S/V Loomba-Loomba

We are heading out tomorrow to Isla San Francisco for the night and then we will work our way north – anchorage to anchorage.   Not sure where – just playing it by ear.   We won’t have wifi until we get to the Puerto Escondido/Candeleros area. We love La Paz. Although you can take excursions to go diving or to the beaches out on the islands, it is not the place to go for a “tropical beach vacation”.   If you want to experience a real Mexican city with a great setting, and is not “touristy”, La Paz is the place.  La Paz es tu casa! Las CrePaz - a new crepe cafe. This is our fifth time here and we are still experiencing new “treasures”.   We can get almost anywhere we need to go on our bikes and we see more and discover more than in a taxi, but there is a definite lack of street signs, so searching for a specific address can be difficult. We’ve discovered places we weren’t looking for before we finally found the place we were l...

We had a great trip from Candeleros to La Paz.   It's s o nice to be back on the water enjoying the sunrises and sunsets, going for beach walks, finding new (to us) anchorages, getting some good sailing in, meeting new people, fishing (unsuccessfully so far), watching the wildlife (whales, dolphins, turtles, and sea birds), and just relaxing and enjoying being on the boat.   The water clarity has improved and the temperature is going up. By the time we leave La Paz it should be perfect! We have seen many huge pods of dolphins this year. Biggest pods we've ever seen: When we left Agua Verde the conditions were perfect to try out our new spinnaker: Timbabiche Good hiking and good walking beach. Mangle Solo. Loomba-Loomba is in the distance. Amortajada Lagoon - a very large lagoon on the southern tip of Isla San Jose. We did the canal through the mangroves in the dinghy. Anchored off the north side of Isla San Francisco. We ac...

Left Guaymas in the afternoon on 3/16: 93 miles and 20 hours to go................... and arrived in La Ramada anchorage just around the corner (north) from San Juanico  in the morning on 3/17.  The next day we went around to San Juanico - probably  our favorite Baja anchorage - where we celebrated Jim's  65th . It's great to do some beach and dinghy exploring again. It's just great to be hanging on the hook! Happy Birthday Jim - Sunset in San Juanico. Weather was perfect, but water temp only 69.  It's warming up a little late this year. After 2 nights in SJ we headed south to Puerto Escondido and celebrated  our anniversary at Pedro's restaurant.  The next day we headed a little bit south to Candeleros (a good south wind anchorage). The wind was supposed to change to a southerly AND there is good wifi on the boat.  That's where we are now. Planning to head to Aqua Verde tomorrow and be in La Paz around the 27th wh...

Well, we splashed on Saturday, sat in the mud overnight in the ways and left Sunday afternoon with 2 inches under our keel.   Since both of us were sick we decided to spend the night at the “Free Marina” (I’ll explain the Free Marina later) a few bays over from the boat yard. By the time we got there Chrissy was REALLY sick – cough, fever, sore throat and terrible respiratory congestion, and Jim was getting better, but not even close to 100%. We decided to go to Dr. Sanchez Monday morning.   A couple of other people in the boat yard who had the “boat yard crud” before us recommended him. So Monday morning Jim got a ride to the boat yard, picked up the car and then picked me up and we were off to find Dr. Sanchez with directions: “behind Woolworth in the yellow building”. We found it, parked right in front, no one in the waiting room, met Dr. Sanchez in his office for a little conference and minimal exam and a shot. Fifteen minutes and 600 pesos later we were out th...

Guaymas! -First it was the tides. It’s very shallow here and the high tides have been early in the morning and at night (before and after the travel lift hours).  -Then Jim got sick. There’s been a bug traveling around the boat yard almost as long as we’ve been here. We were feeling pretty smug having not picked it up, but last week Jim came down with it and now I'm coming down with it! -Now it’s the very strong northerlies. There have been 25-40 knot winds every night and now they’re all day long with seven to eight foot seas in the northern Sea of Cortez crossing. The Sea of Cortez is a bit like Puget Sound - short, steep waves that are close together - not the nice rolling swells. Apparently it's bad enough that many of the Port Captains have closed their ports (not letting boats leave the harbor). These conditions are supposed to last through Saturday.  We are first on the list to splash on Saturday. This is what the cockpit looks like in the mornings l...

Carnival is a six day event in Guaymas. There are four parades, carnival rides, and lots of events. We went to the first parade on Saturday night: Can you find the balloon vendor?

We moved onto the boat a week ago today. Jim is in the cockpit re-installing the cockpit seat hardware and he just came down below to get some caulking. He knew right where it was and could actually access it without moving twenty things to get to it. As he headed back out he said "It's so nice to be able to access things!"  - that about sums up what it's been like until yesterday. We've been installing, putting away, inventorying, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. We set a tentative launch date for 2/19.  There is still a lot of re-installing to do and we still need to paint the bottom, but the two major disruptive jobs are done - installing the new windlass and removing the old holding tank. We may head across Bahia Guaymas to the Singlar (Government) marina for a week to finish up and install the new holding tank which is being made. Living on the boat in the boat yard is just another "adventure" - sort of like camping with a few more amenities. Lots...