I had a fabulous 6 weeks in Nanaimo for Christmas; perhaps a little e too fabulous as my heart strings were in full melody when I left. From my recent reading by Arundhati Roy ?Who can know from the word goodbye what parting has in store for us?. Hopefully, my spring plans are wise ones.

The trip back to La Paz was uneventful, and I arrived at the Fonatur marina to a dusty, dirty boat but all was well. Maintenance and readiness were the first order of business, so clean, put away, and install the myriad parts I had brought down with me. Yes, the alternator is once again working like a charm. As is the water maker, windlass gypsy, outboard sling, outdoor lamp, plus the maintenance items. Sadly, it seems that there are always 10 things on the broken list, so fixing one just creates another. Now my wind speed indicator is broken. A wetted finger is a poor but available substitute.

With arrangements made to spend a few days at Marina de la Paz (where the action is) I bid farewell to Fonatur and inched my way back up the channel and shallow bay. Five days for provisioning, fun, and relaxing was great. Lots of biking, coffee and conversations, dinners out, and even a night at the movies (The Shape of Water should not be nominated for so many awards). Saw lots of Stefi and Jurgan (Mazu) and many others.

I could delay no longer, so made preparation to awake at 4:30 to see the lunar eclipse on Jan 31 and then head out of La Paz and on to the mainland. Sadly, the first clouds of my Mexican tour showed up and no visual was available. A shower and good breakfast was a reasonable substitute and I was off on the next leg.