August 12 – September 21, 2018

Based on the blog contents, you’d think we’d left Mexico for good, but no, we came back – we’re not done with this place yet. We actually returned right after Thailand (mid-August 2018), and it’s been a whirlwind ever since! The itinerary was full of across and back, south to north, across and back, north to south…you get the picture. So, we’ve broken up the stories of our escapades into a few different posts. Good luck!

First, we returned to La Paz – where it was HOT! But luckily, we’d just come from Thailand where it was also HOT! It took about five days to put da boat back together after more than two months away. This meant putting the sails and bimini cover back on; reconnecting the solar array; rebooting the refrigerator; cleaning, cleaning, cleaning da boat; and restocking on food. The La Paz heat took its toll on the fridge system, and we spent most of the rest of the summer coaxing it back to life. Oy. Luckily, it kept things cold – it was just working too hard to do it.

After we got ourselves, the fridge, and FL mostly dialed in, we took about two and a half weeks to get up to Bahía de Los Ángeles for a short stint, hitting some old and new spots along the way – the Foyer at Bahía San Gabriel (Espirítu Santo), Isla San Francisco, Punta Cobre, Agua Verde (where we enjoyed a birthday dorado), Candeleros Chico, Candeleros, Ballandra on Isla Carmen, Bahía San Nicholas north of Punta Pulpito, Santo Domingo, Sweet Pea Cove on Isla San Marcos, Santa Rosalia, Punta Trinidad, Caletas Mujeres and San Francisquito, Isla Las Animas, and Partida. It was a beautiful couple of weeks, and it gradually cooled off as we moved north – well, at least the water temp did, thankfully, which makes a big difference. Although it seemed the fishing had cooled off as well, unfortunately.

We only managed to spend two and a half weeks in BLA with some of the usual suspects as well as some new-to-us cruisers. It was much hotter in BLA this year than last, but still a respite from the heat further south. Because Rand still had to keep up with work, we stayed close to the Village and spent most of our time at Isla La Ventana, Pata y Bota, Pescador, and Don Juan, where we sat out a bit of a blow with a bunch of our friends, and celebrated Rand’s bday with fresh fish curry and Nancy’s (S/V Shanti) homemade coconut flan. Wow.

En route back to La Paz after visiting the States and Thailand

Enjoying tacos and Mexican beer for the first time in months

Filling up our water tanks in prep for the passage north

Hangin’ with Greg of S/V Dogfish, missing Marga though

We’re off! Passing Espíritu Santo

Being silly – that’s a dead orchid leaf

Cloudy skies in Candeleros

Sunset at Santo Domingo

Working comfortably via a strong cell connection in Santo Domingo

Another gorgeous sunset

Working not so comfortably in the heat of Santa Rosalia

Visiting our favorite al pastor restaurant in Santa Rosalia

Yep…sorry, Courtney

Sunset over Punta Trinidad

Relaxing at San Francisquito

Beautiful Isla Las Animas

Fishing excursion at Partida

Fishing net left behind 🙁

Sunrise over La Gringa

En route to Pescador

Ramon is the caretaker of the exclusive getaway at Pescador, and is very friendly and generous with his time

On the hike back to Quemado from Pescador

Dinner in Pescador

Sunrise over Pescador

Parade de los niños in the BLA Village

Complete with military escort and cruisers looking on

Can you find the dog in this picture of of the trash heap?

Sharpening knives

Relaxing in the shade at Pata y Bota

The fleet at Don Juan in anticipation of a little blow

Rand making his birthday dinner of fresh fish curry

Nancy prepping her homemade coconut flan for the birthday boy

Singing the birthday song to himself

Making a wish

The birthday celebration crew