**Matt takes one last look at the San Jose Del Cabo Marina**

After over 2 weeks of civilization it was time to move northward. I never know if I’ll be able to completely adapt back to life on anchor after living in a slip for a long time. So it was good to go sooner rather than later so that we didn’t get back to that relying on comfort mindset.

Leaving San Jose Del Cabo

The day we left San Jose Del Cabo it was sunny & very hot! We tried sailing a few times but the wind died & then it was coming from the north. -The direction we needed to go. Unfortunately the waves got super choppy & uncomfortable. Harriet even decided to stop working. -Not fun to do an all day motor with no autopilot. On the other hand, we had a great treat & saw 3 humpback whales playing & swimming about 100 yards from us! This lasted for at least an hour! Excited to show you all the video in a few weeks! We finally arrived at Los Frailes & it was awesome, as Matt caught a bonito right before we entered the bay! Los Frailes was beautiful & green! -A lot more green than we had seen in a while.

We make it to Los Frailes!

The next day was also beautiful & warm! Put bikini on right away & dinghied to shore. I tried to get Zephyr to swim but he freaked out a little bit. So we got out his water lounger out & put him on it. He was super nervous at first but then started to calm down & got a little more used to it. The water is a bit on the cold side so I might have to wait for warmer water to introduce him to the joy of swimming.

We went to the shore & Zephyr & I hung out & ran around while Matt snorkeled. When he had his fill after over an hour he then he rowed me out to the best snorkeling spot that he found. It was super clear. & beautiful! Lots of different kinds of fish! I got a bit of video but I didn’t stay in for long though because I got cold after about a half hour. My circulation isn’t the best & my cold tolerance sucks.

Only stayed in Los Frailes for 1 day as there was a great opening to get up to Bahia de Los Muertos. -(Bay of the dead.) -Which they are trying to change the name of to Bahia de Los Suenos. (Bay of dreams.)

It was one of the smoothest rides we ever had! Although it rained a tiny bit, so Matt did put the tarp up but that can make it hard to see while sailing. Luckily it didn’t rain for long. We got up to 6.7 knots! So we got there in decent time. There were only 3 other boats there. Nice anchorage! We were definitely excited for the next day!

Woke up & it was kind of cloudy. And it was a little cooler. Took Zephyr to the beach to run with him while Matt snorkeled. I knew it wasn’t going to be comfortable enough for me to get in the water & go snorkeling. So I resigned to hanging with my little boy on the beach.

There is one restaurant there. (I forget the name.) So we took advantage of that & went there for lunch. It was good. Beautiful view of course!

After lunch we were going to take a dinghy ride all over the bay but it got really windy & cold. So we raced back to the boat & got inside. And we got there just in time before the rain came. At least MerSea is fairly cozy. Although we can’t use the heater if we’re not at a dock. Just lots of sweaters & blankets.

Bahia de Los Muertos

Friday we woke up early, motored & sailed to Balandra Bay. There is a channel, a very narrow channel, to get through to go around the peninsula to get to the La Paz side of the Sea of Cortez. As we entered the channel, a ferry was coming straight towards us. So Matt had to call them to ask them which way they wanted to pass us. It’s always nice to make sure humongous boats see you. -Especially if you feel like they are either making you a target & heading your way or just don’t see you.

Right before we got to Balandra Bay, Matt caught a mackerel! However, he had to wait to filet it as when we entered the bay it got shallow really quickly. It seemed like the depth went from 40 feet immediately to 14 feet. So it was a bit tricky to find a good spot to anchor where we would be protected & be far enough away from other boats to be safe. It’s definitely an incredibly beautiful bay! Aqua water & lots of reef & sandy shores.

The next day, Matt & I took a dinghy ride around the bay & stopped & beached way back into the east shore. No one else was around. On the other side of the sand, from where we landed, was a fresh water estuary. So cool! We explored it for a while. But it was getting pretty warm & was definitely a perfect time to go snorkeling.

We found a cluster of a reef & it was probably the best snorkeling we’ve had so far. So many different kinds of fish! If I didn’t start getting cold I could have probably explored it for a whole hour. I need a super thick wetsuit so I can take advantage of these places.

Later that afternoon, we went hiking on the north shore with Zephyr. -1st along beach & then up the hill over looking the bay. Very awesome view! A view that showed us that we were the only boat staying that evening. The weather didn’t look like it was going to be bad so not sure why the few other boats that were there decided to leave. I guess I didn’t check what the swell would be like that night. It was extremely rolly. Neither of us slept very well & decided that it was time to move on the following morning.

Balandra Bay! Wait for the upcoming video in a few weeks to see how amazing it is!

Bahia Falsa, just a few anchorages south, looked a little more protected. So we took off in the morning & anchored there. And it was very protected! We were the only boat there. It’s times like this that it’s nice to just take up the space in the middle of the anchorage to show other boats we feel like we own the place. No, we aren’t like that. It was just the kind of place that got shallow quickly. The middle was the best possible place to anchor.

Before going out to explore, we cleaned up MerSea & then wanted to check out the restaurant on the shore. It had been open all day but by 5PM they were closing up. Bummer! It was Christmas Eve though so I forgive them for wanting to hang out with family instead of catering to us.

We dinghied back to the boat, opened a can of chicken, since we were out of fish, & made chicken tacos. Nothing fancy for a Christmas Eve but I didn’t care. We were anchored on our boat in Mexico!

On Christmas Day, it was actually dreary in the morning. We spent that time talking with family. Then we made it back to the restaurant to have a meal on the beach. Pretty lovely day.

Bahia Falsa Scenes from Bahia Falsa:

You might be asking what our end game is, after our 6 months of this voyage. Well, we will be hauling out MerSea in Puerto Penasco. We’ll do a few projects on the boat. (Not sure if we’ll stay on it while it’s on the hard or if we’ll look for a place in town to stay.) Anyway, after that, we’ll get a shuttle to help deliver us across the border with Zephyr & drop us off in Phoenix. -From where we’ll rent a car & start making our way back to Santa Cruz. Yep, this means we’re leaving MerSea in Puerto Penasco for a few months & then returning to her in autumn to put her back in the water & make our way back down the Sea of Cortez & then over to mainland Mexico.

Zephyr’s dinghy fishing photoshoot!