Leaving La Paz

After resupplying, changing the alternator, cleaning the boat, and eating out for dinner, it was time to leave the dock and move off to the islands to the North.  After handing off the gate keys we departed at 07:45 a.m.  There was no wind, no waves, and no sun.  It was overcast with temp in the mid 70's.  The trip to Isla San Francisco was 42 nm, and took a little over 6 hours.  The water was like glass, so different from a few days ago when the waves were large and the wind was blowing in the 20 knot range.  Today the only waves were from a tanker that passed in front of us.  Just before going to bed we noticed a few rain drops.

Sunset at Coasta Baja Marina

Isla San Fransisco

This is what happens when the refrigerator is to cold

Susan's Shell Collection

Rain Clouds

This morning it is raining, and it continued off and on all day.  Since our weather station is situated under a solar panel I can't say how much it rained.  Even though it rained we took a ride in the dinghy to the beach and found some nice sea shells by the sea shore.  No one else was out on the beach so we had it all to ourselves.  We took the dinghy to the south point where there are more rocks and fish to see.  If the water was warmer, it is 69.8 degrees (air temperature is 69 degrees), this area would be good for snorkeling.  Last night there were 7 boats anchored here (it is a big place, plenty of room), all but one besides us left.  Later in the day there are 5 boats here, 4 are from the same marina dock we were from.

Shake down cruise

 We left Coasta Baja Marina in La Paz on Thursday for a quick shake down cruise.  It was so nice to finally get back on the water even if we did not sail.  All systems worked well including the water maker that we had not been able to test yet.  The one problem that did show up was the engine alternator was not making any power.  We are able to charge the batteries with the generator or solar or wind generator so I was not too worried but it is nice to have everything working.  Will have to see about this later when we get back to La Paz.

Best output from the water maker yet

Isla Espíritu Santo

Isla Partida

Isla Partida

At Anchor

Changing the Prop

Susan relaxing

After spending three days at Isla Partida, Ensenada Grande North, we moved to Isla Espíritu Santo, Ensenada de la Raza.  The first day out was very nice temps in the mid 70's, wind 5-10 kits.  After having such nice weather for one day the winds came up and blew in the mid to high 20 knts.  This made the anchorages very rough and uncomfortable.  Sleeping was difficult.  I had the anchor watch alarm on at all times, even while trying to sleep.  I can look at the iPad display and see if we are dragging our anchor (we never did).  Isla Espíritu Santo was not any better.  On monday we made it back to Coasta Baja Marina.  Where we reprovisioned, changed the alternator, put dol-fin fin on the outboard, and rested.  Tomorrow we plan to leave the marina and travel up to Isla San Fransisco, about a 7 hour trip.

Anchor snubber twisted around the anchor chain

Isla Espíritu Santo

So I noticed that the alternator was not charging the batteries on our trip out to the Islands.  I checked all the connections and fuses I could find but did not see any problems.  I do have a spare alternator on board but I have never changed one before, so I was not looking forward to this project.  After about 2 hours of messing around with the old and the new, Susan turned on the main engine while I looked for sparks or smoke, yeah there was none!  The voltage meter showed the new alternator was making power (yeah).  I will be checking on it tomorrow during our trip, just to make sure nothing comes loose or starts to smoke!!!!!

Old alternator

New alternator

We were able to take the shuttle bus into town to resupply some groceries.  The grocery store "The Brown Cow" is only a few blocks from the bus stop, which is at the Cathedral seen below.  We were able to get groceries, eat lunch and make it back to the bus stop in time for the shuttle bus to pick us back up and go to the Marina.

Downtown La Paz

Frente Catedral downtown La Paz

We made it to La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico!!!!  We left on Tuesday the 16th of January from Coos Bay, OR.  We rented a car to drive to Portland airport and dropped off the car there, then stayed the night at a Best Western near by.  In the morning the hotel shuttle drove us to the airport at around 7:30 a.m. We checked in our luggage and made our way through the TSA with no problems.  The flight actually left 3 minutes early (10:37 a.m.) and landed in Los Cabos 30 minutes early (3:00 p.m.).  We zipped through immigration, pickup up all 4 bags at luggage claim (yes they all made it), then headed to customs.  At customs there is a button to push, if it turns a light green you go right through, if the light turns red they search through all your luggage, check all your papers and make you nervous.  Susan pushed the button and the light turned green!!!!  Our reservations for the bus to La Paz wasn't for 2 hours, so we sat outside and enjoyed dos coke light.  The weather was very pleasant with the temp in the mid 70's with a light breeze.  The bus ride was approximately 2.5 hours long and half of it was in the dark.  A short taxi ride (5 miles) to Hyatt Place and we made (8:30 p.m.).  No problems.  No complaints.  No fuss, no muss.  Just tired.

As you can see from the previous post the boat was a total mess.  It has taken us 5 days to get it in shape to live in, so during that time we spent nights at the Hyatt Place hotel.  The picture above shows how close the marina is to the hotel, but to get to it you have to drive almost 2 miles.  Needless to say we rented a car for the first 5 days.  We also made two trips into town to get a SIM card for the phone and groceries.  The pictures below show our grocery trip, almost 6,000 pesos ($333.33 USD).  Should be good for 4 to 5 weeks.

I have been pleasantly surprised so far that everything on the boat is working after being still for 1 year.  We still have not left the dock but the main engine and generator started right up, all the halyards went back up and the sails followed.  We still need to get gas for the dinghy outboard, but then we should be ready to leave the marina.