Peaceful La Paz.

They say sailing and cruising will slow you down. So far we have been racing down Baja to La Paz to get North of the 25° latitude, because our insurance wants us there. We want to be there too because officially hurricane season has started and we will be safe up there. The northern part of the Sea of Cortez will be very hot in the summer, but also out of harms way.
We raced by cruiser’s standards, where plans don’t exist and you go where the wind blows you. For us that life has not really started yet. We are still in landlubber ‘need to get there, need to do that mode’. And so we will leave La Paz very soon to sail north.
La Paz is a very peaceful town. People are open and friendly. The city lies at a beautiful bay stretching out over small hills. The pace is different from the US cities and as we hear from other Mexican metropolis’ as well. People have time. People are polite. Cars stop to let pedestrians cross streets. There is time for a nod of Hola and a smile from strangers.
La Paz is a small town of 200.000 inhabitants. It has a strong knit community, which embraces the few foreigners and cruisers, who live here permanently.
La Paz is easy going. It is so laid back that it is hard to leave. We keep meeting nice people and want to discover the town more. Our quest for some shade fabric brought us all over town, we went by bus and taxi to fabric and other interesting stores until we found it the following day. And then we met Bill and Reyna. Bill is a former Coast Guard captain from San Diego, who owns a Norwegian 1960 Romsdal Trawler 68′ he bought cheap and restored beautifully in San Diego for more than 16 years. After completion he cruised to Alaska and then brought her to La Paz ten years ago and stayed. Then he met Reyna a local educator and education facilitator. Bill is the local go-to-guy for watermakers and has a bodega full of new and refurbished water makers and parts. (mvoceanquest.com). Bill happened to have a rebuilt one lying around, which is small enough for our boat, but powerful enough to make 6 gallons an hour. He ran the unit over happy hour, we all tried the water it made right before our eyes and at half the price of a new one, we were sold.
So we stayed a little longer in La Paz. Radu installed it and the whole boat was torn up again, so that he had access to the salon storage under the settee and the head plus there were tools everywhere. As usual I can’t help much because jobs on our small boat are rarely a two people affair and the other person is mostly in the way. Instead I went to get an ultrasound and evaluation of my knee, I banged up badly back in San Diego and which has been healing very slowly. I felt it’s a good idea to check it out before sailing into the very remote Sea of Cortez. Better safe is always our motto.
The watermaker is installed and making the cleanest water and fluid got drained from my knee so that it should heal nicely and soon. We are getting ready to go. The last loads of laundry are washing, Radu’s making a pot of spaghetti sauce with bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and garlic. We will meet new friends later to check our satelite/sail mail/ email communications so that we can meet up in the Sea again soon. In places without internet and cell reception, we have SSB and satelite email to communicate and be reached. Our satellite phone can be used like a regular phone, we have a data/voice plan and a price tag of $1 a minute. We figured that in emergencies it is worth it.
Tomorrow we will head out again north to the Isla del Espirito Santo, reportedly stunning, with turquoise water and white beaches. After that we will visit a couple more islands and Baja beaches on our way up the coast to Puerto Escondido. Can’t wait and will report after, in about a week or two.