Life is good...all is well in La Paz

Hola nuestros amigos!  The days seem to melt one into the other as we continue our daily routine in the City of Peace, but it is time for an update and to wish you all well as you cope with winter in various climates.

We are feeling better each day, although neither of us has totally shaken the deep-seated cough which catches hold and doesn't let go.  Our stock of Fisherman's Friend cough drops are quite depleted, although there are all sorts of lozenges and cough syrup as backup.  You would think with all the sunshine and warm weather we'd bounce right back - that still is the plan! This appears to be a week of milder winds, or almost no winds and flat seas. Several boats are taking advantage of this to travel to the nearby islands for a few days and enjoy the lack of swell and bouncy anchorages...how boring!  (We'd love to head out too, but still have a week of classes to complete.)  There are many "puddle jumpers" who have or will be setting sail down the coast towards Cabo San Lucas to make the jump to the Marquesas.  We wish them all fair winds and not too many squalls along the way.

Gathering for safety meeting

Last week we attended an important 'safety meeting' on Dock 3. While proper lighting and safety items were on the formal agenda, there were also great appies, good conversation and excellent music as the late afternoon melted into a warm, pleasant evening.  Mary Lee of SV Sea Story entertained us with her lovely voice as she accompanied herself on keyboards; she was soon joined by Chris of SV Ladybug and Jack from SV Waterdog.  Ian of SV Salish Sea brought out his harmonica and added his voice to various renditions of sea shanties.   There was even some spontaneous dancing along the dock as the serendipitous evening drew to a close.

"The Last of Barrett's Privateers"

Chris, Jack and Mary Lee - great musicians

On Saturday we rode our bikes to the 'Postal Park' to check out the organic market and crafts for sale. This event is a newer addition to La Paz and offers the chance to buy organic produce, meat, deserts, bagels, as well as admire jewelry, pottery, artwork and other hand made items.  Now that we both have baskets on our bikes, we can carry a small amount of provisions home with us.  It was a treat to have fresh cherry tomatoes and a mixed green salad on our return.

Organic market at 'postal park'

Our Spanish lessons continue at Se Habla...La Paz.  We are now studying with Alexa.  It remains a challenge to express ourselves with fluency only in the present tense and to recall an abundance of verbs. Today we were composing a diary of the day's activities and are finding this an intriguing exercise.  Our last class is this Friday; we've promised ourselves to continue to practise daily.

Our transportation - complete with milk carton baskets!

On Sunday we moved INTREPID II over to slip 409 on Dock 4.  The marina office had asked us to move citing a 'reservation' for our spot on Dock 5.  A short trip and we are resettled in our slip, which is the same as what we had last year for a week.  We've now reached the top of the wait list for Danny of Pacific Threads.  He arrived yesterday afternoon to take measurements and discuss some additions to our canvas inventory.  As much as we didn't think we needed side curtains for the cockpit, this season we did feel the wind and cold on our overnight passages and have decided it would make life more comfortable.   So that task is underway and we look forward as always to Danny's cheerful approach to his work and his excellent workmanship.

Later today we are treating ourselves to a concert at La Concha restaurant with Mark Mulligan.  He is a 'singer and writer of beach ballads' a la Jimmy Buffet and donates much of his concert revenue to local charities. It should be an enjoyable evening of good music in the open air palapa restaurant.

Hasta luego...INTREPID II back to "22A".

March already!!

Sunday morning, March 4th already!  We are in the cabin enjoying a steaming cup of tea.  Listening to the second day of the latest northern 'blow' with winds gusting to 18 or 20 knots at times. INTREPID II is being pushed and pulled against the dock as small waves slap at the stern.  However, this is occuring under beautiful sunny skies and warm temperatures with colourful flowers in bloom. So what is our problem? There's been a small glitch in paradise.  Kelly is hopefully on the mend from a heavy-duty cough and congestion which came up suddenly last weekend; Carol couldn't quite escape her turn.  So lots of tea, juice, soups, meds and resting this past week.

We did attend our 3rd, 4th and 5th Spanish classes.  Hving the bikes is great with only a ten minute ride, even if we do have a headwind at times.  The ride along the malecon is a wonderful vista as the La Paz harbour is an extensive one.  When the tide is out we can see shorebirds on the rocks and appreciate just how shallow the waters are in places. Our heads have been a bit fuzzy all week, so we haven't absorbed as much Spanish as we'd like. A steady diet of new verbs and irregular conjugations requires some concentration and definitely much practice and review.  Our instructor, Marco, seems amused by the somewhat convoluted phrases we provide for our homework.  These are the things we need to know and it is helpful to learn the correct phrasing and placement of words.

Example:  "I count the expenses of our vacation to find if we have the money to extend our stay for one more week."  I came up with this sentence because we decided to add more time to our stay in La Paz once we were hit with this 'bug'.  There is a very friendly, helpful staff person in the marina office who is very patient with my attempts to converse in Spanish, but I lost her when I first tried to say we wanted to stay two more weeks.  Now I'll be able to see if she understands me when I have all the verbs in the right place.  We are using more complete sentences at times with the locals. As a treat we had planned to attend the "9th Festival de Cine Todos Santos" which also offered showings in La Paz.  Hearing and seeing the films and having the backup English subtitles would have been a great experience; perhaps next year!

S.V. Salish Sea arrived in the marina a few days ago. It was good to finally see Ian this season.  We've had a chance to catch up with him and his latest single-handing adventures, while we relaxed in our cockpit.   We traveled up to Marina Costa Baja Friday afternoon to visit with Anita and Jay, of S.V. Karina C and admire the sunset from the pool area - quite a site.  This condo/marina complex is impressive.  We've heard it referred to as "marina costa-lotta"; apparently weekly or longer stays are somewhat more reasonable.  All is relative!  The setting is right out of a Conde Nast magazine with  infinity pools, colourful poolside chairs and Carol's favorite, leaf shaped lounge chairs sitting in a few inches of water looking out into the harbour.  A few photos to warm up your winter days:

Poolside at Marina Costa Baja

Colour and form 

Great view for sunsets

I could get used to this!

We enjoy seeing friends from home and sharing our experiences and plans.  Everyone is on a slightly different schedule it seems, so these opportunities are to be savoured.  Thanks for the tasty Italian dinner Jay and Anita!  Fair winds as you head northward on your lovely Karina C.

As soon as we feel up to speed we hope to take in the organic market near the Post Office, check out the Whale museum and the anthropology museum, enjoy some more tunes by Laura and the Baja Boys.  Eventually we will get to the galleria/deli/patio spot called La Encantada to listen to Felipe and his jazz trio "7 Clouds". There are still those boat projects on the list - "poco y poquito" - little by little.

Sending you sunshine and best wishes from lovely La Paz.