So, the final event of the “Ha Ha” was held at Stella’s on the beach, on November 17th.  Here’s a couple pictures of the event.

View from Stella's at the beach party

It's not a party until the Mariachi Band starts upMexican folk dancers

Some of our new good friends (Bob and Deanne from Dos Leos, Penny the Cockapoo, Richard and Cynthia from Tranquility)

Got into La Paz.  Turned out the trip down the “dreaded” channel to the main anchorage wasn’t so bad.  The guide books either exagerated the danger of running aground, or the channel markers have gotten better.  Anyway, we made it without incident.  Deciding where to anchor was a little tougher.  There were a lot of boats since we got there the day before the final Baja Ha Ha party on November 17th was held.  From this point on most of the Ha Ha boats will be spread out.  Some going South and some going back to their respective ports. (Many of us are keeping in touch on the radio nets in the morning.  It’s fun to hear from everyone and know where they are and when you might catch up with friends again.  The radio nets are the cruising equivalent of Facebook!)

Ultimately, after some maneuvering around we found a decent spot to anchor right off the Malecon, which is the main street/area of downtown La Paz.  A little noisy at night as we’re only 100 yards from the restaurants and bars, but pretty fun to be anchored so close to the city and stunning views at night.  (Last night there was a fashion show on the pier.  Complete with music, a stage and ramp for the models.  Very upscale and Ann had the best view in the house with our 14x binoculars.  I got a running commentary of the event while I was cooking dinner.

At the Municipal Pier

View from the pier (Charisma is anchored just to the left)

That's Charisma at the end of the street!

Ann and friends (there are a lot of interesting sculptures around town)

La Paz is a colorful town

Best fish tacos (taco pescado) ever!

This little taco stand has absolutely the best fish tacos ever.  Lightly battered and fried.  Not at all oily, just crisp and fresh.  He puts them in a maize tortilla and then you choose which condiments you want from next to the cart.  YUM!  And, they are only 14 pesos each, which is about $1.40!

You have to secure your dinghy or it might "walk off"

As with any big city, you have to watch the obvious stuff like locking the boat when you’re away and securing the dinghy at night.  There were three dinghies stolen in Cabo while we were all at the final awards ceremony.  We’ve now learned to take down our “Baja Ha Ha” flags when going to one of the events since that makes it obvious that we’re not in the boat.  We also hoist the dinghy out of the water at night and lock it with a cable to the shrouds.  You’d do the same if you were overnight in any other big city.  Turns out the other advantage is the dinghy doesn’t bang into the boat at night like it does in the water when the wind calms down, so we’re doing this now even when out of town as it’s quieter.

This is a little out of chronological order, but it’s the first time I’ve had decent wi-fi to post the pictures.  So here’s the pictoral version of the trip.  As noted in a previous post, we wanted to stay at Los Muertos a little longer, but a 20-25 knot Norther was forecast to blow for a few days from the direction we wanted to go.  So, to be able to stay an extra day and still get North, we decided to stay during the day, but go to sleep early and leave at 3AM so as to get into La Paz by around Noon, before the Norther started cranking up.  The strategy worked well.  Got up at 0300 and anchor up by 0330.  A warm moonlit night with stunning stars and few clouds escorted us North followed by a showy sunrise and soon thereafter, a Dorado on the line.

Ann on the helm just before sunrise.

Get ready for it...

Good morning (literally!)

...and the fish were biting...

...just...a little...closer...

Got him!

Post Script:  Should read; “Got him, almost”.  Turned out my knot around his tail slipped when I lowered him over the side to wash him off and he slipped away into the depths.  Hard lesson, but resulted in my using a new, improved slip knot.  You’d think I’d know better!  No fish tacos this evening.

Ann saw an area on the mainsail where some stitching had abraded and come undone.  Needle and thread to the rescue!  Although the sewing machine hasn’t come out yet, we’ve been planning some boat projects/creations including a remodeled bimini (to shield the sun when we’re anchored) in the very near future.

Sail repair