Daisy on the Serenity

Thursday February 9, 2012 - Costa Baja Marina

2012-02-10T06:24:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe that not only is it 2012, but we are already well into the month of February. I believe that I have caught a bad case of the local malady “manana”. It is easy to do when it feels as if all deadlines are completely artificial and self imposed in our current life style. So everyday I have blogging on my to do list, and everyday passes with much of list untouched. Today is a get it done day! We got our rugs cleaned after five years of spills. What a difference! While they were out in the sun, I got the floor beautifully clean and defrosted the freezer. Now to blog!

Time has been flying for us. We left Mexico in early December for a snowy and cold Anchorage holiday season. It was both unusually cold and unusually snowy this year and perfect for feeling Christmasy.

We lost no time in decorating both inside and outside the house. Inside we brought up boxes from the crawl space. There were all the decorations that we put away three years ago, many of them with special memories associated. Bella helped decorate a wonderful smelling tree. She is seven and quite tall which was helpful and she no longer hangs everything in the same small area, instead distributing ornaments well over the tree. She was completely into the Christmas spirit. Outside Earl set up a couple of artificial trees with LED lights which do not melt the snow. They end up looking like colored sno cones.

My sister Cricket came to spend Christmas with us. This was her third Anchorage Christmas and she came prepared to take wonderful photos of trees covered with hoar frost against blue skies with her new camera. Of course the result of this preparation was constant snow and overcast skies during her visit. It was wonderful to have her with us, so hopefully she will come again and hope for better photographic conditions.

We took every possible opportunity to see our children, grandchildren and friends. It was wonderful. The grandchildren are all growing fast, with little Amelia turning three in January. Sara is expecting her brother, currently called Baby Ned by by Amelia, and everyone else, on April 1. We are very excited!

After a very snowy month in Anchorage, we flew down to La Conner Washington, and we brought the snow with us. I then went on to Boston to check on our remodeling project in Stockbridge, and I brought snow there are well. I decided that if it snowed in La Paz I would look into getting an exorcist.

Earl arrived here January 18th and spent the next couple of days doing tasks. We now have five new batteries. The original ones had never really recovered from being drawn down to nothing for an extended period when we first moored in La Conner and left for 5 weeks with the power improperly hooked up. Earl is very happy with the level of the battery voltage in the morning when we are anchored. He also fixed the dingy rank on the top which had nearly proved fatal several times in the past. We now lift if off when it is not in use. What a difference it makes to the usefulness of the boat deck!

We had hoped that the windy weather would disappear in 2012. So far it has not. We seem to have real winds every few days and the weather is far cooler than we had hoped. It has rarely hit 80, and although the water temperature is in the upper 60’s, we have not been tempted to swim.

We caught up with our friends John and Maria Luisa. They have new - for them- boat. The Viking Spirit is a 65 foot Ocean Alexander and is very nicely laid out. A large back deck, big salon, pilothouse with dinette and kitchen, three nice state rooms, and a wonderful boat deck. I think they will love it and we look forward to spending time with them there.

Then finally off we went, with no particular destination in mind. We spent several days making our way up to the Hook at Isla San Francisco, which was lovely as always. There were quite a number of sail boats keeping us company. For whatever reason, we have found more company this year than in the past. We were joined by an enormous expedition yacht - the type that can and do travel the seven seas, complete with a helicopter and a 40 foot run about on deck. It is nice to feel petite!

The next day was calm and we ran up the west side of Isla San Jose to a point called Salinas to look for nautilus shells. It was a special day. We saw no shells on the beach so we meandered back and forth in the dingy in the shallow water looking down in hopes of spotting shells on the bottom. The water was lovely and clear and we saw many star fish but no shells. It was one of the those wonderful times when you know it is special even at the time.

Eagle eyed Earl saw some sea gulls diving on something in the water’s edge and we went over to investigate. There was a Humbolt squid, about 3 or 4 feet long, flailing in the shallows. It had evidently been hurt, probably by a whale, and was missing several tentacles. We decided to harvest it. Since our knowledge of squid morphology was limited we were not sure were to start to kill it. Earl finally just started stabbing and cut off the mantle which was lovely white meat about an inch thick.

We were very excited to try it. The few times we have had really fresh calamari, we loved it. I took a look in my fish cook book and read that one must be very careful not to overcook squid - unless you decided to stew it. It is tough when raw and tough when overcooked, so there is an just cooked point to go for. We pan fried strips. I was not impressed. I found the flavor a little odd and the meat decidedly. We have since tried it was fritters, which I passed on and Earl eat. Of course, as he says, “he likes that kind of thing”. I hope so, because we have 5 more large slabs in the freezer.

After a quick stop in La Paz to get some milk, eggs and veggies, we headed south for Bahia de los Muertos (Bay of the Dead) which has been renamed by a developer Bahia de los Suenos (Bay of Dreams). It is about a days run south of La Paz and we fished all the way down, catching only skip jack which we released. The Bay is a wonderful north wind anchorage and we were joined by three sailboats, two coming from the south and one which followed us from the north.

We spent several days there. The couple which had come from the north (Roger and Karen) have spent a number of years in the Sea. We told them about our search for nautilus shells and found out that we had been looking for the wrong thing. What we may find at Salinas are not the nautilus shells that I had seen before, but ‘paper nautilus’ which the internet informed us were the eggs cases of a type of octopus. They are about 3 inches across and extreme fragile. Now that we know what to look for, perhaps we will do better another time.

We spent a nice evening with the couples from the other boats who were on their way to La Paz having spent the summer in La Cruz. Although it was extremely hot and humid, they loved being there, as one of just a few boats in the marina. They really had the chance to make friends in the town with locals. They had spent the prior summer up north in Bahia de los Angeles which was hotter, but far less humid. Scott showed us some of their photos from that summer. Apparently there a a number of whale sharks resident their and one of their special joys was swimming with them. On Sunday we all met at the little restaurant on the beach to watch the superbowl game. Earl got his fix!

On the way back into La Paz we looked for whale sharks near the entrance to the town harbor. We found none but did enjoy visits with some very mellow porpoise.

That night I woke to wind and pouring rain. At least I thought it was the wind until Earl pointed out that it was thunder. It rained most of the next day leaving huge puddles around town that will take a while to disappear. There is little drainage here.

Now we are looking forward to receiving a special visitor. Our friend - for close to 50 years - Charlie is coming from Denver to visit. We never dared dream that he would ever take us up on our invitation and we are thrilled to be able to show him this part of the world with which we have fallen in love.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - Anchorage Alaska

2011-12-20T13:32:00.001-08:00

Things got away from me during our last month in Mexico. So here I am catching up, a little late, and a little north from our precious Serenity. Today is grey and the weather is not good. We have had a series of freeze-thaw cycles here and this morning we woke to find our back deck skating rink and driveway which is only a partial skating rink, dusted with a couple of inches of snow. This, for any who don’t live in our northern climate, is a deadly combination. Our daughter in law’s father slipped last night in his drive, hit his head on a piece of concrete and got four staples in his head. Apparently he had lots of company in the emergency room. It is not a day for touring around outside and- the icing on the cake - 80 mile an hour winds are forecasted for the afternoon. Bottom line, it is a good day to catch up on indoor todos.

We had a wonderful visit with our son and his family. The weather which seemed to be mostly windy with a day of pouring rain kept us at the dock most of the visit, but there a lots of pleasures to be had there. I personally find watching three year old Amelia to be endlessly fascinating. She is such a busy creature!

Paul had rented a room with a kitchenette and deck from Costa Baja which came with two queen beds, a golf cart and a membership to the beach club. Although two rooms might have provided them with a little more sleep which Sara who is five months pregnant and not sleeping very well could have used, they definitely were more comfortable not staying on the boat. Our days fled bye far too fast. Amelia loved the golf cart which she called a tractor. I am sure that much of the appeal was the lack of a car seat. The beach club was perfect. The pool is not too deep and just right for playing with a small child. When that got old, there was a hot tub with jets and a shallow play pool with fountains. When all else failed, there was the beach with sand, water, shells and stones.

Amelia also enjoyed the boat. She quickly learned where everything was stored including the little step stool. plastic bowls, pop it beads and games and was quick to help herself. She is, in corporate speak, a self starter - Miss Independent.

One day we took a trip to town to the dress shop in the public market. Amelia now has two beautiful princess dresses - one of them Cinderella. We had a wonderful time parading her around the dock in the Cinderella outfit. She later went for dinner at the beach club and is now known there as Cinderella. She is quite an easy child to take to eat out. Give her an iphone with ‘apps’ and she is glued to it, one hand periodically leaving the phone long enough to reach up and get a french fry or carrot.

After they left we planned on going out to the islands. We had to wait a couple of days for the wind to go down, but finally off we went to Bahia San Gabriel. We spent a wonderful day just loving the surrounding beauty and our friends from the sail boat, Murar’s Dream, came for dinner. We had met Andy and Debra at the marina when they were moored next to us. They are from Colorado and we have really enjoyed them. It was so nice at San Gabriel that we decided to spend another day there before going north. Andy and Debra invited us over to dinner on their boat.

Well this has been an accident prone season. First our friend Louise did something bad to her foot when we were at Santispac. Now it was my turn. Just before leaving to go the Murar’s Dream, I managed to trip over the stainless steel cradle for our dingy and landed on my back. My head hit the rail and I made quite a mess - blood everywhere. Andy and Debra came over with Andy’s most impressive first aid kit and bandaged me up. It was a 1776 look - white bandage around the head complete with blood stain. ( I don’t think it will catch on.) Daisy decided to help by licking up the blood which grossed me out so Earl and Andy quickly hosed the blood off the deck.

As usual, since I hate medical drama, I felt no need for any more treatment. Earl wisely insisted on returning to the marina at Costa Baja about 2 hours away. The marina has a doctor on call and she came down to the boat about 5 minutes after we arrived at nine and put twelve stitches into the back of my head for the modest sum of $150. First time for a doctor boat call. The best news was that I could shower and shampoo immediately. I had been fretting about going around in my bloody state for a week.

The boat rack has been an accident in waiting since we put it on the boat. it is about three to five inches high and made to trip over. Earl had fallen several times, fortunately with no real injury. We realized that had I hit the rack just two inches differently, I could have broken my neck. We have a design to modify it so that the rack will lift off when not in use and will get it done when we return to Mexico. It should be an easy fix and one we should have done before. The lesson is: if something may be a hazard, fix it.

The next day found us back out headed for Caleta Partita where we met up again with Andy and Debra. The wind came up from the south and they took advantage of it to go north. Meanwhile we made new friends - Bruno and Yvonne on the 43 foot aluminum sailboat, Momo. They are from Berne, Switzerland, and had a interesting story. They had the hull delivered to them in Berne and spent 5 or 6 years finishing the boat. They have spent the last 10 years seeing the world with Momo as their home base. Momo is the story of a fairy who granted the wish of time - a perfect name for this boat.

The next day, once again wind was forecast, violent and from the north. So back we went to the marina to put Serenity to bed before taking off for Christmas in the north. We visited Momo for dinner and it is quite a cosy boat. One of the nicest things is that you can sit at the table and look our the window, a feature lacking in many sail boats.

We left La Paz and Serenity with hopes that the next season will bring no wind and no accidents! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - on the way into La Paz

2011-11-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - Southbound from Juanico

Our aim when we left La Paz a month ago was to head north for the Bahia de los Angeles. On our one previous visit there were had found some clams that Earl loved and has lusted after ever since. However, going north we found the water temperature dropping rapidly and the clarity dropped as well. Fishing was definitely lack luster - probably related to water temperature- and, final insult, the weather seemed to be characterize by violent and frequent winds. As we sat in the marina in Santa Rosalia with 35 mph north winds kicking up white caps in the harbor, Earl decided to abandoned the trip north. So the 4th, the day after Clark and Joan arrived we headed south to Punta Chivato at the north end of Concepcion.

Shells at Chivato

The 4th was a double celebration - Clark’s birthday and our 39th anniversary. The trip south was lovely and smooth. Clark caught his birthday fish, a small dorado, on the way. Then, as soon as we anchored, we took a trip to the beach and Joan and I picked up a couple of bags of shells - most of which we will probably discard. On Chivato the shells are so numerous one does not need to look very hard. We recovered from all that hard work with a swim in 79 degree water. Finally we had a fabulous dinner after cocktails on the deck. Earl grilled a beef filet roast, I caramelized onions, and Joan cooked her brother in law’s ‘smashed potatoes’, a delicious version of home fries. As we were pausing before the bubbly and dessert, the wind came up. Suddenly it was blowing 30 from the south, pushing us toward the beach. We had carefully picked an anchorage that was protected from the north, leaving us very exposed from the south. We picked up and headed south in the dark to seek shelter in front of Mulege, encountering wind gusts of 42 mph, and finished our celebration at 10:30 before heading for bed. The winds here can definitely catch one unprepared.

Noon, Saturday the 5th, found us down at Santispac in Concepcion in front of Ana’s. Cook’s night out! It was fun, but did not compare to the prior Saturday’s Halloween party. We were in bed early, and -surprise- 5:30 the next morning Earl was pulling the anchor before dawn. Strong north winds were forecasted for Tuesday and Earl was headed for an anchorage at Juanico, 50 miles south. It was a long day but early afternoon we had some excitement. Clark landed a big bull dorado after quite a fight. It was 4 feet long and probably about 40 pounds. What a thrill! It was far more fish than we could deal with, so we released it.

We settled into a wonderful niche behind the spires in Juanico a place the Scarboros had never visited. There were just a few other boats, but gradually others came in until by the next night there were seven. Earl and Clark went fishing Monday morning and returned with a rooster fish which Clark had landed - it was well received at dinner time.

Our neighbors on the sailboat Juce, (Judy and Bruce) came for a quick drink. They had just made the trip over from San Carlos and were headed for La Paz. They spend the winter at the La Paz Marina and love it. It does not sound as if they ever leave the dock. They have a wonderful time with the cruising community right there.

Tuesday the wind did blow as forecasted. It is expected to last for three days. Clark and I decided we needed some exercise, so we dove in. The water felt great, but the current was pretty strong. I felt as if I was in one of those pools that work like a treadmill. Clark made it around the boat but admitted that he had to use the crawl - no little breast stroke was going to make way against the current. It was refreshing and we did get exercise which always makes me fell more entitled to my wine.

Today, when we got up at dawn, the wind was down a little and it looked as if the seas were down. Earl decided it was time to go since the tide was not flowing against the wind. It is now gusting up to 35, but the wind is behind us and we are riding like a duck rather than bashing into it. What a difference! We have had some fun with a group of porpoise that entertained us by breaking out of the waves and jumping high up in front and along side us. Most of the day we just sat. Joan and I have been working on a puzzle that seems to be a sea of tulips and impossible. Clark is deep into his book and Daisy is resting and waiting for the next excitement.

We are finally pulling into the anchorage south of the Isla Coronado. The wind is very brisk, still hitting in the 30s, but the anchorage is quiet after the trip down and the water lovely. Earl says I may not swim since he does not want to pull anchor to chase me as the current takes me south.

Saturday, November 12, 2011 - Puerto Escondido

I had hoped to post this on our way south as we passed Loreto on the morning of the 10th. Usually we get a good signal there, but for whatever reason, there was none to be had. We ran into Honeymoon Cove which we have visited a number of times this year. It did not disappoint - truly a lovely spot. There was still wind from the north but we went for a swim anyway. Earl hangs a line with a buoy behind the boat as a precaution. We had not realized how strong a current we had until we were in the water. Joan held onto the the buoy and as the boat swung on the anchor, she found herself playing an aquatic game of crack the whip.

Then yesterday we pulled into Puerto Escondido and rented a car. We had been running out a everything it seems and it was time to hit the grocery store. Earl stayed on the boat while Clark, Joan and I went to town. Before loading up, we spent a happy hour being tourists. There is a lovely old church in Loreto. It was the first Jesuit settlement on the Baja and it was responsible for missions all the way north through California. It calls itself the ‘head and mother of the missions of Baja and Alta California”. We wandered through the little shops and felt badly that we were the only tourists around and not really that interested in buying anything.

Puerto Escondido Marina Personnel

Yesterday was my birthday. My special birthday present was the news that the remodeling on our cottage in Massachusetts had finally passed its electrical inspection so that we can close up the walls in the kitchen and sooner rather than later move the cabinets out of the living room. After more than a year, maybe it will be habitable soon. We spent the evening at the little Portobello restaurant in the marina. After a yummy dinner, the proprietor - a lovely, and rather good looking, man named Pedro - sang to me. Earl knows how to embarrass me! That said, it was very sweet and he has a lovely voice.

We are off to the south and plan on being in La Paz on the 16th.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - Fishing off Isla San Francisco

We fished our way down to Agua Verde. It was a lovely smooth trip and I did not even notice the lack of fishing success. Agua Verde is a lovely spot to anchor with good protection from most winds. The entrance to the bay is marked by a wonderful rock, Roca Solitaira which probably gets more photographic attention than most. The water is as advertised, green, and was lovely and warm.

We had not been anchored long before we were visited by the pangero who has visited us every time we stop here. He sells shell necklaces and embroidered ‘serviette’, doilies, presumably all made by his wife. As always, we bought. Joan now has a small wall hanging for her boat, a interesting mermaid and a couple of turtles. Earl asked about lobsters and ordered some from the young man in the boat. He promised to deliver them before 9 pm.

We all spent at least an hour alternating swimming around the boat with floating and loved it. A bright yellow plastic dingy came by us as we swam. It was a couple from a boat that had been anchored near us at Punto Pulpito, Hugh and Victoria. We had a nice chat with them and invited them over to have a drink with us.

It was always interesting to meet people here. This couple was from Portland, Oregon but had been living on their boat for some time. It is a 60 + year old steel army boat which they have been converting. I gather it is still a work in progress even after 7 years of effort. They have a 3 year old grandson in Vancouver, Washington and so they will be taking the boat back north. Mexico is too far for your primary home.

After dinner, our lobsters arrived. The young man had been diving for them with a small light. We had neglected to fix the price earlier and he definitely took advantage of that, responding with an outrageous price when we asked how much we owed. We paid, but next time I think we will ask before ordering.

The next day, we were off early as usual, but it was an unusual day. Overcast and raining off and on all day. It looked like a foggy northwest day. It was the first rain in Agua Verde this year and I wonder if we will see things blooming in response to the moisture.

We have converted the cabin into a small sweat shop. Joan likes to knit and was using bits of left over sock yarn to turn out infant hats at an industrial speed while I toiled on a sweater at a much slower pace. Daisy’s job was watchman. She spends her time listening for unusual noises - porpoises and fish. Her fishing alert is actually vital, since her hearing is way better than ours. We caught two nice dorado and Daisy was in heaven. She definitely considers herself involved in the process. Earl always goes out on the swim step to bring the fish in and Daisy was dying to be there as well. She clearly felt that she had earned the right and had additional role to play. I don’t know how many times we evicted her before she accepted that she was not allowed on the swim step. She settled for standing at the door to the swim step, her tail going at high speed. She works very hard and deserves credit.

That night the forecast called for wind from the SE, turning to S then to SW. We picked a an anchorage that was good for those directions, tucked behind a sand spit on the SW side of Isla San Jose in Bahia Amortajada. It was still grey and raining, and no one wanted to swim. It would have been a nice evening to have a small fire.

Of course, this being 2011 in the Sea of Cortez, the wind as predicted went from SE to S to SW and but then continued on the W, ruining the anchorage. At around 1 am, we started to feel the boat moving in the swell. Finally at 3 am we were up and moving. I say we, but as soon as Clark showed up to help Earl, I went back to bed. An hour later we were anchored on the NE side of San Francisco.

We slept in till 8 am and woke to beautiful blue skies and sun. The rocks seemed even more colorful than usual, perhaps the rain was responsible. Although Earl wanted to fish, I talked him into going into the Hook on ths south side of San Francisco and there we spent the day. This is a particularly lovely place and the water was clear and warm. I went snorkeling and then for a long swim. For once I actually went a distance. Then we all paddled around and enjoyed the water off the beach before Clark and I swam back to the boat. Lunch was scallop ceviche and avocado. Pretty wonderful.

Earl invited Pete from the 37 foot Island Packet, “Quantum Leap” to come for a drink. He is from North Dakota and obviously did not grow up sailing, but loves it. He spends about 6 months a year on the boat, alternating back and forth between Mexico and home. His wife’s real love is horses, but apparently she is a good sport and comes with him most trips.

Today we are off after fish. Earl’s back started to bother him yesterday and this morning he is having great trouble moving but he says the fishing helps his back.

Wow, about two hours into the morning and we had excitement. Daisy gave the call, and I got to the back deck just in time to see a marlin on the surface taking the lure. Everyone got energized. It took about half an hour to get him in and release him. Daisy was on task the whole time, running back and forth and whining with excitement. Her part is probably the most exhausting. I get to take directions from Earl and he and Clark did the macho stuff while Joan and I tried to get photos. What a thrill! After he released the fish, I asked Earl how his back was feeling. Response: What back?

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - Heading into Costa Baja in La Paz

We finished off yesterday with a dorado which we released followed by the most wonderful swim imaginable in Ensenada Grande. The water was perfect and there were no current or waves. We must have been there an hour. We anchored in the bay and, for once, did not get blown out. I slept like a log until I was awaken by a big spash and cold water coming through the bedroom porthole and onto my face. Apparently there was a big ball of bait by the boat and pelicans were diving on it.

We stopped at beautiful Bahia San Gabriel. Earl took us for a tour of the frigate bird rookery and then we went for the Scarboros’ final swim. We have all had a wonderful cruise!

We are headed into the marina in La Paz. The Scarboros will leave on Friday morning. Then on Saturday special guests arrive - our son Paul, his wife Sara, and, most importantly, three year old Amelia.

Friday November 4, 2011 Leaving Santa Rosalia

2011-11-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

When we left Salinas on the 22nd, we fished our way down to Isla Danzante and Honeymoon Cove. No fish, but a pleasant trip. The 23rd we spent the day giving the boat a thorough cleaning in preparation for the arrival of our guests on the 25th. Then late in the afternoon we went into Puerto Escondido and anchored. Killing two birds with one stone, we went to the little restaurant, Portobello, at the Marina for drinks and dinner and internet connection. It was about as pleasant as could be, sitting on the deck overlooking the marina at sunset.

We finished up our boat work on the 24th in the morning. Earl had arranged for a rental car from Hertz at noon. Puerto Escondido is about thirty minutes from Loreto and shopping, so we always get a rental car. (The marina always calls Hertz, and we noticed at the airport the next day that there are other rental agencies - Eurocar, Fox and Thrifty among others, and we will check them out next time and see if the rates are better. ) We had lunch at Tio Lupe. It was good, but incredibly slow. Earl had an enormous fish soup - more like a stew actually. It included crab, lobster, clams, scallops, shrimp and fish. Very pleasant even if slow. We wandered around town looking for some specific items. I wanted a container to put by the stove with implements and finally found a couple that I liked. Then we tried to get some scuba masks to replace our leaking ones, but could not find any.

The man from Hertz had recommended that we drive to Constitution for groceries. It is a town of 60,000 and has much more to offer than Loreto which is a small town of about 10,000. We took off shortly after 7 am and had a beautiful drive through the mountains watching the sun slowly light up the wonderful rock formations around us. The road was excellent. As promised, Constitution was a good place to shop. We went to Leys and they had most everything we wanted. After that we stopped at another store that was more like a Costco with lots of canned goods, but not much in the way of fruits and vegetables which were our main goals. Finally we went into a Ferra Mar (marine store) and found some fins and masks. It was a good trip and one I think we will repeat if we are again in Loreto.

Then it was time to meet Howard and Louise at the airport. The Loreto airport is very modern and the temperature inside was lovely. Louise was a little taken aback by the heat when we left the building. I promised her good swimming so we hurried back to Puerto Escondito, picked up our anchor and headed for lovely Honeymoon Cove and warm clear water.

On the 26th, Earl started off early at 6:30 while the Esslingers slept in. There were winds forecasted for the next day and we wanted to get into a nice anchorage to spend a couple of days waiting for the weather to improve. We headed for San Juanico which is an excellent anchorage for north winds. We were there by lunch time. The water was 84 and perfect for swimming. Down came the dingy and kayaks for the next day.

The next day the promised wind had arrived. It was too windy to kayak or swim. The good news was that the winds had cooled things down lots so we were finally able to sleep without air conditioning. We were visited by a nice couple from the sailboat, AirOps, with not one but two schnauzers who came on board for a cup of coffee. Daisy was delighted to be the hostess and the dogs were all very well behaved. The couple keep their boat in Puerto Escondido. They told us lots of stories about local politics in there which were reminiscent of what happens in other small groups. The up shot was that the manager Connie who was well known among the cruising community was fired and things have since settled down.

Mary’s hobby is shells and she told us a great deal about where to find various shells and where to go clamming. One place we need to visit is the fish camp at Santo Domingo at the entrance to Bahia Concepcion Apparently there is a large pile of murex shells on the beach there.

We started north on the next day, the 28th, only to find it choppier than we had anticipated. We anchored behind Pulpito, a wonderful rock formation that is shaped like a church pulpit. We had never anchored there before and found it a wonderful shelter from the north wind. The downside was there was no beach to speak of and much of the land was fenced with barbed wire which we would have to climb through to explore, so we spent the day on board. There were two boats there, a largish motor boat and a sail boat. We never saw the occupants if any. Around lunch time, we were joined by 4 very small open sail boats, each with 4 people on board They came from the north and anchored with more or less skill. Eventually they swam to beach, climbed the rocks and made their way through the barbed wire and up the rock head land. We saw them come out on the top of Pulpito. I suspect it was an outward bound type of group. They entertained us.

The next day, Saturday, October 29th, we head for Conception. As is the way sometimes, we could not anchor in front of the fish camp to look for murex shells. The wind was up and from the wrong direction. So we motored on down to a very protected anchorage called Santispac. We had spend several days in a storm last year here and had good memories of a small beach restaurant, Ana’s.

It was time for dinner out. Around 5 we piled into the dingy and went in. The tide was out and we had to wade the last 20 feet to dry land. We were surprised at the large number of cars in front. As we walked in, it was clear that there was a Halloween party underway. We were greeted at the door by an extraordinarily slender and tall woman with long black hair and wearing a glittery one piece pants outfit with spaggeti straps- apparently Cher. Six foot legs and a twelve inch waist, and quite a dancer. A nice couple from a sailboat, the only other people not in costume, invited us to sit at their table. We sat there with our barbeque, margaritas and beer and enjoyed the show. There is apparently a good sized expat community in the area, presumably all retirees and they meet on Saturday nights at Ana’s and party. For many of them this was their first chance to see one another since returning south after the summer. There was a chunky lady dressed as Smokey the Bear who danced all night, frequently alone, with or without her shovel. Kermit the Frog had a long red tongue that he would snake out at one and a couple in Zorro outfits had several sword fights. Fred Flintstone and his wife showed up, as did the lady decorated with shells including clam shells boobs complete with smaller shells for nipples. Sadly none of us had a camera, so these pictures are in our memories only.

It was a wonderful evening and we stayed much longer than we had planned. It was dark when we left and we had no flashlight to help us find our dingy. Earl, miracle worker, found it, but then the bad thing happened. Louise walked into a large stone and badly hurt her foot. She had to spend most of the rest of our trip with her foot elevated and iced.

Sunday we headed north. We had promised Louise a chance to collect some shells so we stopped at Punta Chivato where the shells are so plentiful that they form drifts. Louise is a determined lady and even in pain she managed to make it. It is an overwhelming sight, but once again, no one had a camera. We filled bags with shells and Louise spent the next day sorting through them to determine which ones she would take back to Alaska.

We fished all day Monday as we headed north towards Isla San Marcos. All we got for our trouble were a couple of bonito which we had named Howard Fish after he caught ten of them on his last visit. We anchored on the south side of the island. There is a large gypsum mine on the island and the anchorage is reputed to be dusty but we found it perfectly pleasant and had our last swim that afternoon.

The next day, Tuesday November 1st, we headed into Santa Rosalia and tied up by noon. I took Howard for a short tour of the town and we picked up a little fresh fruit and eggs. It was terribly hot, and we had to stop for a cool cervesa. There was wind forecasted for Wednesday at noon. It arrived with a bang at about 10 am. Suddenly we had north winds that gusted up to forty. There were white caps in the harbor. It was crazy and lasted overnight.

We took Louise for a very short tour of the city by cab so she was able to see the steel church by Eiffel, but we really did not have the opportunity to show her the parts of the city that we love, like the panadaria and the fruitaria.

That night we invited a couple from the sailboat Isabella for drinks. Jane immediately sympathized with Louise. It turns out that she had a minor foot operation which lead to a mers c infection - a one in a million occurrence. She had seven operations, one of which she went into not knowing if she would have a foot since amputation was one of the possible outcomes. She contributed a ice pack for Louise to use on her trip north the next day.

Then it was Thursday the 3rd. We woke before dawn and walked the Esslingers to the bus station next door to the marina for the 7 am bus to Loreto. We would return at six to pick up the Scarboros - Joan and Clark- who were flying down on the plane that the Esslingers would take north.

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - in front of Loreto

2011-10-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

On Monday we headed into a lovely anchorage on Isla Carmen across from Loreto. The water was clear and felt wonderful. Unfortunately we were quickly joined by a large number of honey bees. They were not aggressive. They were only interested in the freshwater on our back deck, but they were so numerous that we did not feel comfortable sharing space with them. So we headed south to Isla Danzante and lovely Honeymoon Cove.

There were a couple of other boats there but it was not crowded. We were on the south side of the anchorage and some distance from the others. Around sundown, a panga with three men on it came in and landed on the shore behind us. They poked around on the shore as if looking for something and then sat down on the beach in the dark. I have to admit that they spooked us a bit. We hauled up our dingy just in case they were planning on taking it. The next day we saw a big 80-90 foot blacked hull Mexican sport fishing yacht anchored in the bay below us. Earl thinks that perhaps the men in the panga were some type of security since it was probable that there was someone important on the boat. And of course, there are always drugs... Who knows.

The weather which has been incredibly humid seems suddenly to have changed for drier. While it is still hot, it is now quite pleasant. We are now enjoying sitting on the top in late afternoon.

Friday, October 21, 2011 Looking for fish around Isla Coronado

We are staying in the area of Loreto since our friends will be arriving there on the 25th. It is a nice cruising area, with Loreto somewhat protected by Isla Carmen and lovely anchorages from which to choose. An additional bonus is internet and telephone service is available over much of the area. I am stunned by the clarity of the water. We have seen the bottom as deep as forty feet below us.

Yesterday we cruised in the anchorage on the west side of Isla Coronado. After a wonderful swim, we took Daisy for a boat ride. She perches on the bow like a hood ornament and obviously loves it. There were a number of pelicans on the beach and as we approached she became increasingly excited. Finally when we were about 20 feet from shore in about 2 feet of water, she could stand it no longer and leaped off the boat. In the past she has only jumped off when she could hit the beach or very shallow water - about 6 feet. This time she had to swim for it. When she came up, she was off heading for shore, apparently untroubled, and intent on running off the pelicans. It was her first real swim. I hope we have not created a monster!

There were two sail boats anchored near us, the Juniata and the Windward Bound. We had met the Juniata up in Santa Rosalia and taken a great sunset photo of her. It is nice to meet old friends. Marsha and Dave from Juniata and their friends from the Windward Bound, Jim and Susan, came over for drinks. Both couples live aboard their boats and were on their way south after spending the summer in the Northern Sea. The Juniata will spend the winter in La Paz and then, after 4 years in the sea, will head back up the coast to the Northwest. They will miss the warm water but they are hungering for the shrimp and crab of the Northern Pacific. They are looking into marinas in Washington so we hope we will see them again up north.

Jim and Susan are also getting itchy feet. They have now spent four years here as well and Susan wants to explore further south. They will probably not go until next winter. It sounds as if there is a four year itch. It will probably hit us next winter.

We left Coronado around 10 am. We have circled the island and are headed down to the east side of Isla Carmen. Earl is putting his fishing gear to work, but so far we have had no luck since catching the two dorado a week ago.

Well, speak of the devil - I had no sooner written the above when Earl had a fish on. It was a good sized dorado. He fought like crazy and when Earl finally had him up to the boat, he slipped the hook. As they say, we had everything except the eating of him!

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - fishing off the east side of Carmen

By the time we anchored yesterday in front of Salinas, Earl had caught 3 dorado and was satisfied with his fishing. We anchored on the east side of Carmen in Bahia Salinas. Years past, there was a commercial salt operation there. The workers came over from Loreto and anchorage on the north side of the island at Bahia la Lancha. There are said to be giant salt crystals in the salt evaporation ponds and I was hoping to explore the ruins and see the salt crystals. As it happened, there was too much swell for us to take the dingy into the beach. I had a lovely swim and we had a pleasant evening on the deck listening to the radio and looking at stars. My exploration will have to wait for another visit.

Monday, October 17, 2011 near Loreto

2011-10-17T12:30:00.001-07:00

Sunday, October 16, 2011 On the way to Candeleros Chico

Today is the end of our first week out, one we have spent remembering the old routines - like closing the port holes before getting underway- and sweating and swimming. It has been very warm and even a bit humid, although maybe the humidity is just what we are producing. During the day it gets into the 90’s outside and can hit 100 in the cabin. Earl and I don’t really agree on the use of air conditioning. I am of the less is more school. If it is in the 90’s outside, it seems that the mid 80’s inside is adequately cool. Earl thinks 72 is the right temperature inside, summer or winter although he can be talked into 76. I hate cold air blowing on me, he loves it. I have to admit that without it at night, at least to start, my pillow is wet as am I, so we have been leaving it on.

There are few people out. It is too bad for them, because the warm air brings warm water. It has been between 85 and 87 degrees and delicious. I think I could just live it it.

It has been a lazy week. The first day we went to our old standby anchorage Caleta Partita between Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partita. There was one boat when we arrived and later another came in. We were visited by a pangero looking for some D batteries which we were able to supply. He offered to bring us some fish the next morning in return but we told him we planned on leaving early. Then we had a wonderful dinner on the back deck - chicken breast sauted with mangos and salsa. That night we turned on the underwater lights which Earl had replaced. To Daisy’s delight, 6 pelicans appeared quickly, following by lots of tiny fish. Later the slightly larger fish came to feed and, a first, a small skate. It was what is called a mobula, about 1 foot in diameter. Its white belly was luminescent in the lights and we watched in wonder as it gracefully swept around behind us.

Pelicans on Parade

Tuesday we left Partita and headed for the lovely anchorage at Isla San Franscico called the Hook. We had it to ourselves until late afternoon which made bathing suits optional. It was so lovely, we decided to spend Wednesday there. I spent a good part of the day on the phone with Ocens, our satellite weather program people, trying to get the phone hooked up to our new computer. It took the better part of an hour, but with the help of Pedro in Seattle, we finally got there. (Now my next task will be to get the GPS and AIS hooked up. I think we need new ‘drivers’ and I will wait until tomorrow to call Maptech for help.)

On the way to the Hook

Early evening Wednesday after a lovely day, Earl decided to move to the other side of the island. He was concerned that the weather would give us a rocky night where we were but I think he just likes to move. Disaster! We started to roll around when we got into the new anchorage and I could not get all the stuff on the counter corralled at once. Just my luck, it was a full bottle of Yoy Soy, a sticky marinade with soy sauce, sesame seeds and sugar, that fell and spilled on the rug. What a mess to pick up! I was not pleased with Earl. This particularly piece of rug has been previously marinated by multiple glasses of red wine, and one entire bottle of sweet late harvest white wine. All things considered, it looks pretty good, but I wonder if in hard times it could be turned into s savory stew.

Thursday we headed north to Agua Verde, another favorite anchorage. Earl had the fishing gear out. Daisy had not forgotten how to fish. As always she heard the line running out of the reel before we did. We caught two dorado, one of which we released. They are really a lovely fish to see.

We had Agua Verde to ourselves and stayed two nights, spending our time sweating and swimming. Friday night Earl woke me to see a small bunch of mobula dancing in our lights. He is very frustrated that he has not really been able to photograph them adequately, but he did make a movie. I’ll see if I can post it. (Posting of the movie failed. I'll try again another time)

Saturday we left Agua Verde and headed east out into the sea around Isla Catalina looking for big fish. Nothing showed up. Finally at 3 we headed to Yellowstone Beach on the north side of Isla Monserrate and found paradise. We had been here before with Louise and Howard in the Spring. when we wandered around on the beach admiring the ochre colored rocks and the hundreds of shells shed by lobsters. This time as we anchored we saw thousands of colorful little sergeant majors swimming in the clear water. As Earl was dropping the anchor, I saw that we were drifting over a reef twenty feet below and told him to turn around and so as to drop the anchor over the sand. The anchored boat drifted over the reef and we found ourselves in an aquarium. We could see clearly to the reef 20 feet below us. Near the surface were hundreds of little yellow sergeant majors while large fish drifted below. In we went, like aged Adam and Eve in a marine garden of Eden. It was the best snorkeling that we have had in Mexico. It was a magical day!

Monday, October 17, 2011 - Heading north to the West side of Isla Carmen

We left Eden after marking it on our map so that we can return and headed for a little anchorage we had never visited before. Candeleros Chico is a tiny bay, big enough for one or two boats. Again the water was clear. At 30 feet we could see bottom. Sadly there was not the fish life we had seen at Monseratte. Nonetheless, it was a lovely spot and we actually had a delightful breeze in the evening which helped cool us off. For once, I was up before Earl this morning and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise through a break in the rock wall on our east. Now we are headed north where we will pick up the signal from Loreto and I will be able to post this. Then we will anchor and going swimming again.

Monday, October 17, 2011 - Heading north to the West side of Isla Carmen

Monday, October 10, 2011 - leaving Costa Baja La Paz

2011-10-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

We left beautiful La Paz at the beginning of June and headed off for what turned out to be a busy and wonderful summer. After a very brief stop in La Conner to rest the dog, and check on our house and some of ourfriends, we were off to Anchorage for a couple of months. We had a wonderful time with our three sons, two wonderful daughters in law and five grandchildren. The weather gods were with us. While it was rainy and cold in the Northwest, it was warm and sunny in Anchorage. Most nights found us eating on our back deck enjoying the long days and our flowers.

Of course the price of playing in Mexico for months was the pile of paper work waiting on our dining room table to welcome me home. You play, you pay! Eventually I got serious about tackling it and my study, but not until several weeks of guilt had past. Someday I will learn that it is better just to do something unpleasant and get it over with.

Meanwhile Earl kept himself busy upgrading our kitchen with a new stove etc. One thing lead to another, and we now have new fabric on the sofas in the adjoining room. It was a pretty expensive visit and Earl, who loves nothing better than spending money, was in heaven. The results are wonderful, but NO MAS!

Early August we took off for La Conner for a special family reunion. The cause was our grandson Justin’s wedding to a wonderful girl, Courtney Becker. We are all thrilled with this addition to our family and had a great time seeing so many of our children and grandchildren. The grandchildren, and even the greatgrand children, are all so grown up that it makes us realize time has been passing very quickly.

Then Earl and I were off to the East, stopping in Massachusetts to see family and catch up on the remodeling job from hell in Stockbridge, and then off to Finland to ‘visit the graves of the ancestors’. Earl’s grandfather Arvo Kari left Finland as a young man in 1905 - apparently after a fight with his father, He left behind eight younger brothers, and an older half brother and sister. (Then, as now, at least in our part of the family, the Karis had a hard time producing more than one girl per family. ) Earl had stayed somewhat in contact with a couple of the cousins who had visited the Northwest in the 1940’s and they met us at the airport. What a treat was in store for us! We found a large family of relatives who gave us an incredibly warm reception and took us under their wings. Armed with a family tree, I did my best to keep track of which cousins were descended from which brother. It was a novelty to see so many people that looked like Earl, many with same large ears, apparently a gift from his great grandmother Elizabeth. While everything was wonderful, especially meeting our cousins, perhaps one of the most memorable days was our trip to a beautiful cemetery in Hamina, near the Russian border, where Earl’s great grandmother and many of his great uncles are buried. We left our cousins with all the family addresses and invitations to all to come and visit. We hope that at least some of them will come.

We added a day trip to Estonia and a few days each in St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen and New York before heading home to La Conner to recover. We love our house there and have many delightful companions to enjoy it with. But the Serenity was calling, so we are now in Mexico and off at last from the dock and into the Sea of Cortez We are planning on going north, hopefully as far as Bahia de los Angeles in the north. We will be lucky to have company much of the time, but today t is only the three of us heading for Espiritu Santo to anchor. It is hot and Daisy is collapsed on her rug. Earl is putting out the fishing lines.

Early August we took off for La Conner for a special family reunion. The cause was our grandson Justin’s wedding to a wonderful girl, Courtney Becker. We are all thrilled with this addition to our family and had a great time seeing so many of our children and grandchildren. The grandchildren are all so grown up that it makes us realize time has been passing very quickly.

The water is 86 degrees and it is gorgeous!

Monday, May 23, 2011 - Costa Baja, La Paz

2011-05-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

We headed south from Bonanza, down through the Cerralvo Channel to the Bahia de los Muertos (aka by developers Bahia de los Suenos). It was a lovely day, and, finally after months of no luck, Earl caught a Dorado, saving me from having to figure out what we would have for dinner. We anchored in late afternoon in water that was just too inviting. I had my glass of wine in the water

We talked that night of spending a couple of days at Muertos or possibly going south, but early the next morning, the Captain pulled the anchor and we were on our way north, back up to Bonanza. It was a lovely day, but not a fish.

Then on Wednesday, Earl headed north again for an area called El Bajo where the fishing is supposed to be good. We were not alone. There were other boats, and, finally, bill fish jumping. Judging from the radio chatter, the fish were not biting, but we got bites and finally hooked a marlin. It was hooked behind the gills and put up a quite a fight. Earl had it up to the boat over and over and was exhausted by the time it finally got tangled on our stablizers and broke off. The only bad part of that was the loss of one of Earl’s favorite lures.

We anchored that night in the beautiful Hook at Isla San Francicso, this time off to the east behind the hook itself. We had only anchored there once before and had needed to move before the night was over. I guess it is a bad luck place for us. The wind was gusting 35 from the SW at 2am when Earl went up to check, blowing us toward the beach, and we had an uncomfortable 3 feet of water under us. Earl did not want to sand off the new bottom paint, so we picked up our anchor and moved to the other side of the island.

At first light, off we went again. We had agreed that this week was a fishing trip, and, finally, someone told the fish. Over the next three days we caught 5 more marlin and a sail fish, lost a bunch more, and caught a number of bonito. We also saw a number of sharks jumping. One of them jumped eight feet out of the water right in front of our bow. It was a dark color. We think it was a mako.

Fishing for these large bill fish turned out to be very much of a team effort. Daisy played a critical role. Her hearing is far better than ours, and she has learned to recognize the sound of the line being pulled off the reel and to let us know that there is a fish on. Then the circus starts! Earl is in charge of the back deck and the fishing rods. I am in charge of everything else and, at least in Earl’s mind, am to follow all of his directions which come hot and heavy.

These fish take out a lot of line fast and we have to chase after them. I have finally made a mental checklist for myself. Slow down the engine, take it out of gear, turn off the stablizers, turn off the radios so I can hear, shut the front doors so that I don’t need to worry about Daisy jumping overboard, and finally - this one seems to be hard for me - turn off the automatic pilot. (The boat does not react to the wheel if the pilot is on.) Then run after the fish, trying to keep the line 30- to 45 degrees off the bow. The boat reacts slowly, so I have learned to speed it up a little when changing direction. Importantly, I have to remember not to swear at Earl when he tells me to do something that I am already doing. In my free time, I need to take photos and get Earl into his fish fighting belt and life jacket.

These fish jump spectacularly! One of them actually “tail walked” about 50 yards. Unfortunately, this usually happens early on when I am too busy to try for photos.

We got better with practice. One day the seas were a little rough. It reminded me of gill netting in Cook Inlet. With the stablizers off, we rolled and everything seemed to end up on the floor. I had the boat in reverse and the water was breaking over the stern - just like Cook Inlet, except the temperature was quiet nice and we wore no rain gear.

Eventually, the fish tires and then comes the challenge of getting it off the hook and, more importantly, retrieving the lure Earl gets out on the swim step while I play the role of the assistant in an operating room - only it is gaff or pliers instead of scalpel. Daisy usually sneaks out as well trying to help. When it is all done, we collapse. One day we caught two fish before 10 am and had to go anchor up and rest for a few hours. What a wonderful adventure.

We have learned several things:

--Look for warmer water. The temperatures were between 78 and 85 degrees.

--If you don’t see any fish jumping, you probably won’t catch any - Duh

--Don’t bother buying lots of different types of lures. We have caught almost everything on the same type of lure called a Mexican Flag. (Ours are looking pretty chewed up.)

Then, it was time to come ‘home’ to Costa Baja. We will need to spend the next few days putting Serenity to bed for the summer and getting packed to go north. Since we came down in October we have gone 3,177 miles - Earl does like to travel.

We took on fuel before leaving on our fishing trip. It was expensive - $3.57 per gallon. Since we took on fuel in December, we had used 1,048 gallons. Assuming 1 gallon per hour for the generator, which we ran a lot, I computed that we used 1.7 gallons per hour and averaged 6.1 miles per hour.

Last night we met our new neighbors in the marina, Dave and Janet on the Cuervo. Janet brought their pet Lucy, an African Grey Parrot, over for visit this morning. She was darling and after she warmed up, she treated us to lots of her phrases and whistles.

Sunday, May 15, 2011 - Bahia Bonanza

2011-05-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

I left La Paz and Earl on Thursday the 5th to head to Washington, D.C. for my cousin’s son’s wedding. Having left on the 7 am bus from La Paz to Cabo airport, I wasted no time dropping into bed at the hotel when I arrived at midnight. My sister, Marie Noel was most;y asleep so we kept the talk to a minimum. Friday we spent a nice day with my cousin helping around her house a little and then having dinner. It was wonderful to see extended family for happy reason rather than the usual funeral. As my cousin is crazy about her new daughter-in-law, it was a very happy occasion.

The wedding was Saturday afternoon, with a reception at the Decatur House near the White House. We all gathered in front of the White House for a wedding photo, close to groups protesting everything you can imagine. Marie Noel and I were quite festive! I had brought two of the extraordinary bows like the ones I had given Bella as presents for two little girls in the Berkshires. Marie Noel pointed out the they would go with our outfits and that the royal wedding the week before had made “fascinators” all the rage. We were the pink bow ladies and those who did not know better assumed we were Annie’s English cousins.

While I went north with Marie Noel to Boston and Stockbridge and then down to New York with my sister Cricket, Earl was busy with Serenity. He had her taken out of the water. Her bottom was scrubbed and sanded and given two coats of paint. She was back in her slip ready to go when I arrived back on the 13th. Earl gave me a day to catch my breath and get fresh fruit and vegetables, and then we took off this morning.

We stopped at the fuel dock and got 1,650 liters of fuel. I’ll report on cost and usage next time after I do the math.

The we took off for a final fishing trip before we head back to Anchorage. Sure enough, now that we have no guests on board with fishing licenses, we actually caught some fish. They were black skip jacks, not a fish we wanted to keep, but we caught a total of five and enjoyed it. We ran about 10 or 15 miles east of Isla Espiritu Santo. The water was an extraordinary color of blue and its temperature actually hit 80. To Daisy’s delight, we had multiple encounters with big bottle nosed dolphins and we saw on marlin jumping. I am sure that the cooler water is what caused the lack of sea life we have generally had over the past few months. Hopefully, the higher temperatures bode well for the rest of our trip.

We anchored in 14 feet of water off Bahia Bonanza in 76 degree clear water. We went for a lovely swim, and, since we had no neighbors, did not bother with swim suits. Earl said I could take a photo of him basking in the water for the blog, but when I got out of the water and looked at him, I was afraid the water was too clear and this is a G rated blog.

Wednesday, May 9, 2011 - Costa Baja Swimming Pool

2011-05-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, Brian, Isha and and our darling granddaughter Bella leave for Anchorage - they have been here since Monday the 25th, but the time has gone much too fast. I am sitting at the hotel pool watching them swim together in delightfully warm water. They have been enjoying the life.

For the first part of their visit, we were blessed with perfect cruising weather, and we made use of it. After dinner at the beach club on Monday night and watching Bella dance her way back to the boat along the sea shore, we left early on Tuesday and headed for Gallina, a little bay we had stopped at on our last trip. The water was beautiful, and Brian dove in almost as soon as the anchor was set. We had bought some swim toys prior to their arrival - a short swim board and a five foot wide inner tube with a bottom to pull behind the dingy. We put them both in the water and Bella joined us wearing a life jacket, and we all paddled around. Then came the excitement - Bella in the inner tube being pulled behind the dingy. If she was afraid, it was for no more than a minute, after which it was “faster Daddy, faster!”. Then we watched while Brian pulled Isha around. Unlike Bella who was firmly seated inside the tube, Isha was lying over the top and taking all the bumps on her torso. She had her back arched and looked like a swan. We felt the price of the inner tube was fully justified by just that one morning - and of course there were more to come.

Bella and I took a nap together that afternoon while Brian and Isha explored the little beach for some alone time. That evening there were some killer connect four and cribbage games and early bedtime.

The next morning after Brian’s pre breakfast swim, he and Earl went fishing in the dingy. They caught an enormous trumpet fish which was an experience and saw a large school of yellow tail and some small mobulas. They also found that the reef on the south side of the bay was full of fish. Unfortunately, as has been the case this spring, they caught nothing worth keeping.

Meanwhile, the ladies went swimming off the boat. The water was clear, in the 70’s and the sea was glassy. It is hard to think of better conditions.

Then we were off to check out another near by bay, Balena. Isha was amazed that we just had to go a short way to find another example of paradise. This one had a better beach, so we took the dingy over, dragging Bella in her inner tube. While Brian and Isha sat and read their books, Bella and I played in the water. The water was quite shallow, so it was perfect for us. I had wonderful time dragging her on her small surf board and trying to tip her into the water. Then, after a late lunch, we took a nap and treated her parents to a little more quiet time.

We picked up the anchor and moved around the corner into Caleta Partita for the night. So far there had been no wind, but Balena was not where we would want to be if the SW winds that were predicted were to materialize. (They didn’t).

The next morning we woke to Daisy barking. There was a turtle in the water and every time its head came up, she would let us know. Shortly after, we saw some small rays, called mobulas, jumping. Then we took off for a day long fishing trip. We went north around Isla Partita and then east off the other side where we have had luck in the past. On the way, we toured Los Islotas. These are some rocks on the north end of the island that boast a sea lion colony. They were there barking (and smelling fishy) and we had fun watching them. Some people swim with them, but that does not appeal to me. The male bulls can be 800 pounds, and even a full grown female is 200 pounds. But we had fun looking at them from off shore. Then to make our visit complete, we had a visit from a bunch of bottle nose dolphins. They were feeding, but stopped to play with us a little. Everyone got a thrill watching them braiding back and forth under the bow in the crystal clear blue water.

We ran 10 miles off shore and had the luck to run into a bunch of marlin, finning on the surface. We tried for a while to hook one, dragging gear right by them, but no luck. It was fun to see them, even without hooking any. We passed the time happily, including finishing up Doctor Dolittle which I had the pleasure of reading to Bella.

We pulled into Bonanza on the east side of Espiritu Santo at about 4. The water temperature read 76 and we could see our anchor below the boat in 12 feet of water. In we went. We tied the toys to the boat with long lines so they did not float off, and, after noticing the slight current and wind, did the same to Bella. We certainly did not want to loose her.

Bonanza is lovely sand beach, probably about 1.5 miles long and the next day we pretty much had it all to ourselves. Brian and Isha set up a day camp on the beach under our beach umbrella, including books, cooler, inflated croc, sand pails etc. The water was a little deeper than on the west side beaches, so Brian and Isha were able to work with Bella on really swimming. They walked down the beach and Bella filled the sand pails with shells. They came back to the boat for lunch and I tried to get Bella to rest while her parents returned to the beach. (She didn’t.) After giving up on that, she got in her inner tube and I swam to the beach, towing her. She kept telling me to go faster. We played in the water and I was impressed by how much more confident she had become in the water. She was really beginning to swim.

That afternoon the wind came up. The waves really bounced us around when we returned to the boat in the dingy and we had a difficult time getting off without falling into the water. It was made even more difficult by the thirsty bees which had swarmed to our back deck to get water. Earl pulled the anchor and we moved off shore a little for the night so that we could cook our hamburgers without bees.

By the next morning it was clear that the wonderful weather was changing and there were significant winds forecasted for later. We left Bonanza and headed into Balandra on the mainland for a lunch stop. The beach is heavily used and as it was Saturday we had a good deal of company. Also, although the setting is beautiful, the water is perhaps too shallow and we found some trash on the beach which was sad.

That afternoon we pulled into our slip at Costa Baja having had a wonderful cruise and content to let the wind blow as hard as it chose for the rest of the kids visit.

So then it was time to explore the shore amenities. Bella’s birthday is May 12th and I had promised her we would have a small early birthday celebration in Mexico. So the first morning on land, Bella, Isha and I went to town in search of a new ‘princess’ dress at the public market which is quite a contrast to the shopping malls at home. It was a great success. All the purple and yellow dresses in her size were brought out for her inspection and she ultimately settled on a purple one with spaghetti straps that makes her inappropriately dressed for a seven year old. Then following directions from the proprietress of the dress shop, we found a shop with lots of pinatas. Bella selected a large green one with cones from which crepe paper hung, while I wondered how we were going to hang a pinata in the boat and break it open with out smashing the boat. Earl took us up to the golf club restaurant on the hill for lunch and we enjoyed the beautiful view. (Sadly, when we returned, he managed to delete all the photos from his camera.)

The next day, Isha and I returned to town to pick up some items to put into the pinata while Bella and Brian went to the pool at the Beach Club. It is gorgeous! Brian enjoyed his beer and a book while Bella played in the pool.

After we got back from town, Isha joined them, and when they returned, it was time for the birthday celebration. Bella dressed for the occasion in her new dress. After dinner, but before the cake, we took on the pinata. We hung it in the salon and Bella went after it with Earl’s fish killing club. The first blow knocked it down, still intact. We hung it back up, she hit it again, and again it fell. Then we took turns holding it while someone swung at it. Finally, Bella beat it to death on the floor of the salon. Since she was the only kid, it was actually much better that the contents had to be individually retrieved rather than having them scattered all over the boat. In addition to some candy, we had found some wonderful hair clip ribbons, sparkly rings and bracelets which were a huge hit. She was in heaven!

Tuesday, next to last day found us at the hotel pool which has a bar in the corner with seats in the water. The kids went up first, and when I arrived, Isha was floating around with a strawberry daiquiri in hand. I tasted it and had to get one too. Bella meanwhile was really swimming. She had not figured out how to breath and sounded rather alarming when she finally came up for air, but she was perfectly happy in water over her head. She knows when she needs to rest that she can roll over onto her back and float.

The evening was spent playing some cut throat “Sorry”, a board game at which Isha is a pro. Poor Brian got beaten very badly, every game we played and we kept pointing out to Bella that he was being a good sport which was what we expected of her.

And now, after early morning games of Connect Four and Sorry, we are back to the pool for the last swim before a late afternoon flight home to Alaska. Earl has joined us so that he can see Bella’s swimming. We have the pool to ourselves and the bar man is tempting us with all his creations. In addition to strawberry daiquiris, he makes pina coladas with mint that are to die for. Bella feels very grown up with her strawberry smoothie. She has swum steadily for 2 hours which should ensure a sleep on the flight home. We will miss them!

Tomorrow I leave for a quick trip to the East Coast for a family wedding and some family business. Earl will be taking Serenity out of the water while I am gone and getting her bottom painted!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - Costa Baja, La Paz

2011-04-19T15:16:00.001-07:00

When we left Puerto Escondido, we were headed north to Santa Rosalia which we had loved last year. The first day out we did not run far, only to Isla Coronado, because I wanted to stay in phone and internet range through the night. We were on the SW side of the island in a bay which has a large sandbar to the south and it is a lovely anchorage. We were not the only ones there, but there is plenty of room for all and we enjoyed a peaceful evening at anchor before heading north.

Our first stop, on the 8th was Bahia San Juanico. This is an extraordinary bay, with wonderful rock formations which rise around you like church spires. It has wonderful protection from the north as well as small area on the south side that would be great in south winds. And there we remained for two lovely days while the wind came up and blew 35 from the NW on the 10th.

There seemed little point in bashing into the waves when we were in such a nice place. We wandered the beach with Daisy looking for agates. I don’t think we found any, but we did pick up some extraordinary rocks which I will take home to James, our grandson. I am toying with the idea of buying a rock polisher. Some of the rocks are conglomerates of wonderful colors. I don’t have any idea if they will polish or not.

Our first afternoon, we invited a young couple that had rowed around the bay in for a beverage. They are Marni and Mike, from Sidney, Vancouver Island. They have a 37 foot steel sailboat named Picara on which they have done a ton of work. They plan to go back north to replenish their bank account, but next year they will continue their cruise. It is always a pleasure to see young couples enjoying the cruising life. They do all the more active things - like rowing around the bay and hiking the hills. I asked what Picara meant and Marni said she would like to know. They understood from the dictionary that it meant hobo or wanderer in Spanish but given the smirks they get from the local men they are curious as to whether it has a somewhat racier meaning, at least in Mexico. She hopes that it is not too wild. I discussed it with Maria Luisa and Marni can relax. In addition to meaning mischievous, naughty or cheeky, the most common meaning in Mexican slag is flirt - but definitely not slut.

The next day, the wind howled. That morning we had a visit from the smallest inflatable dingy I have ever seen - certainly no more than 5 feet long - rowed by a pretty petite young woman named Nina. She was hoping we could fill her 6 gallon water tank, which was not problem at all. She came in for a cup of coffee and we learned she and her husband are Norwegian and have been living on a 27 foot sailboat, Bica, on which they have sailed from Norway. 27 feet is really very small. Her husband is a serious writer and has published a number of novels. When I asked, she admitted that being written for Norwegians they were not light hearted. She is busy writing a book on Seppala who ran the serum to Nome by dogsled in 1925. She is from the very northern part of Norway. Seppela came from a nearby village and, like her, was part Finish, since many Finns over time migrated from their northern hills to the Norwegian Coast. Somewhat embarrassing for us having spent 30 years in Alaska, she knew far more than we about the early 1900s in Alaska and in Nome specifically. Earl had a great aunt and uncle who had lived there in 1905 so it is particularly interesting to us. We invited her to come over in the evening for drinks and she said she would bring us copies of some of her research materials, including a who’s who from Nome in the early 1900’s.

Nina brought over a portable drive. In addition to a special file that she had compiled for us about Nome, she had several thousand digital books, a translator which would put them in Kindle format, a bunch of books on tape including all the Harry Potters and some NPR podcasts. The last two should be wonderful for night watches.

We also invited over Marni and Mike from Picara and Lewis and Laura from the sailboat Cirque which was anchored next to us. Everyone brought goodies. Marni had bread and humus, both of which she had made from scratch that day. Most impressive, Nina brought some sweet Norwegian yeast bread that she had baked over charcoal in the barbecue - she said they were running low on propane. Lewis and Laura are racers and had lots of stories to tell of the Puerto Vallarta sailing regatta. They have won several years in a row and this year the race committee gerry rigged the handicapping to try to favor others - they still won. We made fun of the dour nature of Norwegians and Finns. Marni brought up the subject of Margaret Attwods books - she is Canadian- and I said I liked them but found them rather dark. Nina respond that for her it was comedy. Lots of fun. We are happy that we will be seeing Nina and Hendrik (who was busy with his manuscript and did not join us) this winter. They will be house and dog sitting in Wasilla, Alaska.

The next day the wind out of the north was gusting 35 and we decided against heading north into the seas. We will leave our visit to Santa Rosalia until the fall and combine it with exploration of the Bahia Los Angles area. Instead we headed south, back to Coronado with the wind and seas on our tail. This boat is made for such weather and we had a lovely ride.

Because of the north winds, we anchored on the south side of the island and watched the surf curl around the ends of the land, while we sat snug as could be at anchor. As predicted, the next morning, the 12th, the winds had died allowing us numerous alternatives. We chose to stop first at Loreto. Earl took me into the small boat harbor in the dingy and I went shopping for milk, fruit and vegetables. Then we headed over to a beautiful little cove on Isla Carmen called Balandra. In addition to being lovely, it gets good cellphone reception which was important. Everything was perfect, except for a swarm of thirsty bees which decided to populate our back deck in a search of fresh water. Since it did not look as if we would be able to barbecue, we took off and headed for another anchorage, La Lancha, on the north side of the island. We had it to ourselves and enjoyed the beauty.

The following day, we headed south. The forecast for the following days was for big winds from the north so we made our way to Agua Verde which is a wonderful anchorage for north winds. The first thing we saw was a man fishing from a tiny kayak. We had a chance to visit with him the next day. He is Milo from the Chek Republic and told us that he had come to the USA in 1988 as a cook on fishing vessels in Alaska. 9 years ago he retired, quit drinking, and found a young Chek girlfriend. He has been living in Mexico ever since. He had been in Agua Verde since October, living on the beach in a 20 year old white van with a blanket over the back, subsisting on fish and love.

We had a lovely time exploring the beaches on Agua Verde. The water was exceptionally clear and appropriately green and in the shallower areas of the bay we could clearly see lots of colorful fish. Daisy loves going on dingy rides. She hangs over the front like a hood ornament.

One of the boats in Agua Verde was a 46 foot Nordhavn, Discovery. We had met her last year just north of Conception. Frank was the one who returned Earl’s cap to him in Escondido and we were lucky to have a opportunity in Agua Verde to get to know Frank and Linda better. They worked in the Seattle area and a couple of years ago they cruised south in the boat which is now their home. They will continue the life style as long as it suits them both. They invited us over for drinks. Their boat is lovely. it has a large salon and a good galley. The master stateroom is in the bow which allows them lots of light and air on a normal basis while the smaller mid-cabin is available if the passage is rough.

The wind howled the second day we were in Agua Verde. In this dry desert land, we found that the wind off the land brought with it lots of red dust which coated the boat and got in our eyes. Hopefully this is an unusual thing. We have not encountered it before.

The next day, we headed south. Our friends John and Maria Luisa were headed for the Hook on the south side of Isla San Francisco and we had arranged to join them. The plan was to stop on the way at Los Gatos and buy some lobsters for dinner from Manuel. We stopped for about an hour at lunch time and called several times on the radio, but no Manuel, no lobsters. Happily, I had a kilo of small scallops in the freezer and I know there is nothing that Maria Luisa loves better than scallop ceviche. It is, additionally, simply to make. Cover the scallops in lime juice and a little salt. While they sit, chop up onions, tomatoes, jalepenos, and cilantro. Mix the vegetables with a little olive oil, drain and add the scallops, add salt and a little tabasco to taste. By the we arrived at the Hook at 4:30, we were ready to entertain. Maria Luisa, John and their friends, Guy (born in France of Danish and Hungarian parents) and Lolita, his Mexican wife, came and feasted on scallops and white wine. It was a lovely evening.

Early the next morning, the wind came up from the south so we pulled anchor and moved to an anchorage on the north east side of the island. The beach was very rocky, large cobbles, of wonderful colors, including reds and greens.

After a stop here, I pulled up the weather for Earl. To our surprise it was suddenly calling for significant east winds. If it was right, we were not in a good place. We pulled our anchor were headed south, when Earl pointed out the the forecast included 16 to 17 foot seas. WOW! Well, to err is human. The weather report was correct for latitude 24 and longitude 110 - in the southern hemisphere. Earl has significantly reduced my performance rating as meteorologist and is threatening to cut my salary.

Since we were already on our way, we headed to our favorite anchorage at Caleta Partita. Glad we did, for once again, the winds came up and it was good to be in a safe anchorage. It was blowing from the SW, so we thought we would go around Isla Espiritu Santo to Bonanza on the SW side. As we left the anchorage, we ran into bumpy seas and a south wind. After bouncing around a little, we found a lovely cove, Galina, and pulled in. It was good in a south wind, but would not be good in the forecasted SW, so after lunch we pulled anchor to head around the island. We did not get far before Earl decided that the wind was definitely more S or SE and that the Bonanza anchorage would not work. So instead we headed to Balandra, a lovely anchorage not far from La Paz. The wind had disappeared, the water was 74 and beautiful and we floated around and enjoyed ourselves. As we watched a lovely sunset, all of a sudden we had a south wind gusting to 35. It was a rocky night, and Earl was up multiple times checking our anchor and keeping and eye on the other boats around us.

Today, after having spent almost 2 weeks running from the weather, we headed back to our slip in Costa Baja. Our supplies are low, the boat is dirty, the temperature is in the 90;s and we are happy to be ‘home’.

Thursday, April 7, 2011 leaving Puerto Escondido heading north

2011-04-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

AprilAfter we arrived in Costa Baja on February 20th, we spent a few days in La Paz getting ready to leave and then on the 24th we flew to Mexico City. Our wonderful friends, John and Maria Luisa, met us there and took us to their lovely new home in Cuernavaca. I had last visited the town in the late 60’s when the population was about 100,000. It is now about 1,000,000 and what a change. In the 60’s my aunt had a lovely house downtown by the zocolo and I remember that we would stroll there in the early evening. Back then there were a couple of sidewalk vendors selling straw baskets and it was a lovely place to sit and enjoy a peaceful drink. I had the address and we went looking for the house. It was almost impossible to believe that what had once been a lovely charming little town square was now a traffic congested place. How sad!

Although the downtown has lost much of its charm for me, John’s house was absolutely lovely, very modern, very airy with a lovely pool and patio. We had a wonderful visit. John has a couple of restaurants “Vicingos” (Vikings since John is Danish) which he started and his sons now run. So when we did not go out, he would just call and order food. Very convenient!

We took a day trip to Taxco, which is where most of the Mexican silver is mined. It is a very old town and is built up the side of a mountain. It looks Mediterranean rather than Mexican because all the houses are painted white. There is a beautiful old cathedral dating from the 1500’s. John has a branch of his restaurants there and we sat on the patio and enjoyed the view with our lunch before traipsing through town.

View of Taxco Cathedral at Lunch

Our visit to Cuernavaca was too short, Thursday evening through Sunday morning, and then we were back in La Paz to catch our flight to Anchorage. We over nighted in LA and arrived midday, March 1st, to Anchorage which was snow covered and dazzling under a lovely blue sky. The snow on the back deck was 3 feet high and Daisy found it a little overwhelming.

We were blessed with three weeks of glorious weather, and by the time we left the creeping phlox was gradually showing up where the snow was gone behind our house. It was wonderful seeing the grandchildren. The price was sharing the illnesses making the rounds of the Anchorage preschools. The down side was that we got sick. The upside was that for several days Amelia did not go to preschool and we had her for the whole day. She is two and chattering full time so we are really getting to know her.

Amelia multi-tasking- watching Dora the Explorer on the I-pad while planning her trip to Finland

Bella and I got to spend several days together as well. Our visit home coincided with Fur Rendezvous, the midwinter Anchorage festival. Among other activities, Bella got to take a dog sled ride. Then we enjoyed two trips to see an exhibit of Mammoths and Mastodons from the Field Museum in Chicago which was on tour. The second trip included Steve’s three teenagers including Elora, aged 13 + who patiently put up with being Bella’s prisoner. We saw many friends and the time flew bye. Finally, with our income taxes sort of taken care of and bills paid, we left on the 24th for warmer weather to recuperate from our colds.

Bella taking a dog sled ride

We had a long trip back, leaving Anchorage at 1 am and arriving at 4 pm making a long day for us and even more for Daisy. We were able to break her out for breakfast and a walk in Seattle, but otherwise it was a long day in her crate.

We spent the next five days getting over my cold and preparing for Roland and Nancy who were due to arrive on March 30 to spend a week with us. Apparently I was not too ill since we managed an active social schedule. We saw a good deal of Herve, who has spent 25 years in California but is originally from Brittany. His wife, Helene, had returned to California so he was by himself and easily persuaded into drinks or dinner.

We had brought two new laptops with us, one PC and one Mac, to replace the two Dells we had on board which were beginning to act up. One, the PC, will be dedicated to navigation, while the Mac will be used for other stuff, such as blogging. We had also brought a wireless modem with the thought that we could create a WI FI hotspot on our boat and use the email and internet capabilities of our I phones as well as being able to move the computer around the boat without losing the internet connection. I was supposed to transfer everything on to the new computers and get the new equipment set up. I got stuff loaded on the Mac but we are still using the old Dell for navigation. The real problem turned out to be with little cradle-point wi fi modem that Earl had found. The directions were very sparse and I was unable to make it work properly. The more I tried, the worse it got. By the time I was through, I could not even get the internet cable connection to work. I hate being the “Help” desk and my frustration did not make the atmosphere in the boat a harmonic one. Fortunately another cruiser came to my rescue. Peter, from the Solara, a Nordhavn 64, has an impressive technical background and spent two hours working on my problem. He finally found the one little setting that needed to be changed and soon I was able to create a wireless hot spot on the boat using either the cable modem or the little Telcel stick modem. We celebrated that evening at Peter’s with a bottle of champaign after picking up Roland and Nancy at the airport.

After drinks at Peter’s including a tour of his beautiful boat, we took Roland and Nancy to the Beach Club Palapa for a dinner overlooking the beach. They loved it, as we knew they would. The next morning, bright and early as is Earl’s way, we took off to spend the day exploring the Espiritu Santo marine preserve. We hit two beaches, San Gabriel which has a beautiful long sand beach and a frigate bird rookery, then Cardoncita on Isla Partita, which we had not visited before. It has a nice area for snorkeling and Nancy and Roland had their equipment on almost before we had the anchor down. Finally, around four, we moved on to our favorite anchorage at Caleta Partita. Having seen no boats the rest of the day, Nancy was shocked that we had to share the anchorage with 6 or 7 other boats. It was lovely.

Roland, Nancy and Daisy approaching Espiritu Santo

Frigate Bird Rookery in Bahia San Gabriel

The next morning we headed north to Isla San Francisco. Our plan was to catch some fish and then anchor at the Hook on the south side of the Island. It was not to be. No fish, and then a wind from the south required looking for a different anchorage. We spent mid day anchored on the East side of the island. Then the wind went down and we tried cruising around to catch a fish - still not a bite. However, we did have a thrill watching a school of small rays, mobulas, near the boat jumping and flying through the air. We ended up anchoring behind a spit on the SW side of Isla San Jose called Amortajada.

Nancy captured by the Girl who Played with Fire

The next day started with a dingy ride through a small mangrove lagoon which was impressive a high tide. We then explored a beach further north on the island at a site which was once a salt mine. There are a few piece of abandoned equipment and the salt ponds still have some salt. We could have just filled up our containers with sea salt had we wished. I had heard that one could occasionally find a nautilus shell in the seaweed here. We found none but enjoyed our walk and Daisy really got to explore and stretch her legs. Then we headed 4 miles across the San Jose Canal to the little town of San Evaristo, which boasts about 20 families, a school, a desalinization plant, a cantina and tienda (little shop), goats and mules. The fishermen were unloading their pangas and had some pretty impressive catches of yellow tail. The pangas are open boats, but the pangeros have developed a low cost model of fish hold to keep their catch fresh. It is a 50 gallon plastic barrel which has been sprayed with a heavy layer of insulation, laid on its side with a lid cut into it. Very functional - the catch looked beautiful.

Roland and Nancy check out some mining equipment

We wandered through the little town and gave Roland and Nancy a taste of rural Mexico. The tienda was quite well stocked and we were able to pick up onions and tomatoes. Nancy picked up some packages of cookies and later discovered what we already knew: Mexican cookies have zero taste.

We had cocktail hour on the top deck watching several sailboats coming in to anchor. One was no more than 20 feet long, and another was from Juneau Alaska and painted blue with the stars of the Alaska flag on its side. One of the interesting things was watching the fisherman catching bait for the next day. They use throw nets from the bow of their boat and it is a lovely thing to watch, it looks very easy and no doubt is a very difficult thing to do.

San Evaristo

A wild 35 mph wind came up that night and we rocked a good deal, but we were well and safely anchored. One of the sailboats was not so well secured and came floating by us. We woke to the sound of roosters crowing and mules braying. It was another beautiful day and we were off to catch fish.

We cruised north up the Canal San Jose and then around the island of San Jose and down along the east side before heading back to the west and our anchorage at Los Gatos. It was a 10 hour day of fishing with no fish. In fact, this trip we saw relatively little in the way of sea life. Finally, just before we anchored we saw a couple of large whales. They were not so near or so spectacular to normally have been of much interest, but we noticed another boat tracking them. Obviously they had seen little sea life as well.

We had called on the radio saying that we were the Serenity and going to Gatos and hoping to buy lobsters. When we arrived was no one else there. We anchored and went up above to have a drink and admire the beautiful red rocks. Five minutes later, Earl saw a panga coming from the south - Manuel and his lobsters were coming. We had last see Manuel just before Christmas. He had been ill and we were worried about him. He greeted us with big hugs and told us that he was feeling much better. He had been one month in La Paz and had a small operation that solved his problem. He was happy to see us and after selling us 5 kilos of lobsters for a modest sum, he sat and had a beer. He can no longer dive for lobsters, so now he catches them in a net. The problem is the market. The Canadians and Americans frequently all show up at once and he runs out of lobster, which seems to be the only thing they want. He was saving to buy a second net, which would cost close to $100. As one fisherman to another, Earl contributed to the cost, and we all got more hugs. We feasted on lobsters, leaving 3 for lunch the next day in Earl’s live tank. Earl and I retired, leaving Roland and Nancy to skinny dip.

Manuel enjoying a beer

The next day, Earl was up early taking photos of the beautiful red rocks in the sunrise. There was Manuel in his panga with a gift of beautiful little bay scallops. He came by again as we were leaving to show us his catch and the net he is planning on duplicating. I think as long as Manuel is well, we will have lobsters waiting us in Los Gatos.

It was a short run up to Agua Verde - no surprise, no fish. We arrived in time for lunch on the boat deck: cold soup and lobster salad. Roland and Nancy explored the town and visited Marie’s tienda. Earl and I had our heads into our books. Later in the afternoon we saw the local goat herd making its way across the hill in front of us.

Agua Verde Sunset

Tuesday, our last day of cruising, we ran up towards Puerto Escondido. We ran around the east side of the Isla Danzante where we finally found a pod of bottle-nose dolphins that played with us for a while. I am glad that we finally found some before Roland and Nancy left. Then our final stop before Escondido - Honeymoon cove for lunch and a swim. It was beautiful even if we had to share the cove with another boat.

Honeymoon Cove

We anchored in Puerto Escondido and arranged for a rental car for the next day. Then friends began to arrive. First, Steve and Tawny from the sailboat Imagine whom we had last seen a year ago in Bahia Conception where we spent several days weathered in. We had just started catching up with them when a dingy pulled up from the Nordhavn 46, Discovery, bringing Earl back his Nordhavn hat which he a lost in Conception to Gary who reports the sunrisa net weather. Not long after, our friends from Port Don Juan in the Bahia de Los Angeles, Gordon and Miriam from the 31 foot Golden Hind, Anwagomi, showed up. We all had a good time and it was fun introducing Roland and Nancy to some of our cruising friends.

Puerto Escondido

That night we had dinner on shore at the Portobello restaurant in the marina. The restaurant overlooks the anchorage and it is impossible to ignore how beautiful it is. Then, too soon, it was Wednesday the 6th and time to take a quick tour of Loreto before dropping Roland and Nancy at the airport for their flight home. We toured the old Cathedral in Loreto. The mission was established in 1697 and was responsible for sending out the missionaries that established the missions in California. Then Nancy demonstrated some of her power shopping skills before we had a quick mexican lunch. We came back to a boat that seemed very quiet.

Lunch in Loreto

Gordon and Miriam came over and we had a nice visit with just the two of them. Gordon is a radio ham and gave Earl some tips on getting our single sideband receiver working. We were able to hear something this morning, even though we could not understand what was being said. We will give it another try tomorrow when the weather report is scheduled.

We are now headed north and for the first time in a week we have telephone and internet available. I paid some bills, checked the emails, and will post this while we are still able to do so. Our next chance will probably next week when we are planning to be in Santa Rosalia.

Monday, February 21, 2011 - Costa Baja Marina La Paz

2011-02-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 17, 2011 – Underway from Barra to San Blas

Yesterday around 11 am we said good bye to Stu and Teri, left them behind at the Grand Bay Hotel in Barra to kill a few hours before going to the airport, and we headed north. We are trying to make a fast trip back to La Paz so as to fit in a quick visit to our friends John and Maria Luisa in Cuenavaca before heading back to Anchorage on the 28^th of February. The weather forecast was ideal, and, delightfully, has proved to be accurate. We had about a knot plus of current going our way, and, as we made our way toward Cabo Corrientes and Banderas Bay, we were running at over 7.7 knots. The sea was glassy and there were lots of turtles and whales to entertain us. The turtles were about 3 to 4 feet across but I don’t know what type. We had planned an overnight run around Cabo Corrientes and into La Cruz in Banderas Bay, but sometime yesterday we decided to skip La Cruz and save some mileage by running to San Blas. It is now 9 am, the seas are glassy and we have about 20 miles to go. We will have come almost 200 miles in 25 hours.

Earl suggested that I include some lessons learned about cruising this part of Mexico. First, bring some bug spray and use it. We finished our favorite and I did not put any on when we were in Barra. I am covered with bites – from my toes to my forehead. Second, unless you want to drink only bottled water, you need a high tech water filter to fill your tanks or a water maker. We have been spoiled with the reverse osmosis water in La Paz. Third, the anchorages on this side have far more swell than in the Sea of Cortez, so a flopper stopper of some type improves sleeping conditions. Fourth, communications are always an issue. We have AT&T phones with the Viva Mexico plan and have pretty reasonable telephone communications. Don’t plan on using an IPhone for data. Earl did and even with a Mexican plan we had a $300 bill last month. Wi FI connections at marinas are sometimes weak and I am going to look into getting a signal amplifier for my computer. The telcel stick works okay if there is a signal but is never very fast.

This winter is apparently unusually cold. We noticed it is about 10 degrees colder than last year, both air and water. Perhaps this accounts for the lack of fish, which others have noticed as well.

Friday, February 18, 2011 –Isabela and Mazatlan

I took a nap and returned to find that that we were now headed to Isla Isabela instead of San Blas. Isabela is 20 miles further north and we arrived there at 2:30 in the afternoon. Once again we saw tons of turtles today. They really show up when the water is so glassy. We anchored south of Las Monas right behind a panga. The pangeros were anchored and cleaning fish. Later they all took naps, apparently giving their nets time to set. It reminded me of gill netting in Cook Inlet when beautiful glassy seas inevitably meant slow fishing and dozing in the sun. Off our stern small rays jumping, five or six at a time, entertained us. It was a lovely stop.

The plan was to start off again early the next morning. I foolishly thought that meant five or six am. Oh no, 1 am Earl pulled the anchor. I slept till he told me it was my turn at 3:30. Again, it was another beautiful day. I pulled up the weather and it promised good weather until Saturday night. We decided to make the best of it and just keep going to Baja. First we had to stop in Mazatlan to get some fuel. We had a couple of hundred gallons which was plenty, but Earl wanted more weight in the boat in case we got into rough weather.

We got to Mazatlan around 3 pm, after a 95 miles run. We were greeted by boobies and frigate birds that circled the boat and tried to land on us. The radar seemed to keep them off. Once into the estuary, we headed for the Pemex station. It was off the main boat basin and we discovered that we had picked one of the lowest tides ever to come in. We had stirred up mud by the time we were tied up and after taking on 400 gallons, we had no water under the keel. Fortunately the tide was coming in and the bottom was soft, and with the help of the fuel dock personnel we got turned around and headed out for La Paz.

Actually, we are planning on heading for an anchorage on the SW side of Isla Espiritu Santo called Bonaza. We should arrive around midnight on Saturday, + or – several hours depending on the current. There we can rest and make an easy run into the marina on Sunday morning. Docking there will be a challenge since the thrusters are partially clogged with marine growth and will be of no help. As we left Mazatlan, we had gone about 300 miles and have about 250 left to La Paz.

Saturday, February 19, 2011 – Crossing the Sea of Cortez

Last night was beautiful. We have a full moon and perfect weather. Aside from a couple of ferries, we saw no other boats. We are finding that between 4 and 5 hours is as long as either of us can stay awake on watch at night. If we did more of this we might even get into the routine of breaking our night’s sleep into segments.

We have been fortunate to have a current with us. Without a current at 1800 rpm we cruise at about 6.5 knots. With the current against us, it can be as slow as 5 which is a significant difference. Fortunately so far we have been going faster, sometimes as fast as 7.9.

Around noon, we were cruising along at 7.5 knots on glassy seas about 85 miles off shore when we started to see marlin. Earl quickly put out his fishing gear. I guess it is only the journey when there is no fish – if there are fish, it is the fish not the journey. Within 30 minutes he had one on and I was immediately transformed into the helmsman and photographer. The fish took at least 300 yards of line and started jumping as we chased him. Of course I was too busy driving to get any photos, but it was spectacular. Earl, of course, was yelling directions: go right, no left, no straight, in gear, out of gear, move everything off the back deck immediately. Daisy understood just how excited Earl was, and started yelping in sympathetic excitement. At one point, her noise was really getting to Earl and he kept insisting that I kick her to shut her up, which I refused to do. Then when we thought we were finally gaining on the fish, we saw it jumping way off. That was discouraging until we saw our fish jumping much closer and realized that it was an unhooked fish in the distance. Finally after playing it at least half an hour, Earl had it up to the back and then scared the daylights out of me as he went out on the swim step to release the fish. Half an hour later, he was still talking about it. app

Sunday, February 20, 2011 – Marina Costa Baja

We arrived at Bahia Bonaza at 1 am and anchored for what was left of the night. With the full moon lighting up the sandy beach, it was a beautiful sight and we felt that we had finally arrived home -we were only 3 hours away from La Paz. By 8 am Earl had the anchor up and we were off for the last leg of our trip. At 11 am, one hour short of 4 days (we changed time zones on the way north) we were tied up in the marina. During that time we had stopped for 10 hours at Isabela, 1 hour at Mazatlan and 7 hours at Bonaza. We had come 541 miles in 77 hours of running, averaging over 7 knot per hour, with beautiful seas and the full moon at night. A wonderful trip!

Sunday, February 13, 2011 - Leaving Ensenada Carrizal underway to Barra

2011-02-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

Sunday, February 13, 2011 - Leaving Ensenada Carrizal underway to Barra

My recent silence is almost entirely the fault of Stieg Larsson and a girl with a dragon tattoo who played with fire and kicked a hornet’s nest.

It has been almost three weeks since I left for Boston for a visit with my sisters there, in Stockbridge and in New York. It was a busy week, and very snowy and brisk, especially after being in Mexico. My sister and I have been doing some renovations to the cottage in Stockbridge. What started as minor cosmetic work on the second floor – removing a dropped ceiling – has resulted in something rather more. The dropped ceiling removal revealed a damaged and mouse infested ceiling above, which when removed exposed inadequate support for any ceiling. We don’t know why it had not fallen down on its own. Anyway, there is now no ceiling on the second floor and we are free to gaze on the underside of the old roof. While the old structure has a certain beauty, the project does remind me of the Tom Hanks movie, The Money Pit.

While I was north, Earl and Daisy held down the fort, or rather the boat. They were anchored in Barra for a number of days, but that got old, even with daily visits from our French baker, and they eventually headed out to Tenecatita where Earl made friends with a number of sailors who liked margaritas.

Getting home proved rather more difficult than the trip north. There was one of many storms that the East has experienced this winter due to arrive the day I planned on leaving. I was scheduled to leave from La Guardia at 6 am and made the silly assumption that since the weather in the city the day before was unexceptional that the plane would be in NYC and ready to depart. My sister, bless her, woke me at eleven with the news that the flight had been cancelled. After an hour on the phone with Continental I made reservations to leave from Newark at 6:30 am on what turned out to be one of the very few flights to leave the city that day. At 3 am, a brave cab driver drove me through ice covered streets to the airport where I finally boarded the plane a couple of hours late. I immediately went to sleep, only to wake two hours later still at the gate. After the most through de-icing I have ever had – it lasted almost an hour – we finally took off for Phoenix, a run through that airport and on to a flight for Puerto Vallarta, which is about 130 miles from Barra. I opted for a cab ride home to Earl rather than trying to find a hotel in Puerto Vallarta. It cost $200 and took four hours including a stop in the dark on the side of the road for the driver to fix a flat, but by 10 pm I was at the water taxi station at Barra with only one last leg, a panga trip to the boat, to go before getting home. I did not realize how tired I must have appeared until Earl told me the next morning how much better I looked.

Our son Stuart and his wife Teri were due the next day, so I took the bus to the little grocery store (oddly named Hawaii) in Melaque that seems to have most everything and, most importantly, delivers to the boat, and stocked up on fruit, vegetables and milk.

Our time with Stu and Teri has flown by. We were anxious to explore some of this area with them. The first morning we took off from Barra and headed north to Tenecatita which is a beautiful stop. The seas were a little bumpy and the short two hour trip was long enough to make poor Teri sick. She was very stoic and as soon as we got into the bay and the water flattened out, she was ready to play. Down came the kayaks, and Stu took Teri off for her first kayak trip.

We managed to talk Earl into spending two nights in Tenecatita. Since it is literally all about the journey with Earl, that was quite a feat. We all enjoyed this quiet time together. But you can’t keep a good man down, so on Monday the 7^th we were off again, heading north. On the way out of Tenecatita, we finally got a fish. Stuart hooked a large jack cravelle which gave him a pretty good fight. They are not particularly good eating so after getting a photo, we let it go.

I had hoped we could stop at the picturesque town of Cayares with its brightly painted houses, but Earl remembered too well the night we anchored there and he had been force to sit up all night. Instead we made our way to the islands in Chemela Bay where we had scoped out possible anchorages on our way south with Joan and Clark. The first one was full of people and pangas. Being the closest Monday to February 5^th, one of many revolutions that the Mexicans celebrate, it was a national holiday and the locals were enjoying it. We anchored off the smaller island which had a good size colony of boobies and frigate birds. Stuart explored by kayak and took photos.

The next day we moved a few miles into the bay and anchored in front of the little town of Perula. Teri and Stuart were enjoying the fresh orange juice and local fruits and our supply was running low. Earl dropped us off in the water off the beach. There is a bit of a swell in front of the town, and he was taking no changes with his dingy, so the drop off was literally in the water. Off went the three explorers hoping to find some vegetables and fruits. We walked through several yards looking for the main road. In one we walked by a darling little half naked boy, aged about 2, who gave us a big hello while the family dog lay nearby not moving a muscle. Once on the main road we started stopping by any open door that looked remotely like a tienda. We met a Canadian couple who were renting an apartment in town and asked about buying fresh fruit and vegetables. The news was discouraging. We were told that the best bet were the trucks that would come through town from time to time. They always had loud speakers and would announce what they had for sale, but there was no schedule and no way of knowing if any were coming into town. According to them the little shops were not likely to have much. After that warning, we were delighted by how much we found in the first shop we encountered. We loaded up on oranges, pears, onions, bananas, tomatos, mangos and peppers. A little further on, we bought a pineapple, and then some tortillas and strawberries, and finally some shrimp. This is not a place where one goes to shop for anything specific, but it is great if you are an opportunistic shopper.

We stopped at a place with four tables out front for lunch. The menu consisted of some paper signs on the wall each advertizing one dish. Stuart had enchiladas and Teri and I had cheese quesadillas. They were wonderful. The best part was a bright green salsa that had a wonderful fresh taste. I told the proprietress that it was best salsa I had ever had and asked for the recipe, which was simplicity itself. Take five or six fresh jalepenos, cut off the stem, and put them in the blender with a clove of garlic and some olive oil and salt. We later tried it on the boat with great success.

While we were there a young man – rather nice looking and studly but with far too many tattoos for our taste – sat down at the table next to us. He spoke no Spanish so I helped him order some orange soda and we started talking. He turned out to be Norwegian and one of the stars of a Norwegian reality show being filmed nearby. Teri and I quickly took the opportunity to have our photos taken with Nicholas.

The next day we started off at dawn, with Earl determined to catch some fish. We ran about 20 miles off shore and encountered our first group of spinner dolphins which were quite spectacular. Stuart managed to get a video of them near the boat and one can hear Daisy’s excitement in the background. The seas were lovely. Earl ran the generator and the water maker all day. Teri and I did a huge load of wash and hung most of it out to dry on top of the house. Then we had quesadillas with our new salsa for lunch while watching another group of dolphins. They were followed by some whales who put on quite a show for us. It was a lovely day, with one exception - no fish. After 7 or 8 hours, we headed towards our anchorage. The wind was coming up and it seemed like it was time. Just then, Teri called out “fish on”. Stuart and I ran back while Earl ran the boat. The fish was taking out line, but we could see it on the surface. As Stuart pulled it in, we were more and more puzzled. At first we thought it might be a skate, then a shark, then a piece of plastic. Teri was the first to identify it as a purple lululemon XL on a hanger. Stuart had caught his own tee shirt which had blown off the top of the boat. We never had more fun with any fish!

We anchored in Carrizal. It is a small anchorage and reminded us of Alaska. There are steep sides and no sign of civilization other than a couple of sailboats. After the long day before, Earl was content to stay put and we had time to enjoy the anchorage. Stuart went snorkeling and reported there were more fish than he had seen before. We explored the cove by dingy and kayak and found two blowholes which made a goodly noise. It was a peaceful night, no rocking. Earl got up in the middle of the night and was excited to hear whales nearby, until he realized it was the blowholes.

The next day we ran a few miles down to Las Hadas at Manzanillo. Las Hadas is very picturesque, with steep hillsides are covered with white buildings and multicolored flowers. It is lovely. Stuart, Teri and I went off to explore the town of Manzanillo. We opted for a cab for the ride to town and were lucky to have a wonderful driver who went out of the way to show us the sights. The port is one of the busiest in Mexico and huge. The town is about 120,000 and very pleasant. I had the chance to show Teri and Stuart the large public market, and we were all delighted with the beautiful displays and fruit and vegetables. The meat stalls, however, took care of any desire to eat.

That evening we went out to eat at the Paradise which overlooks the anchorage. It was lovely. An open air setting that included a lovely 6 month old cat, Negro, who came by looking for food and love. Even though it caters to Canadian and American tourists, it was very reasonable.

The next day was spent at Sandiago, around the corner to the north of Las Hadas. The beach is covered with multi colored beach umbrellas and is obviously very popular. It was Saturday and the locals were out in force. Stu and Teri took kayaks into the beach and landed in the surf. They strolled through the restaurants and small shops and were impressed that they seemed to cater to the locals. How refreshing when compared to the Cabos of the world. We were visited by the couple from the sailboat Sirroco whom we had met somewhere last year. It was nice to catch up with them.

Last night was our final night at anchor with the kids. We returned to Carrazal which did not disappoint. Now we are on our way back to Barra for our last couple of days with Stu and Teri – still no fish.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 – Barra

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Today is packing day. Dale and Sharon are headed back to Phoenix and I am headed for Boston. Low tonight in Phoenix is 37 and I did not dare look at Boston. Earl and Daisy will have peace and quiet for a week.

We had a fun time in Tenecatita. We took Dale and Sharon for a ride through the mangrove jungle in our dingy. It was a complete change from the sandy beach and something they had never seen before. Then Dale, Sharon and I walked down the beach to the hotel and took a cab into La Manzanilla, a little town at the other end of the bay. It was fun to show them a small Mexican town. We bought some souvenirs and had lunch at a typical small Mexican place, Lupita’s.

The next day was back to Barra. Sharon and Dale treated us to a fancy dinner in town at Sambucca’s (the treehouse). It was wonderful. We had a seafood appetizer – shrimp, scallops and calamari in a white sauce – which was unique. Then I had a chicken in mole sauce and the others had shrimp with wonderful coconut rice.

Now is time to call a water taxi and leave.

Friday, January 21, 2011 – Tenecatita

2011-01-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

Coming into Tenecatita, no fish, but there were porpoises and whales which were entertainment enough. We anchored in the bay which is a lovely large anchorage, about 20 miles north of Barra. There were a number of boats already there when we arrived and more came. I think there were more than 20 when the sun went down, but the anchorage could easily hold twice that number.

Sharon and I went kayaking. It was Sharon’s first try and she did very well. We beached the boats and took a walk, and when the time came to go back out through the surf, it was not Sharon who capsized. I’ll have to take lessons from her.

After a super peaceful night, Earl was itching to go on Thursday morning. We talked him into staying put for most of the morning, but then he needed to move. We headed off for Paraiso, with a short stop in a portion of Tenecatita called the Aquarium for lunch. On the way out of the bay, there were several humpback whales feeding on the surface. We got close and it was a thrill.

It was about 20 miles to Paraiso and the wind came up and with it some swell. It was a bouncy trip. The whole afternoon of fishing produced one very small bonita which I will make into ceviche. By the time we got to Paraiso it was really too late to play in the water. It turned out to be a poor choice for an overnight anchorage. Even with the stabilizer out, we rolled all night, and Earl spent a large part of it keeping anchor watch. Dale and Sharon were good sports but I don’t think it was the best time they ever had.

This morning, even before sunrise, Earl had the anchor up and we were underway. Once the stabilizers were engaged, the going was nice and we had a much pleasanter ride than before. We made our way back to Tenecatita and finally we caught some fish. Unfortunately from a dinner standpoint, they were jack crevalles instead of dorado. This fish is known for putting up a significant fight and never breaking water with jumps. As one guide book put it “few fish are tougher or less spectacular”. Whatever, they were enough to exhaust three of us. They are not particularly good eating, so we let them go.

Now we are enjoying a peaceful afternoon at anchor. Earl is making up for his lack of sleep – and I think Daisy and I will go join him.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - going north from Barra

2011-01-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 – leaving Barra

Joan and Clark left at 9 am on Sunday morning. Shortly after, the French baker arrived, so we loaded up and then we left to go anchor out. Half an hour from Barra took us to Cuastecomate, a intimate anchorage, just over the hill from Melaque. It was Sunday and the beach was crowded with locals playing in the water. The Mexicans enjoy their shores. It was lovely and peaceful and we enjoyed the solitude. Then, Monday it was back to Barra to get ready to greet the Klints on Tuesday.

The airport in Manzanillo is 20 miles away from Barra and 30 miles away from the town of Manzanillo. There is no bus service and only the airport taxis can be used from the airport. To meet the Klints at the airport would have been difficult, so we told them we would meet them at the Barra water taxi. I tracked their plane and it landed right on time. We were anchored in the lagoon, so I called a water taxi and arrived on land in plenty of time to be there before they could arrive. After about an hour, I started to worry. I realized that we had not told Dale how to call us from Mexico and worried that if something had happened they would not be able to reach us. I did try to call Dale’s cell, but there was no ring. I told myself that there was no reason to worry and settled down with my book. The next thing I knew, Sharon was leaning out the window of a cab yelling –“There she is!”.

The poor Klints had had a long day – starting at 2 am – so we opted for a quiet night on board. We will do the Barra night life when we return near the end of the week. Two margharitas and a good dinner later, we all retired by nine.

It was 54 degrees when we woke this morning, but by 10 am it is already into the mid 70’s and it is perfect weather. There are no winds forecasted and we are running north, hoping to catch a fish. Dale said he had checked his horoscope and he had excellent karma, so we are hopeful.

Big excitement – no fish yet, but Dale’s karma has brought us some porpoises.

Saturday, January 15, 2011 - Marina Barra Navidad

2011-01-15T17:47:00.000-08:00

OOPS ! I posted the photos in reserve order.

Thursday, January 13, 2011 – underway to Tenacatita

We spent a quiet day at anchor on Tuesday, watching boats come and go. Clark installed a wonderful “ap” for me so help me identify the stars and planets which I look forward to using. That evening Earl called us out to see the luminescence. He threw a little water off the boat and the surface below lit up like a 4^th of July sparkler. Whenever a small fish broke the surface, there was a little explosion of sparkles. We found that even just spitting at the water would result in stars. It was an extraordinary display – both the luminescence and the four old people spitting at the water.

It is only forty miles or so from Chamela to Barra and we decided to scope out the potentially anchorages. So the next day we ran an hour or so through the Bay, where we saw a couple of promising anchorages, and on down to a lovely cove, appropriately named “Paraiso”. The water temperature was up to 76, so Clark got brave and went swimming. Joan and I followed and it was lovely. There was no current so we did not even have to make an effort to stay near the boat as we usually do. Such a special spot deserved a special lunch, so we had bay scallops which Earl grilled on the barbeque, together with Joan’s wonderful coleslaw and some brochette with fresh tomatoes. What a life.

Around 3 we picked up the anchor and ran an hour south to Bahia Careyes (Turtle Bay) where we anchored for the night. It is a little bay and the anchorage was tight, especially after we were joined by MV Harmony, a 112 foot Westport Yacht, built in Earl’s home town. We watched the chefs in their aprons cooking up a wonderful smelling dinner – they were only about 100 feet from us. The houses in the community appear to have had a contest to see which could come up with the most vivid colors – blues, yellows, reds, oranges and it is charming.

However, it was not an ideal over night anchorage – the quarters were far too tight – and Earl spent much of the night on anchor watch. Now we are headed south to Tenecatita. We passed the huge monument, Copa del Sol, and a number of extraordinary, huge houses. Copa del Sol is an enormous bowl perched on the top of a cliff. I searched the internet but could find no history of it. The seas are glassy and we are headed for a place that everyone raves about. Can it be any better? (Especially after hearing that there is 18 inches of snow in Boston and more in the Berkshires).

Saturday, January 15, 2011 – Barra Navidad Marina

It was not a long run to Tenecatita which is a large bay. There are 4 good anchorages. We anchored in one and will save the others for another visit. The swimming was lovely and we enjoyed our visit even though we did not get the dingy down and explore the shore. There is room for at least 100 boats. While we were eating dinner, some whales started jumping not far from us. They stayed near us all night and in the morning Earl heard them spouting while he was making our coffee. Then the local cruiser net came on which was unexpected and something new for Clark and Joan. Boats in the area report in and out, people announce activities and stuff to swap, and, of course, there is a request for anyone returning to the US or Canada to carry mail – the Mexican mail being very unreliable.

Joan and Clark leave on Sunday the 16^th from Puerto Vallarta which is 5 hours north of Barra where we are headed so we felt we should arrive at Barra on the 14^th so that they had plenty of time to check into transportation between Barra and the Puerto Vallarta airport. We found that there are two buses a day but they get into Puerto Vallarta too late for an afternoon flight. Rather than taking the bus and then over nighting in Vallarta, Clark and Joan opted to get a cab to take them directly from the Marina to the airport. It will cost close to $200, but we will have them for an extra day and it will be much easier for them.

We had heard from many people that Barra was one of the best places to visit, but we were still overwhelmed by the hotel and marina. It is a beautiful place, lovely buildings, beautiful grounds and in every way a five star development. Unfortunately, the prices match, so we will only be staying in the marina for two nights. In the future we will join the boats at anchor in the lagoon.

The town of Barra is across the water from the marina and there is a wonderful water taxi system which will take one from the marina, or from the lagoon, to the town for a modest fare. In addition, as we found this morning, there is a French baker who makes the rounds in the morning with fresh goodies. It turns out that he is from Bordeaux, my grandmother’s home. We broke into the baquette immediately and found that his baking was excellent.

The town is quite charming. We had dinner last night at a restaurant called Sambuca. Treehouse would have been a most appropriate name. It looked like one of the illustrations of monkey town in the Barbar books. Dinner was excellent and the people lovely. Today we will explore the town a little further.

Saturday evening, January 15, 2011 – Barra de Navidad Marina

Today Joan, Clark and I took a local bus 2 miles to the town of Melaque which is a little larger than Barra. We had been told of a store there, the Hawaii, which has a good collection of groceries and will deliver your order to your boat. It was a dusty ride – but very cheap, about fifty cent per person. The Hawaii was small and jammed with people and groceries. We found most everything that we needed. They were delivered back to the boat before we returned – so Earl got to put them away.

We wandered the streets of Barra and had a light lunch overlooking the beach that curves from Barra to Melaque. There was a pretty impressive surf running, and I can see that we will need to choose our future beach landings carefully.

This evening we went up to the hotel lobby to get some cash from the ATM machine. The hotel is built on a hill and the lobby is 7 floors above ground level. When the elevator doors opened there was a collective gasp –the view is unbelievable. It is a very swanky hotel – very lovely – but the ATM ate Clark’s card.

For dinner Earl cooked up the shrimp we had bought in Barra. He tossed them around on the grill and the four of us ate a kilo. Yummy. Equally yummy were the 2 small tarts from the French baker that we shared for dessert. The strawberry was very good, but the apple was even better.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 -Bahia Chamela

2011-01-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 – Underway to Isla Isabella
We left Muertos at 3:30 am. It was a little lumpy, but the wind had mostly abated and it proved to be a good day to travel. We had thought to have company crossing, but the El Tiburon had problems with his mast and apparently chose to head to Cabo for repairs. Earl thought there was a mast light ahead of us, but it turned out to be a bright planet rising.
By evening, the water and air were already becoming warmer. Clark and Joan took the early watch, but Earl could not sleep, so we took over at around 10. As usual, the payoff for giving up a night in the bunk is the beauty of the night sky and stars here. I can never get enough of it. Around midnight we were joined by a bunch of dolphins. There was enough luminescence in the water that we could see them streaking all around us. Earl used a flood light to try to see what they were feeding on. The light illuminated bright red things that may have been eyes. This morning we had small squid on the deck so that was probably what they were feeding on.
So far today, aside from seeing a turtle, the big excitement has been marlin. Earl had seen one swimming on the surface and we circled it, hoping it would bite, which it did not. About 10 minutes later Earl had one on, probably 6 feet or so. It was on long enough to get the adrenaline flowing, for Earl to yell conflicting instructions to all of us and for Clark to see it jump, but then it went away.
We should reach Isla Isabella in early evening. It is a quarter of two and we have 28 miles to go. It is a rookery which we visited last year. Our plan is to spend a couple of hours on land tomorrow morning and then head for San Blas which we enjoyed last year.
Friday, January 7, 2011 – Leaving San Blas
We anchored on the south east side of Isla Isabela, tucked in behind the Monas. After a peaceful evening, we were all looking forward to a good night’s sleep after our crossing. It was not to be. By 2 am Earl and I were tired of hearing the water slamming against the hull and of rocking back and forth in our bed. Up came the anchor and we headed for San Blas. The planet which we had seen the prior night rose again around 3:30. Clark had told us that if it looked red, it would be Mars. It may have been just our imaginations, but we decided that indeed it was red. Joan and Clark said the sleeping was great once we got underway and the stabilizers kicked in. We had the stars to admire and pretty smooth going. I went down and napped and Earl talked to a couple of sail boaters going our way.
We arrived at San Blas around 9 am, pretty close to high tide, and had an easy crossing of the bar. We had decided to tie up at the marina rather than anchoring in the river as we had done last year, thinking that it would be nice to have the Wi-Fi etc. The marina personnel, as always, were lovely, but it was the marina where nothing worked. The Wi-Fi was out, the water was questionable, the electrical power was weak and erratic and our neighbors had been waiting for most of the week for the boat lift to work. But nothing could spoil San Blas.
I was struck again by how charming this little town is. It is truly a Mexican town, with very few tourists. Joan, Clark and I went into town to get some fruit and vegetables at the public market and then made our way to the panadaria to get some bread. I wish I had taken the camera. The panadaria, the owner assured us, made the best bread in town – because, as she laughingly added, it was the only bakery in town. She had quite an assortment of sweets on the shelves and quite a number of bees enjoying the sugar. There was a particular sweet that looked like slices of a jelly roll that the bees loved – it was covered with them. We left them alone and they were perfectly happy to ignore us. To our delight, we found the baked goods to be the best we had found in Mexico.
Tied up two boats down from us was the Molly J, a Cal 2-46, the same boat as Clark and Joan have. Like theirs it is 35 to 40 years old. Jon and Lisa Hansen invited us on to tour it and see the modifications that they had made. Jon has spent 7 years and a fair amount of money on the boat which is now their home. He has made every modification he could to make life on board and sailing more comfortable. Some of the things he has added are electric sail handling winches which are spiffy, in-the-boom roller furling, a washer dryer, a little stove, a furnace, air conditioning, and a water maker etc. They hope to eventually cruise around the world.
The next day, Clark and Joan took the boat trip up the jungle to see the birds and crocs. We had been last year and opted to meet them for lunch at McDonalds. Before we are accused of being ugly Americans, McDonalds has nothing in common with the chain in the US of the same name. The tables are covered in Mexican tiles and the food matches. Very yummy.
Today, being the sixth of January is the feast of Epiphany which the Mexicans take quite seriously. All around the zocolo there were tables set up, and the baker we had met yesterday was busy putting together the traditional bread of the three kings which would stretch most of the way around the square. At around 6 pm the fiesta would start and there would be bread for all.
That evening our neighbors on the Albatross, a 32 foot Island Packet out of Texas, came over for drinks. Kevin, from Boston, Lisa from Toronto and their two sons, Teagan aged 10 and Mick aged 9, are a lovely family. They came down on the 2009 Baha Haha and had met our friends on the Black Dragon. Last year Lisa home schooled the boys. She found it much harder than she had expected, especially since she found that, despite having good grades in school, her younger son seemed to know very little arithmetic. In addition, she and Kevin decided that the boys must have agreed each morning which of them was going to be the bad student for the day. They had hoped that the kids would learn Spanish, but of course all the cruisers speak English so that had not happened. This year they have a slip in La Cruz and are sending the boys to a Mexican private school where they are among the 10 or so non Mexicans in a school of 300. The kids love it and are rapidly learning Spanish and improving their soccer. The school costs about $300 per month for the two children. Since the parents need to provide transportation, Kevin drove their car down from California last summer.
This morning we left at about 7:30 for the 8 hour run to La Cruz. The weather forecast was not at all good, but it is beautiful out here. There is a long gentle swell and no wind to speak of and we have seen lots of whales and jumping rays. The air and water at 10 am are both in the mid 70’s and it does not get any better than this.
Friday, January 7, 2011 - Approaching La Cruz, Banderas Bay
What a lovely day we have had. The swells were long and rolling and the sea calm. I think we have seen everything. First we saw multiple groups of the mobula (small rays) jumping and flipping. Clark then complained that we had seen no porpoise. Well, the gods heard that and sent us an enormous bunch, made up of at least two different types of porpoise – spotted pan tropical and some other type. Off in the background there were whales flipping around on the surface. Soon after, a couple of smaller whales came right by the boat. We saw turtles floating by every once in a while, whales breaching and tons of sea birds all day.
Sunday January 9, 2011 – La Cruz Marina
La Cruz is so pleasant, we decided to spend an extra day. Yesterday Joan, Clark and I went to the Mega and bought two large grocery carts full of stuff, most significantly a large bag of dog food. We were almost out. In the afternoon we watched a children’s sailboat race. The kids ranged from 6 to 10 and were in little boats, one to a boat. They looked like a flock of little ducks among the larger sailboats in the bay. In the evening we had dinner in the courtyard of a charming little combination restaurant gallery. In the background was wonderful Huichol art work, and overhead little lanterns lit up the tree branches. Today we had a good time at a local craft fair and then had lunch in a darling little taco place that was obviously favored by the locals. It is only open on Sunday. We returned to our boat to find that we had front row seats for sailboat races featuring remote control boats about 2 feet long, with rather older sailors then yesterday. The little boats from time to time go astray and we just had to dislodge two that had gotten stuck together and ended up against our boat.
Except for weak WI-FI, life is good! Tomorrow we are off south.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 – Bahia Chamela
We left San Blas shortly after 6, about an hour and a half before dawn. Earl threaded his way through the fleet of sail boats anchored outside the marina and we were off for a long day of traveling. There is little reliable anchoring between Banderas Bay and Bahia Chamela, 100 miles south of La Cruz. In between we passed Cabo Corrientes which, like all headlands, can be nasty. It was not. There was little wind and we made our way south cruising past a seemingly endless sandy beach. We saw few boats. One was Nord Star #1, a Nordhavn motor sailor. He was going north and, curiously for a sailboat, appeared concerned about the winds ahead on the cape. In comparison to our trip to La Cruz, we saw little sea life except for a few whales way off in the distance.
Around 10 pm we finally made it into Bahia Chamela and anchored in 35 feet of water. There was a gentle swell which did not stop me from sleeping. This morning we got up after the sun and were able to see this pretty place. There are about 12 other boats anchored here, mostly sailboats. We are at the north end of the Bay and there is a little town on shore and a small resort. It is a surf beach and, if I were to guess, we will not put the dingy down and go explore the shore. The Bay is huge and there are other anchorages to explore which we will probably do later today.

Sunday, January 2, 2011 - Bahia de los Muertos

2010-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 2, 2011- Bahia de los Muertos

We spent the few days before Marie Noel’s arrival doing boat chores and provisioning. My major task was to fix my dell computer (which I hate). For some reason, it had stopped recognizing my telcel nokia stick modem. I tried the modem on another machine, and it work well. I decided that there was something wrong with the driver for the stick and tried to down load a new copy from telcel. No luck. Finally, and only desperation would drive me to this, I decided to call Dell. Of course the 800 number would not work from Mexico, and there was no other number on the website. I had an inspiration and called the 800 number using Skype and it quickly put me in touch with a lovely man in India named Charles. He very efficiently took billing information before passing me on to lady with an unpronounceable Indian name to take care of my technical problems. She was able to drive my computer remotely and did so for the better part of an hour. Unfortunately, she did not fix the problem – instead suggesting that I call nokia. She talked me into getting a program to ‘declutter’ my computer. After an hour and a half, I was $100 poorer and the modem still did not work. Somewhat disgusted, I decided to give the new software a try. Damned if it did not fix the problem.

Marie Noel arrived at 5 on the 20^th after a very long day. She had gotten up at 3 EST – a 14 hour day. We took her to the Costa Baja Beach Club palapa – which she decided looked like a movie set – for a nice early dinner and retired early.

The weather forecast was good for the next couple of days, so we left early and headed north. By the time we got as far as Isla San Francisco, the wind had come up from the south, making that a poor anchorage. We continued up to the village of San Evaristo which has a lovely harbor. Marie Noel and I took a stroll through the village which boasts about 20 families, a school and a desalinization plant and visited a remarkably well stocked tienda. Then back to the boat to introduce her to dorado, which, as we expected, she found to be delicious.

The next morning we woke to an unusual sight – fog on the hills behind San Evaristo. The wind had died down, so we headed back to San Francisco, one of my favorite places. The beach is white and the water an extraordinary aqua color and we had a lovely mellow day beach combing, reading, and napping. The water was 72, but with the air temperature at 76, we did not feel the need to swim.

Later that afternoon, a young woman, Alicia, from a 37 foot sailboat named “On Verra” kayaked by. Her boat was home ported in Portland Oregon, so we hailed her, asking where in Portland she lived. She was somewhat vague about that. In fact, I don’t believe she ever lived there, but it was a good home port tax wise. While talking, she mentioned that they had been down in Patagonia in their boat and had gone on to Antarctica. Earl immediately asked her to come over for drinks and share their stories with us. I warned Earl that I was determined to have dinner at a reasonable hour, so to cut off the drinks at 6 so that they would leave.

They did not seem to have a dingy and Earl had offered to give them a ride, but they said no problem. Sure enough, promptly at five, they arrived together in a ride on top kayak. They were fully dressed, he with a beret, she sitting on his lap, and a bowl of fresh ceviche on hers. Alfredo looked quite delightful with his hat and wonderful smile. He spoke wonderful Italian English and Alicia looked delicious in a rather raggedy tee shirt. What a couple they turned out to be and what a story they told! It was enough for several books and a couple of movies. Needless to say, they did not leave at 6.

Alicia was born in New Orleans and started sailing at the age of two. After completing St John College, she headed for San Francisco where she worked teaching sailing. Before long, she was crewing boat deliveries in the Pacific and it was not long before she parted ways with her college sweetheart. She had met Daniel, a computer software sailing man. In time they bought On Verra and set off, with Daniel doing some telecommuting. Seven years later found them on an atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean, part of a community of sailors who were living the good life, swimming, sailing, eating fish and coconuts, playing beach volleyball and partying.

Meanwhile, Alfredo was single handing a steel hulled sail boat eastward across the Pacific, headed for the same atoll. 500 miles from it, his engine threw a rod and spewed oil all over the inside of his boat. The winds died and he limped slowly to his destination where he was met by the earlier arrivals. Everyone pitched in with parts and labor, and within a week the engine was working. It was such a nice place that Alfredo lingered for five months instead of the one he had planned. Over that time, Alicia and Alfredo had become friends, Alicia secretly swimming across the lagoon for coffee while Daniel worked on this computer.

Things finally came to a head on Alicia’s birthday. She and Daniel had decided to have a Garden of Eden party. They were dressed as Adam and Eve in strategically placed leaves. Everyone came appropriately dressed with plants and body paint. Daniel came wearing an apple, the forbidden fruit. In the course of a wonderful party, many leaves were lost, and at the end of the evening Alicia announced that she was going home with the forbidden fruit. The next day, Daniel kayaked all her stuff across the lagoon and shortly thereafter both boats left headed for the tip of Africa. Poor Daniel was dealing with a boat that was not set up for solo sailing and had a tendency to sea sickness. Periodically, Alicia would leave Alfredo and help Daniel out on the On Verra. Eventually after some very rough sailing they made it to South Africa. Daniel found some crew and headed for New York. Alicia and Alfredo headed for Brazil.

They loved Brazil. Unfortunately, after a while it was discovered that Alicia had no visa, so it was time to sail on. Their new friends loaded up their sail boat with provisions, including tons of green coconuts, and off they went. Alicia was running a fever and went below. Sailing with a 20 knot wind, six miles off shore Alfredo ran into a reef which took the bottom off his boat. It took two minutes to sink and the life raft did not deploy. They had just enough time to save their passports and a little money. Holding on to some floating jetsam, they swam towards shore and found a dive platform on to which they climbed. From there they swam after coconuts and water bottles and back on the platform they watch pieces of Alfredo’s life drift by.

In time, some fishermen rescued them. Alfredo bemoaned his situation to a fellow Italian that he met. He was told that nothing he lost was irreplaceable; this man had lost his son which put it in perspective. He had a 61 foot boat in Maryland which needed to be delivered to Palermo and he gave Alfredo the delivery job, despite Alfredo having just sunk his own boat. Their travels and story continued, and I will not try to remember it all. Eventually, Daniel called Alicia and told her to come and get the boat. He said he had bought it for her and she should have it. Once again, Alicia and Alfredo had a home. In the years since they have sailed everywhere. As she told us, if they want to go somewhere, they sail. After Patagonia they had gone to San Francisco, found it too cold, and had come to the sea of Cortez. The boat has spent two summers on the hard here. During the first, they hiked the Pacific Crest trail from Mexico to Canada and hitch hiked back. The second, they bicycled 8,000 plus miles around the USA. Now they are off to Pitcairn Island which they have never visited. One future destination is South East Asia from which they want to make a trek to the Himalayas. On the 37 foot sailboat they have 2 bikes, 5 pairs of boots, 5 sleeping bags, two tents and God knows what else. Pretty hard core!

The next morning, Earl found that his grey water tank was not working, so we headed back to La Paz to fix it. Earl had a spare. The pump was in a pretty hard to get to place under the guest bunk, but he eventually replaced it. Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem. After much analysis, he discovered that he had put the new pump in backward. It works very well now.

We spent another few lovely days at anchor with Marie Noel around Espiritu Santo. The time went far too fast. We had a couple of days on land before she left and we took a trip to Todo Santos to see the Pacific Ocean, shop and visit the original “Hotel California”. We also had a chance to introduce her to our friends John and Maria Luisa who loved her.

Then it was time for her to leave and two days later our friends Clark and Joan arrived from La Conner Washington. Now, having celebrated the arrival of 2011, we are headed to the mainland. We ran down to Muertos yesterday, a lumpy ride with 30 mile an hour winds. It is still howling today, but the forecast is for it to come down. It looks like there is about a 48 period of okay weather which should see us across to the mainland. I am keeping my fingers crossed!