March 31, 2010 - Santa Rosalia

I have photographed a couple of maps of Baja to help locate where we are. The first is an overview and the others are more localized.

March 28 Puerto Mangles

Well the wind blew all night and we expected to stay put at Isla Coronado, but around 8 am it seemed as if the wind had gone down, so we pulled anchor and headed north. It was not bad to start with, but by the time we had gone 15 miles to the next possible anchorage it was howling again, with gusts over 30. We pulled into Puerto Mangles which did not look like much on the map, but is a remarkably satisfactory anchorage. There is no one here, either at anchor or on the shore. Someone tried to build a hotel some years ago and apparently ran into trouble, so it sits, partially completed and abandoned. The beach is known for having lots of shells, so if the wind drops a little we will get dingy down and go explore.

On the way up, we did get see some sea life. First a good sized whale cruised along side us, apparently feeding on the surface. It did not seem in the least bothered by us. Then Earl saw the fin of a shark. Finally, the big excitement, Earl saw a large fish chase a small one. The weather was such that there was no question of putting out fishing gear, but it did get him excited. Our fishing atlas confirmed that this area is good for fishing, so if the weather is better tomorrow, he wants to try it.

March 30, leaving Calita Juanico

After a quiet night at Puerto Mangles, the morning weather looked reasonable, so we left early and headed north under blue skies with moderate winds. Our target was Caleta Juanico which has wonderful reviews in the guidebooks. It did not disappoint. It is a large bay, with anchorage possible both for north and south wind conditions. The northern shore of the bay is a mixture of sandy beaches and flat rock ledges. It is dotted with rock formations with adequate water and space between for anchoring. One of the most spectacular formations are the Spires which are quite wonderful. There were probably 10 boats anchored there, but there was easily room for another 50.

The water looked wonderful for snorkeling and the sun was out. Unfortunately, the water temperature has dropped about 5 degrees since we left La Paz. It is now 68, certainly swimmable, but less inviting. We settled for exploring the beach instead. The geology is extraordinary – not that I know anything about geology- but I have not often seen such a mixture of rock types.

We were anchored off to the east of the anchorage between two sailboats. One, call Pyxis, was about 33 feet. Its owner, a young man named James, came by and chatted. He has spent a lot of time in the Sea, most of it leading sea kayaking groups. He is an avid spear fisherman and was full of information about the fish in the area. The sailboat on the other side, Anon, was considerably larger, 48 feet and from Victoria. We invited James, and the young couple from the Anon over for drinks. They were all delightful. Once again, it was wonderful seeing younger people out enjoying the sea. They are busy hiking and spear fishing and seeing a whole dimension of the area that we don’t see. The two boats have been running together for some time. On the way into Juanico they had seen a large group of whales. Keith on Anon, retired very young after making some money in the software business, has been seriously studying whales for the past few years. The whales were apparently friendly although toothed, so they tied the two boats together and Keith and James swam with the whales for an hour.

The night was beautiful, with a lovely full moon. We were both awake around 2 am and went up on deck to enjoy the night. This morning Earl went fishing, with no success. It was glassy calm and we decided to take advantage of the weather to run north. I am hoping that we will have internet service as we go by Mulege so that I can post this. In the meantime we are enjoying the ride, seeing numerous whales and porpoises, many different types that we have not learned to distinguish from one another. The only problem is the occasional bobos that are flying around us, survivors of Earl’s fumigation of the pilot house with OFF.

While still underway, we saw a large bunch of porpoises ahead. They were aligned along one side of a rip and clearly busy fishing. It made me think of drifting in Cook Inlet and the way the fish could often be found along the rips. Obviously that was happening here. We stopped at drifted among them. We will get into Santa Rosalia later today.

March 27, 2010 - Isla Coronado

Our plan was to buzz north quickly to Santa Rosalia, 225 miles from La Paz, which we should have been able to do in three long days. Small problem called weather. When we left La Paz on the 24^th, we found a short steep chop that would have done Cook Inlet proud. Obviously the boat can take it, and actually so can we, but we don’t want to. I had hoped for a long run to Evaristo, but instead we stopped after 20 some miles at Partita. At anchor we watched our wind gauge showing gusts of 35. We checked the Ocens weather and it sounded okay, so we took off early the next day and pounded into it again and once again stopped after 20 some miles at the hook at San Francisco. Yesterday, the Ocens forecast was better than okay, and it was a lovely ride. The sea was glassy and we had nice cruise to Agua Verde. We considered running a little further north, but we had a companion boat, Holiday, a 60 foot Nordhavn traveling with us, and they had never been here. So we are tucked in and enjoyed this beautiful spot. Earl had good luck fishing on the way north, so the dorado was immediately made into ceviche that we brought to the Holiday. They had come over the prior night for dinner – burgers- and invited us to dinner in return. Wow. Fabulous boat and fabulous dinner! Instead of burgers we had fresh lobster on the grill along with delicious spiced rice and grilled veggies. We left Agua Verde today at dawn. I had hoped to go 60 miles to Juanico which would have put us 60 miles from Santa Rosalia. By noon, the weather which had been okay started acting up. We stopped about 20 miles short of my goal and tucked in behind the Isla Coronado, about 6 miles north of Loreto. Although it is just a roadstead, not a cove of any kind, it is an excellent anchorage. The wind has been blowing a steady 30 with gusts of almost 40 and we are quietly rocking at anchor. We can see the lights of Loreto and have internet, but we have the place to ourselves.

Weather has been an unexpected issue for us down here. We miss the US and Canadian marine forecasts. I had never realized what a luxury they were – relatively reliable and always available on the VHF. We are struggling to find a good substitute here. There are several sites that are available on the web such as buoyweather, bahainsider etc. and some of them will send text forecast to our sat email. In addition we have Serius weather on our Furuno and Ocens weather which is available on our sat phone. However, none of them seem perfect here. Part of the problem is that the Sea of Cortez has lot of local weather which does not get forecasted by the computer models. The other problem is that the forecast will say 12- 15 like today and be twice that. One of our friends said just to add 5 to all the forecasts – maybe ten would be better. After several nights which started well and ended with the anchor being pulled and the boat moved to a completely new location, we now try to anchor in the best possible anchorages with an expectation that the weather may well change overnight.

The forecast is for 20 to 25 tomorrow. If it is correct, we will stayed tucked up here and explore the Island on foot. If not, we will be off. The wind has gone down to 20, so we will see.

March 27, 2010 - Near Loreto

Here are a few photos of our wonderful trip with Anne and Tim Stone.

March 24, 2010 - Leaving La Paz

The last couple of weeks have been busy. We had a couple of lovely days in La Paz with Isha, Brian and Bella. I took them to my favorite pottery, Ibarra, and had the pleasure of watching everyone picking out something that they liked. Isha and Brian found some dishes made by Ibarra while Bella picked out a Talavera animal to keep her iguana company. She settled on a dolphin. It is a girl (so Bella claims) and named Olivia. Before putting them on the plane home, we had some restaurant meals - first the very authentic and inexpensive Rancho Viejo, then the delightful grown up restaurant Three Virgins. There the tables are set up in a court yard and one of the fun things is watching the cats wander around the garden and the roof tops. I think that and the brownie were the best part of dinner for Bella. The rest of us loved the food and the company. Just before going to the airport, we had a quick lunch at the Costa Baja Beach Club which is lovely. Right on the beach and open air, the restaurant has wonderful food and drink. Isha opted for a hamburger and I have never seen a larger one.

A couple of days later, Anne and Tim Stone arrived from Anchorage. We had a lovely visit with them. Once again we returned to the islands and had the pleasure of showing them Ensenada Grande and the hook at Isla de San Francisco. Tim caught a sierra mackerel which was eaten quickly in the form of ceviche, and I caught a small dorado which Earl grilled and I topped with hollandaise sauce. Tim and Anne, hardy souls, did some hiking and kayaking. Then we returned to La Paz, made the by now traditional visit to Ibarra and took a trip down to Todos Santos. We had a fabulous lunch on the beach of the Pacific at Cerritos and then wandered through the town and explored The Hotel California. We bought a few knick knacks and came home in time for a wonderful dinner at the Three Virgins.

We are off to explore some more northern areas of the sea. It is exciting to be off on a new adventure. Because the modem speed is very slow right now, I will wait till later to share some recent photos until I have a better connection.

March 11, 2010 - on the way back to La Paz

The big day finally arrived and we picked up three weary travelers at the airport. The weather was inappropriate – grey and rainy- but that did not bother anyone except me. I had planned on blue skies to show off Mexico. After an early bed, we left on Sunday morning for Bahia San Gabriel on Espiritu Sancto. This was the shallow beach to which we had taken Steve and his family. I thought it would be a good place to start off five year old Bella. When we had been there before, the water was about 18 inches deep for quite a distance from the shore. This time it was less than half that – a giant turquoise puddle under skies that had finally turned sunny. It was perfect for a small child. Earl and I drug Bella around on Mrs Milly Crocodilly, a five foot inflatable toy, and splashed while Brian and Isha soaked up the rays. It was a perfect day at the beach. Then we took off for an anchorage called Partita which has a good reputation and tucked up for the night.
What a ride we had. The wind came up around 10 pm. Earl felt confident in the anchorage and the anchor, so we stayed where we were while the boat bucked. Isha said she had dreams in which she was jumping, unable to stop, however much she tried. Earl was anxious to catch some fish so in the morning we headed north to Isla San Francisco, about 4 hours away. He planned on fishing on the way. Unfortunately, we ended up with seas far too lumpy for fishing. In fact, I think it was the roughest weather I have ever had on the boat. All four ladies, Bella, Isha, myself and Daisy, felt awful. Both Bella and Isha were sick, and the ride seemed endless (as well as pretty pointless, since we could have stayed near Partita). By the time we finally got to the Hook at San Francisco, we were limp. Fortunately, as soon as the boat stopped moving, we all felt better. Down came the kayaks and dingy and in went a large assortment of toys. Bella kayaked into the beach on a tether behind me, while her parents provided escort in the dingy. The beach here was not as sandy as San Gabriel, but there were lots of shells for someone to collect in a bucket and a little deeper water for swimming. Our recovery from the morning was rapid. Brian and Isha said this was their favorite beach so far – Bella actually preferred the sandy puddle of San Gabriel. We decided to stay another day right there.
The next morning Earl and Brian tried to catch some fish on the frozen ballyhoo bait. They were gone in the dingy at least two hours while the ladies played games and read books. Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz was just as wonderful as I remembered it almost 60 years ago when my mother read it to me. The guys returned empty handed but happy. Brian and Isha took off on the kayaks and toured the area, finishing up with a hike up to the top of the island. We were able to see their silhouettes against the sky on top. They said the view was awesome, but they came home with their Tevas loaded with burrs. They were lucky it was the Tevas and not them. We mounted another attack on the beach and all had a heavenly time. Later, Brian and Isha took turns diving off the boat and swimming around the boat with Bella in her life jacket. A perfect day.
All of a sudden it was Wednesday and time to head south. Earl and Brian loaded up the dingy and had a hard time of it. Apparently something inside the winch has gone awry, and the dingy is now on top the boat until we can get someone to fix the winch or some strong young guys to lower it. We left San Francisco and headed for Ensenada Grande on our way home. On the way we were treated to a large bunch of porpoise and seals who entertained us. At Ensenada Grande - yet another beautiful beach. Having no dingy, we loaded Bella and Isha on one kayak, me on the other, and gave Brian swim fins, and off went a strange looking caravan. We were anchored in 11 feet quite a way off shore. About half way in, the water was shallow enough to stand. The beach was beautiful sand and somewhat deeper than San Gabriel. Bella actually did some swimming and we played our hearts out in the sea. Brian declared this the best beach yet. After dinner we watched the pelicans fishing in the light from our underwater lights. Much to our surprise, they were joined by a little seal who delighted us. Fast as the pelicans are at snapping up fish, the seal was faster. The evening was lovely and the stars bright when we turned in at the ridiculous time of 8 pm.
Up again at ten. The wind had switched around and with only 11 feet of water under us, it was not a good place to stay. We should have expected this – it is not the first time we have been blown out of Ensenada Grande at night. So we pulled anchor and headed for Partita, which was only an hour away. There we joined a fleet, at least 10 boats, who apparently knew better than we did. It was a real luxury for me to have Brian on board to do all the first mate stuff. He helped Earl get up the anchor, pulled up the swim step, tied up the kayaks etc. As we were anchoring, a boat in Partita hailed us on the radio. Thinking that the skipper had something important to tell us, I answered, only to have him ask me what our intentions were. Seemed pretty obvious to me, but I was polite, even when he just seemed to want to chat. I wished him a good night.
Now we are on our way back to La Paz. We made a quick stop at Ballandra which is one of the most popular La Paz beaches. Isha found lots of sea glass and Bella and I made a dozen sand cakes, shaped just like the sand pail. Then the wind picked up again and it was time to kayak back to the boat and head for the marina. This cruise has been much too short!

March 4, 2010 - La Paz

We returned to Serenity on Saturday February 27^th after a very brief stop in LaConner to check on our house and see a few friends. LaConner is already having Spring. The daffodils and plum trees were blooming, and the tulips were 6 inches high. It is an early for them and a pleasure for us.

I don’t know if it is Spring here in La Paz. I have no idea how to tell. Whatever season it is considered, it is very agreeable. By late morning the temperature is 78 degrees. It is such a stress free place that I think I will need to start making myself a daily todo list, since otherwise I find myself just lazing around. Earl keeps busy doing boat jobs, which never seem to end. I finally got tired of hearing complaints about the absence of a TV, so we bought a small one and Earl has spent most of the week messing with it. The boat came prewired for TV. There is a spot on the side of the boat to plug in cable, which will presumably work for both the TV and the computer. It did not work. So Earl has spent several days pulling down ceiling panels and unscrewing wall panels to trace the wiring through the boat. We now have new wiring and get a TV signal, but unfortunately we get no sound on the 2 English speaking news channels. He is working on that, and, as they say, it keeps him off the streets.

I did get to spend time with Telcel trying to prepay my air card so that we can get some internet at anchor. Dealing with Telcel is unique. The people are always nice, but that is about all I can say. I was told that I could not prepay more than 1 month ahead and that I must always activate the new payment by going to the website and typing in a special code. Furthermore, since I insisted on buying two month of time at once, I was told that on the day the first month expired, no sooner, no later, I must repeat the process. The nice representative who helped me warned me that their system could not deal with a two month prepayment and might charge me by the kilobyte instead of on a plan. She may be right or wrong. I did not plug in any special activation code and my air card works. Who knows. I have decided that Mexican telecommunications is one of the great mysteries of life.

We are counting the days before Brian, Isha and Bella arrive to spend a week with us. We will pick them up on Saturday and head for the islands. I can hardly wait to share this place with them. For me it is all about playing in the water and on the beach – for Earl it is all about fishing. He has hooked up a water intake and pump to his little bait tank and armed with his new little fish net I think he plans on filling it and catching many large fish on live bait. Maybe Isha, Bella and I will play on the beach while Brian and Earl catch dinner.

February 7, 2010 - Anchorage, Alaska

ANCHORAGE WINTER DAY

We got “home” to our slip in La Paz and had a week to get ready to come “home” to Anchorage on February 3^rd. Earl had a bunch of boat jobs. We are getting very spoiled by the inexpensive boat washes that are now the first thing that happens after we tie up. We have a regular crew, Fito and Alfredo, who do a beautiful job on Serenity’s exterior. I got to work on the interior and the laundry, which needed some attention. Earl hired a diver to clean the bottom of the boat, which was beginning to look like a pasture, and to check the zincs. Again, it was a wonderful job for not a great deal of money. We had been told that the conditions in the CostaBaja marina ate up zincs, but even so we were surprised that we needed to replace so many after having them all in new condition in August. The diver was wonderful. He took underwater photos of the zincs so that he could discuss them with Earl. He also spoke wonderful English, which is not surprising since he had recently returned to Mexico after spending nine years in Homer, Alaska.

In preparation for leaving, we needed to get a physical for Daisy. Mexican law requires that a dog have a physical within 5 days of flying, and also requires rabies shots every year, instead of every three years that we have here, and deworming every 6 months. Daisy was of course found to be very healthy and was also pronounced a dream patient by the vet. The strict requirements for flying are in contrast with the complete absence of any requirements for bringing in a dog by car or boat. Also, interestingly, the enforcement of the Mexican regulations is pretty lax. No one at the La Paz airport even asked. A fellow cruiser, who commutes on a regular basis between LA and La Paz, told us that he never worries about the physical for his dog. Once in a while he gets nailed at the airport, and the vet simply drives right out and takes care of the necessary at the airport for $40.

Packing up was quite a challenge. We really did not have much in the way of clothing to worry about, since obviously our La Paz wardrobe was not needed in Alaska. However, I have spent a good deal of time shopping on our trip. We had two Huichol paintings, measuring 22*22, a suitcase full of pottery and miscellaneous stuff, and a carryon bag with three large pottery bowls. The security process in La Paz is essentially a jobs program. First everything is searched by hand in a non-secure area in front of the ticket counter. Then, all the hand carried items are checked again on entering the secured gate area, this time by machine. Finally, before you board the plane, everything is checked by hand at the gate. The paintings were a problem since we really did not want to undo the beautiful job of packing that had been done in La Cruz. At the ticket counter, the package was run through a very large X-ray machine (which is apparently not used on a regular basis.) Then each time we had to clear an inspection point, the package was hand carried by an attendant back to that same machine and run through again. When we got to LA we picked up our luggage and Daisy and cleared customs. We then had to take our selves and Daisy out of the secured area, giving Daisy a chance to do business, and go to a domestic terminal. Daisy was rechecked in with no formality. We got to go through security again. Once again the paintings were a problem. They did not fit through the scanner so we had to partially unpack, and repack, them. We spent the night in Seattle and at 5 am got to check Daisy in again – this time someone finally asked about the health certificate – and took the paintings through security, where they were once again unpacked and repacked. It was lovely to finally get back to our condo in Anchorage and unpack the painting for the last time. They are now hung over our bed and look magnificent.

Anchorage is looking nice and wintry. The temperature was 2 when we got home at 8:30 in the morning. The snow on our back deck and patio, which is Daisy’s special place, was a couple of feet deep. Daisy refused to go out there until Earl did some shoveling. I think she rather likes Mexico.

In the meantime, I am in heaven making the most of my opportunity to see family. We have not yet had a chance to see Steve and his family, who we saw in Mexico over Christmas, but we have had a good time with both Amelia – now a whole number -, Bella who had saved up five months of conversation and did not stop talking the whole time she was with us, and their parents.

Our visit home will not be long enough. Earl will take Daisy to La Conner on the 18th, and I will follow five days later. Hopefully the extra time will be adequate to prepare a tax return, or at least an extension, since we will not be back for some months. Then on the 27th, we will take off for La Paz and Serenity.