La Paz at last! December!

SV INTREPID II has earned a well deserved rest at a marina (as does her crew).

We hope to give her lots of TLC in the next few days,with a thorough washing, cleaning inside and out and major reorganizing of the cabin and lockers.  We are currently in Marina Palmira, just a few miles north of La Paz city centre, on Dock (Muelle) 4, slip 428 - having arrived Wednesday, December 9th -- three full months since we left Sidney and in some ways so long ago.

Our plans are to rest up - mind, body and spirit - and enjoy the sights and sounds and cultural activities of this city, which has history, a beautiful setting and a genuine Mexican ambiance - along with lots of cruisers coming and going.  At the moment we aren't certain if we'll change marina locations or anchor out a bit - time will tell.  Our outboard needs some attention, so until that's in good repair we don't want to be having to row in the longer distances against fairly strong tidal currents in the channel near Marina de La Paz, which is cruiser central and has a good dinghy dock.

While at anchor at Los Muertos, Kelly found us a weather window, checking several weather sites, tide tables and consulting all the guides that advised us to leave early in the morning before the winds picked up in the Cerallvo Channel, between the Baja peninsula and Cerallvo Island.  There was to be 'not much wind' and less than 0.1 metre seas - Ha!  Once again the short, square waves common to this area hit us within the first hour and a half (by 8:30 am).  We faced another 8 hours or so of not making much headway, no matter what combination of sailing, motoring, motor-sailing we tried and be none too comfortable for all that time.  Long story short- we endured, the seas eased up a bit to allow us to have some lunch, then started in again. By the time we were nearing Isla Spiritu Santos they were easing up and we knew we would make our planned anchorage in time.

A highlight of this passage:  Kelly was checking for a powerboat coming up on our starboard side to see if he recognized them.  Just as he turned, directly behind our boat about 50 yards away, a shark came straight up and out of the water spinning as though trying to shake a hook. No boats were nearby.  He appeared to be at least 10 feet long and his head was 15 feet out of the water - quite an unexpected sight!  We haven't seen much else for sea life here compared to our sightings on the way down the west coast.  We believe it was a Mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) and read that this species is often see leaping straight up out of the water - possibly to check for prey from above.

Our anchorage on Tuesday night, complete with a beautiful red sunset was at Puerto Balandra - INTREPID II and four other sailboats.  Not a  bad night - a bit rolly at 4 am, but a beautiful setting. Wednesday morning we motored south to La Paz through the well marked channel and managed to find dock space as we mentioned above by Wednesday noon.  Bluewater Cruising member John from Pender Harbour (SV Naida) helped take our lines and we've seen SV Marathon across the way (Hi Nello) and SV Kapuka  but not yet connected with the crews.  SV Tagish (Dorothy and Brian) shared the Balandra anchorage with us and we caught up with them today at the coffee hour at Club Cruceros.  It's great to see fellow cruisers and meet new people and find out where everyone is along the way.  SV Whiteshell II - nice to finally catch up with you again! Hopefully some new photos soon as this is such a colourful city at first impression.

Baja California Sur

Update From Ensenada de los Muertos - Dec. 7

Christmas music is playing in the background as we have a late desayuno (big breakfast) in "the club at the bay of dreams" in Ensenada de los Muertos.  We are catching up on weather and updating this blog -- while looking out at white sand, cacti and palm trees -- pretty strange in some ways.  We wish all our family and friends back in Alberta and BC a return to better weather as it sounds like winter has really settled in.  Perhaps our warm wishes will speed the really bad stuff on its way. 

We spent an extra day in Cabo San Lucas then had a very bouncy motor ride for 3.5 hours to San Jose del Cabo and into the marina.  In hindsight we were feeling the effects of the wide open east Pacific waters when we expected more of a calm, smooth jaunt.  We were even taking a few waves over the bow and into the hatch we'd casually left open.  INTREPID II arrived at this marina at dusk, settled in and took a taxi into the town as the marina is a separate real estate development to the east.  We chose to stay a second day to spend time in the much more tranquil setting of San Jose del Cabo in hopes of finding a way to put more $$ on our TelCel computer stick -- Mexican communications continue to be complicated at times.  The town was setting up its Christmas decorations and we enjoyed walking about.  Carol found a great straw hat in the market and we enjoyed the break.

Here is a map of the Los Cabos and East Cape area, showing the relative distances to Los Frailes and Bahia de los Muertos - rechristened by public relations folks to Bahia de los Suenos.  (I haven't spotted a copyright mark so hope this is indeed for public use.)

Los Muertos is to left and between W and S of compass rose
Los Frailes is south of Cabo Pulmo

The next morning (December 3rd) we headed out for Los Frailes (the Friars) approx. 30 nautical miles or 6 hours or so away.  INTREPID II enjoyed some actual sailing but mostly motor sailing with the jib out as we dodged all the sport fishing  boats and pangas which are here for the world class fishing.  We aren't quite set up for that yet and envy those who are.

Los Frailes was a somewhat rolly but very enjoyable anchorage for December 3, 4 and 5th . We practiced our surf landing in the dinghy, walked the beach, snorkeled with a friend (Jack of SV Waterdog) along the rocky drop off and did boat chores.  As we hadn't been in the water for years, this was a real treat.  It isn't really warm but still pleasant and Kelly took the chance to check the boat bottom and zincs, etc.

Sunday, December 6th, we left Los Frailes early (6:40 am) for this anchorage with had a good start, then experienced increasingly choppy conditions with wind on the nose from the north, north west.  Throughout the day we tacked, rolled up the jib, unrolled it, motor sailed, passing by Punta Pulmo - a great diving site, Los Barailles - a famous kite boarding mecca, and around the point and into the bay of dreams (or bay of the dead - take your pick).  Clouds are settling in as we finish up this note -- hmm - not in the forecasts we just reviewed.  Plans are to head north tomorrow towards La Paz, but likely stopping in one of the bays along the way after "turning a corner" south again.

We are unsure how successful we'll be at sending Christmas cards in time this year, so please know we're thinking of all our family and friends and wishing you well as the holiday season approaches.