We arrived in Cabo De San Jose after a fairly straight-forward passage across the Sea of Cortez. I anxiously awaited our arrival because I knew my dad was there, waiting for us. About 20 miles out from San Jose I found myself checking and rechecking our most recent or updated ETA (estimated time of arrival). Our late start from Mazatlan put us a bit behind schedule, so we arrived after dark which added to the drama. I hadn't seen my dad for over four months, so my emotions were definitely running high. While in the states, I talk to my dad on a regular basis, sometimes once or more a day. Daily cell phone calls to discuss sports, work, or my golf game are a regular occurrence, so the lack of verbal communication has been somewhat difficult at times. We landed on the dock at 7:24 p.m., secured our lines, and shut the boat down. My dad stood on the dock and shouted out, "Ahoy!", a classic dad line. It really was great to see him. We spent the first night in the marina and retired quite early as we had a big weekend ahead of us.

The next morning we awoke early, had a quick breakfast, and hurried into town to pick up fresh tortillas and a few other last minute items at the local Mercado municipal. Our fishing lines, teasers, and gaffs were on deck and ready for action by 10:30 a.m. We headed east for Los Frailes, a small bay at the far end of southern point of Baja. The Gordo Banks (prime fishing area were all the sport fishing fleets take the high-paying tourists for Marlin) were on the way, so we diverted course slightly, and kept our fingers crossed. My dad loves to fish and was ready to reel in Godzilla. We had a pretty good day and ended up catching 3 fish on the way, two of them our favorite: Spotted Mackeral and Yellow Fin Tuna. Dad did a great job reeling and we boated both with little difficulty. As soon as we realized we had a Yellow Fin on the line, Chris and I immediately yelled, "Yahoo! Sushi tonight!!". And sushi we had, in a big way. We had rolls, and wedges, and wasabi, and soy sauce, and wine, and boy did we sleep great!

The next three days were packed with wild activities and fun. My dad did a great job keeping up. He was up for anything, ready to go at all times, and always willing, which made it especially fun for Chris and I, who sometimes choose the hair-raising activity over the loafer or boring one. For instance, we hiked up to the top of a mountain (picture shown above), snorkeled on incredible reefs (saw schools of bonito, turtles, large groupers, eels, tropic fish), trolled in the dingy, and possibly best of all, saw a mama Humpback and her calf in our dingy, not more than 50 feet away. We drifted along with the gentle giants, watched them in awe, and felt sizably insignificant as they passed. Similar to myself, my dad is very interested in the ocean and life it contains, so seeing the whales up close was a total thrill for both of us, obviously something we will never forget.

The most special part about the entire weekend was the fact that we experienced so many memorable times together as father and son. We have a pretty long list of interesting adventures and times together, although this trip definitely added to it in a large way. Memories of places, things, and events are great, but memories with my dad as a friend, companion, and father is even better.