Our condo, shopping

We're staying in a condo at La Concha Pearl a little north of town. Justin located this beautiful place on the website www.vrbo.com. Entrance:Back patio:
View from the patio:
Glenn goes swimming almost every morning:
Today we strolled up and down the streets. Justin kept us on track shortly after he observed that my tendency was to move around "like an ant," turning this way or that at each corner with no order. Know anyone who likes this style?
We stopped here for chicharrones, but the filling turned out to be pig skins with no meat attached.
Lots of political signs everywhere:
This sign says "If you don't vote, you won't count."

The back of the bus also enourages people to vote on February 6:

Sculptures on a downtown plaza:

No ticket to see the whales

Today we drove north on Highway 1 to the small village of Mateos Lopez, just north of Magdalena Bay to go whale watching. As we drove through Ciudad Constitucion, I was focused on the traffic lights - sometimes they were operational, others remained dark. I didn't notice there were also stop signs at the intersections. I rolled through a non-working traffic light and the policia were there to pull me over. They didn't speak any English and my Spanish was inadequate. I knew I was going to get a ticket and it would cost $500 pesos. We all tried our best to make ourselves understood, but finally, with my driver's license in their possession, they told me to follow them to the police station. Justin, Glenn and I got a little nervous when we left the paved roads and started down a dirt road, but indeed we did pull up in front of the police station. They wrote up the ticket but kept telling me I I didn't want it. Finally I got it. If they wrote up the ticket, I would have to wait for the judge to arrive sometime in the afternoon. If I just paid the $500 pesos, there would be no ticket and we could go see the whales. Glenn gave me a $500 peso bill (thank you, thank you, thank you), I handed it over, we all shook hands, we were free to go, and suddenly their English was much better.

All the lancha operators charge the same amount, choosing Aquendi was arbitrary.

The Mexican family we shared the boat with paid for one hour, we paid for the other. They were all so nice. They shared their snacks with us and explained what the boat operator was saying in slow and simple Spanish.

First we saw pods of playful dolphins:

I have so many pictures I could post here, but I will share just a couple of the best. There were quite a few females with their newborns in the lagoon, the peak of the calving season is mid-February to mid-March. These are gray whales who have migrated to Baja California from Alaska to give birth and nurse until the calves are ready to head back north sometime between March and April. The non-pregnant females are hoping to mate before they return. We got as close as 50 feet. I was glad the boat operator stayed a respectful distance away.

Here you can see the head of a baby following closely beside its mother:

Frigatebirds. The boat operator said they have no feet and clutch the branch with their body. They do have feet, however they are underdeveloped and somewhat webbed. Frigatebirds don't walk well, are unable to take off from a flat surface, and never land in the water. They're able to stay aloft for over a week and snatch food from the ocean using their long hooked beak.

Afterwards, we made another contribution to the community of Ciudad Constitucion, but having a delicious late lunch at Brismar.

Todos Santos

About an hour south of La Paz, Todos Santos (all saints) is a picturesque Mexican town, home to many local artists.
At the town's cultural center:
Overflowing bougainvillea:
There are many saints perched up high along the streets:

A most delicious lunch at a taqueria on the street:

We drove slowly along a rutted dusty road to get to the beach. But what a treat once we got there - a pod of whales playing just off shore.

I will only share a couple of the best pictures out of the hundred or so that I took.

Looking south. It was a gorgeous day.

It was a great show at about 400 yards distant.

The Mexican family who took this picture worked together to get a good wave and a whale in the background. While one held the camera, another would call out "Ahora!" (Now!) It was too cute.

The incoming tide soaked us a couple of times as we misjudged when to move higher onto the beach, although this picture makes it seem like Glenn thinks the whale might be coming to get him.

Day One

Step one: coffee. We have no groceries in the morning so we headed out right away and stopped at Caffenio on the malecon. Glenn is sure he's arrived in paradise. The winter weather here is much like the summer weather in Regina.

We walked up one side of the malecon and down the other, stopping in a few of the touristy shops. This had a few skeletons above the door to welcome us.

A sailboat actually sailing toward La Paz marina. A rarity - most of them are motoring.

We had a late lunch at the Dock Cafe at Marina La Paz. Dick and I were berthed in this marina or anchored in the roadstead for about 5 weeks two years ago. I felt like I come back to visit an old friend.
After shopping at Chedraui for groceries, it was slow-going along the malecon as we made our way back to the condo. There was a lot of traffic, but this group of young people, from the PAN political party, dominated one of the intersections also. Loud music and dancing was part of their rally.

Bus, taxi, ferry, freeze, warm welcome

It was so nice that Dick came along with me on the first leg of my journey. We took a Tufesa bus from Guaymas in the early afternoon on Wednesday for a 5-hour ride to Los Mochis. We arrived after dark and he saw that I was in a safe and secure taxi for the 24km trip to Topolobampo where the ferry terminal is located. There have been news reports on Mexican television about fake taxi drivers who rob their passengers. The precaution is to write down the license plate of the vehicle, and check the official ID tag and match the picture to the driver. In Los Mochis the taxi driver was the husband of the woman who worked at the bus ticket counter. However, he turned out to the the "patron" for all the drivers and he had his brother drive me who spoke English quite well. However, they turned out not to be brothers at all. Nevertheless, I felt quite safe. Thirty minutes after Dick and I arrived in Los Mochis, he was back on a northbound bus.

We boarded ferry around 11 pm, it would be a 6 hour trip across the Sea of Cortes. This was a huge ferry. Semi after semi rolled up the ramps along with a few cars and a couple of motorcycles.

The foot passengers first took a escalator, then climbed 3 more flights of stairs to the seating area.
There weren't many passengers on the ferry this night, so I could put of the arm rests and stretch out over a 3-seat length. Tonight I wished for better Spanish language skills. All of the announcements were in Spanish and I only caught a few words here and there. I froze ALL night long, it was sooo cold. The next morning, I was dismayed to see other passengers returning big blankets to the reception desk. If only I'd been able to understand the announcement about shipboard amenties, if only I'd had the language skills to ask. My next palabras del dia will be the word for "blanket."

The ferry arrived in Pichilingue, about 14km north of La Paz, around 6 am. It was very cold and windy. This is the view from the seating section I was in.

The full moon was about to set.

Semi's disembarking.
This was a very cold an windy morning.

There was a protracted search of all passengers by the state police. It took at least an hour before it was my turn at the table with two officers about to look through all my belongings. I watched every suitcase, bag, and purse opened and thoroughly searched. Every adult male put his hands on a chain link fence for a full body pat-down. At my table, the supervising officer asked me where I'd come from (Guaymas), if I was from the Estados Unidos (yes), and he motioned to the younger officer, who had barely unzipped my suitcase, to close it up, that everything was fine, and I was on my way. At that moment it was a good thing to be an American.

I found a colectivo (a taxi-type van which leaves only when enough passengers have filled it), leaned back, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the sun coming through the windows. It felt so good to get warm again. I was dropped off along the malecon in downtown La Paz and began my search for a rental car. The problem here was the upcoming state elections for governor and other governmental positions - all the candidates were in town and renting vehicles for their staff members. I felt lucky to get the last car available at one of the rental agencies. While my paperwork was being filled out, the woman helping me told several callers there were no more cars.

First stop: Rancho Viejo for their chilaquiles breakfast - one of the best restaurants in La Paz and one of the best chilaquiles I've found anywhere. I'm on a general ongoing search for this delicious breakfast in Mexico. Tortillas chips as a base, red sauce (or green), carne asada, melted cheese, and two fried eggs on top - yum!

Next: a 2-1/2 drive to Cabo San Jose in the afternoon to pick up Justin and Glenn. I got there 2 hours early, found a less-sunny spot, opened the windows to let in the breeze, reclined the seat, and fell fast asleep. Perfect, now I'm ready to meet the guys when they arrive. There they are:

Justin arrived first in Terminal 1 and we quickly made our way to Terminal 3 where flights from Canada arrived. This morning when Glenn left Regina (in Spanish, it's pronounced "ray-HEE-nuh"), it was 40 below with 4 feet of snow on the ground.

Boat work and a trip for Arlete

Now it's Dick's turn to dig into the repairs. The areas needing patches have been identified and he was pleased that there weren't as many or as large as he'd feared.

Once the hole is cut, it's easy to see the soft wood and pull it out.

He went over both hulls, softly sanding away all remaining patches of primer and getting the surface ready for a complete layer of Kevlar fiberglass. Materials were ordered from Florida: 146 yards of Kevlar and many gallons of epoxy. On Friday, Dick will drive to Tucson to pick it up. Another cruiser in the yard also has to pick up supplies, so they'll go together in his vehicle.

Tonight we went out for a have-a-good-trip-I'll-miss-you dinner. Tomorrow I'm going to make my way to La Paz, Baja California Sur, to meet up with my son Justin (from Nicolaus CA) and cousin Glenn (from Regina Saskatchewan Canada). I'll be gone for 2 weeks and I'm already excited to see what the boat looks like when I get back.

But wait! Dick told me at dinner that WE will start applying the Kevlar only after I get back. He's figured out a way that I can help so his job of epoxying everything into place will be easier.

Depués de una semana

After one week. Here we are - back in our old spot in the work yard. Sigh.

Dick used the moisture meter all over the boat, inside and out. This reading is a 6 - a good number.

However, 25 is NOT a good number. This is the area where water was leaking into the boat. The wood will have to be replaced.

Instead of just fixing the one or two bad areas, Dick decided to apply Kevlar over both hulls. So, ALL the layers of paint, etc. were removed right down to the wood. It was a dirty, black-dusty job so we hired it out. This took about 4 days. To avoid breathing any of this nasty stuff, we stayed at Roberto's house and I made my first batch of cinnamon rolls.

The sanding is done. Materials have been ordered. Stay tuned.