1/30/2010 Saturday
Leaving Cabo San Lucas for Bahia de los Muertos
It was an exciting day. Rebecca piloted the ship out of the harbor with Devin’s tutelage, which was no small task given the chaotic environment in the harbor. We turned north and settled in for a ten-hour cruise. The sun was shinning, the weather was pleasant, whales spouted off the starboard bow, and dolphins joined us from time to time. James and Devin had been out late in Cabo, so after an active morning, they settled in for a nap. I took the helm for about six hours while Jim wrote notes in his computer for his article. Rebecca napped, too. On the bridge I found some wonderful organ music that I bought from the Detroit Organ Society, 1920’s sort of stuff. For some reason it sounds terrific on the boat while we are underway. Later in the afternoon, Devin and James made their famous nachos; we made chicken cacciatore for dinner around 8 pm, and anchored around midnight at Bahia de los Mueretos, or Bay of the Dead.
1/31/2010 Sunday
Bahia de los Muertos
We had transported some personal belongings for a friend of Devin’s. Devin and James rose early, launched the tender and set up our deck furniture on the boat deck. We had breakfast out there. It was fabulous! Devin was diving off the boat while we were eating, and I decided to work out and go for a swim. What great fun, although I must confess that “Jaws” has instilled a sense of insecurity in me every time I swim in the ocean. Devin’s friend, Greg Wald, loaned us his car for the day and invited us to his home for lunch. We all piled into his 1977 Cherokee (that is a Chevy precursor to an modern SUV) and headed to town to gather some lunch fixings. Later we drove to Greg’s home, which is a gorgeous place that he acquired for a fraction of it’s value from a pro football player who was down on his luck. Greg told us all about it and about a lot of other things I didn’t know but only suspected concerning Mexico and how one gets along. It was very interesting. The development at Bahia de los Muertos is having some difficulties, but there is a hotel there and 18 hole golf course that look spectacular and are only 45 minutes from La Paz. I think it would be well worth looking into if you plan to vacation in these parts.
2/1/2010 Monday
Depart Bahia de los Muertos for La Paz
It is about 50 miles or 7 Odyssey hours to La Paz from Bahia de los Muertos. It was a beautiful day, and the course took us between the mainland of Baha and some islands. The channel is apparently the wind surfing capital of the world, as aficionados flock here during the high season to take advantage of conditions. Fortunately it was not too windy as we traveled through the channel. Our tender sump pump had broken, and Devin and Jim were fixing it. Around 5 pm we made CostaBaha, our marina, which is about ten miles from La Paz. It was a lovely place and we tied up without difficulty. Jim and James moved to the lovely hotel here, and Devin stayed aboard.
2/2/2010 Tuesday
CostaBaha – La Paz
It only rains about five days a year here, but today was one of them. We stayed aboard most of the day, completed our introductory training with James, and listened as Devin made arrangements to return to the states. We reconnoitered the resort, and later had dinner with Peter and Mary Rose van Cuylenberg, who own a beautiful Nordhavn and have asked us to cruise with them. In the meantime, another Nordy owner, Earl and Louise Kari of Anchorage AK, invited us for cocktails aboard their Nordhavn. Earl makes a mean Margarita, and Louise is no slouch with the hors d’oeuvres.
2/3/2010 Wednesday
CostaBaha – La Paz
By the time everyone left this morning, we were beat. We spent most of the day cleaning the boat and talking with Zeke “the boat guy”, who runs a group that cleans, waxes, and polishes boats to look like a dream. I had him give the boat the once over, change generator oil, and wax the hull. His crew did a great job. All-in-all it was a slow day, but it rained only for a minute!
2/4/2010 Thursday
CostaBaha – La Paz
Rented a car and snooped around town. Went to the Capitano’s office to get our temporary importation of the boat papers. Took awhile as we don’t speak Spanish and they didn’t speak English. We got by. The town is sort of cool. Better than most MX towns. Zeke finished up with only a minor $$ surprise, which is surprising in itself! Tomorrow we fuel again and then we are off for San Francisco Island.