Saturday, 12th.

Wow, what a great five days! Left La Paz Tuesday at noon after dropping Cliff and Leslynn at the bus station. Sailed back out to Espiritu Santo and anchored in Bahia Partida. Had a delightful “catch up” with Dave and Stephanie from Camanoe, who we anchored next to and had not seen for several weeks.

Left Partida the next morning for Isla San Francisco. What a beautiful spot! We’ll download a bunch of pictures in a few days when we have the bandwidth. For now, I’ll just say we were anchored in a half moon shaped bay, about a half mile across, ringed by pure white sand. Around the top of the island was a steep ridge about 500 feet high. We scrambled up the ridge and then hiked the knife edge ridge about half way around the island, enjoying stunning views.

Next day we got up early and moved about 15 miles North to San Evaristo. It was a “bash” to get here against a Norther. Twenty knots and three to four foot waves right on the nose. A little more than half way, after getting smashed around for about three hours, I looked at Ann and said; “I think we’re going to need to turn back”. Her response was two-fold. She said: “No way!” At the same time her eyes also added; “you big sissy!” Wow, the Admiral has come a long way. Needless to say, we kept going and were so glad we did!

Evaristo is a simple fishing village of about 20 families, where they also make sea salt and herd goats. We anchored in a little bay a stone’s throw off the village and took the dinghy ashore. Went for an all day hike across the desert, past the salt ponds (we swiped some fresh sea salt right off the pond) and around the bay on the other side. About a four hour round trip. Back in time to get on the boat and clean up a bit before heading back to the beach for dinner at the little shack where they sell the catch of the day for 100 pesos (or about $8). Not really even a shack, more like a thatched roof palapa and sand floor. You get what they make, and they make whatever they catch. This day it was breaded, fried reef fish they caught that morning with beans, rice, fresh made tortillas, macaroni salad, salsa and a couple of cold cervezas. Just sitting on the beach, toes in the sand, watching the sunset and eating a meal like this makes it all worthwhile.

We hated to leave this spot and will likely come back after the New Year, but we had to go in order to get back in time to clean up Charisma so we can leave on Monday to fly back for ten days at Christmas with friends and family. We’re leaving on Monday. Taking a bus out of La Paz for Cabo, were we’ll catch our flight back.

So, about the whales and such. On our trip from Isla San Francisco to Evaristo, we had the good fortune to spot a mother whale and her calf slowly cruising up the Sea. They were paralleling our course, so we edged a little closer-still respecting mother and calf-for a better look. They were completely unconcerned and for about twenty minutes, we had a whale of a show. They would swim along, then quietly and gently dive-showing their flukes-and a little later come up again to blow a few times, then show their tail flukes again, etc, etc. A wonderous show just for us. Makes you feel very humble to see something like this.

Today, we were anchor up at 0700 and saw a sunset that can only be imagined-well, until we get to post the pictures. An incredible orange/red slash below the clouds made a dramatic exit from our comfortable spot in the cove. We easily could have stayed here for many days, but we had to get back for the aforementioned plane flight. To ease the way back, we were treated to a “dance” along the way by the local dolphin pod. They were feeding, but a dozen or so darted over to Charisma to say; “hi” to Ann who was up on the bow waiting to do the dolphin dance.

After the dolphins, two other events made our day. The first was Fish On! We caught a Spanish Mackerel. Supposed to be good eating, so we reeled it aboard and the filets are in the fridge waiting for tomorrow’s dinner. The other was flying Manta Rays. Exuberant doesn’t quite do justice to these guys. One minute you’re looking out at the horizon and the next second, a big 4 to 5 foot wingspan Manta Ray comes flying out of the water and does a back flip! Not just once, but several times. Manta Ray Madness!

Just another day in Baja.

Wednesday, 12.14.11 Here we sit, anchored at Isla San Francisco (that’s “Son Fronceesco” or something of the sort). A lovely little island North of La Paz, we’re anchored in a little half-moon shaped bay over sand in about 22 feet of water. The half-moon part is a white sand beach and the rest of the island rises in orange and umber colored cliffs that loom a couple hundred feet above. Tomorrow we’re going to spend the day hiking, climbing and taking pictures. Friday, we’ll head for San Evaristo which friends have told us is a tiny Mexican goat herding/fishing village. There’s supposedly a single restaurant in the small town of 200. For 100 pesos (less than $10) per person, you can get dinner. The catch; no menu, it’s whatever they cook that day. We’ll look forward to reporting how that went. We’ll be back in La Paz Saturday night for the dockside “safety meeting” complete with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Then Sunday will be the ever present boat maintenance projects before leaving for the Bay Area on Monday for Christmas with the Family. Yesterday was Ann’s birthday. I think she’s 29 or so. Actually we’ve decided that this cruising stuff is actually making us younger. I’m going to be back into my 40’s in a little while if we keep this up. Anyway, we spent most of yesterday sailing out of La Paz, back to Espiritu Santo after dropping our friends Cliff and Leslynn off at the bus station for their flight home. Had a delightful five days sailing with them at the island and then a whirlwind tour of La Paz followed by birthday dinner in La Paz. Really a great time. Pictures to follow when we have a chance to get somewhere with bandwith!! But suffice to say we did some snorkeling, cocktails on the beach to watch the sunset (and moonrise) and did some climbing in the hills above one of the anchorages. So, after dropping them, we ended up in Partida Cove after a fun five or six hour sail over. Several of our boat friends (Camanoe and Klickitat II) were in the cove, so it was great catching up with them on Charisma over what else? Charismas!. The trip from Partida to Isla San Francisco was a bit of a bash into one of the Sea of Cortez’ “Northers”. The winds get up into the 20’s and waves can get into the teens. Fortunately, the conditions for us were a little more benign, but the trip wasn’t without tension. There was some strong wind and waves, but being from San Francisco (California), we’re used to that. The tension came from a persistent low oil pressure reading. I’d adjust the RPM and it would go up then gradually go down. I’d tweak the RPM again and it would jump into the green, then over time go down again. We’re not leaking oil and I’m hoping it’s a pressure sender issue and not something worse (read: “more expensive”, to fix). Tomorrow I’m going to check the oil, it was way too rough and bouncy to do that today, and maybe depending on our day, take the sender apart and try to clean it). We’re learning; it’s always something and the list(s) are huge. You divide the list of stuff you need to do into: “stuff that will cause the boat to sink or blow up” and “stuff that would be nice to do”. You then get to the latter list when you have time and inclination. OK, as an example of one of the primary list issues, I’ll leave you with this story/image. The holding tank developed a clogged vent. You might ask yourself; “what the hell is that and why is it so important it goes on the life or death list?” Well, the holding tank is where all the “poop” goes when you’re in port or an anchorage where people are swimming and such. When the vent is clogged, there’s the risk the tank will explode if you pump too much into it. Think about it. OK, so I spent two days taking the vent line apart (it’s way deep in the lazarette/bilge). I initially tried to just ram it out with a plumbing snake. No joy. So, I then poured a “mild” acid into the line in the hopes it would loosen the clog. It did initially look promising, but only opened a tiny bit. So, I could pour about a pint of acid solution about every hour or so through the clog, but it was still mostly closed. I did that all day hoping the acid would work the clog loose (it didn’t) and then finally let it sit all night. Next day, poured some more acid into the line, then tried the snake again. I was ramming the snake into the hose (which is about 8 feet long) when I heard a gurgling sound. I looked into the hose thinking; “now what?” and heard the gurgling rapidly growing. Yipes!!! Shoved the hose away from my face and over the side just in time for an explosion of acid and poop that shot about six feet across the deck and into the marina. And stink….!!!! Suffice to say, our neighbors commented; “looks like you’ve fixed the problem”. My only comeback — “I’m sooooo relieved!!” And all was well in Charisma Land.

December 13, 2011 So today is my birthday. If you told me last year (when Bob was still bashing north from the Ha Ha) that this year I would be in La Paz for my birthday I would not have agreed. But boy am I glad to be here!

As my fortunes have it, friends from the Bay Area, Cliff and Leslynn, managed to come visit us just in time for my birthday (bearing gifts of chocolate!). Really they just came to relax and play and the timing was perfect!

Our friends arrived in time to witness the most spectacular (to date) sunset from the end of the dock. Magical. We took off the next morning for Isla Espiritu Santo, the bigger of the islands just out of La Paz. The weather the previous week in La Paz had been wintery ( I know, you all think I am nuts, but seriously, I pulled out my slippers!). The weather reports indicated that the winds would be dying down but they missed telling us how glorious it would be!

We spent three days snorkeling and hiking during the day, enjoying Charismas at sunset and then watching in awe as the full moon rose over the hills of this spiritual island. I never could have prepared our friends for the glorious days ahead because they were the best we had seen yet. The snorkeling around Candelero was as spectacular at Pulmo Reef but was easily reached. Instead of a three hour drive, we just jumped off the boat. Cliff and I jumped overboard – not as graceful as it sounds with fins and snorkels on (at least not for me!) and swam over to the Candelero (read Bob’s blog in the next day or so, for the nautical details) for a real treat. Sea urchins, starfish, schools of 200 colorful fish, a trumpet fish, and the ugliest fish I’d ever seen, awaited us. Bob swam over after us and reported even more incredible fish. Get out the fish book, we need to identify these!!!

The next day we went ashore and hiked into the canyon to a dried waterfall. Sounds normal but there was nothing normal about this hike. We hiked through wind-blown caves carved in the hillside, over huge boulders, up loose rocks until we couldn’t find any safe routes farther up. We thought we were a few hundred yards from the top. When we got down we looked up and saw we had been standing on top of a very cool cave that we originally teased about visiting, thinking it would be far too high and dangerous to get to. Too bad we didn’t know how close we had come. Exhausted we returned to Charisma and another gorgeous moonrise.

As we headed back to La Paz we looked back into the cove only to see that our incredible hike had only gotten us about a third the way up the hill. Way too funny. It looks so much more dramatic from down below.

We sailed back into La Paz just in time for the neighborhood “security meeting”. What an incredible neighborhood Dock Three is. Another set of cruisers were taking off the next day to start the jump to the Pacific (we will surely see them in Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta prior to taking off across the Pacific ourselves) and the neighbors were holding a going away/good luck party complete with a gift package of donated “necessary items”. (Sue, I have to confess, we gave up the marshmallow gun and a bag of marshmallows to help them defend against pirates and pelicans). All boats also included a card to be put in a bottle that was to be tossed overboard at the equator. Charisma’s card was included!

Our next day, December 12th -the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was started with three canon shots heard early in the morning to mark the holiday. We spent the day condensing the entire tour of La Paz into one day for our friends. Hit the hand-made goods stores, the Bravo Super Mercado, the church, the French bakery, the Malecon and of course, lunch at the fish taco stand. And finally – where this whole blog was headed, we set out to celebrate my birthday. Our friends bought us dinner at a wonderful authentic Mexican restaurant named La Fonda. Bob found it last year, loved it and promised some day we would find it. We did! It was a meal none of us will soon forget with wonderful service from the waiters and the owner himself who helped us chose the best dishes and best wine. And then treated us to a pink dessert drink called Pinon. So delicious!

And isn’t that enough? NO! Ends up, the only woman at the table next to us (also a cruiser just in from Australia) happens to SHARE MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Nancy was delightful and an immediate kindred spirit. They almost had to peel us apart to get me to the taxi.

And today, on the actual day, the local dock ladies hosted the Tuesday “Stitch and Bitch” (coffee) and who was there?—Nancy! She had already regaled the ladies with our chance encounter so as I arrived (after dropping our friends at the bus terminal to go home, sob, sob) I was greeted by a chorus of birthday greetings! The ladies treated us to coffee and a shared piece of cake.

Bob and I then quickly headed back to Espiritu Santo (a five hour sail out of La Paz) where we have run into old friends from the Ha Ha; Dave and Stephanie from S/V Camanoe. Another birthday treat.

So if I can get Bob to sing the Swedish Birthday song (which he did at the restaurant for both birthday girls) to me one more time, my incredibly memorable birthday will be complete. Only missing was the chance to touch base with family and friends (no cell service out here). Thank you to those who quickly wished me a great day. It came true!!! And yes, I am old enough to enjoy it all!!!