IRIE Times: Let's go to La Paz

Since our last post, we've made an exceptional eight day move of 259 nautical miles from San Carlos, Mx to La Paz, Mx. We weren't really in a hurry, but on the days that the anchor was up, conditions allowed (even encouraged) us to cover some bottom. So we did. And a fine trip it was, highlighted by excellent weather. Once again, the pictures will do most of the talking.

This is a shot of San Carlos as we leave to cross the Sea on Thursday the 23rd. Lots of spendy homes on the hillside owned by Americans - mostly from the Denver area. And many of them are empty these days..........

This is how the sky looked at around 1900 that evening. Of course the camera only shows you a slice of the pie, but on board, it's like surround sound for the eyes.

By morning, the sky was completely overcast, but we were greeted by this nearby whale.

My hat is off to any photographer who gets a really good shot of a whale. As I've been trying for years now without any real success, I have an idea of just how difficult a task it is.

We sailed into Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen Friday morning, just after the whale sighting above, and dedicated the day to resting and some basic chores. It was a great, secure anchorage with five boats inside, but for some reason we didn't take any pictures that made the cut.

We spent an extra day there before leaving on the 26th ( C's birthday) for some point South. Puerto Escondido would usually be our stopping place, but changes there since last Spring helped us decide to sail right on by this time. At about 1400 we set our anchor in Agua Verde.

On the way in, two boats were talking on the VHF that the anchorage was rock and rolly because of swell. We could see them leaving as we were about 5 miles off. Understand that Agua Verde is on everyone's list of must see places on Baja. And it is certainly one of the most beautiful, best protected anchorages to be found. But usually, when you arrive at this tiny dirt fishing village, there are already too many boats in the available space. In fact, after our first couple of times, we generally just pass it up for some lesser place further South. But today, we felt we wanted the protection from strong winds that were forcast for tomorrow, so imagine our surprise as we entered to find only a single anchored boat. And flat calm. Happy hour started a little early that day.

It's easy to forget how entertaining, amusing, and noisy the birds are in these small anchorages. Gulls, pelicans, frigates, buzzards and an osprey were seen here - not all in the same shot though of course.