November 22, 2013 - Marina Costa Baja

November 15, 2013  Leaving Bahia San Gabriel

We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the dock and the days fled by.  There is always a good deal of cleaning and shopping to do when we have been out, and, in addition, we got our beautiful new screen door installed on Thursday.  It is wonderful and it is a pity we did not do it earlier.  It is nice not to have to close the main airway into the salon just to keep the flies out. 

We have new neighbors in the marina.  Sharon and Dave on the Cipango, a 50+ foot Navigator.  We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them.  In some ways we have oddly parallel lives.  Like Earl, Dave had custody of his children in the 70’s when it was rare for fathers to have custody.  He and Sharon have been married many years and had one child of their own as well as his children from his first marriage. 

We had drinks with them on Thursday and breakfast on Friday before we left to cruise.  And what a wonderful Friday we had.  We anchored in a little bay just south of Bahia San Gabriel in late morning.  It is called Ensenada de la Dispensa and I had always wanted to try it.  We have occasionally seen a boat in there before but had never anchored there ourselves. It was our personal paradise!  It is really a one-boat bay, with water as clear as crystal, and a small fish camp on the south side.   We swam multiple times, took Daisy to the beach and made her swim as well.  It was a magical mellow day. 

Around 4, we picked up the anchor and headed for Caleta Partida to tuck in for the night since there was some wind forecast.  Having had Dispensa to ourselves, we were at the other extreme for the night with 15 other boats for company.  It was, as is so often is, a beautiful sunset which we enjoyed from the boat deck.  What a place!

The next day was Earl’s (i.e. a fishing day).  In the search for a billfish, we headed way off shore to an area known as El Charro.  The weather was pretty perfect and there were a good many other boats out as well.  We caught nothing for most of the day, not even a sierra.  Finally around 2:30, Earl was on the boat deck looking for jumpers when he happened to notice a fishing line trailing 300 feet behind us and realized we had a fish on.  (Turns out he had once again neglected to put on the clicker.)  By the time he got down and to the rod, there were only about 10 feet of line left on the reel.  He was very close to loosing all the gear off a reel for the third time this year – although he is blaming one of those on our son Jon.  I performed just about perfectly, turning the boat around to run up on the fish, getting Earl’s fishing belt on him, pulling in the other lines and taking photos.  Earl had it easy, just one job, handling the fish.  It was a nice marlin and made our day!  Even better there was another boat watching.

Hard to believe I actually got this photo!

Neighboring boat trying to see what we were using

Earl made it look easy!

We anchored off of Bonanza for the night.  Hoping to get internet service, we were further off the beach than optimal and, as a result, rolled all night.  It reminded us of our Cook Inlet fishing days, although we did not need to get up at 3 am to go look for fish.

We ran offshore and south but saw no birds and caught no fish, so into San Gabriel we went, and into the water.  The water in San Gabriel is so clear, it is like swimming in an enormous salt water swimming pool.

We caught up on our email and messages while at anchor.  Our son Paul in Alaska had written that friends of his, John and Lisa, were going to be on a sailboat in La Paz for a week.  We tried John’s cell but it was turned off. 

Around sunset we were sitting on the boat deck, when a dingy came up to us.  Against all odds, it was Paul’s friend John who had just come in on the sailboat Grasshopper, anchored, seen our boat and come over to say hi. 

Friday November 22, 2013 – Marina Costa Baja

We came back to the marina on Monday.  It has been a busy week for the Marina.  The FUBAR, a motorboat flotilla from San Diego, was due in.  There were 37 boats this year, and approximately 25 of them came into the marina.  Out of the 37 boats, about 1/3 were Nordhavns.  Obviously, we are not the only people who think these are great boats.

The night the boats arrived, there was a cocktail party over at the Beach Club for the Fubar boats.  We were included and had the opportunity to meet some of the participants which was lots of fun for us.

Two of the FUBAR Nordhavns are on our dock.  The Endurance, also a 43, is hull number 3 and co-owned by two couples, Kurt, Steve, Susan and Carol from Southern California.  They have done lots of boating, but this is their first long trip south.  They said they had a beautiful trip and are eager to explore the Sea of Cortez.  We know that they will fall in love as we did.

The other is a 62 tied at the end of our dock.  Jerome and Karen own the boat which is named Daybreak, a name which is special to us since our commercial fishing boat was also Daybreak.  Not only is the name of the boat familiar, but as it happens that they live in Bow, Washington, just a short distance away from us in LaConner.  We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them and Karen’s siblings, Keith and Barbara and their spouses Kristin and Bob.  I took them shopping to my two favorite places – Ibarra’s Pottery and the Public Market where I buy princess dresses. 

Bob, Barbara, Karen, Kristin and Keith on Daybreak

Tomorrow our friends, Richard and Britt, will arrive to spend a week with us.  We can’t wait to show them our special paradise.