2/24/15

We got a delicious breakfast this morning at a cafe then we wanted to get everything planned out for our day tomorrow. We are going with Paul's parents to take a nice boat to the island and go swim with sea lions, kayak and snorkel in all the little coves that have the aquamarine water. It is a big boat too so Oliver should be good. We went to the farmers market again and got some organic fruits and veggies and went to the regular grocery store for cheese and what not. Then we hung out in this beautiful park that was right in front of an old church and watched the people go about their day. We ended up relaxing most of the afternoon, Oliver took a nap and then we went to get appetizers and drinks at a new place we had never been before. When we went back to the boat it was really windy which was forecasted but not much fun to ride in the dingy because you get all wet trying to get through the waves.

I've been meaning to write about how La Paz, where we are, has a radio type net for cruisers. They do the weather, tides, any new arrivals or departures and they answer questions and what not. Paul finally got on there and announced that we were here and that he was a chiropractor if anyone needed his help. In Mexico you can't make any money so everything on there is for trade or 'coconuts' which is funny but it gets the job done. Everyone is so helpful and seems to be looking out for one another which is nice. 

2/25/15

It is really windy all night and into this morning. I didn't sleep too good because I was worried about dragging anchor, which is funny because it is usually Paul losing sleep. We didn't but it was loud and the boat was creaking. We were supposed to go to Isla Espiritu but when we got to the hotel the driver came to say it was cancelled because of the wind so we would go tomorrow. Paul and his parents decided pretty quickly they wanted to go to Todos Santos which had an art festival going on and is supposed to be really beautiful. It is on the pacific side so they were going to take a bus one hour to go over there. I decided to stay behind and have a day for myself. I hung out and tried to catch up on some emails before heading to the Sam's Club. I was told they had a Costco so I skipped the one in Cabo but then we got here and they only have a Sam's Club. I hate to support that company but we need a lot of a few things (bars, cereal) so this is going to have to do. I decided to try the city bus. Once I found the bus stop (it took me asking about 15 buses to find the one that went that way) it was under $1 to ride which is better than a $8 cab ride. We are always trying to save a little where we can. So after a half hour or so we got to my stop which was by a lot of shopping but I was on a mission so I only went to the big store. I don't have a membership but I figured I would figure it out when I got there. They didn't have anyone at the front door so I just walked in and got my stuff when I got to the checkout I told the guy I don't have a membership card and he went off to find someone and in the mean time this guy came over who had just checked out and said here use mine so that was awesome. Then I had to figure out how to get back, anyone who has ever been to one of those box stores knows you can't possibly carry any of that. So I found a taxi across the street and loaded it up. He took me straight to the dinghy dock so that was awesome. 

I stopped by my friends boat on the way out, they have a spot at the dock, we are anchored and asked if she wanted to go have a girls afternoon which she did. So after I dropped all my junk off I came back to meet her and we walked all around La Paz and went in the different stores. She even took me to an English bookstore where I got Oliver a few books. It was really cute, this couple from Washington just came down and never left. Then we got a few Margaritas and since the sun was going down I figured I better check and see if my family was back but they weren't at the hotel yet so as we were going to find another spot to have another drink we ran into them. I said goodbye and ew planned to meet up with her and her husband a little later for supper. Guess what we had? You know, it was very good and fun to try a new spot. Oliver played in the parking lot out back with some other little boy. I just love that everything is open since there aren't hardly any bugs and it's warm day and night. 

Part of the farmer market they have Tues and Sat

Oliver and his friend at the park

Giving Oliver a haircut

Swinging on the boardwalk

Dinner with other cruising couple (Christine and Erik) and Paul's folks

Oliver taking a picture of me at dinner

Oliver playing in the parking lot with buddy during dinner

2/26/15

Today is the day we head to the Isla Espiritu and I have diarrhea, we were joking about having it on the boat and how back that would suck and of course it happens to me. Still was a good day but spent some time in the boats bathroom, yuck.

We got picked up at Paul's parents hotel around 915am and after picking up a few other people we headed to the boat. Of course it looked nothing like they told us it would be but it was fine. It's just funny how relaxed they are down here. They take a lot more personal responsibility then we do in the states. I like it. There are so many sidewalks and things that seem dangerous but if you fall it's your fault, no one us suing anybody. 

Anyways…we leave and it's supposed to be about an hour and a half ride and not even 15 minutes into it the engine starts pouring smoke out the back so we have to stop. I am thinking great they are going to have to cancel today and it's Paul's parents last day to do this, arch. But no we just keep going, a lot slower, with one engine. 

We got to one of the coves and it is just like Balandra Beach with the aquamarine water but a lot deeper. We got our snorkel stuff and jumped in. Paul took Oliver in the kayak first. We weren't too worried because we figure we will just come back on our sailboat later. There was a lot of coral and of course tropical fish. I was surprised I thought there wasn't any coral left and there wasn't a ton but much more than I expected. It was a lot of fun and so beautiful. I got a little cold so I didn't stay in too long but everyone else went all over. 

During lunch we saw a humpback whale and a lot of dolphins. The captain decided to take us out to motor around the dolphins since they love swimming in the wakes. It was awesome. There had to be a few hundred of them in that pod and a lot of babies. Just to see them out there jumping and having fun in the wild never gets old. I got some good video but haven't quite figured all that out on the blog yet. Again…what do I do all day?!

Then we took off to swim with sea lions. We knew we couldn't go to the original place because of the engine but there was another. When we pulled up it smelt so bad. I think there were a hundred or so on the little island but most of the babies and moms got in the water right when we pulled up and swam to the other side. I let Paul go first since this guy said that this colony wasn't as used to swimming with people and they are still wild. So he went out with his parents and I took Oliver on the kayak. Once I got in I was pumped I was trying to swim up to them and spin around so they could tell I wanted to play (which I was told to do by another cruiser) well one of them came up to me and chomped his/her teeth down in my face and I was like maybe not. After that I was much more reserved but it was a lot of fun, they were super close. They would come out of nowhere and scare us half to death. I will definitely do it again once we are anchored at the island. Paul's mom, Connie told me that while we were out with the sea lions Oliver told the captain, "what a wonderful day". Cracked us up.

I almost forgot, Oliver came over after lunch after he had just been playing around on the back of the boat by himself (we were anchored) and he said, "I pooped on the boat." Then he just started talking about something else, I was like back up a minute and sure enough we look at the back of the boat and he had just pooped on the deck, a big old pile. I quickly ran back there and used the fin to scoop it up and throw it in the water. He was wearing a wetsuit and it was too big so it just fell right out his leg. Oliver pooped on boat and came over to tell me, had on wet suit that was too big so it just fell out. Paul's mom, 

When we got back we had them out on the boat for dinner and drinks, it was a great day.

Kayaking at the island

Oliver kayaking with Oma and Grandpamp

Dolphins

More dolphins playing around

Dolphins by the boat

Sea lion island/rock

After swimming with sea lions

2/27/15

I guess it is good we aren't on vacation since we (kind of) wasted another 3 hours looking for whale sharks this morning. It was only kind of a waste because we did have a great time with our friends from another boat and Oliver was awesome the whole time. Christine and I got in the water to try to swim with the dolphins that were all around but they didn't want anything to do with us. We got in a second time when a panga had their crew get in because they saw one but we didn't get to it in time. Then Oliver and I took an awesome nap while Paul did his boat stuff he needs to do before we leave. His parents were here all week, they left this morning so we had a great week with them exploring La Paz and hanging out. Paul still has probably a few days worth of stuff he wants to do before we can leave here and start exploring the island and what not. I think they said they leave around the end of feb so we may just miss them, I hope not I really want to get in and see them. I guess they are like gigantic carp fish lol.

sorry if lots of grammatical errors, I am sure you get the gist I was in a hurry

2/21/15

There are so many boats here. It is mostly sailboats too where in Cabo it was more powerboats. They have it set up so nice for cruisers. Right off the dinghy dock there is trash and laundry, you can also buy a shower which you know I love!

I saw a Minnesota license plate down here, wow.

We had guests on the boat and made them supper, tacos of course. It was really nice just sitting out there all peaceful and calm as the sun went down. We walked them back and hung out for a bit before heading back to the boat to sleep. 

2/22/15

We got up early today to try to go look for whale sharks. For those of you, like me, who have never heard of a whale shark it is actually a fish but they are like 30-50 feet long and can be 47,000 pounds…yeah huge. They are all over on this one part of this peninsula called a Mogote, our boat is on the other side so we used to dinghy to go around. We were out there for like 3.5 hours and didn't find any. We did get really close to dolphins, we probably could've swam with them but that was not what we were looking for. We also saw a few manta rays jump out of the water which was fun to see. We know they were out there because there were a lot of people in the water from the guys who sell whale shark tours but they weren't giving us any love. By no love I mean one told us we were going to get a $5000 fee if we didn't have a permit, he was nice, then the other guy just tried to wave us off all pissed. We are going to find out if that is true or not. If we can we'll try again in another day or two. We stopped half way and wondered around on the beach and found a few dead puffer fish, I guess they just don't sink when they die like other fish that's why we keep finding them. Oliver fell asleep in the dinghy when we were on our way back he was so bored (picture below), it was good though he will probably be good the rest of the day.

After that we did some laundry while we had lunch (fish tacos duh) and then walked to this carnival they were having. Oliver went on a few rides and we got some ice cream. I am surprised by how socially acceptable it is to litter down here. I mean we got to the fair a little late (like 1pm) and there was trash all over the place. People just get a taco or whatever and then throw their plate and cup right where they finished. I can't do it and it's just gross I don't know why they want to. 

After that we were exhausted so we just laid around for awhile before getting more food and going back to the boat to sleep.

2/23/15

We went to Balandra beach today which is like the cover of every magazine you have ever seen with crystal clear water and mostly empty. The water doesn't get deeper than 3 feet unless you go way way out from the beach. Not good snorkeling, we tried to go to the other side to the blue and therefore deeper water but it wasn't as clear on the other side. We spent like 5 or 6 hours there and then were supposed to meet our sailing friends for dinner but decided to just lay around instead. 

Panorama of view from boat in La Paz (one side)

Oliver passed out on the dinghy ride

Street fair

Oliver playing with Mexican kids, you don't need to speak the same language to have fun

Most beautiful water (so far)

Balandra beach

Panorama of Balandra beach

2/16/15

We left Cabo on 2/15 about 2pm and had some wind so we were able to sail the whole night. I gave Paul a little nap around 9pm and then at 1am Paul heaved to, which is to make the boat stay in place so he could sleep and we could wait for the sun to come up to go the remaining 4 miles to Los Frailes. Oliver and I got up at 6am and right away we saw a lot of whales around us. Then after a bit we saw a big whale not more than 20 feet off the boat, it was amazing. Little did I know that only a few minutes later I got to see a complete breech of a humpback whale. It was breathtaking! It was just like you see on tv, the straight jump out then the twist before falling back in. The only reason I know it was a humpback is because of the white fins and shape of the back (we have a whale identifier card, I am no expert). 

I am bummed there are no other boats here. We are planning on staying here until tomorrow night and then moving on. The main reason we wanted to stop is because there is a reef to snorkel. It is very desolate but there are trailers on the beach and Paul thinks they are probably Americans. 

Well indeed some of them were, we got to talk to a few couples this morning. We also collected a lot of wood pieces so we can have a little beach fire tonight. At low tide all the rocks were exposed near the reef so we walk along them, there were hundreds of crabs. Some of them were like big spiders, which grossed me out but some of them were pretty big, like the size of my hand, maybe a little bigger. Their skin is like a frog, all different colored and shiny, it's pretty beautiful. Nothing like the red crab that comes to my mind when I think of that word. The sand here is mostly little rocks, like the playgrounds growing up, so not very comfortable to walk on. We did manage to find some smooth sand down the beach which was much better for playing in.

After nap we headed back to the beach for a walk. We also saw another humpback breech, this must be the spot. We collected enough driftwood to have a fire so after our beach walk we started the fire and the people we met came over and we sat around the fire sharing stories, they are very well traveled so it was fun to hear what they had to say. After the fire was out we had to get back to the boat (obviously) and we did not bring a light and the clouds covered any sort of light from the sky, smart I know. We basically had to guess if a wave was coming and just tell Oliver to hold on while we quickly tried to push the dinghy in the water and get the engine started. We both got wet up to our waists which wasn't too bad considering we could've easily tipped the thing. The bioluminescence in the water, which are tiny plankton that glow like lightening bugs in the water when they are disturbed, totally distracted me from being all wet on the ride back. We saw them in California but those were more gold colored and red where these were bright white, it was really cool.

                                      

Waiting for pancakes

Our lonely boat in Los Frailes

Los Frailes panorama

Half melted popsicle

We caught 3 of these fish in 1.5 hours, probably the same one

2/17/15

This morning I woke up hoping to maybe get a picture (or 100) of whales breeching but I didn't even see a spray. Then I ruined my whole morning by making pico de gallo. How you ask. Well I am not sure if it was the lime or the jalapeno pepper that stuck to my hand like it was a part of me but I couldn't do anything without burning. I washed my hands a few times after making it and still when I went to lick my finger my lips immediately started burning and didn't stop for at least 15 minutes. How do people enjoy to eat things so hot?! I even had an ice cube and that only helped when it was on my lips, it didn't take 15 seconds if I removed the cube for them to start burning again. So I washed my hands a few more times. Then a little bit later went to the bathroom and lo and behold my V felt like it was burning, laugh it up, lucky for me it wasn't near as bad and didn't last as long as my lips. Again, naturally I washed my hands a few times but the stuff just wouldn't come off. Now I am sure their is some trick I am unaware of and would've googled it had I had the internet but I don't so I am like a caveman out here. We were going to go snorkeling so I went to put my contacts in…yep, burning eyes it was so bad Paul ended up having to put in my contacts for me.
Paul went snorkeling by himself for awhile while Oliver and I hung out on the boat then when he came back I put on my wet suit and we went over. I couldn't even let go of the boat. I am such a wuss now about open ocean swimming, and this was in like 10-15 feet of water near rocks. Ever since I had Oliver I am so afraid of things I never used to be afraid of. I get that this is probably natures way of making me look out for myself since I have someone to look out for but it bums me out sometimes. So I held onto the boat and put on my snorkel stuff and looked around and I still saw a lot of fish but yeah, I am a wuss. Anyway Paul took a lot of videos which I will try to post, it is so tropical, all these different colorful fish. He even saw a few puffer fish, which are poisonous, and he said they would just look at him like "yeah come on over", not scared at all, it was funny.

Then we just hiked around this sand hill and collected random things. Paul also showed Oliver how to use a magnifying glass to burn his name into a stick, very cool.

2/17-2/18/15

We left Los Fraillas at around 8pm to head for Bahia de los Muertes. There was a lot of wind coming straight at us so it was really, really rough. Oliver and I laid in the v-birth, I was nauseated and took dramamine and Oliver was able to fall asleep but not for long. We had to tack (which is going back and forth along the coast in a z formation so we could catch the wind) so we had to go from one side of the v birth to the other. The waves were still crashing over the whole front of the boat and the window and hatch were leaking so I had to move a lot of our books and put towels down. It was not fun at all. I asked Paul a few times if we were safe because when you are going upwind it just feels and sounds so much scarier, even if it's the same amount of wind. We were also going up and down like some kids ride, which isn't bad for a few minutes but not for hours on end, it is miserable. I
couldn't sleep long and neither could Oliver, he was a little scared too so if I did fall asleep he would end up waking me up making sure I was right there to hold him. The first time he woke up he said, 'this is not a fun ride', I was like yeah I know. When Paul and I switched out I was still so tired and  of course he was too. It was still rough but you don't feel it so much when you are in the cockpit so I stayed on it for a few hours before the wind changed and the sails flung around so fast the autopilot didn't know what was going on so it was alarming saying we were off course and I had to wake up Paul to help me get it back on course, he said the same thing had happened to him once and he didn't know why…that is reassuring. So the wind never died down past 14 knots but mostly stayed at 19-20. When we got a little closer to land it seemed to be less windy so I told Paul I thought we should try to stay closer to land, like 5 miles off, and motor otherwise we were going to end up sailing until night. We eventually got to Bahia de los Muertos around 230pm only because we motored. It took us 18
 hours and most of it was pretty miserable even Paul admitted to that. Once we got anchored we were able to relax a little before cleaning up. The boat gets trashed when we are sailing in rough conditions. You can't cook so all you eat are pb and j and bars, fruit, quick stuff and since the boat is going from side to side all the cushions, some loose bags, clothes, rations go flying all over the place. We ended up keeping Oliver in the v birth nearly the whole trip which he mostly slept since it was night but during the day we just watched these videos we got that teach him shapes, letters, numbers, ect he likes them and since he doesn't get to watch them very much he is always happy to veg out. 

We didn't even put the dinghy in the water, I wanted to get off the boat but Paul didn't he was too tired and I was too tired to argue. So we hung out and played until bedtime. If the wind dies down tonight, which it hasn't all day, we will leave otherwise we will tomorrow evening to try to make it to La Paz which is hopefully where we will stay for awhile. I heard you can swim with whale sharks up there so I am really looking forward to that.

Only other boat in Bahia de los Muertos

2/19/15

I am so relieved, we made it to La Paz tonight. We decided last night that if we woke up and there was no wind we would leave but still at midnight it was windy so we kept sleeping. When Oliver and I woke up around 630 I could hear no wind so I quickly said to Paul, 'should we go?" He said yes so we packed up quick and hit the sea by 7am, We weren't sure if we would be able to make it to La Paz by dark but as we got closer we thought we would make it. We were able to sail most of the way too which was nice. Then when we were only a few hours away Paul started thinking we weren't going to make it and I was so pissed I was yelling that not 15 min ago he said it shouldn't be a problem and Oliver and I have to get off of this boat so if we anchor tonight we were getting off the boat, I can't stay on it another day and do more sailing tomorrow. So I think he figured we better try and we did and it worked out and I apologized for yelling. This was a pretty good sail, light enough winds where we weren't rocking all over the place but enough to keep us moving around 4-6 knots. I just get so restless and so does Oliver, he wants to run. He will be jumping from couch cushion to couch cushion and it's hard to be mad when you know he just needs to get out that big muscle energy that's all pent up. It is easier to play with him on the calm sailing days too so then he doesn't have to watch any videos. Anyways, we made it and I am so glad. We are out of all produce besides a few apples so we need to get some groceries and clean up this place tomorrow. I am excited to explore and just to know we will be here for awhile, I get a break from the water. When it is calm it is like living in a really, really small house but when we are sailing and it is rough it is like living on a bouncy ride from hell.

Pulling into La Paz

Park in La Paz first day

2/15/15
I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!! We just checked out of the hotel and played in the marina pool before a great dinner. Pretty mellow.
We are going to leave Cabo today and head to Los Frailes and then towards La Paz. After 9 days I am more than ready to get out of this place. I may not have internet so I will catch you all up when we get there.

12/13/15

Well now I am sitting at Starbucks (weird) because Paul wants to get a slip because it is so bad out there and has been having trouble getting ahold of them. So I just talked to a guy and he said yeah we have one radio 88 not 16 like we are used to, that is surely the problem. Paul gets emails intermittently out there so we are just waiting to hear from him. I feel bad. We decided to get a hotel today to wait this thing out and now the seas are super rough and he is out there by himself (he wanted to go back out there for awhile to make sure everything was ok). Don't get me wrong I don't think this is anything life threatening but it is a pain in the a no doubt and I wish I could be there to help him even though it would be a nightmare out there with Oliver right now. We went to the beach and made some friends and I saw the waves crashing on the beach and I could see our boat, I even saw Paul walk to the bow (with no life jacket on!), but it didn't look that bad. Then I get back to the hotel and get his emails about wanting to get a slip and worried it could get worse tonight. Ugh, I wish there was more I could do the people wouldn't let me use their radio to call him.
Ok so after sitting in the Starbucks for an hour or so, I didn't hear anything and I found one of the marina guys to let me use his radio to try to call Paul. He didn't answer. So after going back to Starbucks again and seeing nothing from Paul I decided to head back to the hotel. It was dark, Oliver needed to go to bed, and I hadn't heard anything from Paul anyways. Guess who was there? Yep, Paul. He had found someone on the radio to help him get in touch with the Marina so he could get a slip. Then he was able to get the anchor up and get the boat into the slip singlehanded. It usually takes the two of us on a calm day so I was pretty proud of him. I teased him that now I wasn't going to help anymore. Anyways, we will see what the weather does tomorrow and hopefully get out of Cabo sooner than later.

Killing time

Paul is the boat on the left, it doesn't look that bad from the picture

(I am with the orange parachute, ha)

I can't see why you would bring a truck from that far?!

Oliver and I just walking around

2/11/15

We woke up at 1am to leave and some of our gauges weren't working so paul tinkered a little but didn't know so we went back to bed. After doing something we were able to leave at 8am which ended up being stupid because we were already cutting it close to make it before dark. We should've just stayed anther day. And we were going into the wind so going super slow until we decided to tack which is going back and forth so we got help from the wind but had to go off course. 

So we did one tack which was good but then when we tacked back toward the shore it was really rough and we were barely moving. I was not happy and we certainly weren't going to make it by sundown so we turned back to Cabo. We will stay there another day or two and leave at night. It is so hard with Oliver restless and I get that way too. So we just took a day sail for nothing we are back in Cabo and will probably leave tomorrow. I am not happy to be here or to have spent all day on the boat in mostly crappy conditions.

2/12/15

So here I am back in Starbucks. Needless to say this sucks. Yes in the big picture I suppose it does not but I feel like it does right now. I don't know if we will leave tonight or tomorrow. I am not in a great place about all of this right now. I never read about how lonely sailing is. I mean I am stuck with Paul and Oliver all day everyday. As much as I love them I really miss talking to and seeing my other friends and family. We haven't been able to get our hands on a phone, only a pay phone that didn't work so I feel so isolated. Every time we hang out with our cruising friends I feel better but these aren't people I have known for a long time so it's different. I think it's funny no one ever writes about how lonely sailing is (or no one I have read). Why do we always want to make everything sound better than it is? What ever happened to us being honest with one another? Not every part of life is good. So there it is, yes we have seen some cool places but we too have bad days out here. 

2/10/14
Had a good day, snorkeled the arches with some friends from San Fran then hit the beach and now I have a terrible heat rash, I have gotten it before, so gross these red bumps but should (hopefully) go away soon. I stayed out of the sun the rest of the day. Paul had to do some work or check the engine or something before we left (shows how much I know) so Oliver and I made some friends on the beach and I had a few beers until Paul picked us up. We leave in a few hours for La Paz, well not exactly. We will stop at a few places along the way that may or may not have internet, should actually get to La Paz in a week or two. I hope you are all well!

2/7/15

We went to the beach and messed around. I thought we were going to meet up with this woman and her kids we had met the day we got here but we didn't see them and since we don't have a phone or regular use of the internet it's hard to make plans. We knew we needed to go shopping today so we asked a guy who worked on the beach where one was and he said it was only a few blocks away. I told Paul I would just go and then when I got back we would go back to the boat and make lunch and have a siesta (nap/break). 

I walked where the guy said and I found a seven 11 basically that didn't have eggs or milk so I asked the guy where one was and he said I'd have to go to Walmart. Well we try not to shop there so I continued my search figuring I would ask someone who wasn't trying to get me to shop at their store. I mean if we had wanted soda, chips, cookies and bologna I would've scored. So after walking around more people just kept telling me Walmart so I got on a bus, paid 15 pesos and headed off to find Walmart. It was a pretty short ride and I almost missed my stop but luckily some lady sitting near me said,"didn't you want to go to Walmart? This is your stop". Whew. So I got some produce which I was overexcited about and ended up buying almost too much to carry. I had to take a million stops walking back to the beach because my arms and traps were killing me. I knew I had been gone a long time but had no idea it had been almost 2 hours. He was like geez another hour I was going to go to the police. I would've given anything to not had to walk all the way to the beach, down a big hill knowing I would be carrying that crap back up it to get back to the dinghy. I don' know why we didn't keep at least one phone. We made it but it was rough. Oliver was already ready for a nap when I left so by the time I got back he was practically delusional. We had to make him walk too since we had so much stuff to carry. Thankfully on the way back to the boat some friends of ours who had gotten a slip, offered for us to come back that night to shower at the marina. I was overjoyed, it again had been 6-7 days without a proper shower. That part is tough. 

Then after our nap we headed to the cafe to use the internet, which is when I got the devastating news that my friends brother had died in a car accident. It is unbelievable. 

After that we met our friends and took a glorious shower then sat at another friends boat, with the friends who let us shower and had some wine and talked about sailing, ect.

2/8/15

We found out the boat anchored next to us had a little boy named Thorston who is 4 so we radioed them in the morning and went to the beach together so the boys could play and we could share stories. They have been having a lot of trouble with their boat and are trying to get back up north, they are just coming back form the Sea of Cortez. The boys had a great time, Oliver loves to wrestle and play rough so it's nice when he gets to play with an older boy. 

Oliver getting taken down by Thorston. He went right back for more

Oliver and his buddy Thorston

Me swimming with the boys

While Oliver and I played with them Paul stayed on the boat working on the ignition problem, which he fixed!! I was so proud of him! He had gotten a few pointers from some other cruisers and it turned out to be really easy. I was so relieved, nothing on this boat has been easy (or cheap) to fix. 

My man doing manly stuff

We went back to the boat for a nap but Oliver didn't sleep, he is in that in-between area where he needs a nap most days but then he doesn't sleep as good at night or he doesn't nap then he is a crab but goes to bed early and sleeps great. We just make daily decisions on naps. Anyways after that we went to meet our Canadian friends because they had heard of a market we could walk to. So we walked with them, it turned out to just be the same Mexican tourist junk you can get everywhere but it was fun. I think they even make most of that stuff fin Taiwan which is weird but whatever. It was nice to walk and talk then we stopped to get a beer before we headed back to get ready for supper. 

Me and the canucks

We got ready quick and went to meet our Portland, OR friends for supper, Mexican food of course. They had such good salsa I am going to bring a big tupperware and buy some from them before we go. Anyways we had a great time, it was on the beach so Oliver got to run and play with other kids and we sat and had some drinks. It's nice when we get to pull the dinghy up on the beach which we got to do there. They are a really cool couple, like minded and the guy Eric is a very experienced sailor and the lady is a nurse so we always have plenty to talk about. Paul and Eric pretty much only talk to one another when we get together, they are in a bromance we think, haha.

2/9/15

Oliver slept in, thank goodness because I could feel the drinks I had the night before. We decided to go check out some snorkeling spots by the arches since we will go tomorrow. Then we met our buddy Thorston and his mom again at the beach. They were having a guy come look at their engine so they had to be off of their boat for the day. Then we went back for our usually siesta and needed to go back to Walmart to get some more produce since we are planing on leaving tomorrow. That leads to know…Starbucks=internet:)

Panoramic shot from the boat, lots of hotels

If you go just a bit further to the left is the arch

Dead puffer fish we found, Paul just wanted to grab it, I was like probably not

This sea lion by our boat. He was resting or something, he is upside down. Alive I promise, I have never seen them do that before and with all the boats and jet skies...risky business

2/5/15

I am just out on watch on our way to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. So when we left Turtle Bay it was really rough conditions for around 12-14 hours, I cant remember exactly, and we would've been getting to Scorpion Bay when it was dark so we would've had to motor around until dawn so we just decided to go to Mag Bay. If I haven't explained we don't ever go into a spot we haven't been to before at night. We have read a lot about people reading things wrong and/or running into land or aground so we just make a rule that we don't do it. 

Side note our engine isn't starting great so we didn't want to shut it off until we got to where we were going and that sucked. We were worried about it starting when we left but after a few tries it did. We are again worried about shutting it off on the way to Cabo but we will if we get good wind, nothing so far. We will definitely have to get that looked at in Cabo which sucks but at least, for now, it is still chugging along.

The rest of the trip was ok, nothing bad like it was in the beginning but then we realized we would be pushing it to make Mag Bay by dusk so we decided to go in the nearer cove that is adjacent to Mag called Santa Maria Bay. We got there around 2pm on the ??? I don't remember and don't have my daily journal handy, I think the 1st. There were about 4 other boats and a very small fishing village. We didn't expect anything since we had read about it in our book but man it was bare bones out there. Well we couldn't wait to get off of the boat and it was close to 80 degrees so we went straight to the beach before it got dark. It is so beautiful there and no one was around. Just miles and miles of empty beaches that were covered with seashells and tons of sand dollars as well. So we just spent the day after at the beach, Paul went snorkeling and then we got together with some of the other cruisers. We had met most of them when we were in Turtle Bay so it was nice to see them again and have a drink. Then the next day we took our dinghy through these mangroves. It was nice but the scenery was a lot like California with desert and dry mountains so it didn't wow me that much. It was still a weird kind of river. Along the way we saw a few other make shift houses for the people who live and fish there. I could've stayed there a lot longer had we been able to get some produce. I didn't take too many pictures but here they are. 

Just anchored at Santa Maria

Empty beaches for miles

Oliver playing in the tide pools at low tide

Some of our fellow cruisers at our make shift happy hour

The black one is alive, I never knew they looked like that before they died and turned white

Moon rise, I have never seen anything like it

Whale tail

Whale and dolpin

Happy boy

Famous Cabo arch

2/6/15

Holy crap. We actually sailed all the way down Baja California, Mexico. I am just so happy and a little dumbfounded. We got to Cabo at noon. It is very warm, in the mid 80s which is fine with me I just want to get anchored and in the water. We went straight to the beach and swam, the water is cooler than I remember it being but fine for swimming.

2/7/15
I just got the worst news. A friend of mine and a brother of one of my best friends is gone. Please throw up a quick prayer or thought of peace to him and everyone who knew and loved him. The world will never be the same.