Cabo!

Wednesday we enjoyed some of the sweetest sailing possible, on our final stretch to Cabo - warm and sunny, flat seas, perfect breeze on our quarter; it was heavenly ;-) Too nice to use the auto helm; Pamela and I took turns driving until the sun set - taking the wind with it.

We drew for watches and I pulled the 2-4AM watch :-P but not too unpleasant as the weather is mild now, and the stars - in the moonless night - incredible! I've seen several shooting stars and have been making wishes galore on this trip ...

After my watch I headed back to bed and slept soundly until the seas built and I ended up bouncing around in the forepeak (aka 'Woman Cave') soon I was airborne, as the bow bounced up and down but as I glanced out the window I spotted hotels! Land! We'd exceeded expectations and made it to Cabo San Lucas at dawn, rounding the corner and setting the hook -in really wild seas - by 8:30. Eventually we got a slip assignment and squeezed into the busy marina and a nice berth right near the Cantina. After 10 days at sea and in remote anchorages, the sites and sounds and volume of people in Cabo are truly overwhelming.

Drinks, showers, more drinks, drop off the laundry, more drinks ... we are chilling aboard TUG TUB now enjoying some R&R - back to work (and more writing) tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are my thoughts from earlier this week ;-)

What day is today anyway? Tuesday, November 2 ...

Last night’s ‘singles party’ (@BSM) was sheer mayhem. Paul and Dan had gone over early to set up the Tugtub while Pamela and I made dinner and our contribution to the potluck: a pumpkin spice cake decorated with a jack-o-lantern face made of craisins, almonds and pretzel sticks. We were visited by a few trick-or-treating kids (who all bellowed ARGH! when they approached in their dinghies) – donating Tootsie Pops and Oreos (not envying the parents with sugar-loaded kids aboard ...) When we returned to the raft-up an hour later the catamaran in the middle was sagging with HUNDREDS of people. I had to dinghy-hop with the painter across four layers of dinks; we tied up and clambered aboard the boats, where scores of drunken sailors covered every inch above and below decks. Empty bottles, cans and cups were strewn everywhere, sparsely clad young women talked with dirty old men sporting way too much facial hair ... ‘Doo-doo-doodoo, doo-doo-doodoo; -- we were stuck in a time warp! Paul tried his best to demo the hot tub but people were too wasted. Together we rescued a guy who fell between two of the rafted boats, and right before we left Pamela and I came upon a woman sprawled on deck so peculiarly, I bent over to check her pulse. We coaxed her (with much dragging & prodding) into the cockpit where at least she wouldn’t roll off the deck and do a Natalie Wood on us. It wasn’t a pretty picture, and we were glad to get back to TUGTUB where we enjoyed the last of our tequila in the peace and safety of our own vessel!

Today was the big beach party ashore: we convinced Diego, the panga driver who sold us some gasoline, to return at noon to taxi us ashore, so we could avoid the catastrophic dinghy landing in the rolling surf. He returned in his cornflower blue panga to zoom us across the anchorage and ashore to the playa. On the bluffs above was a surreal scene – a mass of colorfully-dressed people gathered around tents with a band trucked in from La Paz (125 miles away); a shrimp and fish taco stand (the line took about 1 ½ hours to negotiate); fishermen selling cold Pacificos; and a table for margaritas: meticulously measured out and mixed – one at a time – by one of the fisherman’s wives. The surrounding hills and beaches, the expanse of sand dunes and mangroves that stretched out for miles, were all vacant. Our hosts were delightful; the young fishing wives (with their broods of children) shy but smiling; the fishermen gregarious and helpful. Diego was waiting at the beach for us when we departed, and sped us across the bay to our boat. It was a fun day, followed by an awesome dinner of grilled steaks and then final prep for our 4AM departure tomorrow (Wednesday) enroute to Cabo!

Nov. 3

Even before 4AM Dan was rusting throughout the cabin -- peeking into the woman cave (AKA forepeak) to wake me, and I refused.

"It's 3:53 - I have seven more minutes," I snarled, pulling the covers over my head. But soon we were all up, layering on foulies to protect us from the cold and dew. The night before we had all prepped our gear and the boat, so it was an easy departure. We dodged several boats at anchor, and a few other early birds getting a head start on the day, and left for Cabo.

Thwarted in our efforts to catch fish of meaningful size, we discovered the culprit: foraging for a packet of mashed potatoes we found some banana nut muffin mix. Banana! No wonder we can't catch fish! So as soon as we were outside BSM we made coffee and muffins, then threw the lines out as dawn broke over Mag Bay.

2PM - what a lazy day this has been! The wind hovered around 3k all morning. I took my position on a cushion on the rail and slept in the warm sun. It was calm enough that Paul grilled hotdogs on the bbq on deck!

I finally brought in 'the lucky lure' (it was not) and put out 'big red' - my huge red and white cedar plug. This lure has the sexiest motion i've ever seen: how fish can resist it, i do not know. But the score remains 'TUGTUB: 0' in the catching department - meanwhile our friends on RED SKY have nailed five bonita and one yellowtail!

Later, while the guys each napped, Pamela and I took the autohelm off and started NBBF (navigating by bottom features) in an attempt to find fish. It was useless, but in that time the wind crept up to 12 knots and we hoisted the asymetrical kite again. It was a perfect afternoon sail with flat water and pleasant breeze - making an average 7.5k on rhum line! We have had some really delightful sailing on this trip; confirming Pamela and Pauls' confidence in their skills as they get ready to launch their big trip.