Schooner Sassafrass

22 November 2017 | La Paz

One end to the other.......princess lousia to Muertos

13 November 2017 | Los Frailes

Just the right amount of Cowbell

It's time to say goodbye to The Friars, weather looks good for a late night early am run up the the happily named Los Muertos, the next stop on the run up the hill to La Paz. Yesterday three boats crew's took a great mourning hike up the road to the Cabo pulmo Village about 4.5 miles, our trip as well as just being here really feels like we are back cruising. It was fun to set off with a little bit of vagueness and uncertainty. We had a report from some motorcyclers on their way to Del Fuego who had stopped to see the crew of Manatee that there were still some washed out ponds in the road and it was a bit of a hike. The strong NW breeze was pushed well into the coast so we had a pleasant headwind cooling us the whole way. A short distance out we could hear a cow bell off in the bush, thought it was a cow but it turned out to be a big old pig rutting around. The Palapa restaurant sits at the end of the road overlooking the water and we had cold beer and great fish tacos. Tons of panga dive and snorkel operators. Their launching system was something to see, a mix of seamanship, physics and a fair bit of luck The dive tour next to the restaurant was nice enough to be our Uber for the return trip for a fair price. With the chop being as big as it was we decided to forgo snorkeling or diving at the reef proper and stick to our protected spot behind the headland of Los Frailes, the extreme southern end of the park. This morning I hiked up to the sumit with Jason April and Axle from Westy, we found a trail after a short bit marked with cairns. It was a nice hike with the expected amazing view. After returning we got our gear together and had our official first family snorkel trip. The water is unbelievably warm, much warmer than some of the others have reported on prior trips the same time of year. The reef and rock piles below the headland are filled with all sorts of tropical fish. large coral mushrooms dot the rocks as well. A great stop for us for sure! Off to some more new stuff, we hear there is a cantina with cold beer and fish tacos within swimming distance from the next spot....

13 November 2017 | Los Frailes

Officially Cruising!!!!

We had a bit of a beat up to the Friars after cabo, left in the early am to head to the next marina Puertos los cabos for fuel to avoid the high tax in Cabo about $100 for our boat. Winds were light leaving then built to about 16-18kts nnw on the nose about 20 apparent. It was a slow go trying not [...]

11 November 2017 | Tiki Bar

Wrapping up a fun rally, ready to go slow for a bit

Today is the last day of the Baja Haha, a awards ceremony and gathering at the marina in cabo. We have really enjoyed it, it is a week long frat party for some but there are lots of great people we have met and like many things it is what you make of it. We have met lots of other cruising boats with [...]

09 November 2017 | Baja Coast

Bahia Santa Maria and on to Cabo San Lucas 14 years later

We had a fantastic second leg of the Ha ha sailing the whole way in sometimes lumpy conditions but great sailing. Maybe a few more downwind jibes at night in heavy traffic than we would have liked but thats good practice. It's hard to put words to the scale of the Magdelana Bay area, it's huge!! I initially had the main entrance as our way point than after some head scratching and re-reading the race directions determined the correct spot just to the north. Our guide book says its possible for a navy to swing in Bahia Santa Maria and that is the truth. Absolutely beautiful. We had some fun on the beach and everyone got to break out there surf landing skills, no matter how rusty, we had one close call leaving but no big deluges. The wind piped up each night keeping you on your boat or in for a wet ride. The last night of the Haha group was a fun party on the hill with a band that drives in from La Paz each year. Some of the usual missing people etc occurred, that can happen after a party of several hundred but by 900 all were accounted for. Violet and a friend went to another boat for movie night and the return trip proved quite wet beating into 20 knots to get back up to her friends boat. When the water is 75 deg F its not so bad though. We decided to stay another night after the fleet left to get another good nights sleep along with our friends on Westy and Manatee. The surf kicked up and we did not want to brave the bar to the river or a beach landing so we all hung out on Sassafrass for the day. A trawler "Iron Genny" came in wit ha nice family and stopped by for all the kids to play. This morning it was a early start to try and make Cabo by Friday morning so we can get cleared into the country before the weekend. A decent wind down but still motor sailing as it has been dying. We caught our first two fish shortly after passing Mag Bay!! Some bonitas, not Yellow tail but good for fish curry soup. One more night and what has been a fun but at times hectic trip will be done, definitely glad to have done the rally and made so many great connections. And best of all Nemo seems to have finallly gotten his sea legs!! He has been quite content on the whole trip, no more hiding in the big stuff, back to sleeping everywhere.