The first week in La Paz

Hola, Thought I was going to go walking today but decided it would be better if I did the laundry and organized stuff on the boat. I'm trying not to let the laundry pile up too much since it quite an ordeal to get over to the laundry. I wanted to get there early so I could get two machines, so I was up and out of the boat by 7:30 or so. The early bird get's the washing machine first! I spent most of the morning waiting on the clothes and chatting to anyone who happened by. It was nice. It was really hot here today. It was probably 85 degrees.

I came back and organized the boat some more. Cupboard by cupboard. I found my extra sheets, beach towels and the emergency beer! I cleaned my vegetables, again, and made a pot of chili verde for supper.

Yesterday we went to Los Islotes on a dive boat. Doug went diving, I went snokeling. It was my idea to go on a boat so I could snorkle with a group. Turned out that I was the only one snorkling that day so I was ONMYOWN. I sucked it up and jumped in the water (FISH TANK). It was amazing! The first thing I saw was an adult male sealion in my face. I don't think I screamed too loud, well maybe a little and a few bad words. Then I closed my eyes and tried to get my breath back. When I opened my eyes there were hundreds of fish all around me. The visability of was maybe 40 feet. This island is a place where you can go to interact with the sea lions, so they come right up to you and want to play. They were all around me blowing bubbles and coming right up under me. I never put my hand out but I think they would have liked a taste of my fingers. No one feeds them, so they are not expecting food.

I had my underwater camera so I took a few pictures. I will send out a link from Doug's computer when I get a chance. He just went through and did some editing. I was just snapping not really knowing how the pictures were going to turn out.

After Los Islotes we went by boat over to a PLAYA (beach) for lunch. The cove was litteraly tourquoise with a white sandy beach. The boat just drove right up on the beach, beach landing in a dive boat. They put up a PALAPA (Unmbrella) up and put out some chairs. We enjoyed a good old ham sandwhich. After lunch the dive boat left and went out of the cove to dive on a wreck. I stayed at the beach thinking I might go snorkel on the reef. I tried walking out to the reef via the beach but then I decided I was walking way to close to the creepy fisherman's hut, so I then tried wading out to the reef from the beech and there was something in the water that started stinging my legs. I'm not sure if it was some kind of tiny jelly or what. I had this same experience once in Florida. So back to the beach I went. I could here the fisherman laughing! Darn it!

The wreck that Doug went diving on had an interesting history. Turns out that in about 1999 this boat shows up here from China full of Chinese expecting to get off in Mexico. Mexico said no way and they went out to the boat and took everybody off and took them to the airport and sent them all back to China. Then they sank the boat right there. Sounds kinda strange. Mind you my Spanish is not so good, but that's what I think they were saying.

There is another wreck near here. It is a ferry that went down in the San Lorenzo channel in the 40's. I understand that it's a really great dive. They told me you can see the old cars and trucks. Sounded pretty cool if you are a diver. I'm a snorkler, can't snorker there.

Here at the marina we noticed today that there is a Tartan 37 right next to us. The name is WILD ROSE from the Bay Area I think. Doug went over and chatted with her today. She was looking for some anchor chain. We are looking to sell our current anchor chain since it does not fit correctly on our windlass. Did not fit on hers either or the other guy who came around looking for chain. I'm going to go chat with her tomorrow and see if I can get some pictures of her boat in full cruising mode.

Sunday is a pialla cook off downtown. It starts at 10:00 am and I can go and watch them make it. Sounds really fun.

Here are pictures of the seminar on the 70-ft schooner VLTAVA.

Here are pictures of the Thanksgiving dinner at Marina La Palmira.

Adios! for now

Ensenada de Los Muertos

We stayed here for a few days waiting out a wind storm from the North. We sailed here from Bahia Frailes and arrived at 10:30 PM at night. We anchored way away from all the other boats so we wouldn't drag into them in the middle of the night. We also anchored near a set of buildings with a lot of lights. The cruising guide mentiond a hotel there so I was hoping I could pickup some free internet.

We went in the next morning to check out the restaurant also mentioned in the guide as being cruiser friendly. Clark and I got out our empty boxes and Linda went out networking. She heard about the hotel that we anchored near and that they wanted the cruisers to come over. They had a full staff but the golf tournament scheduled for that week was called off so the staff were looking for something to do. It was a spectacular place. We heard it was built as a single family residence; WOW! We also learned that they were trying to change the name to Bahie de Los Suenos (bay of dreams; not the bay of dead).

More Pictures.

Barrel Catus Farm

This is located in San Jose Cabo. This was a very interesting sight to see. It's a solid catus field. I don't have any idea how they decide when to take them to market.

Zacatitos

This community is totally off the grid. It's a place where gringo's go to get away from it all. We rented a car one day in Cabo San Jose and went exploring. We found this small community on a dirt road that runs along the coast. The homes here are all solar. There is one bar in town called Zac's. It is more like the community kitchen and gathering place. Pretty remote.

First (scheduled) Stop, Turtle Bay

Ah, civilization and cold beer.

Well, Ok then, just cold beer.

This bay is also known as Bahia San Bartolome. We arrived here after repairing the steering in Bahia San Quintin and two rough nights at sea. We were all ready for some land time and a quiet night’s rest. The town here is very small, actually it makes Minco, OK look like a big city. There were no paved streets but there were a few “Stop” signs. We did observe that these signs are merely a suggestion. They did have an “Internet Cafe” though. I spent a few hours there answering other cruiser’s computer questions and charging up our computers and the camera batteries. There was no coffee at this cafe only chips and Coke but the only charged me 8 pesos. Later I found out that I could have gone to the restaurant, El Veracruz, and gotten free internet with coffee or cold beer.

That night as we were wandering around the town we smelled the best bar-b-que. We followed our noses and joined some other cruisers an the best taqueria I have ever been to. The meat was cooked in front of us and sliced off and handed to us on a tortilla, YUM!!

The start of the next leg was delayed until 12:30pm the next afternoon so that morning we went to town and had the best Huevos Rancheros ever.

Emergency Steering

Here we are rigging the emergency tiller. I think it was a virgin before this trip. It took us 45 minutes to get the deck plate loose.

Baja Ha-Ha Crew

Here is the Crew of the Baja Ha-Ha Rally:

• Captain "Salty" Doug.
• 1st. Mate Dave "I Kill YOU!" Calhoun.
• Clark "Wine boy" Hemphill.
• The infamous Uncle Mike.
• The pickup crew from Seattle, Jerry "Fish Killer" Thorsen.

Baja Ha-Ha Bad Start

Here is a picture of Captain Doug replacing the exhaust house after it melted. The raw water valve was left turned off by the captain and the hot exhaust destroyed the hose and filled teh bilge with diesel exhaust and water. The Land crew of Jamie and Linda were quick to the rescue and delivered a new hose to the police dock in San Diego.

Baja Ha-Ha Crew

Here are pictures of the Crew:

• Captain "Salty" Doug
• 1st Mate "I Kill YOU!" Dave
• Clark "Wineboy" Hemphill
• The infamous Uncle Mike
• The pickup crew Jerry "Fish Killer" Thorsen.

Cabo!

Ole' Tucker and I had a great flight. Thanks to Margot and Franz for the ride to the Sacramento Airport. The flight was only 3 hours long and Tucker was the first one off the plane. I wore my Ha Ha t-shirt and was able to get a free ride to the boat at the Marina. I'm pretty sure I was told not to take free rides from drunken saliors but I did anyway :) We are currently anchored out in the harbor. The water is beautiful and it's hot here. They play music ALL night long at the beach club. We will stay here until Tuesday then we are thinking about heading up to the La Paz area. More later.

Next stop Cabo

Looks like next stop is Cabo San Lucas. I'm as ready as I can be for the trip to Cabo San Lucas via aeroplane :) I have a supply of AAA batteries for the SPOT
http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=47797

Magdalena Bay

Bahía Magdalena (Magdalena Bay) is a 50 km long bay along the western coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is protected from the Pacific Ocean by the sandy barrier islands of Isla Magdalena and Isla Santa Margarita.This bay is particularly noted for the seasonal migration of the California Gray Whales that come here during winter to mate. The bay is also popular for commercial and sports fishing. Nearby mangrove swamps provide sanctuaries for sea birds. The bay includes the small fishing port of San Carlos, as well as Puerto López Mateos, which provides a good place to observe the whales.

According to Lectronic Latidude on the second leg of the trip the weather was a lot calmer and not so rowdy. I'm not sure why they are anchored in this bay and not Bahia Santa Maria. I spoke to Jaime today and he told me that if they needed boats parts they could get them in San Carlos via a panga boat and that might be why they tucked in Magdalena Bay. I don't expect to hear from them until they arrive in Cabo San Lucas. I'm leaving out of Sacramento on Friday morning to join them in Cabo San Lucas. I'm sure all is well.