Isla Partida and Espíritu Santo are a couple hours boat ride (or faster on a panga) from LaPaz. Between them is a very narrow channel that is sometimes passable in a very flat bottom boat like a kayak. The islands are part of the marine park, and require a conservation pass to visit or anchor.

Herman and I spent the large part of two days anchored by ourselves in the beautiful Ensenada Grande cove. On our first day, we tried a “hike” up the arroyo on the south side of the cove. It turned into a rock climb fairly quickly, but still gave us an opportunity to see seashells several hundred feet up in the limestone cliffs. That evening, we enjoyed a magnificent sunset over Sierra de la Gigantica, followed by a full-moonrise over our cove in Isla Partida.

We were joined in the cove by a seal who loved playing around our anchor. At dusk, he was playing a “cat and mouse” game with a zebra fish, which the fish enjoyed as much as the mouse probably does. He’d bring the fish to the surface, slap in around a little, then let the fish swim off while he did flips around it. I have a feeling that after the play that it didn’t end well for the fish.

The next day, we explored another beach, which had the first curated hike we’ve taken in Mexico. Instead of just the typical rock cairns that mark trails, this hike had signage for both the hike/bouldering and some of the foliage along the way. After hiking through the steep riverbed, we reached a cliff that overlooked the open Sea of Cortez. The mountains here keep the history of the volcanoes and earthquakes which formed them, including the seashells found at the higher elevations in the riverbeds.

Herman and I have very different bouldering styles and I find the contrast amusing, although I’m very envious of Herman’s ability. Herman looks over his path, then springs from rock to rock, pausing only to access the next path. When I get off the boat, I experience a bit of vertigo that seems to make the rocks move, especially when we’re going uphill. I’m much more cautious and proceed slowly with more effort. Here are video of Herman hiking and my view from a rest.

We returned to La Paz to pick up Al at the bus station. Al and Herman have known each other since their twenties, and sometimes they seem to revert, which can be quite amusing. Because tickets to La Paz were so expensive on short notice, he flew to Cabo San Lucas, then took a three hour bus ride to La Paz. While we were waiting, Herman and I enjoyed a beverage along the Malecón on a busy Sunday evening. Sometimes three generations of families were walking, riding, or bicycling together, which is lovely to see. We also got to watch the final quarter of the 49ers win, with exuberant announcers speaking incredibly fast Spanish.

The morning after Al arrived, we went El Mezteño, a cove on the north end of Espíritu Santo, where again we were the only occupants for the two evenings we were there. We enjoyed a hike up the riverbed and when we returned a panga was on the beach with a group that had come out for the day.

The next day, we kayaked around the cove, which gave us a chance to see the fish and tide pools from up close. As we were pulling up anchor, a large group of kayakers came from around the corner.

We moved the boat to Playa La Bonanza, a large sandy beach on the southeastern side of Espíritu Santo. We shared that anchorage with about fifteen other boats, plus a group of campers on the beach. We went for a hike across a low desert, but never found the trail that would take us across the island to another beach. We did find some incredibly painful stickers, some of which made it back to the boat.

Early Friday, Herman took Al to Marina de La Paz to catch the bus back to Cabo. On the return to Tieton’s anchorage in the La Paz harbor, Herman heard a bang and the dinghy motor quit. He rowed back to Tieton. Later, we got into the dinghy to head in for coffee, we discovered oil on the floor of the dinghy.

We’d previously joined ClubCruseros, a not-for-profit group of cruisers in La Paz that hosts a 8 AM Cruisers’ net on VHF radio followed by a 9:30 AM coffee hour at their clubhouse in Marina de La Paz. Over the next couple days, the La Paz cruising community showed their awesomeness!

• At coffee, we met Jay & Anita and they told us to call Sea Otter Jimmy. Jay & Anita are in the fourth stage of boating – 1) sail boat, 2) motor yacht, 3) land yacht, 4) condo
• We called Sea Otter Jimmy, who was on the dock working on Pedro’s outboard motor. We met Jimmy on the dock and gave him the motor to evaluate.
• At 4 PM, Jimmy returned Pedro’s repaired motor and delivered bad news to us. Our motor, which was less than a year old, had throw a rod and cracked the case, thus it was a goner. Jimmy recommended a couple shops where we might find a new motor.
• On the cruisers’ net the next day, we told of our blown motor to put the word out that we were looking for a motor. It’s amazing how many people offered advice/help.
• Saturday Herman bought a new motor that will be delivered in seven to ten days. I wish that’d I’d taken pictures of our walk to the store and the beautiful family at the business that helped us. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to right that during the next week.
• Sunday we saw Jimmy at the marina. When he heard that we would have to wait for our new motor, he offered to lend us one for the duration. After Jimmy joined us for lunch, we picked up the motor at the dock on our way back to Tieton.
• Sunday afternoon I heard a call for Tieton on the VHF radio, which turned out to be Jay & Anita checking in with us.

How’s that for community! We’ll be in La Paz until the motor arrives. We were planning on spending five days here catching up on boat chores before our crossing to the mainland, so we’re just extending our stay a bit. The nice news is that we’ve met some really great people and La Paz is a pretty place to wait for parts.