Before we new it we had been in Bahia Muertos for days longer than we had planned. But with the realization we had no where to go until our slip date in La Paz we settled in. We took the time to get to know our new friends better: Andy and Katheryn on Anna Maria, Fred on Kaylee, and Dean and Barb on Nanook. We were all watching the weather and getting ready to head to the exact same place. La Paz BCS. We heard of what a nice city this place would be and looked forward to provisioning and cleaning our boat. But mostly showers and laundry!
Each day for about a week we were watching the wind reports and waiting for the wind to change. You wouldn’t think it was that big of deal to sail into the wind but the issue you have in the channel is there is current, funneling wind, and the possibility of confused seas. So we really do want to pick the right time to leave. If the wind is at your nose and the current is heading down you will simply not make any head way and you will literally be at a stand still or moving back wards.
Finally we had our window. If we leave early in the morning we can catch the current going in and the wind is suppose to fill in as the sun comes up. We plan to leave around 5 am. Each boat picked their time and when we got up in the morning Fred was gone and Andy and Katheryn were headed out. We quickly and quietly gathered our gear, started the motor, and headed out of the bay. There was absolutely no wind. Flat calm seas. Which for this area was just fine. We motored for a couple of hours. As the sun rose the wind tried to fill in and we were able to sail. It was at our nose but we could definitely feel the current pushing us up into the sea.
Hiraya doesn’t really like light winds. We haven’t sailed her into the wind much. Coming down the Pacific coast we always had northerlies pushing us down the coast. So going into the wind was a little different. A little rougher and the wind feels so much faster than it really is. We decided that we needed to get our staysail out and use it. It was really easy to hank on and with a few minor adjustments we had it up and running. This is our third sail that runs between the headsail (Yanky) and our Main sail. It pulls the center of gravity back a bit which makes Hiraya stable out and cut through the swell better. It also gained us a half a knot of speed as well. We could feel Hiraya respond a little stronger and we liked that.
The winds continued to fill that day and we continued north. As we approached the intersection where we could continue on to Bonanza Bay on Isla Espirito Santos or turn left and head toward La Paz we checked the weather one more time. There had not been any change in the wind and it was now calling for strong northerlies to hit Bonanza bay the next day. We made a quick decision to head toward La Paz. We knew of a few other bays that would offer protection. We did have to admit we were a little sad that we were heading back to civilization a little sooner than we thought.
We called up to our buddy boats and let them know the change in plans. We end up anchoring in a quiet bay closest to La Paz. Only a handful of other boats where anchored there. We could see directly West which gave us weeks of wonderful sunset watching. There was one little white sand beach with a decent restaurant where we heard you could get a taxi into town.
We still had several days before our slip was going to be ready. There wasn’t much to do in the bay but paddle around and visit the beach. We went to the beach and ran into David on Footsea. We hadn’t seen them since Magdalena Bay so we had lunch and caught up. While we were eating I recognized a lady sitting across from us. I follow her on Instagram. They have a Tartan 34 as well. I whispered to Sam and we made a plan to go meet them. They headed back to their boat before we were done. But as soon as we were able to we headed out. We made a quick stop at our boat because… I had to pee. I promised I would hurry because it was getting late and we were afraid we would miss them. As we were getting ready to get in the dinghy we seen them get in there’s and our hearts dropped because we were afraid we missed them. Just them they made a B- line straight for us! We were so excited it was ridiculous.
We made friends with Deb and Eric right away. They were so friendly and we visited with them in our cockpit late into the night. They invited us over to theirs the next evening.
The next day we decided that we couldn’t wait any longer and we needed groceries. We still had 4 days left before our slip would be open. Sam did not want to leave the dinghy on the beach to take a taxi. So instead we load up all our dry bags, radio, flashlight, and lifejackets and we dingy in. knowing about the currents and wind patterns we new we were in for a wet ride back. But we planned to be quick. It took us 30 minutes to dinghy in to Marina de La Paz dinghy dock. We looked around for the slip we would have. Introduced our selves to the owner Neil and then headed off for our groceries. We loaded up and was headed back to the dinghy dock when Fred sent a text through. “You guys up for lunch?” as our bellies growled. Uhm, yes. Local tacos and beer. Score!
An hour turned into 3 and before we knew it we needed to get back to the dinghy. Lugging our grocieries back we could see the waves had picked up. Sure enough we exitied the marina and turned right into the wind and waves. Slowly we moved forward splash after splash. An hour and half later we made it back to Hiraya. Soaking wet from our heads to our toes. Laughing and happy we didn’t die or get pulled over by the Navy.
We quickly put our groceries away and went on over to meet Eric and Deb again. Eric had done so much work to Asherah. He had even cut the companion way and moved it out into the cockpit by two feet giving the galley so much extra room. Deb now had a refrigerator and real countertop space. He also reworked the exhaust and electrical panel opening up the quarter berth making it a more usable space. Their dog Daisey takes up this space how ever. It was really neat to see the work he had done. One of our favorite items however was his rum pump. A large tank under the kitchen sink running to a faucet at the sink. One for water one for rum. Nice.
We had often thought of projects but decided against them because we might only gain a few inches from all the work. But seeing what a few inches accomplishes makes the project list begin to grow.
We spent the rest of the days in Falsa meeting more cruisers, dreaming of projects, and watching the sunset. When it was time for our slip we dang near couldn’t wait any longer.