La Paz
17 November 2011
Jeff
We've been in La Paz for 5 days and we need to leave. Now. Unfortunately we can probably come up with a million reasons to stay right here. Forever. The scary thing is that it looks like staying here forever is what happens to many cruisers, once they get here. Seriously.
There are 3 large marinas here and they are 95% filled with American (and Canadian!) boats, many of which have been here for a long time and many of which appear to be live-aboards. Most of the boats are all in great shape, mind you. We're not talking about derelict squatters. These cruisers all intend to go somewhere else again, someday, but for now they are here in La Paz and seem content to stay. The anchorage next to town (which is where we are anchored out) is filled with boats and from what we can see, they are almost 100% U.S. and Canadian.
The community of Americans here (and if I may digress... I really wish there was a better term for people from the United States. Isn't Mexico and Canada geographically part of the America's too?) Anyway... The number of Americans here is huge. We go ashore everyday and everyday we see cars with license plates from Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Nevada, British Columbia - you name it. There is a local, largely American, club for Cruisers http://www.clubcruceros.org/ and every morning at 8:00 AM, they have a VHF radio net for weather, questions and answers, community announcements, you-name-it. Go to VHF channel 65 and it's "talk radio", where you can talk about current events with whoever is listening. There is a real boating community here and it is very (North) American.
Yet, at the same time, this is not a tourist town. Downtown has a good mile of waterfront promenade and never once have we been approached by anyone to buy jewelry or timeshares or boat excursions or... anything. This is not Cabo. That alone is awesome. There are several huge, well-stocked grocery stores (heh, one is named MEGA) within walking distance. Several decent marine supply stores are within walking distance. The restaurants are plentiful, tasty and reasonably priced. Riding our bikes deeper into downtown where it's really Mexican has been completely fascinating. The locals, even if they cannot speak English (or us Spanish) are friendly, warm and inviting.
One tourist thing we did do was to go along one morning with another couple to snorkel with the whale sharks. It cost $50 a person for the outing, but it was completely awesome. The shark our guide found was at least 30 feet long. Check out this video of one from Thailand.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUMUSFLyZpU
Although we were snorkeling in shallow water rather than diving in deep water as in this video, the shark with which we swam was this size, this gentle and this beautiful. Now that we know where they hang out, I suppose we could just run the dinghy over to the beach where they are and find them for a free swim, as it's not more than a mile from where we are anchored. And again, have another reason to never leave La Paz.
Regardless, there have been other reasons to be here. We have excellent cell service and have been able to talk with everyone easily. We have a fast (and free) WiFi connection to shore. There have been several almost day-long boat chores to complete and we've gotten most of them done, yet I still ought to change the oil in the engines which, of course, means another day in La Paz. There is a big welcome party tonight being put on by Club Cruceros for this years Baja Ha Ha participants, many of whom we are now becoming good friends with - another reason to not leave La Paz. However...
One of the reasons for coming to Mexico is our desire to see the Sea of Cortez. The weather window for doing so comfortably is rapidly closing for the season. Already we have noticed a change in the temperatures and things are cooling, much as predicted by our guide books. Morning temperatures are now in the mid-60's and the sea temp has already fallen by several degrees.
A few nights ago it rained hard all night, which according to some local cruisers is the first rain that's fallen here in at least a year. We loved it, Seattle-ites that we are. It felt like home for a night - kind of. Yes, it rained and it rained hard, but it was not cold and we never had to turn on the heat. Regardless, the wind and the rain totally freaked out some of the other folks here in the anchorage. Winter (at least the Mexican version of it) is coming to the Sea of Cortez and we would like to see a little bit more of the area beyond La Paz before going east across the sea to the mainland and then south to seek out the warmer weather as is our plan.
But can we ever, ever get out of La Paz?