La Paz

Ah, finally a city that we can enjoy and get to know a little bit. And they even have recycling and composting bins along the main tourist thoroughfare, though apparently nowhere else. Patti and the boys signed up for two weeks of Spanish at a very good school (Se Habla La Paz, in case you or someone you know are in a similar situation). Despite our worst fears, the boys have been doing so well - and almost enjoying it, as far as we can determine - that they get to go to a Spanish kids movie tomorrow, while Patti has to go to a boring old graduation ceremony and learn more about the past tense and the difference between ser and estar (forms of "to be").  Jan has been putting in some hours at work, and a bit of working on the boat, though there seem to be precious few hours for that.

As for the pics - ospreys are a wonderful powerful marine raptor that builds gigantic nests, often on transmission towers.  They also have a strangely small-bird chirping cry; and they poop a lot.  Especially when perched on the top of a mast.  So I now have a love-hate relationship to these magnificent birds, whereas before it had just been amore, amore.

The boys are our deckhands when entering or leaving port, partly because they enjoy it and partly because they are the only crew who can consistently jump ashore or aboard without stumbling or falling in the water.  Here they are in a frequent configuration when preparing to enter port - Tino practicing his balancing skills while Valence chills.  We have all been getting a bit more relaxed every week, Patti says my eyes are green more often, and I know hers are getting softer and more relaxed.

The manta ray is one of many statues along the main boulevard (Malecon), we had to get a snap of it with this boat's connection to them.

Here we are at Jerry Libertore's wonderful house (or should I say ranch - he has a number of out buildings, and a great patio which is used more than the living room).  Jerry is a great diving buddy of Patti's bro Dan, and we had a great evening with Jerry and Lilly - and their parrot Din Din and three dogs. He gifted Valencio with a good mask for snorkeling, after the previous one sank to the murky depths on the Doo-Dah.  Jerry is a great cook, his pasta sauce was incredible. I'm really glad he read my slightly peckish expression when we arrived, because I've found it hard to get enough calories somehow, I keep getting thinner.  The rest of us are experiencing the same thing, but more slowly - so I tend to eat all leftovers, appetizers, ask for more chips and salsa at restaurants, whatever.

We spent a wonderful 24 hrs at Ballandra Bay last weekend - snorkeling, sunset-gazing, full moon-gazing, fish pursuing and the like.  The boys are enamored of puffer fish so they were corralling one so I could get a better picture.  The little guy in Tino's hand was already dead, he threw it to the mob of pelicans and other birds who had come to pick off little fish in the shallow waters of this sizable cove.

The tube things are made by a strange-looking worm (perhaps a parchment tube worm), and are all over the place in shallow water.

Happy Thanksgiving to all - we had quite a feast hosted by our marina and the cruisers' Club Cruseros, for once I had perhaps too much to eat.  We brought a homemade pumpkin pie, but more appreciated was the whipped cream, which was applied to pies, brownies and the occasional cookie.  It was very hot in the sun during the dinner, now pretty cool with a decent North wind blowing through the marina.

Nov 10 - Ensenada de los Muertos

A couple of stops outside Cabo, and lo we have wi-fi, and got Skype working! Just as well, as my cellphone (Verizon) has almost no coverage, and Patti's (AT&T) has great coverage but can't call out, even after 90 minutes with tech support.

Last two stops have been very sweet. Had to motor-sail to Los Frailes, but when we got there we found great snorkeling in a tiny cove around the bend (basically a little beach with some coral close to it, but lots of fish, and our first snorkeling experience of the trip). We also found a great family restaurant along a road and over a hill, with KILLER coconut shrimp (lobster and scallops not bad either), and the best limonade we've ever had - homemade in a blender with yerba buena (mint) from the garden.

Then we actually got to sail most of the way to this sweet spot, as forecast northerlies turned NE and held at a nice 12-18 kn. Here there is a well-protected anchorage so the boys have been snorkeling around the boat and just swimming a lot - tonight we'll try snorkeling with a light (in a zip-lock), there are some neat fish whose eyes reflect the light when we shine a flashlight down. And of course this nice internet cafe/restaurant, which also has an outdoor shower and a phone for free calls to US and Canada!

So what with the warm water and seeing more latinos around, the boyz are getting more comfortable in their bodies, really relishing swimming, diving, boogie-boarding and the like - noticably more than they did at our first stop in the HaHa (Turtle Bay) for example. Don't tell anyone, but they actually swam nekkid this morning, and didn't give us too hard a time about that kissing contest you were all wondering about. So yeah, it's basically the last organized activity of the HaHa - an informal contest where couples (and one confused trio) try to outdo Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr's passion in the surf of From Here to Eternity. All pretty pg-rated, the biggest thrill is getting a big wave, which our crew managed perfectly. We assumed the boys would both turn away or try to talk us out of it, but they were pretty neutral, which is a big step.

I gotta give another big thank you to Pete and Jean for their boat, and the boat's name - everybody remembers it (especially after I corrected the Grand Poobah when he called her Neener3 - "that's Neener Neener Neener, to you"). I now have a long list of things to do, but so far none seem to be horrendously critical - at least yet.

Tomorrow we leave early for La Paz, where we'll stay in one marina or another for a couple weeks. Clean up the salt-encrusted boat, put away all the warm clothes in buried hiding places, get Patti and boys in Spanish immersion classes, and I hope to get some serious (paying) work done, we can't do this on vacation time forever...

Long time no internet - now at Cabo

Just a quick note to say we have made it to Cabo San Lucas.  Getting to San Diego was nice but weather awful; first two days south from SD we had big seas and 4 out of 6 were sick.  Improving slowly every day since then.  Favorite place was Bahia Santa Maria, tho Turtle Bay was also sweet, nicer than our friend and crew Brian found a few years ago.

Bittersweet to see our wonderful Southbound crew David and Angie leave us.  Now back to just the four of us - more room, but also without their wonderful positive vibes and great helpfulness and skills.  Love ya, guys!

Next stop La Paz, via Los Frailes and Ensenada de Los Muertos.  Promise to update a lot when we get to La Paz, but not much hope before then!

Love from the Neener3 bunch (nicknamed the Love Boat, because both P&J and D&A went for the brass ring in the Here to Eternity Kissing Contest) - more on that later, we assure you...

Bahia SM to Cabo

So... here is dawn at the anchorage, with other boats already underway.

Lots of pics here, not a lot to say. Sailing was mellow until we were within sight of Cabo San Lucas, when they suddenly rose to 25 kn on the nose - about 15 minutes after we laid some of my father's ashes to rest in the sea.

Started off with a dawn sail to the starting line; some pictures by David who climbed the mast to get a better view.



Yes, we caught another fish but it was a tad small to eat, so it went back to the sea.

Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria

One the second leg, we finally caught a fish! We called it Angie's fish because it was her lure (and David's longish line) that caught it.

First you gotta stun it, then hopefully kill it with alcohol, in this case our many-years saved bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin. But the darn thing kept twitching for minutes after this. Oh well, it didn't bite - or escape!

By now it looks like food! And it tasted WONDERFUL. Even made a great rice dish after the two meals from the grill.

We also had a squid come on board by itself, but we let that one go back.



Next pic is from the Halloween dinghy ride, which was actually on Nov 1. Boys had fun, and developed a new appreciation for sailors - none of the power boats we trick or treated would
hand out any goodies!

Finally, the beach party where a great shrimp dinner was served and the boys played with a ball hoping to get more treats from wearing their costumes again.

No dice...

And then some shots of us on our trip up the mangrove estuary, and the turtle shell that we found on the beach. This was our favorite spot on the HaHa.