Marquesas Update: I re-anchored again. I keep scooching the boat forward as room opens up. I think I’m good now. The depth is a little deeper and I’m a little more behind the breakwater. Still bow and stern anchored, but I think I could swing by the bower if I need to buoy the stern anchor. The wind is supposed to pick up this weekend. Not bad, 15 knots or so, but it will bring in more waves and swell and I don’t yet know how that will affect the anchorage.

I scheduled a haul out for fresh bottom paint and went to give a deposit today. Then the yard man, Tino, said he needed to measure the boat first. Sampaguita may be too small for the lift. It’s not the overhead Genie type, but the ramp style. What kind of idiot sails a 20-foot boat to Marquesas anyway?

Then I hitchhiked to town, went to the grocer for sausage, beer, limes and onions, and then to Pauline’s restaurant, Mokai, for lunch. I had the Mokai burger.  Basically a hamburger with egg, coleslaw, and tomatoes. Pretty good. In the States, a hamburger is a safe choice, in Mexico tacos are the safe choice (don’t get a hamburger in Mexico!) In FP, a hamburger works. They raise cows and goats and chickens, and of course fish are a staple too. Goat is the world’s most eaten meat, though very little so in the States. Funny, right? On the same track, Formula One and Soccer are the biggest sports in the world, but not so much in the States. And the whole world uses the metric system, except the States. On the other hand the States’ money, military might, and communications dominate, so I guess you could say they focus on what really matters.

And now on to our regularly scheduled program.

Mexico really is a tremendously beautiful place. In the Northern Hemisphere’s arid belt, present day Mexico fell outside of America’s 19^th century Manifest Destiny movement of the continents more temperate latitudes. While the advances in technology of the 20^th and 21^st century have allowed for broader climatic habitability and a more soft invasion from her American and Canadian neighbors to the north, the daunting aridity still remains Mexico’s best defense and charm.

Los Frailles was Sampaguita’s last Mexican stop. The furthest south, quality anchorage on either side of the Baja peninsula, it is well protected from the Sea of Cortez’s formidable north winds. The clean and clear water teaming with schools of fish that loudly appear to set the water boiling in a feeding frenzy, and the manta rays doing flips in the air for whatever reason they do that for, offered a diving opportunity for a last chance inspection of Sampaguita’s hull before heading west into the Pacific. Paola had done a good job of cleaning in La Paz and this was confirmed in Los Frailles.

Sampaguita stopped here on her way north in December and I tried in vain to find the path to the top of the hill on the cape. Reassured by Benedict and Mark of Opale, whom I spent Christmas with in Bahia de Los Muertos, that there was a trail, I was committed to finding it this time around. Alas, it was located and the ascent was more than worthwhile.

From the top, I took the accompanying video. I could see for miles and miles in every direction. Up the coast, down the coast, the mountain range to the west and the Sea of Cortez to the east. I could look down and see condors soaring below. The Mexican fisherman camp with its beached pangas alongside the fair-skinned RV park and waterfront estates. The humbler local dwellings and dried up watering holes. It was a fantastic “last view” of Mexico.

I hope you enjoy. Thanks for taking the time to visit Sailing With Josh.