San Carlos to La Paz

Hola...As reported earlier, Hurricane Norbert was a non-event for us and we have since learned the lore that the force of the storm is in direct proportion to the amount of preparation you do - luckily we did lots - it took us a full day afterwards to set the boat back up. What did happen, though is that we had north winds that blew gusting over 30 knots for the next few days, so we had a delayed departure from San Carlos. Our forward hatch also broke when the wind smacked it against the deck...another item to add to our shopping list!

Lots of laughs with Bill....he kept us in stitches with his many stories. We've been out of internet range for the past two weeks, hence the lack of the weekly update. We enjoyed lots of new remote anchorages on our way heading back south. We are currently in the La Paz marina for a week, to do repairs, maintenance, etc. Unfortunately I'm not being as useful as I could be due to doing something stupid. While in San Carlos, I was in a huff with Peter about something, so I jumped off the boat, didn't look where I was going and landed on a cleat - twisting my ankle and wrenching my foot. I've been hobbling around for almost two weeks, so Peter dragged me to the x-ray clinic yesterday. The good news is it isn't broken , just badly sprained and swollen- I was pretty choked about the possibility of leaving Mexico on crutches as I had come in because of my knee operation. If all goes well, I should be able to ski when we get to Silver Star.

We did lots of fishing and have been lucky with Dorado (oh, Peter says it isn't luck!).

So I promise these are my last sunrise pictures until next year....but you have to agree that this is the magical time of the morning...Nothing feeds the soul more than an awe-inspiring sunrise.

One of the enhancements we have added to the boat (thanks to Bill for bringing it down from San Diego) is a self-steering windvane.

What this little gadget does is provide self-steering, so that while you are undersail, it will steer the boat (with supervision)....we are almost ready for our long passages next spring/summer/fall....some as long as 30 days of 24/7 sailing in the open ocean (gulp!).

We will be leaving La Paz on October 29th, with our two friends Bob and Liz whom we met when we went to their ranch for a 5 day outback horse trek. Our arrival in Mazatlan is expected to be November 1st if the winds cooperate and the crossing goes well. I'll check in again then.

Until next time....Happy Halloween and thanks for dropping by....can't believe we've had over 1,000 visitors to this site...hope I haven't bored any of you to death.