We are still here in La Paz waiting for our stainless steel arch and solar panel rack to be fabricated and installed.
The arch was brought to the marina on a truck and fitted to the boat last week while we were at the dock. Sergio and his crew took it back to their shop to do further adjustments, welding and polishing. We have reserved dock space at Don Jose Marina for Feb. 6-11 for the installation.
Our reservation at Marina de La Paz expired so we had to move out into the bay. All the marinas down here are full at the moment so they couldn’t extend our stay. We left the marina and anchored on the other side of the bay from the city near the mogote where the mangroves grow. The Northerly winds appeared and when they do they make the sea rough and uncomfortable. After two nights of swinging and rolling we moved to the area pictured above near the naval base. I felt like I was trying to cook and sleep on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland. It’s much more comfortable now because we’re just out of the fetch in La Paz Bay.
To give you an idea of just how rough the sea was we were heading from the boat to the dinghy dock yesterday and Riley loves to be in the front of the dinghy with his paws hanging over the front of the boat. All of a sudden, we hit some big waves and Riley went flying out of the boat. OMG! We panicked! Good thing I was still hanging onto the leash but he was dragging next to the boat in big waves and he looked terrified. We felt terrible and took him back to the boat, gave him a bath and lots of treats. Later in the day, he was ready to hop back in the dinghy. He is a tough sailor!
Being at anchor is a much different lifestyle from being at the dock. For one thing, it means bringing Riley into shore a few times a day but he lets us know when he wants to go. We aren’t hooked to a water faucet so we have to make our own water. At the marina, we were in a slip close to the entrance so people stopped often to introduce themselves and ask questions about our boat. Cruisers are a very friendly and helpful group of people. It was fun to meet new cruisers and share plans of where we’re from and where we’re headed.
It is convenient that we can use the dinghy dock at Marina de La Paz to park our dinghy when we come to shore, dump our garbage, do laundry, or have a drink or dinner at the marina. La Paz is a great area to be stuck but we’ve been here since before Thanksgiving and we’re anxious to leave and explore some new destinations.
The Northerly winds (20+ knots in the bay and 30 knots in the islands) are easing up this week. This is typical for winter in La Paz. It gets unbearably hot here in the summer since this area is in the desert. At least the winter days are warm and we can continue to wear shorts. The locals think 70’s and low 80’s are cold and they are wearing long pants and coats (we definitely stand out as tourists wearing shorts and walking an American dog!) We hear “bonito perro” (pretty dog) quite often.
We plan to leave tomorrow for a few days and head up into the islands. There isn’t a lot to post right now since we are cooling our heels waiting on work to be completed. We will be off and exploring in a few weeks and there will be some exciting experiences to write about.
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