We Made It To Cabo!: December 3rd - 7th, 2023
Leaving Bahia Magdalena.
The power on our boat is slowly dying & I need to get this out. So any thoughtful words that I’d like to put at the beginning of this blog will just have to stay as thoughts inside my head.
We left Bahia Magdalena around 2PM. We hoped that this would put us in Cabo right after the sun came up a day & a half later.
Little did we know that the sailing conditions would be amazing & we would be speeding down the coast a lot faster than we had anticipated.
Pacific Bonito!
The next day was more of the same. -Just more wind. It sort of died & then really picked up, Matt reefed the Genoa half way. And we still got up to 7-8 knots. So crazy! Unfortunately as the evening approached, the waves started getting larger & choppier. Not exactly comfortable but not too horrible. I couldn’t sleep though. We were approaching the end of the world. -Really just the end of Baja. But it was so exciting. I stayed up & watched as we finally had to motor around the tip of Baja California. The sparkling lights were so beautiful! It was the biggest city really that we’ve encountered on our whole trip. We got into Cabo San Lucas Bay at 3AM, anchored in the mess that is like a washing machine & went to bed.
Coming around to Cabo San Lucas at 3AM in the morning!
After sleeping a few hours & getting settled, we charged stuff & talked to friends & family.
My mom has a friend who grew up with a guy that works now in Cabo. So we got his information & called him. He, Benny, was working but he had a friend, Carlos, who ran a panga business who could pick us up. So nice of him!
Carlos picked us up & took us to the marina. We walked along the shops & restaurants & then onto the beach. We had lunch at The Office. And then went to get some groceries. Big outing for our first day in Cabo!
Visiting Cabo for the first time in our home!
Lunch at The Office!
The following day it was a bit calmer. So we rode our own dinghy to the dock. We were able to get rid of our garbage & Matt was able to fill up our water tanks. We found a highly recommended laundry to take all of our dirty clothes to. And then we walked back over to the beachfront again.
So lovely to walk barefoot in the sand along the shore. We stopped at The Hungry Shark restaurant for lunch. -Some of the most excellent food I’ve ever had. We then wandered around some more, picked up our laundry & went back to our boat.
What a fun day! Carlos came by in his panga to take us to see the arch. Unfortunately right now I’m realizing that I only took video & didn’t take any photos. So you will have to wait a few weeks to see that footage.
We then stopped & got to go snorkeling at Pelican Point. Even though it was on the crowded side, it was still impressive & there were a ton of different types of fish. I think that was the first time I went snorkeling on this voyage. It had just been too cold until this point. And I did eventually get chilly after about a half hour. I was wearing a neoprene top but it was December.
He took us back to our boat & then we changed & took the dinghy to the marina to have lunch with Benny at Fisherman’s! Benny is an awesome guy! He is the same age as me & his birthday is also in December. How fun is that?! Oh & he & I both agree that the grunge era of music is the best! So cool!
He had to get back to work after we ate so Matt & I then checked outa fabulous West Marine like store. Where we bought a ton of “necessary” supplies!
Our new friend, Benny!
Wednesday morning we woke up & I notice outside our porthole that there was Godzilla! Actually it was a huge cruise ship coming into the bay & anchoring itself about 50 yards away from our boat! Kind of gnarly. I trusted that Disney had the money to invest in a good anchor. Or at least I convinced myself of that so we could go out & enjoy our day.
It was our last full day in Cabo. I wanted to go to the restaurant at the resort we were supposed to stay at during my 50th birthday. -Which went unfulfilled due to Delta Airlines canceling their flight during a holiday Covid-spike.
Why yes, that is a Disney cruise ship outside our porthole!
We started walking to Solmar. However, Matt needed to use a restroom. He asked a guy where he could find one. And the guy, Gabriel, said that he had one in his store. -Which happened to be a pharmacy. But a legit pharmacy. Since we were at the pharmacy, Matt thought he would check to see if they had any Scopolamine. -The anti-seasick drug that is prescription only. Matt was getting low on it. Unfortunately, it turns out that Mexico doesn’t carry it in their pharmacies. So, instead of just walking out the door, Gabriel said that wanted to take us to his jewelry shop. Usually I would have grabbed Matt’s arm & made a run for it but I had wanted to look for some local jewelry. -I was thinking the handmade type. However, Gabriel’s store was for the more sophisticated jewelry shopper. I could appreciate how beautiful it all was.But since we don’t make a million dollars a year, I thought I would pass. I mean I found a gorgeous silver necklace, which of course didn’t have a price tag on it, that turned out to be over $800! And of course he kept asking Matt, “Isn’t she worth it though?”. I put my foot down & told Gabriel that I would not let my husband spend $800 on a necklace for me. I told him that the only thing I really want is a bigger boat & if we start spending money like this on things like this we would never get there. So he took us to his other jewelry store that sold items that were a little closer to our price range. There was a similar necklace there but it was smaller & more simple. He wanted “only” $500 for that one. I started walking away & said that we wouldn’t pay more than $150 for it. In the end I got it for under $200. Still a lot, but I do love it. Now it just has to be warm enough again for me to wear something nice at night that doesn’t cover up my neck!
Afterwards, we finally walked up the hill & made it to the Solmar Resort. It’s beautiful!
We sat down for lunch overlooking the more turbulent Pacific Ocean. -Which we actually haven’t seen since. On the other hand, we are at an anchorage in the Sea of Cortez as I write this, & it’s pretty rocky & rolly.
After lunch we gave ourselves a tour of the place & then went back downtown to a cool pottery shop. They had some lovely stuff but all breakable & not the most ideal for bringing onto a boat.
Next we got back in our dinghy & cruised around the harbor & looked at all the super yachts.
When we got back to our boat, Matt noticed that our rocker stopper had fallen off. Ugh! It was almost dark. So we would have to wait until morning when it was light enough for Matt to dive down somewhere in the huge circumference that was our anchor circle.
Solmar Resort
Before we took off for San Jose Del Cabo, Matt traced the outer circle from our anchor alarm & dove down & found our rocker stopper! Very thankful! Those things aren’t exactly cheap.
It’s so amazing that I have been to Cabo a few times & that I never dreamed I would one day visit with the love of my life on our boat! It hasn’t been easy to get this far but so worth it & pretty magical!
Snuggle buddies.
Thanks for reading! Join us next week for another segment of our ongoing saga of a voyage! Remember that most mean people are just having a bad day. Smile at them & see if that helps or if they really are just assholes.
