11/21/09 – We made it to Cabo San Lucas, the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, almost 800 NM (nautical miles) in the past two weeks (at the speed of a fast walk). What a dramatic contrast Cabo is to the Pacific coast of Baja we’ve been sailing down the last two weeks. The Baja peninsula (at least the western side) is a rather dry, desolate place with only the occasional tiny village. While there are a number of anchorages down the coast, there are only two that are relatively safe in all wind directions, so we didn’t really tarry anywhere. For the most part, the villages had few services and almost no provisions. While the villages look rather poor, everyone looked happy and well fed plus there were fairly nice trucks and jeeps in evidence (a sturdy truck is necessary when the nearest town is hundreds of miles away over dirt roads). The main income for these villages is fishing and dodging lobster pots all the way down the coast kept us on our toes.

Getting the dingy down and functional is a hassle, so we usually just stayed on the boat. The water is still pretty chilly but we did go swimming a few times (also our shower is being used for storage so jumping overboard is the easiest way to get relatively clean).

On the last leg we sailed by Russ and Heidi on Tillicum 1. We first met them in Newport and later in San Diego. We exchanged pictures of our boats sailing, this is the first picture we have of Sunny underway! You can see in the background how dry the land is.

Here’s Tillicum 1
The last leg from Magdalena Bay to Cabo was an overnight sail and as we got closer we started to see the hotels and condos lining the coast.

Rounded the famous rocks guarding Cabo and soon we were tied up in the marina.

Cabo is surreal. Around the point of Baja is some of the world’s best Marlin and other sport fishing and this marina is grand central. Some of the sport boats are multi-storied affairs with seats perched way up high and dozens of satellite and other antennas, all to catch a fish :-)

There are fancy shops and dining.

And even Burger King, Hard Rock Cafe, and Dominos pizza!

Russ, Heidi and I took a taxi out to the Walmart to provision, just like at home :-) Cabo is very touristy though and I’m getting tired of the constant “buy this” and “have I got a deal for you”. This afternoon we’re getting out of the very expensive marina and will anchor off the beach for a day or so, then continue around the point towards La Paz. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

-Carolynn

(From Tom)

From time to time there will be bits of information that has been observed along the way, they will be labeled NOTES FROM THE BILGE (NFB)

NFB note1. Before leaving we were advised to purhase a strong magnet and some line so we could retrive the items that would periodically fall overboard, hopefully when in a marina or at anchor. This seemed to make sense and we aquired the said equipment. Now after several items have gone by the board and never been seen again I have rethought the idea. There is one major problem in this system, most items that are suitable for use on a boat are made of either bronze, nickle or stainless steel. None of which are magnetic!!! The only thing the magnet accomplishes is to stamp the lost item deeper into the mud / sand so even if you finally go diving for it it will be impossible to find.

NFB note2. The people who build Marinas are smart and understand that most sailors like wind. Since most boats are sold in or very near a Marina wind is a desirable feature for being able to demonstrate the boats sailing features without having to go miles from the dock. After traveling for hours and hours offshore with only 5mph winds we are frequently amazed that the wind in the marina always seems to be at least 20mph, and often going in the direction that makes docking most challenging.

Hola from Ensenada Mexico!
When last I updated the blog we were in Oceanside. My mother and brother were visiting us in a couple of days so we spent several hours on Tuesday scrubbing the boat down til she sparkled. Then on Wednesday we got a strong north wind that blew tons of dust and dirt from nearby Pendleton marine base over the marina. By Thursday morning Sunny looked like she hadn’t been washed in weeks, grrr!!
Thursday we had a wonderful lunch and visit with mom and Chuck. The wind had died down and the weather was very pleasant. One of the negative things about going cruising is that we’re not sure when we’ll be able to get back and see friends and family.
There was the cutest little “tug” tied up just across the fairway from us. It was only about six feet long but was like a big tug only in miniature. There was a tiny bridge, bitty steering wheel, and even a little dingy on deck. I’m not sure what they use it for, it looked like a small wake would swamp it but obviously someone spent a lot of time and thought in it. There was a guy working on it almost every day we were in Oceanside, obviously his baby.

On Friday, 10/30 we had a wonderful trip from Oceanside to San Diego. We almost got to sail part of it! Coming out of Oceanside we had 8-10 knots on our beam and we raised the main and our Genoa (large sail on the front of the boat). We thought of turning the motor off but we would only be able to make about 3-4 knots in that amount of wind and we needed to make at least 5 to be able to get into San Diego before the police dock closed. Plus we hate coming into port in the dark, even into an area we know well such as San Diego. We tried everything to “encourage” the wind to build enough, we whistled, we touched the mast, but we never saw more than 10 and after a few hours it had dropped enough that we had to bring in the sails. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted :-)
We saw several whales and were visited by a large pod of dolphins!!! They played on our bow for probably 15 minutes. It’s amazing how quick and graceful they move through the water. There were even a couple of babies swimming alongside their moms.

We spent five nights at the San Diego police dock. Using our folding bicycles, we did some last minute provisioning and sightseeing. I also took Ginger to the vet to get her caught up on all her vaccinations as well as get her an international health certificate. Initially I was going to have to strap the cat carrier on the back of my bicycle and ride to the vet, about three miles from the dock. While doable, it would have probably been rather traumatic for all concerned. I met a wonderful couple on the dock, Katrina and Rob, and Katrina offered to drive me to the vet. This worked out great and Ginger was only partially traumatized about being stuffed into her carrier and tortured by the vet :-) Thanks Katrina!!!
We saw a number of cruisers that we had previously met and compared tales. I look forward to meeting the same people over and over again as we head down the Pacific coast. It’s interesting that a large percentage (more than ½) of the cruisers we have been meeting are Canadian.
One day we rode our bikes in a big loop around San Diego and ended up at the marine museum. The museum has a fabulous collection of old and reproduction boats as well as two submarines you can crawl through. I’m glad we got these bikes; it’s really expanded our exploration area. Here’s the Star of India, built in 1863, she’s the museum’s flagship.

The Star is the world’s oldest active sailing ship (though not with those sails).
At Tuesday, Nov 3 at midnight we left for Mexico in very dense fog. We could barely see about 200 feet, I’m so glad we have radar! Other than the fog, it was an uneventful trip and we got to Ensenada Mexico around 2pm the next day. We decided to stay at hotel Coral marina, a very upscale hotel and marina a couple of miles north of Ensenada. Two years ago when we were down here after just buying Sunny, Coral’s rates were prohibitive and we stayed near the cruise port, but between the poor economy and the bad rumors in Mexico, business is very poor and Coral’s rates are a little more affordable for us. The marina and hotel are beautiful and everyone has been very nice.
As soon as we got in we hoisted our yellow quarantine flag. This tells officials that we are newly arrived.

We checked into Mexico the next day. The last time we were here I did the check-in myself and though I succeeded, it was very confusing and nerve racking. This time I decided to pay $60 to have the Coral staff walk me through. It was very much worth it and now we are legal. The quarantine flag comes down and the Mexican courtesy flag goes up

We spent several days exploring Ensenada and provisioning for the run down the Baja coast. They have done quite a bit of work around the main plaza and it looks very nice (unfortunately I forgot my camera every time I went to town; I need to get better at bringing it). Transportation around town is very easy, there are busses that run frequently that only cost 8 pesos (~ 60¢) and a taxi is about $6. We saw several cruise ships come in so the swine flu panic seems to be easing.
We’re planning on leaving today (11/8) for the next jump, a 24 hour run down to San Quintin. I’m not sure how available internet will be for the next few weeks so don’t worry if I don’t post for a while. I promise I’ll be better about taking pictures :-)
-Carolynn