Leaving La Paz

Finally we pulled the plug on Lap Paz ( before the tug to stay got too strong ) and headed off towards Cabo where we would leave Baja behind.  The weather window looked good for sailing and Adesso loaded with supplies we were ready for a month or so at sea.   It would take three days of  travel to get to San Jose del Cabo where we would check out of Mexico and take on our last fuel.  I was some where in this zone we found out that Sue would need to be near good internet in about 2 weeks to secure her job when we returned, Yikes.  We could do this – it just meant that we might have to come to the coast sooner if we didn’t make it all the way to Canada.   As we all know dates or schedules don’t mix well with sailing but we were game to make it work.   We left San Jose to head out past Cabo and a blistering SW blew up so we hid  and anchored off Cabo for the night.  It was here we discovered that our wind window was disappearing fast, but we were still game and hoped to get at least 60 miles offshore before things died near land.  The next day things were pretty much a lake so I decided to motor out, where did the wind go!!  The next surprise was the game changer – our freezer stopped working, AKKKK.  All our food was going to thaw fast and unless the crew was going to live of rice and beans we had turn back.   The current weather showed a massive no-weather window for running up the coast to San Diego and a quick crew vote made that our choice.  Yanmar purring, we were now committed to the Baha Bash (as this run is often called).

La Paz waterfront

We were looking forward to visiting La Paz because so many cruisers stop here and never leave, or if they do its only for a short cruise and then return.  This was also our final stop for supplies and repair before we headed offshore taking the clipper route home.

Yacht built for Steve Jobs

On the way into the La Paz channel we could not help but notice the large boat (that does’t look like a boat) built for the late Steve Jobs of Apple.  This is a massive 200+ foot boat that challenges what a boat might look like and with all that glass I wonder what it would be like in heavy seas!!  La Paz itself is the capital of Baja Sur but has very little of the gaudy tourist vibe of Cabo.  It is a little more like a University , government town with a great waterfront malecon and protected harbour.  Its because of the many marinas and great anchoring field that so many boaters end up here.  Supplies were plentiful, yes, even the marine chandleries were well stocked, great restaurants, even brew pubs!!!  We could have spent more time getting to know the area but alas our main mission was to fill the freezer with food and do the odd repair on Adesso. We stayed at Palmira Marina and Resort where we met may Canadians some living (on their boats ), some preparing to ship their boats home, some putting boats away for the summer and would return in the fall and then those of us heading north with our boats.  The marina was VERY social with daily happy hours that went well past dark.

View of the anchorage from above.

Another beautiful spot!!   No wonder Jacques Cousteau called the Sea of Cortes the worlds most diverse aquatic environment.  Fish and turtles would swim around the boat, we took a dinghy trip out to sea caves looking at reefs along the way back.   We hiked up onto the ridge and saw some amazing vistas as well.  As we look to La Paz I wonder if we will ever get to come back and see more of this amazing place and the people that live here.  We have a big challenge ahead so attention now turns to that, as we will soon leave the Sea of Cortes behind.

Sue and Josh on the top of the ridge.

Ridge line with beautiful arroyo beside it.

Local checking us out with San Evaristo in the background.

We had passed by this small town on the way north but numerous cruisers said we should stop so here we are.  This is mostly a fishing village but Luise has a small restaurant on the beach serving cold beer and fish tacos, and a small tienda had most necessary food items.  San Evaristo is at the end of the road around traveling north around La Paz bay but we were told it is still a 3 hour dirt road trip to town.  We enjoyed our time walking the beach and getting to know the locals.  Very day beach soccer looked like a lot of fun with lots of yelling and screaming.  We took a hike over to the salt flat and spent a day walking the beach which was full of  rock and sea life gems.  We had quite the load of treasures when we returned.  My favourite was a perfect Nautilus shell, very beautiful!  With another wind window staring up we headed to Caleta Partida  the last stop before La Paz.

Sue paddling around the bay.

Our first decent sail south in the Sea of Cortes took us from Ballandra to Honeymoon Bay, Adesso was happy to stretch her wings!!!  This beautiful group of coves about 5 miles from Puerto Escondido was a wonderful stop for a few days.  Sue got the paddle board out and Josh and I spent time snorkelling the reefs around the bay.  Josh has also become the BBQ man over the last few months.

Josh big burger!!!

Here is a pic of his famous hungry man big burger which is a little too much for me and Sue to eat, though we did try our best.  From here on we get closer to La Paz which we have heard so much about from the cruiser community but for us its the final stop before we head offshore to Canada.  The to-do list has started, Sue is thinking about food and we in general are shifting into the next part of our adventure.  I wonder how we will manage the temps, at the evenings in the boat drop to the upper 70’s, we put clothing on to stay warm!  The plan is to leave La Paz soon after May 4 to Los Frailes where we will wait for the wind to be favourable.

Look out across to Loretto from the ridge above Ballandra.

We enjoyed the few days spent in this beautiful anchorage.  The highlight of which was the hike up the arroyo to Salinas.  We didn’t know how far we would get and had been warned that the trail was a little confusing due to cairns not being present.  What we found was more than one trail and luck was not on our side, we wandered off into desert scrub.  Eventually Sue and I headed for high ground, scrambling up a ridge to see where the trail was.  This was helpful, though a little out of the way and eventually made back to the trail.  We never made the 12 miles to Salinas but the view from the ridge top was well worth all the wandering.  My feet were sore and the throat dry by the time we returned, a cold beer was well earned today!!!

Our next stop was back on Isla Coronado to meet Dee and Mark on Speakeasy!  They  had taken our faulty EPIRB back to Canada to be replaced and were now returning the new one.  We give Kannad and Paynes Marine top marks for looking after this in short order back in Canada.  Dee also brought some treasured food items from the north, almond butter, Sencha green tea and chocolate.  We hiked the volcano again with Mark and Josh running down the mountain back to the beach, ah to have joint that can handle the grind!  We took a trip to Loretto on Speakeasy, walked the 2 miles to the Saloon restaurant  and enjoyed the “Best Burger in Baja” beer and the authentic old time saloon decor, then stocked up on food returned to Isla Coronado.  After one final farewell dinner they headed north and we South to Ballandra.

San Juanico anchorage

San Juanico was to be the furthest north into the sea we would go and the plan was to spend a little more time here and explore the area a little more deeply.  We we’re happy to see numerous boats that had befriended us south in the Melaque area.  We had beach fires, Botchi ball on the beach in the afternoons, and happy hour get togethers.  This was a great place to be for the Mexican holiday Samana Santa, numerous families made the trek to the beach and the late night parties were not overwhelming.  Josh was befriended by a couple on a Hatteras style fishing boat that was using San Juanico as a fishing base.  He learned about how to catch fish now that they were deeper and he and I did do a dinghy trip out a couple of miles to a reef but to no avail.  They took pity on Josh and gave him one of their Yellowtail catch for the day, very tasty.  Sue and I spend many hours hiking the hills, swimming and reading.  Here she finally got serious about writing a book about her Successful Learners  so every day for an hours or so she would hide with her computer and write away.  Even Josh enjoyed some of this down time, from doing homework that is, and would hang listening to music.  Alas the time came for us to turn around and head to La Paz.  From here on we are on the way back to Canada which is  bitter-sweet , we will miss the this part of the world and the adventure it represents but our community in Pacific Northwest will be great to connect with again.  Of course there is the getting home part which will be a whole different kind of adventure!

Josh enjoying tech time!

Very tasty!!!