Rolly Los Muertos

23 59.228 N, 109 49.723 W

Yesterday was a long motorsail from Caleta Lobos. For most of the way the winds were under 6 knots, but the seas were flat and we had the current our way for most of the trip so it was not bad just boring. The anchorage was rolly last night so we did not sleep very soundly. There are fewer boats than when we were here after the Baja Ha-Ha. The only boat we recognize is Deep Playa.

This morning the winds are from the west but light. We are heading to Los Frailles today.

Adios

Caleta Lobos

24 17.924 N, 110 20.029 W

Saturday morning we prepared to leave the dock, pick up some fuel and head out to Caleta Lobos. As part of the preparation, Rich took a look at the engine. He noticed that there was some salt built up above the starter motor and below one of the salt water cooling hoses and a small drip of salt water. He started the engine and there was a lot more than just a drip. We could not leave in this condition. Unfortunately, curing the problem was a bit more complicated. The hose was not situated properly so Rich has to remove the starter motor just to get access to the hose, then slide it over the connections on each end and put on new hose clamps then reinstall the starter motor. So instead of our 10:30 am departure it was more like 1:45 pm. But after fuel we went to Caleta Lobos for a rest.

Today we spent reading and relaxing. Rich made some brownies (om nom nom). I am reading a book on the discovery of the source of the Nile and Rich is reading about South American history. The weather is warm and we watch the pelicans and boobies fishing in the anchorage. This evening we saw a turtle floating by. There is only one other boat in the anchorage and in fact I think it is the same boat we saw when we first anchored here.

Tomorrow we will head back to Ensenada de Los Muertos on our way south to Puerto Los Cabos.

Adios.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

The mail does not always go through

Since we were going to be in La Paz for a while we thought it would be a good idea to have some of our mail sent to us. We talked to the folks in the office of the marina and they suggest using UPS. So on Nov. 16, we sent an email to our mail service in Seattle asking them to box up our mail and send it to the marina via UPS. That sounded easy enough.

I monitored the tracking of the package as it went from Seattle, Washington to Louisville, Kentucky to Ontario, California, to Tijuana, Mexico, arriving there on Nov. 18. I thought, wow, this is great, we should get the package soon.  The words, “Your package has experienced an exception” on the tracking email did not sound good.

Part of our mail included Rich’s medications. Even though the medications were directly from the insurance company and unopened and with the prescription information, customs in Mexico do not accept the importation of medication. Our box of mail contained a restricted commodity. After numerous calls to UPS, I finally convinced them to send the package back to Seattle.

On Nov. 25, the package was sent from Tijuana, Mexico back Louisville, Kentucky.  Since the package was arriving from Mexico, it had to be processed through US Customs and specifically the Food and Drug Administration and/or department of AG PPQ (I am not sure who or what this is).  More phones calls are made to UPS. So even though the package originated in the United States, and never cleared customs in Mexico, the officials were not sure they should allow this contraband to enter the United States.

On Dec. 5, UPS had obtained documentation and submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and the shipment was released.  The next email indicated that the package was at Seattle but not delivered due to adverse weather conditions but later today I got confirmation that it had been delivered.

It cost over $200 to send the package to Mexico and send it back to Seattle, not including the numerous international long distance phone calls (800 numbers are not toll free when you are calling from outside the United States) and we still do not have our mail.

In Herodotus’ Histories is the following quote, referring to the courier service of the ancient Persian Empire:

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed. (trans. A.D. Godley 1924)

Apparently the Persians had not encountered Mexican customs officials or the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Some photos...

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure...

The best ice cream store in La Paz

Robin of The Cat's Meow at the Thanksgiving potluck

Rich on the beach at Bahia San Gabriel

The remains of a puffer fish at Bahia San Gabriel

Waiting out the Northerlies

24 10.940 N, 110 18.223 W

As the northerlies built in the Sea of Cortez, we decided that hanging out in the anchorage, doing the La Paz waltz and getting soaked going back and forth in the dingy was not going to be a lot of fun.  So, on Saturday, we got a slip at Marina Palmira which is farther west and a little farther from town but it was available. We have not stayed at the marina before so it is a new experience for us. It is larger than Marina de La Paz and there are a lot more mega-yachts but the facilities include a hotel with a swimming pool, which is available for the yachties to use if they buy a drink at the bar, 2 restaurants, a small store/chandlery, a laundry that uses American quarters (6 for wash, 6 for dry) and a free shuttle that goes into town 3 times a day.

Sunday before the winds picked up Rich went up the mast to check the rigging. He wears a climbing harness that we attach to two halyards. I ran one of the halyards to a powered winch in the cockpit and the other to a self-tailing winch on the mast. We use the powered winch to pull him up with the other as backup. It is a lot easier than my grinding him up by hand! Everything looks good. All of the rigging pins are in place with split pins. There are two loose rivets on the mast conduit between the first and second spreader, but not coincident. The port site primary shroud below the first spreader has a deep scratch in the staylock cylinder. We are not sure what caused this but we will keep an eye on it. We may want to order a replacement. In the afternoon I cleaned the cockpit and washed the cushions. I found lots of granola bar crumbs! With the northeries, the temperature has gone down to the low 70s during the day and in the 50’s at night so I put on jeans for the first time since leaving San Diego.

In the evening we went out for dinner with Adam and Cindy of SV Bravo. They were on E-dock with us when we were at Shilshole Bay Marina. They spent the past summer in the Sea of Cortez which we plan to do this coming summer so we want to get some of their ideas. We walked down to the “Smiling Dorado” and enjoyed fish and shrimp soup. We had a great time talking. We were the only patrons and of course we closed the place as well.

This morning Rich and I caught the shuttle and met Reg and Phoebe for breakfast at the Dock Café at Marina de La Paz. I just finished the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin so I am loaning them the series to read. I finished the last book, “A Feast for Crows”, only to find out that he did not finish the series in the last book and has written a fifth book, “A Dance with Dragons”, which I will have to find somewhere. After breakfast, Rich, Phoebe and I went into town to look for an electronics store and then to the grocery store to do some provisioning. Along the way we passed through a small street market.

We also stopped by the main cathedral in La Paz. A mission was first established at the site of La Paz in 1535 by Herman Cortes and he called it Holy Cross Harbor. In 1683 the Jesuits rediscovered this port and named it Our Lady of Peace, but later it was abandon. In 1720 more Jesuits founded a permanent mission of La Paz.

We continued our walk, stopping at an Ace Hardware store and then at the Tiendas Chedraui and did our provisioning. We got a taxi back to Marina de La Paz to drop off Phoebe and then back to Marina Palmira.

Tomorrow we hope to get a diver to check the zincs and replace if necessary.

Tsunami detection system in La Paz

Back at La Paz

24 09.661 N, 110 19.849 W

Last night shortly before midnight, the winds shifted to the southwest and increased to 20 knots. A fetch built up in the anchorage and it was hobbyhorse time. Not the most restful. This morning we decided it was time to leave and now these winds from the southwest were on our nose all the way back to La Paz but at least they decreased over time and the seas relaxed so it was not a hard slog back.

We are back in the anchorage off of Marina de La Paz, not to far from where we were anchored before.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad