We have enjoyed these first few days in La Paz, with a shuttle ride to Club Cruceros and catching up with people we met last season who are either at anchor or managed to find spots in Marina de La Paz. Linde and Ken of SV Rosebud fame joined us for a Bandito burger Saturday evening and we caught up on news and their plans for this cruising season.
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| SV Rosebud folks with Kelly |
For BCA folks reading this, we were welcomed by Jay and Anita of Karina C and enjoyed catching up on their adventures. We checked out the chandlers, found the missing bits and pieces we needed and a few more things we hadn't known we'd needed. We've met some new folks on the dock through first meeting their friendly dogs and it's nice to say 'hola' and compare plans for the day. Across the way on Dock 5 is an incredibly annoying piling which chooses the oddest times to emit a high pitched sound somewhere between a small fog horn or high pitched creak...at 3 am in the morning our first night we had no idea what it could be.
When we initially thought we'd be ready to leave by today, we did a provisioning run first to the Bravo Market for bacon (ticino - cut thick the way Kelly likes it), some fish fillets and camarones (shrimp). The La Fonda restaurant was nearby, so we had an economical 'comida' (lunch of the day) for $50 pesos, which provided a pasta soup, chicken mole, rice and frijoles, as well as a colourful bowl of jello for dessert.
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| A favorite lunch spot in La Paz |
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| Brilliant flowers at La Fonda |
Determining which way the colectivos (local buses) run towards our next destination was a challenge at which succeeded. The names of major stores or streets are painted on the bus front windows and we hopped aboard one bound for "CCC" - which is now Chadrawai's supermarket but doesn't abbreviate so well. This is a large grocery store which is carrying 'international' foods in one section and now have a much more elaborate wine selection. Kelly didn't find his extra old cheddar as hoped, but will make do with Tillamook sharp cheddar. (Michael and David...you could have left some for the rest of us!). It was an 80 peso cab ride back to the marina and then considerable marking, stowing and sorting into the lockers.
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| Enjoying lunch with a good friend |
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| Baja Ferries located at Pichilingue north of La Paz |
Today was a morning to rest up, once we decided to add those few days on, then go into town for some supplies. We've read about how the 'jejenes' or 'no-see-ums' in parts of the mainland can be quite aggressive. Rather than avoid places like San Blas, we thought we'd make some additional screens to go over the portholes from the outside. We've purchased a very fine mesh 'tul' or tulle - used for wedding veils and belly dancing outfits, managing to find some very plain stuff. None of the glitz and glitter fabric seemed quite right! After a bit of experimenting we should be able to hand sew some screen covers along the way.
There are also some good online instructions for making dinghy chaps which are canvas covers to go on your dinghy when it is right side up and in the water. A great suggestion was to use a light-weight vinyl (plastico crystal) to drape over the dinghy to make a pattern. This would allow you to mark the various cutouts and darts with marking pens. A project for later - before we return home, and then 'whip up' the cover in all that spare time we might have?
We've been checking out our cruising friends' blogs and enjoying their adventures. Many of them are in the Tenacatita and Barra de Navidad areas which are destinations we won't reach this season. Fair winds to you as you make your ways south! To family and friends back home in the cold and wet -- we're trying to send you sunshine and warmer days. Spring should be around the corner.
