Oh Mexico...

My last blog was a bit brief about Cabo... and a little premature. We spent a couple more days there provisioning, doing laundry, and recovering (yachting is a lot of work!). I also spent quite a bit of time sneaking into 5 star hotels to use their hot tubs and poolside bars. Kat needed some major recovery after taking a header down the compainionway... Our first day in Cabo we swam in to the beach, and I got stung by a jellyfish pretty bad. After begging for vinegar from the palapa bar, and being the good mom she is, Kat ordered us a couple of grade drinks to "ease my pain". Let's just say we needed an escort while swimming back to the boat (thank you Gary), and after deciding to strip down in the cockpit, mom "went down like a greased refrigerator" so to speak. Luckily nothing lifge threatening, but a couple of black butt cheeks and a bruised wrist made the next few days a little, uh, tender.

Our first sail out of Cabo was quite the beat. We set sail to Los Frailes, a beautiful little anchorage about 45 miles around the point into the Sea of Cortez. After a wonderfully relaxing day of running, snorkeling, and reading, the local, Phillipe, put on a fish taco and margarita party. There is absolutely nothing like a bondfire on a private, white sand beach. The next day we all headed to the reef to snorkel (Toby, Jamie, Kat, Jay, Gary, and me). The kids kayaked and spear fished, and Gary and I almost made friends with some Dolphins that were passing though. We had a wonderful dinner of fresh red snapper with Di's Dream (Suebee left us for Mazatlan) and met some other cruisers that we hope to see along the way.

Our sail to Ensenada de Los Muertos was perfect. We sailed the whole way in calm seas and good winds. We dropped our hook and went in to meet Triumph (and Torsen and Elka) for drinks and dinner at the charming little restaurant. We pulled our dinghy onto the beach and let Jay coach us on exactly how to beach it. He, of course, did not heed our warnings to tie off to a rock. Can you guess where this is going? Yes, we got back from dinner, in the dark, and found our dinghy was no longer on the beach. So the search began, and our new friends not only got up, but put their motor on and offered to drive us around to find the drifter. Just as we were about the pull up the hook to search the ocean blue, Toby pulled up in our missing boat, he had found it on his kayak. We are buying Triumph a lot of beer. Disaster averted.

We headed out this morning for Puerto Ballandra. It was another wonderful sail, a little lacking on wildlife and fish though... Aside from Dolphins, our most exciting discovery was a floating goat in the middle of the Sea of Cortez. This anchorage is stunning, the shoal is only a few feet deep for about 2 hundred yards off the beach. Tomorrow dad and I are free diving a 10ft bronze statue and sank right off the point (without my marine biologist/free dive instructor), it should be interesting. Then we're off to La Paz for provisions and then islands for some diving.

I'm not sure this counts with the family bet, but I am probably jumping ship in La Paz...

Not for good though, I just plan to join my Triumph friends for a couple of days of sailing and diving.