November 11, 2006 - From Jeanna
We have been in Cabo for a few days now. We just had the awards ceremony for the race. Ruby Slippers won 1st place in the “Jalapeno” division, thank you very much! A lot of boats motored at some point in the race, just because it is a pretty low-key race and sometimes the wind was light, but we didn’t motor at all - only sailed, which gave us a lot of extra points, I guess.
Cabo San Lucas is a lot like Las Vegas - with people speaking like Cheech and Chong. There is loud music, lots of bars, people pushing necklaces and whistles in your face to see if you want to make a deal… It will be nice to get to a more peaceful place. On the other hand, there are a thousand restaurants, warm water, pools and laundry, and a “fifties” diner with American hamburgers and milkshakes. So, I guess I won’t complain.
We had the best crew members with us from San Diego to here. Dan is from Kirkland, and has sailed all his life. He was so helpful and fun. He played games with the girls tirelessly, and mostly let them win. Chris is from Maryland - he is a rep from the Jeanneau America office, so he knows a lot about our boat and how it is built and put together. He is funny and a great cook. We all had a lot of fun together, and caught some fish - dorado, tuna, sea bass, and a rubber-lipped something. Molly and Jessie enjoyed dissecting the eyeballs on one of the fish (I don’t know why, either). They are constantly looking up fish, birds and stars in their various reference books, and are learning a lot. It’s a good thing, since I have discovered that I am not a very consistent school teacher. We have had school about 7 times since we left Anacortes one month ago. Ahhh, confession is good for my soul. I promise I will do better, Mr. Principal of Haller Middle School… When we do have school, we all enjoy it, and it goes very well. It’s just that there are so many things to do: swim, cook, read, catch fish, win races, play checkers - busy, busy busy.
We are leaving for LaPaz tomorrow. It is up north in the Sea of Cortez, on the east side of the Baja Peninsula. It is supposed to be a true Mexican town - not so touristy. It is the Capital city of Baja, and sounds very peaceful. It might be a little cold this time of year for diving, but I think we will try. Since Molly and Jessie have been certified for scuba diving, they are itching to explore the under-world. Maybe they will find a “school” down there that will be more consistent in their teaching.
Even though I dislike entering new anchorages at night, the ones we have conquered have been beautiful at night. San Francisco looked like a string of pearls, worthy of Barbara Bush’s neck, while the lights of Cabo were from houses built into the rocks, and looked like a palace stairway. The anchorages of Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria were very dark, but the anchor lights from all the boats in there lit the bay like a city. The last couple of nights of sailing, we had a bright orange full moon to help us find our way. There was no need for radar, because we could see across the flat ocean for miles and miles. I actually felt lucky to have the 8 to 10 PM watch, for the sunset, and the 4 to 6AM watch for the sunrise. The rest of the day, however, I was not quite as chipper as I sound right now.
Jessie has posted some notes (see below) from a while back when we were still in California. I think she posted some new pictures, too, so check the media gallery. Molly is working on her update, so keep checking! We miss you all and hope to see some of you in these warm, peaceful lower latitudes… Jeanna