We have been sitting in San José del Cabo for over a month now. It is time to move on. From now on we are officially in the Sea of Cortez. We are heading to Bahia de Los Frailes. This is located either in or near the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park Zone.
We say goodbye to San José del Cabo and start our journey to Bahia de Los Frailes.
As we are leaving some whales surface near us.
It is a beautiful day for cruising. It would help if there was some wind but we are fine motoring.
Then we get to the southeast end of the Baja and we can see in the distance what looks like a shoal with waves breaking but it isn’t. It is where the winds from the Sea of Cortez meet the Pacific. As we get closer we start battening down getting ready for a rough ride. What we didn’t do is dog the hatches down. Now we are taking waves over the bow. Water is running in a constant stream down the toe rails. Lisa goes below and discovers that because the bow had been underwater the hatches in the “V” berth and the saloon had leaked all over the settee cushions. There is water everywhere. Fortunately all the electronics were safely stowed away. We dog down the hatches and continue. We have now traveled 2+ hours of our 3½ hour journey. Turning back was not an option but plowing ahead didn’t look fun. Where we had been doing 6 to 7 knots but now we were now barely making 3 knots. It would take us more than 3 hours to get to Bahia de Los Frailes. We can’t cut over close to shore as there are dangerous shoals. We finally can see Bahia de Los Frailes but we must still stay out in the weather until it is safe to turn. Finally we make the turn and head for the anchorage. We pull in and do a drive by to get the lay of the anchorage. We find a good spot and drop. The anchor doesn’t catch and we are dragging into our friends on Sail La Vie. Up with the anchor and off to find a better spot. All this time the wind is still blowing 15 knots from shore. We finally get the anchor set and turn off the engine.
We get FatDash secured for anchor and asses the damage. The “V” berth is soaked along with the saloon. We start pulling out the white terrycloth rags that we got at Costco. These are some of the best investments we have made for the boat. We get whet we can wiped up and dried out. Time for a beer and a hug.