Viva LaPaz

LaPaz is a vibrant Mexican town closely linked with Bahia LaPaz and the waters of the Sea of Cortez.  The social center of town is the Malecon.  This bay facing wide sidewalk stretches about 4 miles.  All along the side walk area are statues featuring marine and nautical themes along with benches, palm trees, and views of the water, sandy beaches, and boats.  Across the road from the sidewalk are shops, restaurants, tourist haunts, and bars.  In the afternoon, the Malecon is busy with all Mexicans and gringos riding bikes, walking dogs, running, strolling, and simply watching the scene.
Here are a few snapshots of the Malecon.



 The arch on the munipal pier:  Welcome to LaPaz the Port of Illusion.

 Looking out to sea.

Mermaid playing with the dophin.  We are anchored out in the background.


















Trash cans for organic and inorganic trash.

Plaque for the Sea of Cortez and designation of site of natural and historical significance.

 The mermaid at play.

Manta ray gliding through air.

A marine band to serenade the crowd.

Folding up the Fleece in LaPaz

We arrived safely in LaPaz on Thursday after kayaking in Ensenada Grande and motor sailing into the harbor.  We arrived for the full moon!  LaPaz will be our home port until the end of March.  We will alternate between "city" time and "island" time.   LaPaz is a bustling Mexican town of about 190,000 -- fishing, eco-tourism,  and light industry seem to be the mainstays of the economy.  On our first dinghy ride in for dinner we saw many dolphins throughout the anchorage -- a very welcoming touch.

We have finally reached warm weather -- today it is 84 in the boat; cooler outside with the nice breeze in the anchorage.  It can be a bit rolly here; due to the natural features it can run 2-3 kts of current and when it opposes the wind; well it is anyone's guess where boats point and respond.  It is called the LaPaz waltz!

The rest of this blog recounts several stories of our crossing and includes some pictures.

The highlight of our trip from Isla San Francisco to Ensenada Grande was the pod of pilot whales around us in all directions -- maybe 30 or 40 we estimate -- just slowly swimming south with us!  It was so incredible.  We put the engine into neutral to drift with them but they stay several hundred yards off at all times.  We did see one full tail--I just love those moments.

We also stopped at Los Isolotes for Ron to swim with the sea otters.  Fun for everyone.  Then a quiet night in Ensenada Grande and then into LaPaz.  This entire area is a mecca for kayaking, snorkeling, whale watching and deep sea fishing.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the last 10 days:

Here is the shopkeeper of the small, jammed, chock a block stuffed hardware store near by the central market in Guaymas.  We lost our courtesy flag on the maiden voyage #1 and went to him to help us track another down.  We figured he would not have a flag -- but could help us track one down.  His wife was in the shop and she says:  I have a flag at home you can have, come tomorrow.  And so we did and they gave us the flag as a gift!  Complete with a lesson (in Spanish) of all the meanings of the central seal.

 The captain takes a cat nap as we finish our passage.  Note the fleece!


















I am totally jazzed and ready for the trip.  I have on about 5 layers and gloves and 2 hats.  We were in a hurry to head south!


















The first fish the captain caught....er, caught with Manuel's help and a few pesos!

This is the REAL first fish -- determined to be a skip jack and not worthy of fish tacos.  So it was a catch and release moment.

Flying the spinnaker!  So easy and sweet!

 Fresh water -- from sea water!  Alan is now allowed to call himself a Spectra Watermaker Rover and I get to take showers after every dinghy trip!












A final shot -- Alan and Caroline headed out for a morning paddle in our kayaks.  The sky is blue, no winds, clear (but cool) water, and a lazy time looking at the desert meeting the sea.  The adventure continues...

A Wealth of Valentine Treats

Monday, Feb 14 Isla San Francisco, 24.49.2N 110.34.3W

The sun rose this morning at Puerto Los Gatos; we listened to the weather forecast on the Amigo net; had some breakfast and put the boat together for a day's passage to Isla San Francisco. The forecast was for very light winds so we expected a motor boat ride. The winds eventually came up enough to sail for an hour or two, but mostly we listened to the starboard engine.

We also spent the day listening to the Honda generator -- which supplies the juice for the watermaker. And today was watermaker school for Alan. Now on Silhouette, we never managed a drop of potable water from that watermaker in two years. But Alan had been to the 3 day Spectra watermaker "rover" class last year so the odds were much better from the get go.

Ron and Alan fiddled and read the manual and fiddled some more. They took various tools down to the watermaker installation (forward port head) and came back with positive reports. The installation has been sitting unused for 2 years so one must expect a few "issues:" a few leaks, a seal on one pump, and new filters AND viola!!! WATER!! The salt water was now potable. The fiddling took 3 hours and when it was all good to go the first 5 gallons took 30 minutes. Then into the tanks -- plenty for showers and washing and cooking. After the tanks were filling, Alan hung up his Spectra flag and can now officially call himself a factory trained rover.

The day passed and we finally had enough wind to sail. We were sitting on the side deck and suddenly Alan spotted a whale spouting in the distance! And then a few more spouts. WHALES!! We decided it was probably 1 or 2 adults and several smaller calves. We never saw their tails but we knew we were not alone.

We set the anchor about 6pm. This anchorage is a large hook with long sandy beach and high reddish hills. While we watched the sun set over the Baja peninsula, there was a fish boil nearby. And about 15 minutes later: DOLPHINS! Jumping, rolling, swimming -- everywhere in the anchorage. With food to eat nearby, they were content to stay for awhile.

So what a day filled with treats: WATER, WHALES, and DOLPHINS. I baked brownies ala Arlene (with cranberries) so tonight we will have dessert with our movie night.

We plan to spend tomorrow here before continuing south to LaPaz.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Fish Tacos the Easy Way

Sunday, Feb 13. 25.18.2N 110.55.7W Puerto Los Gatos

We awoke yesterday in Agua Verde and our main focus was to get the dinghy in the water and get ashore to provision and drop off trash. Ah, dinghy landing #1 went pretty well in the small surf by the village. We wandered up to Maria's tiende and found some vegetables, tortillas, and cheese. Getting OFF the beach provided a bit of comic relief to the fisherman; we only took 1 wave into the dinghy and eventually we got out to deep water. Back on Magic, we stowed our provisions and rinsed off the crew.

Then it was time to up the anchor and continue our lazy sail south. The forecast was for nice afternoon winds. We motored around the point & outlying reef in very light winds. And then enough wind appeared to fly the spinnaker! It is so easy on a cat -- no need to use a pole with the wide bows, 20' apart. We sailed and then when more wind materialized, we dropped the kite and set our genoa. This worked until the wind died completely and the swell continued. Time to use those iron gennys (engines).

We soon were safely anchored at Puerto Los Gatos. This anchorage is known for a variety of rock formations in greens, reds, and browns with long arching white sandy beaches. We went ashore and explored; Ron climbed up the rock hills while Alan and I wandered the beach. This beach departure went off much better. Without any waves (well 4" @ 20 seconds), we made it off the beach without a soaking!

We have been talking about having fish tacos for dinner -- but first we needed to catch a fish. Just about breakfast time -- dinner arrived when a local fisherman (Manuel) arrived in his panga with a large, fresh (living) spotted cabrilla. This is a type of sea bass. Alan and Ron went into the translation/negotiation mode. The fish weighed about 5lbs. They settled on $10 US and some gasoline. (The closest fuel source is back up at Agua Verde.) The fish was placed in our cockpit drain under the teak grating until after breakfast. Then Alan cleaned him on the fish table he made at home. So fish tacos tonight--and we have yet to catch that fish!

Today Alan donned his wet suit (still very cold water here) and set out to gather chocolates/hubcaps/ (clams) and hockey pucks (scallops). He came back with 2 hockey pucks which provided a lunch time appetizer for he and Ron. The rest of the day we spent watching the birds, the clouds, the beach, and reading books. I watched a coyote walk along the beach. There is no village or fish camp here so it is very quiet and secluded. Late this afternoon another boat arrived and anchored behind us.

We are all in good health and high spirits. We expect to continue south tomorrow and hope for the winds to be favorable.

Out on the Water and Finnally Cruising

Friday Feb. 11, Augua Verde, Baja 25.31.6N 111.04.3W

To bring you up to date, we made our second maiden voyage at noon on Tuesday, motor sailing across the Sea of Cortez and arriving the next day at about noon at Isla Carmen (26.01.2N 111.09.8W) which is 10 miles East of Loreto. We were a bit nervous about picking the weather window as once pounded, makes for a bit of caution. But we had fixed the engine (again), found foam to stop the water ingress at the hatches, and we really wanted a break from Guaymas.

So off we went! Some of the highlights of the passage included star gazing, watching the moon set, waiting for the sunrise, and being escorted for a bit by a pod of dolphins visible through their bio-lumenesence. We could see the lights from several cities: Guaymas, LaPaz, and Obregon. Eventually we picked out lights from Loreto on the Baja side. Alan has been fishing; still hoping to do some catching. Doing an all night passage is tiring, even with three of us trading watches. So the first need was rest and we lazily napped all afternoon. Magic was tucked into a beautiful anchorage called Puerto Ballandra, along with three other cruising boats and a shack for fishermen, on the shore. We all slept well Wed. night and Thursday we launched the kayaks, explored the cove, then did a 5 mile hike across the island to see the abandoned salt ponds. In this very arid landscape, we were very surprised to discover many varieties of birds, none of which we recognized. Back home on Magic, we had a great meal and watched the movie "Date Night", which wasn't at all like the date nights we've had in Guaymas.

Today Alan asked for some local assistance on the cruisers net based in Puerto Escondido to help get email via winlink (for HAM operators) working. He had tried many times to send emails, but the response was always the same: no answer. A boat, Misty Blue, offered to help troubleshoot and sure enough after talking back and forth and trying various frequencies, the issue was figured out. He had been using a "duplex" and not a "simplex" frequency. Anyway, with that problem solved, we now have email through the radio!! This blog update is sent via winlink. A milestone.

We then pulled up the anchor and continued our journey south to LaPaz. There were fabulous winds most of the day -- we left about 11am and finally turned on the engine about 4pm when the wind died. We do not like going into anchorages in the dark and when our speed dropped -- the motor was back up. We actually flew our double headsail rig -- both of our new sails up on poles and running dead down wind. A great motion on a cat and we saw speeds up to 8.0 kts. That is flying for us; though we are a cat we are a bit heavy and feel no need to push the speed. Speed is more fun on someone else's boat as pushing the limit often means things break.

We had the anchor down here in Agua Verde about 6pm. There are a few other boats here, a small fish camp, and a tiny village. We will be here a day or so and then continue on. I am hoping to provision here, at least find some fresh tortillas and maybe a few vegetables.

The one thing that struck both of us these past few days, is that this boat is Really Ours! Having lived on her in the work yard and even the dock didn't drive home the amazing feelings just realized, that we truly are off on the adventure we've so longed for.

It is a Friday night so we had pizza for dinner. Very delicious way to end the day. All around -- a marvelous start to our cruising adventures.

Happy Birthday to Terri W!! Make it a great day.

A Blue Norther Blows and Blows

For the last several days, a blue norther has been blowing in Guaymas and all throughout the Sea of Cortez.  The "blue" refers to the chill factor -- ice in Nogales and inside boat temps in the low 40s.  The winds were really blowing:  30kts with gusts much higher.  Alan was up several times Wednesday night to check our doubled up dock lines and snaps on all our window coverings.

Ron had been trying everything to get the diesel heater working -- so we would have warm rooms & hot water.  Nothing worked -- so a new coil was needed.  He had it shipped to Nogales and did a midnight bus run; collected the package at 8am; and returned by 3pm.  And the heater is heating!!  WOW.  What a difference it makes.  We have been peeling off layers and tonight we may not have to sleep with socks, hats, and 3 blankets!

With the winds and the very rough seas (10+ ft waves at 4-6 seconds) the port captain has closed the port for any departures.  Not that we had any interest in leaving in these conditions.  But we are watching for a weather window for next week -- only time will tell.  Various cruising weather sites have conflicting pictures, so we will monitor and move only when we feel ready.

Thrashed on the Maiden Voyage

So, off we went.  Spirits high and eager to be cruisers "out there," no longer tied to the docks or sitting on stands.  Alan dropped off the car at a storage yard in San Carlos and returned by bus.  We did a quick walk through and agreed we were ready to head out.  Our destination for our first night was Bahia Catalina just before Cabo Haro.  The anchorage was fabulous -- quiet, protected, and great holding.  Our new anchor was a charm.

Here are departure pictures--captain, admiral, and the town of Guaymas fading from view.

We left early our anchorage on Monday morning with a course due south for Puerto Escondido.  There was plenty of wind as we left; but from the west and not so much the north.  This made for sloppy and choppy conditions on board.  We figured as we left the Cape and the conditions would settle out.  Nope.  Settle out meant amp up.  We were seeing 25 knots of wind; then 30 knots.  We were flying (7-8 knots of boat speed over the ground).  And we were taking boarding waves into the cockpit and hatches were leaking and we were tucking in reefs and reducing sail.  It felt alot like San Francisco Bay -- all bundled up in foul weather gear; fleece hats; boots.  I signed on for the bathing suit world tour cruise, so I definitely missed the "sun boat."

About 2 hours later we were seeing 35 knots.  The forecast had been for 20-25 from the north but the reality is what counts.  We had the main all the way down and we were getting pounded by the short, steep waves of the Sea.  And then those boarding waves with the cockpit awash.  I think we all agreed  that returning to Guaymas was the prudent decision.  Those conditions -- and the probability they would deteriorate over the subsequent 24 hours -- lead to the 180º turn.

We motorsailed back to our slip and tied up.  Cold, wet, and really not much worse for the trip -- except to our nerves and confidence.   Oh yeah, our flag halyard parted and we lost our Mexican courtesy flag!   And we realized we needed some further adjustment on the starboard engine injector pump so that is happening over the next few days.

There is now a full norther blowing -- and conditions are really nasty.  Forecasts are for 35+ with gusts to 45; and seas 8-12 feet.  The dock lines are straining but the crew is safe.