us. By now the wind was blowing pretty good and the dirt streets of Turtle Bay had taken flight. We hiked over to a couple of big square boxes on towers that we saw from the boat. We were curious what they were because they were rather large and looked like guard towers for a prison. It turned out they were full of sea water to supply water to the laboratories where they were studying abalones. Pretty cool but not as good as guard towers. While we were walking up to the towers Craig let it be known that he would like a T shirt from Turtle Bay and now our quest refocused to finding a shirt. We wandered around the back streets of Turtle Bay being blasted with blowing dust asking here and there for the elusive T shirt. It wasn't looking good for Craig based on the wondrous looks of the people we asked. We could well have been asking to locate a unicorn. One of the last leads we had was a little tienda on the top of a hill. We trudged up there and approached a few people on the covered porch of the store. Jeff, our Spanish speaker, made the inquiry. As we were standing there looking at the person in charge, there was a moment confusion then incredulity. There before us was person so bazaar that it defies description. He/she was about 250 pounds, of indeterminate age. He/she had painted his/her face into a characiture of a face. It looked a magic marker was used to draw sunburst rays all around both eyes which already had enough mascara for a clown troupe. Staring at him/her wasn't an option while he/she giggled and told us, no, there were no t-shirts for sale in the store. What was for sale in the store was adult toys. In a backwater place like Turtle Bay there appears to be a vibrant culture for sex toys. We headed down the road. We decided a beer was in order while we waited for Jim to join us from the boat. During dinner Craig told us he was also kind of looking for a whale vertebrae for Doris, his wife. Turns out Doris has always wanted a whale vertebrae for as long as Craig could remember. Yeah right, no t-shirts but whale bones. I'm sure we'll come across that. We finished dinner and were walking across the beach to the pier to catch a ride back to the boat when we saw the crew of Avanti. Avanti is a Jenneau 54 that was our competition not a day before but had suffered a similar fate during the race and was here in Turtle Bay waiting for the wind to go down so they could head home. Just like us. Unlike us they had skipped dinner and were sitting under a palapa on the beach surrounded by beer bottles. It turned out they had drank all the beer that the palapa bar had. While we were chatting with them Craig was snooping around the premises, I guess looking for whale bones. The minutes went by and the Avanti crew, having cleaned out the beer locker here decided to settle up and head back to the boat. About this time Craig comes around the corner with this huge bone. I'm thinking oh boy here we go. The owner is not only not going to sell the bone, he's going to be pissed that this gringo is grabbing stuff out of his garden. Jim sees Craig's bone and his eyes light up(ha ha). Jim wants one too and starts around the other side of the house and eventually comes back with an even bigger vertebra. Craig now has two, although one is more of tail bone, and Jim has one piled in front of the order counter in the dirt. These guys are excited. They call our translator, Jeff, to ask if they are for sale and how much he wants for them. I'm still thinking no way he'll sell them. Jeff asks and the guy looks at him and says "I don't know how much to charge for these, make me an offer". Jeff translates, Craig offers $10 apiece. The owner counters at $20 each and Jim hesitates a second, then says OK. The deal is struck. The owner's wife is sitting there amused and happy and throws in the tail bone for free which Jeff promptly claims as a translating fee. I don't have one. Doris is going to be really surprised, unless she reads this before we get home. We grab our bones and head off for the pier. Everybody we pass is quite amused by what we're carrying, including the previous owner who is apparently really amused by his recent windfall. While walking down the pier I'm thinking and feeling left out of the whale bone club and by the time we get to the end of the pier I decide to go back and see if I can find a whale bone for me. I make them wait and Craig and I walk back to the palapa to score another bone. The place is closed. I look around and find another a vertebrae. Now to find the owner. We look around and I decide to knock on the door of the house behind the bar. The wife answers and gladly accepts another 20 for the bone. We really made their day. We are now whale bone owners. I'm not really sure why or what we'll do them, except Doris, who must have a plan.
The next day Craig, Jeff and I decide to hike to the entrance to the bay, maybe mile. We'll visit the cemetery with the pretty little houses of the dead on the way. The going is rough as there is no road and we give up before we get to the entrance point. We sit on the rocks on the shore where we gave up instead and shoot the shit. We take the beach route back which is much easier and visit the cemetery on the way back.
Today is Thurs. the 26th and we motored up to Cedros Island and anchored for the day to wait till tomorrow when the wind is supposed to die down so we can continue home.
JS
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