As we’re leaving Baja, it deserves a pause to reflect about how fortunate we are to be on this adventure. Whether it be watching pelicans, dolphins, sunrise or sunset, we feel lucky to be alive, healthy and able to be on this trip together.

This may be a longer post, because we’re slowly sailing across the Gulf of California towards the mainland. The seas and wind are calm, which can make for thought provoking watches.

La Paz – The Place

Waiting for the outboard motor gave us a chance to learn more about La Paz and to get to know the community a little better. A few things about La Paz:

The bay itself was just fun to watch. Small pods of large dolphins swam throughout the bay, frequently followed by flocks of pelicans and seagulls hoping for some leftovers. The current moved so quickly, sometimes it seemed as if we were on a river. While we were having breakfast one day, I saw a pelican diving and a second later, with a bang it hit the Tieton’s hull, giving Herman some concern as to what the heck it was. We hurried outside to see the pelican in the water, shaking off the hit, before departing a few minutes later.

Generally, boats at anchor typically swing in the same direction. Not so in La Paz. The “La Paz Waltz” describes what occurs as a result of the uneven shoaling throughout the bay, coupled with frequently opposing winds and strong tidal currents. The port was closed two days because of strong winds (15 knots plus), and we stayed on Tieton because we were concerned about other boats. We moved from our initial location, because a somewhat derelict sailboat got a little too close. The next day, a neighboring boat moved because a sailboat close to them wasn’t properly anchored.

As an aside, we use an Anchor Alarm app, where we set the anchor location and my phone keeps track of the boat. When the boat leaves a defined circle/location, we’re alerted by a barking dog. Al named the dog Rusty, and Rusty always barks when we leave the boat with my phone – more boat humor 🙂

During our brief time in La Paz, we also saw rebuilding after the hurricane. The huge pothole in the street next to the Malecón was repaired while we watched. When we returned to La Paz, one of the vessels that sank outside the harbor had been hauled towards shore and was attached to the salvage vessel. Upon our departure from La Paz, the boat was floating on its own. Progress!

The Hotel Arco provides a lesson regarding Mexican labor protection. The Arco is one of the largest building on the Malecón, and is owned by a family whose patriarch died about 20 years ago. Upon the father’s death, the children decided to convert the hotel to condominiums, because they didn’t want the hassle of running a hotel. Strong labor protection laws meant the employees were due severance, which made the condo conversion cost-prohibitive. Thus, the Hotel Arco remains unoccupied and falling apart.

The Mogote Península shelters La Paz’s inner harbor from the Bahia de La Paz, and has several high rise condominiums, which are built on fill on top of sand. Not surprisingly, the buildings are settling several inches annually, which is also hastened by the small earthquakes that frequent Baja. You too could buy a Mogote condo!

We got out our bikes again and enjoyed riding the bike path along the bay and throughout some of the town. We also decided to walk along the bike path when it was available, because the paths were much smoother than the sidewalks. Especially in the older downtown areas and neighborhoods, the sidewalks are a hodgepodge of varying materials and states of repair. Lack of attention can easily result in a trip over an elevation change or a fall into manhole that no longer has a cover.

People

Club Cruceros (Cruiser’s Club) is a mainstay of the cruiser’s community and we met some great people there. Plus the non-profit helps support causes for families, children, and bay clean up. We highly recommend joining ($10)/visiting the club for boaters visiting La Paz, even if you’re not on a boat. We heard boaters respond to others with serious medical conditions, boats with leaks or other problems. The “local assistance” covered everything from where to get marine supplies to if anyone had seen chocolate chips anywhere. One such request was what to do about the pelican in the club coffee area: with a chuckle, the net facilitator said, “This is their home. Leave it be.”

Some of the people we met:

• Mac & Mary Shroyer left their California teaching jobs in the 1960’s, first arriving to Mexico when she was six months embrazado (pregnant/embarrassed) with their first child. I’m enjoying their book which describes their pre-internet naiveity as they started a charter business with the catamaran they sailed down, only to be stymied because foreigners couldn’t run charters. Sixty years later, the marina and boat building business they built is a huge part of the boating community in La Paz.
• Sea Otter Jimmy (mentioned previously about our outboard motor) met is wife of 37 years on Catalina Island in California. Six months after meeting, they married and returned to her native Mexico, where they raised their son and are now an active part of their granddaughter’s life. Jimmy said their marriage survived the first few years because neither spoke the other’s language well so they couldn’t really argue.
• Hana volunteers to serve coffee on Tuesday. She was born in 1940 on the German border near Poland, one of eight children born to a minister and his wife. At five, Hana joined her mother and siblings in a brutal winter march to escape Hitler’s encroaching army, where over a million children perished. Hana immigrated to Canada, where she built and operated an organic farm and several B&B’s. She’s built two B&B’s in Mexico, which are now operated by one of her sons. At 84, she’s retired to be near her other son in La Paz and she’s planning to write a book that I can’t wait to read.
• “Cactus Bob” Walker was introduced to me when I mentioned Rotary. Through the Rotary Club of La Paz, Bob is very involved in supporting math curriculum and school uniforms. Beginning 7th grade in public schools, students are required to wear uniforms and provide their own supplies. Sadly, many impoverished students drop out for lack of the ~$225 necessary for the initial uniform and supplies. At the end of the school year, uniforms are sold, so only the initial investment is necessary. The majority of girls who drop out at 6th grade have a child by 16, which repeats the cycle. Those who graduate 9th grade stand a good chance of getting a job with decent pay and health insurance. I plan to stay in touch with Bob to see if we can help support more children. If you’re interested, please contact me.

Although we didn’t have any lengthy discussions with Mexican locals, we enjoyed their hospitality and friendliness. I’ve been studying Spanish and could get by fairly well, although the clerk at the fabric store laughed when I tried to get her to cut 500 meters (more than the 5 that I wanted) of string. Most Mexicans we dealt with spoke better English than my Spanish, but still seemed to appreciate that I tried.

Carnaval

Carnaval occurs the five days prior to Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. In La Paz, the party began with the crowning of the King & Queen, which we observed from a dinghy raft up off the Malecón. La Paz had parades Sunday – Tuesday, and Carnaval rides and food booths Friday – Tuesday. Ear splitting music began at about 10 AM and continued through 3 AM, which we could hear quite well from our boat. Church bells rang at 6:30 AM. We attended the parade on Tuesday and once again enjoyed seeing the generations of families enjoying the festivities.

We’re on the second day of what promises to be a slow crossing to the mainland, plus it is raining. We plan to pull the boat out of the water in San Blas, and fly to Seattle on the 21st for a three week visit to the states.