Time has flown by! We’ve been here nearly 3 weeks and will be returning to Washington next Tuesday after getting the boat put back together after hurricane season. Well almost put back together.

We were to get our mast painted while the sails and canvas were off the boat but the painter had an issue and can’t paint it until we leave again so we’ll take the canvas back down and we’ve left the main sail off until the painting is completed. Also, upon examining our boat for damage from hurricane Odile we discovered our windex and anemometer were broke and so we got those down to take back and repair/replace while in the states.

Scott got the bilge pump replaced and tested all the systems and we will be ready for another season upon our return in late December.

Life has been busy getting caught up with friends here, I’ve been going to Zumba classes down on the malecon and we’ve had all kinds of events to attend. These past 3 weeks have only reaffirmed how much we love it here in La Paz. And, a contingent of our friends haven’t even made it back to La Paz from having their boats in San Carlos for the summer yet. Unfortunately they won’t be here until December 1st after we’ve left for the month. Scott promised me that he’ll take me out to dinner in La Paz for my birthday so I will soon be booking our return!

It does seem that my blog posts are getting fewer and fewer the longer we stay down here. The thing is is that it seems like I would be telling the same story again and again. “Left the dock, went out to the islands, met up with friends, swam, hiked, moved to a new island”. It doesn’t mean it isn’t just as great as it has always been but how many times can I tell a good at anchor story. We do have a good story of losing the dingy and outboard at sea but we’ll tell that one in person.

So all that said, we just returned to the marina in La Paz after spending almost 4 weeks out at all the islands and our favorite spots between here and Loreto. We met up with friends from the marina and others: Free Spirit (Dave and Goldeen), Orion (Mike and Cathy), Cetus (Heidi and Terry), Jake (Jake and Sharon), Shindig (Rob and Nancy) and many many more. We watched the Indy 500 from Augies Bar and Grill in Loreto while the boat sat out at anchor. We had a Potluck at the Hidden Harbor Yacht Club in Puerto Escondido. We had dinner with Connie and Elvin at their home in Juncilito. Rob from Shindig organized a dingy raft up sundowner party at Isla Coronados where we had 14 boats anchored (a lot for down here!). We had a Tequila tasting party aboat Scott Free with Shindig and Cetus and just a really great few weeks.

We now are tearing the boat down for hurricane season to leave it in the water at Marina Palmira. With the hurricane season underway and the strongest May hurricane on record already having occurred we will be very diligent in our preparations. This means all sails, lines, canvas, solar panels, bbqs, anything on the rails will be taken off and stored below. We’ll then spend 4 days in air conditioning at our timeshare then fly home June 10th where we’ll begin our summer rotation in the Seattle area with family and friends there. We are looking forward to getting together with everyone.

If you want to see some pictures I’ve been posting them on Instagram, a program I just love!

These past three weeks since our return to the boat has flown by. We had a guest aboard for the past two weeks, our neighbor from Everett Laura. We always enjoy guests aboard and the time went by very fast. The first week was spent showing her La Paz as we were waiting for rigging parts to arrive and be installed. Scott during one of his twice a year rigging clean/inspections found a crack in a fitting and upon further inspection by a trained rigger he found 3 others and deemed the boat unsafe to leave the dock. But as most things in life it was nothing time and $$ didn’t fix.

Once we did leave the dock we took off to the Islands where Laura got to snorkel and try out her underwater camera. The water is really warming up and it was quite comfortable for over 30 minutes then the sun was warm enough to tame the goose bumps. We hiked on Isla San Francisco where we got some nice photos from the ridge.

The weather was blustery with northerly after northerly blowing. In fact we got caught crossing down from Isla San Francisco to Espirtu Santo and had not the 12-15 knots of wind forecasted but 30-30 knots. The seas were 8ft, confused and at about 5 seconds. We lost the dingy and outboard and showed Laura an exciting time. By the time the wind and waves built turning around and heading into it was not an option so we were committed for this uncomfortable 20 mile passage.

Now were back at the dock, our guest has returned to the fast lane at home and we are searching for a new dingy and outboard so we can head back out. The weather has heated up and spending time in the marina is hot; well except the afternoons when we head up to the pool and float drinking our cold beers!