Along Baja coast to Cabo

Captain Chris enjoys the solitude of Los Muertos 

After several weeks anchored in wonderful La Paz, we finally pulled anchor and sailed Espiritu down the southeast coast of Baja to our present location of Cabo San Lucas. 

Our first stop: Bahia Balandra

So happy to be at Balandra after hearing about it for months!

Balandra beach is well positioned a stones throw from bustling La Paz, so it's a 

big weekend destination for Mexican locals. 

Chris smiles while Mexican tourists pose next to the famous upside down mushroom rock here

Espiritu at anchor with our friend Laurin aboard s/v Second Wind

Inside a cave here, these boulders seemed to defy gravity by hanging from the ceiling

Another view of beautiful Balandra (Espiritu is in the corner upper right)

Chris finally got his turn for the de riguer tourist shot 

We jumped in the dinghy and motored deeper into the wide bay.

The view only got more beautiful...

Gorgeous Balandra -- it doesn't get any better than this!

Locals relax in the crystal clear water

Perfect spot for a beach umbrella

So pretty -- only problem is, believe it or not the water was too cold to swim.

It is still winter, after all.

Locals enjoying the view

Kinda looks a little like the South Pacific, doesn't it? 

It was bittersweet jumping back in the dinghy and returning to Espiritu.

How we will miss the Sea of Cortez!

That night at anchor, a tropical-style lightning storm blew through, bringing back fond

 (NOT!) memories of our rainy season in Central America in 2012.

We pulled anchor at first light and headed south through the squalls

Spectacular sunrise at sea

Next stop: Bahia Los Muertos

Espiritu rests in the anchorage (upper right) at Los Muertos

We dinghied ashore and took a walk up the white sand beach

to visit a resort at the other side of the bay

The resort is trying to rename the bay from Bahia Los Muertos (bay of the dead)

to Bahia Los Suenos (bay of dreams). Change is slow here. 

Peaceful resort beach

Check out this spectacular high end suite! The great thing about staying here in

 Baja rather than Hawaii or Costa Rica is there are NO BUGS, so an evening

in an al fresco suite like this is (I'm guessing, since we are of course only passing

 through the suite -- ha!) a real pleasure. 

Another peek into life in a luxury Los Muertos vacation suite

We took one last look at the lovely Los Muertos (I mean, Los Suenos!) 

resort before heading back to Espiritu

At the other end of the beach there are the remains of a fishery/cannery, long ago abandoned.

I love these bricks on the wall of the fishery. Someone was very industrious, creative or drunk when they built this wall (maybe all three!). Regardless, I love it. If we ever rebuild our fireplace back home I'm using this as the model. 

Other than the resort, there's one little restaurant on the beach in Muertos.

This was our view from the restaurant where we split an entree 

(we're economy cruisers 'til the end!) and nabbed some WiFi. 

Gotta admit, it was hard to leave.

I thought this sign above the kitchen ("Employees Spa") was kinda tacky.

Inside the local food service workers put in very long hours for little

pay in the "sauna" slinging hash and the "steamroom" washing dishes. :-/ 

My last photo of Los Muertos is also my last photo of the beautiful Sea of Cortez 

which has exceeded my expectations for her peaceful natural beauty:

Goodbye, adios, beautiful Sea of Cortez

We're now in Cabo San Lucas preparing to bash north along the coast.

What can I say? It's been a spectacular 18 months down here.

 If you can get here to visit, do it.

That is all. 

Day at La Ventana

Beautiful La Ventana on the Sea of Cortez

Chris and I enjoyed a festive holiday season here in La Paz, Mexico.

Santa and his Santa clothes decorate a Christmas window

Chris and John of s/v Alley-Oop enjoy a holiday meal

at the Club Cruceros Cruisers Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas with the crew of s/v Espiritu

Not long after we sat down with our Christmas fixins, I 

looked down to see that an ant colony had chosen a spot right in the middle of  

the throbbing Christmas Eve Potluck

 to suddenly pop out of the ground and take a look around. Now that I think about it, 

it was probably a smart move -- maybe they were looking for some Christmas scraps!

These ants just wanted to join the Christmas festivities!

I dropped a few crumbs of the tastiest Christmas cookies

down into the hole, which the ants gratefully and excitedly

dragged down into the bowels of their real life ant farm. 

I guarded the little ant colony for most of the evening,

protecting people from accidentally destroying their

little ant house. But as it was in the middle of a 

busy parking lot, I knew their fate would eventually be sealed.

 Ah, well...they'll just build another one, I guess.

Christmas Eve full moon in the La Paz anchorage

I organized a cruiser's White Elephant gift exchange for Christmas morning at Club Cruceros. 

As usual for this greatest of Christmas traditions, it was a rolicking good time.

TORO, TORO!

Mark of s/v Trovita shows off his white elephant gift of bright red

 Abercrombie and Fitch Christmas skivvies.

Chris and I decided our Christmas gift to each other would be an afternoon at the movies -- so the next day we went to see "Rogue One," the latest Star Wars extravaganza.

Our friend John of s/v Alley-Oop came too, and gave us a ride to the theater.

Waiting at a stoplight, a local handed John a newborn chihuahua 

through the car window and offered him for sale. 

We were tempted -- how cute is this little guy!

But the light changed and we regretfully handed

him back through the window.

Megaplexes here in Mexico are surprisingly posh and much 

more affordable than in the states.

They even offer cuddly blankets to take into the theater! 

"Rogue One" was in English with Spanish subtitles.

I took this photo in the theater during the climactic final battle scene. 

The approximate translation is:

"Blue Squadron, go in low before they close the door!" 

Or something. 

Anyway, it was a pretty good Christmas. 

Of course, the festivities were not over yet. A week later, there was yet another 

Club Cruceros Cruiser's Potluck, this time for New Years Eve. 

2017 balloons at Club Cruceros at Marina La Paz

Our good friends Patty and Queenie of s/v Le Chez Boute arrived at La Paz only the day before, and they would be heading south the next morning. We love these guys. We first met them sailing in Roatan, Honduras in 2012.

Their home base is in Southern California, so if we're lucky, they'll be our buddies for life.

Me and Queenie clowning around on New Years Eve

A few days later we were running some errands in town when...

Hey...I know you...what in the heck are YOU doing here?!?!?

Yep -- it was my old buddy Tom Forquer! We had worked together in California at the 

Inside the Outdoors Science School in the San Bernardino mountains. 

Turns out Tom was down here kite boarding in nearby La Ventana for the holidays. After swapping stories and catching up for several minutes, we made plans to come out and visit him in La Ventana, about an hour's drive southeast along the Sea of Cortez.

As luck would have it, our expat friend Bill loaned us his spotless Mercedes convertible for the day.

La Ventana, here we come!

We broke out Google Earth on our new Ipad, yelled "Travel Dogs!" 

(our family tradition) and hit the road on a gorgeous, clear Baja morning. 

Unfortunately for us, a truckers strike had recently broke out here in Baja due to the sudden January 1st 20% rise in oil prices by the Mexican government. Truck drivers were blocking roads and striking  up and down Baja and throughout Mexico. It's still going on at this writing.

Mexicans work hard, for very little money. I know from speaking with my Mexican friends here that a 20% increase in gas will mean that many will have to choose between driving to work and feeding their kids. The line between surviving and abject poverty is razor thin.

The blockade is having an impact, too. Major highways are being blocked, and products and services are being shut down. 

We noticed some empty shelves for the first time when shopping yesterday.

The trucker's strike and blockade is having an effect.

Sure enough, as we tried to drive onto the highway towards La Ventana, the entrance

was completely blocked by a striking trucker

Eventually we found another entrance onto the highway in a less 

populated area, and we headed southeast.

Mercedes convertible selfie

After a lovely drive through the desert, we arrived at

 beautiful La Ventana beach later that morning

We learned that La Ventana is world-renowned as a mecca for kite boarders and wind surfers.

The peaceful La Ventana waterfront and the flat-calm Sea of Cortez. 

There was not a lick of wind, and no kite boarders could be found.

 I think everybody was still sleeping...or hung over. :-)

We nabbed Tom and grabbed some lunch at a cute little local Tacos-on-the-street type eatery.

Chris and Tom catch up over lunch

Sure enough, while we ate the wind started to pick up.

People come from around the world to camp on the beach and kiteboard here

Beautiful La Ventana beach

With the wind came dozens and dozens of windsurfers and kiteboarders.

Note the guy on the left flying high in the air.

What a spectacle!

Tom and Chris walk up the beach as we prepare to say our goodbyes.

The wind was up, and Tom needed to don his gear, Gladiator-like, and get on out there!

What a beautiful day we had at La Ventana! 

Feliz Ano Nuevo!