Destination Cabo San Lucas

El Arco de Cabo San Lucas

It’s a quiet morning. I’m so excited that we are almost to our destination, yet feeling a little sad we won’t be on a sailboat sailing in Mexican waters again for a while.

The day is warm and sunny and the sea looks bluer than the days before. As we are sailing along, we notice a few friends with us. Some more Dolphins are swimming along with us at our bow.  I managed to get a few pictures but nothing of them jumping completely out of the water.

As we were approaching Cabo a few miles away, Rick caught a huge fish! And this one was the biggest one caught yet! It was another Barracuda probably 40 pounds.  We did not keep this one. We decided to let it go. I don’t think we felt like cleaning up the mess afterwards etc.  And, we heard that it was a difficult fish to cook. So, Rick got the fish up to the side of the boat where Konrad grabbed the fish by the tail with somewhat of a struggle and several attempts with one arm to remove the hook. It took a while because the fish was thrashing about. Finally he removed the hook and the fish swam off.

Barracuda

Konrad grabbing a hold of the fish trying to remove the hook. Not an easy task!!

Turning the Arch was really awesome. We dropped the sails and slowly motored closer to shore to drop our anchor.  As soon as we set the anchor, Rick and I put on our swimsuits, jumped in the water and swam to shore. We walked down the beach to the Office on the Beach for some fish taco’s and ice tea.  We saw the same waiters we’ve seen the year before. The restaurant looked to be in good shape since the hurricane. No damage to be seen. If there was much damage, they got it all repaired and looking good as new.

After our bite to eat, Rick and I walked back down the beach towards the boat. As we got right in front of where we were to start our swim back to the boat, we decided to sit and rest for a minute.  For some reason the swim back did not look as short as the swim to shore. We made the swim but felt like the boat kept getting further and further away.

That afternoon we all just took it easy around the boat enjoying the scenery. Later after the sun set, Jeff, Peggy, Rick and I took the dinghy to walk around the Marina. It was a pretty happening place….lots of vendors walking around trying to sell you jewelry, baskets, hats, cigars, blankets and so on; restaurant employees trying to lure you into their restaurant.;  lots of lights, music and people strolling around. 

We did not stay long and soon got back in the dinghy and headed back to the boat. While we were in the dinghy in the dark (forgetting our light) a Panga came dashing out of nowhere right at us at a fast pace! They obviously could not see us and we could hardly see them. We only saw them for a split second in time for Rick and I to yell at Jeff to GO LEFT and that there was a boat was coming.  We missed the boat by inches. We are all so lucky we saw the boat at all…and that Jeff had such a quick response!

After making it safely back to the boat, Rick and I called it a night early. The rest of the gang stayed up for a while longer out in the cockpit watching the nightlife on shore.

Early the next morning we all slowly got up and had our coffee/tea out in the cockpit and soaked up a little morning sunshine. We couldn’t believe the stillness of the morning because during the night you could hear the music from nearby nightclubs and restaurants until the wee hours of the morning. It was a really peaceful and beautiful morning.

Soon it was time for Rick and I to get packed and to help clean up the boat inside and out.  Everyone pitched in to clean and get Amante back to looking shiny again.

Around noon, we loaded our suitcases onto Jeff’s dinghy (which practically sunk it) and motor into the marina…to the dinghy dock where we were dropped off. 

Rick and I then took a cab over to Pueblo Bonita Sunset Beach where we were to stay for the next 7 days. 

The view from our balcony

Sunset from our balcony

Later that night we met up with Jeff, Peggy, Konrad and Kim for dinner at Mi Casa in town. It was sort of a celebratory dinner and we couldn’t have picked a better restaurant for that other than Mi Casa.  It’s such a festive and colorful place. The food is pretty delicious too!

 

Mi Casa

Peggy & Jeff

Konrad & Kim

We had a mariachi band come and play at our table. There was a clown who made us some balloon hats.  And lastly a guy came to our table with two little canary’s that hopped out of their little cage and picked a little piece of paper out of a little box with their beaks which had a fortune written on it.  Each of us participated and received good fortunes.

Pepe the canary picked my fortune

After a several hour dinner, we walked the streets downtown window-shopping while making our way back to our different destinations. For Jeff, Peggy, Konrad and Kim it was back to the boat. For Rick and I it was over to Pueblo Bonita Rose to catch the shuttle over to Sunset Beach.  Unfortunately Rick and I missed the last shuttle, which left at 10:30p.m, by five minutes. Rats! We had to take a cab ride that costs about $14.00.

We have now been in Cabo since the 23^rd and will be leaving on the 2^nd of December. We’ve just been spending time on the beach, walking around a lot and we’ve met up with Jeff and Peggy a couple of times. We don’t have any big plans other than just to take it easy….soak in as much of the sun and ocean as we can. We know when we get back home it’s going to be quite a bit cooler!

Peggy left today for home by airplane and Jeff, Konrad and Kim picked up their anchor and moved Amante down south a little more. They are headed to Los Frailes where the marine life is supposed to be plentiful.  At the moment they are at Marina Puerto Los Cabos where the winds are blowing 23 knots.

Received a text from Jeff not too long ago stating that he has his charts now, which should make the journey from here a lot easier! Eventually Jeff will be making Puerto Vallarta his home for a few months. Peggy will come down at Christmas and pay visits when her schedule allows.

This trip has been such a learning experience….fun times and some challenging times. The fun times and the beauty of being out at sea and exploring what’s on shore trumped the challenging times.  I’m so glad I took this trip. I was a little apprehensive at first…all of the unknowns and what if’s. But I also knew it was going to lots of fun. But all of the great things I have experienced were better than what I’d ever imagined.  I’ve never felt more alive than I did taking this sailing trip. I think it’s impacted my life in such a positive way.  I found that I am stronger than I thought I was.   The scariest thing of all was the times when I felt afraid. Once I was not afraid, anything was possible.

Magdalena Bay

Today is Friday the 21^st.  We are 14 miles from Magdalena Bay. It’s been a nice warm sunny morning. Winds are 7 knots. We have been sailing with the Jib and Mainsail.

My Crocodile Dundee enjoying the sunshine

Around 10:00 a.m. just sailing alongside Santa Margarita, Peggy caught a Barracuda! I guess it wasn’t big enough to keep so we had to let it go.  It sure was a pretty looking fish…silver and blue with black stripes.

Here’s where the fun begins! A half an hour later after Peggy caught her fish, I caught a Dorado…a 45” one, weighing about 30 lbs.  I was so excited when they handed me the rod! It was SO hard to pull in and reel! At times I couldn’t. The reel would not budge. Jeff asked me if I needed help and I said yes. So he took over for a while…pulling up on the rod then reeling. He sort of showed me how to do it and then handed it back to me. It was a lot easier after he showed me how to do it. I took my time when the fish would pull and waited before reeling some more.  Being patient seems to be important! My arm was killing me but I kept doing what Jeff had told me. I was making progress. Finally, almost thirty minutes later, we managed to get the fish to the side and lifted the beast on board. He was really putting up a fight on the way up to the boat. I was afraid I was going to lose him. Now, catching a fish on a sailboat and a motorboat are two different feats. On a motorboat, you are usually stopped in the water just bobbing around. It’s just you and the fish. But in a sailboat, you can’t stop the wind so the boat is moving along while you’re trying to pull in a fish. It makes it a bit more of a challenge.  But it is a blast!

You can see the Dorado's color starting to fade near Konrad's foot :(

Me and my fish

Since I caught the fish I was responsible for putting it out of its misery. I was handed a hammer and a rag. I placed the rag over the fish’s face and Konrad showed me where to hit the hammer. I had to close my eyes as I did it. It took several thuds. I did not like this part. After the fish was apparently dead, the color from its beautiful golden yellow skin was fading.  I noticed the same thing happening to Jeff’s fish the day before. It’s kind of sad. It’s as if its spirit left and all we had was the body.  I kept petting him gently on the head apologizing for hurting him.  I said a little prayer for his swift journey to fish heaven.  Sappy, but it’s true.

Rick came to cut the fish open and remove its insides. Then he cut him in half because he was too big to fit in the fridge. So we had two parts of a big fish, bagged in the bottom of our fridge. 

The rest of the day was low key by comparison to catching the Dorado! But it was nice and relaxing, sunny and light winds.

Konrad and Kim

We arrived at Punta Belcher inside of Magdalena Bay where we anchored for the night. It was the most beautiful setting! The color of the water was incredible. You would see patches of dark blue and a lighter blue all around. There was an island in the backdrop and Punta Belcher in front of us. This point had some mountains and scrub brush with a beautiful sandy beach. 

After we anchored, Rick, Jeff and Peggy and I got into the dinghy and zipped to shore. Konrad and Kim stayed behind to relax.

We jumped out of the dinghy and pulled it way up on shore as far as we could drag it. Then we went walking to check things out….do a little exploring. I found a ton of beautiful shells and gathered as many as my hands and pockets could hold. Jeff and Peggy walked over to a fishing Panga that was parked just at the edge of the water and the sand and bought some shrimp from one of the fisherman. 

Rick and Jeff helping the Fisherman get their boat off the sand

As we walked further along, we noticed some little shanty looking structures and small tents tucked up in the scrub brush. They looked really run down and there were no occupants in view. Further ahead we saw some fishing Panga’s parked on the other side of that. So we came up with the conclusion that these little shacks were for the fisherman. They probably stayed there at night during the week or whenever they fished because the island so remote and then had a home somewhere else in a nearby town. Just a guess. 

 

Fisherman's dwelling

We walked back, got in dinghy and headed back to our boat. While zipping along, we noticed a new sailboat coming in to anchor. It was some people we met in Turtle Bay at a little restaurant. Their names were Rich, Katia and Thorston. Yes…THORston. Apparently the boy likes super heroes. Thor is one of them.  Thorston is about 4-5 years old and cute, bright and friendly as can be.  So, we motored over to their boat to say hello and to offer them half of the fish I caught earlier today.  They were delighted and quickly accepted. They came by later in their dinghy to retrieve the fish. We visited for a while and they were telling of us how their journey that day was a challenging one and that the night before, in the middle of the night, they caught someone on their boat trying to steal their outboard motor. They blasted their air horn and flashed a light on the thief, and he ran off.

Katia, Rich & Thorston from Bodega Bay

After they left, we Barbequed the other half of the Dorado.  It was totally delicious! Kim prepared some root vegetables…sweet potatoes, beets and russet potatoes, and I steamed some broccoli. It was another meal fit for a king! Dorado is my new favorite eating fish.  I did have a hard time eating it at times because I would flash on how I had to hit it on the head and saw it being cut open and all the blood that came out of the fish.  Rick said to me earlier while I was petting the fish and apologizing to it that I better not give the fish a name or I’d have a hard time eating it. He was right. I didn’t give it a name, but I bonded with the fish just after I caught it.

That night was an early one. Jeff had a horrible toothache which probably needs a root canal procedure soon, and went to bed early. The rest of us went to bed right after dinner.

During the night the wind howled! It was so windy! The wind speed was 20 knots or more. The boat was rocking all night. But fortunately it was rocking forward and backward instead of side to side. 

Jeff was up early and started the engine before any one was awake. Rick quickly got dressed to help Jeff pull up the anchor and we took off.  It was a little cloudier and cooler than the past few mornings but really beautiful out. The sun was just rising over a nearby island. 

Sailing along with our jib and mainsail with Santa Margarita to our port, a big fishing boat with both nets out came past us. It was a really nice old looking boat….lots of character. Konrad snapped a photo of it and so did I. Later on Konrad got his camera and zoomed in on the picture near the stern of the fishing boat to see what the name was on it. As he zoomed in he noticed that there were two men, sitting on the stern of the boat with their naked bums hanging over the back taking a dump! What?! Yes…taking a dump. We were all in hysterics!! How funny was that. And..disgusting! It was funny to see one guy doing this, let alone two guys doing this at the same time!!

Morning Constitution…a closer look

Around 1:00 p.m. we had a whale sighting! I heard this woosh sound and jumped up wondering what that was. And lo and behold it was a huge whale! It was about 30’ from the stern of our boat. We saw it’s big tale going down into the water, then we saw it come up, breach and go back down twice. And that was it. I was so bummed. I wanted to see more of him and a closer view. I really wanted a picture too. But I was too late!

Tonight is our last night on Amante. We should be in Cabo by 11 a.m. tomorrow morning.  I’m excited to finally get there on one hand but sad to get off of the boat…the ocean and all the fun that we’ve been experiencing.

Me in my favorite spot

Asuncion to Bahia Magdalena

Bahia Asuncion

As we made it to shore in the dinghy, we noticed a fishing boat with several fisherman unloading fish from their boat and shoveling them into several huge containers that were in the bed of a truck.  They looked to be sardines. Tons of them!

It was quite a production because there were seagulls and pelicans swarming all around the boat and even sitting on the boat. They were trying to gulp down as many fish as they could before the fisherman could shoo them away.  

Waiting to swoop in on the catch of the day

We stood and watched for a while then continued on our way into town. We were in search of an Internet Café so Jeff could use the Internet and me as well.  Came to find out the Internet service was so slow we would have been there for hours so we decided we could wait for a few days until we got to a bigger town.  So we walked further to the Pemex to find out about getting fuel for the boat, but we did not have any jerry cans and they didn’t provide any either. So…no luck there.  Maybe we would have our luck at finding a market for groceries while here. But there was nothing really too appealing in the stores. All of the food packaging looked old and dusty; like it had been on the shelves for years.   

Streets of Asuncion

Tired of walking in the heat and wandering aimlessly around town, we headed back to the dinghy.  Konrad and Kim decided to swim back to the boat. Kim wasn’t too thrilled because she had just read on a sign in town that sharks are everywhere in Baja.

Abandoned Boots

Around 4pm we barbequed the Skip Jack fish that Konrad caught the day before, which was really delicious. We soon pulled up the anchor and headed south towards our next destination. As we were pulling out, we noticed that Adesso (the boat belonging to our friends from Canada) was coming in the bay to anchor. We made contact with them by radio. It was nice to see them and hear their voices.

As we were sailing along, Jeff gave Kim a little sailing tutorial and showed her how to work the Chart plotter and then put her in charge of sailing for a while. He even decided that she and Konrad were ready to do the night watches alone. So that evening, Konrad and Kim did the 6-10p.m. shift, Rick and I did the 10-2a.m shift and Jeff and Peggy did the last shift from 2-6 a.m. It worked out pretty well. Four hours on is much better than the three hours on because no two people have to do a double shift this way. That’s what we had been doing all the way down. The couple that had to do the double had it the worst.  Basically no good sleep whatsoever.

Last night during our night watch, I finally saw the luminescence in the water that I’ve heard so much about from other sailors or have read in sailing books. It was pretty amazing!  The white bubbly waves, coming off of the boat, as we were moving through the water, were filled with hundreds of these bright little fluorescent lights. It looked as if we were sailing on a path of diamonds that were guiding us on our way.  There we were alone in the dark, no sight of land and only stars in the sky and the luminescence in the water. It was definitely a magical moment.  Another item to check off of my bucket list.

Today, November 20^th, early in the morning, just as Jeff and Peggy were finishing up their shift, there was some sort of problem in the engine compartment. It seems the oil cap had come off of the motor blew oil  all over the engine and galley floor. So they were busy cleaning that up and adding more oil to the motor. Glad that did not happen on our shift!

Later this morning, Jeff caught a fish…a Dorado! This is the fish that he mentioned a little earlier that he’d like to catch. He didn’t really care to catch any other fish. He just wanted to catch a Dorado! Unfortunately just as Jeff was pulling the fish up to the boat, it violently shook its head and the hook came out of it’s mouth. So, there it went swimming away.  Bummer! But in the afternoon, Jeff’s rod was buzzing again and he had another fish on…another Dorado! This time he successfully brought it onto the boat and now we are all set for dinner tonight!

Jeff and his Dorado

A few hours later while I was typing on the computer down below, I heard everyone from the cockpit yell my name!! “Maryalice!!!!!” They told me there was a fish on the line (it was my turn to reel in a fish). Oh Boy! I threw the computer to the side of me and jumped up and ran out to the cockpit, and over to the stern where Kim was untying the pole for me (the pole was bungeed to the stanchion). Well, I carefully grabbed the pole and started to pull it up and reel it as I slowly lowered it down. It felt like I had caught a whale. It was so incredibly heavy!! I tried and tried to pull and reel but I wasn’t making much headway. I had to ask for help. Rick came to my rescue and grabbed the rod from me and he too could hardly pull it himself. We all thought I’d snagged something really big. Konrad said I caught a shark! Someone else said I had several fish on the line. Peggy said she thought she saw a Marlin. Each story grew bigger and bigger and my excitement was hard to contain.  Finally Rick got the fish to the side of the boat with Jeff’s help. It was a pretty big fish! We are not sure what kind it was but we let it go since we had just caught a fish earlier.  It looked like a combination of the last four fish we have caught since we left Ensenada. 

I am back typing on the computer now in the little bunk in our cabin and Rick is taking a little rest next to me. We have to rest up for tonight’s night watch. 

We are headed to Bahia Magdalena and should be there by early morning tomorrow, the 21^st. We plan to stay one full day and night there and depart on the 22^nd. 

  

Leaving Bahia Tortuga

Leaving Bahia Tortuga

Tuesday, November 18^th we pulled up the anchor early in morning using the Windlass with no problems. It was back in working order. Then we headed out onto our next anchorage.

The day was gorgeous! We mostly motor sailed. But the wind was light…barely there and the sun shining. There were just a few feathery clouds here and there. The water was calm. It was a nice switch to what we had the past few days.

Around Bahia San Roque, half way between where we departed and where we were headed, Rick caught a fish! We were all so excited because this was going to be his first!  As he pulled the fish closer and closer we could see that it was a good size! It was a Yellow Tail Tuna!! It was a 30 inch one at that! Enough to feed us all dinner for sure! Rick and Konrad worked together to gaf the fish get him over the rail and remove the hook. Rick got the honors of bashing the fish’s head to kill him. Unfortunately it wasn’t so easy and Rick ended up bashing his eye completely out. YUK! Konrad jumped right in and cut the fish open and removed it’s insides. During this process, Konrad found a little sea horse inside the fish’s stomach. Looked like the fish swallowed him whole. 

After washing the bloody mess off of the deck and as we all sat back down, we noticed a pod/pods of dolphin swimming around the boat almost surrounding us.  There were tons of them. You could see them swimming around as far as you could see in every direction. They were also sort of playing around at the bow of the boat. Four of us were hanging over the bow pulpit to get a closer look. I could never really get a picture of them out of the water. They were too quick. But I managed to capture a few of them near the surface of the water.  As we were enjoying watching the dolphin we heard Konrad’s reel zing! He had a fish on as well! We all ran over to the stern to watch him reel his fish in. Cameras ready. He ended up catching a Black Skip Jack! 

Found this inside the fish

 We had to put the poles away after that because there would be too much fish for us to possibly eat within the next two days!

We sailed on and arrived in Bahia Asunción around 5 p.m. where we were to anchor for the night. As soon as we pulled in the little bay and dropped the anchor, Rick jumped into the water. He had been waiting for this moment for quite some time. Jumping into the Mexican warm water. The temperature was 75 degrees. It could have been a little warmer for my liking, especially so close to dark, but it was still pretty nice! We all ended up putting on swimsuits and jumping in too. So fun! After getting out of the water, we all took turns rinsing off with warm water from the hose at the stern. We even lathered up with Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap (safe to go into the ocean).  It felt good to be all fresh and clean.

After feeling refreshed and putting on clean clothes, we started preparing dinner. Rick filleted the fish; Kim prepared a marinade and sticky rice to make sushi rolls & Peggy heated up the BBQ. The dinner turned out to be perfection! We had sashimi, sushi rolls and barbequed tuna. There was so much food; I did not think we would be able to eat it all. But low and behold, we did! There was a little fish left over that we did not prepare so Kim set it aside for us to have Ceviche in the morning.

We ate out in the cockpit huddled around a little pull down table under a starlit, moonlit sky…hearing the waves crash on shore. Things could not have been better.

Rick filleting the fish

Kim putting sticky rice on seaweed, preparing for sushi rolls

Peggy barbecuing the fish

Soon after dinner and cleaning up, we all sat around and listened to music and talked. It was so fun. It’s feeling more and more like we are really in Mexico, living out a dream that Rick and I have had since we’ve been together. We are just more and more excited to do this on our own more than ever!

 

Enjoying a nice meal out in the cockpit under the stars

This morning, November 19^th, Rick and I were the first to wake up and feeling a little groggy from a big meal the night before, so we thought a refreshing way to wake up would be to take a swim. So we did just that! It was awesome! It was a little cool but felt great!  We were out swimming just after the sun had come up and was dancing on the water.   The rest of the group slowly woke up and also took a dip.

Shortly after drying off, Kim finished preparing the Ceviche. She put the mixture onto crispy tortilla shells and topped it off with a little Sriracha Sauce. So good!

We’re all just hanging out now and planning to go to shore in a bit. They supposedly have an Internet café. So, I hope to be able to add to the blog.

We leave this evening for a place 50 miles from here, which should take about 10 hours. 

You’ll be hearing from us soon.