The Fiddler and Authoharpist @ Ciao Molino's

 Wednesday nights is Open Mic night at Ciao Molino's -- the Palapa Restaurant right across Marina de La Paz.  

We decided to bring our little bit of Bluegrass to the evening.  

Tom is always a huge hit and I had some fun backing him up.  You may notice there's a second autoharp in the pictures.  It's odd enough to have one of these "boat size pianos" but Mike was there -- so we had a little dueling autoharp licks.

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We've enjoyed a bunch of opportunities to play music on this trip -- and hope we'll find more along the way.

La Paz welcomes us with the Mardi Gras Parade

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 - Marina de La Paz

We left San Everisto on Monday morning bound for the island just north of La Paz.  However, after listening to Garry's weather report on the Sonrisa HAM Net, we realized we should just head straight to La Paz unless we wanted to stay on the island for 3 or 4 days until a big, ugly weather system blew threw.  So onto La Paz we sailed.

Our favorite marina, Marina de La Paz would not have space until Tuesday morning so we anchored in the Magote for Monday night.  The Magote is a popular anchorage for cruisers and La Paz residents.  But the friends and creature comforts in the Marina were worth the $26 US per night to stay in the Marina.  
So on Tuesday morning, we motored into the Marina to the same place we had 2 years ago!   And as was also true 2 years ago, we arrived for the last day of Mardi Gras which featured a huge celebration on the Malecon (waterfront boardwalk) and the Mardi Gras parade.
Could you ask for a warmer welcome?!!!
Here's some pictures from the evening:

And after the parade there was fun and food and streets were filled with people until the early morning:

Spinning Dart throwing game for 5 pesos (~45 cents) a try - unfortunately Tom missed but looked great trying!

This was new to us - a boiling kettle of oil in the potato booth.  When someone requested one of these spiral cut potatoes on a stick, they dip the stick of potato in the hot oil, add some salt and there's your snack.

What a night!  Marina de La Paz is just a couple blocks from the Malecon and celebration so as we drifted to sleep, we could hear the party continue.  What a welcome to La Paz.  We love it here.

Agua Verde to La Paz

Sunday, 10 February - Anchor up and underway at 0700 hours.

10 knots of breeze from the North was perfect for a downwind 8 hour sail to a little fishing and salt mining village called San Everisto on the Baja.  We rolled out the jib and raised the mainsail.  

Our friends on Adagio were taking a shorter hop to quiet little Puerto Los Gatos, but decided the perfect conditions called for a longer day on the water.  

It was a great day to head south.

Sailing between the Baja and Isla San Jose - looking North

Arrived in San Everisto at 1600 hours (Adagio made the trip a bit faster thanks to a longer waterline -- Passport 40 -- and probably a little higher engine RPMs).  We were again invited for dinner and movies aboard Adagio. 

I baked some brownies and brought some beverages.  That night we watched old Carol Burnett TV shows.  I would have worried about disturbing the neighbors with our laughter but we were the only 2 boats in this hidey-hole that night.  Yea!

Jeff & Janie planned to stay for awhile in this very protected anchorage next to a very interesting fishing and salt mining village.  We had decided to leave the next morning for Isla Espiritu Santu -- then take a short hop into La Paz from there!   Hope to see them later on - somewhere!

Agua Verde - Hiking the Rancho, Beaches & Bahia

Friday, 8 February 2013 - Yesterday we took our dinghy and joined J&J (Adagio) on a water tour of the rocks, fishes, beaches and shelling around Agua Verde.  
Today, Tom decided he'd love a day on Begone while Jeff & Janie and I went ashore for a 4 mile hike that took us from the shore to the open range to the village cemetery through a jungle the Sea through the ranchland and up the hills overlooking the bahia.  It was a perfect day for a hike beginning with cloudy and sometimes hazy skies and a light breeze.  
Here are some pics and stories:

Looking SE from the hills above our harbor

The Sierra de la Giganta range just over the hill from the bay.  The ranch land is owned by Agua Verde ranchers.

The village cemetery is maintained now by Gregorio's brother. There are graves dating back to the 1800's.

We decided to head toward the Sea. I had heard from "The Yellow Boat" that the river had cleared the path.  It was a terrific part of the hike that included Jeff telling me about books he was reading -- "Lincoln" and "1776" and his thoughts about learning history from diverse points of view.

It was a treat to meet these 3 kids and their burro on the path to the Sea.  Of course, Jeff had little candies in his pocket just in case we met some children.  They we so happy to see Jeff & Janie again -- and not just because they were the candy-people!

We walked on to the Sea, collected some beautiful Seashells and continued on to through the ranches.

I included this picture to remind us that throwing things away because we think they're broken may be ignoring an opportunity!  At this intersection in the middle of nowhere, the chair only needed some stitching down the back and a big bolder to replace the two front legs,.  Now this chair is much more comfortable than just standing at the road for a ride that may take a long time to arrive.

Coming back over the hills to the harbor, we found this goat herder and his dog moving the goats back to town.

As we came around the bend in the hill, there was Begone, nestled in the bahia awaiting my return...

Agua Verde - Everyone is invited to Begone

Friday, 8 Feb. 2013 - A really fun day of exploring the beaches around Agua Verde were completed by inviting all the boats anchored in the harbor to join us on Begone for appetizers and beverages.  OK, we're the smallest boat -- but it organically became the "first shift" and the "second shift" for the event!

Here's the first shift:

Morning Star II - Ron & Linda from Loyalton, CA

Rianin (the Yellow Boat) - Merry & Eric from Gunnison, CO 

Adagio - Jeff & Janie from Portland, OR

As the night fell, Morning Star II and Rianin headed back in recognition of "cruiser midnight".  But we were then joined by

Bravo - Dieter & Ann from Petersburg, Alaska

Silent Sun - Corley from Seattle, WA.  We were happy to find out that Corley had bought Rob & LaDonna's (Latitude 38) Crealock 37.

It was such a wonderful day and evening in waters around Agua Verde.  And tomorrow promises to be a great day for a hike.

Agua Verde - A village straddling the past and present

Thursday, February 7 - Tom and I had wanted to spend time in Agua Verde since we first learned about sailing in the Sea of Cortez.  The village is home to about 50 people who stem from 2 main families (now 5 families).  The sea is the primary way visitors arrive in town, although there is a 25 mile dirt road off of Rt. 1 that is used to bring in supplies 1x per week and the occasional 4 wheel drive vehicle adventurers.  

Jan, Janie, Jeff, Tom and Ole (Suzanne is behind the camera)

Jeff & Janie (Adagio) have spent a good deal of time in this village over the past 5 years and offered to take us and Ole & Jan from "Emma Jo" (DeFever 49 Trawler) into "town" for a walk about.  We were delighted to learn that Jan was fluent in Spanish giving us an opportunity to learn much more about the community than Jeff and my "spanglish" would offer.

First Stop:  Goats.  

Goat dairy products are the key business in Agua Verde.  Janie & Jeff took us up to the place (up the road and turn left past the casa with lush gardens) and we each ordered a kilo (2.4 lbs) of goat cheese for $40 pesos or ~$3.00 US.  They said they would have it for us in about 3 hours.  We came back a bit early to watch how they made the absolutely most delicious goat cheese you could ever imagine.

Ramona begins the goat cheese process and knows just when the milk is ready for the next step.  The man in the photo is the medicine man.  He comes from a long line of family members who learned how to use local plants to heal.  This was important since there has never been easy access to Western medicine.

This is the cheese press for squeezing the liquid thus forming a firm goat cheese.

Enjoying our translated conversations and learning about the people and village.

Next stop - The elementary and secondary school - at one time someone got them set up with internet access (solar panels and satellite service) but there appears to be some controversy about why the service is no longer provided...the kids don't seem to mind so much, though.

There are about 20 students at the school.  If they want to/can afford to attend high school, they move to Loreto.  They often live with extended family members.  Many students return back to live in Agua Verde (that's what happened to the teacher in this classroom).

Religion:  We were surprised to learn that of the two churches in Agua Verde that the largest is not the Catholic church, but rather the Evangelical Church.  It appears that at some point, an influential family member decided to follow a different path.

Inside the Catholic Church - sorry the horizon is crooked.

Two tiendas (little stores) and the Tortilla Lady -- Janie remembered there was someone  in Agua Verde who would make fresh tortilla so she bought a bag of corn flour one of the little stores and as we walked through town found this sign:

We dropped off the flour and one hour later we picked up the most delicious, hot corn tortillas (about a 10" tall stack) and divided them between the 3 of our boats.   Those tortillas never saw the light of the next day -- too tasty to put away.

It was an amazing day.  Jeff & Janie said they learned more about Agua Verde on our walk they had after visiting for 5 seasons thanks to Jan and the visiting student named Sky.  Here are some more snap shots  and captions from the day...

Jeff, Janie and Sky (from Washington State) - Sky was spending a month in Agua  Verde on break from college.  She was helping at the school, living with Ramona and her bright, enthusiastic personality had clearly endeared her to everyone in the village.  We learned so much from her about the social structure of the village.  We'll never forget her.

More pics

Compare the playgrounds -- the top is in the middle of town with crusty chain and overgrown weeds.
The bottom picture is the school playground.   Both looked like tons of fun..
Gringos / Cruisers are known to adopt a school and students to promote education, opportunity and fun.

The Agua Verde water well.  OK, there's more water stored up the hill but this works.

There were pigs, too.  The next entry will be the day hiking the hills around the village.

The Ships Log - February 4 - 6, 2013

Monday, 4 February 2013 - 1600 hours - We cast off the dock lines from Marina San Carlos with the help of our neighbors on Contez (who also sent us off with wonderful sandwiches) to supplement our passage menu of Polio Feliz, Rice, Beans and Bar-B-Q Asada -- all prepared ahead of departure for our meals underway (who likes to cook if things get wicked out there?).  

7 knots of wind out of the East and we're heading nearly due South (187 degrees).  Air temperature is 65 degrees.  It's a sweet beam reach, so if the wind and waves hold, it should be an easy sail to Isla Carmen (~120 nm @ ~5 nm/hr it should be about a 24 hour passage across the Sea).  Isla Carmen an beautiful big privately owned Island that is due east of Loreto and one we have anchored in her bahias before.  

El Capitan - underway (note we're actually near La Paz in this photo)

Northeast side of Isla Carmen after a wonderful 24 hour sail from San Carlos

Tuesday, 5 February 2013 - 1700 hours - Arrived in the beautiful anchorage of Punte Colorado on the Southeast side of Isla Carmen.  It was a great 25 hour passage mixing motoring and sailing.  One catamaran  is anchored very close to the shore and we were greeted by about 30 dolphins.  We whistled and tapped on the side of the boat and they all came by to check us out.  Here's a little video...

Wednesday, 6 February 2013 - We enjoyed a quiet night at anchor and were greeted by a gorgeous morning.  I had a chance to take a few pictures - here's just a couple...

We checked in on the Sonrisa Net (HAM Radio Cruisers daily network to connect sailors at anchor and underway with each other throughout the West Coast of Mexico.
Daily at 0745, the weather for the region is analyzed and broadcast on this Net by Garry from Bahia Conception/El Burro cove.  We were able to talk with our friends on Adagio to let them know we would be arriving that afternoon in Agua Verde where they were anchored, and happily accepted their invitation for dinner aboard their boat (Janie is a fabulous cook, indeed).

Anchor up @ 0945.  course of 150 degrees to Agua Verde.  Tom had completed his engine check before leaving.  I noticed he spent more time than usual and adjusted a belt.  When asked, he said "it's good enough".  When pressed, he revised his prognosis to "it's good as it gets" so we motored out of the quiet anchorage.  I have the first watch and soon Tom asks if there's enough wind to sail...humm.  "Certainly" and I rolled out the jib as he shuts down the engine and proclaims the house alternator is kaput.  Luckily, the engine alternator was fine and we have enough solar power to keep us going - so I raise the full main and off to the west we sailed as the breeze piped up to 18-20 knots.  We reefed the mainsail and sailed along at a graceful 6+ knots.  

Arrived Agua Verde at on Wednesday afternoon at 1430 and set the hook in this beautiful bahia tucked secretly in behind a big wall of layed rock. 

Wednesday night we enjoyed a fabulous dinner aboard Adagio along with Jeff & Janie (Adagio), Doug & Cindy from Minnesota aboard a San Juan 23 and us.  We brought a salad, beverages, Tom's fiddle and my autoharp (as requested by Janie).  After dinner, we played a little music and the entire harbor seemed to quite enjoy the show.

Next entry -- Agua Verde - a village straddling the old and the new.