We wanted to share these pictures before we leave La Paz. There is an update and more pictures in the previous post.

Paula and Ken crossing the Tropic of Cancer


Paula at the helm


Ken with dorado


Suzanne2 at San Migel


Beach resort near Cabo San Lucas


Cave at the entrance to Cabo


Arch at Cabo


Puffer fish at the dock in Cabo




Lighthouse at Point Arena


Suzanne2 in Puerto Ballandra near La Paz


Ken and S2 in Puerto Ballandra


Interesting cactus in Puerto Ballandra

And hello From La Paz, Mexico. This is a much more relaxed town than Cabo. We are here mostly provisioning and preparing for the Winter island hopping up the Sea of Cortez. We are also having the rip in the luff tape on the mainsail repaired.

The water is amazingly clear, the weather hot, and the snorkeling and fishing great. We have been catching an exotic African fish at the dock where we are moored. It looks like a huge angelfish.

Our next internet stop will probably be a month or so from now when we come back to La Paz or cross the Sea to Mazatlan. We probably won’t be able to update the blog until then.
Thanks for staying tuned and we wish all our family and friends a happy Thanksgiving!

These are pictures from our visit with Paula's sister Tricia and her family in Marina Del Ray Califorina. We're sorry that there son Peter couldn't join us.

Tricia and Paula


Katyn and Stan


Jack


Stan


Jack and Katyn

Hello from Cabo San Lucas! We left Ensenada on October 23, sailing south and anchoring at many interesting Mexican panga (type of open fishing boat) villages, islands and Bahia’s (bays). The Baja Mexico terrain is very dry and barren and there is much poverty in the villages. We are glad to have completed this leg of the journey, as we will be heading into crystal clear waters of the Sea of Cortez that are some times warmer than the air…and it is very warm, about 84o at 6:30 pm as we write this.

We have been able to sail quite a lot during this stretch including two overnight moonlit sails. To see the sun set at the same time as you are watching the full moon rise was awesome. (and visa versa). . Our longest sail (yes no power) was from San Carlos Bay to Isle Cedros for 14 hours, approx 80 miles under high seas, 8 to 10 foot swells and steady wind at 10 to 15 knots. Our next major stop will be La Paz and then island hopping in the Sea of Cortez for the winter.

Fish and sea life abound. We have snorkeled in a shallow bay and have been fishing from the boat as we travel. We hooked four fish before 8 o’clock in the morning. When we catch fish we only keep what we can eat. Last night at the dock we saw a school of exotic fish swimming in the under water lights of a boat moored a couple of slips down. You could have reached out with a net and caught them. It looked like an aquarium.

Cabo San Lucas is totally a tourist town. Not our cup of tea but on our route and interesting non-the-less.
Boat news – The mainsail has a rip in the luff tape at the second batten from the top and I replaced the alternator that was making a noise I didn’t like. On a good note, two days ago we got to do our first prolonged upwind sailing of the whole trip. We sailed at about 7 knots, at around 15 degrees of heel for about 3 hours in reasonable seas. Wow, now that’s sailing. Suzanne2 loved it and at one point the sails were trimmed so well that she steered herself. Something a sailor truly loves to see.

Paula's sister Dana and Sidney


Howard thinking something profound


Ken and Mathew


Melaina in Chula Vista


Carl on the boat


The lovely Sidney


A cool boat we saw in Oceanside


A cool girl I saw on a boat


Pelicans in Ensenada


Ken with Bonita


Cruise ship entering Ensenada


Dolphin under water (enlarge to see)