Happy Thanksgiving & other assorted stories!

Hello everyone! Sorry about the silent treatment but the internet connection is not so easy to get as we thought here in La Paz. Hence, I am again sitting in an internet cafe typing (and drinking tequila!). Just to catch everyone up to speed, I have lumped a bunch of posts together and this is the result. Enjoy and hope to hear from you all through comments and emails :)

Going to La Paz (Monday, Nov. 10th - Thursday, Nov. 13th)
Cabo Pulmo
One of the best dive spots in Mexico being that it has the largest reef on the pacific coast. It is also a Mexican national park and our first stop from Cabo San Lucas. As you guessed, we started at 5am, as we wanted to make sure we made it around the point before the weather turned treacherous. This had happened to Steven and Susan before and they told of taking a real beating. On this day, it was smooth sailing and we made it to our anchor spot about 1pm in the afternoon. Yippee – time to play. We anchored in a spot on the chart that showed permissible, and just outside of the designated park area. We all then proceeded to jump into the water - ahhhh so refreshing and pretty, who cares that it is totally salty (like the med). Susan and I decided to swim to shore for a little exercise and explore the beach. As we approach, I see Brian has decided to join us and has almost caught up. The beach was long and in some places the sand felt like powered sugar, it was so soft. When we approached some of the structures, we ran into a couple of Americans. They said the little town had 4 restaurants and 3 dive shops – no way! Also, the town was powered completely by wind and solar. Okay people, if a remote little town in Mexico can do this, with all the US brain and braun, we should manage to do this too! After talking with some folks and Susan finding a dog to pet/play with (immediately upon hitting the town), we left to swim back to the boat as it was getting dark. At dinner we all decided to stay the next day, so the boys could dive the ref and we could go snorkeling, swimming and just have fun. The place was so beautiful. The next day did not go as planned however, with us being informed that the chart was incorrect, parking (anchoring) was not permitted and the Federales have been called (out from Cabo). Needless to say, we bugged out of there pronto (along with another boat)! We were not going to wait and argue the point, even if we did think it was just one local making it up, who didn’t want us there.

View from the boat.

Bahia De Los Muertos

So Los Muertos means the Bay of the Dead. Not what you think though, it refers to dead man anchors for large ships that they used in some Mexican war, not I see dead people. But, due to the latter impression by folks, they unfortunately renamed it to Bay of dreams (negating the historical reference of the name). It was another beautiful setting and immediately upon anchoring, we dropped the dingy in the water to go ashore for dinner. As it turns out, two ex NFL players just recently bought the place (the only thing there) and Brian had a good friend that played ball with Klye ? . It’s a small world folks. Anyhow, the food was delicious and we decided to stay the next day to play. Also, the weather was not conducive for getting into La Paz. The next morning, we loaded up dingy and all took off towards the rocky shoreline. The snorkeling was amazing. Susan and it came across huge schools of small, medium, and large fish, sometimes all on top of each other. Wow. For dinner, we had a repeat performance but this time we went earlier. We enjoyed a beautiful bonfire, as well as free internet access and phone (anywhere to the US or Canada). Needless to say, I took advantage of that!

Ponga's lined up at the beach

Brian at the Restaurant/bar

La Paz

Needless to say, we were up at 4am- surprise, surprise. Again, due to weather and current, we shoved off in the moonlight. It was really beautiful, the sky, stars and color of the water. It totally reminded me the last scene in the movie the Hunt for Red October. Anyhow, again, we had pretty smooth sailing going between the island of Cerrvano and the Baha peninsula. However, due to the wave rebounding between the two land masses, I totally got sea sick – urrgh! I immediately took some medication (sturgeon), but alas it was too late. Oh well, it ended fairly soon once we rounded the home stretch and entered the San Lorenzo channel. Docking was a bit tricky at the Marina, as it was very tight quarters, port side tie off and our captain hadn’t done this maneuver in quite some time. It went smoothly as all hands were on deck to make sure it did. Wow, a marina- that’s the good life; hot showers (a full 5 minutes!) and real litter boxes- yippeeeee! The marina (De La Paz) is very nicely maintained, with a bar/restaurant, laundry facilities on site and centrally located to the town. That night, once we got settled (and showers), we went to Steven and Susan’s favorite spots to eat. It was great. What can I say about La Paz, well, a lot. It is a great beach resort town. Complete with a shopping street, a cathedral in the center and a water front – the Malecon. It is fairly modern place, coffee shops, internet, grocery stores along the lines of a super Safeway, etc. It still however, has that great Mexican feel to it, and the food it awesome. So little time, so much to eat. I just wish my stomach an intestinal system was working better. We had the privilege of being here on Revolution day – Nov 20th and witness to a huge parade down the length of the Malecon (several miles). It was truly a site, with school bands, and dance groups, and floats and, so much more. We also ran into our friend from the Ha Ha – Niki. It was so good to see her, I had thought we’d lost touch, but was secretly hoping to run into her in La Paz as she is currently living down here. We ended up spending the day and going out to eat with her and her friend, then dancing and a couple games of pool. So much fun and she is into beading too! We are going to have a bead party soon!

One of many statue's on the Malecon! Bonita!

Susan & I enjoying Ice Cream at the Polka Dot tree shop

Revolution Day Parade

The Catherdral in the center of town

The next day it was off to the beach (Tecolote) with Brian, Susan and I. Another fun adventure insured as we had to take the bus. However, it was a first class, plush experience that none of us were really expecting. We thought it would be old school, with no air conditioning, and chickens on board, where they leave the front doors open, you know, like you see in the movies. We spent the lovely day soaking up the sun, drinking tequila sunrises, shell seeking, and playing in the water. Well, I got out once Susan asked if I felt a stinging sensation. I didn’t at first but then felt it on my thigh and calf. Needless to say I got out.

Tecolote Beach!

The next day we took off to go explore a nearby island- Isla Espiritu Santos for a few days (5 to be exact Nov 22nd - 26th). This is when I noticed a rash in the spots I felt the stinging at the beach the day before. So mystery solved, I didn’t have bug bites after all, but were getting little stings from the water. Good to know.

There is so much to say about the island that I’ll post that another day (with pictures).

We wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Turkey Day! I myself am very thankful for the opportunities I have had in my life and continue to have. As well, as all the wonderful friendships I have made thus far.

Blog at you later! ~Meow & the Brian

Sea Sickness, bug bites and diarrhea oh my!

Sorry video wont' load for kissing contest, but .....

So first came the bug bites, or maybe it’s sea lice or it could be an allergic reaction? Who knows, we have not quite figured it out. It did however start appearing in Cabo San Lucas. It kinda looked like poison oak at first, yes, unbelievable. There is no poison oak on the coast of Mexico!!!! Arugh, it itches!!
Next, came sea sickness. I had purchased some medication in Cabo that was recommended by a couple of people as the end all be all. It didn’t work. However, in their defense, I should have taken it the night before and then again before we started in the morning. I knew it was going to be rough, going from Los Muertos between the Baha peninsula and this island up to La Paz. It was. That coupled with the early morning start, just got me. However, I didn’t throw up, but Brian did. He seems to be able to recover quickly though, and it was just more of a fluke that caused him to be sick. Anyhow, I started to come too as we rounded the corner on the home stretch to La Paz. Arugh, crackers and water for me.
What was I saying, when in Mexico, eat, drink and experience the culture? I think I went overboard. I don’t know if it was the Tres Leche ice milk, the crappy weird quesilledia thing or the stale, overcooked mushroom pizza that did it, but I am still hurting. No dinner for me and straight to bed, well between runs to the litter box. MeOUCH. Arugh, this sucks. Hey, but I’m cruising man! I am sure I’ll acclimate soon. Anyways, it is a small price to pay, and hey, maybe I’ll start losing some weight.
Your fat, smelly, itchy Kat :0
PS – no pictures for this post

Here to Eternity Kissing contest

Do I need to say anything else?

A few more Cabo Pictures!

Brian and I getting ready for the Here to Eternity Kissing contest!

Video to follow in next post.

The Newlyweds - aaaaa

Tableside Guac at Squid Roe

Susan's puppy love - Basset Hounds

Misc from the Ha Ha

From Leg 1 to Turtle bay, as a result of the rain storm we went through.

Turtle Bay beach BBQ, they liked playing with the bubbles we brought. Notice her shirt says "Meow".

Turtle bay puppy - so cute, and that stick is gigantic!

Turtle Bay Pelicans. I guess this is their boat!

Promised & Miscellaneous Pictures

These are pictures from Cabo San Lucas, a place called Secret Beach. It is so beautiful and the rock formations are wild. We all went snorkeling here.

Ruben and Brian

Susan

The Newlyweds - Robbi and Ruben

My Guy!

Four Days in Cabo!

FRI: After settling in and taking care of required paperwork (fee$), we headed for the laundry. All laundry is full-service in Mexico and you pay by the kilo. Along the way we found a Vet Shop with puppies to pet and a local café for some lunch and a beer. Man, it is hot out and that cold cerveza went down fast. Our whole bill for the 4 of us, including 6 beers + food, came to about $15! Wow, I always heard Cabo was expensive. I would learn just how, all too soon.
SAT: So the party for the Baha Ha Ha participants was held at a beach bar called “Mangos”. Typical 20 something bar – loud music, drinking, and party (drinking) games. Boy do they like to play games and the wait staff all dance on a stage in the middle of the beach bar. Brian and I got dragged up on staged and made perfect fools of ourselves. I have to admit, I liked sitting at the tables on the sand, because all the vendors come up to you with their goods to sell. Some might find this annoying, but I felt like a celebrity, having things brought to me tableside to shop. It was so fun! I got a very cool swim dress/wrap and a nice silver bracelet. What can I say; I like the sparkly, shinny stuff.
While sitting at our table, I notice a lady walking. I think to myself, she looks exactly like a person I know from the San Francisco Bay Club (where I used to work). She would come in the shop and grab a power bar and I would chat with her in Heather’s spin Class on Wednesday mornings. No it can’t be, I said to myself even though I have run into many people in odd locations before, I just shrugged it off. If prior experience has taught me anything, it should be that it can happen. It was indeed her, on vacation, hanging with a bunch of friends. Unbelievable!!! So, here’s a shout out to Luanne (I hope I spelled that correctly), that was way cool seeing you.
SUN: Sunday we ran into Robbi and Ruben, whom we race against in SF, and all decided to go snorkeling over at the famous rocks (and secret beach). So… we loaded up the dingy, with gear, people (Susan came with too) and beers (you must remember to provision properly) and headed off. It was a truly amazing beach and very fun. As the sun was going down, we shoved off to get to the awards ceremony quickly. Because the Baja Ha-Ha is a three legged race interrupted by great beach parties, the awards party was more like awards hand out, than really a party. Luckily, we had just enough gas to make it to the fuel dock. Borrowing a key, Susan, Brian, and I quickly took showers at the marina (literally right next to the party). As we found some seats, we located our friends and proceeded to start drinking tequila, as well as participate in the awards ceremony. There were a lot of games/storytelling/joking between handing out the various awards to the different categories. In our group, the “Iguana” category, I am proud to say, we won 1st place! Off to dinner because we all needed food, and then to go dancing at Cabo Wabo. Alas, too much tequila and we headed back to the boat.
MON: The next day, we all had a leisurely breakfast ashore, listening to a tableside Mariachi play a couple of tunes (very cool). After breakfast, we meet up with Ruben and Robbi, and Captain Steven gave them a tour of the Hallberg Rassey Sailboat, Ruben’s a big fan and really enjoyed the tour, Brian and I took Robbi and Ruben back to shore and spent one last afternoon hanging out. We laughed our butts off at the stupid “Harold and Kumar” movie and thought about go kart racing but settled for a quiet dinner at Squid Roe.
Really, there is so much more but I don’t want to bore everyone with all the details so I’ll just show some pictures instead (to follow in the next blog)! However, my impressions of Cabo San Lucas; it’s an interesting place. Very ritzy on one hand, but totally typical of a Mexican city (I think, well what I have seen so far). You have to get away from the Marina, the big resorts on the beach, and the mall to get a glimpse of what is real, but it is definitely there. Exhibit A – the small café I mentioned above (we went to it several times) was just 5 blocks from the strip. Also there however, is a Hagen Daas, a Harley Davidson’s, a Johnny Rockets, a Hard Rock, and last but not least, my fav – Hooters – NOT! I am glad I have seen Cabo, but am looking forward to moving on. I don’t think I would go back, unless of course by way of Sailboat.
Oh, internet has been spotty at best and Skype very difficult to use because of that. Talk to you all when I can and I'll upload all the pictures when we get to La Paz.
BHBK ~ Meow & KB

The Baha Ha Ha 2008

Due to the lack of internet, I am writing this all as one posting so it’s going to be long. Enjoy. We are sitting in beautiful Cabo San Lucas currently.

Leg 1

Without, Fred (the name of the Auto Pilot), we started the race, all be it, very late. However, we quickly caught up to the rest of the fleet and sailed on for a couple of days to Turtle Bay – the first rest stop of the race. Then the wind completely died. Oh well, motor on, then sailed, then motored, well you get the picture!

Filling our days with reading and shift watches, Brian cast out a couple of fishing lines in the hopes of catching something. Here, fishy, fishy, fishy…..ah, Ahi, mmmmmmmm. Kitty likes the fishy.

Dinner

Turtle Bay (Rest Stop)

We arrived very early in the morning on Thursday, escorted in by a group of large Dolphins, not like the small black one in California. When I immediately was hit with a wall of smelly, salty, fishy sea air. Wow, it sinks literally smells really bad, coupled with it being very warm out (even that early in the morning). We anchor in the dark, always a challenge. I’m going to bed!

It’s daytime, and now we can see where the smell is coming from – headless bait fish floating in the water – ewwwwweee gross! Rumor had it that a fisherman dumped all his bait fish in their because they closed the lobster season and he couldn’t make any money selling it, and had to empty his boat so he could go catch something worth some money. Wow. I am hot, dehydrated and have a massive headache! Oh, did I mention that I stopped drinking coffee, couldn’t handle it on the boat. Most likely cause of the huge headache – grumpy, smelly Kat! MEOUCH

So the town, dirty, dusty and typical of a Mexican place. The roads all dirt, the houses mainly cinder block, but the people, very cool, very sweet and welcoming. They even had an internet café in town, however no bank. No worries, it was not that expensive. The fleet had a huge beach party that was a potluck with all kinds of amazing food and fish. We forgot to bring plates so we ended up eating out of some empty serving bowls. We were lucky as we saw some eating off scraps of tin foil. We met lots of cool people and took a massive group photo with the camera man standing on a near by cliff.

The next day – Halloween – Day of the Dead, and the town was having a big fiesta in their new Grande Plaza. Food and music and dancing and of course, memorials/shrines to the dead. It was very neat to see and fun to hand out candy to all the kids. I had a Tamale de Pina – Pineapple Tamale for those not in the know. Yes, my Spanish is slowly improving. I think I had an easier time learning Chinese. Oh well, it will come hopefully.

Leg 2

Its 5:30 am must mean we are all awake, as this is the usual time our Capitan gets up. As we prepare for the start of this leg of the race, we are prepared. We will not start late! Oh, did I mention, we figured out why Fred (auto pilot) wasn’t working and fixed himit. We now have our 5^th crew member up and working – yeah! We decided the night before, that we were determined to be first across the start line – race on!

Alas, it was not to be as we had a rolling start due to lack of wind. This means motoring at 6 nm in any direction until the wind picks up and the race director – the “grand poobah” says “Go”. We were under sail at 9:30am (race was to start at 8am) so not bad. We popped the spinnaker and away we went. We flew the kite all night, we were cruising down to our next location – “Mucho Gusto”.

Bahia Santa Maria

This is a big beautiful bay, surrounded by beach, some mangroves (where the river comes to the sea), hills and not much else. No town here, just a couple of structures up on a hillside. The water is pretty clear and good. We went for a long walk on the beach and found so cool shells and sand dollars.

Our Anchorage - Bonita

Birds on the Beach
Karen, Robbi and I at the Beach BBQ/Party

Leg 3

It’s 5 am – that must mean we are up – time to start the race day for leg 3 – Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo San Lucas. This is the shortest leg of the trip and I am really looking forward to getting there. The weather predicted for this leg is good – Windy so it should be fast.

Start of leg 3

What an understatement about being fast. That coupled with the PC (partly cloudy) skies lead to what I like to say: “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”! I don’t know if that even does it justice in describing it. It made me totally sick, not even Dramamine would help. Well, only during the night, great, not. It was dizzying. No sky, no horizon, no water – it was just dark. I felt like I was floating through a black sea of abyss- just like the ride but worst – I lasted for 8 hours! Can I puke now please? Where is that plastic ziplock bag I slept with again? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The big boat hits speed of 11.7 knots, fast for a 41000 lbs boat.

Cabo San Lucas

We are here – hooray! Fast too, less than 24 hours crossing the finish line, but it takes us another 3 hours to get in and anchor. Yes, it’s 6am again. I wonder, will I ever get to sleep in again?

Wow, we are so close to the beach and it is beautiful, even with all the timeshares and condo’s. The water is clear and warm. We have to go in and check into the country now, get our tourist visas and all that junk. Well, might as well take in the laundry too. Wait, when was the last time I washed my hair? Or took a shower for that matter? Ooo, smelly Kat. Must bathe first.

Cabo