Christmas in La Paz was pretty low key as compared to the celebrations we had seen in Mazatlan and Mexico City. The light displays along the Malecon and at the park were beautiful, but we missed the music and the street celebrations. We did meet up with our friends, Judy and Steve (Code Blue), who had just arrived from San Carlos and would be following us on to Mazatlan shortly; as well as Murray and Marty from Cowichan Bay on their newly purchased boat, Ponga.

I have been looking for a Mexican cooking course ever since we arrived in Mexico last year, and was disappointed that I had been unable to locate one. This year, however, I found Buen Provecho La Paz and what a wonderful course! As it was the day before Christmas, we prepared the most delicious Posada feast! Renee is an anthropologist, specializing in Central American cuisine, and Denise is a chef and college instructor - what a great combination. We learned so much about the ingredients and history of food in Mexico and then learned how to prepare a huge variety of delicious dishes. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in Mexican cooking and the history of food.

We rented a car for two days and, in the usual "Ted's Tours" style, drove across the Baja to Todos Santos, then continued south to Cabo and San Jose del Cabo and back north to La Paz, all in one day. We enjoyed a great lunch and brief tour around Todos Santos. It really is a little oasis amongst all the cactus and quite a beautiful location. The road back north had some spectacular sections through the mountains. It would have been nice to spend some time in the picturesque little town of El Triunfe, but evening was coming and we wanted to make it back to La Paz before dark. On the day before Christmas, the winds died down enough for us to put up our outside lights on the boat and, once the salon was decorated, it all looked quite festive; but we did miss our family. At the last minute, we decided to go out for Christmas dinner and, unfortunately, whether it was the food or the flu, I was unwell for several days following, which delayed our departure to Mazatlan. The side benefit was that we were still in La Paz and able to attend a Bluewater Cruising Association meeting and a wonderful flamenco concert on Dec 27th. It was nice to see BCA members, Tricia and Jim Bowen (Falcon VII) who had made it south. Their boat was previously owned by other friends of ours, the Sandersons. Hugh and Graciela (Gypsy Dream) joined us for the wonderful flamenco concert put on at Marina Costa Baja by Male Rhumba. The variety and quality of the musical talent in Mexico is truly amazing and this group was no exception. The following day, we headed out for the 2-day passage to Mazatlan. We enjoyed fair winds for 1/3 of the trip, even sailing wing-on-wing with the spinnaker up alongside Isla Ceralvo, then motored the last 2/3 on calm seas, arriving at 0230 outside the harbour. We glided up the channel in the dark, past Marina El Cid, fish leaping out of the water ahead of us, and slipped quietly into our dock. Why is it that no one is around to witness the perfect dockings? A band was still playing and the music drifted across the water as we sat in the cockpit and sipped Tequila, enjoying the feeling that we were home.