Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas (22 89 05N 109 91 67W)

Environmental conditions: Air temp – hot-ish; water temp – perfect

Fridge temp: Perfect

Battery state: 13.2V (i.e., perfect)

Euchre score: DNP (Wha…?!)

After a brief stop in Bahia Magdalena, we headed out in the wee hours of Nov. 14 for a ~35 hour passage to Cabo San Lucas to meet Jody’s niece, Courtney, and her beau, Spencer, who were visiting from Seattle. They’d arrived on Nov. 12, so Jody was chompin’ at the bit to get there. The passage was mostly uneventful — a lot of motoring and a few hours of pretty sloppy, uncomfortable sea state — oh, but there was a possible siting of a rescue flare that resulted in a change in course that lead to…well, nothing. Luckily.

Rand was convinced he saw a flare, so he attempted to hail any vessel in need of assistance over the radio and convinced SNL to join in the rescue. There was never a response on the radio, but both captains were sure there were lights on the water that could possibly be a vessel in need. Alas, the lights never seemed to change position (which would have happened if the object was subject to wind and current), and we never seemed to gain any ground on them. Turns out they were the lights on a tower of some sort — on shore — which was 17 miles away and not identified on the charts (normally, if there are lighted objects on shore that could be used for navigation, they would be noted on charts — not in this case). So, that was exciting, and the change in course did lead to a more comfortable angle on the swell/wind chop. It was a relief that there probably was no flare (even though Rand fretted for the better part of the following day, convinced that we’d left someone to die out there) and it didn’t affect the timing to our ultimate destination.

So, Cabo. The absolute best thing about Cabo was SEEING Court and Spence. They stayed at the Sandos Finisterra, an all inclusive fancy-schmancy place; the Advance Team and SNL stayed in the IGY marina; and FL was anchored out in the bay amidst the mayhem (water taxis, jet skis, cruise ships, flying aqua boot thingys, etc.). The bottom line? The water was gorgeous. Cabo was (is) weird. Locals were husslin’ anything and everything from dope to fishing trips to food. The tourists were American, the prices were American, the food was American, and the activities were American. So, what’s the draw? Please feel free to comment and enlighten us.

And now for a quick summary of our stay: Birthday dinner for Spence at Mi Casa (super yummy and a great little joint); a dinghy excursion out to the Arch and Lover’s (and Divorce) Beach; $25 ice cream at Haagen Dazs (thanks, Court); a day pass (read: day drinking) at the Sandos, including water aerobics (haha!) and Thursday Night Football; a spritely sail around the bay; steak “nachos” at the infamous Cabo Wabo; and, of course, laundry, and catching some college football and basketball. There was also a beer fest at the marina, which featured some really tasty local brews and pork al pastor, which Jody thought long and hard about eating, but didn’t. But there was pizza. Wicked good pizza.

All in all, it was a great time in Cabo. It’s not a place we would choose to frequent on a regular basis, but it was certainly worth a stop to experience the craziness, feel the competing beats of the music emanating from the beach bars, and to lay eyes on our beautiful niece. And check this out — made by the wonderfully talented Spencer!