Thursday, October 14, 2010 – Caleta Partida
How quickly has the 10 days gone since our arrival. It is very easy to slip into the total vacation mode. We had intended to leave for a short cruise last week. For some reason, given our previous experience with deliveries in Mexico, we were optimistic that the part would arrive within a couple of days. It was ordered Monday, so we thought Wednesday or Thursday we could be off. We needed to be back in La Paz on Sunday morning to pick up our friends John and Marie Luisa at the airport in their car which we have been using. But even leaving on Thursday would give us a couple of days out. Every day we checked the UPS tracking and as the week progressed our optimism faded. Finally on Friday with the weekend looming, the package was finally in Mexico - Tijuana. The marina did get a call on Friday from customs about the contents of the package, but other than that, nothing appeared to be happening.
Sunday am we met our friends at the airport and gave John back his car keys. John, whose boat seems always to be ailing from something or other, was delighted that this time someone else was waiting for a part. In the meantime, we decided to drive down to Los Muertos to show John and Marie Luisa the resort we had seen last year. The resort is called Gran Sueno and the bay has been renamed, at least for advertizing purposes, Los Suenos rather than Los Muertos (dreams rather than dead men). It was about an hour and a half drive on a reasonable road. There is a long climb up and then a relatively short descent crossing a peninsula. Looking back as we climbed we had a wonderful view of the bay of La Paz. The desert was surprisingly green. It has been a very unusual summer. There have been no tropical storms in the Eastern Pacific. Locals are distressed by this. They depend on summer storms to provide rain. It is a wonder that so much can grow without much rainfall. Even more surprising are the wandering cattle which are something of a driving hazard.
Surprisingly, John had never taken his boat south to Los Muertos. I guess he thinks he has found heaven in the anchorages to the north and there is no need to go south. He was impressed by the anchorage, but both he and Maria Luisa were blown away by the resort. We had taken the precaution of contacting them the day before. When there was no answer on the phone, we sent an email asking if they were open and whether we could come for lunch and a tour. The note back said they were always open. They were ready for us. A table was set with a view over the water and a staff of three or four were on hand to serve us drinks and tacos. Of course the most wonderful thing is the trains! We apparently had not explained this to John. He was astounded at the enormous collection of train sets, many different gauges and all set up around the second floor of the dining room. The ‘train master’ was not there so we did not get to see them running, but it is an extraordinary collection all the same. After touring the grounds which include a number of guest houses, we left, with Marie Luisa trying to convince John to rent the largest house for the family over Xmas. On the way home we detoured to explore Ventana, a small town that has apparently become very popular with American expats. It is a beautiful setting, but I prefer La Paz.
John’s company imports large amounts of stuff and he does a lot of business with UPS. On Tuesday afternoon when the tracking information showed that our package was rescheduled for delivery on Friday the 15th, he made some phone calls. Magically, the package that was in Tijuana on Tuesday afternoon was available for pickup at 10:30 on Wednesday morning in La Paz. Five minutes after it was in Earl’s hands, it was installed, and five minutes later, we left the dock. At 11:15 the bumpers were up and the fishing lines were down. The air and water temperature were matched at 84 degrees and the sky was cloudless. We wandered around looking for fish while the temperature rose into the nineties. John suggested a stop a Bahia San Gabriel for lunch. On the way I made scallop ceviche. The water in the bay is a beautiful aqua due to the sand and shallow depth. We could see our anchor. After lunch with John and Maria Luisa, everyone went swimming. In my case it was more like basking. The water was warm, still refreshing, but not invigorating. After such a morning, it was nap time. The wonderful thing here is that the temperature drops quickly after the sun goes down. We ran about an hour up to Caleta Partita which is a reliable overnight anchorage and had a lovely steak dinner on John’s boat under the stars.
Today has been relaxed (we needed to recover from all of yesterday’s activity.) John and Marie Luisa brought the rest of the ceviche back to our boat for lunch, then a swim, then a nap, then Thai chicken curry at our boat for dinner after watching the sunset from the Serenity’s boat deck.
This may make it sound like heaven, but we do have problems even in paradise. The outboard refuses to start. Earl has pulled and pulled till I wondered whether I should schedule shoulder surgery for our return to Anchorage in November. Then he took everything apart, put it back together and pulled some more. We will need to return to La Paz and get it serviced. To make things just a little worse, John, who could not get his outboard started, took his apart and achieved success. Tomorrow, they return to La Paz. We will spend a couple more days out and head back on Sunday.
Monday, October 18 – Costa Baja Marina, La Paz
We left Caleta Partita on Friday morning and headed north a couple of hours to the hook at San Francisco, one of our favorite anchorages. Soon after we cleared the north end of Isla Partida, we found ourselves in the middle of a pod of pilot whales. They were feeding at the surface and did not find us in the least threatening. Daisy was beside herself. Then, after her heart rate dropped back to normal, we saw that the sea to the west of us was full of large porpoises. They swam with us for quite a while. At one point I counted 11 of them under our bow. I think they find us as interesting and we find them. Frequently as they pass the front of the boat, they turn on their side to look up at us. Daisy got her exercise for the day.
We saw a number of boats fishing including a large group of pangas anchored over a pinnacle near San Francisco. The new headgear style among the pangeros seems to be Chinese style cone shaped hats. They look rather out of place. We also saw masses of yellow butterflies, many quite far from land. This is something that we did not see last year, so it must be due to the time of year.
By the time we anchored the temperature was up to 90. The water was exceptionally clear, and from the deck we could see the bottom with occasional fish gliding by. Swim time! Nap time! Then burgers and salad on the back deck!
The wind came up a bit over night and we woke to a little rocking. Earl was itching to get some fish, so we left San Francisco and cruised down the East side of Isla Partita and Isla Espiritu Santo. Last year we had some success in this area and we were optimistic. Finally, Earl rang the bell on the back deck, the fish on signal. I was a little rusty on the procedure, but it came back to me: slow down, out of gear, turn off the stabilizer, run back and reel up the second line. Earl first thought he had lost the fish, then that it was too small. It was a dorado, and we decided it would be perfect for dinner. Once again we saw how beautiful the fish color is in the water. Earl grabbed the line to gaff the fish and it somehow managed to jump over a strut for the swim step. Earl had no choice but to grab the leader and unhook it from the swivel. As he lifted the fish up to slip the gaff under its gills, it somehow managed to pull the leader from his hand. Last seen our dinner was swimming away with one of Earl’s prized (and expensive) lures still attached.
We anchored in Bonanza which is on the east side of Espiritu Santo. Once again beautiful water was irresistible, and we actually did not need bathing suits.
On Sunday we planned on cruising south towards Ventana to get some fish. Unfortunately the wind was kicking up the water and when the wind and tide meet in San Lorenzo pass, it makes uncomfortable boating. We anchored for the day about an hour from La Paz at El Merito. The water was not clear, but it still looked good. The swim was cut short by little invisible jelly fish that chased us out quickly.
Now we are waiting for the outboard repairman. We will do our in town chores and leave tomorrow. We need to be back here for our flight on November 8th, but that gives us almost 3 weeks to cruise. I don’t know if we will go north or south- that is the Captain’s call. We have now gone over 10,000 miles.
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