12-19 to 12-25, Mazatlan

12-19, Monday – It is still blowing pretty good today, a little less, but still blowing. The forecast is for it to settle down tomorrow until Thurs night. We decided to take our dinghy to Benji’s and leave it there while we took a water taxi over to old Mazatlan. Nick will watch it for us, which will be better than leaving it unattended on the resort beaches.

So, we walked a quarter mile to the water taxi and took it over to old Mazatlan and checked on the Club Nautico anchorage first (but they were closed today) with the idea that we might anchor out there soon. It is closer and easier to get to the town from there as opposed to having to take a water taxi over. They have a dinghy dock and don’t charge too much to anchor there. However, we found that their facilities were pretty rustic (read dilapidated, long past their heyday– D) and there is a new water treatment plant going in across the street so there is an unpleasant smell in the area. Hmmmmm…..

Anyway, we started walking back towards the town and looking to walk towards old town. We were hungry though and decided to get a bite to eat. We climbed up these very steep stairs up to a restaurant that is perched on the edge of a rock. It looked like it would have great views and it did. However, it was closed today! Bummer, but we got some good pictures from there. After climbing down, we started walking again and checked another restaurant, but it was closed too. Hmmmm….. Not sure why things are closed. It is not a holiday. Anyway, we found a small local hotel (and we do mean small, I’d be surprised if it had more than a half dozen rooms . To have a beer with lunch I had to walk across the street to little neighborhood tienda and buy my own and bring it back – D) which had a little restaurant and had lunch there. Nothing fancy, but yummy, authentic burritos.

We walked the rest of the way to the old town center and checked out both town squares. One of the oldest buildings in Mazatlan was in Plazuela Machado, the first square we visited, and had a museum regarding the history of Mazatlan on the second story. It was very interesting! We visited a beautiful cathedral which was in the second square we visited (Plaza de la Republica). There are several restaurants we saw which we will have to try on future visits.

It is time to get back to the water taxi and our dinghy. We had invited the couple from “Deep Playa” over to our boat for a visit so we needed to get back. The water taxi service stops after 6:00pm anyway.

We had a lovely visit with Patrick and Dawn. It was a very nice end to the day.

12-20, Tues – The winds have died as forecasted…. Yay!! We are going to go to ashore and check out the local resort row and some of the restaurants. Maybe hang out in a palapa or two  and enjoy the reprieve from the wind.

We took the dinghy to Benji’s again and walked around to the beach strip. Our new favorite friend, Marley the dog, was showing us how to get there. Everyone seems to know him too. Very cute and a sweet dog. He’s a black lab mix of some sort and very smart. We got a recommendation from young Daniel, at Benji’s, to eat at either Victor’s or Carmelita’s. Both were way down the beach, almost directly in front of “Journey” when looking out from the shore. We decided to try Victor’s. Our friends from “Deep Playa” found us there and we all ate lunch together. It was a pleasant afternoon watching all the locals play in the water and chatting with some x-pats who have been here a while.

The food was absolutely superb here at Victor’s. We will have to come back for more . We were so stuffed, that we really didn’t want dinner, so we went back to Benji’s for a cold drink and headed back to the boat for a quiet evening.

12-21, Wed. – The folks on “Deep Playa” left the anchorage for the marinas to spend Christmas with visiting relatives. We listened to the morning net on the radio and were contacted by another boat, “Chrysalis II” (a 29’ boat!!) with Dave & Leiann aboard, letting us know they were coming out from the anchorage by Club Nautico to here today and wanted to get together later to swap stories. We set a date for that evening aboard “Journey”.

We had lunch at Benji’s and took the water taxi over to Old Mazatlan and took a bus to the town center (Centro). We walked the local market (Mercado Central), which is really fantastic, and looked at all the meats, fish and chicken for sale (fresh, chop-it-up for you now) . They had all kinds of produce available and almost anything else you might need. We strolled through the town and went to visit a local artist, Glen Rogers, who is a very good friend of our friends Larry & Patricia and Larry’s parents , Fawn & Roger. She has a beautiful home and studio in what looks to us like the up and coming art district of town. It turns out she had been aboard “Journey” once in the past at Angel Island on an Opening Day weekend event. We had a nice visit and will look to get together with her after the holidays before we leave Mazatlan. (We also met a fascinating, and somewhat mysterious world travelling Jewish artist, Daniel, from Israel sitting on the sidewalk working on a watercolor of the colorful old buildings lining the narrow streets and had a wonderful chat with him – D)

The time was getting away from us, so we walked out to where we could catch another bus back to the waterfront and a water taxi back to Stone Island.

Dave & Leiann came by “Journey” on their way back from the beach, where they had dinner at Carmelita’s and extolled how we should eat there as well. We had a lovely evening swapping stories with them and having hors d’oeuvres. They had some pretty interesting tales of their trip down from Seattle, Washington area and many other sailing adventures that Dave had been on over his lifetime. A lovely evening was had by all.

12-22, Thurs – Today we are going to have another Benji’s pizza for lunch with Dave , Leiann and another couple , Rob and Kai, who just pulled into the anchorage this morning and then go to the town here on the island. I want to find a mercado to get a few things for our Christmas dinner before the wind picks up as forecasted and we might not be able to leave the boat.

Dave, Leiann, Dick & I walked to the town of Isla Piedras on the dirt road that goes along the harbor side of the island. We wanted to find the 2nd water taxi to the Mazatlan side, because it runs all night long. As we were walking along the road this gringo fellow hollered from a home up on a hill overlooking the road and harbor for us to come up and see the view. He is a Vietnam vet who has lived down here for 20 years and is in the process of building a lovely home there on that hill. He was definitely a character, we think a lonely character though, and very interesting to talk with. The people down here are very VERY friendly. As you walk along, everyone says hello, smiles and asks how you are. You never know who you are going to end up meeting and sharing experiences with. The locals are only too happy to talk and laugh with you when trying to communicate. It is quite a fun atmosphere.

We found the water taxi station and there are a few concrete roads in this part of the town, but not many. We also found the small mercado and got a few things there. We followed the roads through town to the beach side of the Island, admiring the local architecture of the old homes painted so colorfully. We bought some roasted peanuts and candied peanuts from a local family who makes them right there in their yard. You should see the roaster they use, which was powered by a Rube Goldberg type contraption of an electric motor and pulleys (in the middle of it all a car transmission, for gear reduction I guess - D) that turned the 55 gal drum on a spit over a fire. There was a back-up hand crank for the spit. You could see a man further back in the yard pouring finished peanuts out of a basket from above a fan. The fan was blowing the empty shells out of the mix as they fell past it on their way to the basket on the ground. This way empty shells didn’t fall into the basket with the good peanuts and subsequently into your bag of peanuts (mostly). And…………….they were excellent!!

The road brought us back to the playa at Carmelita’s, so we stopped for a beverage, then made our way back to Benji’s and on to the boat for a nice quiet evening. The sunsets over the point have been spectacular!!

12-23, Fri. – The day before Christmas Eve?? Really?? Doesn’t really feel like it. We are going ashore to the beach palapas to find an internet connection. We had Leianne & Dave over this morning so they could take a shower while we used their Banda Ancha device to get internet here on the boat. We want to get one of these, so we can do this. We will have to find a Telcel store to do this though, so we won’t get to it until after Christmas.

I need to upload pictures and update the blog at least through our arrival here, so we went ashore with the computer. Carmelita’s has Wi-fi, but it doesn’t reach the restaurant. The owner is going to bring the router out to the restaurant tomorrow, so we will have to put it off till tomorrow. We had a late lunch there anyway.

We had so much to eat at Carmelita’s that we didn’t really need a big dinner, so we had a beverage at Benji’s and went back to the boat.

12-24, Sat – We got ourselves over to Carmelita’s early so we could do all of our interneting. Yay I got the blog updated to our arrival in Mazatlan, we both got our Facebook and e-mails dealt with too. We had a fabulous breakfast while we were there and the 49er football game was on that afternoon! Yaaaaay! Go Niners! We will come here tomorrow so we can Skype with our kids and grandkids in Redding (per the grandkids request).

12-25, Sun, Christmas – Can’t believe it is Christmas. It was supposed to be a no present year, but Dick surprised me with a lovely silver sailboat necklace with opal insets which he got in La Paz before we left. Very lovely!!

We had some breakfast munchies, made phone calls to loved ones that we could get ahold of and headed to Carmelita’s to Skype. Before we left though, one of the boats “Vallela Vallela” (say that 3 times fast, ha) in our anchorage (a nice young couple, Kai & Rob, from Port Townsend, WA (and they know Chelcie and Kathy too! – D)) organized a get-together at Benji’s Pizza at one o’clock for about six of us boats in the area.

It turned out to be a fun get-together. There is always the exchanging of stories, the food and the locals. Kai & Rob had bought a Santa pinata in the Market Central yesterday, so everybody had a chance to whack at it after dinner. It was fun watching the local children swing away at this thing.

So, we had Garlic Shrimp & Ham Pizza for Christmas dinner. Will do the meal I had planned for tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Everyone & A Happy New Year to you!

12-05 La Paz to 12-18 Arrive Mazatlan

12-05, Monday – We had our meeting this morning with Bob & Sherry regarding plans for leaving to Mazatlan. It appears they have an issue trying to get their FM3 visa and may not want to leave until it is finalized. They may want to go up into the islands for a week, which we may do instead of going straight to Mazatlan. The winds have begun to pick up already for the expected week-long blow of the “Northers”. We will be staying here until Saturday anyway waiting for the weather to clear. The forecast is saying it should lay down by Thurs.

This week is going to be about getting ready for the impending trip, whatever and whenever it will be. Doing some cleaning, reorganizing and provisioning.

12-06 Tues – 12-12 Monday
- Went to our favorite restaurants, did laundry, cleaned, provisioned, varnished and prepared to leave for Mazatlan

- On Thursday we got together with Bob & Sherry of “Nirvana” and Terry & Patricia of “Sunnyside” for sundowners. (Bob and Terry ganged up on me to take the ham exam that was to be given that Saturday morning – 36 hour later. So I spent all day Friday studying from 7 AM to 9 PM. Took the test at 9 AM the next day and passed. Now I have aTechnician’s class license but need to study for the General class exam befor I can consider myself a “ham”. – D)

- We have been continually unhappy with the way our 65 lb. CQR anchor has been performing. We have had to try 2 or more times to get the anchor to set, it wouldn’t feel like a secure set and have had the anchor drag more than once. We have been unable to sleep well at anchor because of this. We went and looked at Lopez Marine in La Paz at some of the anchors there and took measurements back to the boat. Dick thinks the 110 lb. claw-type anchor will work well on our bow sprit. So, after the exam on Saturday Dick went and bought it. He had to make a few adjustments to the size of the hole (minor wood surgery – D) that the anchor comes up through the bow sprit, but it worked and we are anxious to try it. We are excited about this new addition to our ground tackle tools.

- Bob & Sherry decided to stay until their FM3 visas are completed (3-4 more weeks), so we decided to leave for Mazatlan (based upon weather conditions) on Tues 12-13. The weather has been very windy, the seas choppy and forecasted to stay that way until Monday. The seas should be calmed down by Tues.

- On Monday the weather had calmed and we went to pay our electric bill that night at the Marina office ($35 for the month) and inform them we were leaving early in the morning. They told us that the port was closed!! We couldn’t figure out why since the weather was just fine, and they said we’d have to wait until the morning till after they opened to see if the port would be opened. This will only delay us an hour or so from our desired 6:00 am departure.

12-13, Tues. – We checked with the office at 7:00 am and were told the port is open. We think maybe it was due to a holiday on Monday that it was closed. Anyway…….
Bye bye La Paz ………. Hello Mexican Navy? Yep! We got boarded just as we left the LaPaz Harbor channel. A boat full of young, handsome and very nice Mexican Navy boys flagged us down and boarded us. Yes, they had machine guns (M-16’s - D). They were very friendly, let me take pictures and took a picture of me with one of them . They seemed to be mostly interested in making sure we didn’t have any stow-aways and had our proper papers.

After that we were on our way again and headed to Los Muertos. We really enjoyed that anchorage last time (except for when we dragged anchor) and are looking forward to visiting there again with our new anchor.

We arrived there just before dark and were not disappointed! It only took one try and we were “stuck” with the new anchor, able to rev the engine up to 1200 RPMs in reverse without moving an inch! Excellent!! We are VERY happy and relieved. It was just as beautiful as remembered. There were only four other boats there and we knew one of them, “Deep Playa”. A nice young couple we met on the “Ha-Ha”, Patrick & Dawn. We slept VERY good, for at-anchor sleeping.

12-14, Wed. – We are now back on the long range Amigo Net in the mornings. This is a channel on the Single Side Band radio that cruisers use to check-in when they are under way, get in contact with each other and get weather reports. We checked back in with this group to report we were under way again and what our plans are. We found out that the “Northers” (those nasty winds) will be “blowing like snot” through Thursday night. We were planning on leaving on Thursday afternoon. So, once again, weather has postponed our travels, but only by a day.

Not such a bad deal. It is really very lovely here. We were unable to leave the boat though as it was too windy to launch the dingy. We read, played cards and had good meals.

12-15, Thurs – We were hoping we could launch the dingy and go ashore, but it was still too windy to launch the dingy. So, we read some more, watched a movie and had some more good meals .

12-16, Friday – The weather “laid down” as forecasted, so we readied ourselves for the trip. We will leave this afternoon at 4:00, sail all night, all day Saturday, all night and arrive Sunday morning in Mazatlan.

Since we had the entire day before leaving, we wanted to go to the restaurant ashore, so we launched the dingy and went for a super hamburger for lunch. We chatted with two men from one of the boats at anchor, “Music”, who had stopped by our boat on their dingy to say hi to us earlier that day. They had sailed down from Canada and were on their way back to Cabo San Lucas from La Paz. The owner’s wife was coming to meet him and his buddy (who helped him crew down from Canada) was going to fly home.

We stopped by “Deep Playa” on the way back to our boat from lunch to see what their plans were. We found out they were looking to go to Mazatlan too, so we decided to “buddy boat” with them for the trip across. It’s always nice to have another boat around to keep an eye on each other under way on a long passage. So we agreed on the 4:00 departure time and both left the anchorage then. (They ended up turning back for a brief repair so were a half hour behind us for the first day – D)

The weather was beautiful, sunset was beautiful and the overnight passage was really nice and comfortable.

12-17, Saturday – A beautiful sunrise, more flying fish and more dolphins! A really lovely morning. We had only been able to motor sail to this point due to lack of wind, but the winds started picking up at noon and we were able to turn off the motor, pull out the Genoa head sail and move right along at a nice pace. (5.5 to 6+ knots – D)

It was at about 4:00 though and the winds really started picking up and the seas got steep and short-period swells. We could see it was going to be a nasty night.

By the time it was dark, we were really rolling around out there. Still sailing though! The thing about the Sea of Cortez is the condition of the seas compared to the North Pacific, or the SF Bay. We didn’t mind winds up into the 30’s, no big deal, right? Well in the Sea of Cortez when the “Northers” are blowing, they have the entire Sea to blow down causing very steep waves with no break between them. (period of about 3 seconds – D) The longer the wind blows the taller the waves get. So, here we are in the dark, no moon (until midnight) and we could see and hear the white-capped waves coming at us from the side. Since we were traveling south-east, the waves and wind were coming at us on the beam (from the side). This is very uncomfortable! So, about the time we were considering turning up into the seas for a while, our traveling companions on “Deep Playa” radioed us with the same idea. So, at about 8:00, we turned north-east for some relief from the beating we were taking. We had plenty of time to spare as we had made good time so far and it was looking like we were going to get to Mazatlan too early and in the dark. We were only doing about 1.5 to 2.5 knots during this time, which was fine by us. (Got down to heaved-to on my watch – drifting at about 1 knot sideways with no headway which was nice as we were starting to close on the coast, turned out “Deep Playa” was doing the same – D)

12-18, Sunday – The winds were forecasted to lie down around midnight and just about that time they did, although it was still blowing 15-20 knots. Deep Playa radioed us at about midnight and said they were just crossing in front of us heading south-east again. We were just talking about turning ourselves, so we followed right behind them. Now we were on a down-wind run with the seas behind us at about 12:30. Very comfortable and a lovely sail down to Mazatlan. We ended up sailing all the way beginning Saturday at noon until the last two hours before we arrived in Mazatlan. Always a nice savings on diesel 

Dawn broke as we were approaching Mazatlan and we were at anchored by 9:05 am alongside “Deep Playa”. Lovely!! Once again, it only took one attempt and we were “stuck” with our wonderful new anchor in a lovely anchorage called “Stone Island” (Isla Piedras). It is just outside the Mazatlan Harbor and old Mazatlan. We are the only two boats here, with white sandy beaches, palapas, restaurants and what appear to be local resorts (not the fancy ones like in new Mazatlan).

Time to rest up! We are looking forward to exploring Mazatlan and spending Christmas and New Year holidays here.

After napping, we had enough energy to go visit Benji’s Pizza! Yumm Yumm…. Garlic Shrimp & Ham pizza with a white sauce. We were the only patrons there and had a great time speaking Spanglish with the fellow, Nick, that was serving us. He really enjoys chatting. It is a very nice family that owns and operates this funky restaurant. We are looking forward to having a few more meals there.

Time for a good nights sleep!

11-25 to 12-04-2011 La Paz

11-25, Friday – Today is the day our friends Rudy, Sherry & Yvonne arrive. They didn’t arrive until 7:30 pm though. So, we had a quiet day around the harbor spiffing up the boat, putting on the rest of the sail covers, etc. We hadn’t heard from them by 7:00 so we walked over to their hotel, which was only a 10 minute walk from the marina. We waited at the poolside bar for them. They arrived shortly after we got there.

They were pretty tired from the flight and the drive from San Jose Del Cabo, so we enjoyed a dinner out at the “Tailhunter” restaurant. They had the Club Cruceros band playing there, which did mostly Beatles songs and a little Santana (basically 60’s and 70’s R&R – Good stuff - D). Nice evening!

11-26, Saturday – The “Northers” are blowing like snot now, so water activities are not possible. The harbor was closed today anyway due to the wind. So, we went scouting around town with them, got their room provisioned for the week and discussed future plans based on the weather. The Northers will not be subsiding until Tuesday.

We had a late lunch at the wonderful Rancho Viejo and walked over to the Club Cruceros. We decided to walk up to this Mercado (Market) that we had been told about. It ended up being a LONG walk there. It was worth it though as it was a HUGE store with everything you could possibly want in it at very good prices. So, we decided we would go there to provision later in the week before they leave so we could take advantage of the fact that a car is available to us. We enjoyed chatting and catching up in their suite after a long day.

11-27, Sunday – I spent the late morning and early afternoon by the pool with Yvonne & Sherry while Rudy went to check on a friend’s mother, who lives in town. When he returned Dick, Sherry & Rudy drove to Playa Belandra where the famous “Mushroom Rock” lives. (It was a well protected, mostly deserted beach with tons of shells, so we beachcombed out to the “Mushroom Rock” and on the return, picked up the surprisingly little trash that marred the serene beauty. – Mexican beaches have proven to be far cleaner than what I’m used to in the US. We then drove on to the next beach, Playa Tecolote, where there was a nice palapa restaurant where we had some refreshments and watched the wild, wind driven conditions in the San Lorenzo Channel – Glad we weren’t out in that slop. – D)

It is Dick’s Birthday today, so Yvonne & I walked into town while they were gone to get a gift, a card and a cake to take to dinner. We got a table at “The Shack”, which is where Dick wanted to have his birthday dinner. They had a special, all-you-can eat, roasted pig for dinner, for CHEAP!! It was fabulous!! Good music by Keane again and a terrific time. A great time was had, many of our new friends from the “HAHA” were there – Good friends, good food, good music in paradise – hard to beat for a birthday. The owners, Travis and Rosie are great hosts – their beautiful daughter Raquel spent the evening telling everyone how thrilled she was that Santa was having his birthday in her restaurant!! As I said I had much fun!!! – D)

11-28, Monday – Another relaxing morning. The winds are still blowing, but starting to settle down. Everybody sort of did their own thing today. Rudy & Sherry went to town in the car, Tami & Yvonne walked the Malacon to town and Dick relaxed at the boat.

We had dinner that night at a really cool place called “Bandidos”, where they cook their meats on a grill under the hood of an old Ford pick-up truck.

11-29, Tues – Today is the day we sailed to the Island of Espiritu Santo for an overnight stay in one of the beautiful anchorages. The wind was still blowing, but was definitely settling down and not nearly as bad as the past few days. We ended up going all the way to the little island at the tip called Isla Partida and stayed in the Anchorage “Ensenada el Cardonal”. It was beautiful!! It took about 2 hours to get a good hook with our anchor due to the gravely and rocky bottom. But, once we got the hook it was a peaceful and serene setting. It was too late for snorkeling and a touch windy, but we had a pleasant dinner and evening there.

11-30, Wed. – Beautiful day! Winds have died down and we are one of only three boats here in the anchorage. I Fixed us up some breakfast and off we went to explore. Rudy, Sherry & Dick went around the point on the dingy to do some snorkeling. Yvonne & I went to the shore and walked through a beautiful valley to the other side of the Island. We saw some cactuses we have never seen before and beautiful scenery. When we got to the other side we were up on a cliff overlooking boulders and rocks being pounded by the surf. Really nice! We walked back to the beach on the other side and waited for the snorkelers to get back and to be picked up. The pelicans were putting on a show for us!! They were diving all over the place. Fish were jumping out of the water so much it sounded like it was raining. A good day was had by all. I fixed up a nice lunch and we headed back for La Paz.

We made it back before it started getting dark and headed to dinner at La Costa. This had been recommended to us on Monday by one of the Club Cruceros members. The band was playing there again and were terrific. They were playing lots of Santana, Fleetwood Mac and other 60’ & 70’s rock.

12-01, Thurs. – Today Rudy, Sherry & Dick went snorkeling with the Whale Sharks. They got picked up at the hotel and taken to a dive excursion panga. (This was one of the high points of the trip so far – the whale sharks are incredibly docile, pretty and HUGE!! It was awesome to be snorkeling next to a 30 ft fish. You feel so small yet they seem almost cuddly. This was one of Sherry’s bucket list items and I have to agree it was nearly a transcendental experience. Our guides were two local guys, who once they realized that we knew what we were doing in the water, just left us alone to enjoy. We spent nearly 3 hours in the water before finally getting our fill. – D)

Yvonne & I went to that store we found on Saturday so I could do some provisioning for our next adventure and a get-together we want to have tomorrow evening on our boat with a couple of our new friends, Bob and Sherry, from ‘Nirvana’. Then we went to the pool to relax.

Everybody wanted to try the cheese burgers at “The Shack”, so we went back there for dinner. Great burgers, great company, great service and great friends…..what more could you ask for.

12-02, Friday – I actually spent the day getting the boat and food ready for the get-together. Dick, Rudy & Sherry went to investigate the Walmart and Mega stores and Yvonne hung out at the pool.

Our gang came over at about 2:30 and Bob & Sherry, from Nirvana, came over at 5:30. I fixed my very first Quesadillas! Yummy - fixed with hazelnut manchuga & pepper manchuga cheeses served with raspberry chipotle and spicy mango salsa… We were all having such a nice time, we were quite surprised when we suddenly noticed it was 11:00. (One of those wonderful times when you spend so much time laughing so hard your face hurts the next day – D)

12-03, Saturday – Today is Rudy’s birthday. He came over to help Dick get the boat fueled up and us three girls went to town to find gifts & a cake for him. He has been wanting a shirt that says La Paz on it. Not easy to find as this is not really a tourist town. We searched around though and found some great shirts! We also got a cake to take to dinner tonight.

We all lounged around the pool, napped and read before we headed to “The Shack” again for dinner. Rudy really likes the place and wanted his birthday dinner there. A band called “The Mexican Weirdo’s” is playing there tonight. We got reservations for 7:30. They had coconut popcorn shrimp tonight (a new item on the menu) which was fantastic! (We shared Rudy’s birthday cake with everybody there and Rudy was birthday serenaded by the entire place. They had added dart boards, so at Rudy’s request, I taught him how to play 301 – D) The Mexican Weirdo’s didn’t show up until 10:00!!! They were supposed to start at 9:00. Once they did start up, they were so loud you could feel the base right to your soul (almost like being defibrillated). Their repertoire was supposed to be 60’s surfer music. It sounded like a junior high garage band and REALLY LOUD AND REALLY DISTORTED! Needless to say, we didn’t stay long. It was a fun evening anyway and the last night our friends are here. We must say good bye to them tomorrow.

12-04, Sunday – Sad day to see our friends leave us. They stopped by before they left for the airport to drop off all their unused provisions and get one more hug & kiss. Many thanks for coming and visiting, you will be missed.

Today was also the Club Cruceros Sabasta (auction) at the Marina de La Paz parking lot. So, we went there later in the morning & early afternoon to support the local charities for underprivileged children. We had a great sausage for 35 pesos & a delicious chicken tamale for 15 pesos. Then on to the 49er game which was at 2:15 (our time). So, we went to the “Tailhunter” restaurant to watch it. Yaaaaaaaaay!!! Great Game!!! We are now in the Playoffs!!

Well, based on the weather, we are not going to be able to leave for Mazatlan on Tuesday. The “Northers” have kicked up again and will be here until Thursday. It takes a couple of days for the sea to settle down, so it looks like we will be leaving on Friday or Saturday. We are going to be “buddy boating” with our friends on “Nirvana” for that trip. It will definitely be a two day trip, it is just a matter of whether or not we will stop at Los Muertos again to stay the night, or go straight from here for two days at sea. We will be finding out tomorrow when we have a planning meeting with the folks on “Nirvana”.

11-17 to 11-24 in La Paz

11-17, Thurs – Dick went and got our TIP (Temporary Import Permit” from the Government offices in Pichilingue (A twenty minute cab ride to nowhere - D), we then went into town on the marina shuttle. Signed up for the Club Cruceros (a club for cruisers), which will get us mail service, local assistance, emergency services, etc. We got a bite to eat and went to the “Ha-Ha Welcome to La Paz” party. It was a fun get-together with Mariachi band and folk dancers. It was a HUGE turn-out too. It was interesting to talk stories with some of the Ha-Ha’ers we hadn’t seen since Cabo.

11-18, Friday – Both of our “get-up-and-go”s got up and went today! It was a nice day to just lay around and read. We went out for dinner at the Marina restaurant and hit the hay.

11-19, Sat, 11-20, Sun; 11-21, Mon., 11-22, Tues. We wandered about town all four days, did some provisioning at the LEY Super Mercado, watched the 49er game at a great restaurant called “Tailhunter”. They are supposed to have good live rock and roll music on the weekends, so will try that next weekend. We have had really good eating at the local restaurants. We have come to appreciate the Arrachera meat here (marinated skirt steak), which melts in your mouth. Lots of good tamales, empanadas, tacos, enchiladas and really good seafood! There is also a little hole-in-the-wall called “The Shack” that is run by a fellow from Texas and his Mexican wife. They have GREAT Hamberguesas. We didn’t get to try them today, but will definitely be going back.

11-23, Wed. – We needed to take the boat out of the harbor so we could make water. It is too mucky in here. So, we took the boat out to the bay, put up sails and tacked back and forth for 5 hours in very light winds. It was nice and relaxing, had lunch and headed back to the marina. We wanted to get back so we could go to “The Shack” again try their hamberguesas. Our friends’ son, Keane, from the boat “Shanti Ana” was playing jazz guitar and he was fantastic. Lots of our new acquaintances were there and we had a great time getting to know people better.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Love to all and Happy Thanksgiving!

11-24, Thurs. - Thanksgiving! Very strange to be away from family and close friends. However, it was a lovely get-together with new friends. 250 people were reserved into this pot luck buffet. The marina provided the Turkey and everyone brought side dishes. I prepared a rice salad with Tuna, onion, apples, dried cranberries, mixed veggies with a Papaya Poppy Seed dressing. It was HOT HOT HOT :--) today, but they had nice shade tents over the area. We fed the local Gatos our leftovers too.

Then, we went to the Tailhunter again to watch the 49er game that evening. Nice day! Hope yours were all wonderful too!

11-10 to 11-16, Trip from San Jose Del Cabo to La Paz

11-10, Thurs. – We left the harbor of San Jose Del Cabo for Los Frailes this morning at about 7:00 a.m. Still quite a North West wind coming at us, it was more than we expected and was forecasted. It was quite the bash up the inside coast of Baja on the Sea of Cortez. It built to at least 22 knots of wind on our bow, 6 foot short period seas as well, so we ended up motoring the entire way. Lots of green water over our bow and a lot of splash into the cockpit as a result.

We made it to Los Frailes at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Los Frailes is an anchorage that is supposed to protect from Northerly and Westerly winds and seas. We had been contemplating snorkeling and left on the dighy to go to shore, but the winds and seas changed to come from the east, with seas building to about 3 to 6 ft. and the swells coming into the bay (bahia). We had to turn back to the boat and wait it out.

We decided to spend the next day here.

11-11, Friday – It didn’t really calm down this day as we had hoped. We stuck it out another day and had to stay on the boat for the whole day as a result. It was forecasted to be calm tomorrow. It was still a beautiful day and we enjoyed the anchorage. I did some drawing and some chores (oooooo).

There were at least 20 or 30 boats anchored there and on the radio, we were all trying to figure out whether to stay or go. It was most unfortunate because there was the Pulmo Reserve there, the ONLY barrier reef in Western Mexico, which would have been great diving/snorkeling! Maybe we will come back here on our way to Mazatlan!

11-12, Saturday – We had decided to leave the night before and left VERY early in the morning (6:00 am) to head for Ensenada de Los Muertos! It was much calmer on the run up there. Winds only 8 to 12 knots coming from the South, South-East. Nice motor-sailing conditions!

We got there by 1:25 p.m. and the conditions were lovely in the anchorage. There were about 30 boats already anchored here. However, shortly after anchoring, the winds started building from the only direction that would be a problem: That being from the south-east! Every boat in here was bobbing like a hobby horse on seas and waves that built to 6 feet!! We weathered this pretty well. Yet all but 7 boats left by the late hours of the night or early morning hours. We seemed to have a very good set on our anchor, so we stuck it out, looking for better weather the next day. Not a very good night sleep for either of us. We both slept in the salon and were up every hour or so, checking our situation.

11-13, Sunday – After dawn, the wind died down and it was great! Worth the wait! Not very many boats left here at this point (7). Dick wanted to check the engine “stuff”, so he checked all the fluids and belts, etc. We tried to start the engine after that and it wouldn’t start (??) After several tries, Tami said it sounded like air in the system. Dick asked her how she came to this conclusion and she said “It sounds like air!!” Dick bled the system for air and…………guess what?.......... It started!! WOW!! Kudos for sound! (Great Luck on the guess – D :--)).

We went ashore for lunch at one of the two spots to eat. This was the only restaurant on the northeast end of the shore, which had been there for quite some time and was founded by the “Giggling Marlin” of Cabo San Lucas. Reasonably priced, excellent service and excellent food. We were able to watch the 49er game, in Spanish :-). What a GAME! We watched it there for the 1st half and then walked a mile down to the other end of the beach to the small exclusive resort hotel to catch the 2nd half of the game!!

On the walk we saw a HUGE gaggle of pelicans patiently waiting to be fed by the local fishermen who were cleaning their recent catch. They were quite gentlemanly waiting for the scraps the fishermen were throwing to them.

YaaaaaaaY for the 2nd half of the game too!! 49ers are now 8&1. Go 49ers! The hotel had an amazing Lionel train collection, set up on tracks circling around the 2nd floor of the restaurant.

We decided we would stay another day here, because it was such a lovely anchorage and the weather was unsettled at this point.

It was getting dark and we headed back to the boat. Another mile walk back to the dingy and a ride out to the boat. The winds were picking up and it was starting to rain. We got back just in time to close the hatches and hunker down. In the middle of the night, it REALLY started pooring! We had to “dog down” everything! Ah but all the salt got washed off the boat.

At 5:00 a.m. Dick got up for an anchor check and discovered we had dragged anchor about 300 feet!! We narrowly missed a boat that had pulled in, in the dark, right next to us (for some reason). Blessedly, we did not collide! Anyway, we let out some more chain and got a bit of distance from them for the rest of the “blow” (which didn’t end until the next day).

11-14, Monday -- We both spent the rest of the morning “watching” to make sure we didn’t collide with the boat that pulled in, in the night. They didn’t seem to really care. OH WELL?

At any rate, the winds blew pretty hard most of the day until the afternoon, about 3:00. Our friends from the boat “Convivia” came by to try to help Dick with the Single Sideband (SSB) radio and our friends from the boat “Nirvana” came by to give us pictures of our boat with the “spinnaker” sail flying during the trip from Tortuga to Santa Maria (Awesome!) (see the pics). We had pictures for them of their beautiful spinnaker on that trip as well! Nice trade, they were thrilled too!

The winds finally died down at around 5:00 and we went to the restaurant for dinner. Had a lovely time and died after NO SLEEP for a couple of days :--). We may stay yet another day here :--)

11-15, Tuesday -- After the weather report that morning, which forecasted strong Northerlies for later today and all day tomorrow, we decided to head up through the San Lorenzo Channel and get to an anchorage closer to La Paz. We finally decided on a lovely small anchorage called Caleta Lobos. We arrived there at 4:30 in the afternoon, having left Los Muertos at 9:00 am. It was a lovely day and nice breezes, but the breezes were off our bow most of the way except for the last hour or so.

We were well protected from the north winds, so we had a very good night sleep! The strong winds forecasted never materialized.

11-16, Wed. – We listened to the weather and the Amigo Net on the SSB radio, which we now do every morning. It is very informative and a great way to check on your cruising buddies. There is a check-in every morning, weather and everyone can request to talk to other boats at that time. Pretty cool!

Following the morning net, and again a forecast of increasing winds, which did materialize. we headed for La Paz at about 9:30 a.m. We got ahold of the Palmira Marina and received the good news that they had a slip available for us! Yay! After being on a hook for a week, it was nice to get a slip! Of course this means internet and cell-phone coverage too.

We arrived at 11:20 am and we LOVE IT! While Dick did the check-in procedures I squared the boat away for dock living. It was warm, so opened up all the hatches and portholes, turned on the fans, did dishes, covered the forward windows against the sun, etc. etc. etc. Feeling good!
We met up with our friends from “Nirvana” for a late lunch at one of the two restaurants in the harbor. Super YUMMY food at a medium price and good company!

We had ourselves a LONG shower at the marina showers and a GOOOOOOOOD night sleep!!
We are looking forward to checking out the town, re-provisioning, going to the “Ha-Ha” Welcome Party tomorrow night, getting our Temporary Import Permit (for the boat) squared away (Spending lots of time with the bureaucracy), etc.

We are also very much looking forward to a visit from Yvonne, Rudy & Sherrie later this month!!
Will catch up with you all later. Stay Tuned!

11-09, San Jose Del Cabo

11-09, Wed. – San Jose Del Cabo – Got a great night sleep and we decided to stay one more day because the wind and seas were pretty high. It is supposed to be much calmer tomorrow.

The BBQ party last night was a lot of fun. The boat “I Yam What I Yam” (Canadians) had caught a PILE of fish, so they barbequed the fish and we all brought side dishes. We took a Spanish rice dish. It was a nice chance to get to know more of the folks traveling the same places we are going to be.

We paid for another day and took off to explore SJDC. As we walked around the Marina path we saw some very interesting and historical artwork by a very famous local woman by the name of Leonora Carrington. There were sculptures and paintings and chronicles of her life and accomplishments as we walked along. She just passed away two months ago at the age of 96. I imagine you could google her for more information.

We explored the little village around the marina first and had breakfast at a little Inn for 60 pesos each. Then we took a taxi to the downtown. It is a lovely little town with lots of shops and restaurants, a great explore. We had been told there was an excellent French Patisserie so we hunted it down and had delicious crepes with ice cream.

We needed to wash down the boat and get ready for the sail tomorrow, so back to the marina.

We take off tomorrow for Los Frailes, which is an anchorage about 40 miles up into the sea of Coretz. Just a small fishing village there, but a nice place to snorkel, maybe fish and anchor for the night.

Then we leave the following morning for an anchorage called Los Muertos, another 40+ miles north of Los Frailes. Again, only a small fishing village there but another nice place to anchor for the night.

Then we will proceed to La Paz. We won’t be able to update you until we are settled there.
Stay tuned……

11-05 in Cabo through Trip to San Jose Del Cabo 11-08

11-05, Saturday -- There are a gozillian fishing boats in the Marina. There is a Million Dollar fishing contest going on this weekend. Noisy affair! Especially early in the morning and when they get back.

I spent the morning up in the Baja Cantina working on the blog, uploading pictures. Dick went off to scope out the grocery market in town. He came back with the location of the market and he also found out that the Marina has a fluff and fold laundry service for $6 per load (cheaper than doing it yourself). So, I gave Dick the computer in the late morning (lucky me – D) and went and organized a laundry run.

About mid-day, Alex, Charles, Patrick and I went off to get a pedicure :--) We wandered the streets and side-streets until we found a place we were willing to pay the price ($20 US dollars/per person). They told us to come back in 15-20 minutes, so we went to this excellent restaurant called “Panchos” and had cervezas. They had a HUGE collection of Tequilas (575 per their menu I read the next day – D) there and the bartender was more than happy to explain the history of them all (quite interesting). Alex & I bought perfect straw hats for ourselves. I’m very happy because I will definitely need it from here on out!

We got our pedicures done (2 at a time). They were okay, but not as good as “home”. At least I got a new “paint job”. This was Patrick’s first pedicure and he loved it. I recommended my pedicure place in Alameda for when he goes home.

Tonight was the last official event for the “Ha-Ha”, the awards ceremony. This was quite fun. Every boat got an award and there were lots of fun “joke” awards. As a matter of fact, I won our boat the “snoring award”. I had to get up and imitate the snorer on our boat. I imitated Patrick and won the award for the best snorer in the fleet. Journey took 3rd place in our division. The 1st and 2nd place boats sailed either a full leg or all of the legs of the trip.

We didn’t realize there would be no food at the event, so we had to go to dinner afterwards. Because we had seen “Panchos” that day, we went back there for dinner with everyone! It was terrific!! Run by an American fellow from Fremont, CA, who came down here and never went back. Food was awesome and the service was great. The prices were excellent too. There is a place across the street we want to try at some point, called “Crazy Lobster”. Prices great and food sounds great.

We had to say goodbye to Charlie & Alex as they are leaving in the morning!! What a great time and many thanks to them for their contribution to the work and the fun on the trip. We will miss them :--) XOXOXOOX

Dick, Patrick & I headed for the “Cabo Wabo” club! (Sammy Hagar’s famous club.) Couldn’t leave Cabo without checking that out. Reminded me of the old “DV8” club in San Francisco!! Oh to be 20 years younger :--) Lots of young folks having a great time to a pretty good “cover” band and a great music mixologist. (The oldster’s did get in a couple of dances and for some unknown reason two sweet young things wanted their picture taken with me :--) - D)

11-06, Sunday – I went up to the Cantina EARLY in the morning to work again on the blog before people get there and get on the internet connection. The staff at the Baja Cantina have been terrific and so friendly and accommodating to all us “Ha-Ha” folks. Dick & Patrick went to “Panchos” for breakfast. The 49er game came on at 10:00 am right there in front of me!! YaaaaaaaaaaaY!

Dick & Patrick came back, then I had to give up the computer to Dick. Went and picked up the laundry during half time and came back to watch the end of the game.

Nice quiet relaxing day…. Dick & I went to the market to pick up a FEW things we needed like bread, yogurt, butter, lettuce and eggs; a bunch of perishable items. Other than that, all provisions are holding up well.

As I was relaxing in the cockpit I watched the parade of Sunset Party Catamarans, blaring music, heading out to the bay.

The three of us went to dinner at that “Crazy Lobster” with another skipper, Mark, from another boat in the "fleet", "Folie Douce". We had a great time swapping stories and eating steak & lobster for $15.00 US a plate! I had three lobster enchiladas for $10.00. Excellent!

11-07, Monday – I went up early again to the Cantina to finish the blog through the 4th. Got it all done and posted by 9:30, I think. Close enough! (I spent the time doing another trip up the mast, with Patrick’s help, still trying to resolve the chaffing problem on the spinnaker halyard. Discovered some additional damage on the sail track, probably from our Pt. Sur adventure, and did temporary fixes. – D) Patrick is leaving today. So, he was getting himself all packed and ready to go. He wanted me to take a picture of him by all the big yachts around us, so see the pics of him with his bags by the big yachts :--). We saw him off at the lobby of the Wyndam, where the shuttle was picking him up for the airport. We will miss him too! Many thanks to you Patrick for all your contributions to the work and fun of the trip! XOXOXOX

Dick & I prepared to leave Cabo that afternoon at 2:00. We took on one tank (of three 100 gallon tanks) of fuel there for good measure and headed off for the anchorage area just off the resorts on the east end of the beaches. Picked a lovely spot to anchor at the far northeast end. Beautiful night, but noisy, even out there! Party boats, resorts discos, blah blah blaaaa :--) Anyway, it was nice to be out of the marina back on a hook. It is now just Dick & I……

The winds & swell picked up in the evening, so neither of us got a very good night’s sleep.

11-08, Tuesday— Heading out for San Jose Del Cabo this morning! It should be about a 3-hour trip. As we left the anchorage in Cabo the wind and seas were picking up. It was a pretty rough “beat” up to SJDC! We couldn’t put up any sails because the wind was just off our bow. There got to be 15-16 knots of wind, but no good to us. We also had the current against us keeping us at 4.1-4.8 knots over ground at 1500 RPMs! Yikes!

We ended up making it to SJDC by about noon. There was a long dock of “Ha-Ha” boats on the right, but no room for us, so they put us (once again) with the BIG plastic yachts. Got a nice slip there, but it was a bit more than we really wanted to pay. Oh Well! We were hoping they had an anchorage area, but they did not. Some of our new-found friends from the “fleet” are putting on a dock BBQ this evening. One of the boats has an abundance of fish they caught and are going to cook it up. Everyone else will bring a salad or side dish. NICE!

We’re not sure if we will be leaving tomorrow or not. We’ll see….