Love for the Sea of Cortez/ Gulf of California

We are back in the area we love the most of our travels with Bliss in Mexico, the Sea of Cortez or the Gulf of California. Jacques Cousteau called it " the world's aquarium", and even though it's current status is nowhere near what Cousteau experienced (read here), it's a magical and wonderful place. Add to that a nice climate: we are in the desert, so humidity is low, and day temps near la Paz are in the upper twenties, nights are in low teens. La Paz also has a real community feel for cruisers, and a wonderful malecon to stroll. Great, clear anchorages are close by, and we enjoyed Puerto Balandra for 4 days after we crossed from mainland Mexico. We will stay for a couple of days more in La Paz, let a strong weather front pass by,and then make our way North into the remoter parts of the Sea.

We are anchored next to another Bliss, the first one we have encountered in the water. Boat names, we hear some interesting ones on the morning net. This morning "Go for Broke" hailed "God's Will" on channel 22. Another one: "Worth waiting for".

Highs and lows of our last passage making

Is that an Orca killer whale off our beam, I ask Tod? We both look again, and for sure, it is! Minutes later, we see several turtles adrift in front of our beam. A lazy bird is sitting on top of it, going for a ride. The Pacific ocean is calm, no wind, so we motor at low speed. Our plan is to stop at Isla Isabella, 85 miles north. On our way, we hear our bilge pump going off. We have 3 bilge pumps, they remove water from the deepest part of the boat, and when they go off, it’s time to get your sleep deprived brain into action. 

We arrived at Isla Isabella at 7AM after an overniter, and are water tanks are empty! Not good, but at least we have a fresh water leak, not a salt water leak. In the somewhat rolly and unprotected anchorage, Tod goes into diagnostic mode, and start making water again. We can’t come up with the cause of the problem, and after 2 hours decide to just move on again, do another overniter to Mazatlan, where we will fix the problem in a marina.

A few hours later, Tod is taking a rest in our bed, fan on full blast. When I walk by, I see black spots all over my side of the bed. Somehow Tod's sleep deprived brain was thinking that my body lotion has the color of used motor oil, and it was me causing these stains, not a fan running amok and spilling graphite all over the bed! By now, the Pacific is not so tame anymore, but that doesn’t stop me from washing our sheet by hand (by now we have water again!), and hang it out. Tod installs our spare fan, and we are back in hallelujah land.

We are about to leave Mazatlan. We have enjoyed the pool, got groceries for another week, and prepare for our 45hrs + crossing to Baja.  And that water problem? Well, mysteriously it has not shown up again….but no worries, we have an engine oil leak to deal with at some point in life.  Ah, cruising, isn’t that fixing boat problems in exotic places? And the pictures of this post, yes, the relate to the highs of our passage making.

moon rise at my evening watch

Shopping local, confessions of life in tropics and last school day

Tomorrow we are leaving Banderas Bay, and go to our beloved Sea of Cortez and Baja California. It’s time, as it’s hot and humid here. You know the feeling that when you take a cold shower, it feels sooooooo good, then only just 2 minutes after you are dried of, you are wet again….? It might come as a surprise, but both Tod and I are not sun bathers nor beach lovers. Then why, o why, do you live in the tropics, you might ask? Good question, and for now I don’t have a good answer, but I know that the spectacular scenery above and below the water of the Sea of Cortez makes this lifestyle appealing.

Tessa’s last school today. She has been warmly embraced at the Waldorf school, and the wonderful teachers made a farewell booklet with all drawings of the other kids. Thanks to the amazing parents Pia, Homero and Kerstin and Guido for giving us daily rides to the school, we could make this happen. Although Tessa preferred her summer pre school in Berkeley (could be related to the language but also the school hours are a bit too long here, by the time she’s home she is pretty tired), it’s been a good experience for us all. Wish we could find a great school like this for the price of $65/week (5 days, from 9 to 2PM) back in US!

When you live in a small town for a while, you get to know where you can find the best groceries. No need to go to a large super mercado like Mega that’s outside town. Wednesday morning they have a local market for fruit and vegetables, and Thursday evening there is a special food market where the local restaurants get their produce. Off course, the fish market has been a favorite, and we will for sure miss that. 

Tessa hugging her teacher Maestra Mar

I paid $6.5 for this at the market

Tod's great shrimp dish

Tod bringing Tessa back from school, back in the rolly anchorage

Visit of dear friends and school

Tod was cutting up tomatoes for one of his great shrimp dishes, and Tessa said “ I cut tomatoes at school today”. For a few weeks, our girl is enrolled in a Mexican Waldorf pre school, where the kids help to cook and prepare the lunch. The following day she proudly told us she helped bake bread. Ah, the luxury of having two cooks aboard now!

So while our little one goes to school in Bucerias from 9 to 2 during the week, the adults on Bliss are having some spare time on our hands during the week (just till the end of the month). And, oh so lucky us, our dear friends Ana and Christian visited us from Switzerland! What a joy to spend time with them, to discuss life and share laughter. They just left, and we already miss them, but we will know we will connect again somewhere in the world! Thanks Ana for the great pictures too!

a little farm is next to the school

it's a bit of an ordeal to get to the school, but..........

fortunately, we get rides from other school parents, and we can all fit
in the pick up truck, while the kids sit inside the truck

Christian, a master acoustic guitar player, inspired
Tod to get going on our untouched ukelele