Well today is a sad day. We said good bye to our good friends Penny and Fred from Tapatai as they are taking their boat back home to San Diego. That is one of the bittersweet things about this lifestyle. You meet lots of people. Some of them you hang with for a while and each go your own way at some point knowing that in a few days, months or whenever you may run into each other again in an anchorage along the way. But there are some people that are finished this part of their adventures and are heading home.
Penny and Fred were one of the first boats we met shortly after arriving in Mexico. We quickly became good friends and hung out together. We had similar routes and stops planned out for the winter so it was easy to run into each other along the way south to Barra-de-Navida. Sometimes it was a few days before we'd see each other, and sometimes a month might go by but we always knew (via email) where they were and they knew where we were and that we would see each other soon.
Well today they untied the dock lines and are officially on their way home. Fred with a few good friends will do what is called the 'Bash' back up the outside of the Baja back to San Diego. Penny will do the sensible thing and fly home which is the best way to go to windward! We want to tell you guys in this blog how much we have enjoyed meeting you and enjoyed your company. Your zest for life and your love and respect for each other are very much a part of why we loved spending time with you.
But it's time to move on and so we too will untie the dock lines this week and head north on the inside of the Baja as we make our way up to the Bay of Los Angels (in Mexico) for the summer. We are ready to go - the fridge is full, the sunshade is finished (finally) and once we top up the fuel tanks tomorrow we are off. We are in no hurry as we have lots of time to get there. We hope to be in Bahi de Conception by early July and in the bay of LA in August.
La Paz is a great place to spend some time. It's a wonderful town that is full of friendly and helpful people. It's one of the cleanest Mexican towns I've seen. There are lots of stores, marine stores, marinas and restaurants and lots and lots of cruisers too! But it is still a city and we crave the solitude of a quiet anchorage where we can just jump into the water for a swim and walk on the beach. From what we hear, solitude is easy to find as you go north. It's still quite remote without much for tourism and there will not be lots of of places for internet or phone access. So our next few blogs will most likely be via the ham radio.
Hasta luego everyone.