Saturday March 5th continued - we did make it to the market - and found a watermelon (had to go all the way to Walmart again however). We only had our backpacks and got too enthusiastic about shopping with all the good produce there. After biking all day, loading our backpacks full and getting back on the bikes was a bit uncomfortable on our bottomsides for the long ride back to the marina. In addition, Dennis' backpack unzipped ¾ of the way back and the watermelon fell onto the malecon. It miraculously only cracked and we were able to salvage the majority of it. It was a good one.

Sunday March 6th we decided to leave La Paz in the early afternoon as we were going to nearby Isla Spiritu Santos and wind was projected to be better for sailing later in the day. We treated ourselves to brunch at the marina restaurant. We talked with a woman on our dock in that marina - boat name was Swell, but she liked to say it was "Jasdip" (just another shitty day in paradise). She and her husband were in the planning stages for early retirement and cruising life when he died at the early age of 51. They had already purchased the boat and were well along in their preparations so she decided to go it alone. She has picked up crew at times, for instance when she did the Baja HaHa one year. But a lot of the time she is single-handing (and it is not a small boat), as she did when she brought the boat on the initial leg of the journey from the San Francisco Bay area down to San Diego. Our trip out to Isla Spiritu Santos was pleasant. We anchored in Ensenada de la Raza behind Rooster and Hen islands. Only one other (a powerboat) shared that anchorage with us that night.

Monday March 7th we moved further north on the west side of the island to Caleta Partida. This is an anchorage that is actually between two islands. While the two islands are referred to collectively as Isla Spiritu Santos, the northern smaller island is actually Partida. As we arrived, before our anchor was even down, a dinghy from another sailboat came rushing over to us to ask about the weather out on the sea towards La Paz. Evidently they had a medical emergency aboard, a diabetic woman who had run out of insulin and was going into shock. We gave them our experience (15 knots of wind right then in the 'wrong' direction for them) and the forecast we had gotten early that day which predicted a calming in the afternoon. They decided to wait a few hours before they left. Right around noon they left the anchorage and we could see that the conditions had calmed down considerably. We were glad our weather report was accurate for them. We didn't hear back from them again, just hope all went well. We got out the kayaks and had a nice trip through the small winding channel that leads to the other side of the island at high tide. There was a big kayak tour group camped in this cove. Pangas delivered their meals to them. By the evening we had 9 other boats in the anchorage with us, but they were all on the 'other' side of the bay (which turned out to be the 'wrong' side when the wind shifted in the evening). We wanted to hike the ridge as mentioned in the guide book but couldn't find any good access. Instead we put up the shade structure and sat in the cockpit perusing the cruising guides to select our next anchorage. What an overwhelming task that is in this area; there are so many anchorage choices on the Baja coast and the numerous islands in the Sea of Cortez. We ate dinner in the cockpit as the sun set and birds played in the water beside us.

Tuesday, March 8th we sailed with spinnaker flying for the first half of the trip up to Isla San Francisco with the wind out of the southeast. The wind came up in the last hour and moved around almost 180 degrees so we took down the sails and motored the rest of the way. We anchored in the 'hook' of the island. It is a popular place - 14 boats already there when we arrived and a few more came before nightfall. This is a small island about 20 miles north of Caleta Partida and immediately south of Isla San Jose. It was too windy for kayaking so we dinghied ashore and hiked the ridge - what a fantastic view of the Baja mainland, Isla San Francisco, and Isla San Jose. A northern wind was blowing consistently in the 15+ knots range since we arrived. When we checked the weather data it appeared that it was going to hang around through Wednesday, so we decided to stay at Isla San Francisco another day.

Wednesday, March 9th looking out into the channel early morning, it seemed calm enough but the radio net weather reports confirmed the 'northern' so we decided to stay put and have a project day. Four of the boats in the anchorage were in a little bit more of a hurry and headed out. We could see them rocking back and forth as they worked their way into the channel and then as they headed north they were making little to no forward progress - three of them returned to the anchorage. Dennis worked on the weatherfax machine again and I did some sewing, repairing the bag that holds the man overboard sling (had a slight tear) and tear in the spinnaker bag. I made line bags to hold the reefing and main halyard lines that Dennis routed back to the cockpit. Only finished the starboard side ones. Made some cookies and watched a movie that night.

Thursday, March 10th the wind was light in the early morning and Don Anderson's weather report forecast light winds in the sea all week, so we headed out for an anchorage on the Baja mainland. We planned to make it a longer day and get some miles behind us. But the wind got higher than expected and was on our nose as it was from the north, again, so we took one of our alternate plans and decided to change to the anchorage at San Evarista. We had some radio communication with some of the other boats in Isla San Francisco anchorage and passed on the weather report information as they had been unable to hear the morning radio nets. It was only about a 2 hour trip that day. Three other boats (Char Ann, Althea, Otter) from the San Francisco anchorage joined us and anchored nearby. We hiked the ridge above the anchorage, scrambling up goat trails. Jim and Jeannine from Char Ann came by on their dinghy and after a brief conversation we discovered that they had been in our same marina in Ventura for 6-7 years - but our paths hadn't crossed until now. We went ashore with them and Charlie and Sharon from Cast Away and walked the dirt road that led back to the salt flats and a small oasis - lots of trees and shade. We were joined by a couple of very friendly local dogs. Perhaps a bit too friendly as they decided to welcome both Virginia and Jeannine by peeing on them! We visited the tienda (small grocery store with staples) and bought a few things. That night we invited all the boats in our part of the anchorage (5 of them) over to Libertad for appetizers. We ended up talking for more than 2 hours, right on through the dinner hour. All very nice people with interesting stories and backgrounds.

Friday, March 11 pulled up anchor at 0600 and headed out for a planned 6 hour trip to Bahia San Marte - about halfway to Puerto Escondido. There was lots of gel-like seagrass on the anchor that took some work to clean up. Virginia got to practice her technique for filling up a bucket with seawater when in motion - learned that it takes just the right flick of the wrist to get the bucket upside down and then a quick pull to raise it so it doesn't bounce and all spill out. We made such good time that we decided to go a bit further to Agua Verde instead as Char Ann had been there before and was really talking it up the previous night. It is known for its beautiful green water. On the way we saw a whale spouting 30-40 feet in the air - figure it must have been a blue whale. As we kayaked around the anchorage we saw that Althea and Otter had also changed their plans and joined us in Agua Verde. On the radio today the talk has all been about the earthquake in Japan. Ron and Melinda on Morningstar II are here. They have been at other anchorages with us, but we didn't meet then, so we kayaked over to visit. They have Sirius radio and filled us in on more earthquake details. They are from Reno and are headed to Guaymas to put their boat on the hard for the summer.

Saturday March 12 we departed for Puerto Escondido. We tried lots of sail combinations using the drifter and spinnaker but could not get enough out of the wind to sail - another day of motoring. Puerto Escondido has an anchorage with mooring balls, showers, internet, and a local cruising club (Hidden Port Yacht Club). About ¾ of a mile up the road is Tripui a mobile home and RV park with small tienda. Dick and Marsha Rowland from our boating club have a place there and will be down here mid April - so we'll miss them. As we came into the anchorage to pick up a mooring ball, the first boat we pass is another 1983 Amel Maramu, hull #24 (ours is #121), Dave and Mary of Airops. Over the radio they warned us off the ball we were headed for as it was spoken for and directed us to another. Dave dinghied over and helped us retrieve the mooring line; these moorings didn't have the familiar float & stick (as we were used to from Catalina) and the line was submerged under the mooring ball -very difficult to grab from the foredeck, so we were grateful for his help. Spent the afternoon figuring out where we would check in the next day and tidying up the boat. We met some of the folks from the Hidden Port Yacht Club who invited us to the potluck to be held the next day.

Sunday March 13. Happy Birthday to my sister Marilyn and brother Patrick (no they aren't twins). This was quite a day for socializing. Virginia really enjoyed that. When we went ashore for showers and check-in we hooked up with Gary and Phyllis for a walk to the store in Tripui. They sailed in the South Pacific many years ago with their four children. They are planning to go back and do the northern islands that they missed on the previous trip. Mary Lee and Lewis were also walking that way. They live in Marina del Rey aboard MerryLee in the summers. Their house there is rented out. They travel back down here each year in the Fall. They did the 08 HaHa with us and that is when their cruising started. We had lunch with them in the restaurant at the small hotel in Tripui. Three of their friends joined us: Lizette (husband Dennis back at the boat working on projects) and Tom and Alicia aboard Alegria (also on the 08 HaHa). They all "season" down here. Walked back to the boat, made cashew chicken salad for the 'chicken' theme potluck and went ashore. There were about 30 people there. We met Joyce and Odus Hayes who live in Tripui. They said they not only know of Dick and Marsha Rowland, but they are their new next door neighbors (in A26). After the potluck we followed Mary and Dave to Airops to see the changes they have made to their boat and then they came over to ours to do likewise. It was such a coincidence that they not only have the same model and year Amel as us, but they also bought it the same year we bought ours. It was great to visit with them and compare notes.

Monday March 14 we rented a car with Mike and his son Tom on Up On The Wind for a visit to Loreto (14 miles north of us). It wasn't recommended that we bike along highway 1 (and after making the trip we see why and appreciate that advance warning). We forgot to take the camera! We had lunch at a small outdoor restaurant, walked the central historic plaza to see City Hall (Loreto was the first capital of Baja, but after a significant storm damaged the town many years ago, the capital was moved to La Paz and has remained there ever since), and the mission. This mission was the first to be built in Baja. It is smaller than the cathedral in La Paz by far and there is no stained glass, but it has a beautiful altar and statues throughout. We walked around town. We scoped out the three mercados on foot to determine the best for our shopping which was our last stop with the car. We found the Post Office and mailed some documents to Ventura county to prove that we have the boat abroad. We happened upon a small chandlery and scored a new hand pump for our dinghy! As mentioned in an earlier blog we had searched all over La Paz without any success and had almost decided to order one from the states and have it shipped to Puerto Vallarta. We enjoyed Mike and Tom. Mike and his wife live in Tucson. He is retired and trying to convince her to retire so they can cruise more. Tom and his wife live in North Carolina. He is a chef. His wife grew up in Santa Barbara - we didn't meet her as she was home with their two young children.

Tomorrow we will probably try and head our relatively early for a 'longer' day and target Caleta San Juanica, about half the remaining distance to Bahia Concepcion.

Sorry, we don't have the pictures for this leg ready to post...have to wait for next Internet location.