Monday, November 7, 2011
Cabo San Lucas to Bahia Los Frailes (The Friars)

We said our thanks and goodbyes to our trusted crew George and Carl who left for the airport on Sunday morning to fly back home. We gave our keys to the Marina, fired up the engine and motored out to join some of the fleet anchored off the Cabo beach. We put the anchor down in 35 feet of water, had a swim, a curry chicken dinner and watched the sunset. The anchorage is open and between the wash from the Pangas and the personal watercraft, it made for a somewhat rocky location.

We hauled up the anchor at 7:10 am on Monday and were underway to Los Frailes which is about 45 miles up the coast by 7:20 am. There were three or four other boats also headed out ahead of us. We stayed about three miles off-shore following the coast with the wind directly behind us. The 10 miles of shoreline between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo is lined with buildings, mainly hotel and Condo developments. As we passed the lighthouse near Cabezza Ballena we waved to Ken and Nancy who had come to see is in Cabo on Sunday morning although they probably could not make out our boat. The sea and sailing were smooth with a slight swell and 5-6 knots of wind. The cruising guides said this part of the coast was protected from the north winds that can, at times, howl down the Sea of Cortez uninterrupted for hundreds of miles. Once we cleared this section of the coast, we would see how things would change.

We began to feel the effects of the wind and swells between Punta Gorda and La Fortuna. The wind increased to 12-15 knots and the seas picked up with short, sharp 6 foot swells. This combined with a 180 degree wind shift meant we were now plowing directly into headwinds with the boat pitching heavily throwing seas off her bow and occasionally slapping down hard into a trough. There is a shallow area between Punta Gorda and La Fortuna which is popular with the locals for Gringo fishing trips. As we passed many of these small boats, we wondered how the people who had hired the boat for a day’s fishing were doing in these very choppy conditions.

There also appeared to be an issue with GPS in this area. I noticed that according to the plotter, we were approaching the shore; but I could see clearly, we were at least three miles out. Eventually the GPS told me I was driving the boat along the coastal road! For the next 10 miles or so, the GPS played tricks, sometimes I was on land and sometimes at sea. It would give me position shifts of up to 10 miles in a matter of a second or so. The GPS coordinates were just as crazy. When I plotted them on the chart they concurred with the ships plotter; we were sailing down the highway. This could have been quite disconcerting at night as there are few visual signals by which to take bearings in this area.

We slogged on all afternoon beating into the weather, finally seeing our destination in the distance. One sailboat, a Swan 44 which was going faster than us passed close by and it was interesting to see the boat pitching heavily just like us with spray billowing out from her bow and water flowing back to the cockpit.

Los Frailes is quite a prominent landmark and appears as a big hump of rock. After an afternoon of being on a hobby horse, we finally pulled into the then calm waters behind the Los Frailes headland at about 4:30 pm and anchored in a clear sand bottom at 4:45 pm. It had taken nine and a half hours to do the 48 miles; not bad considering the rough conditions.

There were at least 15 other boats at anchor and only a few more arrived after us. It was nice to be in calm conditions, ready for a good night’s sleep. We did discover later that many boats that left somewhat later than us, had turned back because of the sea conditions.
Tuesday, November 8th.
Los Frailes

We awoke at 5:30 am to the sound of wind gusts out of the north. These increased in intensity during the day and produced steady 18-20 Knot winds with gusts as high as 28 knots. It was not a day to be exploring but one to relax and keep an eye on the anchor and its chain. We had 125 feet of chain and another 80 feet of rode out and were secure, even during the high wind gusts. Finally, about 3:30 pm the Barometer bottomed out at 1011.7 and began to rise slowly. As I write this at 8:00 pm it continues its steady rise and the wind, while still gusting, is less frequent and less intense.

It was a good day to take stock of our anchor planning. We had added 125 feet of 3/8 short link G4 HT chain to the primary 40lb CQR anchor and backed this up with another 220’ of 5/8 rode. I had also re-spliced a thimble into the rode and used a shackle to attach this to the chain. Hilbre also carries a spare 80’ of 3/8 HT chain as well as two shorter 3/8 chains of 30 and 25 feet. In addition we carry 220 feet of 5/8 rode, 100’ of spare 5/8 rode and another 150’ of half inch rode. Some of this is used for the spare Danforth anchor as well as the smaller “lunch hook” anchor.

When it comes to anchoring, nothing is too much. During the day, we watched three other boats having to re-anchor because they were dragging. One boat did so at least five times during the day and we could see that she clearly moved downwind with each passing hour. This reminded me of the walks I have taken along various docks noting the size of boat verses the size of the anchor. It has always amazed me that people skimp on anchors, often using the smallest they can get away with; not a good policy and not one that will save them in a blow.

We hope that the “Northerner” will blow itself out during the night and that tomorrow we will be able to launch the dingy, go ashore, stretch our legs and do some exploring.

Wednesday, November 9th
Well, that did not happen. We awoke to a calm day however the wind quickly returned with a sinking Barometer. We hunkered down all day and no boats departed save one that prudently came back after a short foray outside the shelter of the bay. One new boat did arrive in the afternoon, healed over and driven by the wind as it tacked into the shelter of the bay. It was a young solo sailor who had struggled by himself all the way from San Jose Del Cabo in a 27’ Ericson. In the afternoon, a few boats took their dingy to the beach, the first we had seen ashore.

Thursday, November 10th
We awoke to a calm morning. At least seven boats headed out so we upped the anchor and moved to a more pleasant location, closer to the shelter of the headland and the beach. As the weather was definitely improving, we then snorkeled off the boat watching the fish hiding in the shade of the hull. We checked the hull and were pleased to see we have accumulated very little grown and that comes off easily with a brush. With nice visibility of at least 50’ I was able to dive the anchor and see how well it was set; it was well buried in the sand along with a good length of chain. This was very satisfying.

Los Frailes consists of a big rock headland connected to a fine sand beach that curves away to the South. At night we can hear the waves breaking on the headland. The headland has some great dive sites as we see Pangas go by with diver flags often anchoring near the cliff at the very edge of the bay. It is part of the larger national marine park reef system which includes the protected Pulmo coral reef, the only one of its kind on the West Coast of Mexico

We inflated the dingy and attached the motor so we could go to the beach. There were already some boats on the beach when we arrived and we had plenty of help moving the dingy up the beach. A number of people were snorkeling in the rock headland next to the beach and were impressed about the quality of the snorkeling. There were a multitude of fish, turtles and other things to see. We plan on doing this tomorrow as the weather is continuing to improve. It was quite a sight, Hilbre riding at anchor in the bay and us sitting on a beach with azure blue water breaking on the shore.

We met a number of new cruisers, an Englishman from Middleborough who had lived in South Africa for many years and another cruiser who had lived in New Zealand. We also met the lone sailor who had arrived on Wednesday. He had sailed to Cabo from Puerto Vallarta and was heading up the coast to La Paz. He has been sailing around the area on his own for more than a year. One of the other cruisers with a water maker let him take a shower on their boat. Such is the cruising community, a small band of wanderers who help each other without any expectation of a return.

For dinner, we ate that last of Georges Dorado; a fine meal as we watched new boats arrive from Cabo and drop their anchors in the now calm waters of the bay. It’s a wonderful full moon tonight and we can sit out and watch those arrive from Cabo who got stuck there due to the blustery weather.

Friday, November 11, 2011
By the time we awoke, another group of boats were gone this morning but a fresh group had arrived from San Jose Del Cabo the previous evening. Most of them had tried to get to Los Frailes from Cabo San Lucas on Monday or Tuesday but were forced back and put into San Jose to ride out the storm. The early morning was calm and we took the dingy ashore to take some photographs and do some snorkeling. We took some pictures of the beach and bay showing just our footprints and no one else’s.

The snorkeling was good, with lots of different fish and various types of coral in about 20 feet of water. This was Anita’s first real foray into some serious snorkeling, and she did well. I dived down to chase the larger fish and see if I could locate any Octopus which hide under the rocks but without success. The visibility was about 30 feet near the beach and we enjoyed seeing the many different and colorful tropical fish. As you moved further away from the beach area visibility, the number of corals and the variety of fish increased. However, the wind had now swung around to the South and Los Frailes is exposed to southern wind. The surf was building on the shore so it was time to cut short our beach trip before it got too bad to launch the dingy.

During the afternoon the wind and waves increased and we had swung around on the anchor and now had our back to the rock wall of Los Frailes but about 400 yards from it. Back on the boat, we took off the outboard and lashed the dingy to the deck, ready for an early start tomorrow or a quick getaway should this be required. To where, we do not know as we have no fixed itinerary. Will it be Mazatlan or Bay of the Dead (Los Muertos). We will probably decide in the morning but it is time to move on, we have been here for four days.