Jan 3rd to Jan 10th, Still in La Paz : )

Yep we are still here!!  They say La Paz is like quick sand, once you arrive you get stuck.  Well we did.  It hasnt been all play, we have been working on RainShadow, rented a car and drove to Todos Santos, worked on RainShadow, visited friends, worked on RainShadow, played games had cocktails, worked on Rainshadow, provisioned for our next adventure, worked on RainShadow and watched the SeaHawks!!! and worked on RainShadow, I think you get the idea, we have been working mostly and we are soooo ready to be done and move on to our next destination!!

 Here are some pictures of our stay here in La Paz, we will be departing for Mazatlan sooooon, I hope!!

El Cardon ( big catus)

The Malecon, La Paz

The Malecon, La Paz

The Malecon, La Paz

The Malecon, La Paz

Workin in small places!

Off with your lid!

I can get it!

Look what happens when I leave him alone....

Thats the Marina we have been at since December 22nd

December 22nd to January 3rd, Marina Palmira

Our time in La Paz is spent, working on the boat, reuniting with other sailing friends we haven’t seen in some time and enjoying the holidays.  We attended a great Christmas party at Steve and Anna’s and met up with some great friends and met new ones.  Thanks Steve and Anna for such a great time and Doug and Carla on S/V MoonDance it was so nice to see you and we will see you in Mazatlan!!   S/V SeaHorse with Cam and Janie had to leave the day after Christmas, we will sail with them again next fall, we will miss them!  Here are some photos of our stay in La Paz.  Once we leave here we will head across the Sea of Cortez for Mazatlan, this will be a overnight trip. 

 


Christmas Party

  

Our Tree

  

Christmas Eve

Casa Anna







December 22nd, to Ensenada Grande, Isla Espiritu Santo to La Paz, 27nm

Big waves, not much wind ended up being calmer as we got close to La Paz

The ride was not fun,  it was blowing pretty good and the waves were big right on the beam.  We had the jib up and were healed over pretty good, I hope I get use to the healing like this and learn to trust Rainshadow and knowing she is not going to tip and  If she did we would be pulled right back up because she has a nice heavy keal.  The waves calmed down the closer we got to La Paz, it got hotter outside and the wind also calmed down.  On our way in up the channel several dolphins were playing off our bow, I love to watch them.  We arrived at Marina Palmera behind the SeaHorse and each of us got a slip in nice calm waters.  Its nice to be back here, but hopefully not to long.

December 21st Isla San Francisco to Ensenada Grande, Isla Espiritu Santo,19 nm

Big waves right on the nose, wind 7-12knots, motored with the jib up.

Departed Isla San Fransico around 10am, the waves are still pretty big and bouncy here, we were hoping things would calm down, but really didn’t until we arrived.   Ensenada Grande.  We worked around the boat and enjoyed the suddenly beautiful calm tourqoise waters on this amazing sunny hot day.  Once SeaHorse arrived we all took our dink for a cocktail ride.  S/V Meridian arrived and anchored, we haven’t seen them since Algadones, Marina Real.  We talked to them for a bit then headed to the beautiful rock cliffs that look as though they have been melted on the tops and hollowed out holes everywhere.  The holes were cave like with the tops melting over them.  They are amazing to see,  it makes you wonder what happened here, maybe millions of years ago.  The scenery here is amazingly beautiful, cliffs with green catus and other tropical plants growing out of the cliffy sides, small white sand beaches lie between some of these cliffs.  The water is so pretty and you can see to the bottom as if looking through glass.  On our ride we saw fish and a baby stingray swimming right below us.  We decided to collect wood and have a campfire on the beach this night, but as Cam and Janie were collecting the wood, Brian and I held the dink in place, the waves were trying to push us up against rocks.  Once they got in and we brought the wood to the beach and unloaded it we relized it would not be safe to go back later for the fire.  The waves were large and there would be a good chance we could overturn the dink if its dark and we cant see the waves  to keep the nose of the dink into them.  The winds really picked up and again it was a sleepless night with Cormels. 

December 20th, Isla San Francisco

Another Cormel (night wind from the south)

 

We moved last night from the North side of the bay to the south side. S/V Southern Cross also moved to the otherside of the bay last night, S/V Aka and another boat were already over on the south side.  Seahorse stuck it out and didn’t move over here until later in the afternoon.  They took Southern Crosses spot as they headed to La Paz, then S/V Whirlwind came in and a boat from Moorings a rental company from La Paz.  This guy dropped his anchor right over ours, he was just yards from us.  Brian told him about the Cormels and another one was expected, he was right inline with us and if he drags he will hit us.  He pretty much ignored Brain and stayed there, didn’t even pull back on his anchor when he dropped it.  We were not to happy, we took the dink (our dinghy) to seahorse and had a few drinks, aka came over and gave all of us fresh fish they had caught that day.  The moon was amazing!!  Suppose to be a eqlipse tonight, the moon is huge you can see it as if you are looking in a telescope…beautiful.  The moorings boat moved not to much further away, but a little better, we didn’t sleep real well, the cormel wasn’t as bad as the night before but it still blew pretty good.  Earlier in the day four of our boats were all pointed with our bows in, see the picture, this is very strange as usually we are all swinging the same direction. 

December 19th, Isla San Francisco

Cormel (night wind from the south) 20+-knots of wind all night.Moved Rainshadow at 130am

Today was low key, Janie and I walked the beach and that night we all went to S/V Southern Cross for drinks and snacks.  S/V Aka arrived today and they also came over.  Nice night but wind started to pick up and it howled all night, we thought we were out to sea because we were rockin and rollin and we were anchored.  Not a lot of sleep as we kept looking outside to make sure our anchor wasn’t dragging us into the beach or rocks.  It blew so hard we finally moved RainShadow to the other side of the bay at around 130am so we could get some sleep.

December 18th, Los Gatos to Isla San Francisco, 38nm

Flat seas, not much wind, beautiful day

Nice day, flat seas, not much wind, we motored and worked around the boat as Rainshadow guided us with her autopilot. Dink ride around the northern part of the island, walked the beaches, snorkeled from the Dinghy and saw many many awesome fish. Then Sea Horse came over and we played cards and had a great night.  S/V Southern Cross arrived as did , S/V AKA