March 14-20, 2013
We left Cabo before daybreak and had a several hour passage, mostly motoring, to Bahia Los Frailes. The highlight was, well, you can tell, WHALES!
Bahia Los Frailes is 28 nmi from Cabo, heading North East. Cabo Pulmo National Park is just around a couple points to the North and the boys hooka’d there while I drifted around in the dinghy. We had our first encounter with other cruisers and enjoyed the long, white sand beach. Overall, I think our first anchorage in new territory was a huge success.
We didn’t enjoy Muertos as much as Frailes, but the wifi from the restaurant was a nice treat
Puerto Balandra is one of the bays just north of La Paz, and it’s by far the most picturesque place we’ve been to so far. Of course, there is the anchor dragging incident, but hey, you can deal with anything in paradise, right?
Logbook – March 14, 2013 (Cabo to Frailes)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0530 Started both engines
- 0536 Attempted to radio Port Captain on VHF 16
- 0550 Departed Cabo
- 0751 Slowed for fish
- 1400 Arrive at Bahia Frailes
(Edit: We always tried to follow the rules and trying to radio port authorities when we were supposed to and always check in an out when we were supposed to but we quickly learned that rules change and are not even always enforced.)
(Edit: Kind of funny that I documented that we slowed for fish. I wonder if at this point I was annoyed or just bored. Tim and I would later have more than one argument about him yelling at me to slow the boat down when there’s a fish on.)
Logbook – March 15, 2013 (Bahia Los Frailes)
Daily Notes
- Cocktails w/ Dave & Booker @ Tortuguita
(Edit: They were a nice couple on another catamaran and we were the only two boats in the bay. They had already cleared out of Mexico and were waiting for their weather window to jump to The Marquesas. They had already left once, but winds were nonexistent so they turned around and waited. We went over to their boat, and I brought over a nice bottle of red wine. I didn’t really know the protocol or expectations, I just figured I should bring something. The following evening they came over to Exodus and they brought some yummy bread, I seem to recall it was coconut bread.)
Email sent to family and friends dated March 15, 2013
Subject: Hi, we are at Bahia Los Frailes
A few of you have messaged that inReach is showing us on the land! I assure you we are safely tucked away in a small anchorage on the other side of the tip of Baja anchored a safe distance from shore. I’m guessing the accuracy of the map they use is not as good as the accuracy of the GPS locations reported. Oh well. If you noticed us veer in towards land en route yesterday, it’s because whales were traveling close to shore. We got close enough to take some amazing pictures of them breaching. It was breathtaking. And made for a difficult school day, since who wants to work on Math when you are close enough to actually HEAR the whales! I can’t wait to upload photos for you all to see.
Cabo was OK, but it was busy and noisy since we happened to show up during spring break season. Lots of drunk and stupid college kids. The boys really liked it because there was a hotel pool we could easily crash and the pool water was warmer than the ocean. We didn’t stay in the Marina in Cabo, instead, we chose to anchor out in the bay. So, we did our laundry and grocery shopping by hauling stuff back and forth in the dinghy to shore. And I’m pretty sure I’m never going to have to learn to drive the dinghy… Alex loves to drive and he will always be my chauffeur. He also takes the responsibility to haul it up every night, and one evening I asked him to show me how too… he loves that!
The boys have used the hooka, in fact, they are out right now with it. We are flexible with school… on days they want to dive in the morning we do school in the afternoon/evening. It is still very strange to me to be in this total vacation environment while simultaneously taking care of day to day living things like laundry, groceries, house cleaning, and school. The boys are having a lot of trouble concentrating, they just want to play (me too!)
We are going to head up to La Paz in the next day or so. Feel free to email us on this address, I try to check it once every day or so, because this is also how we get weather info. I also got a small data plan on my phone, so every once in a while I cheat and turn it on when we don’t have wifi, that’s why I some times respond to emails from my phone. Hopefully we will be able to get wifi from the boat in La Paz. I am dying to upload photos!
Love and miss you all,
-Deanne
Logbook – March 16, 2013 (Bahia Los Frailes to Bahia de Los Muertos)
Passage Log Highlights
- 2141 SB engine on awhile ago
- 2149 P engine on
- 2200 Depart
(Edit: The water heater is powered by the starboard engine so maybe we were heading some water for some showers?)
Logbook – March 17, 2013 (Bahia Los Frailes to Bahia de Los Muertos)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0420 Slowing down to arrive after sunrise
- 0657 Arrive
(Edit: This was a very unnerving experience the first time. It was very dark and the only way I knew there was land was from the chart plotter.)
Email sent to family and friends dated March 18, 2013
Subject: Headed for Puerto Balandra
We lost wifi abruptly last night, but it was fun sharing photos and face timing. We are leaving in about an hour to head up around the corner to Puerto Balandra. It should take us half a day to get there.
Love you all.
-D.
Logbook – March 18, 2013 (Bahia de Los Muertos to Puerto Balandra)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0615 Engines on (Port only)
- 0620 Depart
- 1445 Arrive, Heading 310 deg for safe exit
Daily Notes
- ~2100 Anchor dragging & reset 24deg 19.2 N, 110deg 20.0 W
(Edit: And so it started. The drama with our little anchor. We were tucked well into the bay in a shallow spot at Puerto Balandra. I was already in bed, and I awoke to the sound of the engines starting and the boys calling to me that we were dragging. I shudder to think what could have happened if everyone was in bed when this happened.)
Email to family and friends dated March 18, 2013
Subject: Made it to Puerto Balandra
Wow! This place is amazing. Jen, it looks like the places you post on Facebook. We arrived at Puerto Balandra around an hour ago and plan to stay here for a few days. Not only do we not have data or wifi, but we don’t even have cell service. So, for the next few days, this email is the only way to reach us. I will check it at least once a day.
Love you all.
-D.
Email to family and friends dated March 19, 2013
Subject: Anchor dragging
Well, our beautiful anchorage isn’t quite so nice today. The wind kicked up last night, and our anchor dragged twice. We were on the fence whether we needed a bigger anchor, well I guess that decides it. It’s still blowing 20kts right now, so we won’t be diving this morning as planned. The water is warm enough I was even going to try the hooka. Tim and Alex snorkeled yesterday and Tim said it’s as nice here as Caymen, Colin. Oh well, I guess it’s a normal school day after all.
I was wrong about not having cell service yesterday. My phone was having issues, but we have 5 bars. Still no wifi, though.
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 