Blogs from La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, North America
La Paz for New Years
Published: January 1st 2012North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » La Paz
January 1st 2012
So after coming up from Surf Camp Pescadero we returned to La Paz and saw our beautiful house (owned by Vista Properties, if anyone is interested). My aunt and her fiance Richard arrived that evening and we went out to dinner at the marina. The next day, we got up slowly and had second Christmas with tamales (YES to street food!) At around 3pm, we went into town and split up to look for dive shops and shop around a little (We found what looks like a good shop, called Dive Carey.) We reunited (after some negotiation with a malfunctioning card, and a beer to recover). After going home to change, we hit the malec'on and looked for a dinner spot. After dinner (and a rather potent margarita) I went to meet up with a couch ... read more
December 28th 2011
We are now in La Paz, our main destination for this trip. We stayed over in constitucion and headed out mid morning. The drive was uneventful, more desert. We rounded a hill and BAM! there was the bay and city! The city is rather large, but not incredibly spread out. Its VERY different from San Jose. Im glad it wasnt as touristy as I was anticipating, it still feels like a very real city. My mom is staying with her friend Noel tonight and I am at a hotel/hostel thing tonight. It feels good to get some space. I will probably walk the malecón a little later tonight and hopefully meet someone in the hotel. Tomorrow, Im driving down to the airport in Cabo by myself to pick up sophie and we are going to do ... read more
Riding the Mazatlan Star
Published: December 19th 2011North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » La Paz
December 6th 2011
Riding the Mazatlan Star Well folks, it's been a while since I put something on this blog. I spent the summer in the US and Canada visiting and returned to La paz in September. Interesting things are happening again, so I have something to write about. Red, my traveling companion, and I are taking a little land yacht excursion to the Mexico mainland. The first step in this trip is to take the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan. The ferry ticket costs about $200 and is an overnight trip, leaving La Paz at 6 pm and arriving in Mazatlan at 10 am the next day. I arrived at the terminal too early so I stopped at a roadside stand just outside the gate for a cup of coffee and met a couple, Wendy and Patrick ... read more
October 13th 2011
Hello all you friends and BBYC'ers, I decided to put up a new blog entry even though I haven't really been doing anything really interesting. I went North this summer because I just couldn't stand the thought of another Mexican summer. I just don't do well in excessively hot weather. I wouldn't have made this entry except that some BBYC'ers (like Linda Fenn) said it would be good anyway. Brian, aka Michael, stayed in La Paz and toughed out the summer and watched over our boats. I left La Paz in early June and flew to Reno, Nevada where my best buddy, Larry picked me up at the airport, which is a two hour drive from his house. I stayed at Larry and Janet's house in Nevada for almost six weeks. That's a long time for ... read more
June 3rd 2011
Well, well, well. Brian and I have just completed what may be the shortest Baja Bash in history. Three days, two out and one in. On departure day, we had big winds and current in the marina so we didn't get started until 12:45. We only went as far as the last anchorage before you leave the Bay of La Paz. The next day we bashed into nice lumpy seas and noserly winds as Ansa motored up the waves, only to fall off the tops of them with a loud BANG. Not fun. At some point, Brian turned to me and said "So, we get to do this every day for the next six weeks, huh?" Food for thought. We were on autopilot so there was plenty of time for thought. Ever since our miserable summer ... read more
May 28th 2011
Leaving La Paz May 28, 2011 (In the map shown in this blog, click on "satellite" to see the bay. The map doesn't show reality. The little box in the picture is where we are anchored right now.) Greetings from sunny Mexico. Brian and I are finally leaving La Paz. Brian is crewing with me on Ansa and ECHO is remaining in La Paz. This is a tough place to leave, but it is getting hotter and hotter, so now is a good time to get on the road. Right now, it is 7 pm and we are anchored in Ballandra Bay for the night. The temperature is 90 or so. We have a long six weeks to two months ahead of us to get back to San Francisco. We'll update the blog every so often ... read more
A boat that routinely sinks itself?
Published: May 29th 2011North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » La Paz
May 17th 2011
Super Servant comes to La Paz On May 14, 2011, the Dockwise yacht transport Super Servant loaded 16 boats in La Paz. If you're not familiar with this service, the basic idea is that the Dockwise vessel has a large open hold with a big door on the back end. The transport is flooded and sunk and the back doors are opened. The boats to be transported are driven in one at a time under the supervision of a loadmaster where they are secured to Super Servant and each other with lines. When all the boats are aboard, divers assemble cradles under each boat and weld the cradles to the bottom of the hold. The back doors are closed and all the water in the hold is pumped out. Super Servant rises up in the water ... read more
La Paz: Isla Espiritu Santo, Clams, Beaches, Snorkeling, Sea Lions, Wanton Tacos.... Hmmmmm
Published: July 4th 2011North America » Mexico » Baja California Sur » La Paz
February 20th 2011
20 February 2011 Another morning, but this time I am really exited! I am ready to go to the Isla Espiritu Santo tour of Lap Paz! We had bit of reshuffling in plans to do before our sea trip, so we went to handle these tasks. We went to Hertz to find out about keeping the car longer than planned. Obviously, Hertz does not enforce strict supervisory of their employees elsewhere, because the sign said they were open at 8 a.m. and reality said that it was 8:30 am and they were still closed. So we went to Marlin's Adventures Tours and checked in for our trip. After we checked in for the trip we went for breakfast at a restaurant with the worst music ever. I think they may have left their cheap Yamaha keyboard, ... read more
January 27th 2011
Greetings from La Paz. (If you click on any picture it takes you to a large size filmstrip of all the pictures for better viewing) Brian (aka Mike) and I have been here in Marina de La Paz for almost two months. It's a much more convenient marina than Marina Palmira, which we stayed in last time we were in La Paz, because it is more centrally located and is the home of Club Cruceros, the closest thing to a yacht club in Baja. We have been putzing around with boat projects. I have installed a new solar panel controller and it is a big improvement over my old one because the old one created horrible interference on the VHF radio. I also had Ansa's sole refinished. ECHO is getting some work done here in Mexico ... read more
May 14th 2010
Life in La Paz Hola family and friends, Ansa and ECHO are still in La Paz. We left here for points north about a month ago, but some difficulties ensued. We sailed up past Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. On the way, a school of dolphins crossed our path and decided to play with us. See the dolphin clip. We were at Isla San Francisco when I discovered I couldn't start my engine. The starter was fried. Also my windlass, which I thought I had repaired in La Paz, wasn't working. We had no choice but to return to La Paz for repairs (see TOW clip for ECHO towing Ansa back to La Paz). Week by week something came up to keep us here. The last event was my having a crown fall off, necessitating ... read more
