Friday, March 29

North 32° 44.7'
West 117° 14.5'

Our trip starts with frustration. Spring break has filled the camps. People are everywhere. We are to meet people at Pete's Camp, but we cannot camp there. We intend to search for a camp South of San Felipe. We think Heidi will be at Pete's around noon and we will try to meet her there. Maybe we can call and tell Gary to meet us elsewhere. Greg says the toilet is clogged here at Rancho Jacarandas Club where we are camping for $25.00 per night. Other than these issues, we are having a pretty good time.

Saturday, March 30

North 31° 8.3'
West 114° 53.3'
Distance: 0 miles

We moved to a camp 300 yards North of Pete's Camp. It's nuts here. There is an hour wait for food at the camp. Glass in the sand everywhere. People are riding 4-wheelers past camp at all hours. We took a test kayak for the afternoon.

Sunday, March 31

North 31° 8.3'
West 114° 53.3'
Distance: 0 miles

Easter Sunday. Gary arrived at 8:00 pm last night with Mike and Linda. Lots of food and comforts. Mike is putting a fishing pole holder and compass on his boat. Gary is a little miffed that I wouldn't get up and go party with him when he got here last night.

Monday, April Fool's Day

North 30° 56.4'
West 114° 43.8'
Distance: 16 miles

We paddled 16 miles today. We departed Pete's Camp at 5:37 am. Nice warm day. Greg paddled with us for about 12 miles. Gary, Linda, and Heidi went to town for supplies for us. We met about 12 miles south of Pete's Camp for a break and a snack. Heidi bought me a bottle of tequila. When we resumed at 11:00 am, Heidi went back to Los Angeles in Twuck. It was sad to say goodbye to her for so long. We hope she can meet me soon. Gary found a beach called El Faro Beach just south of a lighthouse. It would be a pretty place to stay for a while. Mike hooked a fish, but it got away. Hamburgers for dinner tonight! We will miss Gary, Linda, and Greg after tomorrow! Gary did the last 4 miles with us and I think I have him convinced to do the last 985 miles to Cabo San Lucas. All systems are working well so far. I hope that continues.

Tuesday, April 2

North 30° 43.3'
West 114° 42.2'
Distance: 15.2 miles

We started at 6:00 am today. We did 15.2 miles ending up about a mile south of Bahia Santa Maria. Muffins, Hot Chocolate, and Instant oatmeal for breakfast. We loaded 3 gallons more water on each boat and 10 lbs. of food. We both noticed the difference. Mike caught a bird this morning while trolling. He reeled it in and grabbed it's neck. It bit down on his finger while he got it loose. Gary and Linda chased us again and Greg paddled with us. The sea conditions were contrary, so it took till 11:00 am to finish. Linda made a big brunch with 24 eggs, bacon, bread with Jelly, Orange Juice. Mike burned his back, I my stomach a little. There are showers here again, so we will all be clean tonight. Gary, Linda, and Greg leave in the morning when we do. After today we are on our own. We are all tired and sore after two long days, so a short one tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 3

North 30° 33.8'
West 114° 39.4'
Distance: 11.3 miles

This is the first day of our adventure. Mike and I departed at 6:40 am. A little later than we had intended. Muffins for breakfast. We filled and packed everything and said goodbye to Gary, Linda and Greg. This was very hard for Linda, but she was tough about it and only cried a little. We had some difficulty at first with Mike's fishing rig. Gary had played with it the night before and it was a little raveled. About an hour and a half out we saw a pod of dolphins. They played with us for a couple minutes and then took off. I think they will be a constant source of entertainment for us. At about 9:00 am we found a beach that looked good for camping and pulled up. There is a house a couple hundred yards down, but we have seen no signs of people. There have been hundreds of houses on the beach so far. This was the first deserted stretch we found so far. The beach was rocky and the tide was out so we had to carry our gear up to the flat sandy part. We took out about 60 lbs. of gear out of each boat first, then carried the boats. We made a tent with two ponchos snapped together and the poles. Mike smoothed the ground and put a third poncho down as a floor. Cool and shady here. We did a short day today - 11.3 miles. We are a little tired from the last two days. We still have not caught a fish, but will keep trying. There is a rocky bottom off our beach which might attract life. We can try that later. Linda gave us two apples which we ate. Yum! We will have rice and corn tonight. I will also try some beans. It feels great to be on our way. Let the adventure begin!

Wednesday, July 24

We made banana pancakes and good coffee for breakfast, then packed up and headed out. We went to an old onyx mine at a place called El Marmol. The best thing there was a wind mill pumping cool water out of a well. We bathed and cooled down while horses and cattle watched. We found a camp just between El Rosario and San Quintin on the beach with no people anywhere near. It is a pretty place with real Pacific Ocean surf and much cooler than anything I am used to. There are trash cans, an outhouse, and other signs that this is a pay-for-use beach, but there are no signs of people. We had another great dinner with Rick. He will stay till tomorrow, then he is off to Santa Barbara to hang out with friends. I noticed today that more and more cars have California plates. We are no longer so far into Mexico. It really feels like we are going back, though we can put off the actual return for another week or so.

Tuesday, July 23

It is nice to be done working! I got up and found a book, ate breakfast, bought gas, read, cleaned, organized, and about 11:00am I took off to meet Mike in San Rafael. I got there about 12:30. I found Mike talking to a guy named Pancho who lives there and runs the llantera and whatever else anybody will pay for. It seems like mostly he hangs out and talks to people. Nice, interesting guy. He warned us about the orcas. He has two dogs and six cats. Three of the cats are adults – two orange males and a grey female. The other three are four day old kittens. Orange and grey. He said “The grey one is the mother. I don’t know who the father is. It may be this one. It may be that one. It may be me…” The big dog is named Vaquero or Cowboy. The dogs are friendly and want lots of attention. Pancho made us instant coffee and we hung out for a while. Then Mike told me he didn’t want to kayak alone anymore. After one day! I gave him a hard time about it, but he was sure, so we loaded up the truck and headed for Bahia de Los Angeles after giving Pancho Mike’s kayaking food. We went to Guermo’s and had lunch. While we were there a guy named Rick came and joined us. Mike had met him on the beach near Pancho’s. He reminded Mike of the character Dude in “The Big Lebowski.” He ate with us and we decided to camp together tonight. Mike and Rick went to the store for food, then we gassed up and headed out. Ten miles short of Mex 1 we found a little dirt road and camped. Rick and Mike made great carne tacos and we hung out and ate for a while in this pretty, pretty desert space. Rick lives in San Francisco and was down for two weeks of kayaking and fishing. He was to have had two friends with him, but they each had to cancel at the last minute. He is an interesting guy to hang out with.

Monday, July 22

Last night the wind died down completely. That meant the bugs were out and biting, but no problem because that means we get to leave this island. Then about 3:00am the wind started again and was going pretty well by dawn. Then it started to rain pretty hard. It was enough to make everything wet and to drive us out of bed. We got up, waited out the rain, then made coffee and food while we dried out our beds. Finally in the late morning the wind died down to the level of late yesterday afternoon and we decided to go. We packed up – much lighter now, and got into the water in the late morning. After a half hour of paddling and zero progress we gave up and headed back toward San Lorenzo. It was a rough crossing. When the wind and tide are opposing, the waves peak up throwing spikes of water as high as three feet off the surface. Frequently the water swamped my boat. When we got close to San Lorenzo we got caught in a current which disallowed further progress. We were no more than a mile from the point we needed to land on, but we could go no further. We drifted north a couple miles down the island and were finally able to make shore. The trick is to go in a direction perpendicular to the motion of the waves. We made a little rock beach and rested while we decided what to do next. Mike decided to head for Bahia de Los Angeles and I to San Fransisquito for the truck. I would meet him in San Rafael – a fish camp a third of the way to Los Angeles – with more water. I gave him most of the water and all of the food and we parted. An hour later I regretted not taking more of the water. I rounded the tip of San Lorenzo at the south end and started across the channel. The sea was rough and still a bit windy and I was still tired from the previous crossing. I had eaten nothing all day except one and a half peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I paddled from 3:40 till almost 9:00pm to make San Fransisquito. I was tired and hungry and thirsty the whole way, but at least I was pretty warm. The last mile seemed to take forever and I was never sure if I was making progress or not since there was no landmark to judge against after the first mile. The lack of water worried me and so I saved the last sip till I was sure I would make camp that night. I was also concerned that they would be closed when I got there. When I finally made shore I pulled my boat half way up the beach, then stopped to breath. When I stood up I almost fell over. My legs were shaky and my head was light. I pulled the boat a little further up the beach and then gave up. I walked or staggered to the kitchen and got one and a half liters of water and asked for dinner. Gernado was there and was helpful and nice. He got me food in less than ten minutes. I ate, drank another one and a half liters of water, showered, and got the truck over to the boat. I pulled it the rest of the way up the beach – it seemed much lighter now, and then fell asleep in about ten seconds. I decided at that moment that this is the last paddling I will do on this trip. I will drive the truck and will do land activities until we get home.

Sunday, July 21

No progress again today, but in the late afternoon the wind seems to be slowing down a little. The white caps are mostly gone and the wind feels more like fifteen to twenty miles per hour which is a huge improvement. Mike was restless again today and engaged himself trying to spear a fish for dinner. He made an anchor for his boat out of a rock and some of our spare line. He paddled out a little and threw it overboard. The line tangled on the way down and pulled the whole thing to the bottom. He spent the next hours trying to dive down and untangle it. The first few times the kayak drifted so far on each dive that he would have to swim hard to recover it. Then he tried pushing the boat into the wind as far as he could before he dived. This tired him to the point that he couldn’t do much work when he got to the tangle before he had to go up for air. Then he enlisted me to hold his kayak while he dove. That worked a little better, but he finally gave up and abandoned the line. At leas it kept him occupied. I finished “Armada” and re-read “Sliver” by Ira Levin. I am now completely out of reading material if we are stuck here again tomorrow. I have good hope that the slowdown of wind we feel now is a trend and not a lull. I heard it blew for six days before we got here and it has now been three days continuous blow. I believe that it can’t blow forever. At least I hope not. If tomorrow doesn’t show any improvement then our new destination will be San Fransisquito rather than on to Kino. Today Mike and I both read Francis Drake’s words “The continuing to the end until it be thoroughly finished, yields the true glory.”

Saturday, July 20

No progress today. The wind blew all night last night and all day today. We estimate it at between 35 and 40 miles per hour based on how hard it pushes on our bodies as we stand against it. At least it is cooling which is nice since we can’t put the sun shade up in this wind. It is just blowing too hard, so we gave up after a little trying. We sat around most of the day with nothing to do. This is harder on Mike than it is on me. I can sense his frustration at just sitting here and I reminded him not to hurt himself. We have been swimming in the one little part of our beach which is protected from the wind a little. We also spent some time fishing without good result. Mike has been snorkeling and says it is great, but I don’t want to risk anymore ear problems since I am a little concerned about our situation here. We are twenty four miles from land in one direction and thirty in the other direction. If the wind doesn’t die down in the next few days we could be in a difficult situation. We may have to leave the island in the wind if we start to run out of water. We will be pretty light by then and with the empty water bottles in our boats we won’t sink, but we could have a lot of difficulty making land. At least the water is warm enough that hypothermia won’t be an issue. Between the wind and the current we could be pulled pretty far north in a couple hours. That could mean we would have to go all the way to land in one paddle. Also, the main land falls away significantly to the north, which would mean a longer pull. It could mean we would have to paddle over thirty miles at one time once we commit ourselves. This with water breaking over the deck the whole time and filling the hold. The boat goes much slower full of water. I shipped about five gallons of water in 10 miles yesterday. Fifteen gallons weighs 120 lbs which makes the boat very hard to push. If we must do that I will duct tape the hatches closed before we leave and hope for the best. For the moment we still have food and water for several days. When we swim the sea lions are very curious and interested in all we do. They keep a little distance, but watch us the whole time. We made camp up the beach a way in order to disturb them as little as possible, but that puts us in a location which is more exposed to the wind. The good thing about this is that we are familiar with the wind and note every change. Meanwhile the food is good as always and I have Mike’s Armada book to read.

Friday, July 19

North 28° 40.307’
West 112° 36.160’
Distance: 32.8 miles

We paddled 32.8 miles today. This has been quite a day. We started with breakfast at the camp again. Then we watered up and packed the boats. We rented covered parking. Twenty dollars for as long as we will be gone. Gernado paddled with us for a half mile or so, then went back. The weather was nice and the water was very nice – not at all cold, but slightly cooling when we jump in. A couple hours later we were near San Lorenzo and saw a wave to the left of us. I pointed it out to Mike and he said it was dolphins. Hundreds of them – maybe 400 or more. They were chasing a school of bait and pushed it right through us. They were on both sides of us moving the bait in a long line maybe a quarter mile wide. This is the best dolphin experience I have ever had. Last night Gernado showed us a video he had made on the beach in San Francisquito a few weeks ago. There were two orcas – a mother and a child – and they came within a few yards of the beach. Maybe 50 feet offshore at the most. There are great things to see everywhere around here. We made San Lorenzo and the wind was just starting to come up a little. We stayed an hour and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the potatoes Lauren gave us in Punta Chivato. Then we got back in the water and headed for San Estaban. It was rougher going but not too bad for a while. About half way over we started getting breaking waves hitting us from the side. It was pretty exciting till we discovered that they were local and in a line. We headed right into them and powered through them for a few minutes and then it got better. When we got to within a half mile of San Estaban the wind and tide were both hard in our faces. We worked hard for a half hour to get to a small beach with lots of sea lions. They were not at all pleased to see us there, but we were exhausted and needed to rest. I emptied at least five gallons of water out of my boat and that helped a lot. After about twenty minutes of rest we moved down the beach a half mile or so to a big gravel bar which had been our original goal. We had to displace a few more sea lions, but we were able to pull the boats 150 feet up the beach and got out of their way. Mike made the best pasta I have ever eaten, then it was time for bed. Great day! I hope tomorrow is as good. The sea lions are barking, the wind is blowing, the stars are all out. It should be a great night.

Thursday, July 18

We woke up with a brisk wind blowing and soon the water was choppy and ugly. We decided to wait and see if it got any better later in the day and it never did. We had breakfast at the camp and ate with the couple staying in the next palapa. She lives in Long Beach and he lives in Tijuana, so they have a bit of a long distance relationship. After breakfast I started reading and in a few hours I finished my Gibbons series. It is about 3200 pages of western civilization. It was well worth having read. One of the advantages of taking four months off work and living in a place which affords lots of free time is the opportunity to read things like this. We went for a hike/climb along the cliffs at sunset, then went into camp for a couple of beers and dinner. We met a kid named Gernado – the son of the owner. He is a nice, hard working kid who lives in Tijuana. He wants to be a doctor and will be going to school for that in the fall. It will be lots of work – good luck to him. Then we went to sleep because with a little luck we will be working hard tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 17

Mike and I made breakfast from what we had intended for dinner last night. We drove into Santa Rosalia for gas, money, supplies, and internet use, then on toward Mex 18. I was driving and missed the turn for Mex 18. Suddenly we were in Guerrero Negro. We had a little lunch and turned around. When we got there it was obvious why I had missed it. The only marker for the road is “microunda” – for the microwave station a few miles away. No sign for El Arco or Mex 18. The road was pretty rough and it was 7:30 before we made San Francisquito. Well, I guess it was really 8:30 since we are back on Pacific Standard Time. The cook was gone, so we made a little food from left-overs, cleaned and repaired the boats, and went to bed.

Tuesday, July 16

We woke up this morning determined to get going! Mike and Frank went to the store for food for everyone. Just as he was about to cook a Mexican family descended on us with a pile of kids and one of the guys. We decided to wait for breakfast. While I waited I swam out to John Johnson’s boat. I had met him the night before and he had invited me out to see it. He showed me his boat and his wife, Nancy who I had met the first night gave me a couple beers. He is working on a dinghy cover, so we played with that for a while. He also gave me recommendations for trucks. He is an old Baja racer who lived in San Diego, so he knows a bit about what I will need. They are nice and fun and we invited them to join us for breakfast. I offered Mike’s services as cook. Debi paddled out on a surfboard later to avoid the noise and confusion at home. She and I paddled and swam back to shore when the people all left. We finally had breakfast and by the time it was done and cleaned up it was 2:30 in the afternoon. We said goodbye to everyone and went to Loreto for gas, then on to Punta Chivato. We pulled up to a camp site without a palapa because it was kinda crowded. Five minutes later I saw the woman next to us taking down her camp. I went over to her and asked her if she was leaving and she said yes, but not till morning. That didn’t really help us since we were only there for one night, but I stayed and talked for a minute and she offered us dinner. Good old Chivato! I get nothing but free food here. The woman’s name is Loren and her kids are Taylor and Rusty. We had burgers – my first in months, chicken, potatoes, and more. Mike and I brought the beer and we stayed for several hours. We finally said goodbye and went back to our camp to sleep at around midnight.

Monday, July 15

The sun came and woke me up at 6:00 am. We listened to the cruiser net on the VHF, then had a little breakfast intending to leave soon. Debi’s friends went fishing early and came back about 11:00 with a boat full of Dorado. Mike when to see and while he was there he got Debi to get her friends to take us waterskiing. This was delayed till 2:30 and we didn’t finish till after 4:00. Fred and Rainey had the “Siesta” sign out, so we went to get some food from the market with some beer and hung at Debi’s house with the guys. It was soon clear we weren’t going anywhere today. We all crashed there that night. It looked like a gas leak with six people, four dogs, and a cat all sleeping on any flat surface.

Sunday, July 14

We woke up with cows all around us. This part of highway 1 seems to be through a ranch. We got going and after eating breakfast on the road, got to Puerto Escondido around noon. We stopped to see Chris and Pam – the couple we had met the last time we were here. We hung out with them till about 4:30, and then went on to Juncalito to visit Fred and Rainey – the people who took such good care of us near Agua Verde. They had also put Mike up when he went to get the truck. They showed us their new place and gave us beer. Later we all went to a neighbor’s house for dinner. The neighbor’s name is Debi and she had three guests from the States staying with her. There were also other guests eating there, so it was quite a party. This lasted till about 8:30 when we went back to Fred and Rainey’s house with a few of the other guests and we ate and drank till 2:00 am. Finally, Mike and I crashed – I on the couch and Mike in the camper.

Saturday, July 13

We got up early and packed and got into town. We had breakfast at the internet café callejon and Mike flirted with the waitress until she started showing him her underwear. At that point we felt it was time to leave. I stayed and used the internet while Mike drove Johnny to the airport. Then we hung out in La Paz all day till it was time to meet John and Mary for dinner. Edith, who works at La Fuente saw us at a store and came up to talk with us with her sister. They were both looking at Mike with desire in their eyes and I drug him out of there before he ended up married with three kids in La Paz. We hung out with John and Mary for a few hours and had dinner and one last malteada at La Fuente. Then we drove north for an hour or so and found a little dirt road off highway 1 to sleep on.

Friday, July 12

North 24° 18.456’
West 110° 14.314’
Distance: 4.42 miles

We paddled 4.42 miles today. We woke up and had coffee for breakfast. It was a nice day, but a little too windy, and the wind was in our faces going back to the mainland. I wouldn’t have worried about it for Mike and I, but I was afraid it might tire Johnny out before we reached land. He doesn’t have three months of paddling experience behind him. Some Mexican officials visited us to see if we were with a company and to see if we had a permit. Of course not! They were very nice about it as most Mexicans are. We packed up and got on the water. Mike took his own course toward the truck and Johnny and I headed toward Tecolote Beach. Johnny and I amused ourselves by trying to remember as many old Beatles songs as we could. After a couple hours we made the beach and ordered tacos and beers and played dominos for a couple hours till Mike arrived. We went in to La Paz for Johnny to make calls and ran into John and Mary from Irish Rose. We made a plan to meet them tomorrow at 5:00 pm for dinner. After food, ice cream, and a bit of just hanging out we went back to Tecolote Beach to sleep. The wind is howling and it looks like it will be a bit sandy tonight.

Thursday, July 11

North 24° 24.288’
West 110° 19.549’
Distance: 6.96 miles

We paddled 6.96 miles today. Mike made eggs with avocado and tomato in tortillas for breakfast with most of the rest of our breakfast food. The flies are pretty bad here, but at least there are none of the pesky no-see-ums. Both Mike and I are suffering from the bites from two days ago. Thanks again to Gail for the cortisone cream she gave me. It is almost gone and we should try to get more in La Paz. Last night we watched the tide come higher and higher. It finally peaked about 5 vertical inches and 30 horizontal inches from our beds and boats. The night was perfect – not hot and with a slight breeze. When we left, Mike wanted to fish, so he went way outside. Johnny and I stayed nearer the islands. After a couple hours we found a nice point to land on and Mike followed about twenty minutes later. We traded snorkeling time for about an hour and a half. This was a great location for it – coral and rock and sand with a natural bowl full of fish. I played with the spear gun and caught a couple to use as bait. The strap on the back of my left fin broke. It is about fifteen years old and I am lucky that it lasted as long as it has. We continued toward the south end of the islands looking for a camp without flies or no-see-ems. Around the bottom we found a nice place with a clean sand beach, few bugs, and a great view of the canal. We set up the shade and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Later, Mike made pasta. After a bit of looking, Mike found the tequila bottle. He challenged me to drink a nine-second poor. Nine seconds almost completely filled my mouth, but I did it. It was like being hit in the head with a hammer. Then Mike’s turn. He made it to seven seconds, then it started pouring out the corners of his mouth. We made him take a two second penalty. We ate Nutella and watched stars and talked about crossing back tomorrow. We want to get to Playa Tecolote tomorrow so we can get him on a plane back to San Diego early the next day. His visit was too short. I have gotten used to having a lot of time out here to do stuff. I guess I will soon have to get used to schedules again.

Wednesday, July 10

North 24° 29.423’
West 110° 23.030’
Distance: 6.08 miles

We paddled 6.08 miles today. Mike made banana pancakes for breakfast and I made mud coffee. Then we drifted northwest in a casual way for a while. A big pod of dolphins came by and said “hi.” It was a great sighting. The islands are very pretty and the water is nice. Each time I jumped in I was reminded how nice the water is. After a while we pulled our boats up to one of the little islands and snorkeled for a while. I got a couple little fish with the spear to use as bait. I also got a larger one, but he wiggled off before I could get him to shore. The coral is pretty and this was one of the best snorkeling days I have had. Later Mike caught a big jack and we cut him up for bait. While Mike was fishing, Johnny and I saw some more dolphins. I hurried up to see them and got very lucky. A large pod was fishing within a few feet of me. They took off to follow the fish, but I saw them at various distances for a half hour. Then we landed and set up shade at a nice beach. A little wind to keep the bugs away, a nice place to sleep, and a world class view, along with good food and a drinking game which Mike lost badly.

Tuesday, July 9

North 24° 24.518’
West 110° 20.902’
Distance: 5.63 miles

We paddled 5.63 miles today. We woke up kinda early. Johnny said he didn’t sleep much, but he spent a bunch of hours snoring, I guess to make up for not sleeping. Mike made us a big breakfast and I made two pots of coffee and the two of those got us going. Mike and Johnny went to town for more supplies while I cleaned and packed the boats and replaced a couple of the rudder cables. The right cable on Mike’s boat was broken at the foot peddle and the left cable on my boat was broken at the rudder. The repair went well and now both are working well. The patch on my right cable has been working well for four weeks now and I assume it will last the rest of the trip. I do want to get more cable next time we are in La Paz just in case. When Mike and Johnny got back, Mike took off to rent a boat for Johnny and to park the truck. He was gone two hours and Johnny and I got everything ready while he was gone. When he got there we finished the last details of packing and took off for Isla Espiritu Santo. I caught a jack on the way over, but after trying a few bites we threw the rest away. We found a nice camp, but were eaten by no-see-ums while we had dinner.

Monday, July 8

North 24° 21.037’
West 110° 17.137’

Mike went and got Johnny at the airport and bought supplies. Then we hung out and had dinner. I read a lot while I waited for them.

Sunday, July 7

I woke up early and had got Mike out of bed after just three hours of sleep. We showered, breakfasted, packed, and moved out of the hotel. Then we got our boats out of storage and loaded onto the truck. We drove to Todos Santos and had lunch, then on toward La Paz. We picked up a hitchhiker and I entertained Mike with my pantomime telling him to get into the front seat at a light so that he could tell Mike where to go. Johnny had missed his flight so we got Ice Cream and drove to Pichilingue to camp. He will be on the same flight tomorrow. We got stuck in the sand and Mike lost his wallet. We also bought a six-pack of Pacifico, so the evening was a treat. We found a boat for Johnny to rent and a place to park the truck while we are at the islands.

Saturday, July 6

Today was pretty much the same as yesterday. In the late afternoon Mike came back. I had eaten, used the internet, and walked around. This city is pretty much a pit. Tijuana of the south. I have not been offered sex, drugs, and fishing trips so much in the past 15 years as I have to past two days. In the evening Mike got drunk and I watched TV. I woke up about midnight and Mike was gone. He left a note saying that he had left at about 9:30 and that he would be home early. He rolled in at 3:00 in the morning. He told me that he had met up with the front desk people and had gone out with them.

Friday, July 5

We woke up early and had breakfast downstairs before going to the bus station. After waiting a few minutes Mike got on the bus and I returned to the hotel. I didn’t do much today except use the internet, talk to Heidi, exchange some travelers checks, and eat. I also spent some time talking to the front desk girl in Spanish. I got email from Johnny Gorton saying he would meet us in La Paz on the seventh for some island kayaking.

Thursday, July 4

Today we did very little! We woke up late and went down to the café to eat. Well, first we took advantage of the shower for about an hour. It seems to take about three showers to get two weeks of kayaking gunge off my body. A little food and coffee, then we went to find the bus station to buy Mike a ticket for Loreto tomorrow. The bus station was about two kilometers away – a nice walk. We bought Mike a ticket for 10:30am tomorrow, then walked back to the hotel. We stopped at the laundry to clean our clothes and to check our email. What a great idea to combine laundry with email service! The lady there was very helpful with both. I called Heidi a couple times but she wasn’t there. I did get to talk to Mom and Gail. Then we returned to the hotel to have a couple beers in the pool. Later we went to the Chinese place across the street. This was the first non-Mexican food I have had in three months and it tasted great! There was a problem with flies and the girl walked circles around the table waving a menu at the flies. We went out to Cabo Wabo to listen to a little music. We are about out of money so we didn’t spend too much on beer. I want Mike to have a good supply of cash when he goes to Loreto. There is not too much happening for Independence Day, but it made me feel good to be here for the Fourth of July.

Wednesday, July 3

North 22° 52.528’
West 109° 53.604’
Distance: 12.7 miles

We paddled 12.7 miles today. We are now at Land’s End – the end of the Baja California peninsula. Well, we are not there now, but we were a few hours ago. We started early with a little coffee. Mike was useless yesterday without it and I enjoy it too, so today I made mud coffee which jolted us both awake. A couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to make it all work. We had to get the timing just right to get into the water today. The waves crashed on the beach and would smoosh us if we got trapped under them. The waves are bigger today than they were last night. We spent some time watching them and watching their patterns. We had to pick the lull between the sets to get out. I picked just right, but I got my paddle caught in a rope and it took a while to get it untangled. Also, my broken seat back was in my way and I couldn’t sit in the seat. Mike was yelling “Go! Go! Go!” I was imagining the next wave smacking me into the ground. A crowd from the hotel was watching my graceless floundering and, I guess, wondering if I was going to live. I got lucky. This was one of the longest smooth times we had seen all morning. If I had done nothing else right I had at least picked the right time to do it. I finally got everything untangled and started paddling. I just slid my butt forward eight inches and worried about the seat back after I got a few hundred yards out to sea. Once he saw that everything was OK with me, Mike made a textbook entrance and a few minutes later he was with me. We paddled for a few hard hours and then came to the arc at the end of the peninsula. The waves were large and surging, but we took pictures of each of us in front of the arc. I paddled all the way around the island off the end past the arc. Then Mike and I paddled to Lover’s Beach and had a celebratory shot of El Jimador, took our last GPS reading, and sat down for a while. We met a nice couple who had just gotten married. Teachers from Idaho who had to go home the next day. They told me they were going to be in San Diego the next day, so I told them where to go for dinner in Ocean Beach. They seemed like the kind who would appreciate my town. Then we all paddled into the harbor. Mike and I went to the marina looking for a hotel and dry storage. We went to a few wrong places first, but finally found the right office and for sixteen dollars we could store the boats for four days. They also pointed us to a hotel – Best Western Cabo San Lucas. Se spent a couple hours checking in and hauling our stuff around. We looked pretty funny carrying the boats the couple blocks to the dry storage lot and everyone we passed had a comment. We got food and showered and bought a six-pack and went back to the hotel. We spent some time talking to the girl at the front desk and to the security guard. They were both helpful and interesting and told us a little about Cabo San Lucas and helped us with our Spanish. After a short while we went to our room and watched “You’ve Got Mail” in Spanish while we had a couple beers. Then we went to sleep in real beds. As usual, completing a big goal is a bit anti-climatic. The exact moment of completion, nothing changes except that you have a little less direction and maybe less confidence. Going down the coast I knew where I wanted to get and roughly how to do it. Now I need to figure out what to do next. A couple days rest here in Cabo San Lucas should help with that. I know from experience that the let-down feeling is transitory and I will soon be involved in the next goal.

Tuesday, July 2

North 22° 59.321’
West 109° 44.319’
Distance: 23.9 miles

We paddled 23.9 miles today. We are now 644 miles from Pete’s Camp which is just four miles further than we were yesterday. We crossed the 23rd degree of latitude today which is our last before San Lucas. We woke up early today and were on the water by 8:00am without coffee. This may have been a mistake because Mike kept falling asleep while paddling. The ocean was pretty flat with little wind until about noon. At 2:00pm I realized that Mike had disappeared, so I waited for him for about a half hour. I finally saw something that looked like a kayak a few beaches back and I saw someone who walked like Mike walking around it. Fifteen minutes later I was on the beach next to him. We went for food and beer, then got back in the water about 6:00 pm. This was a mistake. The wind and waves were up and with much work we made about a mile and a half, and then crashed on a beach. I mistimed the surf and got crushed in a wave. This was another of those beaches which drop off sharply and the surf crashes right on the sand. The wave came over the top of me and slammed me to the ground. I lost my good sunglasses, and I broke the back support for my seat. Once again, everything eventually gets eaten by the trip. I will miss them. They are good glass lenses and fit well. I am lucky they lasted three months and I am glad I brought a spare pair. We are now about twelve miles from San Lucas and I am ready to be finished with the cold, rough water. Also, a couple days of leisure will be very welcome. Big lessons for today: Stick together, and put the sunglasses in the zippered pouch when going through rough surf. I have known those things for a long time, but every once in a while I need to be reminded. I was thinking today that the trip was my idea and that I have driven much of it for the past year. After San Lucas I want to let Mike make the decisions and do what interests him. I am now thinking more about life after the trip. I don’t know if I want to go home or if I just want to visit home, but I have started to think more about home. Also, being a goal oriented person, as I finish one goal I naturally start to think about the next. A vague idea about drifting around Mexico isn’t much of a goal.

Monday, July 1

North 23° 12.883’
West 109° 27.179’
Distance: 17.0 miles

We paddled 17.0 miles today. When I pulled my journal out this morning I noticed that my map bag had leaked and my journal is wet. Mike found that his sunscreen had leaked in his bathroom bag. These two disasters consumed us till about 10:30 in the morning. Once again we see that anything we own out here can be lost, stolen, broken, rusted, or soaked. I am running our of possessions which have not been the victim of one or more of those. Breakfast of eggs, tortillas, avocado, tomato, and cheese while things dried. We left at 10:30 and at 11:00 we hit Cabo Pulmo which is a pretty little town on a bay with a reef surrounded by mountains and with lots of white sand beaches. That town will explode with tourists someday. We bought water, another avocado, cheese, and some beans. We just need a couple more days of food till we hit San Lucas. We continued until about 3:00pm when the wind came up hard in our faces again. It seems to be the pattern. We rested until about 6:00pm, then continued for about another hour and a quarter. We wanted to go on longer but we were finding big surf on the beaches in places. We were afraid that with the sun going down we might find ourselves in a position where we were forced to land in the dark through the surf on an unknown beach – maybe into rocks. We wanted no risk of that. Mike got crunched a bit coming in, but I got luckier in timing the waves. A group of Mexicans watched us from the cliff probably wondering if they were going to have to rescue us. The beach here is steep so that the waves crash right on to the sand. This is the first sign we have seen that we are getting close to the wild Pacific Ocean. By my map we have less than thirty five miles left to go. Today we passed the easternmost point on our journey and last night was our easternmost camp. By tomorrow we will be going more west than south. We want to get an early start tomorrow and try to beat the wind. We want to get past San Jose del Cabo of possible tomorrow. For the past year and a half I have been planning this trip. For three months I have been paddling. Now I am within a couple days work of completing my goal. This is quite exciting. I know little will change when we get there. There will be no party. Nobody will know that we are finishing a journey. Nobody will care. We won’t be going home. We will still be living in kayaks. The vacation will not be over for another month. But this will fulfill for me an ambition that goes back to High School – to complete a long journey from end to end of some geographical boundary under my own power and with my own resources. Camping, cooking, everything on my own. I have always loved sleeping outside and that aspect of the trip has been a special treat for me. Also, I have seen the entire eastern coast of the Baja peninsula and have found it to be wonderful beyond my expectation or imagination. The people, both Mexican and Gringo, have been fantastically friendly and helpful. I have renewed my interest in learning Spanish and have come a long way toward that goal. I know it is a little early to start summing my experiences, but I now feel that the rest of the long part of my trip is just details. One more city to deal with, and a couple more camps. This is a pretty satisfying evening for me. I guess the fact that we made a good distance today makes the rest seem easy. We will soon see if that is true or not.