Escaping Cabo
After 800 miles of rugged coastline, it was exciting to reach the end of the Baja peninsula and be back in the fully civilized world. But after two days, we could hardly wait to get out of there.
After nearly 800 miles of rugged coastline, it was exciting to reach the end of the Baja Peninsula and overwhelming to return to the fully civilized world. We found an anchoring spot and went to town to celebrate. However, after two days, the good feelings and energy boost we got from traveling that far started to evaporate. Cabo was quite annoying, and we could not wait to get out of there. We just needed the right weather.
The day after we arrived, we went ashore to complete formalities and get some fresh food, especially veggies and fruits. We had to first locate the local Port Authority office (API), which is situated in a completely unmarked building. If not for help from other cruisers, we would have had a hard time locating it. We paid our anchorage fee, and with the printed and stamped receipt, marched to the Port Captain’s office. As is typical in Mexico, the Port Captain is located far away from the shore. This time, it was a one-mile walk into town. But we managed to complete the check-in in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, we were unable to check out at the same time. On the way to and from those offices, we had to pass through the “tourist zone” around the marina. It is a big boardwalk surrounding the marina occupied by restaurants and vendors. People are trying to sell you whatever they can - souvenirs, hats, boat trips, fishing trips, inland trips, swimming with dolphins, flying, and who knows what else. It is extremely difficult to walk through all this.
The second objective was to get fresh groceries. We took an Uber to a local Soriana hipermercado. This was a good choice, as they have the largest selection of food we have seen so far in Mexico, including many products that we could not find elsewhere - natural and non-sweetened yogurt, high-quality cold meats, and good cheeses. Resupplied, we took another Uber back to the marina and to our dinghy. On a positive note, it turns out that if you are walking with huge grocery bags through the marina boardwalk, the vendors leave you alone.
Upon returning to the boat, our anchor alarm was on. We could have moved just a bit, or we could have had our anchor position not marked perfectly, but since we were anchored on a downward slope, we decided to re-anchor. Unfortunately, the anchorage was quite full, and the only spot we could find was closer to the shore, which meant being closer to all the noise and entertainment from the hotels and clubs. And the jet-ski parking. Oh, well. We had free music, but there was no option to turn it off.
In the evening, we hosted folks from s/v Fly Aweigh and s/v Misty - it was a great evening of catching up and meeting new people.
The following day, things turned worse. Throughout the night, we had a large swell rolling into the bay, and the wind shifted from NE to SE, pushing us toward the shore. The seas really built up, making the boat roll in all possible directions. We reached the point where we started to feel seasick. On an anchored boat! This was really the worst anchorage we had in the whole Baja trip. Earlier, we had planned to go ashore, but we decided not to leave the boat in those conditions and risk the dinghy ride in the rolling seas. So, we spent the day sitting in a rolly anchorage, worried about being on a lee shore, with music blasting from the club behind us, jet skiers going around the boat all day, and not keen on going ashore to be assaulted again by all the vendors. We were still grateful for catching up with other boaters here and for having made it so far. But we wanted to move on.
Plans were made to leave Cabo and sail directly to Banderas Bay as soon as the conditions improved. We got lucky to have a company. Our friends from s/v Fly Aweigh were going in the same direction, and we agreed to buddy boat. This would be the first time for us to do that.
The last day in Cabo was somehow better. We took a long walk along the beach and ended up far from the noisiest bars, in an area with only a few hotels and a handful of people. We appreciated the best that Cabo has to offer - water, sun, and sand. Cabo’s beach is truly beautiful. On the way back, we ventured into one of the hotels and wanted to buy some water, but got denied because we had no hotel bracelets. Well, we stepped outside and found a small stand where all the hotel workers were buying snacks and drinks, and got our water there. We walked on dirt roads behind the hotels and took a local bus - a converted US school bus - back to the marina. It was a stark contrast between the glitzy hotel fronts facing the bay and the dirt-road pedestrian side, reminiscent of the fishing villages we had seen. This was true of Cabo's experience, not what was portrayed in the brochures.
On Saturday, Feb 5th, we lifted anchor and left at around 10 am. This would be the longest passage for us – 2 nights at sea. After gaining experience down the Baja coast, we wanted to try a longer stretch. Plus, we had a company. We imagined buddy boating as staying somewhat apart and just being able to communicate over VHF. However, we managed to stay relatively close for the entire trip, sometimes just a mile apart. Turned out that our 46-foot monohull and their 39-foot catamaran had quite matching speeds. They were faster in lighter winds, but we could catch up when the winds picked up, so all in all, this has averaged out. It was great to see each other all the time and chat, especially during the night.
After motoring for several hours on the first day, the winds picked up and we sailed all the way to Banderas Bay. The Sunday sailing was excellent - broad reaching in 10-15 knots, all sails up and eating miles. In the night, the winds increased to the high teens, gusting to 20. We reefed down and changed the genoa to a jib and were still making the same speed. The increased winds created short, steep waves coming from the side, making it hard to do anything, including sleeping. We took turns taking naps in the cockpit and shortened the watches, and somehow managed to get through that.
We got to see the bioluminescence for the first time. Waves were breaking under the boat and streaming out with little lights looking like fireflies in the water. And you can see dolphins moving through the water, leaving a stream of light! Quite magical. The land seems different from Baja and smells different. We are a few hours away from docking in a marina for the first time in 3 weeks. We hope to still remember how to do it. Looking forward to getting some rest.
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Cabo
Passage to Banderas Bay
