Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Our cruising season ends :-(

According to plan, we expect to leave La Paz tomorrow around noon and drive to Loreto, the first leg on our long drive home.  We have spent the last 10 days doing boat projects, getting Damiana put to "bed" for 7.5 months, and even found some time to visit with friends.  A big plus to staying at Costa Baja Marina is the chance to go swimming in their "endless pool," a gorgeous large pool that looks as though it's continuous with the Sea when seen from the beach chairs.  A last minute project, getting the front panel on the refrigerator repaired, got underway today by Pedro, the carpenter.  He'll finish up tomorrow (due here at 8 a.m.)  We are almost all packed and will do the last minute packing while Pedro finishes up.  Tonight, our good friend, Alex (Maitairoa) took us out to dinner as our final send-off for the season (Sue is stateside).  It is with heavy heart that we leave this year.  We have more than ever become quite attached to life here in Baja California, especially the islands, and, of course, La Paz, which has been our favorite for years.

We'll resume the Damiana Blog upon our return in January, 2014.

~~~ Marlene and Roy ~~_/) ~~

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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Last stretch

As planned we spent a few more days at Isla Coronados, celebrated Patty's birthday -- I made Rum Cake, my best ever -- Meridien and Gia joined in the festivities!  Eventually we headed south and met up with Jay and Barb from Jupiter's Smile, who we hung out with over in the Western Caribbean.  We spent an evening together at Punta Colorada, Isla Carmen.

As we were sailing toward the end of Isla Carmen before heading up to Punta Colorado, we saw a remarkable sight: hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more, dolphins swimming in a line across the width of the channel between Isla Carmen and Isla Danzante,  The line was perhaps 4-6 deep with dolphins with not much room to spare in-between them.  They stayed in that formation, heading north until we couldn't see them anymore.

The next day we continued heading south and stopped in our favorite: Agua Verde.  As luck would have it we had a chance to enjoy two evenings with friends from Interlude and Oya.  Both evenings we were treated to goats on the move.  The first night we saw about 50 or so spread across and along boulders right in our anchorage -- we got some spectacular photos.  The next night we watched as their herders, 2 dogs and a puppy that lagged behind, herded them single file over the boulders, onto the beach and then disappear through more boulders at the entrance to the anchorage.  What an unusual sight!

From there we continued on to Puerto Los Gatos for an evening, and yesterday we continued on our southward journey to Isla San Francisco, where we are today.  We'll head into La Paz tomorrow and send this off once we have internet contact.

~~~ Marlene and Roy ~~_/) ~~

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