Pictures?



Art & Jaye



Sarah & Darryl



Me



Brie en Crute(sp?)

 The People.....then the Food ....
then the fun!! the pictures downloaded
but it is hard to put text to
all of that in the proper order! 
Every day is a learning experience
around here.  Feel free to come and join
me any time.  Let me know when and I
will try to tell you where and hopefully
we can meet up. 
  All in all it was a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and I
felt so lucky to be with friends thinking about my family.  Tomorrow I am going to swim with the
whale sharks.  They are the biggest fish in the
ocean and I have always wanted to do
this.  Film at 11pm.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Just for Fun

Oops! Wrong button......

could. It was so sweet. I am having the most terrible time uploading or downloading pictures to my blog that for the time being I am going to just forget about.  My hopes are that if I write for a while the pictures might download.  Thanksgiving day I went to Art and Jaye's boat for dinner at 3pm.  I was so looking forward to this.  Jay had cooked a turkey and made gravy and stuffing.  Sarah brought stuffed mushrooms (mmmmm...)
and pineapple upside down cake.  I brought champagne, wine and Brie en crute (sp?).  No puff pastry dough on hand but pie crust worked.  I even cut out a palm tree with my palm tree cookie cutter that David Merrick and Cati Merrick had given me for a gift a while back and it looked perfect on top of the Brie.  Hopefully pictures will follow.  We hooted and howeled and enjoyed good company, good food and good wine and just had the best time.

Thanksgiving

Well...there were many Turkey Dinner
Parties all around La Paz.
It was so amazing. The people here
kept wishing us a good Thanksgiving.
They don't celebrate the day per se but did
know that we do and so they were wanting
to make us Gringos all as happy as they

It will probably be La Paz for quite a while.

Marina Palmyra

The anchorage off the city is a lovely place.
It is great holding in 15 feet.  There is quite
the tidal flow and the boats at anchor
frequently face the opposite way the wind
is blowing.  It is very strange.  The current
is often much stronger than the wind and
that is what causes it.  They call it
"The La Paz Waltz".  I was so ready to get to
a place where I could wash, wax, clean
dinghy and do varnish that I made a pest
(nicely of course) of myself until the girls who run
Marina Palmyra finally relented and gave
in.  I am now in a great place to do the
work and spend the holidays. Thank you

 Marcella and Adrianne!
  The other day I took a long walk along the city front on the Malecon.  It is a beautiful sort of cobblestone
walkway that extends all along the city.  Everyone is
out walking or jogging in the Am and Pm.  It isn't
quite as popular during the heat of the day though.
  There are beautiful Bronze Statues all along the
the way.
   The one below I just love. On my way here as I was passing through the Canal De San Lorenzo (the passage between the mainland of Baja California Sur and
Isla Del Espiritu Santo) I was scanning the

 horizon looking for the channel markers when
I saw this huge something hurl itself out of the
water and do 2  360's and then dive back in!  Then
there was another and another....it was amazing.
I had heard that Rays do that but
I had never seen them do it. Wow. Can hardly
wait to see that up close!
 As I was walking back to the boat I passed this
tiny boutique hotel.  This is the kind of place
I look for when I want to go to a hotel.  Reminds
me of my favorite places in Mendocino the Albion.
 

  I am having
Thanksgiving dinner
with Art, Jay, Sarah
and Darryl on
Arione. They too
are in the Marina so I best get the
potatoes a boiling. Happy Thanksgiving to
all.  I know I have a lot to be thankful for!!!

Bahia De Los Muertos Then La Paz

Moon Rise Over Muertos

    Well I was just informed by Doug and Carla on Moondance that there will be many more beautiful places to anchor and see beyond Los Frailles.  I do have much to look forward to.
   I arrived in Los Muertos late that afternoon
and was planning to stay but the weather
looked as though it would turn bad
pretty quickly.  Since I had already been to Los Muertos and the bay was rough I didn't want to try to get the dinghy motor on it or
for that matter try a beach landing and take off  with the dinghy at night.  I decided to hang on the boat and leave again the next morning.




Red Sky In the Morning Sailors Take Warning

 The next morning the sky was deep crimson. I headed out right at sunrise for La Paz.
 I had plan a,b and c.  One was to anchor in
Ballandra Bay at the mouth of the La Paz
Channel.  It was still light enough so I proceeded
down the Channel.
    I passed that big ROCK and was glad that a)  it was daylight and b) that is was lit up at night.
   It was really a beautiful afternoon...fairly long
day thought and I was glad to get in.
  I anchored off of Marina De La Paz for the night
and slept like a rock (as in Rocna).  The next morning I decided  Iwas a bit close to the
channel and moved the boat closer to shore.

    My next spot just happened to be right next to



Sunrise Over the Life Raft

Camelot.  It was good to see Laurie and Tom

again.  They seem to be adjusting just fine.

I have tried to get a spot at one of the Marinas

but they are all pretty full.  Who da thunk.  Anyway

I headed into town to just scope out a bit

had a margarita and then back to the boat. 

On my way back I saw a Passport 40 anchored fairly close to me so I checked it out.

Come to find out that it is none other than Rondeau

Bay.  She once belonged to Jim Ellis formerly of

Gate 11.  This fellow was the second owner since

Jim.  What a small world.

   I visited for a bit then home to Jasdip.



Coastline Around the Tip of Baja





   Coctail hour and evening breezes.  Ah Bombay,
tonic and lime.  The nectar of the Gods.
Slept like a baby and now I am going to explore again and see what kind of trouble I can get into
today.  Adios me amigas.



Moon Rise Over La Paz





Sunrise Over La Paz



Wouldn't want to come up on this puppy in the dark.

Los Frailles

 Well I have finally arrived.  This place is what
I have been waiting for. The water is 89 deg
and you can see for miles underwater,
The color of the water is just beautiful
and there are fish everywhere.
   There are several Palapas to pick from
while enjoying the beach and maybe a picnic.
I was hard pressed to leave but
I guess there will be more places.  I really can't
remember why I left.  Perhaps it will come to me
someday.  This was my first beach landing
with my dinghy as well as my first beach launch.
Sounds simple to most of you I know

but the truth is that it can be quite

lethal.  I actually did it twice.  Once that day

and again the next morning.

  There was a truck that came by two or three

times a week.  Literally a pickup truck with ice chests in the bed. There were fresh homemade

tortillas, a few cucmbers, I got a banana and a 1/2 gallon of milk. It was a great reason to do a

dinghy landing.  Kim, a fellow single hander, got

some chicken and 1 homemade tamale.  There

was only one left.  Guess the fisherman beat us

to it.  Apparently the truck and driver are furnished by the government as a service to the fisherman

so they can stay and fish and still eat.

   It was so much fun swimming off the side

of the boat. We had a few dinners on the

boats.  One night I made Tacos with

beef Arrachera that I picked up at

Costco of all places, in Cabo(something I must learn

to make).  Then coctails on Corvedae,

an Island Packet 36,  Nona and Steve.

Nona is a retired Operating room nurse.

 

Nothing in common there.

   Alas Arione showed up after having all of their

fuel lines replaced in San Jose Del Cabo.

Very glad to see them as I was worried when I left.

Next thing I know it was morning and

they had decided to leave after listening to

the weather report. It wasn't so good. I can now get reports on the Single Side Band  but at the time I was having

a bit of trouble getting that channel so I decided

to get out of Dodge.  Well maybe that's why I

left........it was enough to get me going. 

   So sadly I pulled up stakes (my anchor) and slipped out of Dodge.  Headed for Las Muertos.

So sorry to leave...I hope I find some places just as beautiful.

Cabo

The Arch at Cabo

We rounded the corner and anchored.  It was very rolly and windy but apparently it was also  very dangerous in the marina.  Too expensive as well. Launched the dinghy and set off for the Ha Ha parties.  The beach party was wonderful.  The food was GREAT!!!  Tuna shishcabobs and pork arrachera. It was also a tremendous deal, 12.00. Then the awards ceremony was next 

on the 6th.  We of course got 3rd place......as did most of the fleet.  Ben left the next day but before he left he did so much work around the boat it was amazing.  I really felt bad cause we finally got somewhere warm and he had to leave.  

   He has a friend of a friend in Cabo who did take him to the airport and I got to meet him on the 5th

Big Fish

of November.  

  Norm and Ellie got a hotel room and we 

met back up at the Awards Ceremony.

  I must admit it was good to have my boat back

to myself.  It was so salty.  I finally went

to Marina Baja and rented a slip for

2 days.  Got my boat washed and did

a bunch of provisioning.

  The day I was going to the market there was 

a very nice man at the dinghy dock by himself.

He invited me to breakfast and we chatted.  Wound  up going to Home Depot and Costco by bus.

We of course got too much stuff for the bus and 

got a cab home.  Then he cooked me dinner

on his boat. He is also single handing.  I am 

actually very surprised at the number of

single handed folks there are out here.

Good for me I guess.                                                              While at the dock in Cabo Jorge washed my

The Pirates Invaded Constantly

                                                                                                my boat for me.  I gave him Jam and Black Seal and Coke and the next day he brought me a 

proper hand fishing line with leaders and all and

showed me how to tie them on and told me which 

lures would catch which fish. He also brought me

a breakfast burrito and helped me with my spanish.  He became a very good friend.  So nice and always watching out for me.

His picture is below.

  My dinner on Kim's boat, Philiosophy,  was excellent.  What a great cook. I am afraid I was a bad influence on him (are we surprised) and he wound up with a hangover from the wine while for me it was an

average evening. I left the next day and thought I would meet up with him in San Jose Del but when he came by I had taken  advantage of some folks that rented a car and were headed to TelCel for a Banda Ancha (internet usb device) so I didn't get back until late.  Anyway I do hope to meet up again.

I will be leaving SJDC in the am for Frailles.  

   It has been great being here.  Lots of familiar characters as well as some wonderful new ones. 

  The local hang out  here is "The Container".  A great little place right by the Harbor Master's office.  I actually closed the place down the other night.  I actually stayed up until 9:30. 

Ben Was The Fisherman

I keep going back and forth between Cabo 

and San Jose Del Cabo...have patience with me. 

Hopefully once I catch up I will remember where

I am currently.  This is the life!!!!

    So on the way home from the Container I met 

these two guys.  We chatted for a couple of minutes

and they told me how much fish they had caught and 

either they offered or I asked (can't remember) to give me some FRESH tuna.  Are you kidding.....I drove them 100yards in the dinghy and they gave me two huge pieces of ahi tuna.  

  I invited Jay and art over the next evening  and we had Sushi, Tuna rolls, sashimi and seared ahi tuna on 

a bed of lettuce with sesame ginger dressing and 

toasted sunflower seeds and sesame seeds,

wasabi and pickled ginger.  

Best dinner I have had in a very long time.

The Grand PooBah and his Sweetie La Donna Demonstrating the  Endless Kiss for the other contestants

Jorge Mi Amiga in Cabo

who joined us and just seemed

to need to socialize.

  Guess I will go take some pictures and head 

back to the boat. Soon Amigas.

          

I

Bahia Santa Maria

 Well, Here I am at San Jose Del Cabo.
I am finally back at Tommy's Barefoot Cantina
for guacomole and Chili Verde Burrito.  It is as good as I remember!  I am way behind in my blog.cause I am still trying to figure out the connection
stuff.  For those of you who haven't received any e-mails from me (David Foy) I cannot send from crit @ svjasdip.us.  I can receive but not send.  I am working on it.
  So I will "breeze through until now.  There was a wonderful party at BSM.  I wandered around and interrupted this crab who was guarding his territory.
He actually snapped at me.
  Ellie and Norm enjoying one of my breakfasts.
And a picture of the fleet in BSM.
   It was starting to get warm but the water was
still 74 deg.  and it just wasn't swimming time yet.
   When we left to head to Cabo there was no
wind so we pretty much motored most of the time.
  Just outside of Cabo the wind went from 4 knots to 30 knots of course on the nose.  It took us forever to get around the corner but we were ready to be there.

Turtle Bay

First stop, Turtle Bay.  Reminds me a bit of

Lake Powell.  At least the hills and the

color.  Of course we arrived at night

but it was somewhat familiar since I

had been there before.  We safely anchored and slept for a couple of hours then went into town

to look around.  We were thinking of having

lunch there.  I walked by the place I had been before which was great but I thought we should

try a new place.  Wound up at Enrico's for a

margarita.  I think the whole fleet decended on

the place at once.  Poor folks, no two glasses were the same and I am afraid it was just a bit of lime

juice with no tequila and they were very busy so it took a bit of time.  We decided to go back to

the Mother Ship and have lunch.  We did however contribute to the local economy.  I am pretty sure

they make enought on the three days the Ha Ha is there to live on all year. 

    The rest of the day was a lazy rest day(sort of) and we didn't have to get up till 7 am.  I was pooped.  I think my crew slept better than I did.

I stopped asking Norm how he slept cause I was jealous of his answer.  I am convinced that man can sleep anywhere and probably through anything.

   The next day was the Pot Luck BBQ on the beach.  I spent all morning making deviled eggs

only to have them smushed in the dinghy. 

I brought food for us to eat, ice and wine cause

I remembered the last time there wasn't

much food.  Well...was I surprised!!!  There was enough food to feed all 600 folks and have some

left over!  It was a great gathering. The surf was really nonexistant even though when Richard

(the Leader aka PooBah of the Ha Ha)  wound up

in the water.  We came later and the tide was way out.

i

Ellie and Norm went back on a Panga and Ben and I came back with the dinghy. 
  An early night for me cause the next leg started at
730am.
     The sunsets and sunrises get prettier and prettier
as you go south.  The weather was warm but not
really hot yet and the water temp was only 75.  No swimming yet.

Where do I start?

Made it to Cabo San Lucas. It is very warm here and the water is

81 degrees. Finally found warm.  How did I get here you ask, well I will try to explain but it is all a bit blurry.
   I picked up Norm and Ellie at the airport and we headed for Mission Bay where we stayed one more night.
Then off to San Diego Bay to a Marina on Shelter
Island.  We had a great spot for the weekend.
Very close to West Marine and the parties as well
as places to get provisions.  Provisioned the boat with
the greatly appreciated help of Mr Jesse.  We were
able to get a guest dock right next to him that weekend.
  It was a great spot and very pretty in spite of being a boat yard.


We pretty much filled the

boat with stuff and
were off to the West Marine Kick Off Party
in our brand new Baja Ha Ha XVII Jasdip hats
and Shirts,  complements of Norm and Ellie.
They saw to it that we had something that was
cute and that matched.  Our green shirts and
flamingo pink Jasdip hats.

NT ET

Eric and Marilyn

Lobster in a Pot

 The motley crew just before the start.
Exhausted but happy. Then out to the bay
and start line. It had finally stopped raining.
I swear that from the second day
I arrived in San Diego it rained every night
and every morning.
  Still cloudy but not wet.
As I recall we had light winds and motor sailed out to the ocean and then sailed.
  Ben taught me how to rig the cruising spinnaker
and we got to fly that for a while even.
  The fact that you can't see all of the boat
in the picture is because the swells were a bit large.

  It was smooth sailing for quite a while.

  The next two days, or maybe almost three
were spent rolling with the waves and trying to hold on.  It was quite the exciting ride.  Lots of wind and big swells. Pictures never do it justice.

We ate well and nobody got hurt so I consider that to be a great Leg!