La Paz Layover

    

View of La Paz from the large, privately owned peninsula known as the Mogote.

March 12, 2012


As our friend Ian on Salish Sea has pointed out, you can get sucked into the La Paz vortex. In this life afloat we’re always home and often don’t really need to be anywhere between visitors. Somehow of all the places we’ve lingered, this town fits us best. The life on the docks is easy, with amiable fellow boaters, many of whom are Northwesterners or friends of friends. Befriended by Carol Dyer of Casa Tuscany we’ve connected with a wonderful group of ex-pats who live in town, several of whom have become my Bridge buddies. In addition there are lots of interesting local events like Carnaval that keep the town jumping. Just take a walk out to the Malecon for entertainment any time!  

Towering condos surround the pool at the Mogote development, viewed

from the city, a mysterious cluster of buildings and half finished shells 

reputedly stopped by financial difficulties. From inside it's a nice view,

 an expensive, artificial oasis in the desert.

The last two weeks have flowed by as easily as the captions relate.  I played a bit of Bridge, enjoyed lunch over on the Mogote’s big condo development and enjoyed another trip to Todos Santos, this time by bus. Last weekend Diane returned to Salish Sea to rejoin Ian. She fed us a grand dinner with the perk of a Boggle game. Everyone kindly played though it’s not a favorite except for me.

J-42 owners, Teri and Rob, kidnapped us in their dinghy for drinks.

Casakeeper Carol and the Outlaws, Kirk and KC start on the hors d's.

On Monday evening wild whooping Ahoys were heard on the dock as we dined below.  Our outlaw shipmates Kirk and KC had driven into town, scootered over from their camper, tracked down our slip, and were soon partaking of our best German sausages!  The next evening we had them and Carol for a much classier dinner, yellowfin tuna, a wonderful time.

We returned to Balandra Bay with Kirk and KC for an early season (read cool) snorkel. The fish were amazingly varied and coral healthy. Charlie patrolled the swimmers from the dinghy and took pictures. You can see Gratitude in the distance. Pelicans, cormorants and Caspian terns kept a wary eye on us.

Large breeding male in photo above intrigued Charlie.

Today we finished up the cutter jib bag project, my attempt to achieve deck storage for a smaller jib. Unfortunately it took two tries. Tomorrow we are happily headed back out to the islands and the northern Sea of Cortez for several weeks mostly on the hook.