
06-02 La Paz to Caleta Partida
Our 1st day heading for new territories. It feels good to be off the dock again and headed for new places. We are expecting to run into our friends Bob & Sherry on Nirvana, as we have communicated via e-mail and Facebook. They had just arrived the previous day in the channel at an anchorage following their crossing from Mazatlan. Sure enough, as we were leaving from La Paz we contacted them on the VHF and they were heading to Caleta Partida as well.
It was quite windy in La Paz as we were leaving and we had to stop at the fuel dock to fill two of the diesel tanks we had pretty much emptied. So, it was a little precarious getting on and off the fuel dock, but we managed. Once we were done with that we headed off to Caleta Partida. It was about a six hour trip and we arrived at 4:00 that afternoon. It is a beautiful anchorage set between the Islands of Isla Ispiritu Santo and Isla Partida. There are only fishermen camps on the low-lying shore. Quite windy conditions in the anchorage, so we put out five-to-one scope on the anchor chain. It took two tries to get the anchor hooked.
That all done, Nirvana called and invited us to a pot luck dinner on their boat with the folks from Buena Vida, Jeff & Julie, too (also on the Ha-Ha). They had buddy-boated with Buena Vida across from Mazatlan. So, it was fun to get to know them and hear stories back and forth. I made a nice vegetable & pasta dish. Julie brought a spinach salad & Sherry prepared a rice with scallop dish! Yumm!
The wind came up hard so we all scattered to our boats. Just as we got to Journey, she started dragging anchor. We started the engine and the anchor re-hooked a couple hundred yards towards the middle of the anchorage. Then we let out more scope (chain) and watched for a couple hours. Poor Dick was up every hour all night checking our position. I didn’t sleep well either, but was in bed. Sometimes these things happen.

06-03 Caleta Partida
The wind was still blowing in the morning but not quite as hard. The big power boat that was anchored by us left, so we let out some more scope. We were pretty sure we wouldn’t be going anywhere after that! Since we were both pretty tired, we just stayed aboard, tidied up the boat and rested. It is a lovely anchorage with beautiful desert mountains and white sandy beaches. We are looking forward to exploring tomorrow and maybe snorkeling. Every morning one of the fishermen from the small camp comes by the boats asking for things like shampoo, powdered juice packets, pens, batteries, etc. Sometimes he trades fish. ( We always had something to give him and I think this may be why the park ranger did not harass us for a park pass – required for the islands – as they did some of the other boats. - D)
Buena Vida called and invited us and Nirvana to potluck dinner on their boat tonight, so I made a vegetable salad with Papaya-seed dressing for that dinner. Buena Vida had traded with the fishermen for some delicious white fish, which they grilled and served with pineapple salsa. Julie also made a Pineapple upside down cake with rum. Nirvana brought an Orzo salad dish (small Greek mini-pasta). All in all a super yummy meal.
The wind wasn’t too bad tonight and with the extra scope out and we both got a really good night sleep.
06-04 Caleta Partida
Another beautiful day in Paradise! Nirvana was off to La Paz to get their Jellyfish suits made and will join us in the Sea as soon as they are done with that. Buena Vida headed for Isla San Francisco or San Everisto and we may catch up with them when we are done staying here. It was a very calm morning and we wanted to get to exploring before the heat rose too high.

So, we took the dinghy over to the first little beach on the north side of the bight where we were told there was a cave you could climb to. I found out that roaches can not only fly, but swim too!! EEEEUUUWWwww! They were all over the beach and rushed under our dinghy to get out of the sun. We climbed up to the cave, or should I say scrabbled up. It wasn’t much to see and didn’t go too far into the mountainside, so we scrabbled down and went further into the shallow cove beach and found that it was covered in tens of thousands of tiny one-clawed Fiddler crabs. They moved like the sea as we approached them and climbed in and out of tiny holes in the sand. We walked to where there was a sign indicating that there was a trail going up into the canyon, but it was getting too hot to attempt that.

We took the dinghy over to the eastern beach, which was a long sandy beach and was the low point between Isla Ispiritu Santo and Isla Partida. This is also where the fishing camp is. We said hello to the fellow who comes around to the boats, walked over to the long rock wall and looked over to the other side. We could see that there was a narrow passage of water that would allow us to motor the dinghy through to the other side, so we did. Sea caves were along the Isla Partida side of the cove. It was very pretty and nice and breezy!

We went back to the boat with plans to get ready to have our friends Mary & Bill from Jade Dragon over for dinner. We met Mary in Ventura on our way down to San Diego last fall and met her husband Bill when they came to La Paz. However, while I was preparing the dinner fixin’s, we got a call from the boat Merilon with Tiki and Michael Kehir aboard. Michael belonged to HMBYC many years ago and Dick taught him to sail there 20 years ago in the adult sailing class. They have been cruising down here for 11 years. So, we invited them to dinner too. I had to make some changes to the meal to accommodate them and Tiki brought an Orzo salad to contribute. I prepared Tahitian marinated Chicken with Tropical fruit and rice (super yummy!) and Mary brought home-made garlic/parmesan loaf bread and Margaritas.
We had a lovely meal, more story-sharing, catching up and getting to know “stuff”. A pleasant time was had by all.
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