Mazatlan to La Paz

3/29/11 We left Marina Mazatlan at 6:30am buddy boating with Anna and Hotel California. Calm seas and light wind on the nose (northwesterly) so we motored all but the last 3 hours. It was a gorgeous night with a new moon and tons of stars - including the southern cross. We arrived in Ensenada Los Muertos on the east side of Baja at 3pm on 3/30. Total trip: 189 miles, 32 1/2 hours.

Leaving Mazatlan

Sailing the last 3 hours into Ensenada De Los Muertos

The Sea of Cortez is quite different from mainland Mexico. The swell is much smaller - no dinghy surf landings. The water is clearer and bluer. The air is drier. The landscape is desert rather than tropical. It is beautiful!

Ensenada De Los Muertos is a beautiful bay with a white sand beach. There is an amazing resort, a couple of fancy restaurants (both owned by a real estate mogul from San Diego), and a lot of pangas on the beach that mainly take out sport fishermen.

Ensenada De Los Muertos anchorage

An amazing resort

This restaurant at the resort was full of antique toys and model trains - the owner was a collector .

We had lunch at this restaurant at the other end of the bay -
a big step up from the typical beach palapa restaurant.

View of Loomba-Loomba and Anna from the Restaurant 1533.

A sport fishing panga after offloading their passengers and catch.

After two nights in Los Muertos we headed north 43 miles to Puerto Balandra. A spectacular, uninhabited bay only 12 miles north of La Paz.

Drew gave us a waterproof/underwater camera for our birthdays when he came to Mazatlan.

Balandra was the perfect place to try it out!

We left Balandra on 4/2 headed to La Paz. Just after leaving the bay we were intercepted by a panga with a navy crew aboard – machine guns over their shoulders. They boarded us to check our boat documentation and safety equipment.

All was well and they were very respectful and courteous.

We arrived at Palmira Marina in La Paz the afternoon of 4/2/11.

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