SV Mermaid

Tuesday afternoon we moved the boat a little closer to the resort thinking that we would get a better internet signal… it was better out! So, we went into the resort and Mike plugged into the hotel directly while I interviewed the manager about the resort and how well they treat the cruisers. Later we floated in the pool visiting with some cruisers and moved to the jacuzzi just to check it out. Mike and I went to the bar for a cervesa and a bite to eat. Mike opted for the fresh fish tacos while I tried the local clams Loreto style. The clams were amazing! They were the Chocolate’ (not chocolate) clams that are in the Sea of Cortez cooked with cheeses, butter and chipolte… mmmm! We returned to Mermaid for another beautiful sunset.
Wednesday morning we took another dinghy adventure since the sea was flat. We checked out a couple of nearby beaches and circled some rocks checking out the wildlife under the water which was beautiful.
Mike has always done the generator, engine and watermaker stuff aboard and I want to know how to do all of those things as well. So, the last couple of days I have been getting lessons… today I made water! After some work time we kayked into the beach for lunch of fish tacos.

Frig on the Blink… Again!
Thursday 4/26 Our frig has been quite the bur under our saddle. We spent quite a bit of money having a new one built that never worked properly then rebuilding to still not work properly. The Technautics unit has worked fine, but the box was not properly insulated. Now the compressor has decided to quit… probably because it runs 24/7. We threw away way too much food and put the few items that were ok in the cooler with ice (including the Lemoncello Kathy and I made last week). Our intent is to leave on Friday afternoon and make our way north in the Sea to Loreto for Loreto Fest and are worried that frig repairs may delay us. Hector is working on it today and we have our fingers crossed that he can fix it. If not… it must be a hex placed by Gabriel the General Manager for the marina. He came by yesterday and told us that he didn’t want us to leave and joked about having divers remove our prop. All joking aside, Gab is a great manager and we feel quite honored that he joked about making plans to keep us here.
Friday 4-4 Hector got the frig running again! I ran errands to get things we need before getting into a port in a few weeks. I didn’t get much to go in the frig/freezer because we still don’t trust it yet.
We fueled, checked out and left Costa Baja at 4:00pm. We sailed a bit and motored a bit (the wind came from every direction on the compass during the course of the afternoon!) and arrived at Ensenada Grande around 7:30pm and anchored. Ensenada Grande is a beautiful, three lobed anchorage and we anchored in the middle. We boiled shrimp, made guacamole and had dinner in the cockpit. During the night the wind came up and put us to a lee shore… Not our preferred place to be so Mike decided to sleep in the cockpit to keep an eye on things. The Manta Rays were jumping so close to the boat that Mike couldn’t sleep and had to go below.
Saturday morning Mike realized that a repair we had done in La Paz had been done without hose clamps. He went to work to repair the repair while I readied Mermaid to leave the anchorage. The wind was still blowing and Mantas still jumping all around. We raised anchor and headed out to sea. And as Friday so was Saturday – winds from every direction and no wind at all much of the time. So, we sailed, motored and sailed again.
Just south of Nopolo a huge pod of dolphins swam by the boat to the delight of PeeWee. About 4:00pm we arrived at Los Gatos where we had planned on anchoring and decided the wind was from the wrong direction and kept on. We arrived at Agua Verde around 6:30 and dropped the anchor. We enjoyed sitting in the cockpit watching the fishermen return to the village and being greeted by women, kids and dogs. This is such a happy place! We had a great night of sleeping… the sea was flat calm and there was some breeze to keep it cooler in the boat and keep the bugs away.
Sunday we ate a great breakfast while watching the fishermen head out for the day. We made water, showered and ran the battery charger in hopes of a sailing day. At 10:30am we raised the anchor and headed north. The scenery was spectacular as the mountains seem to get taller and taller. We saw lots of dolphins, mantas and other fish during the day. We were hailed by SV Silmaril who wanted to know if we happened to have a camera aboard (good one!) to take a photo of their boat underway as they didn’t have any. We told them that we were happy to do so and adjusted our course to pass a little closer to them. I took a bunch of photos of them (may have found a new cover for the mag) and we exchanged e-mail addresses. We look forward to meeting them somewhere in the Sea of Cortez.
We had been having a great day of sailing and even caught two fish! Yes, they weren’t any we would like to eat so we threw them back… where are the edible ones? We jibed the boat to head for the bay and it looked like we were going to sail into the rock face! This is one of those times that we really questioned the chart plotter… but the charts (we had them all in the cockpit by this time) all agreed so we kept going. I was very uncomfortable at sailing towards a cliff and Mike agreed to turn on Henry just in case we needed him in a hurry. Finally the wall opened up and we could see that we were actually going to sail between the rock and land. What a relief! None of the chart books mention that it is difficult to see the bay…
We anchored around 2:00pm and found that the internet actually works here. We did a little work, splashed the dink and went in to explore the resort. We were welcomed, walked through the beautiful resort and ate a great dinner before heading back to Mermaid. During the night the coroumel winds blew a little, but nothing to be concerned about.
Monday morning, I got some boat chores done while Mike worked. I can’t seem to get the internet very well today and cannot get the Rouge Wave to work on my computer. Mike dinghied me into the resort with a handheld to call him to join me later. I met some cruisers on my way to the pool and sat to chat. We all moved to the pool and continued our conversations in the water of the beautiful pool. A little later Mike came in and we sat at the bar with some cruisers for a bit before heading back to Mermaid for dinner. The winds blew hard during the night but our anchor held just fine.
Tuesday morning we were heading out for a dinghy adventure when a huge whale surfaced in the anchorage. Baleen breath early in the morning… yuck! We thought all the whales had migrated north but guessed we were wrong…

Sunday morning Mike and I decided we needed to find a home for the life raft floating off Mermaid’s stern. The beach had two fishing camps on it; one older with only one fisherman on it and one looked to be a bit nicer with several fishermen and pangas on it. We decided to dinghy in to the older one and see if the fisherman wanted the raft. He spoke no English and we had a time explaining that we wanted to give him the raft. Finally when he heard the word “regalo” which is Spanish for gift, his face lit up and he said “si?” We told him we would bring the raft into the beach for him, but he hopped into his panga and beat us back to Mermaid to get it. He was full of smiles and very happy with his new gift. I asked him what his name is and he said Jesus. We got quite a laugh out of the irony of giving Jesus a life raft!
We took the dink back over to the other side of the island and explored more. We kept looking for the river of Mantas but only saw some jumping. We landed on a beach that had big round red rocks instead of sand. I found a beautiful shell, but someone was home, dead and quite stinky so we left it where we found it. The rocks were amazing and the Geologist in Mike came out… he was having a blast!
Back at Mermaid, we hoisted the dink and prepped the boat for the trip back. It was very hot on the way back to Costa Baja and there was no wind. As soon as we got Mermaid back in her slip the air conditioning came on and none of us wanted to leave the boat.
Kathy and I had a couple of more days to explore La Paz. I introduced her to my friend Claudia and we walked, shopped and played in the pool. We played dominoes and ate out. Wednesday came all to soon and it was hard to say goodbye to the Queen.

We motored to Caletta Partida because there was not a breath of wind. Manta Rays entertained us by jumping out of the water. It looked like they were either trying to fly or just playing and it was amazing. We got the anchor set and took a tour of the harbor before enjoying a lovely evening. In the morning Kathy and I kayaked in the shallows looking at the starfish and critters on the bottom. The three of us took the dink to the other side of the island and were able to go on beaches and into the sea caves because the water was absolutely flat and there was no wind. All of a sudden we thought we saw rocks and realized it was a “river” of Manta Rays swimming under us. There were thousands of them slowly swimming by… we were all speechless. We followed the school/flock watched in amazement. Not one of us had actually seen anything so spectacular in our lives! The Mantas were also jumping all around us landing with very loud splashes. They seemed to give us an actual finale before leaving us by the little ones all jumping over and over again at the same time in a line. The entire event was surreal and we felt very fortunate to have been in that spot on that day. We also saw huge schools of very large fish that we think were yellow tails swimming under us… We headed back to the boat all talking of how amazing it was.
On the way back we stopped by the other boats in the anchorage to let them know that we were going to inflate our old life raft and we weren’t crazy or in trouble.
We saved our old life raft after purchasing a new one because we wanted to inflate it and try to get into it from the water. We have always heard that it is difficult to do even in calm waters and had never tried it ourselves and neither had Kathy. We had been waiting for the perfect time to try it (when the water warmed enough to swim) and decided this to be the perfect time.
Mike mounted the GoPro and placed the raft on the aft swim platform (the raft was very heavy) and tied the line to Mermaid. I kicked it in the water and gave a hard pull on the painter. To my surprise the painter was 30 feet long, so it was a lot of pulling. I guess in heavy seas the raft would have floated that far away. The life raft inflated with quite an explosion and righted itself to cheers from us and others in the anchorage. Mike jumped in and had a time getting into the raft. The raft has a ladder but it was inside the raft and hard to reach. Once he threw the ladder out Kathy swam and tried to climb in. She had a difficult time as well because of her height. She needed a couple of inches more in her reach to use the ladder properly so Mike helped her in. I swam next and was able to climb in with no problem. The raft smelled a bit moldy and we all decided that in a stressful situation and in pitching seas it would not be a fun place to be, but today it was fun.
We swam back to Mermaid, rinsed off and decided it was time for dinner, drinks and dominoes… What a fantastic day we had!

Kathy aka the Queen found a last minute cheap flight to La Paz and flew in on Monday. As soon as she arrived we promptly donned swimsuits and headed to the Beach Club here at Costa Baja for lunch and a jacuzzi. Tuesday we wandered around town exploring, eating (I took Kathy to our favorite fish taco place in La Paz… McFisher), talking and laughing, before heading back to Mermaid to collect Mike. We all went to Tres Virgenes for a wonderful dinner.
Wednesday we rented a car and drove to Todos Santos where we explored the town before checking into the Hotel California for the night. We ended up eating all of our meals at the Hotel California… the food was sooo good. Kathy gave the bartender coaching on how to use their cigar humidor and we quickly made new friends. What a cool hotel! The next morning we explored the town a bit more before driving back to La Paz to provision, return the car and get Mermaid ready to go to the islands.

We aren’t supposed to have “parties” on the dock so we had a potluck/safety meeting the other night. Everyone came out and the food and company was perfect. What a great time!
Austin flew in to get his dental work finished that was started on his last visit. He really likes Costa Baja and all the amenities here. He spent quite a bit of time in the pool. He tried all the restaurants. We took the dink over to El Mogote and walked on the beach.
Austin’s flight returned to La Paz shortly after take off due to mechanical issues. They put him in a hotel and they left again the next day. He made it back to Redondo Beach…

I was fortunate enough to do some exploring of La Paz with a group of non-boaters. It was a great for me to experience La Paz through different eyes than the one of a typical cruiser. (I know what you are thinking… I am not the “typical” anything!)
Monday evening we walked along the Malacon which I find lovely watching the families of La Paz walking and spending time together in the evenings watching the amazing sunsets. We rode in an open air tourist bus, which I had always wanted to do, to dinner at Trocadero (another new favorite of mine) which was amazing! The food was beautiful and delicious and matched perfectly with wines from the oldest winery in North America – Casa Madero. If you find a wine from this winery buy it! We tried several different ones and they were delicious. I met Kat who is an expat that owns a lovely bookstore here and Gari who came to La Paz to learn English, fell in love with La Paz and her now husband. She never left La Paz and started the English newspaper. It was very interesting to hear from Americans who now live in La Paz about what it is like to retire here. I totally understand why so many are doing just that! The weather is just about perfect, the people are warm and gracious, the food is amazing and the cost of living much lower than in the USA.
Early the next morning we had breakfast at Costa Baja and boarded a boat to head out to swim with the sea lions. Being from Southern California, the idea of swimming with these critters was something different. I had always thought of them as a nuisance. After our guide, Juan explained how the sea lions would act when we got in the water and how we should and should not react, I decided I could give it a try. It was an experience that I am very glad I didn’t pass up. When I got in the water a large male swam around showing me the boundary that I should not cross (and I didn’t). Then, smaller sea lions became very playful… speeding right up to me then around. I was actually laughing in my snorkel!
We left the sea lions and anchored in Ensenada Grande for our lunch stop. What a beautiful bay! After a lovely lunch we hiked up the hill to view the bay from above. We boarded our boat and headed down the island stopping along the way to hear some history and local lore. What a beautiful place!
We ate dinner at Cafe Corozon, a lovely restaurant in the heart of town. The food, company and ambiance were wonderful. We were joined by locals as well as expats who live, work and are retired here.
Wednesday we rode out to the site of a future development on a beautiful piece of property just a 12 minute drive from Costa Baja where we heard the plans for the development. I was very excited to learn that there will be a new marina built here and wanted more information on it. The developers seem to have found the perfect location for a resort/home site that is as Josh explained “removed but not remote.” It is on a beautiful beach right at the north end of the Ceravallo Channel with amazing views. The plans are very eco friendly to the land, sea and community. I look forward to watching this development grow.
Next we visited the condos of Playa de La Paz which is a very upscale development. The condos are beautiful and top of the line everything… from the Italian marble to the views. We met with the developer and I enjoyed listening to his vision during the planning and building. We also visited a B&B Casa Tuscany Inn, which is a lovely small and quaint place just off the Malicon. We enjoyed octopus, chocolate clams and shrimp tacos at Bismark before ending our journey. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new friends and exploring La Paz as a tourist.

Before leaving California, we attended a fundraiser for the Daniel Hernandez Youth Foundation and purchased a fishing trip with a three night hotel stay near Cabo. We decided that La Paz is as close as we would be and scheduled our adventure. March 26th we got our rental car and headed to Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort. We thought the hotel was in San Jose Del Cabo so we headed there. Upon arrival at SJDC we got out the computer to get directions and realized the hotel was an hour behind us… we had passed it! Oh well, U turn and off to the hotel. No wonder we passed it, even knowing exactly where it was it was still hard to find. The staff greeted us and checked us in. The hotel was sweet and quaint. It felt like we had stepped back in time – late 60s early 70s and very family oriented. So different from Cabo! We enjoyed our stay and PeeWee loved having a patio and yard of real grass not plastic.
Wednesday morning (very early!) we went on a fishing excursion with our guides Mario and Juan. The boat anchored just off the beach and a man on a panga (with no engine) took us to our boat. We were very glad the wind had died down and the seas were calm otherwise it could have been quite exciting getting to our boat. The captain was surprised to see PeeWee in the bag and even though he didn’t seem thrilled, he said nothing but welcome aboard. After a conversation of what we wanted to fish for (something edible was our request) we set off to get bait. We first went to a panga and bought what looked like mackerel of some sort, then another panga a bit farther down for sardines, then we started fishing. It was a beautiful, calm, sunny day. The first fish – Mike’s was a Bonita. We don’t eat those but kept it for the Mexicans who do. The next fish, mine, fought hard and was a beautiful Yellow Tail Tuna… we eat those! One more Bonita for Mike and we called it a day. It had been a good day on the water, moving from spot to spot fishing at each one. It was amazing to sit bobbin on the boat with manta rays jumping all around us the entire day. The hotel had packed us a good lunch with some water and a few beers as well. Back at the beach, we transferred to the panga and onto the beach. The hotel said they would fillet the fish, vacuum pack and freeze it for us to take home and we told them they could keep the Bonita. Pool time and a walk on the beach before dinner and early to bed… we were pooped!
Thursday just before noon we left the resort and drove to Bahia Muertos to check it out. Real estate developers have had the name of the bay renamed to Bahia Suertos because they couldn’t sell home sites in an area that translates to bay of the dead… I guess bay of dreams sounds better to home buyers. The bay looked like a nice anchorage with room for quite a few boats. We ate lunch at the over priced restaurant on the beach and headed for La Paz. We made a quick stop at Walmart since we had a car to pick up heavy things like Cokes and milk. Back at Mermaid we found that several sailboats and come into the marina. We met our new neighbors and shared our fresh fish (since the freezer isn’t working properly). This was another good adventure.

Antonio spent the week working on our varnish again. He is doing the inside of the cockpit and a few pieces on the aft of the boat he didn’t get to last time. Mermaid looks a mess but I know she will sparkle when the work is complete. During all the sanding I have been trying to stay off the boat. I run errands in town or sit by the pool and read. Mike and I have been enjoying La Paz and the restaurants here again. We happened onto the Italian restaurant here at Costa Baja and had an amazing meal while entertained by a really good pair of singers.
We have been taking kayak adventures almost every evening. Friday night we kayaked all the way down to a place we had spotted called Sunset Bar. I guess we should have realized by the name that they are open in the evening… We got there about 2:30 to find it wasn’t open yet. We had a seat and someone showed up with the key and made margaritas – we love Mexico! The wind completely died while we were there which made the kayak back to the marina amazing! The water so clear and the sea life abundant, what a great day.
We have continued our tradition of walking to the end of the dock to watch the sunset. One evening we watched it from the top deck of our new friends, Jeff & Heather’s Nordhaven – great view. We realize that we have become quite sunset spoiled. We have been treated to so many amazing sunsets that the really pretty ones we just say “hmmm, ok” and continue home.

Sunday morning we walked over to see the entrance of the channel and decided it was a good time to go, fired up Henry and headed to La Paz. It was a great day to be a power boat which is what we needed since it would be a bash to La Paz. There was almost no wind and the sea was calm. We had a very uneventful crossing (uneventful is a good thing in a crossing!) and got a lot of reading done. It was warm even at night. We saw the green flash! We didn’t see very much sea life on this trip.
Our last evening at sea was Monday we watched another beautiful sunset The stars were so amazing and bright and the sea was a mirrored them. It was an amazing sight. We got into Lobos to anchor just before midnight (just before the moonrise of course). There were eight boats anchored with only two showing mastlights which made it difficult to decide where to anchor so we dropped the hook out in the middle of the anchorage in 43ft of water to be safe. The water was flat and we slept like rocks.
In the morning we ran the watermaker to discover that it isn’t working… now to find a service person for that. We headed into Costa Baja and our new slip for the next six weeks or so. It was quite a surprise to see a US warship anchored off the city! We were greeted by Dan from Papillion who told us we had to go to La Costa to hear Mark Mulligan and eat… so we showered, cleaned up the boat and headed into town. What a fun evening! We ran into friends we made on our last visit to La Paz and caught up while enjoying Mark’s music.
Wednesday we got some work done (what a relief to have good internet) and inflated the new kayak and took a tour. Outside the harbor there was coral growing with lots of fish around. The water was clear with a white sand bottom, it looked like the Caribbean. We even saw dolphins which made PeeWee very happy. The kayak is great… much better than the big hard one we used to have.
Friday I took the shuttle to town and walked to Bravo Market for fresh chicken and veggies. I walked to Casa Trece to catch up with my friend Claudia, it was good to see her again. We had the most amazing sunset and didn’t have the camera on us… We walked the dock meeting our neighbors… one had just come in from fishing and gave us a big slab of yellowtail. We went out to eat at Rustica and it was good as always. While there we met a very interesting man who vacations all over the world by himself, spending months at a time in a place.
Saturday morning we had intended to head to the island but woke to a cloudy windy day and decided to get some things done on the boat instead… We will eat fresh yellowtail today…