Next
leg is Mag Bay to San Jose Del Cabo (23.02N x 109.38.5W), just around the
corner from Cabo San Lucas. 176 miles. 114
gallons of fuel with very favorable currents. Scheduled to be 24 hours at 7.5 kts. Easy to schedule since you leave at the time
you want to get there.
We left Mag Bay
at 8:30am planning on being at the mouth
of the marina in San Jose Del Cabo when the marina office opened at 9 am the
next day.
The
guide book says there are “no suitable anchorages” between Mag Bay and Cabo San
Lucas. A single roadstead is listed an
emergency relief only stopover. We saw
few lights on shore until we approached Cabo San Lucas. Weather forecast called for potential rain
and thundershowers. A few boats left
Mag Bay the night before but the official FUBAR forecast called for 2-4 ft seas
with possible localized thunderstorms.
The
trip went very smoothly for us, weather held until we reached the turn to the
west at Cabo San Lucas. Our radar
showed a strong line of thunderstorms and rain just to our starboard side and
south. Had the weather been 10 miles
further north we would have had a much more exciting ride. Several of us were hoping for a rain shower to rinse off the salt accumulated
from 600 miles of open ocean. Instead we
got just enough rain to wet the decks and stir up any dust onboard. Between the salt and fish blood WORKNOT is
in need of good bath. At least the crew
is well groomed and clean.
Rounding
Cabo just at sun up was a real sight. A
major cloud and rain formation was to our southwest and Land’s End to the
northeast. From Wikipedia: El Arco de Cabo San Lucas, or Lands End, Cabo
San Lucas is a distinctive rock formation at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas,
which is itself the extreme southern end of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula.
Guide books report the arch has been cemented due
to damage from the many cruise ships that visit the harbor. Vibration from the ships damaged the
structure but the draw for tourists justified the repair. One side of the arch is known as Lovers beach
and the other Divorce beach.
My
first trip to Cabo was in the late 1990’s to work on a boat belonging to Jack
Whiteman’s surgeon. (I worked for EMPIRE
at the time) Jack was the founder of
EMPIRE and we had repowered the boat. It
was a disaster and for any Cat folks, it involved a pair of 3176 marine
engines. Not Cat’s best effort. Jack told me to stay until the boat was
fixed. Before it was over we had
repowered it again. The waterfront was a
few restaurants, sport fishing operations and mom and pop hotels that only took
cash. Today it’s hard to tell the
waterfront from downtown LA or Las Vegas.
Among the notable spots, a Ruth Chris, Harley Davidson store and more “American”
icon places to spend your money.
FUBAR
did not stop at Cabo but continued around the corner to San Jose Del Cabo. A little more laid back than Cabo we found
the resort marina of San Jose Del Cabo to be a true Oasis after traveling from
Ensenada to there without a marina stop.
Our crew, Dave (Mary’s brother) and Lori fell in love with San Jose and
a peaceful mutiny ensued. Perhaps it was
800 miles of open ocean in 10 days, all within 50 feet of family or the true serenity
of San Jose but we were happy to see them so enthused about Mexico and the
area.
Mary and Lori saying goodbye for now
Dave
provided me a golf lesson on a stunning
course that followed the coast line and Lori and Mary visited the many art
studio locations in town. The marina
hosted a cocktail party on the roof of a hotel overlooking the harbor. We too, could have stayed there for days just
enjoying the hospitality and outstanding weather. Below is view of the landmark cross located
at the base of the harbor.
Next
stop is scheduled to be La Paz, (24.13 N x 110.18 W) 122 miles from San Jose
Del Cabo.
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