We arrived here a few days ago and I have already lost count, which is a sign of a good sailor. I have surfed a bit, we spent our New Year's eve with friends we met a few hours before dinner, and have been on many an adventure, all in a few days time.
After an overnight passage from Bahia Magdalena we arrived in San Jose del Cabo around 8 a.m., which means it took us about 25 hours to go 140 miles: light speed! We got fuel and then headed to our slip. As we were pulling in the reverse gear decided to stop working which was a major buzz kill. Dad was just about to tear into the transmission but Mom, with her most excellent rationality, suggested he start with the most basic of problems. This means diving the prop to see if anything has fouled it. He took her advice, and came up seconds after diving in with 10 feet of plastic sheet that had been sucked up by the prop. Problem solved.
Now you might ask, what is the first thing you do when you get into town, after being out in the rugged wilderness that is Baja for 12 days? Hit the showers? The nearest bar? The beach?? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Obviously, the first thing you do is scrub the boat- inside and out. After this task was done, I got to play, and have not stopped since.
We got a rental car for provisioning, dealing with laundry, and of course, surfing adventures! Our second day in Cabo, Mom and I went on a quest for waves (she was not looking for waves, but she helps me look). Unfortunately, the south swells that light up the tip of Baja only come through April-October; it looks like I just missed the season. Not to be deterred, Mom and I headed up to a town called Todos Santos on the Pacific side of Baja, about 100 km north of Cabo.
A funny note about industrializing countries: you can have beautiful 2-lane highway for miles, only to hit a patch of dirt road without any warning... our poor rental car took quite a beating.
M and I navigated our way to and through Todos Santos, drove for a half hour down a very remote dirt road, not sure where we were going or even if we were going in the right direction, until we found a beautiful little beach complete with whales in the distance. Although the waves were not epic, I got to surf in clear, warm water for the first time in a very long time. And, I can say that I surfed Todos Santos, although it is not the same one that comes up when you type "Todos Santos" into Google Images (but who cares about specifics?). I surfed twice in Cabo since the dirt road adventure and it has been okay, but the urchin covered reef that looks very shallow on account of the clear water and the fact that it is very shallow (in places), is kind of intimidating.
Our New Year's eve plans did not fall into place until a few hours before...midnight. No, just kidding, I did not make it up til midnight. But it is amazing how easy it is to make friends in the cruising community. We caught the dock lines of a boat as they pulled into the marina, saw that they had 2 kids about my age on board (18 and 20- close enough), and invited them to a New Year's dinner with them. They accepted, we had a nice Mexican dinner with a few cervezas and margaritas, and then I went to sleep. Slept right through the fireworks. I'm telling you, I have adapted to the cruising lifestyle quite well. And there were a few firsts this year: this is the first year I have not stayed up until midnight in 15+ years, and this is the first year I have not woken up with a hangover in 10+ years. I think it's going to be a good one.
And so the tip of Baja entailed everything I hoped it would: surfing, meeting new friends, good food, adventures, unas cervezas, clean clothes, and a well stocked fridge. Tomorrow we head to Los Frailes and from there we will jump off for the mainland. Mazatlan, here we come!
Wishing you a year full of happiness, prosperity and adventure.
Awww man. I am sure where you are is beautiful but here in Santa Cruz is mighty fine as well. A balmy 60 degrees and sunny all week. Too bad school just started again. However I think this will be a good quarter. I can't believe I am going to be writing my thesis. It is pretty intimidating that I have to go back through all of the field notes I took by next class. This is really facing your shit. The other class I had today was Intro to Modern dance which was awesome and there are several friends there. Santa Cruz is starting to seem very small but also cozy, like a womb. The threat of financial independence and the syllabus for the last 10 weeks of college are the contractions. Everyone else I talk to is pretty much in the same boat, so I can't be that screwed, however I know it will be challenging. I can't even find a job at a lunch box factory.
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