La Paz, Marina Palmira




Mark and Anne from Blue Rodeo taking off on another excursion... Early Christmas for us!

 


Departing Dinner at Tail Hunters   L-R: (Pacifico) Marisa, Dave,(Panta Rhei) Karen, Larry,(Swift Current) Howard, Lynn,(Blue Rodeo) Mark, Anne, Lisa, Leif





The La Paz Ferry trying it's best to run us over.

 


Isla Espiritu Santo, leaving Swift Current to fix our winlass, early morning.




Isla Espiritu Santo, fascinating cliffs, arriving with the bees...

 The last time I was in La Paz was probably 1962.  Needless to say, I don't remember much from that trip except the huge grouper and yellowtail that we caught.  I was already hooked on fishing at that young age.  This time, we are staying in Marina Palmira, near the entrance to the harbor, and a distant walk into town.  It has been quite warm, 90's - 100's and little wind until today.  We chose to stay here instead of heading out into the Sea, as there are supposed to be some high winds arriving today, and they have.  To pass the time, I actually played tennis with Howard from Swift Current.  He killed me, but it was so fun to actually hit a ball again.  I used Lynn's raquet that was unused at this time.  Then we went to their boat for a dinner of delicious salad and burritos, and photos of their life in general.  Excellente. 
   La Paz is more of a working town, with a Sears, Home Depot and Walmart.  It doesn't have the same flair that many of the mainland towns have, yet it is in many ways more traditional.  The siesta time is obvious, from around 1:00 until 4:00 or so, things definitely slow down.  We have walked and dinghied into town, done a bit of shopping for supplies, and groceries.  There is a peninsula across from us, and it has a lovely beach on which to walk.  We went over there a few days ago to search for some shells, and found a few.  We have spent a week here, and I would have liked to have left days ago, if not for the impending wind.  So, finally we left, on Tuesday, May 3rd for Isla Espiritu Santo, specifically Ensenada de la Raza of Puerto Ballena.  Our friends Howard and Lynn on Swift Current headed out ahead of us and let us know the state of winds, which were building as we set out.  We had the intention of staying in Puerto Ballandra, as they hadn't stayed there and it's beautiful, but the swell was up from the wind, so they headed over to the other island.  We arrived and tried to drop anchor, and alas, our winlass was not working.  Major Bummer.  Leif managed to attach the extra rode and chain to our manson anchor and drop it in 10' of water for the night.  Then, at 7:30 a.m. we upped the anchor by hand and left for La Paz again to see if we can fix it.   This was in part due to the bee swarm that engulfed the boat, making working outside a bit challenging.  It will be a long trip if Leif has to pull up the anchor each morning.  Marina La Paz is downtown, next to all of the chandleries, so we opted to stay there in case we needed supplies.  Arriving at 10:30 a.m. Leif got to work and after hours of head down into the anchor locker, and tracing wiring all over the forepeak, he discovered that it indeed was electrical, and he fixed it!  This in at least 95 degrees and humid.  He's a saint. So, hopefully manana we are off again into the sea for some swimming, snorkeling and nature.  The marina's aren't bad, just sort of retirees playgrounds, and I'm not ready for that yet.  I want to see the sea as they say.  The only bad part is no internet.  Ah how we depend on communications.  Hasta.