La Paz, Home Sweet Home

Deb joined the crew for the cruise to La Paz. We headed out of

Cabo for Los Frailes, Ensenada de los Muertos, and Puerto Ballanda  in succession. Hopping spot to spot; dingy to the beach to

check out the latest hurricane impact; scope out sites for condos; collect shells and civilization artifacts. The population is sparse along the Sea of Cortez coast.  As light fades to night, the Ipod plays the old tunes and we sing along; a little tequila and we sound better; a lot of tequilla and we sound great.

It feels good to be back in La Paz; few tourists, a close Cruceros network. La Paz is a Mexican city in the desert. It is surrounded by the beautiful mountains, sand and bays of the Baja and Sea of Cortez.

Cruising is mostly about boat repair, food and beer; (you can tell I am not Canadian in that I listed beer last, it really does come early, sometime just after breakfast). We set out to buy boat parts, glue, clamps and a coffee percolator. We have been looking for a percolator forever; drip coffee does not work well with limited electricity and high seas; at long last, a store display, stainless steel from China, the only percolator in Mexico; what a find.

So where do locals eat breakfast? Several blocks away is Mercado Bravo, a warehouse building with stall space for entrepreneurs; on one end is the fresh fish and vegetables; on the other are the counters where sixteen to twenty pesos covers desayuno. After thirty years in the food processing business, I didn’t look too closely at anything here; good food and no ill effects. Rancho Viejo and La Fonda restaurants are local favorites; modest cost and great service. The locals are glad the cruisers are spending money here; like most everywhere else, the economy is depressed; in La Paz, there is ongoing building activity betting on economic growth in their future. A visit with Greg at Costa Baja resort indicates business is slow currently.


My twelve dollar watch is water proof to 164 feet; I must have been down pretty far, because the number elements are disappearing one by one. Now it is arguable whether or not I should need a watch; Baja time is slow and unfocussed; but the boat does leave and I want to be on it. The watch shop on Revolution is a quiet place; no ticking; not even the proprietor wakes up when I enter. There are the 500 peso watches, name brands and chick styles. I am after functionality; that means large numbers that I can read without my glasses and a night light for checking time on watch. It is a pretty momentous decision at 145 pesos, but I choose one that has a 30 meter rating and big numbers; the proprietor installs a new battery to bring it alive with full functionality (most of the watches are dead); I set 24 hour time which is my custom for work and sea.


Skip and Deb have headed home. Captain Steve’s family, Tina, Tyler (16), Billy (2 1/2), Grace (7 months) flew into La Paz to join the best part of the cruise. We all settle in to Seahorse V and set out for the Islands.