Cabo San Lucas to La Paz

February 1998

Tuesday 3 February 1998

We have been here in Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, for almost a week enjoying the restaurants and all the activity. We found an Internet café and downloaded several months worth of e-mail; then returned two days later to send out answers and to update our web page. So far, using the Internet cafés is proving to be a very practical means of communicating with the folks back home.

When we arrived here in Cabo we entered the inner harbor and tied up to the unfinished docks on the south side. Being at the docks was a fun change after months "on the hook" and made for exploring the various restaurants, in the evenings, much easier and more enjoyable. Today we moved out of the slip, filled up with fuel (62 gallons, our total use since leaving San Diego; not bad considering the time we spent in the lagoons of Mag Bay), moved to the outer harbor and anchored. We both went for a swim in the 70 degree water and then enjoyed the afternoon watching the various tourist activities in the bay. There were several boats of para-sailors flying around and a few party catamarans with lots of music-happy people on board, as well as a few jet skis dancing around the harbor. In the early afternoon a large cruise ship, "Song of America", anchored nearby and we watched as the overfilled party barge hauled the passengers into town. Late in the afternoon we were treated to a parade of charter fishing boats returning with their day’s catch. While we were at the inner harbor docks we saw many very large marlin being weighted and photographed. It is quite pleasant to be anchored again. The cockpit is much more comfortable in the cool of the evening with the wind coming from the bow, so we enjoyed our dinner outside tonight.

Our plan for tomorrow is to continue on toward La Paz and anchor for the night at Cabo Los Frailes.

Wednesday 4 February

A mild storm passed through last night and brought us some rain but the morning dawned with blue skies and little wind from the WNW so we upped the anchor and were off by 7:30 AM toward Los Frailes. We had not gone very far when we sighted some large whales spouting off on the shore side of our boat. The coast along here is dry and brown but many large resorts are sprouting up at many of the sand beaches between the rocky points.

Thursday 5 February

Soon after rounding Punta Gorda we began to pick up the northerly chop from the Sea of Cortez. It was not long before the wind picked up (gusts to 35) and the chop became quite large. We had to beat the rest of the way in rough conditions with reefed main and engine (Columbia Gorge technique), and finally anchored at 6:30 PM in Los Frailes. We ate a quick dinner and both fell into bed early.

Los Frailes is a nice little bay, well protected from the prevailing NW winds with a nice sandy beach along the shore The prominent point of Punta Frailes is easily visible from a distance off. We spent today resting and reading. The wind again picked up in the afternoon and by evening we had swells wrapping around Punta Frailes, rocking the boat noticeably.

Saturday 7 February

Thursday night we were rocked by the swells all night but had no wind; the wind did not come up until late the next morning when it proceeded to blow with gusts to 25 mph the rest of the day, finally shutting down after dark. Today the winds started earlier but we still took the dingy off the bow and made a trip to shore. A very nice beach awaited us and both a Mexican fish camp and a gringo camping area greeted us. We walked among the campers and had a nice visit with a Canadian couple who spend the winter here. Today was radio schedule with Craig (K7UKW) in The Dalles so we returned to the boat but the band did not cooperate. Although I could hear him, we did not make contact. This is only the second time since leaving San Diego that we couldn’t at least say "hi". Bill and I both had a great swim in the 70 degree water and then spent the rest of the afternoon reading. We tied things down after dinner with plans to awaken at midnight and get underway to Bahia Los Muertos, our next stop.

Sunday 8 February

We were up shortly after midnight and underway by 0030. We had a nice westerly wind most of the night which kept the main full enough to counter the NW swell and give us an extra knot of speed. Just before sunrise the wind died then it picked up as the sea swell also picked up. It was not long before we got behind the point and then had the hook down at the head of Los Muertos off the sand beach. Our first attempt at anchoring was too far out and too rolly, second attempt would not grab but we finally got the hook down in the "perfect spot".

We tossed the dingy over and discovered that the Lanikai had been flocked with salt from the overnight spray. This on top of the spray we took getting to Los Frailes earlier in the week. There are salt crystals everywhere! Now what we need is a good dewy night to rinse them off with.

In the evening, a third boat entered the anchorage. We rowed over for a quick visit, as they were boaters that we had met and visited with while in Chula Vista. They were heading south from La Paz but had spent five days here earlier in the season while on their way north waiting for a good weather window. It seems that our "perfect anchorage" is still too far out from shore if the wind changes to easterly.

Monday 9 February

Well, the easterly wind never arrived, actually we had almost no wind all night but with the morning the northwesterly picked up again. We finally made it ashore today and explored the ruins on the eastern shore, the reef there and took a short walk in the desert. There were some tiny iridescent blue fish in some of the tide pools and lots of dead coral on the rocks but we did not see any signs of living coral around the reef. It must be further offshore as the bottom around here is completely sand.

Wednesday 11 February

Still in Los Muertos and the wind is still blowing from the northwest. Boats arrive with tales of high wind and lumpy seas between here and La Paz so it looks like we will be here for awhile longer. The wind blew all night last night and is blowing harder today than yesterday, when it blew hard enough to keep us from running around in the dingy. The air even has a little chill to it but when we compare our weather with that back home in Oregon, we have it good!! With all this wind, this anchorage is much better than we will find in La Paz so we are in no hurry to jump out of here. We have plenty of reading material to keep us occupied for a long time.

Saturday 14 February

We are in La Paz!!! We arrived yesterday and tied up in Marina Palmira with the intention of leaving the boat in the slip here while we take the bus north to California, Oregon and Montana. The wind finally cut back for us on Thursday so we had a great last day in Los Muertos, swimming and taking the dingy to shore and to visit neighbors. We left the anchorage shortly before midnight and had light westerly winds most of the way to La Paz. We also had the current in our favor so arrived here an hour earlier than expected.

We spent the afternoon just walking around. We first walked around the marina area and then took the 1.5 mile walk to town and to check out the other marinas. The only boat we found from our "down the coast run" was the 45-foot trawler "Traveler". Bill counted about 80 boats anchored off the town and across off the island.

La Paz is a true Mexican city. It has its some tourist areas and plenty of "gringos" but most of the town is still businesses and offices. It is also a town where the Mexican’s come as tourists too.

Sunday 15 February

Yesterday we walked into town again. We found the internet café and picked up our e-mail; although the connection was real slow we finally did get all the messages downloaded and sent off a few letters. We then joined the local cruisers for their Valentines Day get together. We only recognized one other couple but met a few new friends there.

Feeling energetic we then set off to find the big grocery store. After a LONG walk we finally found the CCC which is a Fred Meyer type store with "everything". We picked up a few food items and then started the long trek home. We were really dragging by the time we reached the boat where we calculated that we had walked almost 8 miles.

Today we have started the clean up and desalting of things. There is a great Laundromat here at the marina and I am making use of it, also plenty of good water on the dock. Electricity too, so I ran the vacuum. But mostly we are just relaxing today.

Thursday 19 February

We got a nice rain Tuesday night that, finally got the salt off of everything outside. Tuesday we took the marina van into town and met with our friends from "Le’Zarder" and "Savili". We spent the afternoon with them and their guests and had a wonderful time. Their friends were staying in a one bedroom apartment right on the Malecon complete with a balcony that overlooked the bay. They had a pile of nibblies set out for us and we spent several hours visiting and watching the bay.

Today we walked into town and found the US-style coffee house and had great cups of flavored coffee complete with whipped cream. Walking back to the marina we ran into friends from Montana! They spend the winters on their boat "Whisper" in the Chula Vista marina and had decided that it was too rainy in San Diego, so hopped into their car and came south. We will try to meet with them again in the morning.

We participated in our first dock party on this dock and we all ate enough finger food so that no one had to cook dinner. As we were sitting there visiting the wind picked up and we all had to put on more warm clothing, we even had a little brazier fire to sit around and continue telling tales. A good evening was had by all and only a few drank too much!!

Saturday 21 February

Yesterday we relaxed on the boat until late afternoon. We took the shuttle in to town and had a great, cheep, dinner at the Dock Café where we ran into Carl and Zack from "Sun Chaser II" and Torsten and Elke from "Milonga". There was a band playing and they had a jam session with the musically inclined boaters. It was great fun. We listened for several hours and then took off to check out the happenings at Carnival. Night life here during Carnival does not start swinging until 10PM so when we arrived at the closed street at 9:30 we had no trouble finding our dock friends. We joined them for some loud music and a beer while we all watched the numbers of people in the street grow. We then slowly moved through the crowd and returned to the boat close to midnight. By then things in town were just getting cooking, but we were all starting to fall sleep.

Today Wayne and Sarah (from "Whisper" in Chula Vista) stopped by in the morning and we went out to breakfast with them. I would not be surprised to see them here next year with their boat, as they are enjoying themselves immensely.

Carnival is still winding up and one of the ferries came in and tied off the tourist pier down town. When we went to town in the evening, the ship was all be decked with lights and seemed to be used for some kind of an evening cruise to Pichilingue and back. Jack and Bonnie from "Red Sky" arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon and we had a nice visit and then cruised the mile long carnival with them. The crowds were larger than last night. We found the perfect dinner in a huge stuffed potato at the far end of the stands, before turning around and working our way back to the marina.

Monday 23 February

Carnival was a blast last night. The floats in the parade were quite elaborate and elegant and the costumes of the riders were also spectacular. The crowds were large and everyone seemed to be in the party mood and enjoying even the slow flow after the parade. We do not know what the theme of the parade was but they all seemed to be sea oriented. One of the floats had mermaids all bespeckled in gold tails and headed with some pretty young girls that danced the entire route. Actually all of the float riders were dancing or at least moving to the very loud music which blasted at them from atop the tow vehicles.

This morning we walked across town and purchased bus tickets to go north on Thursday. On our way back Tom and Bonnie from The Dalles drove by, so we all went out for coffee and a long visit. They winter here in a camper so that Tom can windsurf in the warm climate.

We watched the parade again tonight but this time from the balcony of Sarah and Warren’s motel room (actually a two bedroom apartment). It was a great birds eye view and the crowds were much smaller than last night. We then all went to the Dock Café for dinner, a great place to eat!!

Wednesday 25 February

Last night was the last night of the parade and we had great seats on a bar’s patio just off the street and up a couple of feet. Bill got some video of the floats and, since we were right where the parade was ending and disassembling, we got a good view of the floats as they waited in line. As the parade moved past the participants seemed to be really enjoying their last night and many were waving cans of Tecate beer. The booth area was crowded again as we worked our way through it looking for the right place to purchase dinner. The place seemed filled with kids off for the last night of dancing and carnival rides. We purchased great tortas (a meat and avocado filled sandwich on a heavy bun) at a stand then sat and watched the slowly moving mass of people while we ate. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Tomorrow we’ll catch the bus at 10AM to Tijuana and San Diego and other points north. We are really looking forward to the adventure of the bus trip!