Stan & Heather's "Museum Quality Flag Restoration"

With the recession that the US politicians won't admit in the US and our lack of signing a contract with a Corporate Sponser, we have to go back to work.
Yipee.
Hmmmmm... what to do?
I think I am too old to be the chick on the Travel Channel saying, "Come along with me today as we explore Machu Piccu! And tomorrow, we're off to the Great Wall of China!"
So I thought I would explore a few other options before I head back into the exciting world of Commercial Insurance!
Can't you just hear the guy on daytime TV, saying, "You too can learn to work in the exciting and valuable field of Commercial Insurance.
Just send us $99.95 for your training course.
Visa, Mastercard, Diner's Club, American Express, Cashier's Checks and Money Orders accepted".

Hmmmmm... what to do?
There has to be a market in Mexico restoring the cheap flags we all are required to display, considering our's had only lasted since January...
I had done a "Museum Quality Restoration" on it before the boys arrived.
Notice the sail tape with the expert coloring of red Sharpie that pretty much makes up the majority of the red section.Well, my restoration portion was hanging in there (get it?) just fine.
The original portion of the flag, however was not.
So I joined forces with Stan who is quite capable with a sewing needle and formed our new business.
We both attacked the sad excuse for a flag with sail tape, a red Sharpie marker and orange UV protection thread.Looks brand new doesn't it?

Remember, we only had 4 or 5 more days to be in the Country...

And 4 or 5 days later?
The only thing holding it together was our sail tape and orange UV protection thread...

"Pepina Rae", "Pepina Rae" Oops, I Mean "Grace" This is "Meerkat"

Everyone ready for another "Jim and Heather Small World Story"?
I had briefly talked to a couple of guys in Ensenada at the marina, then recognized them here in San Diego.
They were at the Customs Dock just before us and then we were docked right behind them for a couple of days.
So I chatted with the owner, Donn who said he did a straight-shot from Puerto Vallarta to Ensenada.
Ick.
I asked him how long he had the boat and why he did a straight-shot blah, blah, blah.
Then something clicked and I got goosebumps.
Then I asked him if the boat used to be named "Pepina Rae" and he said yes!
Well, our really, really good friends Ray and Lucy used to have "Pepina Rae" parked 3' away from our prior boat, "Thistle" back in the old days in Ventura.
Back in 1993.
1994.
1995.
Then we cruised Mexico with them from 1997 to 2000.
So after I figured this out, I yelled for Jim!
We were both pretty amazed to have our boat parked once again with "Pepina Rae".
Sorry, Donn, she will always be "Pepina Rae" to us...So Donn let me go inside and visit her.
Have a little chat with her.
Pat her.
He let us help him turn the boat around when he was getting to leave.
And asked that I let him know when I put this on my blog...

Back in the USA!

Well I have to tell you, it was pretty emotional to check in the last time from Mexico on the Amigo Net and to cross that invisible line in the sea.And a lot of "What are we doing? We are going to freeze? We can't afford to live in the US? AAAGGHHHH! Turn the boat around!" kind of thoughts.
And then the "Uh, we have no money, need to go back to work" kind of thoughts took over and won...

So here we are at the cheap seats slips in San Diego.
But how fun was it to have Wayne of "Capricorn Cat" standing on the dock to grab our lines and to have a dock party already in the planning stages!

But first, the US Customs check in.
"Vela" got searched pretty good and had to throw pretty much all of his vegetables and fruit away, including his potatoes and they made him throw away his frozen chicken!


"Capricorn Cat" got searched in detail, including under Eric's bunk gee, Eric, does it have anything to do with your hair, beard and kilt? and had to throw away most of their vegetables and fruit and the customs guy wouldn't let Carol eat the last grapefruit.

"Meerkat", possibly because we had a couple of geezers on board, barely got searched, they let the eaters Tim and Stan eat the last grapefruit and only took our lone remaining unripe avocado.
They were even going to let us keep our limes, but Jim tossed them.
And we got to keep our potatoes.
And we got to keep our frozen chicken.
And they never asked how many 12 packs of Tecate we had left...
And

A lovely dock party was thrown together, with help from Tom and Helen of "Catatude" (their boat is in La Paz).
Richard and Dona of "Latitude 38 Magazine" joined us, along with "Worldwind" who had come up a few days prior to our clan.
We were missing "Bristol Blue" and "Allegria", as they were still in Ensenada...
But loads of fun was had, loads of snacks and drinks were consumed and loads of stories told.

I amazingly enough had saved the wonderful bottle of chardonnay that Pam sent down with the guys for this celebration.We also took loads of pictures...

The "clan" ~ Tim, Stan, Me, Jim of "Meerkat", with Eric the Great reclining in his kilt, Wayne & Carol of "Capricorn Cat" and standing Aaron, Heidi and Chris of "Vela".And I miss my GF Carol already...And the next day?
A sad goodbye to the world's most awesome, wonderful, incredible crew!
Laundry.
Von's for complete culture and sticker price shock with Chris.
And we stopped for an Arby's sandwich, dut don't tell anyone!
Visit from my cousin Julianne.
Visit from Jim and Lucy of "Passage II".
Sleep.

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation Bash...

We looked at the arch at Cabo San Pucas Lucas as we motorsailed past.

Stan ate weird food combinations...Chili peanuts and peanut butter on crappy Bimbo bread yum, yum!

Jim and the eaters Tim and Stan posed like elves...Remember, this is a long trip and boredom does come easily!

We read books, did sudoku and I "wore pajamas in the daytime".We figured out why we weren't going as fast as we wanted to.Jim had 5 billion pounds a lot of fishing gear on board.

We motorsailed alongside of "Capricorn Cat".The guys posed like dorks on the pier at Turtle Bay.We had an early dinner and a few beers at Cafe Morocco in Turtle Bay with some of our "clan".Tim, Jim, Me, Kristen & Ned of "Bristol Blue" and Alicia and Tom of "Allegria".
Stan-the-man was taking the picture...

We watched dolphins leap.





We took naps and lost Jim under a bunch of pillows.We dodged whales.The guys topped off fuel in the cold wind at dusk.We ate fruit.We watched pretty birds.We motorsailed a long, long way.And are SO very happy it went so well!
The boat and crew were both awesome.
The "bash" is all listening to weather, picking your windows and timing it right!

Party in the Huanacaxtle Tree ! ! !

Yahoo ~ we made it to Ensenada today just at dark!
Tried to get into the small anchorage at Escondido, but it was full of aqua-culture pens and work boats...
So we had to keep going.
But now we are SO happy!
Parked next to "Vela" and "Capricorn Cat" is a couple docks away, so at least we will be able to say "adios" to "Cap Cat" in person, as they are continuing on tomorrow at o-dark-thirty.
We will be sleeping at o-dark-thirty.
Then we will wash the boat, fuel, wash clothes and clean up this incredibly messy boat!
YAHOO!
The official "BASH" is O V E R !

Live in The Moment

I try to keep the wise words of my friend, Tanya Commerford accessible to the little man who lives in my brain.
You know, the little man who frantically opens and closes the multiple file cabinets, briskly searching through the millions of manila files stored in my brain for that oh so important fact or memory, saying, "No, that's not it", "Wait, could it be?" or "Here it is, I remember!", as I try to think of the words to that one particular song, who wrote the song, or what the name of that couple is that we met back in 1998.
I have asked the little man to post Tanya's wise words, "LIVE IN THE MOMENT" on the wall in front of his desk, just behind my eyes.
It worked well in The Sea of Cortez.
I enjoyed the light, warm breeze on my face as we motored from one anchorage to the next.
I enjoyed the feel of the salty, warm 82 degree water on my body as I swam at dusk.
I listened in awe to the sound the pelicans' wings make as they fly oh so close to the boat.
But here as I do the Baja Bash motorsail North with a Southerly component where the hell is that Southerly anyway?, it's not working.
I don't enjoy the sound of the wave "bombs" as they hit the underside of Meerkat's bridgedeck.
I don't enjoy watching waves come up over the bows and hit the cabintop.
I don't live for the cold air coming through the line areas on the enclosure.
I don't enjoy the half-assed attempt at cutting up chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches for the eaters crew as I am being slammed into the stove and tossed about in my galley.
And I know I am not enjoying the sleep deprivation this trip brings us all.
So when I am curled up in the cockpit watching the seas and white caps march by, I don't live in the moment.
Sorry Tanya.
Not this week.
I daydream.
I don't think about right now, I think about later.
I think about what I am going to cook for the next dinner at anchor.
I think about Ensenada.
I think about our last check in on The Amigo Net on single side band radio, saying "Meerkat has completed the bash!"
And think about the net controller's response of "good on ya!" when we are done.
Think about the Girl Scout Badge I am earning by doing this trip.
Think about San Diego and Catalina.
And the other morning?
While curled up in my bunk?
Way weird tangent daydream.
Must have been that bag of M&M's I ate before bed.
I started thinking of that Greek mythology guy, Icarius ~ the one who glued feathers to his arms with wax to make wings to fly.
Only he flew too close to the sun and the wax melted and he fell to Earth.
I was thinking of the "moral of the story" and how all these Greek mythology stories, fairy tales and children's books taught us these different "morals of the story".
Only I'm not so sure I have the morals right...
Quite possibly because I don't really want to "live in the moment" but the circumstances of the moment have overtaken the little man in my brain and his filing capabilities.
The bash is all consuming...
Today's morals are:
Icarius ~ Use sunscreen
Snow White and The Seven Dwarves ~ Surround yourself with little men who have different talents, or in other words, take crew with you on the bash. Handy ones are best.
Jack and The Beanstalk ~ Take lots of food and veggies with you on the bash. Beans and peanut butter are good.
Little Red Riding Hood ~ Uh, don't go to Grandma's house? I'm still working on this one.
Hansel & Gretel ~ Feel free to leave that little trail of 1" square paper trash pieces behind you, even though it's not going to help you find your way back down the outside of Baja.
The Three Little Pigs ~ Buy a well-designed and well-built boat.
Sleeping Beauty ~ That would be me... It's ok to sleep through the worst parts of the trip.
Go Cat Dog Go! ~ At the end of our journey, the "clan" deserves to have a really good party in a huanacaxle tree with killer party hats Ensenada.

The Sea Lion Kennel Rookery Anchorage at Isla Cedros

We ended up getting quite a bit of wind down the lee side of Isla Cedros, so it felt great to motor into the North End Anchorage, or "The Sea Lion Anchorage".
Named for a good reason.
Not the best anchorage in the world, but better than continuing on for the night.
"Meerkat" arrived first and dropped the anchor in 37' of water, put out 200' of chain and ended up sitting in about 70' of water.
Talk about a narrow shelf and a quick dropoff!
We got lucky, as the anchor set on the first try.
The other three boats got in a little later and all had trouble getting their anchors to set.
Narrow shelf.
Deep water.
20-30 knots of wind.
Giant patches of kelp.
A little dragging.
This is where "Allegria" earned the award for "Perserverence" and "Most Patience".
Next step ~ dinner and sleep.
Sleep?
Oh, I forgot to mention the hundreds and hundreds of sea lions and elephant seals who didn't seem too happy to have these four big white floating things with long sticks poking out of their tops and Pilsbury Dough People crawling around on top of them in their kennel territory.
So, a giant sea lion discussion was held.
Bark. BARK. Bark. What are those things? BARK. Bark. Bark. BARK. Do you think they will hurt us? Bark. BARK. BARK. Gee, I hope they don't want to eat all of our tasteless raw fish. Bark. Bark. BARK. BARK. What are they doing? It's getting dark out and those sticks all have white lights on the top. BARK. BARK. Bark. Ooooohhh, I'm scared. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark. I hope they don't want my spot on this sharp and pointy slippery rock. Bark. BARK. I'm cold. Bark. It's dark. Bark. Bark. I'm scared. BARK. Bark. Bark. Hey, look they're all gone! BARK. BARK. BARK. Yep! We scared them away, just like the last group! BARK. BARK. BARK!

"Pilsbury Dough People" or "PDP's"

My boat is now full of "PDP's".
I have gone from wearing a pair of surf shorts and a bathingsuit top to wearing half of my clothes in less than a week.
By half of my clothes, I mean half of the clothes I own.
At one time.
Fleece socks.
Fleece pants.
A long sleeved shirt.
A fleece pullover over that.
A second fleece pullover over the first fleece pullover over the long sleeved shirt.
I do, however refrain from wearing a beanie (probably because I am not 100% sure of where it is).
The eaters crew, the two that flew in from Southern California a few weeks ago are amazlingly enough, dressed as PDP's too.
Beanies, sweatpants, multiple shirts and jackets.
And the husband?
The one I have not seen in long pants in a year and a half?
He too, is dressed as a "PDP".

Motoring Up the Inside of Isla Cedros

Marathon sleep in Turtle Bay last night!
The eaters guys were all so happy to be able to go to bed at 8 pm and sleep until 5 am.
Me too...
The Clan, as we are now calling our group of 4 boats, us, "Capricorn Cat", "Bristol Blue" and "Allegria" all left the anchorage around 6:30 am, when it was light enough to see well.
There was some good sized leftover lump and seas from yesterday afternoon's winds, but still quite comfortable.
We did have a close encounter with a whale.
And a great dolphin show.
Now we are motoring up the lee side of Isla Cedros and will anchor in the North anchorage for the afternoon and evening.
Plans are to head North again at some weird un-civilized hour of the morning and head to Bahia San Carlos, some 80 miles to weather.
The North end of the island gets a lot of wind, swells and mixed seas.
This is the spot all of our already further North friends have gotten hammered, including "Vela" who is about a day ahead of us.
BUT, I have said my prayers to the Weather God and remember we saved that turtle last summer?
So all should be well.

I have good internet connection here and two eaters guys on watch, so will now answer some of the questions from my three readers:

Internet connection ~ Eric, the Mexican cell phone company, Telcel sells a unit called "3G". Anywhere you show 2-3 bars on your Mexican cell phone, you can get internet. The cost was a few hundred US total for these few months, but we can use the unit later and/or sell it to some friends headed South. Worth every peso to me... I like to be able to email my Mommy, update my blog for my three readers and have recently gotten addicted to Facebook (better than other addiction I could have...). And WEATHER!!! Worth every peso to be able to check all the weather sites. Also we have a big antenna we use at some places. Jim can fill you in on all the details when we sit on your mooring in Newport Beach, right? Ha ha!

Socks ~ Yes, Jomamma I am now wearing socks!! I have been for days. And you want to know the cool thing about socks? If you gain or lose weight, they still fit!!

Photos ~ I will load photos eventually, but checking weather is more important to Jim (and me) right now. And by not loading photos now, I keep you in suspense...
Right?

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!!
Hope it's a good one!
And knowing that your favorite youngest is safe and sound so far should help...
And Happy Father's Day to my brother and brothers-in-law and Dad in heaven.

"D Ticket Ride" to San Juanico and A Lovely "A Ticket Ride" to Turtle Bay!

Yahoo!
We are putting some miles under these hulls!
We left Magdalena Bay at midnight I think??
What day is it anyway?
And bypassed Santa Maria Bay.
Once we rounded Cabo San Lazaro, we fell off and headed towards San Juanico.
We had a nice motorsail doing mid 9's and even got over 10 knots off and on.
Yipee ~ fast is good.
The wind started really picking up when we got close to the anchorage and we had a good 25 knots when anchoring.
Jim got to experience the "trying to keep the bows into the wind in 25 knots while anchoring thing" that I have experienced so many times...
Ha ha ha!
But it was flat!
A nice hora feliz, a nice dinner and nice sleep until 1:30 am, when it was time to do it all over again.
Out of San Juanico at a little after 2 am, with "Capricorn Cat" on a leash behind us.
And now the lovely A Ticket...
Smooth, calm seas.
Little wind.
So we continued past Abreojos, past Hipolito, past Asuncion and made an attempt at going into Bahia San Roque.
Ummmmmmmm...
That wasn't going to work.
25 knots on the beam and 25 pangas at anchor.
Skip that.
Head back to Asuncion.
But wait!
Turtle Bay is only 40 more miles!
And it's beautiful out!
So "Capricorn Cat" suggested pressing on.
Good suggestion.
Onward.
Dinner underway with freshly made focaccia bread and a pasta casserole.
The Eaters Crew ate it and enjoyed it.
A nice easy motorsail Northward and we were inside the Bay by 1 am.
Anchored by 1:30 am.
So an awesome 23 1/2 hour run from San Juanico to Turtle!
Just fueled up, checking weather, talking with "Allegria", "Bristol Blue" and "Capricorn Cat" making our next passage plans.
One more big hurdle to go ~ the jump off from the North end of Cedros Island.

"E Ticket Ride" to Bahia Magdalena!

Yeehaw!
That was fun!
Not.
We pulled anchor at 6 am yesterday, put a 2nd reef in the main and motored around the arch at "Land's End".
That part was nice and fun.
It was fun to leave Cabo San Pucas Lucas.
The part that wasn't so nice and fun followed.
For many hours.
Cabo Falso is the windy, lumpy, bumpy and sloppy point where the Pacific curves around into the Sea.
It was windy, lumpy, bumpy and sloppy for about 20 miles.
Then it calmed down and got relatively comfortable during the day for the most part.
Luckily I had leftover chicken to make sandwiches out of...
It got windy and sloppy and lumpy and bumpy once again at night.
Yeehaw!
More fun.
The guys did three hour watches and I got bounced out of bed, yes, even in the aft bunk.
I can't even imagine how Stan felt in the "Florida Room" ~ the starboard v-berth.
It must have been an "E Ticket Ride" for him...
It took us 24 hours from entrance to entrance, which we felt was amazing time!
In to Man-o-war Cove and anchored sometime a little later.
Gregorio, the Port Captain came out to greet us, check us in and take our diesel order.
I made a great breakfast of lemon-poppyseed muffins, bacon and scrambled eggs to make up for the lack of me pulling a watch.
Seemed to work.
Projects, naps, cleaning, putting the boat back together.
The guys worked on the starboard engine a little.
Stan and I sewed up a couple of places in the bimini that needed repair.
We fixed (quite poorly) the Mexican flag once again, trying to get it to last the next few weeks.
Checked weather.
Now discussing what to do ~ leave for Santa Maria?
San Juanico?
Straight shot to Turtle Bay?
There is a tropical depression brewing below us, so just not sure what the next step or stop is...
Oh gee...
Be careful what you wish for...
Remember I wanted a Southerly?
WELL I DIDN'T ASK FOR A HURRICANE TO BE FORMING!!

Ok, Now I "Get" Cabo San Lucas...

I get it!
I understand it!
I now know why it is here.
With it's 257 jet skis using our boat as a turning pin.
With it's 14 parasail boats circling the anchorage.
With it's 5,987 glass bottom water taxis consistantly coming closer with each pass.
With it's 2,368 hawkers trying to sell us a fishing charter trip.
With it's 58 hawkers trying to sell us a day of golfing for $1.00 US $350 US.
With it's 6,321 hawkers trying to get us into their restaurants.
With it's 64 hawkers trying to sell us a massage.
With it's 857 signs advertising 5 beers with chips and salsa for $10 US.
Ok, I get it already!
It is here to MAKE ME WANT TO LEAVE MEXICO!

Disneyland! Oops, I Mean Cabo San Lucas!

Actually, I love Disneyland.

This is more like crossing over to the dark side or being in hell.
Not sure which, as they are probably the same thing...

And in reality, this is not bad!

It's rolly during the day when we are surrounded, and I mean surrounded, by jet skis, parasailing boats, pangas, pirate boats, banana boats, glass bottom boats and a gazillion other floating ways of sucking the tourists dry of their hard-earned pesos...

At sunset at least a dozen giant catamarans, pirate boats and sunset dinner cruise boats do the "Disneyland Main Street Parade" between our boat and the beach, then head around to the arch and circle like covered wagons.


One giant cat did give me an idea of cool, blue mood lighting...
Jim quickly said no to that idea however...


Plans are to head around Cabo Falso at first light tomorrow morning for our trip to Bahia Magdalena ~ at least a 24 hour run.
So today, I am pre-cooking meals.
Hard boiling eggs.
And getting snacks ready for a quick grab.
Stowing the boat.
Buying a few fresh veggies.
And blogging.
Hey ~ some things are really important!

Sierra Nevadas and Baja Brewing Company! Beers All Around...

Well the boys men were happy to share a few Sierra Nevadas in Los Frailes!They were also happy to see who could stick their stomach out the farthest...

But Jim was REALLY happy to go to The Baja Brewing Company in San Jose del Cabo!Except that his glass got empty so fast...

We, along with Chris & Sara from "Vela" and Wayne, Carol & Eric from "Capricorn Cat" all piled in a taxi van last night for our big night on the town in San Jose.
MMMMmmmmmmmmmmm....
Dinner at Baja Brewing.A few good beers.
A walk around town.







And back to the boats to rinse off on the transom ~ hot and sticky here!

This afternoon we will be headed over to Cabo San Pucas Lucas and will anchor out.
Then wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
The more I wait, the more nervous about this whole thing I get.
At least the first leg is the worst.
I think our little group is up to 6 boats now.
Wayne decided that since "Meerkat" left Los Frailes first, we would name ourselves after a group of meerkats.
A pod?
A flock?
A gaggle?
So I looked it up and they can be called a "mob", "gang" or "clan".
Mob?
Sounds a little mafiosa to me.
Gang?
Uh not in this lifetime.
Clan?
Well yeah!
Considering Eric wears a kilt, half of us are Irish and I was born in Scotland.
So here goes the Clan.
Let's get this first leg over asap!

Lime-Aid

Man-o-war ~ 5
Humans ~ 2

Yep, between the three people on "Capricorn Cat" and the four on "Meerkat" we got 5 man-o-war stings.

I had two man-o-wars in a bucket for an hour or so.
A little torture time with a lime...

Stan got the lime-aid treatment after his sting.

The Last of Muertos...

And Los Frailes too.
Because we are now in the marina at San Jose del Cabo.
Oooohhhh electricity!
All the sheets and towels are getting washed as I type.
Yahoo!

But first a little more about Muertos.
We went to the hoity toity $3,000 a night resort Grand Suenos Resort for a drink.Cause that was all we could afford there.
And enjoyed their cool huge train collection!
Someone please tell my nephew, Joseph to look at these pics...



They even turned the ones that go around the balcony on for us!
I wanted all of them to be turned on...
And the Ms. Pac Man game too...
And I wanted to go in the pool.

I did beat Carol in foosball in about a minute...
So then she scared the crap out of me when I was crawling around in the tunnels under the trains, by yelling "boo" in the next tunnel outlet.
I will get her back.

Back to the boats.Then onward to Los Frailes for two nights.
Then onward to Puerto los Cabos Marina!

Then They Break Your Fishing Pole...

More dorado (mahi mahi to some of you) in the anchorage!
Once again, Jim caught one on his second cast.
And once again, we didn't even need to pull up anchor.
Yep, he caught it right off "Meerkat".
But this one fought.
And broke Stan's pole...
Oops.Had another lovely sunset last night.
Enjoyed the incredibly warm water and did not want to get out.Today, however I did want to get out when a small portugese man-o-war got me...Ouch ~ jellyfish are not my friends.
When Eric the Great off of "Capricorn Cat" got a little sting yesterday we did all the vinegar and lime stuff and gave him a couple shots of tequila.So today, I got to have tequila too!
Hell of a way to earn a shot of tequila...

We Don't Have To Go To Them ~ They Come To Us!

Yep, we don't have to go trolling for dorado.
They come to us.
In the anchorage.
While at anchor.
Yep, casting from the boat, Jim caught this!













So he let me hold it...





What else do we have here while we wait for the perfect weather window?


Beautiful sunsets!And incredible warm water!Works for me.
Better than being stuck in Cabo San Pucas Lucas!

This Bashing Stuff is Easy...

Oh wait, that is because we are motoring down the inside of Baja.
We haven't started the trip up the outside yet...
Oops.
And here I was thinking how easy this was.

So, YES, we made it out of the marina and only had one tiny glitch...
Jim's brother left his cell phone on our boat and we didn't notice it until we were a mile or so down the channel.
But Dave on "Sweet Lorraine" came to the rescue in his dinghy and grabbed the phone.

We were all a little tired today after a little too much fun with John (Jim's bro) and Dave & Kellie last night.
Motored out and around through the San Lorenzo Channel and down the Cerralvo Channel, with little wind and ONE DORADO caught!
Saw a few others jumping, but only caught one...

We are now at anchor in the beautiful bay of Muertos, along with "Capricorn Cat" and another boat who will be "motorsailing North with a Southerly component".
Now we sit and wait for weather.
We may be here for awhile...
The weather on the outside is supposed to be blowing through the weekend.
Oh joy.
So our jello plans are to stay here a couple nights, head to Los Frailes the to San Jose del Cabo.
We may anchor out at Cabo San Pucas for one night, to get an early or in the dark start around Cabo Falso.

Ok, time to go jump into the 86.7 degree water again!!!!

Ready, Set, GO !

Ready?
Hell, no.

Set?
Hardly.

Go!
Wish I could go on a 747.




We have provisioned.
We have stowed it all.
We have done laundry.
We have vacuumed.
We have cleaned.
We still need to get fuel, but that is on the schedule for tomorrow.
We still need to settle up with the marina, but that too is on the schedule for tomorrow.
What else?
Wash the boat one more time.
Clean the floor one more time.
Wash the clothes we wore today.
No more shopping allowed!
A few more emails.
Take the trash up.
And that is about it!

We will be heading to Muertos Tuesday morning.
Will meet up with "Capricorn Cat" there.
Then to San Jose del Cabo.
Microbrew beers for Jim!
Then wait for the weather window.

Isla Coyote ~ El Pardito ~ The Last of The Sea Favs!

I think this was a favorite.
I'm not quite sure.
It only took fifteen five minutes to explore.
It's basically a rock.
A rock with about twelve people living on it.Maybe eight or nine houses.
I didn't count.
A chapel.
An old school.
And whale bones.

The weirdest thing?
A gringo couple from Santa Barbara, California live there.
What the hell for?
Running from the law?
Running from the IRS?

But I have always wanted to go there and we finally did.

But first!
We spent one night at Amortajada at Isla San Jose.
Big mistake.
Great beachcombing, but also I was great food for the no-see-ums.
There were actually little spots of blood all over our sheets.
I had over 30 bites from the neck up.
Never again...

So headed over to the North anchorage at Isla San Francisco, then dinghied the short trip to the rock tiny island of Coyote ~ El Pardito.
The charts and books all call it Isla Coyote, but the twelve people who live there call it El Pardito.Cool whale bones.
Giant whale heads.






Great views of the nearby islands and mainland Baja.



Nice people.
Nice ladies we saw beachcombing the day before who make necklaces out of shells.
So a little gift-shopping, a little chatting and the fifteen five minute exploration was over.
Back to scratching bug bites the boat!