La Paz

For years we have heard about this magical cruiser’s paradise named La Paz which means Peace. We read about it in blogs, we heard stories from other cruisers and Boat Show talks. So we imagined this utopia, a destination, and longed to be “there.” On December 31, 2014, we sailed into La Paz after a beautiful night at sea and a bashing morning run through San Lorenzo Channel for the last 15nm until we settled into Marina de La Paz, our home for the next month. We were ecstatic to just settle in to a new home for an entire month, especially since we had been on the move since August, with the exception of our 6 week stay in Berkeley. We were looked forward to sleeping without the boat rocking, we didn’t want to study weather reports, plan passages/routes, or spend another night at sea-at least for a while. 

Admittedly, it took us about a week before we decided that La Paz is a fabulous place. I think when one builds a place up in one’s mind, it is hard to meet that expectation. It took us awhile to see through the developing nation aspects and see the beauty and develop connections in the community. 

We now love walking the malecon (an esplanade that follows the water) and watching the locals strolling and enjoying an evening walk with family. We watch them enjoy ice cream at the many ice cream shops, sushi, pizza and hamburgers. We walk a few streets away from the malecon to the city center where more traditional Mexican food carts and restaurants can be found. Mercados  which are indoor markets with individual stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables and meats/fish are abundant and locals conducting their daily business as La Paz is the capital of Baja. It is not a touristy area for the most part. 

We enjoy the 0800 morning cruisers net which we turn on via our VHF radio. It is run by volunteers (other sailors) for an organized 30 minutes of relaying communication for the cruising fleet. There are 5 marinas in the area which include mega yachts (the M5, Ostar etc) as well as those of us that are more modest. There is also a large amount of boats anchored in the bay. Sadly, 3 sailors lost there lives here in September during Hurricane Odilie. Evidence is all around with boats still on their sides on the hard and a few boats eerily in the water with only the top of their masts reaching out of the water as if they are asking for help.

We will miss La Paz but we will return.

                                   sv Kialoa bashing through the channel en route to La Paz

                                              crew of Namaste and The Vortex having fun

                               Our sister ship, sv Del Viento joining us at anchor at Coleta Lobos

                                                   A 50th birthday party for Tanya in La Paz

Friends

We arrived in La Paz with a part of our flotilla family otherwise dubbed the Umbrella Dumpers. After Cabo, a few of the boats headed to the mainland to continue their adventures while some of us decided to stay on the Baja side. So, Kialoa (Scott and Tanya) and Estrea (Nate, Natalie and Sullie) and the crew of Namaste sailed through the night up into the sea to La Paz. While Estrea anchored out, Kialoa and Namaste headed for Marina de La Paz. When we circled to enter in, we quickly recognized several boats in the harbor, one being our sister ship, Del Viento. We have known The Robertson family for several years, first via email when they were buying their boat (Michael found us on the owner’s website) and then they bashed up the coast from Mexico and visited with us in Washington on their way up north. They were kind enough to have John as crew when they returned south a year later and picked him up in Port Angeles, Wa. and dropped him off in Astoria. He has a great blog logofdelviento.blogspot.com.

We also saw sv Luna, owned by a young, solo sailor named Reed who we met coming down the Pacific Baja. There were several other boats that we knew as well so it was a reunion in the making.

We settled into our slip space and met our new neighbors, Kim and Eva, from Alaska and were some of the kindest people. 

Shortly after arriving, we serendipitously ran into Rae, Don, Meana, and Henry from sv The Vortex. Rae was Journey’s African Dance teacher in Port Townsend when she was 3! We saw them once when Journey was about 8 years old in Garden Bay which is in the Gulf Islands in Canada. We sat out a gale for 2 nights in that Bay but we managed to sneak out for some ice cream with all our foul weather gear on! Fast forward and we run into them while we were playing Bocce ball on the beach and they were strolling by. The kids spent the next week or so hanging out which gave them all some valuable and rare kid time.

I think that was one of the highlights of our time in La Paz is the intense friendships born out of short duration. Leaving La Paz was difficult as we were so comfortable but we know the “bungy cord” will bring us back soon.

December 26, 2014

We are in San Jose del Cabo waiting for a weather window for us to travel north in the Sea of Cortez towards La Paz about 120nm. In winter, strong northerly winds blow down the Sea and create challenging seas so planning is important. There are a few anchorages along the way to break up the journey if weather and seas create a challenge. We just survived our first Christmas away from "home." I will admit that I underestimated the impact on Journey. I also had thought we would be further along in our trip, settled somewhere so I could shop for some gifts and plan a nice day. We did decorate the boat and we are at a marina but Journey really missed being "home".
Sometimes the lessons we are learning on this voyage are very difficult. The concept of change for example. There is a reason people do not like change, it is hard. With that said, opportunity can also come from change. We spent Christmas Eve with 2 other boats, sv KiaLoa and mv Adagio. We had a great evening and then spent Christmas day playing at the beach.

 Playing on the beach with Kevin and Cindy from mv Adagio.

 Christmas eve aboard mv Adagio.

Christmas Day at the beach. All photos by mv Adagio

Mexico

After taking our time traveling down the coast and discovering great areas and kind people, we were ready to embark on our trip to Mexico. We celebrated Thanksgiving with “new” friends at their home. We stayed in Chula Vista for a week as we borrowed a car to provision as well as enjoying a great marina with a pool. We then moved the boat back up the bay to La Playa anchorage which is just a weekend stay. We have grown our flotilla to include about 6 boats, most from the NW and Canada. We had several weather planning meetings to decide “the date”, spent many days finishing last minute projects, internet and getting paperwork in order.

We left late afternoon with our Flotilla family as we literally sailed into the sunset with a full moon. By morning we sailed into Ensenada where we had a slip space at the Cruiseport Marina. It was a challenge to complete all the bureaucracy. Thankfully, we had help by the Marina staff who got us through quickly. Exhausted, we went back to the boat and napped. Our stay in Ensenada was quick, 2 nights and then onto Bahia Tortuga, 350nm south. This meant 2 nights at sea and 3 days. We all faired well and were ecstatic to  be there. It is a little outpost, not much other than a few meager stores, a few small motels and restaurants and Pemex for fuel. The days were spent perfecting beach landings, using the internet, and getting together with friends. After 5 days anchored, we left for Abreojos, about 100nm south en route to Magdalena Bay. This outpost mostly makes a living with the whale excursions as the whales travel to a small estuary where they give birth and wait until the babies can survive. 

 Part of our flotilla family, dubbed the "Umbrella Dumpers" at the Southwestern Yacht Club, San Diego.

Namaste under sail leaving San Diego heading to Ensenada. Photo by sv The Red Thread.

What it means to cruise

When we disclosed to many people our plans of taking off for a few years and sailing south, we received lots of different responses. Some supportive, some questioning our sanity, some just couldn’t understand how we could just “leave” our land lives (ie. security of jobs, home etc). 

I don’t have a great answer other than we have curiosity to explore, meet new people and have adventures.

One question we heard a lot was, “What will you do, won’t it be boring? What will you do everyday? As a cruiser, our lives are typically very busy-it is just busy with other tasks. We spend hours reviewing weather, meeting with other cruisers to discuss weather and passage making. We plan our passages, plan on where we can provision, provision (which typically means shopping and sorting food), fixing or cleaning the parts of the boat, school (after all, Journey does have some school work to be done), and explore whatever new surroundings we are in. 

We have had a few opportunities to do nothing-nap, read a book, or hang out with friends/family.

I welcome the opportunity to feel “bored” since it mostly feels like we are on the go.

We have taken some breaks from the challenges of cruising to keep us all sane and content.

For me, cruising is an opportunity to meet people, hear their stories, help others in whatever way we can, spend time with my family, and learn from various people. 

We have met so many wonderful people so far and from all different walks of life. We befriended a few younger solo sailors, a few families, youngish couples, and older couples. Some have
“bling” boats and others have boats that just have the essentials. Everyone is willing to help one another out if needed. We recently had to say goodbye to a boating couple we have known since Seattle. We planned together through our “getting ready” to cruise lists. We left before they did from PNW but we caught up in Berkeley. We have spent several months with them but they are moving on as they are headed to Australia in the spring. Are hearts were heavy to see them go but hope to see them again in the future. That is the difficult part of cruising.

Cruisers also use handheld VHF radios like cell phones. We all monitor a particular station and we all call each other to checkin or just chat. It is fun when everyone joins in the banter. I write this as I stare out the cockpit, underway for  Cabo, 166nm downwind. We have seen humpbacks the size of our boat jumping completely out of the water, we have seen grey whales slowly lumbering through the water and of course dolphins that perk everyone up.

The One That Almost Got Away

After a long run of 166nm from Bahia Tortuga to Magdalena Bay we were excited to drop hook,rest, go to the beach, and make a nice dinner. It is super frustrating when “plans” don’t come to fruition especially when one is sleep deprived from an overnight passage. 

As we entered the protected bay, the winds picked up to 20 knots on our nose as we dropped anchor. We quickly got the dinghy in the water so we could take Nanuq to shore for his business. The beach inside Mag bay is an easy beach landing with the dink (no crashing waves to surf over). Keep in mind Mag Bay is the size of SF bay but has very little development other than some fishing outposts. There was a bit of fetch (choppy seas) in the bay but we persevered and got to the beach. Nanqu ran around, happy to be a terra firma and complete his doggy transaction.

We found beautiful shells, soft sand and solitude which was quite nice. As we headed back to the boat, winds picked up again. We had a splashy ride back to the boat and decided to leave the dinghy tied up to the side of the boat as it was too windy to get the dink on the davits (davits are what is used to pull the boat out of the water). We went down below to sort our evening out. It was quite bumpy as the boat hobby horsed at anchor making it difficult to move around. We were disappointed that we would probably not get a restful night of sleep after being up for over 30 hours. I came up to check on our position when something didn’t look right. The dinghy had broken loose from the boat and was drifting quickly away, out towards sea!!!

In my calm voice (totally not!) I yelled (screamed) for all hands on deck. Within minutes we had 125 feet of anchor chain hauled up and we turned the boat to chase our dinghy. John pulled a great Starsky and Hutch move as he jumped into the dink as I positioned the boat along side. Journey had the boat hook which she used to hold onto the dink until lines were tied. After towing the dink back, re-anchoring, and methodically lifted the dink onto the davits, we were exhausted but the adrenaline was pumping through our veins. 

The night continued to have winds of 20 plus knots and the fetch kept us hobby horsing. We continued to do anchor watch every few hours but did manage to get some decent sleep. 

It is these experiences  that although challenge us, it also teaches us team work. 

Heading South

As we repack the boat, re check our spares, re-provision, download movies, and do laundry to get ready for the next big leg of our adventure, Baja, Mexico. We plan on leaving San Diego and will sail 70nm to Encenada where we will check into Mexico. We have been staying at the south end of San Diego Bay in Chula Vista. Although it is a bit out of town, we have had the good fortune of borrowing a car from dear friends (thank you Skeeter and John) which allowed us to accomplish more than we would have thought and in less time. We also shared Thanksgiving with Skeeter and family which was lovely to have a last "traditional" dinner for awhile.
We are buddy boating with a few other boats, sv The Red Thread out of Seattle and a few Canadian boats as well. We will sail 750nm down the Pacific Baja and tuck into the Sea of Cortez. We do not have a final "destination" as we will wander around in search of warm water and fun.
Journey continues to be an invaluable crew member. She not only manages boating chores but is often thinking of options when we are frustrated or is able to handle her parent's tense moments and come through laughing.
We have loved the trip down the West Coast, we have explored so many communities that we haven't been too and really liked. We enjoyed southern California more than we thought we would and have found that people have been so kind and generous towards us.
We are looking forward to the next part of our journey and will share stories as we can.

1000+ Nautical Miles Done.

Hard to believe we left 3 months ago. It has been quite an adventure to this point. We thought we left "early" enough which we did, however, it has been a busy hurricane year on the west coast with resultant large swells and storms. We waited out weather in many areas, sometimes up to a week before we felt comfortable venturing out. Everyone has their own tolerance for what they may want to deal with ie. big seas and big winds. We also spent 6 weeks in Berkeley, where we hung out with family and explored the area.
We loved Monterey and we are really starting to enjoy getting used to lots of sunshine and warmth. We have been blessed with dolphins swimming with the boat on multiple occasions including the Rizzo dolphins which are white, large dolphins. I love hearing and seeing Journey yell and get excited when we see the dolphins swimming and jumping off our bow.
We rounded Pt. Conception which is known as the "Cape Horn" of California. For those of you who are not sailors this basically means be prepared for some serious shit! After this point, you are in Southern California. We started to psych ourselves out, but after analyzing weather 4 times a day from various resources, we chose our window to leave. We opted to go straight to Santa Barbara which would mean 36 hours at sea. We had a great first day sail, the night was beautiful and pulled into SB early evening. Pt Conception fortunately, uneventful-just the way we like it!
It was amazing to wake in the morning to Santa Ynez Mountains, tall palm trees and sugar sandy beaches.
We have been buddy boating with our friends on sv The Red Thread since San Francisco. It has been fun spending time with Jesse and Neil, voyage planning and exploring these areas together. I met Jesse through a FB group and then we met at the Seattle Boat Show. While our boat was getting worked on in Seattle, we were able to spend some time together. We all became fast friends and would bounce ideas off each other as we voyaged planned. We did not expect to see much of Jesse and Neil until Mexico as they were leaving later in the season due to work commitments.
As luck would have it, we got to welcome them to Berkeley, sailed to Monterey and now to Santa Barbara. Jesse has a great blog svtheredthread.com. Our paths will part for a bit due to a loss in their family which is heartbreaking but we will reconnect at a later point.
Some of our other boat buddies are on the BaHaHaHA and on their way to Baja. We look forward to reconnecting with them too.
We are enjoying exploring, rented a car to drive up towards San Simeon and take in the Hearst Castle.