Thursday February 9, 2012 - Costa Baja Marina

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

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

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.