November in the Sea

Lisa left.  Sad......I hope she comes 

Swimming with Baby Seals

back soon!  Down to business

on the boat.  Got the sails up

Got Jasdip as ready as I could in

anticipation of the arrival of

La Bohem from Gate 11 in Alameda. Neil and Marion

were sailing down on the Ha Ha

and were headed this way. They

planned to stay in La Paz about

a week or less and then in the 

Sea of Cortez for a few days and

then across to Mazatlan. 

   It was so good to see them. They

Very Cute and Very Fun

parked at Marina de La Paz so

I was a bit far away from them 

but we still managed to get together

a bit.  We then sailed out into

the Sea together.  It is so much fun to

hang with good friends and show

them  some of the things I really 

love about the Sea. We all 

decided to go swimming with the 

seals and stopped at Isla Islotes.

By the time we got there it 

appeared that only Vanessa and I

wanted to go swim with them. I had

Vanessa having the time of  her life with the Seals!

previously been apprehensive

Fiddler Crab Critical Mass

about this experience but this time 

I was bound and determined to get

in the water with them.  So we 

went.  It was SO!!! much fun!! I

think this will be a regular stop from

now on. Especially if the water is 

warm.

    We anchored in  Ensenada Grande

for a day which included a trip to the 

beach where we found "Fiddler

Crab Critical Mass"!  The beach was

literally crawling with these things.

Herds and herds of them. One 

could hardly put ones foot down

without stepping on them.  We explored a bit of the Island and of course it was 

                                                                             time for a cerveza! The water

    was warm and the sun was hot and 

it was a perfect day in the Sea. 

Neil trying not to step on the crabs!

Cocktails and dinner on Jasdip 

Neil donned his scuba gear to check his anchor

  Neil decided to check the anchor
setting on La Bohem.  So he took a
look and thought he found an
additional anchor that had been abandoned.
Well it turned into a f aux salvage
operation.  It was an anchor but a
very old and very rusted one.  Too
bad but the exercise was fun.

La Bohem

Miss Marion not the Librarian

  We took a trip through the
mangroves at Amortahada.  We also
anchored off the mangroves, Never
again.  Those no see um bites
lasted 2-3 weeks and left
scars!! After about a week of
lounging, fishing, eating, swimming,
playing games and generally
relaxing La Bohem departed east
across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan
and south.  They were headed
through the Panama Canal to the
East Coast for Marion's Dad's
birthday.

Back side of Isla San Francisco

    I was all alone, sniff......well
after the shock of one  minute
being surrounded by great folks to
being totally alone on a beautiful
white sandy beach I adapted.  It is
the way of cruising.  The Hello's
are GREAT the GOODBYE'S
are hard.  However it is amazing
how paths continue to cross
months even years later.  That is the
one of the good parts.
   I moved around to the front side of the Island for protection from the
North wind and stayed a
couple of days. Then one morning
I decided it was time to head
back and fix the boat.
I got up very early in
anticipation of arriving
in La Paz before dark.
The sunrise was beautiful
and it was such a peaceful
feeling being out there.

Front side of Isla San Francisco

  I actually sailed a fair
bit of  the way and as I was
nearing San Gabriel Bay
I heard a familiar voice
on the radio and was invited
to stop and hang with
Julie and Bill on Voyager
and Dale and Dena on
Double Dharma.  We wound
up staying a couple of days.
It was fun because one
could be out at the Islands
yet still get the internet!!
I had some parts that I
desperately needed to get
ordered and I hadn't talked
to anyone for almost 2 weeks
so it was fun!

Sunrise

Happy Hour with Dena and Dale

and Julie and Bill

   Back to La Paz.  They say there
is a giant bungee cord that
attaches itself to your boat once
you have visited and it always
pulls you back.  I am beginning
to think that it is TRUE!!!

Back to La Paz

 Lisa was filling the
woodshed and having
one last day with Emma
before we headed out
down the road to
La Paz. She and Ida also
helped me do a bit
of weeding out
in my storage area.
It is always wise and fun
to have help
when doing that sort
of thing.  Other people
bring reason to the
process.  If
I do some every time I go there
I will eventually get it cleared
out or at least smaller. Ida got some
new "styling" shoes among other
things that I have no need for at the
moment. I must admit
it feels good to have some of that
stuff out of there.
     We made a few stops before
San Diego. One in Martinez, to see

Pumpkin Carving across the street from the Party

Joyce and Mark once again.
Then to Pasadena to see a friend
of Lisa's, then we stopped in

These shoes looked a lot better on Ida!!!
The end result of the carving!

Solvang to see Lisa's x-mother in law
and x-sister in law.  Very sweet
people and we stayed the night
as well.  Then off to San Diego

Nice view

to see the Baja Ha Ha  2012 off
on their rally to Cabo San Lucas.
    We arrived a bit late for the
Kick off party but saw a few
folks and agreed to see them
later on the dock. Lis and I just
got a room at the Sheraton
with a balcony view of the Bay.
It's only money and it was so
pretty and convenient.  We visited
2 boats on the docks.  Both doing
well and probably as ready as they
would ever be.  One is never
really ready one just has to GO!






   We were off! We were planning to try to get to
Ensenada that evening.
It is amazing how lost one can
get.  The map we had and
the signs were a bit hard to
read and also a bit confusing.
We were headed through
Tecate as the Border Crossing
there is said to be a bit more
laid back than Tijuana. It is true.
Almost too laid back. I finally
looked at the signs and decided
I had nothing to declare so I chose
that lane.  I just drove right
through.  Well it just didn't seem
right. I think I went around that
area at least 4 times before

Lisa, John and Susan

I finally stopped and asked
Lisa to go and check cause she
needed a visa. Well, yes we did
need to stop for that.  Got it all
taken care of and then were on
our way again.
   Once in Ensenada I was looking
for the Vista Coral Marina.
I think it was right in front
of us but we couldn't find
a place to turn in. Finally
after calling Susan and John
we got directions and found

El Rosario, Turista Motel

the place.  We stayed with those
two that evening and it was
great to see them again. The
crew of Sea Raven moved up
to Ensenada last year and I
miss them in La Paz!
   Next stop was El Rosario. Susan and John recommended the Turista Motel. It was about $40 US per night
and cute and it was around 4-5 pm.
Driving at night in MX is not a good
idea.  No lights, also some say that
the cows get cold and go to the
pavement to lie down on the warm
road for the night and it isn't till
somewhere around sunrise that
they get up and move. There was not a soul at the hotel when we arrived but at around sunset the place filled up. Our trip happened to coincide with the
Baja 1,000. This is an off road rally/
race from Ensenada to La Paz
so the folks usually stop at night
(the support people) and the
places filled up very quickly.

Lisa, waving from the cacti forest.

    The next stop would be
Bahia de Los Angeles. We
headed out and climbed up into
some mountains.  They were
beautiful.  They looked as if
they were made of a bunch
of boulders of all different sizes. Or even marbles. Then
we cut off the main road to
head over to the Sea of Cortez
and the Bay.

Our first glimpse of the Bay of LA

Troubles, worries and cares.

It sure is a beautiful spot.
We headed into town, got some
fuel and then started looking
for a place to stay.  We really
wanted a place on the water.
We also wanted a place on the clear water of the Sea and not the water
of the actual Bay of LA.  So we headed north along the beach. We found signs that lead us to
the Beach Villas where we turned right into the driveway and found

Add caption

these signs. They instructed you
to leave your troubles, worries
and cares in the "basura" (garbage)
cans and that whiners, mean people
and obnoxious children would
not be allowed.  There was a third sign but I am afraid my camera battery
died and I missed it.  We certainly
did like the entrance to the place
decided to stay there.

   We had our own kitchen, our own beach, beach furniture and kayaks.

The view of the Villa from the water

Lisa and I took a long kayak trip
out into the bay.  I think I made her
work harder cause I kept trying to
steer the thing and I slowed us
down (Lo siento sweet sister....it
will never happen again).  Can't remember if we stayed there
two nights or not but I think we did.
It was just so fun to be by the
beautiful water. The place was
very laid back and the owner, Dr
Roger Silliman, gave us a book
he had written about a very colorful
character who actually still lives in
Bahia De Los Angeles.  I think  he
must now be heading for his 90's.
Roger was able to  get these
tales from Herman Hill's memory
so that they would not be lost. They
are tales from the decades of prospecting and searching
for gold in the Baja Desert.  I
haven't finished it yet but it is
quite colorful.  I would like to
take my boat up there and anchor
right outside Roger's Villas.  Who
knows, it could happen.

I made her work harder but she is always up to the task!

Lisa studying our options! She is the navigator!

   Next stop San Ignacio.  We wanted
to go to the Lagoon but we did
not get to San Ignacio until around
4:30 pm or so. We thought we found the right road to the lagoon
but it was paved and I didn't
think the road was paved. Anyway,
we started up the road and then
decided it was getting dark  and
perhaps we should go get a room
before the Baja 1000 folks showed
up and took them
all. There were
a few cars in the parking lot of the
Desert Inn and we got a room. It was
OK but you couldn't open the
window and it wasn't near any water.
The town of San Ignacio is very cute
and the next time I go I think I will
try to find a B&B somewhere
in the town proper. I am afraid
I was getting tired of being in
the car and so was Lisa.  We just
wanted to be somewhere where
we could sleep, swim and hang
in the sun.
   Off we went. We were headed
back across the peninsula to the
Sea of Cortez side again and reached
the water at Santa Rosalia. "We
were hungry and we stopped for a
bite".  Cute little town and
they had a very small marina where,
several folks I know have spent
a good part of their summer.

Breakfast/Lunch Santa Rosalia

I think it is because they do not
charge for electricity and if
one has an air conditioner that
is a huge cost factor!!!
   Food was great and we continued
on towards Loreto.
   On our way to Loreto we
breezed through Muleje.  I wanted
to see what the town looked like.
There was still much destruction
left from the hurricane about 3
years back. At first I thought it
was from Hurricane Paul this year
but was corrected. Santa Rosalia
has groceries and fuel and even a
marina so it would be the place to
 hang or to stop in  frequently for
supplies.

Marina at Santa Rosalia

Muleje

   We then headed for Loreto.
Finally got back to the water
and it was so nice.  Arrived in
Loreto and tried a few places
until Lisa finally struck gold!!
That girl has a sense about
these things and found us the
sweetest and very inexpensive
place.  Lisa, help!! The Gecko!

Baja Beauty

The scenery is almost as pretty as Lisa

The Giggling Marlin

We decided to go out for dinner
in Loreto and the Giggling
Marlin. There was a couple from
boat Seychells there, John and
Vicki and Vickie's sister. As it
turns out she was from Alaska
and Lisa and this woman
knew the same folks in. It always
seems like it is a very small world.
Had a nice dinner and then got up and headed out. Next stop, La Paz.

Steinbeck's Canyon

    We stopped at Puerto Escondito
to see what was happening.
It is a very cool place and is
a Hurricane Hole (safe place
be and leave your boat). I spent some time there last year and the year
before. Pedro has a great
 restaurant and a wonderful
tienda (store) with almost
everything you could imagine.
Then we went across the Highway
to check out Steinbeck's Canyon
for a possible hike.  It wasn't
the height of summer and I
thought it might be fun.  Well
I have never seen so  many
mosquitoes.  Guess they
liked me better than Lisa but
they even went after her. It
was so green that they were
out in force and there was
very little meat in the
vicinity for them to target!!

  We cruised into La Paz got a bottle of wine and went to the beach to
watch the sunset.  It was a long trip but a good one. The beach was
a welcome reward.  We survived!

Home at last!