With all of the websites and You Tube videos updated and downloaded, it was nice to be back to stress-free Caleta Lobos. We quickly got back into our comfortable routine and enjoyed getting back in the water for our daily swim. The water is definitely cooler, so we are treasuring these dips while we can. Rog busied himself with varnish touch-up, repair of the hatch grips and numerous other small fix-it jobs. Our schedule for the month was highlighted with Rog heading back to California for the wedding reception of the daughter of his best friend, Jer Duda. Another bud from way back, Dick Byce, was also going to come from his home in Hawaii to attend. So it would be a fun reunion weekend. In order to get Rog into shore to catch his shuttle, I needed to learn how to drop and raise the dinghy solo. We practiced trucker’s knots and Rog came up with a way for me to use the big windlass on the back to bring up the stern of the dinghy. With the motor on the back of the dinghy, it is quite a chore to do alone. I knew I would be able to do it, but I hoped the seas would be calm.
Meanwhile, we started experiencing Fall in the Baja. Some days were downright chilly and an extra blanket was put on the bed. The northerly winds are now dominant and we occasionally get a strong cold front coming down from the States. Mid month, we started seeing a few boats from the Baja Haha. This is a rally from California down to Cabo San Lucas organized by Latitude 38. This year about 160 boats joined in the trip. Once at Cabo, they sort of split up. Some head south to Banderas Bay, others head east to Mazatlan, and some head north to La Paz. Then there are those masochists who return to bash up the coast back to California or planh on the big puddle jump across the Pacific in the spring. We were at the tail end of a pretty strong northerly when about 8 boats descended on Caleta Lobos. We were pretty surprised that they had ventured north through two very tough channels in such rough weather. We had also never seen so many boats in this small bay. Then just as the sun was setting, one more boat arrived. It was our old friends from the marina in the Rio Dulce in Guatemala: Russ and Janet on Rock N Roll. Rog and Russ shouted a howdy across the rails and by the time he finished anchoring, it was dark. The next morning, the winds were gone and I gave a shout to all of the boats in the anchorage welcoming them to La Paz and suggesting that they come aboard NEOS that afternoon. One of the boats called back and said they were heading into La Paz. Five boats followed him. But Rock N Roll came by, bringing along Kevin from their buddy boat, Alex II. Turns out that the passage north from Muertos was the trip from Hell for them. They had listened to Don that morning for weather and he said it was clearing up, so they headed out with all of the Haha boats. Should have waited one more day. Nothing broke, they were just tossed about and had quite a mess inside their boats. It was good to catch up with their travels and we were a bit surprised to realize that it had been three years since we had seen them.
They were all anxious to reprovision so headed into La Paz the next day but before they left, Russ offered to take Rog into shore for his trip. Problem solved!! The evening after they arrived in La Paz, the weather gods were kind to them and gave us all a nice warm rain that not only filled my rain barrels, but washed all of the dirt and salt off of their boats. We headed into La Paz a few days later and anchored in front of the navy depot. We had never seen so many boats in the anchorage. We spent a day reprovisioning and making sure that everything was in order for Rog’s trip. The day before he left, we were checking his itinerary and looked at the shuttle tickets we had purchased 6 weeks earlier. Much to our dismay, they were dated for October 17 instead of November 17. We headed back into town and walked to the bus station to see if we could exchange them for the right date. No dice. It was our fault for not checking them carefully when we bought them I guess. So we bought a new ticket and then headed back to NEOS to finish packing.
Russ picked up Rog at 10am the next day and was I ever grateful! The wind was up and it was really choppy. I could have done it, but it would have been doggone tough with the chop. Rog headed to the bus station to catch the 11am shuttle to Cabo San Jose airport where he had a nonstop ticket for the flight to SFO. Because of the fog in SF, his plane was delayed by 2 hours and he got into SFO about 8pm. Then he took BART to El Cerrito where Jer and Sue picked him up. He had a great weekend, spending a day with Dick and Jer revisiting their old haunts in the East Bay, another day helping set up for the wedding reception, and then a day up at Jer’s place in Grass Valley. On the way up I-80, Jer stopped at Michelle’s and Rog got to see Max and Karissa as well as pick up a box of ordered goodies we had waiting for us. All in all, he had a hectic but wonderful weekend.
Meanwhile, the crew (Janet, Russ, and Kevin) took care of me. Every night at 4pm, they would come over to NEOS with munchies and we would play Baja Rummy. We taught the game to Kevin and he picked it up remarkably fast. On Saturday, they picked me up for a trip into town. We visited the Farmer’s Market where I picked up some Christmas gifts for the family. On Sunday, we all headed in for the Flea Market at Don Jose Marina. While Russ and Janet tried to sell their “treasures of the bilge” at the flea market, Kevin and I headed over to Club Cruceros to sit and relax in the shade. Jean of Mita Kuulu came by and told us to head up to the Vista Room for goodies. They were having their Rally talk and had expected 60 attendees, but only 4 cruisers had shown up. She said they had all sorts of food and drinks. So we headed up. Rog and I were in the rally 2 years earlier, but had never attended a talk so I finally got a goodie bag and all of the promo stuff….not to mention a fantastically rich piece of chocolate cake. By this time, Russ and Janet joined us and we headed over to Rancho Viejo for Sunday Brunch. There was a huge parade heading down the malecon and we caught the tail end…literally. All of the horses with their riders in traditional dress accompanied by lariat twirlers. It is actually my favorite part of a Mexican parade! They were just heading out after waiting in front of the restaurant. It was a great morning and, of course, we had an evening of card playing. On Monday the winds picked up with the cold front that was arriving later that night. But that didn’t stop the crew. They arrived in slickers and were soaked. Again, I was glad to have Russ to pick up Rog in the chop. At 8:30, Rog called and Kevin joined Russ to go pick him up. The wind had actually died a bit so they had a drier run. It was so good to have Rog back aboard! I have never been alone on the boat before and I missed the captain a bunch.
With Rog back, we continued our 4pm card games with the crew. Sometimes we grazed on munchies and sometimes we had a real meal. Always we had a great time! On Thanksgiving, we scheduled an early card game at 11 so that we could cook Janet’s pies in my oven. About 1:30, we headed into Marina La Paz and caught a taxi to Marina Palmira for a potluck dinner. For 20 pesos per person, they provided turkey and dressing and each of the 250 attendees provided a side dish. What a spread! It turned out to be an unseasonably warm day…downright hot. We were lucky to have seats in the shade for the dinner and ate like pigs. So a wonderful meal. Rog and I were able to check out our slip for December and we all decided to walk the malecon back to Marina La Paz. I think it is about 3 miles, but the evening was gorgeous and we enjoyed the sunset as we headed back.
Rog and I had planned on leaving La Paz the next morning, but we woke to yet another rain shower. So we scrapped the plan and headed into town to apply for a Banda Acha. This is a modem with wide band internet that gives access wherever Tel Cel has towers. We have resisted it this long, but decided that we should splurge. There is a tower overlooking Caleta Lobos and it would be nice to have the access. With the plan, it is only about $25us per month for 18 months. She said it should be ready the following Tuesday so we decided to wait until then to leave. When we went to ick it up on Tuesday, it was still not ready. On Wednesday, when it wasn’t ready, we told her we would be back in 6 weeks. Then we left with the outgoing tide for Caleta Lobos. The crew was about ½ hour behind us. This time, Kevin had a gal aboard as crew. Terry is English, and is really sweet. She ended up learning Baja Rummy and joined our 4pm card games. Since NEOS has a table large enough to accommodate everyone, we always congregated here. This was especially fine with us since we didn’t have to fight with the dinghy and the chop. And thus ended our first fall month in La Paz.
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