27 February to 10 March 2022 – The drive back down the peninsula was as dramatic as the drive up but we got to see all the stuff we missed in the dark then, including cows and horses right on the side of the road. The landscape was perfectly Suessian. We did see roadrunners and coyotes (no little umbrellas or ACME packages), Saguaros and Mesas. No sooner were we in sight of the Pacific near Cabo San Lucas than we saw whales blowing out at sea. On the drive back down to San Jose del Cabo, we got a good look along the way at much of our future, including San Felipe (very shallow), Santa Rosalia (where we spent the night and ate dinner and breakfast); Loreto; Mulege; and La Paz (where we stopped for lunch on our way up).

Back in San Jose del Cabo we stayed a couple of nights in the Hotel Encanto again before Antoinette was back in the water. We did go to the yard to coordinate the final work and prep for re-launching her, but we slept ashore and dined in the Old Town.

One morning the Michin got me up early wanting to go outside. I obliged, opened the door to outside, and lo and behold there was another Michin out there. My Michin took one look, then the two Michines stared at each other for an eternity, and finally my Michin turned around and went back into our room. He obviously doesn’t make friends easily.

On the 29th Marine Group Boat Works splashed our boat. We had their mechanic continue trying to fix the diesel leak which has plagued our engine since we had all the fuel lines replaced in San Diego last year. He finally fixed the problem by replacing the fuel line with the next smaller interior diameter size and wala, that did the trick, no more diesel leaking into our engine room.

We then moved the boat across the harbor to the Puerto Cortes Marina and got tied up in a slip. We were back living aboard our boat. I got the four new house batteries swapped in (a bear of a job as each battery weighed 70 lbs), got the old ones disposed of and we were running well again.

On 3 March my parents flew into the international airport of Los Cabos. We met them and all of us taxied back into old town San Jose where we got them installed in their hotel (an ultra-modern place with no reception which advertises itself as a bar vs. hotel; we were lucky to find that as lodging was extremely tight. My parents were barely spared having to climb the companionway several times a day, use the head, and sleep on top of the spinnaker.)

They made it to San Jose…AND they had a place to sleep.

Over the next week we had a wonderful visit and did all sorts of things Jimena and I had not done yet. We went to several art galleries; walked down to and along the beach; walked around the marina and out to the beach; sailed one day and saw whales only from afar; went bird watching in the estuary; and took one day trip to Cabo San Lucas and another out east to Los Barriles). We ate and drank like royalty and really enjoyed the time with them.

Then on 10 March, as all good things must end, they flew back to the USA and we headed east and north for Los Frailes, well and truly into the Sea of Cortez.

San Jose del Cabo

San Jose del Cabo-Bahia Los Frailes

San Diego USA