11-17 to 11-24 in La Paz

11-17, Thurs – Dick went and got our TIP (Temporary Import Permit” from the Government offices in Pichilingue (A twenty minute cab ride to nowhere - D), we then went into town on the marina shuttle. Signed up for the Club Cruceros (a club for cruisers), which will get us mail service, local assistance, emergency services, etc. We got a bite to eat and went to the “Ha-Ha Welcome to La Paz” party. It was a fun get-together with Mariachi band and folk dancers. It was a HUGE turn-out too. It was interesting to talk stories with some of the Ha-Ha’ers we hadn’t seen since Cabo.

11-18, Friday – Both of our “get-up-and-go”s got up and went today! It was a nice day to just lay around and read. We went out for dinner at the Marina restaurant and hit the hay.

11-19, Sat, 11-20, Sun; 11-21, Mon., 11-22, Tues. We wandered about town all four days, did some provisioning at the LEY Super Mercado, watched the 49er game at a great restaurant called “Tailhunter”. They are supposed to have good live rock and roll music on the weekends, so will try that next weekend. We have had really good eating at the local restaurants. We have come to appreciate the Arrachera meat here (marinated skirt steak), which melts in your mouth. Lots of good tamales, empanadas, tacos, enchiladas and really good seafood! There is also a little hole-in-the-wall called “The Shack” that is run by a fellow from Texas and his Mexican wife. They have GREAT Hamberguesas. We didn’t get to try them today, but will definitely be going back.

11-23, Wed. – We needed to take the boat out of the harbor so we could make water. It is too mucky in here. So, we took the boat out to the bay, put up sails and tacked back and forth for 5 hours in very light winds. It was nice and relaxing, had lunch and headed back to the marina. We wanted to get back so we could go to “The Shack” again try their hamberguesas. Our friends’ son, Keane, from the boat “Shanti Ana” was playing jazz guitar and he was fantastic. Lots of our new acquaintances were there and we had a great time getting to know people better.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Love to all and Happy Thanksgiving!

11-24, Thurs. - Thanksgiving! Very strange to be away from family and close friends. However, it was a lovely get-together with new friends. 250 people were reserved into this pot luck buffet. The marina provided the Turkey and everyone brought side dishes. I prepared a rice salad with Tuna, onion, apples, dried cranberries, mixed veggies with a Papaya Poppy Seed dressing. It was HOT HOT HOT :--) today, but they had nice shade tents over the area. We fed the local Gatos our leftovers too.

Then, we went to the Tailhunter again to watch the 49er game that evening. Nice day! Hope yours were all wonderful too!

11-10 to 11-16, Trip from San Jose Del Cabo to La Paz

11-10, Thurs. – We left the harbor of San Jose Del Cabo for Los Frailes this morning at about 7:00 a.m. Still quite a North West wind coming at us, it was more than we expected and was forecasted. It was quite the bash up the inside coast of Baja on the Sea of Cortez. It built to at least 22 knots of wind on our bow, 6 foot short period seas as well, so we ended up motoring the entire way. Lots of green water over our bow and a lot of splash into the cockpit as a result.

We made it to Los Frailes at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Los Frailes is an anchorage that is supposed to protect from Northerly and Westerly winds and seas. We had been contemplating snorkeling and left on the dighy to go to shore, but the winds and seas changed to come from the east, with seas building to about 3 to 6 ft. and the swells coming into the bay (bahia). We had to turn back to the boat and wait it out.

We decided to spend the next day here.

11-11, Friday – It didn’t really calm down this day as we had hoped. We stuck it out another day and had to stay on the boat for the whole day as a result. It was forecasted to be calm tomorrow. It was still a beautiful day and we enjoyed the anchorage. I did some drawing and some chores (oooooo).

There were at least 20 or 30 boats anchored there and on the radio, we were all trying to figure out whether to stay or go. It was most unfortunate because there was the Pulmo Reserve there, the ONLY barrier reef in Western Mexico, which would have been great diving/snorkeling! Maybe we will come back here on our way to Mazatlan!

11-12, Saturday – We had decided to leave the night before and left VERY early in the morning (6:00 am) to head for Ensenada de Los Muertos! It was much calmer on the run up there. Winds only 8 to 12 knots coming from the South, South-East. Nice motor-sailing conditions!

We got there by 1:25 p.m. and the conditions were lovely in the anchorage. There were about 30 boats already anchored here. However, shortly after anchoring, the winds started building from the only direction that would be a problem: That being from the south-east! Every boat in here was bobbing like a hobby horse on seas and waves that built to 6 feet!! We weathered this pretty well. Yet all but 7 boats left by the late hours of the night or early morning hours. We seemed to have a very good set on our anchor, so we stuck it out, looking for better weather the next day. Not a very good night sleep for either of us. We both slept in the salon and were up every hour or so, checking our situation.

11-13, Sunday – After dawn, the wind died down and it was great! Worth the wait! Not very many boats left here at this point (7). Dick wanted to check the engine “stuff”, so he checked all the fluids and belts, etc. We tried to start the engine after that and it wouldn’t start (??) After several tries, Tami said it sounded like air in the system. Dick asked her how she came to this conclusion and she said “It sounds like air!!” Dick bled the system for air and…………guess what?.......... It started!! WOW!! Kudos for sound! (Great Luck on the guess – D :--)).

We went ashore for lunch at one of the two spots to eat. This was the only restaurant on the northeast end of the shore, which had been there for quite some time and was founded by the “Giggling Marlin” of Cabo San Lucas. Reasonably priced, excellent service and excellent food. We were able to watch the 49er game, in Spanish :-). What a GAME! We watched it there for the 1st half and then walked a mile down to the other end of the beach to the small exclusive resort hotel to catch the 2nd half of the game!!

On the walk we saw a HUGE gaggle of pelicans patiently waiting to be fed by the local fishermen who were cleaning their recent catch. They were quite gentlemanly waiting for the scraps the fishermen were throwing to them.

YaaaaaaaY for the 2nd half of the game too!! 49ers are now 8&1. Go 49ers! The hotel had an amazing Lionel train collection, set up on tracks circling around the 2nd floor of the restaurant.

We decided we would stay another day here, because it was such a lovely anchorage and the weather was unsettled at this point.

It was getting dark and we headed back to the boat. Another mile walk back to the dingy and a ride out to the boat. The winds were picking up and it was starting to rain. We got back just in time to close the hatches and hunker down. In the middle of the night, it REALLY started pooring! We had to “dog down” everything! Ah but all the salt got washed off the boat.

At 5:00 a.m. Dick got up for an anchor check and discovered we had dragged anchor about 300 feet!! We narrowly missed a boat that had pulled in, in the dark, right next to us (for some reason). Blessedly, we did not collide! Anyway, we let out some more chain and got a bit of distance from them for the rest of the “blow” (which didn’t end until the next day).

11-14, Monday -- We both spent the rest of the morning “watching” to make sure we didn’t collide with the boat that pulled in, in the night. They didn’t seem to really care. OH WELL?

At any rate, the winds blew pretty hard most of the day until the afternoon, about 3:00. Our friends from the boat “Convivia” came by to try to help Dick with the Single Sideband (SSB) radio and our friends from the boat “Nirvana” came by to give us pictures of our boat with the “spinnaker” sail flying during the trip from Tortuga to Santa Maria (Awesome!) (see the pics). We had pictures for them of their beautiful spinnaker on that trip as well! Nice trade, they were thrilled too!

The winds finally died down at around 5:00 and we went to the restaurant for dinner. Had a lovely time and died after NO SLEEP for a couple of days :--). We may stay yet another day here :--)

11-15, Tuesday -- After the weather report that morning, which forecasted strong Northerlies for later today and all day tomorrow, we decided to head up through the San Lorenzo Channel and get to an anchorage closer to La Paz. We finally decided on a lovely small anchorage called Caleta Lobos. We arrived there at 4:30 in the afternoon, having left Los Muertos at 9:00 am. It was a lovely day and nice breezes, but the breezes were off our bow most of the way except for the last hour or so.

We were well protected from the north winds, so we had a very good night sleep! The strong winds forecasted never materialized.

11-16, Wed. – We listened to the weather and the Amigo Net on the SSB radio, which we now do every morning. It is very informative and a great way to check on your cruising buddies. There is a check-in every morning, weather and everyone can request to talk to other boats at that time. Pretty cool!

Following the morning net, and again a forecast of increasing winds, which did materialize. we headed for La Paz at about 9:30 a.m. We got ahold of the Palmira Marina and received the good news that they had a slip available for us! Yay! After being on a hook for a week, it was nice to get a slip! Of course this means internet and cell-phone coverage too.

We arrived at 11:20 am and we LOVE IT! While Dick did the check-in procedures I squared the boat away for dock living. It was warm, so opened up all the hatches and portholes, turned on the fans, did dishes, covered the forward windows against the sun, etc. etc. etc. Feeling good!
We met up with our friends from “Nirvana” for a late lunch at one of the two restaurants in the harbor. Super YUMMY food at a medium price and good company!

We had ourselves a LONG shower at the marina showers and a GOOOOOOOOD night sleep!!
We are looking forward to checking out the town, re-provisioning, going to the “Ha-Ha” Welcome Party tomorrow night, getting our Temporary Import Permit (for the boat) squared away (Spending lots of time with the bureaucracy), etc.

We are also very much looking forward to a visit from Yvonne, Rudy & Sherrie later this month!!
Will catch up with you all later. Stay Tuned!

11-09, San Jose Del Cabo

11-09, Wed. – San Jose Del Cabo – Got a great night sleep and we decided to stay one more day because the wind and seas were pretty high. It is supposed to be much calmer tomorrow.

The BBQ party last night was a lot of fun. The boat “I Yam What I Yam” (Canadians) had caught a PILE of fish, so they barbequed the fish and we all brought side dishes. We took a Spanish rice dish. It was a nice chance to get to know more of the folks traveling the same places we are going to be.

We paid for another day and took off to explore SJDC. As we walked around the Marina path we saw some very interesting and historical artwork by a very famous local woman by the name of Leonora Carrington. There were sculptures and paintings and chronicles of her life and accomplishments as we walked along. She just passed away two months ago at the age of 96. I imagine you could google her for more information.

We explored the little village around the marina first and had breakfast at a little Inn for 60 pesos each. Then we took a taxi to the downtown. It is a lovely little town with lots of shops and restaurants, a great explore. We had been told there was an excellent French Patisserie so we hunted it down and had delicious crepes with ice cream.

We needed to wash down the boat and get ready for the sail tomorrow, so back to the marina.

We take off tomorrow for Los Frailes, which is an anchorage about 40 miles up into the sea of Coretz. Just a small fishing village there, but a nice place to snorkel, maybe fish and anchor for the night.

Then we leave the following morning for an anchorage called Los Muertos, another 40+ miles north of Los Frailes. Again, only a small fishing village there but another nice place to anchor for the night.

Then we will proceed to La Paz. We won’t be able to update you until we are settled there.
Stay tuned……

11-05 in Cabo through Trip to San Jose Del Cabo 11-08

11-05, Saturday -- There are a gozillian fishing boats in the Marina. There is a Million Dollar fishing contest going on this weekend. Noisy affair! Especially early in the morning and when they get back.

I spent the morning up in the Baja Cantina working on the blog, uploading pictures. Dick went off to scope out the grocery market in town. He came back with the location of the market and he also found out that the Marina has a fluff and fold laundry service for $6 per load (cheaper than doing it yourself). So, I gave Dick the computer in the late morning (lucky me – D) and went and organized a laundry run.

About mid-day, Alex, Charles, Patrick and I went off to get a pedicure :--) We wandered the streets and side-streets until we found a place we were willing to pay the price ($20 US dollars/per person). They told us to come back in 15-20 minutes, so we went to this excellent restaurant called “Panchos” and had cervezas. They had a HUGE collection of Tequilas (575 per their menu I read the next day – D) there and the bartender was more than happy to explain the history of them all (quite interesting). Alex & I bought perfect straw hats for ourselves. I’m very happy because I will definitely need it from here on out!

We got our pedicures done (2 at a time). They were okay, but not as good as “home”. At least I got a new “paint job”. This was Patrick’s first pedicure and he loved it. I recommended my pedicure place in Alameda for when he goes home.

Tonight was the last official event for the “Ha-Ha”, the awards ceremony. This was quite fun. Every boat got an award and there were lots of fun “joke” awards. As a matter of fact, I won our boat the “snoring award”. I had to get up and imitate the snorer on our boat. I imitated Patrick and won the award for the best snorer in the fleet. Journey took 3rd place in our division. The 1st and 2nd place boats sailed either a full leg or all of the legs of the trip.

We didn’t realize there would be no food at the event, so we had to go to dinner afterwards. Because we had seen “Panchos” that day, we went back there for dinner with everyone! It was terrific!! Run by an American fellow from Fremont, CA, who came down here and never went back. Food was awesome and the service was great. The prices were excellent too. There is a place across the street we want to try at some point, called “Crazy Lobster”. Prices great and food sounds great.

We had to say goodbye to Charlie & Alex as they are leaving in the morning!! What a great time and many thanks to them for their contribution to the work and the fun on the trip. We will miss them :--) XOXOXOOX

Dick, Patrick & I headed for the “Cabo Wabo” club! (Sammy Hagar’s famous club.) Couldn’t leave Cabo without checking that out. Reminded me of the old “DV8” club in San Francisco!! Oh to be 20 years younger :--) Lots of young folks having a great time to a pretty good “cover” band and a great music mixologist. (The oldster’s did get in a couple of dances and for some unknown reason two sweet young things wanted their picture taken with me :--) - D)

11-06, Sunday – I went up to the Cantina EARLY in the morning to work again on the blog before people get there and get on the internet connection. The staff at the Baja Cantina have been terrific and so friendly and accommodating to all us “Ha-Ha” folks. Dick & Patrick went to “Panchos” for breakfast. The 49er game came on at 10:00 am right there in front of me!! YaaaaaaaaaaaY!

Dick & Patrick came back, then I had to give up the computer to Dick. Went and picked up the laundry during half time and came back to watch the end of the game.

Nice quiet relaxing day…. Dick & I went to the market to pick up a FEW things we needed like bread, yogurt, butter, lettuce and eggs; a bunch of perishable items. Other than that, all provisions are holding up well.

As I was relaxing in the cockpit I watched the parade of Sunset Party Catamarans, blaring music, heading out to the bay.

The three of us went to dinner at that “Crazy Lobster” with another skipper, Mark, from another boat in the "fleet", "Folie Douce". We had a great time swapping stories and eating steak & lobster for $15.00 US a plate! I had three lobster enchiladas for $10.00. Excellent!

11-07, Monday – I went up early again to the Cantina to finish the blog through the 4th. Got it all done and posted by 9:30, I think. Close enough! (I spent the time doing another trip up the mast, with Patrick’s help, still trying to resolve the chaffing problem on the spinnaker halyard. Discovered some additional damage on the sail track, probably from our Pt. Sur adventure, and did temporary fixes. – D) Patrick is leaving today. So, he was getting himself all packed and ready to go. He wanted me to take a picture of him by all the big yachts around us, so see the pics of him with his bags by the big yachts :--). We saw him off at the lobby of the Wyndam, where the shuttle was picking him up for the airport. We will miss him too! Many thanks to you Patrick for all your contributions to the work and fun of the trip! XOXOXOX

Dick & I prepared to leave Cabo that afternoon at 2:00. We took on one tank (of three 100 gallon tanks) of fuel there for good measure and headed off for the anchorage area just off the resorts on the east end of the beaches. Picked a lovely spot to anchor at the far northeast end. Beautiful night, but noisy, even out there! Party boats, resorts discos, blah blah blaaaa :--) Anyway, it was nice to be out of the marina back on a hook. It is now just Dick & I……

The winds & swell picked up in the evening, so neither of us got a very good night’s sleep.

11-08, Tuesday— Heading out for San Jose Del Cabo this morning! It should be about a 3-hour trip. As we left the anchorage in Cabo the wind and seas were picking up. It was a pretty rough “beat” up to SJDC! We couldn’t put up any sails because the wind was just off our bow. There got to be 15-16 knots of wind, but no good to us. We also had the current against us keeping us at 4.1-4.8 knots over ground at 1500 RPMs! Yikes!

We ended up making it to SJDC by about noon. There was a long dock of “Ha-Ha” boats on the right, but no room for us, so they put us (once again) with the BIG plastic yachts. Got a nice slip there, but it was a bit more than we really wanted to pay. Oh Well! We were hoping they had an anchorage area, but they did not. Some of our new-found friends from the “fleet” are putting on a dock BBQ this evening. One of the boats has an abundance of fish they caught and are going to cook it up. Everyone else will bring a salad or side dish. NICE!

We’re not sure if we will be leaving tomorrow or not. We’ll see….

10-24 to 11-04, Trip from SD to Cabo

10-24-2011, Monday - Here we go…. Wheee, another foggy day!! However, this is the day we leave with the “Barely Legal” 18th Baha-Ha-Ha fleet for Mexico. We left the dock at 9:45 am with the back end of the fleet (not a bad place to be). Got through the start at 11:10 am and headed for the outside of the Coronado Islands because there were commercial tuna fishing pens on the inside of the islands.

We had a “rolling start”, which means there was no wind and everyone (almost) had to motor until the wind came up. We saw many dolphins (I mean hundreds) jumping and playing around us as we passed around the Coronado’s.

There was no wind (which was the mantra of most of the trip) . However, we had our brand new light wind sail!! We got to put up our snazzy new light wind sail (MPS – asymmetrical spinnaker) for the first time, at about 1:15 pm (13:15). We had never hoisted it before! It is beautiful!!! Cannot believe how beautiful it is. We managed to sail it for quite some time. See all the fabulous pics of our new sail!! We are so pleased with it and will certainly need it here in Mexico!! We still had to motor sail with it all day though, due to the lack of wind.

We have to give GREAT kudos to our friend Charlie Quest! We had our first dinner at sea with his FABULOUS bean soup, which he gave us in HMB (frozen) to take with us. Our entire crew enjoyed it, as it is still cold sailing in these waters.

The sunset was beautiful and this was Charles’ & Alex’s first overnight sail and “watches” (how exciting). The sky cleared during this first night, the stars came out, but there was no moon.
Our “watches” consisted of 3-hour shifts: 6:00 pm -9:00 pm, Charles, 9:00 pm – midnight, Tami, midnight – 3:00 am, Dick and 3:00 am – 6:00 am, Patrick. Then we continued the day-time shifts the same as well.

10-25, Tues. -- Let’s see... the second day at sea… Sunrise was spectacular!!…and at the 7:00 am “roll call” for the fleet, the “rolling start” ended…which means the engines got turned off and we sailed for the next 14 hours.

Charlie started fishing!!!!!!!!!!! Had no luck.
The wind really came up around 5:00 pm (17:00) at which time we raised the MPS again and were getting up to 8+ knots of boat speed through the night.

The sunset was fantastic, of course, and we had an uneventful overnight sail.

10-26, Weds. We awoke at sea to ……….a sunrise that was again spectacular. The seas were relatively calm and we were still sailing. Charles (boo hoo) didn’t catch anything, yet again, although he is going to try again today!

We had MANY dolphins playing around our bow today for probably a half an hour. Got a lot of great pictures of them this time. We ran the engine for charging only. The wind died down in the afternoon though, and we had to start the engine.

Cedros Island came into view! Beautiful, which means we are almost to Turtle Bay (Bahia Tortuga). We arrived at Bahia Tortuga at 7:30 pm (dark), our first anchoring in the dark.
After three days at sea, we were all ready to eat and get some sleep.

10-27, Thur., Bahia Tortuga is lovely! Cute little town! The boys went ashore early and Sandy and I took a panga to the pier. It was a very rickety dock and stairs up to the pier. Dirt roads were throughout the town. The folks in town were very excited to have the fleet there. It is the one time of year they get to make a pile of money all at once. They had prepared well for our arrival and consequential invading of their town. They go to great trouble to accommodate this event. They have to bring in all kinds of provisions in order to feed everyone in their restaurants.

The “Ha-Ha” organized a very informal softball game at the local baseball field. Everybody had a lot of fun doing this. Charlie & Tami got up to bat and both got a hit. Tami made it in for a run too. The local kids got in on the fun too.

After the game we went up to the Vera Cruz restaurant for dinner, which sits at the top of the hill in town. Nice breezes and a good view from there. It took us about four hours to get our food though. It was pretty good once we got it :--)

All the kids in town were asking for candy or $$ as we headed back to the pier to go back to the boat. Great day!

10-28, Fri. This was the pot luck beach party day. It was very hot! Lots of fun was had and lots of great food! The locals brought the water, beers and a DJ to play music for us. There was volley ball and a tug of war contest between the men and women. Dick played volley ball and Alex & I got in on the Women vs Men tug of war. Dick was on Men’s side, the women won (It was rigged the men were limited to 25 with no limit on the women’s side. – D)

The water is still a little cool at this latitude, but it was pleasant. One of the Catamarans, “Younger Girl” anchored too close to the beach and ended up stuck on the beach until the tide came in. It was quite entertaining watching everyone try to get this thing off the sand bar. They ended up having to wait for the tide to come in to get off the bar. (Which everybody knew in the first place – but they had great fun trying – D)

Time to get ready to leave tomorrow and get some sleep.

10-29, Sat. We set sail for Bahia Santa Maria at 8:00 am. This will be an all day, overnight and all day sail to arrive there just before sunset. The wind was such that we had to motorsail in order to keep a boat speed between 6 and 7 knots. We are now experiencing warm sailing at sea. It was even warm at night. Beautiful! Charlie is still fishing. The fish are biting for the Canadians, but not for us.

We watched a movie this evening. Great overnight sailing and uneventful (just the way we like it).

10-30, Sun. Another beautiful sunrise and it is getting to be HOT! We’re still fishing and catching nothing, while the Canadians continue to bring in the fish :--) We aren't the ONLY ones not catching fish!

Lots of reading, napping and enjoying the weather. We had to motorsail again all day and were getting up to 8 knots of boat speed! (The spinny really helps the boat speed – D)
We arrived in Bahia Santa Maria just before sunset, so we were able to see what we were doing and get a nice anchorage spot. Time for sleep.

10-31, Mon. Halloween! Nice day of R&R and catching up on sleep. This is a beautiful Bay. There isn’t really anything here but a tiny fishing community (and she means REALLY SMALL – half a dozen shacks. -D) No stores, not really houses, no nothing, but a few buildings. The families live in tiny little one-room boxes. It looks like they have a community kitchen (sort of) and a community toilet in a small closet of a building. At least it is actually a toilet.

I caught a cold and don’t feel that great and Alex is really tired. Dick, Charlie & Patrick went to a Halloween party on the boat “Go for Broke”. They are a big steel-hulled ketch, about 55’ long. It is really a rust-bucket looking vessel, crewed by three guys. (A definite work-in-progress – D) There were a lot of folks there, some in costume. (It was a great party – great fun was had by all – many staggering people left in their dingys on a pitch black moonless night - trying to find their boat amongst 140 others – they all look the same in the dark until your right up next to them – D)

Alex and I watched a movie and baked muffins. We enjoyed our quiet time together.

11-01, Tues, Beautiful Day!!!!! I’m feeling much better today, just coughing and sniffling. Great weather for a beach party :--) which is exactly what we had. Once again, the locals in this area truck in supplies and they cook a fabulous meal for 600. It was up on the bluff overlooking the beautiful Bay. You could walk the beach and collect sand dollars (which were plentiful) , swim in the water, dance to the live band they trucked in from Cabo, climb the bluffs or just sit and relax looking at the beautiful views.

We have gotten to know quite a few folks now and are having fun exchanging stories. Lots of nice and interesting people. We helped a set of folks out along the way down the Calif. Coast and they gave us some fresh fish to eat! Yummy Yellow Tail, Dorado and something we’re not quite sure what it is. We had sashimi for lunch with the Yellow Tail and I pan-seared the Dorado in a teriyaki sesame sauce. We helped another fellow out whose boat water was accidently emptied by a faucet left on by one of the crew. We gave him 12 gallons of water. We had another boat come by for 3 gallons later. It is great to see how people are helping each other out with all kinds of things, engine, electrical, electronics, fuel - anything from just words of advice to parts and/or labor or supplies.

We are getting ready for the last leg of our trip to Cabo tomorrow.

11-02, Wed. We started our trip at 7:00 am – No Wind. Probably the least wind we’ve had yet. We were able to motor-sail though, but couldn’t always keep a head sail up. This trip we saw lots of flying fish, schools of them, dolphins of course, we saw schools of flying stingrays (a really cool thing to see) and Charlie & I even saw a sea turtle float right by the boat. I could swear he looked up at me as we passed by him! He was a big fella.

It is definitely Mexico weather now. It was a warm sail through the night, in shorts and barefoot. Really really nice! Charlie is still fishing and still catching nothing.
The night sail was beautiful and uneventful again. The sunset & sunrise were beautiful as well.

11-03, Thurs. Cabo is coming into view. We sailed around the beautiful rocky cape and saw the town and all its resorts and beaches come into view. We came in at the same time as a Disney Cruise liner. We had to wait for him to anchor before we could pull into the anchorage area off the beach. We did not have a slip assignment yet, so we dropped anchor out in front of all the beach-front resorts. There were already a few of the “fleet” anchored there. NICE!! We all jumped in the water to cool off. It is definitely HOT. We enjoyed relaxing this afternoon and then were told we had a spot on the fuel dock in the marina. So, we motored over to the marina and took our spot right in with all the mega plastic party yachts ( and the REALLY BIG private yachts – for example, behind us was “Kiss the Sky” at 170ft – crew of 12). We got off and walked over to the Marina Office to check in and then sent Charlie & Alex off to their resort hotel.

Tonight is the party at “Squid Roe”, themed “I cheated death again and survived”, Charlie & Alex met us at the Cabo Cantina, we ate dinner at the restaurant next door and we all went to the party together. It was a huge turn-out by the “fleet”. Lots of story sharing and lots of margaritas. It was like a mini-Mardi Gras! Lots of picture taking, dancing and merriment. (The pictures will tell all if I can get the Admiral to post them – D) It was a late night for us (10:30 pm) (I can’t believe the Admiral pooped out before me – D) except for Patrick. He stayed nearly until closing.

11-04, Friday Everyone was moving a little slow this morning. Charlie & Alex came down to the boat and all 5 of us went to immigration to check into Mexico. This took about 3 hours!! Yikes! We all got a cold cervezas after that and walked down to the beach party at the Cabo Cantina Resort on the beach. They had a great buffet of food for us and music. The water is 80 degrees, blue and beautiful. They had a fun kissing contest in the surf, like the movie “From Here to Eternity”. One of the couples we have gotten to know, who came with their 3 kids and a cat, won the contest. Very cute!

We took a panga back to the marina and went to dinner at the Cantina. Got some cute pictures of the Pelicans and a sea lion fishing in the blue light from the bit yacht next to us.

Tomorrow is the awards ceremony, the final "Ha-Ha Event". Sleeeeeeeeeeep!

TODAY is Monday, 11-07 -- All our crew are now gone and we are leaving the marina to stay "on the hook" in the bay here in Cabo. We will be leaving for San Jose Del Cabo tomorrow and then on to a couple of lovely bays on the way to La Paz. Will try to finish updating the Cabo Experience before we leave tomorrow. Will update you all as we can for the trip up the Sea of Cortez to Lapaz.