Awards for ‘Rock to the Dock’

Dec. 17, The awards party was at Pappas and Beer. Pat, the owner of the boat Rick was on had left town for the holidays, so Rick and John represented him. They found out the committee boat didn’t keep track of times, so they gave awards based on who crossed the finish line first. That meant Gitana came in first! The guys were happy with that. The award was a plaque that will be saved for Pat’s return.

John and Rick with the First Place Award

Boat Projects in La Paz

Dec. 13, Sergio is a well known stainless guy here in La Paz. He actually worked in Alameda for a few years and had a great reputation. We bought stainless in San Deigo from Garhauer and brought it down with us to have Sergio do the work. He wielded new rails along the sides of the cockpit up to the gates. They look perfect!

LifeLines before Stainless



Sergio working on the Stainless



Wielding

Completed Rails

Completed Rails at Gate

The next project was to have the table refinished. It had been beaten by the sun shining through the hatches and rotted the varnish. We hired a local guy at the marina to take the table out, sand it down and apply 8 coats of varnish. It took a week and a half of living without the table, but it looks very nice.

The Table Being Worked on a Few Docks Over

Finished Solan Table

Rock to the Dock

The Crew - John, Ron, Pat and Rick

Dec. 11, Rick crewed on Pat’s boat, Gitana, in his first race. The race was called ‘Rock to the Dock’. There were 4 guys aboard and they crossed the finish line first. They’re not sure if they won because of the handicaps??? But they were all very happy.

Putting the sails away

Back at Marina de La Paz

Dec. 6, We’re baaaacccckkk. This marina is so great for walking around town.  I think we spend more time walking than anything else. We’ll be staying here over the Christmas and New Years Holidays. Hopefully, we will get out to the islands for a few days for some swimming and beach time.

In and Around La Paz

Ana and Steve

We’ve been hanging out in La Paz. We’ve met a lot of great people and found a lot of great restaurants. Steve and Ana from Marina Village arrived Dec . 1 and we found them at their house, “Casa Ana”. The next day they took us and another friend, Crit, to the stores in their car. It was a long way out and I’m glad we didn’t have to walk!

Courtyard at Casa Ana

The pool out to the beach

Dec. 3, we left Marina de La Paz for a week-end stay at Marina Costa Baja, my resort time! Yeah! Infinity pool, hot tub, spa. Living like the rich! I’m really enjoying the pool. The water is a bit cold, but after laying in the sun, it feels wonderful. We went out with Ron and Bette of ‘Wisp’ for cocktails and Jazz music at one of the bars. Spent too much, drank too much, but had a great time! The next day we took the shuttle back into town to Marina de La Paz to attend the Subasta.(An auction for the kids in La Paz).

Costa Baja on the way in.

Lounge chairs in the pool



Hotel California in the Marina





Pam, Ana and Crit at the Subasta



Marina de La Paz

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
We are back in Marina de La Paz after a rough night with no sleep. Those Coromuels come up suddenly and really rock the boat. I wasn't sure we would stay off the beach. We left Bahia San Gabriel about 8:00 this morning and were lucky enough to get a slip at the marina. We are going out for Thanksgiving dinner.

Bahia San Gabriel, Isla Espiritu Santo Nov. 23-25, 2010

We pulled in to Bahia San Gabriel and anchored close to shore in 15’ of water. We are trying to stay out of the north wind that is supposed to blow. I got my phone call then we went to Sarah Jean II for cocktails with Norm and Beth. There boat is spacious and very nice. I think we need a bigger boat.

Shoreline from Hotel California

This cove is beautiful and so far it is as smooth as a lake. We plan to go to shore and walk the beach. It is a mile long.

The dinghy on shore with our boat and Sarah Jean II in the background

Well the great weather didn’t last long. Wednesday night a coromuel came in the anchorage and blow from the south all night. The boat rocked and swayed like crazy! It finally calmed down around 4am and we were able to get a little sleep. It is supposed to blow from the north for the next week so we are going back into Marina de La Paz.

Ensenada Grande, Isla Partida Nov. 21-23, 2010

We picked up the weights and tank on Saturday, did more provisioning and left La Paz Sunday morning to meet up with Dragons Toy and a few other boats at a cove called Ensenada Grande on the north end of Isla Partida. We heard a northern was coming in so we wanted to get as far north as possible. If we needed to come south, it would be easier. On the way up there we talked to another boat that was up there and they left because it was too rolly at night. It was really a nice anchorage and we got tucked in close to shore, we rolled a bit, but it wasn’t to bad. Tom and Cary came over for dinner and we played dominos. The next night, we went to their boat and played Mexican Train. Tom was the big winner. We need a rematch.

We left the anchorage on Tuesday morning because I was expecting a phone call that afternoon and there was no cell coverage that far out. We weren’t sure how far we’d have to go, but found coverage in Bahia San Gabriel at the south end of Isla Espiritu Santo.

Rick diving on the anchor

La Paz - Marina de La Paz Nov. 17-21, 2010

Wednesday morning we left Muertos for La Paz. We are staying at the marina in the center of town, Marina de La Paz. That night we went to Dragons Toy for dinner and then into town to an awards ceremony for a sailing race at a bar called Papaguyo Mariner (Mariner Parrot). They have the best band with a girl singer that sounds like Janice Joplin. We will be going back to listen to them.


We walked all over town, this should get me in shape! We found the marine stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, fishing stores and everything else. We ordered 20 lbs of diving weights and a small 50cc diving tank to be picked up on Saturday. More walking!

Downtown La Paz

Thursday afternoon was the Baja Ha Ha welcome to La Paz party at Papas and Beer. Free tacos and beer, Mariachi band, little kids dancing and a cruisers band. They also had a raffle with a lots of prizes. We ended up with a free weeks stay at the nicest marina in La Paz, Costa Baha. We will use it soon. It was a great party.
 

Dock Restaurant at Marina La Paz

The Baha 1000 race ended in La Paz this year on Saturday. The town was full of motorcycles, 4X4’s cars and trucks that ran the race. They gathered on the Malecon and closed off some streets. There was also a parade and celebration for a Mexican Revolution on Saturday. La Paz was busy! Sunday we are heading out to the islands for a couple of days.

One of the Baha 1000 trucks

Muertos Nov. 14-17, 2010



Puffer Fish around our boat



I like this bay even better than the last one. Great snorkeling in crystal clear water. We could see our anchor in 25 feet of water. There were a ton of little puffer fish around the boat, the cat was going crazy!

Lunch



El Cardon Restaurant



We went to the restaurant El Cardon for great lunches and margaritas. What a fun place.

One day we took the dinghy to a very nice resort called Gran Sueso. This place is amazing. They were no guests there so we had a tour. If you have lunch or buy a drink you can use the pools. We had just had breakfast so we thought we might come back later, but never made it. Maybe on the way to Mazatlan in January.



Gran Suesos Resort





One of the pools from a room

Rick finally caught a fish! Dale and Rick went fishing in the dinghy along to shore and came back with a Sierra. It is supposed to be good in ceviche. We froze it so we can try making some later. I’ll let you know how it is. Still looking for that tuna!