Happy Thanksgiving from La Paz!

Yeah, we finally made it to La Paz. We had a little trouble leaving Muertos. It was too pretty and we were having such a great time - thanks to the crews of Rainshadow, Vindsang, and Sea Horse! They kept us entertained with potlucks, games, live music, etc. What a hoot!

We are at the Marina de La Paz until January 1. We are supposed to be focusing on boat projects that didn't get done before leaving Alameda - wish us luck!

Steve and Ana are here and have opened up there beautiful home to us - - it is great and we are really enjoying their hospitality.

We have been invited to spend Thanksgiving with some of Ana and Steve's friends and are really looking forward to the excursion and the chance to meet a bunch of the local residents. We got off easy - we just have to bring wine!

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!

Bahia De Los Muertos (dead) or Bahia de Suenos (dreams)

This is another wonderful place, but it is having an identity crisis. Muertos is named after the dead-man mooring system they used during the silver mining times. Now, they are trying to promote the place, but didn't think Bay of the Dead would attract the tourists. We will see if Bay of the Dreams does better. We like it just like it is.

Ana and Steve (best friends from Alameda) drove up from La Paz to see us two days in a row. They must have missed us - ha! It was great to see them, plus they took us to town (10 miles away) for provisioning. Good thing - we were out of everything.

As you can see, the sailboaters are great at entertaining ourselves - besides drinking. The macho men were fun to watch tossing their Bocchi balls. Of course, one almost hit Doug in the head, but that is a whole 'nother story.

Alas, our crew, Crit, jumped ship today and headed to La Paz with Ana and Steve. We are going to miss her - she has been a wonderful addition to the adventure. Hopefully, Crit will bring her sailboat, JASDIP (Just Another Shitty Day In Paradise), south next year and catch up with us.

Tomorrow, we are leaving very early for La Paz. There is a front moving in, so we want to get there ahead of the bad weather to make sure we don't miss the Thanksgiving festivities. Don't want to miss a holiday with friends!

Cabo Los Frailes or Who Moved the Car?

We had a nice quiet trip from San Jose de Cabo to Cabo Los Frailes. No wind and no fish, but still had a good time.

As you can see, this is a beautiful bay that the sailboats share with the fisherman. The town of Cabo Pulmo is close by. It is small, but has three dive shops and a interesting mix of folks - locals and transplants. This place is well known to divers and snorklers. Just off shore, there is a marine park and one of the few coral reefs in the Sea. Lots of sea life, including whale sharks, hammerheads, and other cool stuff. We didn't snorkel the reef this time due to weather, but promise to on the way back through in January.

We had plenty of stuff to entertain ourselves with. Between the locals, transports, and sailboaters, we had too much fun - which leads to the post title "Who Moved the Car?". After way too many margaritas, I was surprised to find myself on my butt instead of leaning against a car - which I swear was just there! The good news is that I didn't spill a drop of my margarita - what a girl!

We did some snorkeling (Crit snorkeled a bunch). We did some hiking, we did some fishing, and general enjoyed ourselves. We did find that mileage markers aren't very accurate around here. We were hiking to Mermaid cove and must have looked pretty pitiful. Some fellow touristas picked us up and gave us a ride both ways. We still got a pretty good hike in, but at least we didn't have to walk the whole way.

We are having a hard time leaving places, but after five days we decided to set sail/motor to Bahia De Los Muertos - another beautiful bay. I will post again tomorrow. We have been invited to Rainshadow for drinks, dinner, and some 42 (domino game) tonight. We have connected with some other sailboaters from the Ha-Ha and they are wonderful hosts and always include us - very nice folks. Should be fun!

A boy and his dinghy... This little boat is really an important part of our lives now and you can tell Doug enjoys it. It is our transportation, or delivery truck, fishing boat, and much more. The surf/surge along Mexico can be pretty intense, so landing on the beaches is always exciting and we usually get a little wet. We haven't tipped it over yet, but you never know!

Puerto Los Cabos Marina - San Jose Del Cabo; La Playita

We have really enjoyed this beautiful place and have felt very protected - the cross above the marina really lights up at night. The marina is quiet, clean, and has hot water! We almost have a dock to ourselves - except for the pelicans, the great egrets, osprey, and the wild jumping fish.

We enjoyed eating and shopping in the town of San Jose Del Cabo - especially after the crazy tourista place of Cabo San Lucas. The town "centro" makes me think of what Santa Fe might have looked like 30 years ago. We ate wonderful guacamole (which is our quality test), homemade totopos (chips), and even found a brew pub - the Baha Brewery. Crit and I actually got to do some shopping, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The marina is actually next to the small town of La Playita, which is a small fishing village that has been here ~200 years. It has definitely grown since we were here in 2003 and has some good restaurant/bars, plus Marcella's - a great little market with ice and everything - all crammed into a very small space.

We leave in the morning. Our planned stops are Bahia Frailles, Bahia Muertos, and then La Paz. Of course, this is subject to change based on weather, whim, and availability. Our only timeline is to be in La Paz by Thanksgiving!

You probably won't hear from us until La Paz, but I could be wrong. Wont' be the first time!

Pretty crazy life, huh?

A Room with a View!

And it is free - can you believe it! We wake up everyone morning to this view. Of course, a cruise ship shows up every day and blocks some of it, but we don't mind. We get to watch the parasails, the jet skis, and the water taxis go by. It keeps us very busy!

We have spent the week shopping, checking out the town, practicing our bad Spanish - Crit is definitely trying harder than we are!

Tomorrow, we leave for San Jose De Cabo. Not far, but we will be slipping into a marina for the luxuries of hot showers, power (maybe), ice, and all of those things we used to take for granted. There is even rumors of wireless internet - yahoo.

After that, we are going to meander up the coast. We are expected for Thanskgiving in La Paz at Casa Ana's (Ana and Steve Hall's Casa). Of course, we have warned them we aren't sure when Thanksgiving is or if we will actually make that date, but they are flexible. Thank goodness.

Did we tell you we are really starting to enjoy retirement? Crit has more experience at this sort of thing than we do and she says that we are definitely getting the hang of it. Of course, we are still getting projects done. We actually have speakers in our cockpit as of today - it is a miracle!

We are thinking of everyone and hope to see you one of these days. Promise to track you down if you are in the vicinity!

Cabo San Lucas: Land-Ho!

We made it. Of course, we anchored at night (again) and didn't get any pictures of the cape, but we are here and it is beautiful!

The wind cooperated for a long time and we sailed for ~24 hours straight - very nice. We arrived in Cabo after 38 hours. It seemed longer since you can see land for a long way, but it takes forever to get here!

As you can see, we quickly adjusted to land and joined the fleet at the cantina party. We were over served and had way too much fun. No wonder they keep us on the boat for most of the trip!

So, we are moving pretty slow today. We have been in the same bar for 6 hours catching up on email, banking, and surfing the web. It is amazing to be connected to everything after traveling ~1600 miles.

Tonight - the final Baja Ha Ha party where we find out where we placed in the rally. I don't think we will be last, but I know we weren't first!

We plan on staying in Cabo for about a week. It is nice to be done with schedules. We can really start relaxing now. We just have to be in La Paz by December 1 - only 150 miles away. I think we can make that! Come and visit us!

Bahia Santa Maria!

Is a very interesting place. No town, but they throw a wonderful party every year for the Baja Ha Ha fleet. They truck in food, liquor, and a rock and roll band from 40 miles away just to entertain us. You should have seen the dancing - how fun!

It was a wonderful place for us to rest up. Tomorrow, we leave at 7am for Cabo San Lucas - the final leg of the rally. Yeah!

Crit is showing off another of her talents. Serving up squid that landed on our boat - yucky thing!

Wahoo - really!

We had a beautiful sail leaving Turtle Bay - spinnakers were flying. Just after take off, Doug caught his biggest fish yet - a 38 pound Wahoo. He was so excited. Of course, just as Doug was filleting our dinner, we busted our spinnaker tack line. That made things just a little too exciting for awhile, but Crit and Doug quickly doused the spinnaker and got us sailing again.

We sailed/motored to Bahia Santa Maria approximately 70 hours anchoring at 4am - yuck. We were all exhausted and quickly crawled into bed. Did I mention that anchoring at night is my second least favorite thing? Yup, right after fog!

Good thing we have a couple of nights to rest up!

Photos from the fleet on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=bajahaha2008&m=text.

Fun and games in Turtle Bay!

As you can see, we settled into the Mexican lifestyle very easily - margaritas all around! We spent the first day wandering around the small town of Turtle Bay eating and drinking and meeting other sailors. Warning - partying on the streets of Turtle Bay can be dangerous. A slight misstep and you can find yourself tripping and conking your head - just ask me! No permanent damage...

The next day, we partied on the beach with the rest of the Baja Ha-Ha crew. A fine potluck meal, plus cervezas. It's a good thing they don't let us off the boat very often - we all get pretty wild and crazy! Poor Doug was a late comer. He was getting the boat ready for takeoff the next day and had to head into town to track down some engine oil. That's our Captain!

Leaving for Bahia Santa Maria in the morning!