Cabo to Frailes

Cabo San Lucas to Los Frailes

El dorado - Sea of Cortez - The world's aquarium 

December 17th we left Cabo San Lucas under the cover of darkness and at 4am headed straight into the Pacific Ocean. Then, for the second time since leaving Emeryville, we turned left. We’d spent the last six weeks studying maps of the coast, always looking forward to the end of the peninsula, and today we turned around the corner and found spread before us a whole land of new things to explore.  We have now entered the Sea of Cortez.

During the sail we passed Gordo Bank, a famous destination for sport fishers where our guidebook said, “even a small sailboat with a hand line can catch a dorado for dinner.” We couldn’t pass up such an opportunity so we put our biggest, fanciest, shiniest hoochie on the reel and let it out. Not trusting such a gaudy lure to catch us dinner I also threw out the hand line with our trusty brown gummy (now missing his tail) and trailed it behind as well.

At 8am, within 10 minutes of putting it in the water, we had a small bonito on the handline. I pulled it in, cleaned it and it was cooking on the BBQ before Cristina even realized.  We ate him for an early lunch and shortly thereafter we heard a hit on the fishing line. We pulled it in, everything looked good so we put it back and then boom, the clacker was screaming as line pulled out of the spool and I jumped up to put the brake on. Then we saw it jump 100 yards astern. Cristina hove us too and I began to fight it.  We saw it jump again and knew this was like no fish we’d caught before. It came in heavy, then it would thrash, try to run and then jump. The hook was well set however so I slowly worked her alongside where we finally got a good look at her. The fish was three feet long, with a large eyes and a tall flat head which angled sleekly back to a large sharply pointed, forked tail. The skin shimmered, gold, yellow, green, as the fish glided on the line. We hauled her in, gave her one last drink, a shot of cognac, and put her in the cooler for later. The cognac goes straight through the mouth to the gills where it incapacitates the fish.

When we arrived at Los Frailes we made ceviche, soaked cubes of the meat in lime, fried up another filet and ate until we could eat no more. The Dorado is also known as the dolphin fish or mahi mahi, and the flesh is white, supple and tender.

We anchored in the very first bay offering protection from the north wind and 15 miles into the Sea of Cortez at Los Frailes. Here a white sand beach spread in an arc before us ending in a rocky mountain which protected us from the north wind that now blew hundreds of miles from Arizona through the sea and out to the Pacific. Here lay a dusty fishing camp, and a free campground which served as a stopping ground for a half dozen explorers seeking adventure at the end of a long dirt road.

The north wind blew from the time we entered Gordo bank for three days. We spend the first day at Los Frailies on the boat relishing the quiet views of the beach, the mountain and the sea. We landed the kayak in the surf and walked the beach climbing the rocks and swimming in the waves. The water here is warmer, pleasant on a sunny day, and so clear you can see fish swimming below the boat.

The second day we got up early, packed a lunch and with our sandals strapped to our feet, flippers, wetsuits and fins packed on our backs we set out across the mountain to the north of our anchorage. We bushwacked through 3 miles of cactus, scrub brush and rocks, following horse and small animal trails until we reached the chain link fence surrounding Cabo Pulmo National Marine Sanctuary. We crawled under the fence at a dry creek and walked onto the beach. Before us lay one of the only 3 coral reefs in North America. It started at a minimum depth of 40 feet making it inaccessible to us with our snorkels, but we found a pebble beach protected by rocks from the north wind and waves where we were able to dive.  We spent the day snorkeling with cornet fish, parrot fish, globe fish and all types of colorful reef fish.

Two hours before sundown we started the journey back, this time deciding to take the dirt road that we hoped would eventually lead to the campground. On the way we were overtaken by a blue Subaru with a kayak on top. The driver, a little perplexed as to how two hikers in sandals could be so far from anything on a dirt road, stopped and offered us a ride. We gladly took him up on the offer. At the beach, when he learned we had a kayak too he invited us to paddle with him out to the sea lion colony on the point past our boat. We watched the sea lions barking at each other, sunning on the rocks and swimming under our boats as the sun descended over land.

We invited kayaker Jeff for a drink and dinner and by the end of the evening, we three complete strangers were close comfortable friends.  The moon rose, Jeff got back in his kayak and, leaving a phosphorescent wake, paddled away. Little did we know but our adventures with Jeff were just beginning.

El dorado  

Long white sandy beach at Los Frailes

Cabo Pulmo tide pool

Cabo Pulmo snorkel bay

Round huge rock mountain and beach at Pulmo

Cabo San Lucas to Los Frailes

El dorado - Sea of Cortez - The world's aquarium 

December 17th we left Cabo San Lucas under the cover of darkness and at 4am headed straight into the Pacific Ocean. Then, for the second time since leaving Emeryville, we turned left. We’d spent the last six weeks studying maps of the coast, always looking forward to the end of the peninsula, and today we turned around the corner and found spread before us a whole land of new things to explore.  We have now entered the Sea of Cortez.

During the sail we passed Gordo Bank, a famous destination for sport fishers where our guidebook said, “even a small sailboat with a hand line can catch a dorado for dinner.” We couldn’t pass up such an opportunity so we put our biggest, fanciest, shiniest hoochie on the reel and let it out. Not trusting such a gaudy lure to catch us dinner I also threw out the hand line with our trusty brown gummy (now missing his tail) and trailed it behind as well.

At 8am, within 10 minutes of putting it in the water, we had a small bonito on the handline. I pulled it in, cleaned it and it was cooking on the BBQ before Cristina even realized.  We ate him for an early lunch and shortly thereafter we heard a hit on the fishing line. We pulled it in, everything looked good so we put it back and then boom, the clacker was screaming as line pulled out of the spool and I jumped up to put the brake on. Then we saw it jump 100 yards astern. Cristina hove us too and I began to fight it.  We saw it jump again and knew this was like no fish we’d caught before. It came in heavy, then it would thrash, try to run and then jump. The hook was well set however so I slowly worked her alongside where we finally got a good look at her. The fish was three feet long, with a large eyes and a tall flat head which angled sleekly back to a large sharply pointed, forked tail. The skin shimmered, gold, yellow, green, as the fish glided on the line. We hauled her in, gave her one last drink, a shot of cognac, and put her in the cooler for later. The cognac goes straight through the mouth to the gills where it incapacitates the fish.

When we arrived at Los Frailes we made ceviche, soaked cubes of the meat in lime, fried up another filet and ate until we could eat no more. The Dorado is also known as the dolphin fish or mahi mahi, and the flesh is white, supple and tender.

We anchored in the very first bay offering protection from the north wind and 15 miles into the Sea of Cortez at Los Frailes. Here a white sand beach spread in an arc before us ending in a rocky mountain which protected us from the north wind that now blew hundreds of miles from Arizona through the sea and out to the Pacific. Here lay a dusty fishing camp, and a free campground which served as a stopping ground for a half dozen explorers seeking adventure at the end of a long dirt road.

The north wind blew from the time we entered Gordo bank for three days. We spend the first day at Los Frailies on the boat relishing the quiet views of the beach, the mountain and the sea. We landed the kayak in the surf and walked the beach climbing the rocks and swimming in the waves. The water here is warmer, pleasant on a sunny day, and so clear you can see fish swimming below the boat.

The second day we got up early, packed a lunch and with our sandals strapped to our feet, flippers, wetsuits and fins packed on our backs we set out across the mountain to the north of our anchorage. We bushwacked through 3 miles of cactus, scrub brush and rocks, following horse and small animal trails until we reached the chain link fence surrounding Cabo Pulmo National Marine Sanctuary. We crawled under the fence at a dry creek and walked onto the beach. Before us lay one of the only 3 coral reefs in North America. It started at a minimum depth of 40 feet making it inaccessible to us with our snorkels, but we found a pebble beach protected by rocks from the north wind and waves where we were able to dive.  We spent the day snorkeling with cornet fish, parrot fish, globe fish and all types of colorful reef fish.

Two hours before sundown we started the journey back, this time deciding to take the dirt road that we hoped would eventually lead to the campground. On the way we were overtaken by a blue Subaru with a kayak on top. The driver, a little perplexed as to how two hikers in sandals could be so far from anything on a dirt road, stopped and offered us a ride. We gladly took him up on the offer. At the beach, when he learned we had a kayak too he invited us to paddle with him out to the sea lion colony on the point past our boat. We watched the sea lions barking at each other, sunning on the rocks and swimming under our boats as the sun descended over land.

We invited kayaker Jeff for a drink and dinner and by the end of the evening, we three complete strangers were close comfortable friends.  The moon rose, Jeff got back in his kayak and, leaving a phosphorescent wake, paddled away. Little did we know but our adventures with Jeff were just beginning.