Journal Entry – December 8, 2004 – Our Pause in La Paz

Author: Pam

After anchoring for two nights in the Virtual Marina a slip became available at Marina de La Paz. We eagerly seized the opportunity to be at a dock and out of the wild notherlies (winds up to 40 knots) that had kicked up and was causing those anchored to be on guard. We had been warned about the La Paz Waltz, because of the strong current and wind patterns the anchored boats tend to move in different directions and can come within feet of each other (they say and sometimes kiss, but hopefully not too hard), it is advised to give your boat twice the room you would ordinarily when anchoring. Our second night anchored we returned to Tournesol from shore with Abe and Amy to find Fiesta (a very large powerboat) dragging it’s anchor and only ten feet off of our bow. We quickly pulled the hook and moved a healthy distance away from the beast and everyone else. We learned later Fiesta has a reputation for dragging anchor and only has a 45 pound CQR with 20’ of chain for ground tackle. We experienced many more days of northerlies while in La Paz, but safely tied up at the dock. All be it, we had one of the rockiest slips at the end of the marina, it was like being at home in Pier 39. The best thing about our slip (besides being on land and near showers) was the proximity to the fuel dock just a few feet away, we didn’t have to move an inch to get fuel. This was a nice bonus, any chance to not have to park at a dock is fine by us.

We have spent our days in La Paz very busy working on boat projects, more on this in a separate journal entry and eating it seems. Our first lunch was at Super Taco, a street taco stand listed in the Lonely Planet travel guide. They only have fish, but it is everything from octopus to clams. After you get your tacos, which consist of your tortilla and fish of choice you finish them off with over ten choices of toppings, i.e. salsas, onion combinations, cabbage, cucumbers, guacamole (and don’t forget the hot sauce)… Basically by the time you are done, you can barely pick it up, much less fit it in your mouth. See the Scrapbook for a photo of Abe and his creations. Also, after you have stuffed your tacos and yourself you have spent less than $10.00.

As mentioned on Thanksgiving we discovered La Fuente (the fountain), the local ice cream shop. We have visited frequently (there are pros and cons to this), but it is unbelievably delicious ice cream and a fun way to spend time with friends. La Fuente is located on the Malecon (waterfront street). We have been watching as they have spent days stringing electrical wire attached to Christmas lights from one palm tree to the next. No need for Christmas trees here.

Then there are the cheeseburgers and chicken tacos at the Racing Club. Fortunately it has not been open every day, I think Scott is becoming addicted to both. The owner is American and a former cruiser who has settled in La Paz, he certainly knows what makes a good cheeseburger and has mastered one of the best chicken tacos Scott has ever eaten. We have also shopped at CCC, one of the grocery stores and cooked dinner on the boat a number of times, sharing fun evenings with Abe and Amy and John and Joanne from Western Grace. It seems we have a great appreciation for food when we are on land, this will not be true for some of the more remote places we will visit during our adventure.

Playing cards and watching movies with Abe and Amy has occupied many evenings. They taught us how to play Five Crowns, a very fun (and for someone who will remain nameless) competitive card game. One night we went to the Racing Club for the famous burgers and tacos, Monday night football and a rousing game of 31 (another card game). Another evening was spent at the Racing Club listening to the local cruisers jam and meeting new friends (yes there were more cheeseburgers and tacos consumed). We have also discovered the local mall, with a 15 cinema theater. We have seen several movies so far. Thank goodness Abe speaks fluent Spanish, he translated the movie description and helped to make sure the movie being shown was in English. We did buy tickets for “The Eye”, to find out moments later it was a Chinese film with Spanish subtitles, that would have been interesting. We have also had several “movie nights” on Eleytheria. Abe and Amy brought a collection of over 200 DVD’s and share the same enthusiasm for movies. Since we have no room for movies on board, we are thrilled to have a DVD connection, at least for now while we all travel around Mexico. As you can see Abe and Amy have been popping up a lot in the Journal entries. La Paz has offered a wonderful opportunity to get to know them better and spend endless silly times together. We are thrilled our paths have crossed and look forward to a long and lasting friendship.

The cruising community gets very involved in supporting the local communities, especially the children. We learned the government only pays for education up to the sixth grade in Mexico, after that it is the family’s responsibility. This combined with learning about a community just outside of La Paz where everyone lives in houses built from tar paper and other items found at the dump, with no running water and only one electricity line that most people can not afford, certainly makes you wonder how much education these children will receive. One cruiser was organizing a Christmas celebration for this community and was collecting toys, we donated a soccer ball. The other event we attended was Sebasta (auction). It was a live (in English & Spanish) and silent auction with a raffle, small flea market and bake sale thrown in. Most of the items auctioned off were used boating equipment. There wasn’t anything we needed, but Scott contributed by eating his way through the bake sale and discovering the hot dogs and beer. Coincidently Abe and Amy won a gift certificate for four double scoops of ice cream from nowhere other than La Fuente. Now, who could they possibly share that with?

One morning we were visited by Robin, he had just arrived as crew on Necton a power boat from Newport Beach that coincidently was berthed right off of our stern. He wanted to say hi and to let us know he had sailed on Tournesol in attempt to participate in the Trans Pac with the previous owner. As a side note, they did not make it to Hawaii, they were becalmed for four days and had to turn back due to the constraints of their schedule. On another day, we met Fred on the dock and within minutes found out he knew all about us from Arnstein our sailing instructor. He and his wife Jane had sailed to La Paz aboard Merry Dolphin and it turned out Fred had been one of Arnstein’s sailing instructors at Club Nautique in CA. We are finding the world really is small after all.