La Paz to Cabo San Lucas

Nighttime anchored at Los Muertos

On December 11, we left our slip at Marina La Paz, stopped at the fuel dock then headed towards Puerto Ballandra where we planned to stay for one night. Once we arrived in the beautiful Bay of Ballandra, there were no good spots left for anchoring so we decided to keep moving and to head to Playa La Bonanza since it was only a few miles away. Ballandra was quite beautiful and looked like a protected anchorage. Maybe next season we can spend some time there.

Puerto Ballandra

We got to Bonanza and were one out of two other boats in the bay.  As soon as we anchored, we put on our fins and snorkels and took Harley to shore. We swam all the way in which was a longer swim than we thought. We spent a little time on the beach looking for shells again. Harley even helped except she would pick up the shells and burry them.

As soon as the wind picked up we thought we better make our way back to the boat. That swim was a little tougher since we were fighting the wind, waves and current. But we made it! Good work out! Harley slept like a baby the rest of the night.

We had a sound sleep and woke early the next morning at 5:30a.m to prepare for an all day sail to Ensenada de los Muertos. We pulled up the anchor while the moon was still out and sailed out of the Bay and through the Cerralvo Channel to Los Muertos. The winds were so calm and behind us that we motor sailed most of the way. It was a beautiful sunny sparkly day on the Sea.

The Captain is happy!

We got into Los Muertos around 2:30 p.m.  

Los Muertos

Another beautiful bay with a few other boats anchored out. On this particular day we did not take Harley to shore or go for a swim. We were a little tired. Poor Harley. She had to use her imitation park on the deck. She was not happy about it and so much so that she refused to use her makeshift park whatsoever and held her bladder through the night, the morning and up until we arrived at our next anchorage at 3 in the afternoon the next day, December 13th.

Harley thinking, I'll show you!

On our sail to Bahia Los Frailes, we had the perfect winds for putting up our Asymmetrical Sail. The winds were light and behind us. It’s quite a production getting that sail up but once it is up and it’s filled with air, it’s a beautiful thing! The motor is off, and all you hear is the boat being pulled through the water by the sail. Occasionally you hear a flap in the sail due to the swells sort of rearranging the boat. But once we are back on track it’s a nice way to sail.  After a few hours, the swells grew a lot bigger and on our quarter so it wasn’t as comfy of a ride as it had been.

As we got closer to our destination, the winds piped up to 24knots and it was a little too much for our Asymmetrical. So in sloppy seas and big winds, we decided to take the sail down.  It was a juggling match while trying to keep your balance and getting the sail down as the boat rocked from side to side almost dipping the rails into the water at times.

I was anxious at this point to get into the bay where the winds and swells would be a bit calmer.

Well, as we got into the bay, the swells calmed down, but the winds were still a little high at 18knots. We anchored as close to the beach that we could without being too close.  It’s not so fun anchoring in those kinds of winds when other boats are around. We anchored safely between two Catamarans. It looked as if one of the Catamaran owner’s was not happy with where we anchored initially because she came up on deck watching us with her hand on her hip.

After we anchored, we immediately got ready for a swim to the beach so poor Harley could relieve herself. We wore fins and snorkels again. During our swim, we saw schools of Baja Angelfish  (not sure if that is the correct name), swimming below us and beside us.  So colorful and delicate.

Once on the beach we took a little walk along the shore passing by all of the fishermen lined up along the beach in their Panga’s preparing for a day of fishing.

The following morning, December 14^th, we left the anchorage at 6:50a.m. You could see the moon about to set behind the mountains as the sun was rising in front of us heading out to sea. Beautiful morning! 

Moon going down

Sun coming up as we were leaving the anchorage

The swells were big not too long after we left and coming from all different directions.  The winds were in the 10’s and behind us of course, so we thought we would try the Asymmetrical again. Well, it went up with a lot of hassle and only stayed up a short time. The winds got higher and the water was just too squirrely.  But maybe an hour later, Rick wanted to give it another try which we did, but again, it just wasn’t working smoothly so down it came for good for the day! In the process of getting it down I had a slight mishap at the winch where the Assymetrical sheet got loose and spun out of my hands at a fast rate, taking some skin from my finger along with it while hurling me up against the combing of the cockpit, knocking the wind out of me. There is a lot of force in that sail! After a good blood curdling scream and a tear or two, I was feeling a little dumb for getting myself in that predicament.  I don’t know what I was thinking. Apparently I wasn’t. Oh well…live and learn. Sometimes I just learn the hard way.  Now I yell, “OWE” when I sneeze (ribs are sore) and have a Band-Aid on my finger. 

After putting the sail down, we motored the rest of the day.

We planned to enter the Marina at San Jose del Cabo and called the Marina an hour out, but they did not have a slip available with water or electricity. And we thought why bother staying there at a dock, paying a slip fee without the benefits? So, we pushed on to Cabo…, which would be getting us there a few days earlier that we wanted to.  On our way, we kept our eyes open for any small coves to anchor for the night, but had no luck.

Doing our daily work out with "Rubber Bands" on deck

One very cool thing that happened on our 17-mile trip from San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas was that we spotted some whales!! The first sighting, I was not able to get my camera out in time. But motoring further and closer to Cabo, we saw more! I had my camera ready at that point and captured some decent pictures of whale tails.  I would have liked to have seen more of the whales other than the tails, but at least I got something. It was so exciting with or without a picture! But it’s nice to have the proof.

Whale sightings near Punta Cabeza de Ballena

The Sea was pretty choppy and messy the rest of the way to Cabo. Not sure if it was from all of the other boats or what. Getting into the bay at Cabo is a little chaotic! There are Jet skiers and Panga’s dashing around in a hurry, Party boats and Pirate ships beginning their sunset booze cruises causing big wakes. We could barely see in front of us from all of the traffic in the bay.  We ended up anchoring amongst a group of other sailboats and a couple of large power boats right in front of the Pueblo Bonito Rose resort, about 200 yards off the beach.  The boat was rocking and rolling violently at times from all of the commotion. But at least the anchor was set and we could go down inside the boat and relax…sort of. 

Anchored in front of Pueblo Bonito Rose

It was another long day and again we were too tired to go to shore for Harley. We probably would have gotten run over if we had swum to shore anyway. But Harley made me feel better by using her little “park” on the boat and going potty.  I reassured her that we would be taking her to the beach in the morning.

That night was a lively one. All of the restaurants on the beach turned into nightclubs. You could hear the thumping of loud music, DJ’s shouting over their mic’s and people whooping it up. Fortunately this only lasted until 1 in the morning.  Our experience so far has been that the nightlife lasts until 4am the next day. So I was pleased that things died down when they did.

Princess Cruise-lines creeping into the Bay at Cabo

December 15^th, we woke up just after the sun came up and a cruise ship silently pulled in. The morning was quiet and peaceful. There was no one on the beach or in the water and the ocean was smooth and untouched. 

I made a phone call to my daughter and a text to my daughter-in-law to sort out the last minute details of their arrival to Cabo on the 18th.  We are so looking forward to seeing everyone!

Soon after the call to Lauren, we put the dinghy in the water and motored to shore. We pulled the dinghy up onto the dry sand (thank God for dinghy wheels), let Harley do her business and took a little walk. We planted ourselves down in the sand past all of the restaurants and resorts and played fetch with Harley for a while.  After she drank half of the ocean and rolled in the sand, we brushed off the sand from our shorts and walked over to the Office for a Limonada.

It feels good to be here in Cabo despite all of the activity.  The weather is perfect. It’s in the low 80’s during the day and in the low 60’s at night. And the water is 81 degrees. We are alive and well and are having some great adventures each day. Nothing to complain about! Always feeling blessed and grateful.

Late afternoon in Cabo

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

A sparkly night anchored in Cabo