Cabo San Lucas to La Paz

Sea Day 28-29 12/01-12/02/2016 Cabo San Lucas to La Paz, Mexico​

We went for a swim after arriving yesterday, then we went into Cabo for drinks and dinner. Steve and Janny were our taxi via dinghy and our tour guides. Cabo San Lucas is very tourist centered. There were crazy party boats all lit up cruising the bay all evening into the night. Little businesses lining the beach played music all day and late into the night, every area playing different music. The dominant music we heard was based on which way the wind was blowing us at anchor. In the morning we went to the Arcos and took a ton of pictures and video. Tim and Steve went into town and purchased good bottom paint for the boats and Tim was not able to find any sort of access to the autopilot motor. We had to make a choice at this point because weather conditions were favorable for travel around the bottom of the Baja and then north into the Sea of Cortez to get to La Paz. The winds were due to make the Sea calm. It is a flat out motor sail and at least a 24 hour run time. The next good window would be in 4 days’ time, did we want to just stay in Cabo San Lucas for 4 days or head out with Steve and Janny, knowing we would have to hand steer? We only had one night’s sleep from our run down to Cabo.

We decided to leave Cabo and head to La Paz where we would be in a marina and could relax. The seas were pretty rough as we left out about 1230 after filling our fuel tank with our jerry cans, we had one 6 gallon can left in case we needed some more during our travels. The current was also very strong and travel was slow for about 4 hours. Tim and I employed our 2 hour sleep shifts again. We are pretty tired.

We tried sailing a few times as the wind picked up so we could use Claude the wind vane. Sailing worked but our speed was so slow meaning the trip would take 2 nights instead of one. We kept on motoring. As we approached Isla Espiritu Santo we had a very tight transit through the Canal de San Lorenzo where there are reefs on both sides and there is danger of running aground. I cut my sleep schedule short so that Tim’s sleep time would have him up about 30 minutes from our arrival at the canal. Tim was up and moving, preparing to come up about 1030. Our next task was to dip the tank to see how much fuel was left as we had been motoring about 22 hours. We know we burn 0.6 to 1 gallon an hour depending on the sea state and current. Tim stepped into the head, and suddenly the motor cut out. Yep, the tank was empty! We should have checked before we switched sifts. There was wind, so I unfurled the jib and began sailing at 3 knots, while Tim finished getting ready to come up and after dipping the tank to see it was indeed empty.

We then heaved-to (that method of “stopping”), filled the tank with our last jerry can of 6 gallons. Tim primed the lift pump to get the engine restarted and it sputtered back to life. The wind was not good for sailing as it was on our nose now, being very shifty. We furled the jib and returned to slow motor sailing to conserve our fuel. We did not know if the 6 gallons would be enough to get us all the way to La Paz. Steve and Janny had told us to stop in Ballandra Bay in the morning because they wanted to snorkel there. We used our Delorme In Reach Satellite device to text them to see if they would wait for us in Ballandra Bay so we could get some more fuel. They texted back to say they were already in La Paz because the wind was up and it just pushed them in. We realized that La Paz wasn’t as far as we thought once we cleared San Lorenzo Canal. 

We pulled into the gas dock at Costabaja Marina to check into the marina about 1530. We attempted to get fuel but the nozzle was too large for out tank opening and the wind was an abnormal wind from an unfavorable direction, rocking our boat hard against the dock. We ended up having the fuel guys just fill our jerry cans and then we will put it in the tank on our own later in our slip. 

We are moored opposite Steve and Janny (whom we have to thank for bringing us into this beatiful place) and the community here in the marina is nice. We are so glad to now just stop for a while. Tank up on sleep and relax for a period of time. We also have to get the new motor for Otto and then see what other things we need to add to our boat like solar. Maybe now after 6 very intense months of learning and preparation and traveling down the coast we will actually vacation or recreate and rest. Now to work on learning Spanish! Hello La Paz!

The people here in La Paz are so nice, they are gracious and are very willing to engage in mutual language exchange. Most of them are learning English and  "yo practico Español" so they help us along. There are some really nice restaurants here at the Costa Baja resort, Italian, Sushi and others.