La Paz Hiatus

La Paz Hiatus

Although Gratitude has been berthed in La Paz for a week now with excellent internet, we have been laggardly in getting up to date! Somehow while making the last few long days on the way to La Paz, we stopped taking pictures, slipped into Marina Palmira and generally took up city life.

Rounding the Baja Peninsula brought us to Bahia de los Frailes, a lovely quiet beach next to Pulmo Reef , a national park. We took a swim but didn’t bother to launch the dinghy. In the park you’re not supposed to release soapy washwater, let alone flush a toilet overboard. This reef serves as a very successful nursery and sanctuary to a number of fish that used to be caught commercially. At the moment another mega marina is planned on the beach next to it, but a coalition of locals and environmentalists are fighting this development. (http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/It-s-groupers-versus-growth-on-the-beaches-of-Baja-2296353.php)

After dinner we went on deck to look at the stars. It was really dark! Tom used the iPad app called GoSkyWatch to find all the zodiac constellations from Taurus to Sagittarius.

The next day we motored to Bahia des los Muertos, getting there early enough to swim, walk on the beach and inspect the turtle nests. There were 6, roped off, covered with green cyclone fence squares, about 8 by 8, staked and numbered. A local fisherman showed us the dorado he’d caught and we watched him tow his panga up the beach with a rope from a pickup. We had a nice dinner ashore and dinghied back through the FUBAR fleet of powerboats, still straggling in, that had filled in the anchorage. Should I mention their bickering, irritated radio conversations over anchoring too close or Charlie’s chagrin at kicking our new LED flashlight into the water where we watched it shine its last 25 feet down?

The forecast predicted stong northerlies for our last sail with Tom and Lee around Punta Arena de La Ventana, passing the house where Fred and Martine had just arrived with a bunch of friends, and north to La Paz. We admired the beautiful 12 mile beach before they were up to enjoy it! The wind turned out to be great for sailing, the mountains of Cerralvos Island and the mixed geology of the shore fascinating with everything from sandstone to purple volcanic rocks. It was a wonderful end to the long push from San Diego, all together about 900 miles.

The next day our next slip neighbors, a Dana Point, CA couple who have just retired here, instructed us in La Paz 101 and away we went to explore the town! The nearest grocery, Aramburo, known to some as “cow on the roof” was a first stop. Soon Tom and Charlie were operating on the boom to diagnose the reefing problem. We cleaned up the boat, the bikes came out, we taxied around to update our cruising permit, buy a temporary import permit to get the alternator replacement into the country, and found a bridge game, thanks to Tom and Lee via their B & B landlady, at the “other” marina downtown.