Sunday, November 8, 2009

Safe and Sound in Cabo San Lucas

We arrived in Cabo San Lucas on Friday morning at approx. 8 a.m. It was a beautiful site seeing the famous arch in the morning sunshine. It is definitely warmer here.

We are anchored along the main beach just outside the marina and it's been pleasant, although a bit noisy. Pangas (water taxis) and jetskis go by from early in the a.m. until after dark, and music from the beachside restaurants goes on pretty much all day and night. Still, it's a bit surreal being here under anchor. Am feeling incredibly fortunate to be able to be doing this.

Friday morning, while Michael and our crew went to the immigration office to report in, the kids did some schooling and I cleaned the boat after 8 days at sea. We then hopped on our dinghy to head ashore for the Baha Haha beach party after which we enjoyed Shabbat dinner - meat and potato stew and salad. Didn't have enough time to make challah this week.

Saturday morning we loaded our 8 loads of laundry onto our dinghy - weren't sure we'd stay afloat - and headed to shore for the laundromat. We managed to find one a couple of blocks in from the marina where things are not so pricey and found one where they do the laundry for you. In this heat, it would have been torture spending 3 hours inside a heated laundromat. We walked along the marina and through the streets but ended up vegging at a restaurant until our laundry was done. Saturday evening was the final event of the Haha - rewards were given out to all the boats that finished the rally and one that did not - the JWorld boat that sank due to being hit by a whale. The boat's captain had flown down to Cabo and told her story to the awe-struck crowd. It turns out that the boat had not been attacked at all, but rather sailed in the middle of a pod of whales. The swells were pretty big, and going down on one of them, the boat's keel hit one of the whales and tore right off leaving a gaping hole in the hull. After bailing water for 40 minutes, the crew decided to abandon the boat, which sank shortly afterward. The US Coast Guard was summoned via their EPIRB, and rescued them a couple of hours later. The crew, it turns out, were on an offshore sailing course - what an initiation!

Today was a fabulous one. We started out with school while Michael and our crew attended to more trouble shooting - a slow leak in our water maker which may need re-plumbing. The kids then swam around and under the boat (between the hulls). We then took a water taxi to Pelican Beach, almost at the Cabo point/arch, where we snorkeled for several hours. It was like swimming in an aquarium.

We said goodbye to one of our crew, Caren Edwards, tonight. We will miss her as she was an incredible source of wisdom and advice for us as we prepared for our trip - she sailed with her family for five years, and is from the Bay area. Danielle and she got along incredibly well, and not just because of her swimming stamina. Our other crew, Mark McNulty, will stay with us until we get to La Paz (and perhaps longer?). He has become Harrison's buddy, as they play on boat building computer programs together, do boat repairs, and just hang.

We will attend to more boat maintenance tomorrow and leave for La Paz the day after (Tuesday). Signing off from Cabo.

5 comments:

  1. What an amazing adventure already. Just watch out for whales! We are all living vicariously through you so keep up the great blogging!

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  2. So - you are really doing this! We're completely in awe! I just had two slices of Challa in your honor (Challa is an important Motif in your blog).
    I'm helping Adi out with Bible and Citizenship assignments as she needs some catching up to do. We are also taking a mother-daughter Bat-Mitzvah preparation class, whose topic is great women now and then. Today we are going to lead class. We prepared an activity about Naomi Shemer, the famous Israeli Song writer (Od Lo Ahavti Dai, Hakol Patuach, Jerusalem Shel Zahav).
    Keep having fun! I loved reading your posts.
    Hugs to all of you!

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  3. Sounds like I remember cruising. As you know we spent three years on our boat in the Carribbean. The boat projects start to slow down as you get the boat sorted out. Then more time for fun. Given the size of your crew, I'm interested to see how you handle the laundry issue. We had a washer dryer and it was running almost every day, and there were only two of us. In some of the more remote places, there is no laundromat. The good news is as you get more tropical, you wear less clothes.

    Matt

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  4. Hi Barb et al...
    Thanks for all the details. Glad that the fun and excitement continues and that school is good.
    Suggestion for laundry(from early days in Lac Long): try keeping a bucket of slightly soapy water (can even reuse for a few days) each evening to rinse out all your underwear and lighter tops, and another for rinsing (pre-rinse really soiled clothes in ocean)- what else does a mother think of...
    Keep well...lots of love... keep enjoying...

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  5. Well...did I tell ya...did I tell ya...getting there is half the fun...but being there is all of the fun.

    Dos tequila por favor.

    PS...don't forget to get the T-shirt and for sure don't leave your panties behind (no pun intended)... Read More

    http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=725238

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