Gato Loco in La Paz

---

By Lowell | May 29, 2011 | Category Baja 2011

  A chime of my phone greeted us as we returned to our room after dinner in Hermosillo. It was a text message from Gato Loco indicating they were in Marina Palmira Friday night a day earlier than we expected. Turns out Rick was flying home on Saturday so they had to be in a day early.

Their sail south was great once they headed south. Rick, Ellen & Shelly flew to LA then to Loreto on Sunday to join Dave who had Gato Loco anchored off Loreto waiting for them. Unfortunately Ellen and Shelly’s luggage didn’t arrive with them and they were forced to buy some cloths to carry with them for a couple days while their bags finally arrived. In the mean time, they sailed to Agua Verde and then back 6 miles north to San Cosme to pick up their bags that were delivered as close to them as possible.

 

The Leg 5 crew in Loreto at one of the local digs…   It didn’t take Ellen long to get in the relaxed mode. 

Captain Rick with his cigar… Dave & Ellen enjoying a great day of sailing… Shelly models one of her dress purchases from Loreto.

Interesting… Wednesday night anchored in San Evaristo with calm winds the anchorage became rough with waves for no apparent reason. We later found out there was a mild earthquake  that probably caused the waves.

Their last night was at Caleta Partida the anchorage between Isla Partida & Isla Espiritu Santo just north of La Paz. They had a calm night with a great sunset as you can tell from the shot below.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

Leg 6 begins

At the bus station… Busses in Mexico are very nice with assigned seats and movies (in Spanish) the entire way.

 

In the mean time Frankie and I took a Albatross bus from Puerto Penasco to Hermosillo to meet Victor & Leslie and the girls at our nice new Ibis hotel in central Hermosillo.

Another interesting “only in Mexico” story. Victor pushed through a yellow light a little bit too late as they arrived in Hermosillo. After talking to the police officer who greeted him with his ticket book, Victor shared that he was a fire & peace officer in Phoenix and didn’t know where the hotel was. Well the next thing they knew they had a police escort with lights to the hotel. That’s better than a GPS!!!

We faced our toughest morning Saturday. with a 7AM flight to La Paz. It’s an early morning wakeup and surprisingly everybody is waiting for us as we make our way to the hotel lobby at 5:45.. No time for breakfast. It’s Elyse & Mia’s first flight on a small airplane… Their excited.

 

Some of our interesting anchorages that we will visit heading north.. Isla San Francisco (left) & south end of Isla San Jose.

Shortly after arriving at the boat Rick headed for the airport but we did get a group crew shot with Dave, Ellen & Shelly. Victor’s Aunt and cousin joined us on the boat and then for dinner on the malecon. Evening weather is incredibly beautiful after a toasty afternoon.

Victor with his cousin Edgar and Aunt Paquita. His Aunt has a pharmacy and teaches English & Spanish at the local university.… The local Naval orchestra giving a concert at the plaza near our restaurant.

It’s Sunday morning as I write this. Tia Paquita and Cousin Edgar came and picked up  Frankie, Victor and Leslie to go and provision, they came back with enough food to sink the boat. Our plans are to get everything in order and spend the afternoon and evening visiting La Paz and then head to the north end of Isla Partida tomorrow. There’s a sea lion colony there and we hope to swim with them..

We will probably not have access to internet until we arrive in the Puerto Escondido area next Friday. Maybe I’ll get something out tomorrow but if not we will create an update as we head north and send it when we arrive.

All is well in La Paz…

Until the next Update.

Gato Loco in our slip in Marina Palmira….>>>>