Cruising the Sea

Our home for 3 weeks on m/v Ursa Major














Heather whale watching




















Captain Josh and Shawn on a high speed dinghy trip














Kayaking in the mangroves of Amortajada












Old salt evaporation ponds























A blue whale spotted














A pod of pilot whales














Manta rays cruising just under the surface

















Curious, juvenile sea lions

Cooling Down With Our New Best Friend

At the end of January, Shawn and I flew back home to try our luck at selling a few sun-filled inspirational guides on the Sea of Cortez to the winter bound Pacific Northwesterners at the Seattle Boat Show. While we always look forward to our trips back to Washington, our 4 ½ hour flight delay, which was due to thick fog throughout the state, did not encourage us to leave the warmth of the San Jose del Cabo airport and turn our icy Pacifico beers in for scalding cups of Starbucks coffee. The show was a success, while not as large or as well attended as the previous year, we still managed to talk a few cruisers into escaping the cold, dark northern winters and heading for the land of eternal sunshine and warm Decembers – no foul weather gear necessary.

After the long nonstop 10-day show, Shawn and I took a break for a day and sat in luxurious silence before heading east of the mountains for a visit with my family. While in Yakima, I was lucky enough to live my cowgirl dreams, chasing cows and riding through the sagebrush with my mom and her 2 beautiful horses. And what trip to
Washington in February is complete without a play day in the snow? Armed with snowshoes and a thermos of coffee, we joined my parents and headed into the mountains to visit my grandfather’s cabin. On the way up, we stopped at both the elk and the mountain sheep feeding stations to view the well-feed, pampered wildlife. We spent the afternoon plodding through a brilliant sunlit


prairie, backed by snow-covered mountains, and hot coffee back in the heated comfort of the cabin.

Anxious for our 3,000-mile road trip back to La Paz, we loaded the truck down with an amazing assortment of boat goodies including a fuel tank, water tank, canvas material, and the life-altering refrigeration, before hitting the highway once again. Shawn was visibly excited at the thought of so many big projects, which would surely require the use of every single tool, gadget and screw on our boat to complete all the necessary repairs and installations. I on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive for all the exact same reasons. I most definitely appreciate a difficult, but fulfilling project. However, the thought of living once again in a tool-filled war zone with approximately 4 cubic feet of uncluttered, non-oily living space is not

necessarily my “happy place” like it is for my other half who seems to relish in the beauty of being surrounded by saws, grinders, dirt, and thirty some odd different kinds of wrenches. It is worth any amount of chaos and project frustration however, for the chance to convert our wet and funky icebox into the miracle of refrigeration.

Our trip southbound was pleasantly uneventful and quick. We crossed the border this time at Tecate, which to our surprise was a very nice experience – friendly and hospitable locals, quick customs and immigration, and a very clean town. A far cry from the chiclet-insanity of Tijuana. We spent our first night back in Baja, which also coincided with Valentine’s Day, camped at our favorite spot in Catavina. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we celebrated in style sipping cold beer and eating bacon-wrapped hot dogs under the stars while sitting on the tailgate of the truck in front of the mini super convenience store. Romance is all in the eye of the beholder I suppose, because we loved every minute of it!


We hit La Paz just in time to celebrate the start of Carnival. The majority of the downtown waterfront was taken over by rides, games, food stalls, beer tents and the infamous blanket vendors who hawk their wares over a blaring microphone at sonic speeds. During the last 3 nights of the celebration, the parade is held with colorful floats adorned with even more colorfully dressed dancers. Carnival in La Paz is a very wholesome and family oriented event, with the closest thing to a beaded necklace being thrown is a confetti-filled, hollowed Easter egg. And the closest thing to “chichis” being flashed is watching the Tecate (a local beer) Girls bounce around to music in their bikinis.


Carnival was definitely a welcome distraction from nonstop projects, but an even more welcome distraction has been Dishes (named for doing the dishes). Dishes visits numerous times a day without any prompting to jump onboard and ironically lingers in the companion way after dinner. But, after nearly 2 weeks of projecting, we now have a new water tank, fuel tank, cushion covers, bilge pump, reinsulated icebox, and we are moments away from refrigeration. If all goes well, tonight we will be listening to the comforting sound of a compressor working to chill our beer and freeze our ice. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wonder Twins Reunite

Good Times With Family

On December 10th, my parents were able to fly down to La Paz for a week visit with us. We had a great time exploring the East Cape coastline, touring La Paz and relaxing on the beaches. It was a real treat to have family visit so close to Christmas and to show them our second "home" in Mexico. Just as they were beginning to work on their tans and enjoy life under palm trees and white sand beaches, they had to return home to Yakima, Washington where they were treated to temperatures hovering around -5 degrees F.

We rented a car and drove across the peninsula to Bahia de los Muertos for lunch on the beach. Sitting under a palapa roof drinking cold beers and margaritas, life was pretty good! Afterward, we headed north to Bahia la Ventana where we were entertained by dozens of kiteboarders and windsurfers. It was an amazing display of organized chaos as kites and boards zigzagged across the water - I half expected to see a growing ball of snagged kite strings and windsurfers rolling across the bay, but everyone was in perfect harmony with each other.

On our last full day, we took Om Shanti up to our favorite beach at Bahia Balandra for an adventure of swimming and beach combing. The day was beautiful and warm, which was a treat to jump into the ever cooling water (the water temperature has dropped over 10 degree F in the last month and a half).

My mom was even lucky enough to catch two beautiful sierras on the way up and back. One fish unfortunately threw the lure once at the boat, but the second fish was made into a very tasty ceviche. Back at the dock, we enjoyed a lovely sunset while sipping wine in the cockpit - once again, life is very good!

Back to the Islands

We spent a little over a week out at the national park islands of Espiritu Santo and Partida which was a wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. It also gave us a nice break from the habitual spending that usually accompanies day to day life near a large town. Somehow luxuries become necessities for us in the city. If it's available, it is our duty to make sure that shop owners unburden us from the weight of our wallets for all those must have like fruity popsicles, cans of marine varnish, grilled hamburgers, and bags and bags of ice.



Out at the islands we had an amazing time and fulfilled our need to detach and experience the simple and easy way of life out at anchor. We spent our days teasing fish with our lure, proving to ourselves how out of shape we are on a

couple of hikes, and trying our best to drink our store of beer before the ice melted. The days have been pleasantly warm, the wind and weather perfect and the swimming fantastic.

We even broke out our dusty set of bocce balls and had an off-road bocce tournament with the crew of the charter boat Ursa Major. While we tried to secure our seat as champions by spiking their coke with a little rum, we were thoroughly beat by the talented and amazing arm of Emily, who later divulged her history of playing softball in college. We shared a number of anchorages with Ursa Major and a few more sunset cocktail hours and evening meals with Josh and Emily, which was a great and entertaining time.

With a book signing to attend in La Paz for Allende Books and the anticipation of a real shower that does not include the use of a kettle warming on the stove and a solar bag dangling from the boom, we eventually headed for home. We are currently at anchor near the Mogote in La Paz where every 10-20 minutes we get the chance to wave to new groups of workmen and tourists who are being shuttled back and forth to the new resort development on the Mogote. Unfortunately for the captain of the shuttle, we, along with 20 other boats, seem to have anchored on his route. Luckily for all of us, he has not taken our rudeness personally and sticks to a very efficient path through the boats giving us all at least a foot of clearance, plus or minus an inch or so.

To the Islands and Back

After a two week stay in our favorite Mexican city, we left La Paz for the nearby national park islands of Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida. Unfortunately, as we left the dock, the north wind began to fill in and made for a bouncy, rolly trip north so we headed in to an anchorage just a few miles outside of town. With no schedule to follow, we've found over the years that beating into weather is not a fun path to adventure and relaxation. Nor does it keep the ladies happy, which is helpful in keeping the peace between husband and wife on a 32 foot boat.

Soaking up the sun, we enjoyed a couple of days of non-stop swimming and snorkeling in the 85 degree water. Coming from the frigid water of Washington, it is an amazing luzury to jump off your boat wearing only a swimsuit in crystal blue water.


With settled weather, we headed north once again to Isla Espiritu Santo where we ran into friends. We had a very enjoyable evening together - socializing, cocktails and a beautiful salmon dinner (salmon from their summer in Alaska). Unfortunately, the following day we had to head back into La Paz to attend to outboard motor repairs and to escape southwesterly winds that had resulted in a fairly sleepless night.


On our way back into town, we came across 2 boats anchored outside the harbor, the 289-foot sailing yacht, Maltese Falcon, and the 295-foot motor yacht, Ice. Both boats are spectacular in size and we can only dream of the amenities on board. The Maltese Falcon, owned by Tom Perkins, is quite a sight with 3, nearly 200-foot tall, masts- each brilliantly lit at night. Quite a unique and wonderful sight to see in La Paz harbor.

Beating the Heat

95 degree heat makes us softies from the Pacific Northwest quite sluggish and at times, even grouchy. When the only thing you can do effectively in the intense heat is to sweat profusely from every pore in your body, you tend to question your motive for voluntarily vacationing in an oven. When we sit down for any length of time and feel the sweat trickle down our backs and pooling in our shorts, there's always a moment of panic that others might bring to question our problem with perspiration or possibly incontinence.

To beat the heat we have been in full practice of the afternoon siestas and long rides in the dinghy at high speeds to create our own wind. One morning we ventured out to check a new development that is underway on a peninsula of land here in La Paz called the Mogote. Tremendous amounts of money are being thrown at this resort project which will include a hotel, condos, houses, a golf course and a marina. Due to the state of the world economy and judging by the skeleton crew working on the buildings, I believe they will be a touch behind schedule. We were amazed to find that they had already put in an amazingly green golf course which we can only imagine must demand a large chunk of resources just in its upkeep of watering and fertilizing in a desert environment.


We have also been receiving daily visits from the Marina Palmira resident goose named Lucy. Lucy became a permanent fixture around the marina following Hurricane Marty in 2003 after realizing her opportunistic luck with the bread and veggie rich cruising boat owners. She makes her rounds multiple times daily through the marina fairways, and has learned that loud and persistent honking outside of boats results in food. Lucy parks herself underneath boats and honks at the top of her lungs until food appears, and once she eats her snack, she quietly paddles off. Shawn unfortunately got caught by a "Lucy episode" while on Skype ordering boat parts. She's a hard one to talk over and an even harder one to explain.

Anniversaries and The Dead

Shawn and I celebrated our first anniversary on November the 1st and coincidently also celebrated the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. We were pondering whether this was a good or bad omen initially, but noticed a number of wedding ceremonies occurring around town so we'll take it as good. The day is festive, honoring, celebrating and remembering those who have passed away by means of an alter adorned with photos, flowers, bread, candles and many times a shot of tequila. We were invited to a Dia de los Muertos party celebrating the late John Steinbeck who was author to many classic stories including "Log from the Sea of Cortez" and "The Pearl," which he is most noted for here on the Baja. Allende Books, which is a beautiful bookstore in La Paz (they also carry our book), hosted the party and it was a great time with music, food, drinks and good friends. Allende Books also supplied my first anniversary gift from Shawn - what better a location to find a gift for the paper anniversary than a bookstore. I'm looking forward to reading my new book titled "Almost an Island, Travels in Baja California," written by Bruce Berger. Seems to be quite a fitting title to this very unique and remote peninsula of land.

Back in La Paz

After a very long year and a half out of the water, Om Shanti is at last back in action and floating in La Paz. There was almost an audible sigh of relief as her hull slipped back into the Sea and floated up and off the trailer. So far (knocking on wood), all systems and repairs have worked flawlessly - I think the memory of baking in the hot desert sun for so many months has Om Shanti on her best behavior.

We are very anxious to get back out to the islands for a little relaxation time. This season we are trading in our researching tools of depth sounders and GPS's for fishing gear and snorkels. We hear the water temperature is currently in the mid to low 80's and we are very excited for some time in the water before the Sea returns to its wintertime temps in the 60's. There's a lovely vision of warm water, swimsuits, beaches and tans. The flip side to cooler water though, usually includes our milky white bodies struggling with all our might into wetsuits that fit at one time in our lives. Not a vision I'm anxious to get back to this winter.

This weekend marks the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, a celebration of ancestors who have passed away. Families visit cemeteries to decorate the graves of loved ones with favorite foods and flowers. We have not been around for this holiday before and look forward to experiencing this day.

We hope everyone is well and happy, and will post more pictures in the next few weeks!

Enjoying the Days of Summer

Our sporadic days of summer sun might finally be here to last with the onset of July and the long daylight hours. We have been thoroughly enjoying the beach side life here at Birch Bay -watching the eagles on their waterfront perch and warm sunrises over Mt. Baker to the east. We have adopted somewhat of a routine schedule, something we haven't experienced in years. We have been so accustomed to moving about, that we were thrown a bit off guard to know what we will be doing tomorrow or next week or even next month for that matter. While we are very excited to return to our boat in October and get back to our fairly mobile lifestyle, we have settled in to our rental home and have been luxuriating in life's little pleasures. Some things never get old for us, like taking a warm water shower without half the anchorage seeing you awkwardly (and nakedly) trying to lather up with soap in the cockpit, letting ice cubes go down the drain without feeling too much guilt, and great micro beers and local wines that we don't have to ration.

We have especially been enjoying our time back in the Bellingham Bay area, and catching up with all our friends and family. We've had a wonderful summer so far attending bbq's, birthday parties and just hanging out. We've even "borrowed" one of my parents' dogs to get our pet fix in before we head back to Mexico. Abby, a golden retriever that's not so good in the retriever department, has been a world of fun to have on the beach and a great buddy to keep us company.



We will most likely be in the area for the remainder of the summer. Shawn is continuing his contract work with Blue Seas Systems and I am holding down the fort at Blue Latitude Press. In September we have a couple of seminars in Olympia, WA and Victoria, Canada. Then it is on to San Diego in October for a couple of events Downwind Marine is hosting. And finally at long last, La Paz, to where our faithful Om Shanti has been patiently waiting for our return.