Cabo San Lucas

01/09/2011 Hard to believe it has been 10 days since I really wrote. It has been a busy time. Hand steering since we lost our autopilot 2 weeks ago, it can be pretty challenging mentally and physically. There have been quiet a few hoops to jump through by several people, but we are meeting Randall and his wife Joanna to pick up our replacement autopilot today. We are fortunate to have friends like Randall, Joanna, and Jeff from CPT Autopilot that volunteer to help. I’m sure we will have a greater appreciation for our autopilot now. Sometimes you have to do without something to fully appreciate it. We have had 2 passages that were 3 nights at sea, and I can tell you even with one night at sea, it is really difficult to stay awake in the wee hours of the morning. Last 4am watch I was on, I kept falling asleep and waking up with a start when a wave caused the boat to lurch. I don’t like to wake Marcus up because he does most of the watches and steering so I power through the best I can. I sleep a lot on long passages, but still am tired and sleepy at the helm. We traveled from Turtle Bay and Bahia de Magdelena with Seamentress. It is nice to know another ship is close by and we keep an eye on each other. We spent 2 relaxing days at Bahia de Magdelena. Weather was nice, and enjoyed a quiet anchorage. This is where whales come to calve, starting in February. This is a huge quiet bay, and would love to spend more time here, but unfortunately, we need to get to Cabo for parts. Gonna slow down after that! We had an impromptu party on the boat in Man-O-War Cove in Magdelena Bay. Henrik and Nina from Bika, Paul and Darla from Seamentress, came by and we all had a great time chatting and sharing experiences. So far we have met quite a few cruisers, trying to remember all, and in rough order of acquaintance.
Lodi and Steve on Wendolyn ~27ft sloop out of Canada
Paul and Darla, and Ben the dog on Seamentress ~ 45 foot Ferro Cement ketch Paul from England and Darla from the bay area
James and crew on Black Wind ~47 ft ketch I believe from the bay area originally England Marni and Mike on Picara ~ 37 ft custom steel sloop from Canada
Randall on Murre, ~ 31 ft Mariner ketch out of San Francisco
JJ on Ocean Echo 1 ~ 36 ft Beneteau not sure where from
Ivan on Vento ~ 38 (?) Beneteau
Paul on Dos Gatos ~ 25 ft O’Day
Nina and Henrik on Bika ~ 26 ft Contessa out of Norway

We will enjoy the variety Cabo San Lucas offers and head to Los Frailes tomorrow, then on to more tropical Mazatlan after that.