San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Los Cabos Marina

Bahia San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Los Cabos Marina

12/29 -1 /5 

We had a quick motor on calm water to Bahia San Jose del Cabo. ‘Sweet Dreams’ was just ahead of us and ‘Serenity’ was already tucked in there, having left the day before us. We dropped anchor right near ‘Serenity’ on the western end of the bay near the golf course. Saw a small reefy point with a handful of longboarders. Looked pretty fun, about knee to waste high lefts and rights. ‘Sweet Dreams’ had pulled farther down and into the actual harbor to the fuel dock. Claire and I were having lunch, waiting for their intel on the anchor conditions down there. They said it was pretty much the same all around so we pulled up our hook at 14:30 only after being at the west end a few hours. We planned on getting a slip in the morning, we figured we might as well be right outside the breakwall so in the morning we could pull in. We needed to get a slip because Claire had a family emergency and needed to fly home. GranFran isn’t doing too well and it is very important for Claire to be with her family at this time. If you don’t know GranFran, just envision an Angel, that’s her. The good thing with being on the boat, we can pump the brakes when need be, and pause for a moment. We feel more comfortable having the boat in a slip and not on anchor when leaving her unwatched for a long period of time. That night we were invited to a dance party at The Drunken Sailor. ‘Sweet Dreams’ joined us for that one. We had a blast. Good food, good margaritas, good local fun. We met a man named Charlie Moore. 77 years old. Drove his Ford truck down from Pennsylvania with a 14’ O’Day. He is currently living in a tent on a commune style ranch. 12/30 Rainy. Gray day. Glassy clear water. You could see the anchor in the sand as I pulled it up. We moved off the anchorage and got a slip in the marina. It’s weird how things work out with timing. ‘Sweet Dreams’ actually needed to stay put here as well. Noah and Christina are changing paths with Jon and Sara. They are looking for a vehicle to drive back to the states. It works out for me, I don’t have to sit here alone and can hang out with good company. Claire took me on a surprise date to the botanical and succulent garden. We had lunch at The Container, a harborside restaurant. 12/31 we woke up and hopped a bus to the airport. Very sad and hard to see Claire go. Came back and spent New Years eve on ‘Splendid Isolation’ with Noah, Christina, and Rob. Plenty of rum and tequila. We also busted out 2 harmonicas, a kazoo, a maraca, and my fog horn to introduce 2013. WOW...1/1 I spent some time cleaning and organizing the inside of the boat. Then we walked into the downtown area. Very cultural. Definitely california influenced. A lot of the businesses were in pure english. A lot of art shops, culinary arts, craft stores, etc. John and Sara purchased a small inflatable with a mercury outboard. They needed a new ride because Noah and Christina were taking the kayak. Very glad I’m in a slip, it has been extremely windy. 1 /2 I scrubbed the waterline around the boat. It’s crazy how fast it acquires growth in these warm waters. 1 /3 I thought I’d stay productive in the slip so I put new grommets in our boom tent and main sail cover. They were both ripping. Today was also the first time I’ve needed to tilt the solar panel. I noticed the past few days that we were not charging up to regular levels. A lot of bigger sailboats around me were shading my sun. tilting the panel definitely helped. That night I went to Ali’s place with Noah, Christina, and Rob. Local restaurant around the corner. Ali’s restaurant is cabana style. He is quite the retired chef. He’s originally from the Sahara. He speaks 6 languages. French, German, Spanish, English, and 2 Indian type dialects. He has traveled and been a chef all over the world. After a short talk with him about my culinary background and new sailing life. He graciously offered me his restaurant. Thats the second restaurant offered to me in the past 3 months! I have a feeling I will be getting that offer a lot on this voyage. His fish tacos and hamburgers are out of this world. We had a great time drinking too much with him. A few Ali quotes from the evening: “I am what I am. I am Ali of the Sahara!” “ooooh lala” “blub blub blub” “You are to be what you are. To be what you are is nothing else” “wisdom is free to be what you are to be” “lalala, lalale, lalala” After about 4 hours of holding Christina’s hand and mooshing over her, he looks to Noah, “your sister?”  “no. My wife.” “OH!” Me to Ali “Ali can I bring a big jug of red wine here for everyone? Vino rojo?” in his thick accent, “fucking shit, bring it!” it was quite the evening. From smashing glass vases to Ali ending up with no pants on blacked out. That was our queue to leave...BURRACHO. ¡FELIZ Año! 1 /4 I got up with Jon and Sara who had been cleaning their boat for days and told them it was time for a break. We went out to the beach by the SW breakwall. The skim was surprisingly awesome! Very very steep beach. Coming in clear and warm, waste high, chest high sets. Wraps and lines. It’s nice to be skimboarding again, especially on these empty beaches. If you could only see my sweet maneuvers. I even shock myself sometimes. Noah and Christina picked up a Bronco on craigslist for a steal. They packed that thing up with everything they own and are camping out on the beach. 1 /5 I pulled out of the slip and anchored 13:30 on the NE side of the breakwall to save some money. Definitely not as luxurious or comfortable as being in a slip, but we have a tight budget to keep in mind. Hopefully the weather stays nice enough to sit here until Tuesday when Claire returns. I will be getting a slip again for that airport run and her first night back. Once she gets back we should be sailing onward, 30ish miles to Cabo los Frailes.

rays jumping in the morning

had to of been over 100'

first full rain of the trip!

her secret notes and info for our secret afternoon date

claire's favorite! everything looked like willy wonka and dr. seuss made a garden together.

2 very different bird species on one mast, in the rain.

the nursery we went to

the container. an old shipping container turned into a restaurant.

piña knows when somethings going on... claire's leaving :(

bye bye!!

extremely tall noah making mac and cheese new years eve on our little boat

¡feliz año!

hammock time after many chores!

new blanket and new chain locker covering! surprises for claire when she returns!

i keep a lot of weird supplies on the boat that are dumpster dive treasures from dana point. great for crafts. i used this breathable stuff for the anchor/chain locker which is right above our heads when we sleep.

tilted the solar panel to get better sun in the slip.

grommet gear

new grommets on the mainsail covering

pretty simple to do

puerto los cabos, still under construction.

ali's place. our hang out.

the local quicky mart

the drunken sailor. great food. we went to a dance party here.

ali in his work environment

ali in the past

fresh ground beef burgers. mahi mahi tacos. from scratch french fries.

pesos is divide by 12 or 12.5 to get dollars. these are marina area prices which are still cheaper than the states. up in the uninhabited part of baja stuff was half this or less.

we had a great time.

after hours crew

the anchorage outside the harbor. i spent time here alone while claire was in NC. paying for a slip adds up real quick so i thought i'd save us some money.

christina and ali

cool old stove/artwork

buddha resting weird but at the same time guarding the boat!

all to myself!

possible surf way down there but i was having enough fun without walking. this is zoomed in all the way.

swimming with dolphins for tourists

hatteras yachts in mexico

piña sleeps like this when we are rocking around on anchor for the night.

crazy puffer fish under the dock.

'sweet dreams' ahead

school of puffers