Bahia Los Frailes, Mexico

Posted 29 November 2010

We left Cabo San Lucas at 7 am on Friday morning 26 November and had quite a tough sail with the wind on the nose to Bahia Los Frailes. The boat had a hard time punching trough the waves and at times the waves stop the boat to an almost standstill with a speed of about 0.5 knots. We decided to turn around and run downwind for about 3 miles and anchor at Point Gorda for lunch and to have a little rest.
After a hour or two we headed out again with the storm jib and the main with 2 reefs. This allowed us to punch trough the waves a little better and also gave us a bit more speed and comfort. We were doing from 3 to 5 knots with the occasional wave breaking over the dodger and soaking us. It was a long beat into the wind and we ended up tacking away from land for about 12 miles and then tack back to get to Bahia Los Frailes. The most wind speed we saw was 27 knots, but it was a constant 23 to 25 knots. We anchored at 2 am Saturday morning quite exhausted.

Bahia Los Frailes is a beautiful bay with a white sandy beach and mountains surrounding the bay. There were several boats anchored, but most of them left and only 3 sailboats remained anchored.
We got our 'Pasaporte de la Conservacion' from the ranger here. This cost us 260 pesos each and are valid for 1 year. Now we will not have to worry about paying the fees at each island or conservation area we visit.

Sunday morning we decided that it is a good day to hike up the mountain with our friends Will and Marilyn from 'Shaman 1' and with Marc from 'Wendaway'. Mark wife Wendy had done the hike before and she opted out for a day of relaxing on the boat.

We had so much fun hiking up the mountain, had to make several rest points as it always look easier than what it is. Mark has very good knowledge of the area and also of the plants. The landscape is mostly rocky and we saw lots of cactus plants and some wild flowers. The rangers had mark the trail so it was easy enough to follow. I have no idea how long it took us, but it felt like hours before we eventually reached the top. It was worth every drop of sweat and achy muscles, absolutely breathtaking. You could see the bay on the other side of the mountain and also the reefs in the water. We saw lots of vultures flying.

The downward trip was much easier and in no time we were back on the beach. After a long shower, we ended our lovely day with our friends on 'Wendaway' with a lovely potluck supper and desert.

Monday we went on a mission to walk to the little restuarant and bar. We had a great time, but unfortunately the cheff's vehicle broke down and we had to go without food.

They predict some strong northerly winds for the next couple of days, so we are going to do some walking, snorkeling, diving, photographic and ...