Adventures in Mexico

Vessel Name: Myla
Vessel Make/Model: Moody 44
Crew: John and Julie King
28 July 2017
06 July 2016
26 May 2016
01 April 2016
09 March 2016
10 February 2016
30 December 2015
07 November 2015
30 October 2015
26 October 2015
24 October 2015
04 October 2015
28 September 2015
03 September 2015
26 August 2015 | Alamitos Bay Marina
Recent Blog Posts
28 July 2017

Year 2

What a difference a year makes…I blogged like a crazy woman our first year, but haven’t posted a single blog this second season, so here goes. One mother-of-all-blog posts summing up this past season….

06 July 2016

Wonders of Nature

In most situations, it might be a little awkward to hear your husband excitedly exclaiming, “Boobies, boobies, boobies! Wow, look at all these boobies!” But knowing we were the only ones in the entire anchorage with a spectacular, uninterrupted view of the Sierra de la Giaganta Mountain Range, I [...]

26 May 2016

Up and down

It has finally happened. Rather than that moment in the morning when you first awaken and collect your thoughts to determine the day of the week and the long to-do lists ahead, we now have to take a pause to determine the month. It isn’t a long pause, so no reason to get worried here, but time has [...]

01 April 2016

"And here we are..."

Well, here we are…that’s become a rather frequent phrase here aboard the good ship Myla. Every time we drop our Ultra Anchor, we sit back with a great sigh of relief and satisfaction knowing that we are safe and sound, and John will inevitably begin every conversation with…“Well, here we are…” We have done a popular route amongst the cruising community of crossing over from La Paz, and then heading south for winter, and then starting back north in spring. The plan is to get into the Sea of Cortez for spring and summer. After that, it is finding a safe place to hole up during hurricane season. We’ve been discussing our options of where to have the boat where it will be safe, sound, and insured for those hot and blustery days of hurricane season, and we’ve decided it’ll be La Paz for this first year. We have plans to head up into the states for some land touring August – October. We’ve heard it is terribly hot in Mexico then…as if it isn’t already hotter than Hades. But meanwhile, back to our travels. I may have already covered some of these coves in the previous blog post about our southerly trek, but we visited many of them again while heading back north. Seeing them a second time has added a better appreciation and sense of familiarity to these beautiful coves. Our southerly trek began back in January after about a month in La Cruz. Our first stop was Chamela. That was our newfound favorite cove with beautiful islas that provided great snorkeling and anchoring. After all the boat repairs, this was our first port where we could sit back and fully appreciate our surroundings and relax. We also reconnected with our good friends Don and Peggy Cox of Intrepid. We were new fish together in the Corsair Yacht Club 15 years ago, and they’ve been cruising in Mexico now for 10 years. It was great to see them and learn some of their wonderful, seasoned cruising tips. Peggy outfitted me with a macramé shell anklet, and I really began to feel like a cruiser! The town of Perula in Bahia Chamela turned out to be quite quaint and inspiring. I found a place to get my hair attended to while John went roaming about the town. He ended up locating a nonprofit English language school that was just getting set up after the hurricane. There was a huge pile of dirt to be moved, and John found his way to lend a hand, and a very strained back by the end of the day, too. Meanwhile, while John is being altruistic and phal trophic, I was being vane and anticipating becoming bald or worse at the hair salon. Only after the color had been applied did I realize that there was no running water in the place. The dirt floors should have given me a head’s up! But the gal did a great job, and I miraculously looked 20 years younger when she was done. I later joined John at the English language school and discussed their programs with the owner’s wife. Once a teacher, always a teacher! We both returned the next day to give another round of help. John brought along our pal, Daniel McCoy from S/V Kini PoPo and the two of them helped move quite a bit of the dirt to the backyard garden. I brought over quite a bit of costume jewelry for craft projects and some school supplies. We had hoped to stop again on our way back through while heading north, but the surf made a dinghy landing a bad idea. We will be sure to stop by when we go through the cove this time again next year. From Chamela, we went to Tenacatita. We heard there were more boats there this year than there have been in the last 10 years. I think there were at least 40 boats. There are planned activities such as bochi ball and mermaid swims, and there’s even a mayor of the fleet aboard S/V Harmony. We felt like the slurking newcomers to this established fleet at first, but seeing Don and Peggy again helped us to feel like we were part of the gang. We went on a jungle river ride on a dinghy with our two intrepid solo sailing friends, Daniel (Kini PoPo) and Patty (Kiwi 3). We reconnected with several other pals we’ve met thus far along our cruising adventure, and otherwise loved this place. The bugs seem to really like me, and especially at Tenacatita. We’ll be better prepared when we pass through again. Even with bugs, this was our new favorite. La Manzanillo is close by and provided ample opportunity to re-provision. From Tenacatita, we went to Melaque – not called Rocky Melacky for nothing! We soon moved on to the Barra Navidad Marina where amenities of a luxury hotel resort are included with the slip fees. We soon found ourselves in a pool with a swim up bar. Something about a gin and tonic, cool pool water, and luxurious surroundings to make you feel special. After all the native gypsy living we’ve been doing, the reprieve was thoroughly enjoyed! From Barra Navidad, our new favorite place, we went about three miles back north to Cuastecomate. We got together with Peggy and Don again as well as fellow Ha Ha sailors Stephen and Benta aboard Wind Star. Benta introduced me to how a lady drinks tequila, and we had a wonderful progressive dinner that led well past cruisers’ midnight. We headed back south to Santiago where we did some terrific hikes to some abandoned hotels and homes way up on the surrounding hills. We then went to Ensenada Carrizal where we did a beach clean-up. I mentioned this in a previous post. We fueled up in Las Hadas, and along with our pal Dan aboard Kini Po Po, we headed south to Cabeza Negra, Bahia de Maurata, and Coleta de Campos for about one night each. These are coves that are often passed by as they have a reputation of being a bit rough and not as welcoming to cruisers. We found them to be delightful stops and rather than doing the long overnight trek from Santiago to Zihuatenajo, we’re very glad we explored these coves. Each had tremendous views, great hikes, and a more Mexican feel than many of the more touristy areas. We even helped set a baby sea turtle free. Yes, cousin Roz, I think we did have a pet turtle named Myrtle. We always had turtles won at school fairs and such, but none of them were as grand as this baby sea turtle we came upon in Mexico. How we became freedom fighters for this little guy began at a restaurant where a waitress delivered a bowl we thought was chips. It was dark and we almost reached in when we realized that the bowl contained some water and a little turtle. The waitress asked us if we’d take him out with us when we returned to our boats and set him free as far off the shore as we could. Here’s hoping Myrtle is out there growing to be a big turtle now. From Caleta de Campos, we headed to Isla Ixtapa, otherwise known as Isla Granda. It is grand, but not large. It is about a mile long with more palapa restaurants than sand. It is a tourist destination with a fleet of pangas bringing people from the local hotels in Ixtapa all day long. Sounds horrible, but it actually was pretty neat. There were attentive servers about every third lounge chair or so down the beach. There’s even a favorite palapa amongst the cruisers. This savvy owner brings a round of beers or a bottle of tequila, and even some fresh sashimi. That got our attention and our continued business, for sure! We met quite a few fellow cruisers who were all heading to Zihuatenajo, so our fleet grew. We headed to Ixtapa Marina for two days for some much needed boat washing. While we didn’t see it at the time, there was a crocodile swimming behind our boat at one time. Our buddy Kevin and his guest, Lamar, aboard the M/V Adente snapped this one. We then did the 5 mile trip south and arrived in Zihuatenajo where we saw a lot of familiar boats. There weren’t a lot of the 2015 Baja Ha Ha fleet, but many other cruisers we’ve met along the way. This was our new favorite harbor. At night, the hills are lit up like a Christmas tree. The guitar festival was really a lot of fun. Our pal, Michael Brietenstein, came down and joined us. He is an amazing musician himself and got to stand in with a local blues guitar player during a gig. We wrapped up his stay with a lovely day at the beach at Playas las Gatas. The music was fabulous the whole week, and we’d highly recommend the guitar festival to all music lovers. The ambiance of Zihuatenajo was a mix of La Cruz, Santa Barbara, La Jolla, and La Paz. We were sad to leave. When we exited the harbor, there was a moment when we considered throwing away our plans to head north and just continue south 112 miles to Acapulco and beyond. We were only a little over 300 miles away from the Mexican border and Guatemala. Panama Canal anyone? But that may have to wait for another time. After having some starter problems and some much appreciated assistance from Ian and Leslie aboard the S/V Tango, we headed north as planned and revisited many of the harbors we’d seen. We did a few overnighters to take advantage of weather conditions. We did a night landing in Santiago in Manzanillo Harbor as it is particularly well lit. From there, we visited Barra Navidad, but we stayed in the lagoon this time. The French baker visited the next day with some delicious treats, and we made a stop at the carnaceria to pick up the best bacon and pork chops in all of Mexico. We also got to meet up with our amazingly talented friend Ian Hoffman. He’s a drummer for several bands in the Barra area. He’s also the brother of our dear friend Lauren Sinz. It was great to see him and hear him play again. Meanwhile in Barra, a boat dragged their anchor in the lagoon and had several cruisers not come to assist, the boat would have surely swamped or worse. Of course, they didn’t have an Ultra Anchor…nor did the three other boats that we know of who have dragged in La Cruz. Just sayin…..our anchor has been a dream of dependability and comfort. From Barra we then went to Tenacacita again and reconnected with our Ensenada and Ha Ha friends, Jeff and Deanne of S/V Stryder. With only about 10 boats this time and the mayor not in attendance, the activities were pretty low key. We decided to have a spontaneous raft-up to get to meet some of the other cruisers. Several boats joined us, including one couple who have obviously spent a lot of time there because they had written a song about it. There we all sat aboard our respective dinghies, bobbing about, sipping drinks, and sampling appetizers while a delightful gal aboard a S/V named Traveler played her ukulele and sang. It was quite magical, until the bugs of Tenacatita descended. I’m sporting about 50 bites at present. First year cruisers’ learning curve! We left Tenacatita and continued north for Chemela. We had a solid night’s sleep and left after a nice walk along the beach the next day with fellow cruiser and gal sailor Rainy aboard the S/V Comet. We banded together with Comet and Strider with the plan to round Cabo Corrientes at about 3am. It has been rather strange that regardless of the direction we’re heading, the wind is directly on our bow. I’m beginning to think we have a motor boat with a sail for stabilization purposes. We motored the entire way, except for a few fervent attempts, and rounded at exactly 3am. I had the watch from there on and caught a gorgeous sunrise in Bandaras Bay. After spending almost all of December and some of January there, it felt like a homecoming of sorts. We stayed in the anchorage and it was a great reunion of many familiar faces. What made it even more exciting was seeing our friends we met earlier who stayed in La Cruz to prepare for the Puddle Jump. That’s the rally that goes to the South Pacific. We got to see new intrepid pals Jeanie and Merv aboard S/V Meridian Passage start their final leg of their 18 years of cruising. They’re heading back to New Zealand. They were quite generous with their friendship and great tips, and as you can imagine, we were totally enamored with their accomplishments. It was an exciting time to be in the harbor, for sure! We then moved the boat to Paradise Village Marina, where the boat currently is docked until we return after a short trip to the states to deal with taxes, etc. We were more than delighted to see several of our Corsair Yacht Club friends at the marina. Sandy and Rich Lewis looked radiant as they hosted family for spring break. Barb and Huge Tate, former members, were there, too. If there is a commodore of the marina, we think it must certainly be the Tates! They’ve got a lovely trawler now, and look quite happy with a great group of friends in the marina. We also spent quite a bit of time with Jacques and Theresa Lorch aboard Jacques Beateau. Jacques and Theresa are preparing to do a little cruising in the Sea of Cortez, then bash the boat back for a season with the Corsairs in Catalina. We’re hoping to catch back up with them near La Paz. Our last in night in Paradise Marina before we left began innocently enough. We banded together with Theresa and Jacques, then we were joined by Ha Ha friends Leslie and Hartley on S/V Atsa and Steve and Pat on S/V Ahalani. Then we were joined by some new friends from Long Beach aboard a 50 ft. Cheoy Lee motor sailor headed south to Panama, and friends from La Paz, Rick and Sharon aboard S/V Between da Sheets. We all decided to check out the “all you can eat shrimp buffet” at the resort. Honestly, we didn’t know, but there was all you could drink, too. Let’s just say we were very glad there was time to recuperate and rest the next day on the flight home! A great time was had by all. We are now home taking care of taxes, renewing visas, and fixing up some home repairs, etc. It is so weird being back in our home. It seems so expansive and cavernous. It is a beautiful home, and while we lived here, I think we were often so busy with work and the day-to-day stress of living in the Southern California fast-paced environment, that we didn’t appreciate it enough. I’m loving it now! Fast Internet! No limited solar showers off the stern for me here! But then again, I don’t get to see any dolphin jumping while I rinse off. Trade-offs! Looking forward to returning next week and rejoining our fellow cruiseros as we venture into the Sea of Cortez.

09 March 2016

Z-Town!

We’ve arrived in Zihuatenajo, the furthest we plan to go south in Mexico. We’ve basically been sampling Mexico like a box of Whitman’s chocolates – stopping at every cove we can. We keep finding our new favorite places all along the coast heading south, and we have to say Z-town is our new favorite. [...]

10 February 2016

Never too much to Barra

We are currently in Barra Navidad. We're loving this place! Having access to the beautiful resort isn't bad - almost forgot what it was like to feel so fancy. Heck, anyone who knows us knows that we're never so fancy, but liking it nonetheless! John is getting worried that I may like it too much! I'm in a beautiful lobby, air conditioned, and heading to the pool it a bit! As for cruising plans, we're going to be heading further south to Zihuateneajo for Guitar Fest. Michael B will be joining us down there. We're then going to begin the trek back north to PV. We'll be flying back to the states for about a week to renew visas and such in early April, and then head back for Mazatlan. We'll then cross over to La Paz and then head further up into the Sea of Cortez. We're planning on staying up in the Sea May - June/July or so, and then probably make a temporary homeport in La Paz for hurricane season. We're thinking about some land-trips, and perhaps more stateside visits then (June-October period). We're having a blast, learning more about our boat, ourselves, and making new friends every day. We are loving our Ultra Anchor and have made some Ultra friends, too. We have had some funny chats with the folks on "Worth Waiting For", a beautiful trawler with an equally beautiful Ultra Anchor on the bow. They're veterans down here and are planning on heading up into the Pacific Northwest soon. We were both anchoring in ports along the way from La Cruz down to Barra, and our anchors came up looking like they'd seen the underwater sea monster. Tenacatita was a particularly lively anchorage with a lot of growth on our newly painted boat bottom, too. I think only Ultra owners would understand the passion to polish our anchors once they're back up, poised on our bows! Barra is a particularly fun spot. We've heard so many stories from our boating friends in Corsair Yacht Club over the years about the French baker and other traditions along this route. We couldn't help ourselves from nearly buying the poor guy out the first day! I can now say that the almond crossant is my favorite! It was magical to have him personally deliver, too! Another amazing Barra experience has been coming upon the Cielo Mare, one of the largest sportfishing boats on the west coast. One of our pals from home, Ray, has a sister who worked her way up the corporate ladder and is the proud owner of this yacht. It is by far the most amazing yacht we have ever seen in our lives. And the most gracious owners, too. They invited us aboard for a day of fishing. It was a magical experience, for sure! Yes, we were on a powerboat and LOVED it! Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, I managed to bash my toe while baking some cookies as a little thank you for the captain and crew. At first, I thought all the blood on the floor was from John. He's always getting little nicks and such with his hands in the bilge and engine all the time. I got very mad at him for not stopping to take care of it and for getting blood all over the custom carpets from Anne and Dennis Lynaugh of Welcome Aboard. He pulled himself out of the engine, looked over himself, and said he wasn't hurt. We then looked at me and noticed the baby toe. It wasn't anything too serious, but quite a messy injury. Happy to say that the carpets cleaned up like a charm with just a hose.The carpets have turned out to be one of the best additions we've made. We highly recommend checking them out with Welcome Aboard. Also happy to say that somehow or another, we managed to get out on the dance floor in the town square later that night to celebrate Mardi Gras. Wishing you all well and fair weather.

Year 2

28 July 2017
What a difference a year makes…I blogged like a crazy woman our first year, but haven’t posted a single blog this second season, so here goes. One mother-of-all-blog posts summing up this past season….

After our first year of cruising in Mexico (October 2015-August 2016), well, eleven months to be exact, we returned to the states for a few of months, August through October 2016. We visited family, toured the East Coast, went on a Mississippi cruise/family reunion, and then flew back to La Paz and our floating home in mid-October, 2016. There were so many great adventures in the states, it would take forever and a day to retell. Suffice it to write that a good time was had by all!

We had thought we’d have already headed off to the South Pacific or the Caribbean by now, but we’re finding that cruising in Mexico has afforded us plenty of opportunity to fine-tune our boat, remain in contact with family, and it is some of the best cruising grounds in the world!

This season brought more variability with the wind, seas, and more visitors. It has been fun, but it has also been different this second time around.

So here’s a quick recap of our second nine-month season. We returned to the boat in La Paz in mid-October 2016, and several projects took us through Thanksgiving in this beautiful port. The main project was revamping the bimini and the dodger, and it has made all the difference. I’m at least a couple of shades lighter than I was this time last year! The sun is relentless! We were happy to get a reprieve from projects with some sailboat racing pals from back home, Patty and Leslie, who visited us after their Ha Ha ride. Other projects were completed mid-November, and we were off and sailing for year two. Many cruisers do a six month/six month approach, cruising during the prime winter months from November through April, and then either returning state-side or doing other traveling adventures during the hurricane season, May - October. Our seasons have been 10 months our first year and 9 months this second year. It feels like we’ve packed in four cruising seasons into two years. It has been fun and intense!

So this second season, after getting some major projects completed in La Paz, we crossed the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific side of the mainland in December and landed in Mazatlan. We had several boats in a little armada and we all began to head south. Our posse included Hotel California, Mystic Eyes, and Orca.

From Mazatlan, our next main port of call was La Cruz. This particular trip included some long-line issues with one of our buddy-boaters. The captain had to dive on their boat at 3am to try to untangle some wayward fishermen’s lines. We stood by to assist, and fortunately we all got back under way without any problems. We were surprised the next morning when we noticed what we all thought was a dolphin following our pals, but it turned out to be a long line and a floater buoy trailing behind them. Guess it wasn't all cleared away, and easy to understand considering having to dive on it at 3am! It obviously slowed them down some, but luckily no harm. We found this whole season to be a bit of a dodge-ball game with all the long lines off shore. As a cruiser, we prefer to purchase our fish to help the local economy, but that said, the local fishermen are having to go further and further off-shore to compete with the large commercial vessels from Japan. The Sea of Cortez is really getting fished out, and it is quite sad.

Daughter Lauren and son Jack flew in and joined us in La Cruz/Puerto Vallarta for Christmas and New Year’s. It was a magical holiday, and everyone had a fabulous time. Nothing like a pineapple for a Christmas tree! It was also the year of the mango margarita! Who knew that Lauren was totally fluent in Spanish, especially after a couple of those crazy concoctions! We had plenty of opportunities to go on mother/daughter shopping junkets, and while it wasn’t South Coast Plaza and Trader Joe’s, we found plenty to satiate our need to be gathers. Lauren proved to be quite the negotiator with all the vendors, especially with the mango beverages fueling her Spanish language skills! Jack filled up the forward cabin berth, and had to twist his long self a bit like a pretzel, but he never complained. It was wonderful to have time together to chat, hear about his new job, and basically get more than snippets of intel via international phone calls and texts. And other than the one time at his 8th grade graduation, I’ve never danced with Jack, but New Year’s Eve we brought the local pub Baleena Blanca down! Made this mama very happy! It was great to catch up on all our kids' adventures and wonderfully successful lives. We are so proud of them both.

Both Lauren and Jack left after New Year’s, and we continued our voyage south. We went to Chamela, Tenacatita, Barra de Navidad, Santiago, Las Hades, Isla Ixtapa, etc., all the way to Zihuatenajo again this year for the annual Guitar Fest. On the way south, my sailboat racing pal, Leslie, joined us for about a week in the Barra de Navidad area. We also met up with our pal Ian Hoffman and his lovely girlfriend, Pec for some diving in the Aquarium near Tenacatita. This is a wonderful reef area that probably has the best snorkling in the world, thus the name, The Aquarium! Ian and Pec live in Barra de Navidad where Ian is a drummer with many of the local bands. We’ve enjoyed getting out and listening to some fabulous music. Leslie was a good sport and indulged us by watching the Super Bowl with us while in Barra, which is huge considering she's a Canadian and hockey fan. She flew back from Manzanillo airport, and think she had a great time.

We continued heading south and got to the Santiago/Manzanillo area where we met up with our other Canadian pals we jokingly refer to as our Canadian abductors. We first met Raymond and Christina last year when they decided to take us under their wings. They offered us rides to provision, laundry facilities at their gorgeous condo, a fabulous land-home cooked dinner, and always fun, fun, fun! We met up with them both on the way south, and again when we returned north. We made sure to wear the Canadian maple leaf socks they’d given us the previous year, and we returned the favor with some gaudy red, white, and blue hockey socks.

Michael Brietensten joined us again this year when we got further south to Zihuatenajo, and we had a blast at Guitar Fest. He had a far better visit this time than last year. He’s built up an immunity to the terrible touristas, it appears! We met up with our pals Daniel and Susan on Kinnipopo. We did a lot of buddy-boating with them last season, and it was great to catch up with them again. They were on their way to Costa Rica with plans to continue to the South Pacific. Other boats we traveled with on the mainland side this year included Viva and Manatee. Along with Kinnipopo, they’re all heading further south to Central America and exotic ports thereafter. We really had to hold ourselves back from continuing along with them! Others we hung out with included Kanga, Fandango, Eyes of the World, and Catitude. There have been tons of familiar and new cruising friends this year. Too many to list!

From Ziehuatenajo, we turned our sights towards heading back north. Our Corsair Yacht Club buddy, Craig Barnes, joined us and stayed with us for about three weeks all the way up to La Cruz. It was great having another hand for the overnight passages. There’s a big difference with watch schedules with three on board. Six hours of sleep is far better than two or three, that’s for sure! We had a particularly bad passage from Chamela to La Cruz. I jinxed it, I’m afraid. I made a comment about the notorious Cabo Corrientes, which translates to cape of currents. I mentioned how it has always been quite calm every time we’ve passed through, and I thought all the comments to be wary were much to do about nothing. Well, boy, did we found out why others remain wary of this passage! We had a little armada going including Hotel California, Orca, Mystic Eyes, Coaster, and Apple Seeds. Safety in numbers, and it was nice to have the VHF available to chat with each other at 2 am. We all departed from Chamela at about 6pm, figuring we’d round Cabo Corientes about 3-4am, when it is supposed to be light winds and flat seas. We all checked the weather again before heading out, and it looked like we were good to go.

Once we got out of Chamela, we were greeted with some wind and swells on the nose. But we knew it was going to get calmer, according to the weather reports. A huge pod of dolphin led us out and stayed with us for quite a bit. At one point, we had a perpendicular line of over 20 dolphins off our bow, all leaping in synchronized formation. It was quite a show. I ran up on the bow and was totally doused with the bow swells, but wasn’t overly concerned because the weather reports said it was going to settle down.
It didn’t, though. Poor Craig Barnes had the bow v-berth, and it was impossible to sleep up front. First Craig, and then John had watches. Winds were in the 20 knot range with gusts in the 25k range, totally on the nose. I came on deck at 3am for my watch, and not much sleep with the pounding we were taking. It was supposed to be calm, but….the moment the watch captain went down the hatch to try for some much deserved sleep and I came on deck to start my watch, the wind began to build even more. I saw 30+ knots and swear the bottom of the keel had to have seen air. It was a particularly dark night, and when looking out, it was impossible to separate the water from the black night sky. At one time, I was surrounded by what may have been dolphin…or perhaps not! Was never sure what kind of sea life it was, but it was kind of scary! The phosphorescence made things quite bizarre. It was an arduous passage, but I kept telling myself that adversity builds character. It wasn't dangerous, just a little like getting knuckle-punched in the kidneys for 18 hours. I was never so happy to see La Cruz!

We left the boat in La Cruz and flew back to Southern California early April, took care of taxes, gathered a long list of parts, and then flew back to Puerto Vallarta/La Cruz after two weeks in California. From there, we headed north back to Mazatlan, then across to Bonanza on Isla Espiritus Santos. We were anxious to get up into the Sea of Cortez in time to meet my sister Lori and brother-in-law Peter who were coming to visit, so decided we’d make do with the status of our diminishing provisions and head north rather than stop in La Paz.

It was a very blustery day, and we had Myla going 9k on a close reach almost until we dropped anchor. The next morning, we were surprised to see a familiar steel-hulled boat come into the cove. Amy and Jim from Millie J had changed their cruising plans from heading to Central America and ultimately to Puerto Rico to returning to Oregon. They were headed to La Paz to put their boat on a cargo ship back to Oregon. They were part of the original Ensenada posse for the 2015 Baja Ha Ha. We had a great time with them, and hope to visit them on our upcoming road trip to the Pacific Northwest.

We continued heading north into the Sea. We had to high-tail it north to be in Loreto in time to meet our arriving guests. With the unpredictable and variable winds, confused seas, and even some fog, we wanted to get to Loreto early rather than later. We got there a few days ahead of time, and were met with some pretty gusty winds. We picked up Lori and Peter, and they took the blustery winds all in stride. Always great to have sailors as boat guests! The wind probably helped dampen our deranged singing and carrying on into the night! We really had a blast. Some hiking, some diving, and even though their visit was far too short, we had a great time.

After they left, the winds continued to howl, so when we had a weather window to continue north, we jumped on it.
We were delighted to have other members from the original Baja Ha Ha Ensenada Posse, Jeff and Dianne on Stryder, arrive in Loreto. We continued buddy-boating with them up through San Juanico, Bahia Conception, and Santa Rosalia. Along the way, we picked up pals on SeaMoore and Nelli Jo (not to be confused with Millie J). We also met Steve and Susan on Kashmira. We had a great time in Santa Rosalia. Another weather window, and the upcoming Loreto Chocolatie Clam Festival hastened our departure and we headed south again.

We met up with Sam and Joanne on Mystic Eyes again, along with Judy and Mike on Milagro, Nancy on Aldabra, Josie and Christian and family on Shawnagin, Gary on Gypsea, Terry and Diane on Harmony, and Don and Peggy on Interlude. We left Loreto and headed over to Marquer on Isla Carmen to meet with Les and Diane on Gemini. Les is a Spectra water maker guru, and we were having some issues. Cocktails and appies at 5 after a day of working on the watermaker – boat projects in exotic places with great people!

There have been a lot of familiar faces and places this second year. We continued to clean beaches as we did last season, picking up plastics whenever possible. This past week, we took 10 bags to the recycling bins in Loreto. We collected at just about every beach we stopped at while we circumnavigated Isla Carmen. Perhaps the most exciting thing this second year was our return to Ensenada Carrizal on the Pacific Mainland of Mexico, just outside of Manzanillo. We were there our first year, and recruited several other cruisers to help clean up that beach. It was literally carpeted with plastics. Along with some other cruisers we recruited, we took out over 30 bags of trash. I even submitted something to Latitude 38 about it and it was published - think it was the June 2016 issue. When we returned again this second year, we were quite excited to see that the beach had remained relatively clean. We still managed to remove about 10 bags, but that was considerably better than the previous year's 30+. That particular cove seems to act as a funnel for plastic debris. It was proof that we really can make a difference. We saw many beaches during year two’s tour that remained in good shape after our clean-up efforts from the previous year. We encourage everyone to take on a cove, a beach, anywhere, and make it better than when you arrived. Reuse plastics, reduce your trash, and look for products with environmentally friendly packaging. Together, we really can make a difference!

Meanwhile, even though we had more boat projects awaiting some attention once back in home port, La Paz, we tried to squeeze out as much fun as we could before heading back to the stable. I was getting anxious for access to phone and internet communication, however, and there were some boat projects that were starting to demand attention, so on June 17, we were back in La Paz. We had encountered a few issues that seemed to point to a short somewhere in the engine starter. John, ever the McGeiver, gets some brownie points for getting this figured out. We weren’t happy about having to head back in early, but we were rewarded with a killer whale and blue whale sightings on the way in while passing Isla Espiritu Santos. We even got a great close-reach sail, and that’s saying something being down here in the land of the “noserlies”. We had a lot of wind this year, and 9 out of 10 times, it was right on our nose. Ugh!

We did quite a few projects on the boat once we were in La Paz, and then departed the boat soon after July 4th. This year we drove back to the states rather than fly. We went north overland with experienced Baja cruisers and land travelers, Don and Peggy from Interlude. That road trip took seven days, and included three days in their wonderful condo in Nopolo, just south of Loreto. Lounging at a lap pool, walking the beach, and sleeping in a non-moving bed with hot, showers – it was fun living large. We continued north, had some wonderful stops along the way, and saw a side of the Baja we had missed only seeing her from the coast. It was a great trip, and while not sure I’ll ever do it again…it was a great time with some dear, fun friends.

We arrived in Orange County about a week after we left La Paz and got swept up by my sister Lori for a night of pampering. We were off the next morning to LAX for our flight to see our daughter and other family in the Washington D.C. area for a month to visit family and explore more of the East Coast. In addition to visiting family, we have several relocated Baja cruiser pals here on the East Coast who we are hoping to see. We've seen Alan and Elizabeth on Vivacia in Annapolis, and hoping to connect with Hartley and Leslie on Atsa! We’re not having much of a problem with the weather here. It is in the high 90s with humidity not too far behind. It is amazingly similar to what we left behind in La Paz.

From the East, we fly back to California to check on our home, visit friends and family, and then we will begin an epic three month long road trip up into the Pacific Northwest where we look forward to visiting with many of our cruising friends.

No plans to collect moss under our feet, and no barnacles on the bottom of our hull as we head out for more adventure. Not sure what we’ll be doing next year, but if these past two years are any indication, I suspect it will involve boats, travel, and our continued journey! Thinking we're heading to Central America this time around! Wishing you all health, happiness, and adventure!

Comments
Myla's Photos - Main
Year 2
4 Photos
Created 28 July 2017
5 Photos
Created 15 January 2016
Christmas in Mexico!
7 Photos
Created 30 December 2015
Michael Lawler, Larry Sharpless, Jacques Lorch, and Gene Pizer help John take the boat to Ensenada. Between all these seasoned salts, there are more ocean crossings than imaginable. This should be a great shakedown cruise!
7 Photos
Created 28 September 2015
4 Photos
Created 26 August 2015
Champagne was soon followed by prep for keel bolt replacement. Let the "fun" begin!
1 Photo
Created 26 August 2015

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