Today is December 16th.
Since leaving Cabo San Lucas about a month ago we explored a couple of the bays
on the way to La Paz, walked the charming waterfront and back streets
of La Paz many times, and sailed in and around the bays of a couple of
islands north of here, Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida and, have spent a total of about three weeks in the beautiful Marina Costabaja about four miles north of La Paz.
We've
been waiting to cross the Sea of Cortez to get to Pacific Mexico just
as soon as the sea calms down a bit – two Northers have blown
through during the past week.
Here's a short recap of these past month's activities on the Baja side of the Sea with a few
entries from our daily log.
November 12-13: Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo
The final Ha-Ha party in Cabo on 11/7
was the cue for many boats to move on to other destinations. We
stayed a few more days to decompress after the push south, then moved
north towards La Paz with a week along the coast to see the next
town, San Jose del Cabo.
 |
| Angelina and True North at Marina San Jose del Cabo |
San Jose has a very nice modern marina, where we docked behind another Hallberg-Rassy boat, Angelina. We got to visit with Jerry and Carol from Angelina over the next few days. The town of San Jose is a short bus ride from the marina. The town is something of a tourist destination, with a classic church surrounded by many blocks of art galleries, shops, and upscale restaurants.
 |
| Colorful shops in San Jose |
From San Jose, there are two bays which are natural stops along the
way that break up the route to La Paz, Bahia
Los Frailes and Ensenada de los Muertos. Many other Ha-Ha boats
followed a similar itinerary so we were in the company of familiar
boats along the way. We planned to stay in La Paz for two events
before leaving the area, a La Paz sponsored party for Ha-Ha'ers and
locals plus a cruiser's potluck Thanksgiving dinner.
November 14-15: San Jose to Los
Frailes
We motored in light wind, then raised
the sails when the winds increased to a steady 12 kts from the
south. Soon they increased to 20 kts, steadily, for a good
wing-on-wing ride. Radio talk indicated the anchorage at Los Frailes
was rolly and uncomfortable; several boats left. By the time we got
there in the late afternoon, it was calmer. We anchored at the north
end of the bay in 34' and set 200' chain plus 30' nylon. Bueno! There
were 15 other sailboats there, all rocking. The inviting landscape
consists of a background of mountains surrounding the bay with a
pristine shoreline and sandy beach with dunes. A few houses are
located away from the beach. We thought we could swim to shore as we
weren't too far from it and still had our dinghy stowed below but the
wind picked up suddenly, and with stronger waves developing decided
to stay closer to the boat to swim. There would be many other beaches
to explore. The first night aboard was too rolly to get much sleep.
The second night was calmer. We left the following morning at 0600
for the next good anchorage, Ensenada de los Muertos, 45 nm north.
 |
| Another Ha-Ha boat enroute to los Muertos |
November 16-17: Ensenada de los
Muertos
It was mostly a motor sail in light
wind to get there. We arrived at 1400 to find 16 other sailboats in
the anchorage. We anchored at the end of a line of boats at the south
end of the bay. Four more familiar boats arrived shortly after:
Camelot, Pacific Breeze, Hotel California and French Curve. We
inflated and launched the dinghy for the short ride to shore to the
beachfront cafe and stayed for a margarita.
 |
| The cafe with retired steel mooring buoys ("muertos") |
We weren't the first to
arrive with that idea nor the last. Later, a mostly sleepless rolly
night followed. Will every night be like this in the Sea of Cortez?
The question was answered our second night at Los Muertos, which was
relatively calm and roll-free. On our second day we hiked the beach,
visited the hotel with a fabulous model train setup at the south end,
and visited the cafe again.
 |
| On the beach at Ensenada de los Muertos |
November 18-30: La Paz
There are several marinas which serve
La Paz, as well as a large anchorage. The first marina to answer our
request for space was the Costa Baja Marina, about 4 miles
from downtown La Paz, with shuttle service throughout the day. Warm
sunshine, swaying palms and no rolly sleepless nights for awhile! The
time here gave us a chance to just be unscheduled, visit with
familiar boater friends and meet some new ones, as well as tackle a
few projects like those teak pegs that keep popping out. Gregg, ever
ready to assist with electronics, helped a couple of boats with some
installations. And, with the help of some longer-term residents of
the marina, we quickly learned where the two-for-one margaritas and
wood-fired pizzas were, as well as the prettiest infinity pool on the
beach.
 |
| Infinity Pool at Marina Costabaja, our social center! |
At 0800 every morning, a cruisers net
on VHF provides the daily weather forecast, lets boaters announce new
arrivals and departures, connects boater queries with answers, and
provides a strong community network. The cruising community has a
good relationship with the city of La Paz. A non-profit cruisers club
provides community support with fund-raisers throughout the year for
the the less fortunate children of La Paz.
La Paz has all the necessary amenities. There are grocery stores and markets.
 |
| Anne shopping for veggies at Mercado Bravo |
The waterfront is lined for several miles with a very attractive,
wide tiled walkway, the malecón,
and dozens of outdoor cafes and restaurants. We walked from the
marina to downtown just once but spent a few more evenings along the
malecón searching for the
best ceviche and ice cream. A festive Ha-Ha dinner party with
Mariachi music and folk dancers was hosted by the businesses of La
Paz at La Costa restaurant and surprisingly, there were still a
hundred or so Ha-Ha'ers attending – not everyone had left for
Puerto Vallarta yet. About a week later, a cruisers potluck
Thanksgiving dinner was held at the Palmira Marina with a crowd of
200 attending. This was also Gregg's birthday so thank goodness, we
were able to find some very fudgy cake and ice cream in the evening.
From the project list, we were having a
canvas shade made for our windshield, something both unnecessary and
unheard of in the PNW but totally sanity saving here in the hot sun.
At the same time, we had noticed one of the popular attractions for
snorkelers in this area is to swim with the whale sharks, which live
in the bay of La Paz every winter. While patiently waiting out the
delay in getting our canvas back, we joined a few others on a panga
excursion to swim with these guys. Whoa! Their mouths are gigantic
and almost always open! When facing a gaping shark's mouth one has to
wonder if they really eat only plankton or whether there might be one
exception...just one.
Gregg got very close up and personal to one of those humongous mouths
with his camera.
Another day, we joined local resident
Manuel, a friend of our Seattle friends Marcia and Lance, who offered
to take us on a day trip to the village of Il Triunfo, about 35 miles
from La Paz. The ride through the Baja countryside went through
cardon cactus filled desert with grand mountains to the east. On each
corner of the couple of streets in Il Triunfo, women were selling
buckets of red pitaya, the fruit of the cactus.
 |
| Anne tries the pitaya fruit |
They are a little
sweet and have the consistency of watermelon. Manuel took us to lunch
at the very colorful Il Triunfo Cafe for their specialty: pulled
pork. A stop along the way back through the Cactus Sanctuary led to a
walk through a thicket of protected cacti.
 |
| Anne in the Cactus Sanctuary |
It was a very refreshing outing on
land!
December 3-9: Isla Espiritu
Santo and Isla Partida
Back on the water! After provisioning
with plenty of fresh food for the week ahead,
 |
| Provisions |
we took off for the
national park islands just 20 miles north of La Paz, Isla Espiritu
Santo and Isla Partida. We couldn't wait to get there!
One of the first bays we got to, Bahia
San Gabriel, enticed us to stay the first night and why not? Bright
white sandy beach along a shore of clear turquoise water, plus good
holding in sand. It was a very peaceful change from marina life. Five
other sailboats came into the bay for the night. We took the dinghy
to shore, visited with the boat Surface Charge, walked right
over a guitar fish near the shore, and just savored the abundant
wildlife here.
 |
| The beach at Bahia San Gabriel |
A large frigate bird rookery framed the south end of
the bay with the males displaying their bright red colors. A small
pod of juvenile sea lions played near our boat. Each evening at about
1910, as we were to discover during the next few days, the anchorages
open to the south become very rolly with nightly winds called
coromuels. They are unique to the La Paz area and can be counted on
to blow throughout the night from the WSW. Every boat left the bay
in the morning!
 |
| Red Sky At Night, Bahia San Gabriel |
We, too, moved north to another bay, Ensenada la
Gallina, the first of three bays in Puerto Ballena. We first took the
dinghy out to explore the bay, later swam right off the boat, and in
the evening found a spectacular sliver of a silvery moon with Venus
nearby. The sky was brilliant! Coromuels began promptly at 1910 for
another rolly night but we were more protected in this bay. After a
quick morning swim we left to continue our way north along the coast
of Isla Espiritu Santo and for Ensenada del Candelero where there is
good snorkeling around Roco Monumento at the entrance to the bay.
 |
| True North approaches Roca Monumento |
No
one was in the bay when we arrived. We got out the snorkeling gear
and swam over to the Roco to find a fabulous underwater sight - a
turtle! Then, tons of colorful
fish. Wrasse, angel fish, King Angels, Sargent Majors, Golden Jacks,
several Trumpetfish and so many others that were unknown to us by
name. We swam around Roco Monumento and through schools
of hundreds of small fish and then found a few more turtles on our
way back to the boat. The water has begun to get noticeably cooler.
Another sailboat arrived. Later in the afternoon we took the dinghy
to shore to look for a trail through the hills connecting this beach
to the one to the south.
 |
| Anne and True Dink with the ever-present cardon cactus |
We met a guy on the beach who went with us
to find the trailhead, hiked along a rocky trail and then scrambled
along some rocks through a small gully, then up the other side and
eventually found our way to the other beach but not on the marked
trail.
 |
| Hiking the "trail" |
Jacona was from Italy and was camped on the beach,
accompanying a professional swimmer, a German woman raising awareness
of the marine parks and the need to protect these precious waters by
swimming all day, every day around these and Costa Rica islands. We
met Renate the swimmer the following evening on the beach. (Costa
Rica Mermaid) The evening was calm, no wind in this anchorage that
night!
 |
| True North in Ensenada del Candelero |
Two more nights out
brought us further north, first to Caleta Partida. This is a very
popular and large anchorage with good protection from the north. We
found some familiar boat friends there – Enchante, Resolution, and
a Ha-Ha boat we hadn't met yet, Much About Time; then two FUBAR
Nordhavens with whom we shared last night's anchorage followed us in,
Salacia and Tropical Blend. We moved the boat over one bay to El
Mezteño
for the last night out. Gregg took the dinghy out to the entrance to
hike up the nearby peak for stunning views overlooking the bays and
named the white hill "Pico Blanco".
 |
| Caleta Partida from Pico Blano |
A short time later, the
threat of a big Norther blow ended this excursion a little earlier
than planned. We took refuge back in La Paz for a few nights, which
turned into a week because a second Norther soon followed the first.
Once back in La Paz we
became restless to see more of the Baja peninsula so rented a car for
a day trip to artsy Todos Santos, a small town about 35 miles away.
The road travel was a welcome change of scenery along a good paved
road all the way and through desert cactus set against a grey-blue
mountain range to the east. The town itself is a popular tourist spot
loaded with shops and galleries, alimentos y bebidos (food and
drink), and quaint hotels.
 |
| Local traditional food in Todos Santos |
The hotel selection includes the original, now famous Hotel
California. However, a word to the wise: this legendary hotel is
thought by many to be the inspiration for the Eagles' hit song “Hotel
California” but it is not! According to Eagles' songwriter Don
Henley, there is no connection. (“Baja Legends”, Greg Niemann)
Christmas is approaching,
and Marina Costabaja has decorations and a tree – surrounded by
cactus! There are many musical events at the marina and in the town,
many benefits, and even a Coca Cola truck parade with a sleigh and
reindeer on top of one of the trucks!
 |
| Christmas time, Marina Costabaja, La Paz |
December 16: Tomorrow is the day, a Tuesday morning departure for the mainland
for True North, Resolution and Sand Dollar. Plans are to head for
Isla Isabella to check it out for a safe anchorage, then either stay
overnight to snorkel the reef or move on to San Blas on the Pacific
coast of Mexico. La Paz to Isla Isabella is ~309 nm (at ~5 kts = ~62
hours). Last night was a farewell get-together with about 25 fellow boaters, with a final stop at the
“two-for-one Margarita and pizza happy hour” at La Barcaccia.
Sunshine's crew came over from Marina Palmira to join us. Muy bien!
Next stop, Pacific Mexico!
