Cabo San Lucas to Bahia Los Frailes (Days 19-28) Total Miles Traveled to Date - 1,200

I never thought that things like making phone calls, using the Internet and using your credit card would become opportunities for growth, but they can be when you are in a foreign country. Let’s see, we probably spent two hours learning how to use our MCI prepaid phone card successfully only to determine that what would be 120 minutes of value in the US becomes a mere 9 minutes because we were using a public phone in a foreign country. We’ll be saving our remaining cards for the return trip to California next summer! At least then we’ll get full value. We haven’t tried to use our credit card to make calls yet, so stayed tuned for that update! If our frustration level gets unbearable we can always use the satellite phone we bought for emergencies. Using the computers in Mexico takes some getting used to also. For starters, their keyboards are laid out differently than ours, so that slows you down. Then, when you launch their Internet explorer everything is in Spanish. So, we’ve started toting our Spanish/English dictionary with us. I think we are on the downward slope of the learning curve on this one. However, by the time we figured out how to get photos posted to our blog I was ready for a drink and I rarely imbibe. It was two hours of frustration, but we were triumphant. We sincerely hope that you enjoy the fruit of our labor! The frustration we did not expect was to have our credit card denied when trying to pay for fuel. I intentionally contacted each credit card company and had them make a notation that there would be charges originating in Mexico and Central America during our time away. Obviously, that effort on my part was a big waste of time!! The explanation Barry got from the credit card company was that the large sum of money at a gas station looked suspicious. Well duh, our boat holds 140 gallons of diesel and it costs roughly $2.20/gallon! Barry proceeded to inform them to expect similar charges on a regular basis. Hopefully, we won’t have a repeat of that episode!

Another character-building experience that is unique to cruisers is what is affectionately called “the paperwork cha-cha”. This is the process you must go through to legally clear in and out of each port in Mexico. It involves numerous back and forth steps, thus the name. In Mexico, every time you come to a port of entry you must clear in with the port captain, then immigration and then customs. Recently in Cabo they added a forth step which is to visit the Port Authority. You are expected to have copies of all the necessary paperwork they require. Each step must be done in a certain sequence. There are fees associated with some, if not all, of the steps depending on where you are. When you go from one place to the next, you may find the next office closed for the day or for siesta. Then you must continue the process when it opens later or the following day. This is not for the faint-hearted! Many ports have agents for hire who will do the whole process for you, for a fee, which would eliminate a lot of frustration if you are not a patient and flexible natured gringo. In Cabo, it would be $50 service charge to clear us in and another $50 service charge to clear us out, plus the above mentioned fee’s. We decided to save the $100 and add some more adventure to our travels (actually, Barry did the cha-cha while I did the laundry). He says he probably walked about ten miles in the process and I believe him. This is just one of many examples of why you can’t be in a hurry when traveling in Mexico. Also, you cannot count on businesses being opened during their posted hours and/or days. Often an establishment will just close up and not post a sign or just show up one to two hours after their posted hours. Indeed, life is much slower here and we think that’s a good thing! I bet they have fewer people experiencing stress related ailments. We Americanos could learn a thing or two from our laid-back neighbors to the south.

Enough about the mundane trappings of the cruisers life-style. Let me tell you about Cabo. It is quite an anomaly; million dollar yachts, cruise ships, cliff-side villas, Ruth’s Chris restaurant and upscale stores along with local street peddlers, timeshare hockers, and simple family run businesses trying to make ends meet. The two seem to co-exist quite well. Actually, the Americans who visit here probably keep the local economy alive. Of everything here, what stands out the most are the abundance of sports fishing boats. The marina is probably ninety percent fishing vessels. There are a few private sailboats, quite a few charter boats, a good number of private luxury yachts, and LOTS of fishing boats. This is a fisherman’s haven. This is definitely a playground for wealthy Americans and serious sports fishermen. During our one-week stay in the Cabo marina we met Chris and Larry who had their fishing boat in the next slip. They caught a 100 pound marlin their first day out. They invited us to accompany them to the dock where you drop off your catch for weighing, cleaning and filleting (oh yeah, and where you have your picture taken with your prize!). Boy, it was fascinating to watch these guys clean and fillet this big fish in just minutes. The catch yielded about forty-five to fifty pounds of beautiful steaks. They were nice enough to give us some, which we grilled for dinner that night. It was the first time either of us had tasted marlin; it was delicioso!

The shoreline in Cabo is beautiful, but very cluttered with bars, restaurants, time-shares, hotels and LOTS of people. The color of the water transitions from deep blue to turquoise to aqua as it becomes shallower. The weather was warm every day but two when we never saw the sun. The air was cool at night. Nights in the marina were VERY loud from the nearby bar music. So, we spent our last two nights tied to a mooring ball right off the beach. There, it was noisy and choppy during the day and quiet at night. All day there is heavy traffic from jet skiis, water taxis, kayaks, a what we call “go fast” boats all along the beach front. This is where people party during the day. I guess they go to the marina at night! There are bars and hotels along this mile or so of beach.

My favorite part of our Cabo visit was our kayak ride from Blew Moon out to the point where the famous Cabo arch and Lovers Beach is. It was breathtaking scenery; lots of crystal-clear water, scattered rocks, fish, birds and sea lions. We beached the kayak and walked over to the Pacific Ocean side of this rocky point. It was a great trip.

My least favorite part was being away at Christmas. I was homesick for family! It just didn’t seem like Christmas. It didn’t help that there were not many signs of Christmas except for a few street lights and Christmas trees in most restaurants and stores. Consequently, I may be negotiating a different schedule for next Christmas! We ended up going to see a movie on Christmas evening. That seemed like such an “un-Chrismtas” thing to do, but at least the movie was enjoyable. The theater is in a beautiful, new, modern shopping center beside the marina. It was just like our theaters at home with the stadium-style seating. The only noticeable differences were the presence of Spanish subtitles (all American-made movies are in English) and a full bar (yes alcohol) in the lobby along with the typical refreshment stand. We marveled at how inexpensive our night at the movies was. Two tickets, one large popcorn and one large soda only cost $11! It had been awhile since we’d seen a movie so we went a second night during our time in Cabo. We actually found some other good bargains here, like a buffet Mexican restaurant that had delicious food, great variety and all for $7/person (all you can eat). We’ve had lots of good food while in Cabo; some in tiny taco shops, one in an exceptional Mexican seafood restaurant and one in Houllihan’s which is an American chain.

On New Year’s Eve the beach was very lively with their celebrations culminating with a fireworks display. We actually stayed on board and went to bed early. We left Cabo early New Year’s Day heading around the tip of Baja up about forty-five miles to Bahia Los Frailes in the Sea of Cortez. The trip to Los Frailes took us about eight hours motoring all the way because of no wind. This is the best place to “jump across” the sea to Mazatlan which is one-hundred sixty-five miles to the east on the Mexican mainland.

Barry saw two very exciting things while at the helm (I always seem to be down below when these things appear!). First, he saw a whale jump completely out of the water. It was quite spectacular, he said. Then, a marlin was jumping out of the water repeatedly, performing with gusto. Barry was so excited. Later, we both saw three whales behind us in the distance. I sure hope we can capture a whale with our camera sometime. That would be awesome!

Los Frailes Bay was beautiful and peaceful. This was a very welcome change from all the noise in Cabo! There is a pretty stretch of beach lined with fishing pangas. There is a hotel/restaurant at one end and big rocks crawling with crabs on the other. We used our inflatable two-person kayak again to go ashore and explore. We saw several areas of beach marked with stakes. We were told that large sea turtles come ashore at night and lay their eggs. The locals carefully mark the site of the nest so people don’t walk over it and they lay wire across it to keep coyotes from the eggs. Several cruisers we met said they saw sea turtles while under way to Los Frailes. Unfortunately, that’s a sight we missed! One guy called them speed pumps of the ocean because boats run over them often. Not a nice thought. The other noteworthy thing about this bay is that it is a breeding area for manta rays.

We loved our two days in Los Frailes. We met another nice cruising couple along the beach and ended up having lunch with them. At night you could hear the surf gently washing the shore. It was very tranquil. On one of our two nights there Barry was shining a flashlight over the bow to check our anchor chain and discovered that the surface of the water was teeming with needle fish. He called me out and we spend some time just marveling at how many fish we saw. No, we didn’t see any turtles but the morning we left we did see a group of young rays frolicking on the surface a short distance away.

Our trip across the Sea of Cortez from Los Frailes on the southeastern coast of Baja to Mazatlan on the mainland was incredible. We’ve heard horror stories about boats getting pretty beat up on this crossing due to unstable weather. We were blessed with such tranquil seas that during the day the surface reflected the clouds and at night it reflected the stars. We experienced the most awesome sunset to date. The sky, clouds and water changed from orange and red to pink and purple. Words cannot describe how magical it was! As if that were not enough, during my night watch I saw the moon rise above the horizon in a blaze of yellow and orange. There were things jumping out of the water all over the place. You couldn’t really see anything but their sillouette and the water running over their bodies. Some were dolphins, but others I think may have been marlin. Once there was something I couldn’t identify shooting across the surface like a bullet out from the bow of our boat. God was so gracious to us with this crossing because our auto-pilot quite working during this crossing. We made it across in-between two patches of rough weather originating from storms to the northwest. We are grateful to Him for the calm weather and for all the incredible things we saw!

As I sit here writing I’m reminded of just how much I already miss my friends and family. I am also grateful for the technology of the Internet that keeps us connected. I can’t tell you how exciting it is for us to get your emails and hear how you are doing or to just know that you are thinking of us. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I don’t think I could do this without at least having email available to me. It is so nourishing to my soul when I hear from someone in my life. It is also very encouraging and comforting to know that many of our beloved friends (and yes, you too Mom) are praying for our safekeeping. God has been faithful in answering your prayers because I have had great peace while on the seas and at times really sense His presence. I know He is always with me, but there are just those times when His closeness is more evident. I know I could not do this without God in my life. I’m thankful that God has helped me conquer my fears so that I can live out this dream with the one He gave me to share life with. It’s great to watch Barry experience all the things he’s been reading about and talking about for so many years. He’s living his dream. Sadly, too many people never actually do. I’m so happy that God has enabled Barry to do this and given me the privilege of being a major part of it! So, if you dream of doing something I encourage you to make the pursuit of that dream a priority in your life. You won’t regret it!

Also, if you get on the blog and don’t see our journaling but only see pictures, just click on the current month where it says Archives. The blog displays our posts in chronological order with the most recent on the front page of the blog. Once it runs out of room on the front page it archives our posts by month. So, to view previous posts just click on the archive area. Each photo is considered a separate post and each journal entry is a separate post also. Also, to email us directly from our blog, go to the top right part of the front page where my profile is and click on it. On the top left part of my profile click on the email area. This automatically launches an email to our yahoo address. Please email us direct with questions if you have any problems manuevering within our blog. It takes some getting used to!


The next time you hear from us we’ll be updating you on our Mazatlan experience. Till then . . .