Feliz Navidad

Santa brought us the parts from Sweden on Dec. 22 via UPS. They took only 8 days to arrive, so we hope to make the repair the day after Christmas. No.1 found an English-speaking doctor who prescribed antibiotics to send Montezuma packing. Also found a basset hound living two doors down from the marina, which is a real treat for me, although she's a real barker.

The weather has really felt cold lately. Last night was 52 degrees. When the wind blows across the water, it really is cold. After two weeks here, we're ready to move on to what should be warmer temperatures on the mainland.

We have met new friends and visited old ones and enjoyed La Paz. We'll be back in the spring.

The Peace

We arrived in La Paz on Sunday, Deciembre 10 and found a spot in our friend from last year, Marina de La Paz. We like this marina because of its friendly and knowledgeable owners, proximity to town, and good cafe. And since La Paz is the capitol of Baja California Sur, it has everything we could want, or at least a good way to get it. La Paz means "The Peace" in Spanish and the town was so named due to the peaceful harbor in the midst of what can be dangerous seas.

Upon inspection of a testy auto pilot the night we arrived, we found a leak in the rudder shaft that will necesitate a haul out to replace a ball bearing. Gotta order the part from Sweden and getting it through customs will be no easy fete. So, we'll be here a while.

At night, the beat from discos mixes with the church bells and the city lights shine along the waterfront. Christmas decorations are up all over, even on boats in the marina. I shopped the local up-scale department store and found coats and gloves. I have been asked by locals if I'm not cold wearing a T-shirt and shorts or pants. But it's in the 80s here, although it cools off to the high 50s at night, which feels chilly in the sea breeze.

Three marinas harbor a lot of U.S. boats here and there are many U.S. boaters here. There is also an alcoholics anonymous group. Hanging out in Mexico seems to have its pitfalls.

Spin Cycle 12/11/06

Puerto Escondido - The norther lasted from Wed. evening 11/29 through Friday afternoon 12/1. The sky clouded over, the wind howled, the whitecaps slapped the hull, and the boat rocked and pivoted around its anchor. It was like being inside a washing machine. But we knew it could be worse: we'd heard accounts from those who'd had to reset their anchor overnight in other anchorages. After two days, boredom was almost palpable. We left the safety of the boat and tried the one and only restaurant in Puerto Escondido. It was good and we met two gents: one Canadian, one British for some interesting and different dinner conversation.

Then, Saturday, the wind let up and we hiked the boulder-choked canyon immediately opposite the entrance to P. Escondido on Hwy. 1, in the Giganta range. Steinbeck has an account of hiking a similar canyon here in "The Log from the Sea of Cortez." We hiked about an hour up until we could go no further. It was mainly dry but had a few pools of rainwater.

Since we were back at Hwy. 1 by noon, we took the bus into town (Loreto) again, planning on returning by the 6:00 bus. At 5:30 we were told the 6:00 would not be running, so we took a cab back ($30). The wind had picked up again and we spent Sat. night and all day Sunday in the grip of the norther, round 2, although on Sunday we did venture ashore for Sunday brunch held by the local long-time Norte American "residents." It was good to talk to some others about their experiences. We'd had enough on Monday and left for Agua Verde, about 25 miles south. We sailed in 10-20 knot winds, but had to motor also since the sea was so sloppy and had pretty big swells that rolled el barco. Ah, yachting!

**It Happens
I picked up a Montezuma-type bug (again) in Loreto. We're wondering why it happened to me when Steve is the one with the sensitive stomach. We managed to slice the satellite radio cable, but we made it to Los Gatos bay on Tues. in 10-20 knot wind with 3-6 foot swells. Maybe someone will have an extra cable in La Paz. (Hey, I can hope.) A few other misadventures have happened that I'll just refer to as "the Sammy incident" and "the dinghy incident," but we and the boat are OK.

A group of sea kayakers is camped on the beach here in Los Gatos. We're hoping to make it to La Paz (The Peace) by Saturday, 12/10/06. The wind is supposed to die before then, but the swells will still be rolling, and that's the uncomfortable part.

Weather 12/11/06

Unlike in the U.S. or Canada, Mexico braodcasts no weather for the Sea of Cortez, and if they did, we wouldn't be able to understand it in Spanish anyway. There are no weather buoys or much industrial or commercial activity here to warrant such an investment, so the yachties from the U.S. predict our own weather. Every morning there is either a short wave or VHF radio broadcast (or both) that we can listen to and either Rick or Gary (don't know what their background is) will give weather forecasts for Baja west side, Sea of Cortez, and northern and southern crossings from Baja to the mainland.

Now, that is really no indication of what will actually occur. So we take what we get. Should we leave today because they say the wind will be 10-20 knots, but we know the swells will still be big and besides we haven't explored this area? or should we stay and let the swell lie down and explore? We decided to stay and found ourselves with fresh yellow-tail tuna and lobster that we bought from a local fisherman. Today they said the wind would be light and variable, but we went anyway, leaving in the afternoon to get the sea breeze, and had an ideal sail: 5-15 knots and minimal swells.

Northers are more predictable: they occur when high pressure sits over the 4-corners area of the U.S. Diurnal winds -- those land and sea breezes that occur daily -- are also somewhat predictable, but the islands along the coast can play havoc with predicting them. The breeze may come across the island from the east or up the channel from the south. Your guess. Gotta be ready for anything.