Cabo San Lucas to La Paz

We arrived in Cabo San Lucas to be greated by a beautiful sunrise and gorgeous rocky gliffs.  After fueling and docking,  we did what anyone would do who were deprived of civilization for a week.   We sought out food and drinks.

We made land!  Lunch at Senor Frog's

Mom and Da weren't sceduled to arrive for a couple of hours,  so Justin and I set out to do errands and laundry.  The laundry facilities just happened to be beside a pool with WiFi.   Not too shabby!

We got to meet Allyson's  Aunt Steph and Uncle Dave, who went out of their way and really made our time in Cabo San Lucas special.  They took us on a tour of parts of the town we wouldn't have been able to see otherwise.  My parents sat in the cab of truck with Dave and Steph,  while the youngings  (Justin,  Allyson,  Steve,  and I ) sat in the box as per Mexican "tradition." Dave and Steph also took us to Walmart for supplies,  which cut down significantly on our prep times.   They also had us over for a lovely dinner.   We couldn't be more grateful for their generosity to fellow Maritimers.

One truck and eight people, no worries.  Best way to see Mexico right here.

Our lovely dinner at Dave and Steph's

The next day, we introduced Mom and Da to sailing.

Mom and Da's first sail on Just Dreaming

The Captain at the helm with his first mate

Mom and I up on the bow

Leaving Cabo San Lucas

Da at the helm at we leave Cabo

Mexico didn't let us down and provided lovely sunsets for Mom and Da

Sunset

After we exposed Mom and Da to a night voyage (yes thay did night shifts).  We put anchor down in Cabo Los Frailes.  Justin went snorkeling while I relaxed with my parents.  Mom and Da treated us to a lovely dinner on the boat.   We caught up on sleep and spent the next morning on the beach.

Beach in Los Frailes

Beach in Los Frailes

We set out for another 24 hour stint of sailing.  This time we had 20 knots of wind and we were pounding into the waves, which was a bit more exciting than my parents had anticipated.  But they were troopers.

Da helping Justin take the dingy motor off the dingy and store it away before we set sail

If we're up on deck, Vada is up on deck

We then made anchor just outside of La Paz in a little bay off an Island called Isla del Espiritu Santos, which is part of the national parks system in Mexico.  We made several trips to shore the night and next morning, either via kayak or dingy.

Isla del Espiritu Santos

Kayaking to shore

Our sunset in Isla del Espiritu Santos

We then had gentle sailing weather to end our last leg as we sailed into La Paz.

Kicking my parent's butts at cards

San Diego to Cabo San Lucas

We had the delight of sharing the trip from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas with Allyson and Steve Mantey.  Allyson and Steve fit right in as part of the crew and helped out significantly.   Our shifts on watch were cut in half from two 6 hr shifts to two 3 hr shifts per day.  Allyson is also quite the  cook and spoiled us with delicious meals throughout the trip.

The crew for the leg from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas enjoying one of the many great sunsets

One of the beautiful sunsets

Vada in her favourite spot

Thanks to Allyson for this photo.  We don't get many pictures together on the boat.

Steve and Allyson have their own sailing boat and we're keen to learn as they plan on making a similar voyage.

In less than a day after leaving San Diego,  we stopped in Ensenada to do customs.  Customs took most of the day.  However,  we did manage to run a few errands (beer run), grab some tacos, and run into some fellow sailors from the Vancouver area.

Leaving our mark in Ensenada

Beers, after hours of getting through custums

We made day stops in Turtle Bay and Baha Santa Maria.  We managed to end up on the wrong side of the bay in Turtle Bay and ended up sharing a few beer with local fishermen.   We didn't have any Spanish and they didn't have any English.   But we did have a long old conversation with one of the fishermen.   Justin,  Allyson, Steve, and I just had different interpretations of what the gentleman fisherman was trying to tell us.  Baha Santa Maria was even more interesting as the waves to shore were quite big and the currents quite strong.   The four of us,  plus Vada,  on our little tender surfed a wave or two into shore.  Then on our way out, we had to pound directly into the waves,  which meant we were submerged one moment and airborne the next.

Enjoying Baha Santa Maria after our interesting trip to land

The boys, most likely talking about sail boats

We also got to experience the super moon while traveling down to Cabo San Lucas.  This meant that every night was super bright leading up to and following the super moon.  The moon would rise each night, blood orange and looking more like a sun rise than a moon rise in the photos.

A couple days before the super moon

Super moon rising

For the most part,  we had beautiful, easy sailing weather from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas,  with only a few intermittent spurts of no wind.  We saw lots of dolphins and even a few seals, including one huge sealion, who jumped onto the wharf on which we docked in Ensenada and who Vada tried to stare down.

Good sailing weather

All crew up on deck

Ally getting in some yoga

And this is what my dinky camera captured.  Imagine what it was like in real life!

Vada was always where the action was

Ally trying to capture our last sun rise together on the boat

Ally treating us to some delicious breakfast

Justin and Steve as we come into Cabo

Justin at the helm as we make land

Vada excited about making land

San Diego

We arrived in San Diego again to have Justin fly out to Fort McMurray for a week of work.   At least this would be the last time for a while as I will have Justin for 7 weeks next time he flies back to the boat.   But now I have a week in San Diego with Vada.

We docked at the police wharf on Shelter Island,  which turned out to be lovely.   Shelter Island has basically one side devoted to a scenic walk along the water doted with artwork and has the other side devoted to hotels, which provided nice restaurants and free WiFi.

I didn't know much about San Diego before arrival.   It was apparent upon sailing into San Diego Harbor that there was a  high military presence in the city.  We sailed past 4 parked, active submarines.   Helicopters flew by overhead repeatedly.   I was delighted to learn that San Diego had a retired aircraft carrier that had been retrofitted as a tourist attraction.   Justin and I had been on a WW2 submarine and WW2 battleship in Pearl Harbour last summer,  and we had just got to explore a WW2 merchant marine cargo ship in San Francisco.  A WW2 aircraft carrier was the last item on our list. So I got to spend about 7 hours exploring the USS Midway.  Although the entire experience was amazing,  the best part for me was having retired veterans explain to me  about taking off / landing on aircraft carriers and hearing about their own personal experiences.

USS Midway Aircraft Carrier

Top deck of USS Midway

USS Midway from control tower

I also saw that San Diego offered such tourist attractions as Sea World and San Diego Safari Zoo, but I was hesitant to visit  these bodies as I don't support organizations associated with the  mistreatment of animals.   I had especially heard negative reviews on Sea World.   So I researched and this is what I learned.  Sea World is who you call when there is sea animal in need of help in the US and they have rescued animals in the tens of thousands over the last 60 years.  They are also recognized as world  leaders in knowledge about the treatment  of marine animals and they are consulted by aquariums worldwide.   Upon PETA's recent accusations of Sea World's mistreatment of animals, governing bodies for zoos and aquariums in the US have looked into these concerns and found nothing to support the accusations. Sea World has also discontinued their orca breading program and are in the process of converting their exhibits from the traditional aquarium  style to a more natural setting for the animals' confort.   So I had no qualms about visiting Sea World after my research.  The San Diego Safari Zoo also had good reviews due to its large enclosures and large breading program with other zoos worldwide for endangered species.   I thoroughly enjoyed both places and would recommend them to anyone.

Sealions show at Sea World

One of the rides at Sea World

Dolphin show at Sea World

Orca Show at Sea World

San Diego Safari Zoo

San Diego Safari Zoo

Cheetah run at San Diego Safari Zoo

San Diego Safari Zoo

San Diego Safari Zoo

I also treated myself to a day at the spa.  Salt water and wind does not do much good for the hair.  And the cramped quaters of the boat do contribute to cramped muscles.  I had the best message in my life.  I also spent an evening walking through the shops in the Seaside Village.

As our next stop was to be in Mexico,  I needed to take Vada to the vet for another certificate of health.  Vada also had her teeth cleaned, which significantly improved her breath.

The week in San Diego ended with me finally meeting our traveling companions for the next leg of our journey,  Allyson and Steve Manteo.   We clicked right away and finished prepping the boat together.   Now for Mexico. ........

San Francisco to San Diego

So after a brief bit of site seeing squeezed in before we left it was on to San Diego. This turned out to be a rather relaxing trip with winds so light we had to run the engine alot to make sure we reached San Diego in time for my flight back to work. We did get some great sunsets though and were able to enjoy a nice meal seeings as the boat was not healing over and pounding to weather.

Loree steering us out of a very foggy San Fran

Eeerriiee view of the city of San Fran through the evening fog

Alcatrax looking foreboding

Under the Golden Gate Bridge glowing gold with light in the gloom

Justin at the helm heading off into the night

Nice relaxing dinner on the boat. Note the chair on the left is fixed

Sunset

Coming into to San Diego

Loree steering us into the San Diego

Vada looks happy I think she can smell land