Category: Baja Ha-Ha 2016-2017

Leaving San Pablo Bay for the Napa River.  Mount Tamalpais in the background.

Napa, CA

We arrived in Napa the evening of January 5th, around 19:00. For the most part safe and sound. More on that later. I will cover some of our last legs and then this will be the final post on our travels. We hope you have enjoyed the posts. Our next projected legs were to be leaving Morro Bay Friday for a four hour trip to the anchorage at San Simeon. We had hoped to spend the night, without the southerly swells and then leave early the next morning for a 14 hour trip to Monterey. The winds kept up and it was rolly but we did manage to get some sleep. I would not recommend doing this again in December, as the weather gets quite tricky. Nighttimes are difficult with just two and no autopilot, all hand steering. We left San Simeon early in the morning and had a pretty comfortable trip to Monterey, arriving earlier than planned and just as the sun was setting. Another storm was coming with strong winds and large swells. So our goal to be home by New Years would have to change. We accepted that we would get home when the ocean allowed us to and not a day sooner and decided Monterey was not a bad location to bring in the new year. New Years Eve we found a sports bar and settled in to watch the Washington Huskies play Alabama and New Year’s Day we went and saw the movie Jackie. We left Monterey Monday morning under questionable conditions. There was a warning for the San Francisco Bar and another big storm was coming. We decided if things deteriorated we could tuck into Santa Cruz but wanted to try for Half Moon Bay. We were only two days from home and were getting excited at the prospect of being tucked into our old slip! We had some rain but made good time and made it to HMB around 16:00. We thought we might leave the next day but a big blow was coming and we would be holed up there for what we thought would be one extra day. That next day the winds cane up strong, gale force! I measured 45kts on my wind gauge. That translate to 52 mph! It was too messy to leave the boat. I found a pizza place that would deliver to our slip on the wharf. So at around 19:00 this kid, fighting the wind and rain, came delivering our pizza, he was tipped well! Later on that evening we saw another sailboat come in from the howling wind. I peaked out the window and saw two men hug each other as they reached the dock, obviously relieved to be in a safe harbor. The wind and rain came hard during the night but in the morning things had cleared up. This was to be our last day, that night we would be home! I visited with our neighbors, who came in the previous night. As it turned out they were part of the Baja fleet and we had communicated by radio, while in Mexico. I then went about preparing the boat for our final leg. There was a hose on the dock so I decided to hose off the bow of the boat. This area is known as Zelda’s poop deck and I thought a little extra cleaning was appropriate for our final day. I finished cleaning the deck and turn the water off… I stepped over the hose and then my rubber boot slipped! I went flying into the air and when I came down, I did a face plant on the only thing raised above the dock, a hose bib! I was ******! I reached up to feel if a bump was forming above my eye. What I found was my hand covered with blood! We had traveled from Napa to La Paz and back with no injuries and were one day from home and now this happens! I climbed back in the boat and told Vickie I had injured myself. I was hopping she would see the wound and say, it doesn’t look so bad but she said the opposite, “that doesn’t look good, you need stitches”! But if this was going to happen, this was probably the best place for it to happen. My brother, Kevin lives in Palo Alto, just 19 miles from Half Moon Bay. He drove over the mountains and took us to the hospital. Nine stitches, a slight concussion and busied ego later we were off to lunch and then back to the boat. We spent another night and planned to leave the following morning. It was the last day of our weather window before new storms were going to hit the Bay Area. The seas and wind were to be calm for our last day on the seas. But our last day was not to be calm. The wind was 25-30kts and the seas were coming from the NE requiring us to head more east, to keep from having the swells hitting us on the beam. We finally reached the point where we needed to turn west for our entrance into the Golden Gate. Now the swells were coming at us from our back Port quarter. Though high, they were far apart. But a few did tip the boat sideways quite a bit. I wasn’t comfortable with this and kept one eye to the seas to our left and one on the Golden Gate. We had missed the slack tide but came racing in on the flood tide. But once inside the Gate the seas became smooth. The flood tide pushed us past Angel Island and on to the Napa River. We had one last hurtle to getting home. There is a draw bridge in Vallejo that the operator leaves at 19:00. But with the flood tide we were there in plenty of time. We arrived at the Napa Valley Marina around 19:00. With the help of our neighbor Bill, we secured the boat and tucked in for the night. The next morning we awoke to 34 degrees in the boat. A far cry from our mornings in Mexico! It is wonderful to be home and visiting with family and friends. We learned so much about our boat, cruising and ourselves! We met and made friends with the locals and learned a lot from the many Expats that have made Mexico their home. I want to especially thank my brother Kevin, for coming, at the last minute, to Cabo and helping crew on the Baja bash from Cabo to Ensenada. We are now going to take a few weeks resting up before tackling our new list of repairs and improvements for the boat. Plus I will be exploring doing some contract work in my previous field of work. Both Vickie and I are already talking about our next adventure.

Otters in Morro Bay

Morro Bay, CA

We arrived in Santa Barbara on December 21st and left on the 26th. Santa Barbara has always been one of my favorite places to stop while traveling up or down the coast. Since San Diego, we had encountered very smooth seas and gentle winds. Getting spoiled! As we entered the harbor on Wednesday afternoon, it started to rain. It didn’t last long, but was a taste of things to come. We parked the boat at the guest dock and walked up to the harbor office to get a slip. After that we moved the boat and started to get settled in. We were tired, so we made dinner on the boat and tucked in early. Thursday we had a wonderful lunch outdoors in the sunshine overlooking the harbor and ocean. Then we spent the afternoon walking all over downtown, looking in shops and searching for a fish market that had live crab. We finally found some at the fifth fish market! We wanted to have crab for Christmas Eve dinner. We ordered it and picked it up on Saturday. Friday it poured all day. They were expecting an inch of rain that day and I’d be surprised if we didn’t get it. No walking for us that day! Instead, we got rides to the laundry mat and grocery store from Uber. Very fast and inexpensive, and we meet interesting people! Good to get laundry and shopping done. Our reward was to go the moves Friday night, by way of Uber, again. We saw the movie “LA LA LAND”. A very entertaining musical comedy, with great acting. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone-always good! Saturday (Christmas Eve), Dennis spent a good part of the day working on replacing the raw water pump for the engine. We had our fresh crab for dinner, with a big salad and sour dough bread. Yum! Sunday, (Christmas Day) Dennis finished the raw water pump. We made an omelette with left over crab for dinner, and had a nice Christmas holiday together. Monday morning we left for Coho anchorage. It was only a 4–5 hour trip. The swells and wind were coming from the south (behind us), and pushed us there faster. It was an easy trip, although the swells were about 5 feet high. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the anchorage we discovered that we could not stay! The swells and waves usually come from the north, making it a good and sheltered anchorage. But when coming from the south, they were not blocked at all! We would have been rocking all night and our anchor would not have held. So we had no choice but to keep going thru part of the night, to Morro Bay. It was our first rough trip since before San Diego and probably colder than we had experienced! But, we pulled into Morro Bay at about 2 am Tuesday morning. Morro Bay is another really nice place to be when on a boat. The harbor is in a lagoon, with a sandy beach and sand dunes on one side, and on the side we tie up on, lots of cute shops and restaurants. We tie up to the Morro Bay Yacht Club dock, and have a great view of “the rock”. There are sea otters and seals swimming all around. The weather here has been sunny and breezy, just a light jacket or sweater required. Today (Wednesday) we walked up the hill about mile to the grocery, to get some odds and ends we ran out of. Then we toured some more shops and had an appetizer and a beer at a pub. Another nice afternoon! We were going to stay here until Friday, but our weather window has opened up for us a day earlier than we thought. Our next stop is San Simeon anchorage. We can see Hearst Castle lit up on the hill above us, if there is no fog. We will make dinner and take a nap when we get there, and leave for Monterey in the middle of night, a 14 hour trip, which should put us there on Friday night. Sounds like a good place to ring in the new year! We’re feeling like we’re getting closer to home. After working for years with a fixed schedule, it is very strange to be at the mercy of the weather and sea conditions. I am learning to relax and enjoy the journey and not so be concerned about the outcome! We are missing you all and looking forward to seeing you when we get home. We will update you in Monterey. Wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Vickie, Dennis and Zelda

Leaving Ensenada early in the morning

Sleeping crew

Morro Bay, CA

Most slats on the bowsprit were destroyed from the rough seas

San Diego, CA

A lot of people think that sailing off into the sunset to warmer climes is nothing but romantic. A pleasure Cruise that is relaxing and luxurious! And, it is probably about 1/10 of the time!!!!! I have not been in many other situations in my life (except motherhood and teaching high school students for 32 years), that has tested me to the very core of my being! It is hard to describe to those who have not done it. Living in an environment that is always moving. The boat rocking and banging around so that everything in it falls onto the floor and rolls around. Having to use all your strength to hold onto the boat to keep from being knocked down while walking down below. Even going to the bathroom is a major challenge! Traveling through the night on the boat is especially difficult! We operate on 3 hour shifts, rotating with 3 of us. So that really means that 2 people are topside in the cockpit and one person is off for 3 hours, usually trying to get rest. So we’re pretty much on for 6 hours and off for 3, until we reach our next destination. We take turns driving the boat, only for one hour at a time. I get very tense at night when it is rough and I can’t see the big swells and waves coming at us. If the boat gets turned a bit too sideways to the waves I can get really freaked out! After 24 hours of this we get really exhausted and start seeing things that aren’t there! Like the time we anchored in San Quintin and Dennis and I thought we were looking at a parking lot! There was nothing but other boats anchored around us and bare hills beyond the shore, in reality! Dennis thought he saw buffalo at one point, and a freight train too! We’ll probably start seeing aliens soon, and will keep you posted on that one! Kevin has gone home to Palo Alto, so now there is just the two of us and Zelda. We can never express our appreciation to Kevin, for joining us on our difficult journey up the Baja Peninsula. We hope he enjoyed the trip. We are leaving Ensenada (which has been very nice), tomorrow morning early, for San Diego. We’ll get there tomorrow evening and plan to be there until Sunday, December 18th. It will be just Dennis and I. We are not planning any overnighters, and will tuck into marinas and travel when weather permits. We don’t know exactly how long it will take us to get home to Napa Valley Marina. I have had the adventure of a lifetime! It was difficult at times. It was wonderful too. Seeing all the creatures in the ocean; dolphins, sea turtles, whales, sea lions, many kinds of tuna, sea birds, etc. the stars at night, with no light pollution to dim them. The moon rising over the ocean. The most incredible sunsets and sunrises. The many colors the ocean can be, depending on the sky. Turquoise in the shallower bays. The deepest blue I have ever seen when the sky is clear and the water is deep. And when the sky is overcast, the ocean looks silver, like mercury! So we will now begin the last part of our journey home. It will be nice to get back and see family and friends. I am especially missing my granddaughter Michaela. But I will also miss traveling on the ocean and plan to do it again. Thanks to all of you who have been following our blog. We miss you and love you and will see some of you soon! Dennis will be writing more about the Baja Bash. And we will add to the blog as we travel up the coast of California, till we reach San Francisco Bay. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Vickie

Sunset at Santa Maria Bay

San Diego, CA

This next chapter of our blog will be of our travels and tell the story of our trip from Cabo San Lucas to San Diego, referred to by sailors as the notorious “Baja Bash”! In mentioning to our fellow Bajaer’s that we were heading back, the initial response was always “why”?Many people use the Baja Ha- Ha as a jumping off stage to South and/or Central America, the Caribbean or The French Pollyneasion Islands, or further. They also hate the trip back, so many people will leave their boats on the hard or in a slip and fly back and forth. Many boats just never come back north and are just sold. The reason the trip back is dreaded so much is that you are going against the wind, against the current and against the swells and their accompanying waves and did I say the wind? We felt confident about our trip because we had all done our own previous little bash, bringing Wind Horse up from San Diego to Napa the previous fall. But there are significant differences between the trips. In Mexico, there is no Vessel Assist (a version of AAA but for boats in the US), no NOAA, no NWS for weather, much of the trip has little cell coverage and internet access is non-existent, and there is no Coast Guard, if you need assistance. There is the Mexican navy but they are small and do not have much of a presence. Also there are very few places along the coast that you can pull in the get supplies and if you need a part for your boat, you better have it with you or be able to repair it yourself. There are sparse anchorages that you plan your passages by. Many requiring multiply days sailing including nights. Our longest was 40 hours at sea from Santa Maria Bay to Turtle Bay with Turtle Bay one of the few places you can tack on fuel. Coming down we had the company of our Baja fleet. If there was a problem, they were there to help. A comforting assurance. An instance was one boat lost both of their engines and was towed much of the way to Cabo by another boat in the fleet. We would be heading north by ourselves, the only other boats we would see would be fishing boats, an occasional Cruising Line, a handful of recreational boats heading south. We saw not a single boat heading north. As Vickie said to Kevin and I “we are very brave or very stupid”, to which I answered “yes”! I will be updating this, as we travel north, and will only post it once we arrive in San Diego. Leg One As I had reported earlier,our departure from Cabo was delayed due to the Port Captain now allowing us to leave due to weather. After reviewing a video display in the marina of weather on the Baja peninsula we saw a good weather window develop for Sunday. The video display was from the internet and was a site just for boaters. I sent the link to Bill, back in Napa so he could monitor it and text us updates when we could infrequently get cell coverage. The weather report from this new software was winds 10-15 kts and seas at 1-2′, at 14 seconds. What we found was much different! After beginning with the winds and seas being as predicted, as night came, things changed. The seas raised to 8-10′ and the winds were 20-25kts! The seas dropped to 5-7′ but the wind stayed 20-25kts, until 05:00, when we found the predicted 1-2′ seas and 15kt wind. We arrived at Santa Maria Bay after leaving Cabo San Lucas 30.5 hours earlier. Leg Two Our next passage was to Turtle Bay, a 34 hour passage. Again the seas were predicted to be 10-15kts and 1-2′. Things started out fine for the first few hours. Then we had 20-25kt winds with gust over 30. At 21:00 I went below for my 3 hours off shift. When I came up at midnight I found 8-10′ seas. They then dropped to 4-5′ but only maybe 6 seconds apart. Every time we came up and over one swell we were met with another, crashing through the pulpit! Much of the teak planking on the pulpit had been bashed away! This lasted until 07:00 the following morning. Kevin and I took one hour shifts hand steering through the swells, turning port and starboard, fighting to keep the boat from being turned parallel to the waves. With the moon now gone, you could not tell the position of the boat to the waves. But you could feel the wind on your face. Since we were motoring directly into the wind, if you felt the wind on either cheek, the boat was turning parallel to the waves and you had to quickly crank the wheel to the other side. At this point I decided I’m not liking the software I recommended. We finally arrived 21:30, after 40 hours at sea. Leg Three We slept in late the next morning, at our newest anchorage, Turtle Bay. We needed to take on fuel while here and it is a unique process. The fuel is delivered by panga in a large plastic cube. You hail them with your air horn and they come and ask how much you want. We told them 60 gallons and off they went. They came back shortly and pumped the fuel to my tank. We had done this on our way south and had no problems. But there are stories about “Baja” gas having water and impurities in it. While here, we heard about the large earthquake in the Solomon Islands and the possibility of a tsunami. With a bit of concern we left knowing the best place for us would be on the ocean. As it turned out the tsunami did not materialize. We left Turtle Bay at 11:30 with our next destination San Quintin Bay, a 32 hour passage. But again we were met with high winds and the accompanying waves. Our expected 6 kt speed was slowed to 3.5kts. Our projected 19:00 arrival the following night was now pushed to the following morning. We decided to find another closer anchorage. This we found at Punta Baja, which we arrived at 01:30 in the morning, two days after leaving Turtle Bay. Leg Four Our next leg to get to San Quintin Bay was a 5 hour pleasant passage. Leg Five We now had two legs left till we arrived at Ensenada. Our second to last one would take us to Cabo Colenet, a picturesque large plateau with one end shaped like a nose. This was to be a nine hour passage and for the most part was pretty calm. That was until, two hours from the anchorage, in the dark, with rolling waves, the engine stopped! We were 12 miles offshore without an engine. Of course we could have raised the sails and gone back to where we began that day but I suspected we had been bit by “Baja” fuel! I opened the fuel filter and found a filthy fuel filter. An easy fix, with a new filter but I needed diesel fuel to top off the filter to keep air from getting in the system. There was none available so we removed the steps in the companionway to expose the fuel tank. I removed the fuel level sensor giving me access to fuel below. Then using a skill that most adolescent boys learn, I started sucking on a hose to syphon enough fuel to top off the filter. Putting everything back together, we turned the key and… the engine started right up. We arrived at the anchorage at 21:30, happy to be there! Leg Six Our next leg to Ensenada was uneventful. But here my brother Kevin, who flew to Cabo to help us bash north departed to take the bus and train back home. The trip had taken longer than anticipated and he needed to get home. It was wonderful having his help and I want to thank my Irish twin for always being there for me. Leg Seven Vickie and I had a much needed rest in Ensenada. We met another great community of cruisers. Our neighbors were in charge of the morning net and gave us a ride to get propane and a gallon of diesel, so I wouldn’t have to suck on a hose again. There was even someone who could weld a part for me for a couple of “coconuts”. The two of us left early Thursday morning and had our calmest day on the ocean coming into San Diego. One of our new friends in Ensenada, said “”my husband did the “Baja Bash” twice, once and never again!””. Next blog Customs and San Diego Warm Regards, Dennis

The passing of Fidel Castro, as reported in Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

I have not posted as we have just been relaxing and getting ready for our trip home. Our new crew heading north now includes my brother Kevin. Michael left shortly after our arrival in Cabo. So the new crew, besides myself is Vickie, Kevin and Zelda. Vickie and I had a pleasant trip south from La Paz back to Cabo, anchoring again in Los Muertos and Los Frailes, after a trip to Bahia San Gabriel at Isla Espiritu Santo, a beautifully protected island by UNESCO. We will be coming back here! We had planned on leaving Cabo last Friday. Kevin arrived Wednesday and on Thursday he and Vickie set off to purchase our provisions to head north. I left to get our immigration and boat papers done, plus a new crew manifest so we could leave the country. I hiked to the immigration office and took a number. After a bit I was called to the window. The poor woman’s English was about as good as my Spanish. She called her supervisor who said he would meet with me downstairs. He greeted me and took me into his office. He showed me a stack of paperwork, a foot high that represented all the people that had come and gone the pass month and he had to process it all. I apologized for adding to his workload and he laughed and said “no problema”! He created a new crew list and checked us out of the country. He took our visas and stamped our passports and wished us a safe trip. My next destination was the Port Captain, who was on the other side of town. On my way I stoped for a bite of lunch and had the best pastore fajitas! I arrived at the Port Captain and asked if I could check out of the country and get my Zarpe papers. These are the final documents for the boat to leave the country. He asked if I was aware of the weather? I said yes that we had a couple day window that would get us to our next location and we would wait for the weather to improve. He said the weather was bad and he could not allow us to leave. He said to wait a few days and then come back. We decided to stay and missed our window. I went back on Friday and met with him again and said we wanted to leave on Sunday. He said the weather was very bad and we should wait. I told him we would leave on Sunday. He said he knew nothing about Sunday but Friday was very bad. The office is closed on the weekend and he suggested I come back Monday. Well the weather was quite bad on Friday and Saturday but Sunday is looking good and the rest of the week is improving. But we are in the country illegally as we had relinquish our visas on Thursday and we were still in the country!!! No problema…This is Mexico, not a problem and no walls to climb. So we leave tomorrow morning heading back north. Tomorrow we will head to Bahia Santa Maria, a 30 hour passage. At night we will be about 20 miles out and then arrive Monday afternoon. We will spend the night then head for Turtle Bay, a 38 hour passage. We will probably arrive in the evening of Wednesday. We plan on spending the day, resting up and getting some fuel from a panga. We will leave Friday morning for Bahia San Quintin, a 30 hour passage. Once there we will determine if we want to slow down a bit or keep up our fast pace. Bill our neighbor and friend at our slip in Napa has agreed to be our weather guru as we bash north. We will have limited internet and cell coverage, so weather reports will be difficult to come by. We will check in, as we can, and he will text conditions that are ahead of us. Though the weather is trending in our favor, it is comforting having Bill give us current reports. Our last meal tonight was a tradition meal cooked in a volcanic bowl of pork, chicken, shrimp and beef,,,YUM! I will post some photos from the past few days. Best to all! The Crew of the Windhorse

Mural on a side street

La Paz, Mexico

We arrived outside the harbor late morning on Monday. We did not have a slip as they were all full. The Baja Ha-Ha fleet is spreading all over the Sea of Cortez and further south but are still showing up in mass at many locations. I had emailed to the harbor master at one of the marinas the previous week. She had told me they were full but to show up at the mouth of the harbor and just start calling the marinas and ask if there had been any cancellations. The phone does not work so you need to use the VHF radio. We started calling Monday morning and there was nothing available until I contacted Marina Cortez. I had emailed them Sunday afternoon and they too had told me there were no empty slips. But this time she ask where was I? I told her that I was at the mouth of the harbor and she told me to hold on. After waiting a few minutes she came back and said that she had talked to her boss and there was a 100′ slip available for our 45’+ boat! Great we said and started heading in. It is about 2 miles going down a narrow channel before you start arriving to the city and it’s marinas. They greeted us at the dock and helped us tie up. Then there is the paper work…. after about half an hour we are all checked in. I must say all the people at all of the marinas have bent over backwards to be accommodating. When we had arrived the shore power for us, on the dock, was not functioning. Apparently the previous boat had departed and had neglected to unplug. Half of the plug was still plugged in and had shorted out the unit. They said they Would fix it quickly for us. Upon our return, after doing the paper work, they asked me to give it a try. I plugged in the cord and went below to check a meter below as to what power was coming in. This is a safety, so I can make sure it is all OK, before I flip a switch, sending power in to the boat. In many marinas, foreign and domestic, there are issues. I got a zero reading and told the fellow and his helper. They said un momento and played with the breakers. They then asked me to try again. The same result. He came over and said it must be my cord. He reached over to unplug it and touch a piece of metal and zap, he received an electric shock! He was not happy. I asked if he had a meter and he replied no. I told him I did and fetched it. From ground to neutral and ground to the hot lead, we had power. I told him that was wrong. We went back to the box where he had made the repair. We opened it up and discovered that he had wired the hot wire to the ground connection! This could have been very serious for them and for us. But they fixed it and life goes on, in Mexico, no problemo! We set out on foot and soon realized it was a national holiday, Revolution Day! This celebrates the revolution from 1910-1920, against the dictator Diaz. (Where are you now Pancho Villa and Emilio Zapata!?!) This was a true agrarian revolt that radically alter the culture and government of Mexico, at the time. All the streets are named after revolutionary heroes and commemorate special dates of the revolution. The city of La Paz is not like any of the tourist cities or border towns of Mexico, that you may have visited. The city affronts the Sea of Cortez with an avenue that separates the city from the water, the Malecon. Reminds me of a smaller Havana, Cuba, that I visited 14 years ago. There is little hustle on the streets, like you have in the tourist cities. Just families and young couples walking the long Malecon. There are small restaurants and murals on the one side and sculptures on the water side. A lot of artist have moved here and it shows. Also there is a large contingent of Expats who live here. Some live on the land and many live on their boats, anchored just across the channel from the city. They have a central meeting area, at one of the marinas, with an area to share books and dvds. They also do a net, over the VHF, every morning at 8:00, except Sunday. The first questioned asked, is are there any medical emergencies? They then go on and ask new arrivals, like us, to introduce themselves. Next is weather for La Paz and people sailing in different directions and finally opened up to announcements on up coming events and people’s needs. There is a barter section, if you need something or have something you want to part with. Only Mexican citizens can sell things in Mexico otherwise you can barter. so on the radio you will here “I have a SSB radio that I will trade for coconuts”! This group, our new temporary community, is having a thanksgiving get together tomorrow. It cost us 200 pesos ($10) each. They provide the turkey and stuffing and everyone else brings a side dish. The weather was hot upon our arrival but the last few days has been the low to mid 80’s during the day and low 70’s at night. We plan on leaving La Paz Monday morning and taking three days sailing back to Cabo San Lucas. It will be just Vickie, myself and Zelda and we will tuck in each night. Once in Cabo my brother Kevin will join us as we begin the bash going north. Till next time. Dennis

Balandra Cove

La Paz, Mexico

Poor Zelda was a hot puppy on the ride

La Paz, Mexico

We left los Frailes later in the morning on Thursday. We had planned on leaving Friday but the winds were expected to kick up to 30 kts with seas at short duration, so we decided to leave early. We had a calm and hot ride to Bahia de los Muretos. We arrived just before sunset and anchored. We spent yesterday doing laundry on the boat and I work on whittling down my list of repairs. This is another fishing area, with fisherman towing their pangas in by car and spending the day fishing. There is an old rock wharf and one restaurant. We rowed our dinghy in and are having a late lunch. AND we have wifi!! I do have to tell you that after hearing the election results, I am not missing not having internet! The little pieces I have heard want me to keep going south! But last night I hooked up our SSB receiver and tried to get the BBC. No luck but I did find a nice Mexican station playing American jazz! Nice discovery! I plan on using the SSB to get weather faxes for our trip back. Tomorrow we leave for an anchorage just out of La Paz, Bahia Balandra. It is a beautiful cove with the famous mushroom rock, This will put us 2 hours outside of La Paz. We would like to secure a slip, but as of now we don’t have one. There is a long channel entering the inner harbor and it is busy. As we get close we will start calling the marinas on our VHF. They don’t know what space they have until they do a visual inspection. We are planning on staying here through Thanksgiving then start our journey home. Best to all, Dennis

Our neighbors at anchor

Cabo Pulmo, Mexico