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