Well everyone, first thing I'll say is that internet is tough to find on the Baja! And when you do, it's at a cafe on a desktop computer and it's a dial up connection....remember that?
Anyway, we have arrived! Yesterday, we arrived in Cabo San Lucas, the Southernmost tip of the Baja also known as Lands End. We visited several anchorages along the way, Turtle Bay and Santa Maria being our favorites. The weather has not been what we expected, it's been cool and overcast and the water's really been too cold for swimming. During our trip down, we saw lots of aquatic life, whales, dolphins, sea lions and even marlins! We fished and seem to be able to catch tuna just fine, but we're holding out for wahoo or dorado, actually our first catch was a blue shark!
We've been travelling with a fleet of 7-10 boats mostly from Canada and will likely dispurse in the next week as some will head North into the Sea of Cortez while others will head South towards Puerta Vallarta. We will be spending Christmas in Mazatlan and are looking forward to meeting up with several cruising friends from home.
Our Spanish language skills are getting a good workout as we ask for directions, order a meal or converse with the Capitan del Puerto. While we were in Magdalena Bay, the Port Captain gave us a ride in his Panga so we could provision in San Carlos....it was a fast exciting trip. There were to mercados there and we were able to buy simple groceries only. The port captain hauled and launched his panga instead of leaving it in the water, so when we finished shopping, we walked to his house, loaded our groceries in the panga which was on the trailer and connected to his truck and hopped in, he drove us through town and launched the boat with us five ladies and our groceries - it was quite the adventure!
This morning we observed about 50 bat rays, just about 100 feet from the boat, trying to fly out of the water! They made huges splashes and sometimes did somersaults, what a fun way to start the morning! Cabo San Lucas is a busy tourist town and we'll be exploring today and getting some more groceries as our supplies are getting low again. It's sunny and the water's finally warm enough for a pleasant swim - a balmy 78 degrees. We're looking forward to going up into the Sea of Cortez to Las Frailles which is supposedly a great dive and snorkleing location.
We had a wonderful Christmas celebration aboard Malachi (our first one ever!), we put lights up outside, and we even had a tree! We were really happy to have Grandma Laura join us for the holidays and our good friends Steve & Linda from Warren Peace joined us for a delicious dinner of turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, corn & carrots, coleslaw, cranberries and pumpkin and apple pies for dessert - thanks Linda, they were rico sabrosso! Just before Christmas, we visited a neighbouring marina and watched a Christmas show put on by the Salvation Army orphanage. There were about 70 very talented young singers and dancers who entertained us all and Isreal, the Major, sang several solos - what a wonderful voice! Thanks to the cruisers who attended along with several observers from the condo next door, over $3000 was raised for the orphanage! 
