Loitering in La paz

13 Jan 09
Well the few days has turned into a week. We were warned by Om Shanti that La Paz has a vortex effect on a lot of boats and we have found that to be very true. Mind you, the main reason we have stayed so long has been to wait out a gale that swept through here over the weekend.
It had been predicted early last week that the Northerly gale would hit the Sea of Cortez by Saturday with winds in the San Carlos area to peak at sand blasting strength and lighten as the system proceeded south. Initially we were at a dock exposed to the North but we managed to shift inside the marina with a few days grace. As luck would have it Kirk (Freedom Kirkland) was assigned the same berth and he was tossed about all weekend in the 25-30 kt winds.
We are also delayed by repairs to the freezer system that we had installed in Guaymas. Although the seller has guaranteed his system he can’t be here to make the modifications required so he has agreed to reimburse us the costs incurred here. Hopefully we will have the final tweaking completed by tomorrow morning so we can depart. Conditions are ideal at the moment but that can change quickly on the Baja side of the Sea. We have been monitoring the Magic Seaweed and Buoyweather websites for our forecasts as we can’t get the SSB forecasts here in the port.
Fran has been quite busy with yoga, Mexican Train dominoes and attending an information group for cruiser women. Last week the topic of discussion was weather forecasting and this week one of the members will make a presentation on her experiences of sailing to 5 continents.
We have joined up with our friends Bill and Linda (Tanque de Tiburon, Kirk (Freedom Kirkland), Ken and Patty (Red Pepper) and Vicky (Inspiration at Sea) and have had some good get togethers. We will be sad to part company but we hear Zihuatanejo calling. The party begins on the 4th of Feb so we still have lots of time to get there.
We have also met Robert Raymond an insurance adjuster with BC Yacht Insurance, the company that had refused us last year. He is here holidaying in the area and drumming up business amongst the local cruisers. Now that we have demonstrated that all of the survey recommendations have been satisfied they have agreed to cover us for the next year at a slight savings from our present coverage.
We have also acquired a 2-man inflatable kayak and have sold our 1 person model. We had been looking for a second single but Fran thought the double would be more suitable with her lack of experience and upper body strength. We are looking forward to using it when we get to the other side.
Sorry about the lack of photos. We don't seem to be able to upload from WIFI sites. Hope to get them on soon.
Next issue will be after the crossing.
PS Great news from Doug and Trish tonight. Doug underwent his PET scan in Tucson yesterday and the results indicate that his treatments were successful and that he is cancer free!