La Paz - Chapter Dos
The adventure continues here in La Paz. I am getting quite comfortable in this quaint town. The photo here is from the malecon (aka: boardwalk) which is actually closed now that Baja Sur has gone back up to level 5 for COVID precautions. You might be interested to know that this pandemic is definitely being taken serious by the officials here.
From arranging boat projects, doing boat projects, taking a desert hike or two to making my way down the malecón for groceries having the sun shining to light the way has made things quite enjoyable. I am digging La Paz.
It's been almost two months of being here. I've met new friends, began the Sailing Wahine Toa women's sailing group, have had a land adventure over to Todos Santos on the pacific side of the peninsula, and have spent a couple of nights out on the hook. I even recently helped a couple make the crossing to Mazatlan. And, there's more so keep reading.
I'll begin at the beginning...
Another Oregonian here by the name of Scott is one of the first I met upon arrival. He and I have friends in common back in Portland but had not met until we found ourselves on the same dock here in La Paz. A friendship was born. It's been nice to have someone from home to hang out with.
Scott, myself and one other took Scott's boat out for a night at anchor. Martina, the 'one other', had never been sailing before. Scott and I were determined to win her over! For this trip we went to anchor in Bahia San Gabriel on Isla Espiritu Santo just a couple of hours sail or motor from La Paz.
On this day there wasn't quite enough wind. We motor sailed on up to our anchorage for the night. When we arrived we came upon the huge frigate colony that lives there! Boy where they out en mås. See the video below.
How mesmerizing to watch this flock circle and dance.
During the daylight we took paddle boards to buzz around the bay for the day, got right up and personal with the frigate colony, then enjoyed a relaxed evening making dinner.
Sitting in a cockpit on a clear night eating my dinner in the dark is one of favorite activities.
Following dinner, off to bed. During the night the anchorage proved to be a bit too bouncy to let us sleep however we survived. Our lack of REM didn't ruin our following day though!
Once we loaded up on coffee we pulled in the hook then got underway. The winds were perfect FINALLY! We threw up both sails and headed in the direction of home. On our way we decided to make a stop in Ballandra. It's a place I've been to several times and have told you about in previous letters. Ya know, the one with the balanced rock tourist attraction.
At Ballandra the paddle boards came out again. I took a nice long swim and dug in the sand where I found live sand dollars. Super cool!
Martina, our new friend, was due to begin volunteering with a turtle rescue the day after we got back. Scott and I took the opportunity to 1) spend more time with Martina, 2) have a little land adventure, 3) scope out Todos Santo, & 4) watch a turtle release. Scott rented a car and away we went.
It was about an hour and a half for us to drive across the peninsula. The first stop we made was to Cerritos, a little surf beach. Both Scott and I had brought our boats past this little town when we came down the Pacific. I must say that looking out at that ocean from land and reliving my offshore experience was definitely surreal, and deeply gratifying.
As we watched the surfers we were also afforded a bigger scene... there was a fantastic show of whales breeching further out. We estimated 10- 15 whales in total. They were so playful, jumping and splashing. Sure didn't see that when I was sailing down! So thrilled to have caught it now.
Next we ventured into town for some food and a walk about. This is definitely a tourist town but generally not as busy as some of the other well known Mexican spots.
I've actually been here to Todos Santos once before a couple of years ago when I helped with a delivery of a Morgan 36' from Puerto Vallarta to La Paz. It was nice to be back and see something else familiar.
And, yes... that does say Hotel California!
Next thing we knew it was turtle time! Martina was signed up to spend one week assisting in the process of collecting turtle eggs that had been laid under the dark of night, place them into new nests that were in a 'green house' where they would stay warm enough to incubate fully and once they began to emerge these little lovelies would be rounded up and released once the sun went down.
If you are wondering why it's important for this to happen after dark, it's so the seagulls won't be around to see these morsels and gobble 'em up! The coyote's also find turtle babies to be a tasty treat. Poor coyote and seagull, yay baby turtles.
As we waited for the release we sat in the glory of a beautiful sunset over the Pacific. Not a horrible view, right?
It kept getting better...
After the turtle release happy ending we drove Martina to where she was to stay and said our good-byes. Scott and I headed home.
This was Scott's first time driving in Mexico. He did a bang up job... Ha! Actually he did great and our walkabout was a welcomed detour from our usual days in La Paz.
Another recent adventure that came out of nowhere was when I received an invitation to help deliver a sweet Freedom 45 from La Paz to Mazatlan.
Meet Ragtime… Owned by Dave and Karen Wilson
Now, a few years back I made my first passage from mainland Mexico (Puerta Vallarta/ La Cruz) to La Paz. Now I was getting to go the other way.
Dave and Karen have been cruising these waters on Ragtime for some time and I was thrilled to be on board. Dave and I passed the time giving each other s*#t constantly while Karen shook her head and laughed.
Karen and I discovered we had a couple of cool things in common: we both had practiced the same form of Tai chi and we also both enjoyed playing Rummikub. Each night there would be a friendly match of Rummikub before bed and on occasion also a bit of tai chi. Score!
Ragtime is spacious and very, very comfortable vessel. This Freedom 45 sports a center cockpit which is what I hope to have one day. Also on board is a generator that is extremely useful when you've got more things using up power and you don't want to run your diesel. There were more bells and whistles for me to drool over, too much to list. Dreaming on...
During our passage two really exciting things happened: Dave caught a marlin & I swam with a sea turtle! I jumped in to get a closer look at the turtle to make sure it wasn't tangled in fishing line since it didn't dive down when either the boat or I approached. This sweet creature let me come right up to it! Luckily no line could be seen but we wondered what was up since it was not super reactive to my presence. I didn't bother it too long, just for enough time to scope it out for unwanted hindrances.
Another sweet feature of Dave and Karen's boat is the swim step. Once I got back to boat it was easy enough to climb on board. Another favorite activity of mine appears to be swimming in the middle of large bodies of water. Weird, I know!
Now let me tell you about that marlin! It was huge, as you can see in the photo. And HEAVY! Dave had to call me up from my bunk to assist in getting the fish on board. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the biggest meat eater and get a bit squeamish when it comes to fishing or hunting. However, for this I had to step up and help out. He needed some muscle. :-) I couldn't let him down!
What a wild thing to bring such a beast up to a boat, keep out of the way of it's strong bill, lasso it's tail and haul it onboard. I won't talk about the killing though. Turned my stomach.
Dave had never caught such a huge fish. As he filleted it both the fridge and the freezer filled almost to overflowing with marlin steaks. The next several meals included Dave's catch. I got over it quite quick!
On this passage we also witnessed the sun set on 2020 and rang in the new year with the sunrise! Simply glorious. I can't think of any better way to celebrate the end of one year and the start of the next.
We reached Mazatlan without a hitch, arriving just at sun down, and decided to anchor out instead of going into the anchorage near old town. We saved that for the next morning. More marlin (ack!), more Rummikub.
The next morning we were up and at'em early, motoring toward the harbor. Once we were re anchored in the protected area the group of us took to town. I got to spend a full day hanging out in Mazatlan with the crew before getting on a plane that Dave and Karen generously paid for. Back to La Paz I will go...
On my final day aboard Ragtime Dave and I were putting the main sail away and got into some banter, as we do. I struck with something quite witty. He looked right at me and said, "I'm gonna miss you". Dave, I miss you too! Miss ya both.
Another huge 'adventure' from this crossing was when I was tasked with removing a fishing hook from the ear of one of the sailors from our buddy boat.
This hooked ear belongs to Linda. Her husband Walter & her also have a beautiful boat called Pellucidar. Linda found herself in this position after a fishing line swung free of it's rod and snagged her. This was on the back deck of the boat as it rocked in the sea. She had to hold on tight until Walter could hear her calling then bring up a tool to cut her free.
Walter couldn't bring himself to potentially cause pain to his lovely wife so they waited until we were all anchored in Los Muertos and asked me. Linda had great confidence that I would be up to the task of removing the hook. If I couldn't she'd be required to get a ride to the nearest town with medical facilities which would hold us all up for a time and potentially have us miss our weather window to cross safely to Mazatlan. No pressure!!!
"I can do this. I can do this. I can do this."
During this excision I got to wield a scalpel for the first time. I did attempt to give the hook a good pull but, as expected, the barb was too buried. Those things really work! And, no we could not simply push it through the other side. The hook was only buried in skin, not cartilage.
I understand that I appeared calm, cool, and collected on the outside. On the inside I was freaking out just a wee bit! Yet these are the things that I need to be able to face when there isn't any medical close by. Of course this task was on the lighter end of the spectrum. A good place to start!
It only took a tiny incision and a twist of the hook to pull it free. Linda was a rockstar! With only ice to numb the ear she said the one brief bit of pain felt was when I accidentally pinched her ear with the forceps. Whoops! With the surgery successful we were all relieved when it was done but probably none more than me. No, not even Linda...
Back in La Paz...
I've met a new BFF, Aimee (pronounced 'Ah may'). She has led me on many walks through town, a few hikes, and introduced me to several of her favorite places to eat. She's not been here too much longer than I have so we are definitely learning more together. She's also keeping me motivated on practicing my Spanish.
Aimee and her partner, Tony, rented a car one weekend and invited me to a favorite beach of theirs. We snorkeled on a reef a mere few steps into the water where Aimee and Tony taught me about picking up sea urchins with tongs to then harvest Uni, a delicacy in Japan. We cracked open the shells, cleaned out the yucky bits, then enjoyed fresh sashimi along with the sushi Aimee prepared in advanced. Quite the experience! All I could think about was sweet revenge from the time I stepped on one of those spiney bastards!
Aimee and I also enjoy paddle boarding together. We left right from the marina our first time out and found our way into the huge bay. A pod of dolphins came right up the channel where we caught up with them as they were feeding.
Next up Aimee and I will complete out Open Water PADI dive certification. So very excited for that although snorkeling is also pretty darn amazing.
A recent 'wow' moment I got to have was swimming with whale sharks! Yes, WHALE SHARKS! These docile creatures glide along at a surprisingly quick clip with their mouths agape loading up on krill. That may sound a bit boring however swimming next to this creature was majestic!
Being in Mexico for this long I am feeling more and more comfortable. That 'stranger in a strange land' feeling is starting to dissipate. The cultural differences I get to experience here are totally perspective changing and enriching. To say I feel blessed would be an understatement.
That's all for now. Thank you all for following along. Until next time...
With you on the Journey,
Cheryl