La Paz has a bungy cord!

That is a phrase someone mentioned the other day as we discussed how difficult it seems to leave this setting to continue our explorations of the Sea of Cortez -- even for a few days at a time.  The city is hospitable, the weather pleasant and in spite of some frustrations at finding certain things, the searching and challenges are still worthwhile. In the meantime, we usually find some other place of interest, or meet new people, locals and cruisers alike.

We were all set to leave this morning for a few days, knowing the next 'norther' was due by Thursday, but it appeared to be accelerating with winds forecast to shift to the west by Wednesday. Our anticipated anchorages on Isla Espiritu Santos would be somewhat exposed and rolly.  Hmm -- let's wait until Friday and then we can go out for a few nights and be back in time for the fitting of our new dodger and bimini.  This will also give us more time to get energized as we aren't exactly bouncing back 100% from our post-Christmas flu.

Judy and Jordan - SV Sea Turtle

Last night Kelly bbq'd some scrumptious prawns we bought at the marina here from a local who often stops by with seafood to tempt us.  We had also gone in to Club Cruceros Monday morning for coffee hour and managed to score some tamales from Imelda, a well-known local vendor of very tasty Mexican food.  These provided us with an interesting but tasty combination for dinner.   For our BCA fleet readers: we heard SV Sea Turtle announce their arrival yesterday on the cruisers' net and we had fun catching up with Judy and Jordan over brunch and introducing them to a few friends we'd travelled with along the way.

It has been a productive start to this week.  We found me some scuba fins with a foot pocket, as the ones I brought are for my drysuit and hard to keep on in bare feet.  I also found a 2 mm shortie wetsuit, which should work over my lycra diveskin to add another layer of warmth, and today we found some neoprene dive socks; all I need now is a bcd - buoyancy compensator device - and we can both go diving.  Otherwise, I'll snorkel and keep Kelly in view as he dives.  Many people tell us the water is 'cold' - we'll see for ourselves and let you know.  It has been a bit of a challenge to locate the annual park passes we need to explore the islands -- they aren't available yet - but an agent at Marina de La Paz is now providing a receipt for payment and will exchange that for the passes when they actually arrive from the government offices. 

I'm posting separately recent pictures taken on our walks -- doors, flowers, other things that catch our eye as we continue to enjoy and absorb the sights and sounds of La Paz.