STUCK TO THE BOTTOM

Our most recent plan has been to leave La Paz on Monday the 14th or Tuesday the 15th. Well, it's Wednesday the 16th and we're still here, although we have moved 1/4 mile to a new spot in the Santa Cruz Virtual Marina.

On Sunday morning we were getting the boat ready to leave and decided to check the anchor to make sure it was not fouled. There was no wind and bright sun about 9 AM when I hung over the bow of the boat to look down the chain. What a surprise I saw at the bottom of the chain!

The chain had dug itself into the sand, under a 1 meter cube of solid concrete. Not only that, but the 2nd anchor line appeared to be wrapped around the concrete block. I got out my mask and fins and dove the 10' down the chain to the block. Hey, is that great?- Jan 13 and I am diving in warm water and air at 9:30 AM.

Not only was the chain buried under the middle of the block but the 2nd anchor line (2" wide hi-tensile webbing) was under the block, under the chain, and then twice around the block. It appears the concrete block is an abandoned or lost anchor for someone's permanent mooring. The same thing happened to the boat next to us last Friday. (That's why I was checking two days before we wanted to leave). In that case their chain had made a figure-8 around two steel posts driven into the bottom, about 3' apart.

I dove on the anchor several times with just my mask and fins but could find no way to untangle things. We hired a diver recommended by the marina to get us loose. Tuesday evening he was able to untangle things enough that we could use Mirador's engine to drag the chain out from under the block. Then he was able to untie the webbing, once the anchor load transfered to the chain.

All that for only $27!

The diver did recommend we move to another spot since he was sure that we would wrap around the block again as soon as the tide reversed again.

Not much exciting has happened so I thought I would write a little about the cruising scene in this area of La Paz.

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We are just west of the main downtown area and near Marina La Paz which is the headquarters for most cruising activity in this part of the Sea of Crotez. The marina is fairly old but well run by an American couple and their son. Tthe 150 slips are 100% full all the time.

The Marina is about 200 yards, or a two minute dinghy ride, west of us just on the other side of the little point occupied by the Vista Coral Condos and Coral Plaza shop

This is a picture from Mirador's cockpit looking at Vista Coral and Marina La Paz.

Between our dinghy dock and Marina La Paz is Coral Plaza which has boat parts store which sells at West Marine prices, a travel agency, internet cafe, barber shop, ATM, shoe store, clothing store.

The center of Marina La Paz is is the cruisers club house - "Club Crucero". It has chairs and tables, a patio, bulletin boards, VHF and is the place in this part of La Paz where folks gather to chat, read, drink, and look for help with projects. It is across the parking lot from a bar and restaurant and next door to the marina laudramat.

Club Crucero is on the far right in the photo to the right. The photo was taken from the doorway of the Dock restaurant and bar which is famous in this part of Mexico.

Also In the marina complex is a dive shop, boat repair facility, spanish language school, boat parts store, and another big bar with satellite TV.

The marina tienda is also right there with 60 cent beer and free internet acess. The tienda (El Faro) is run by a American guy and his Mexican wife (Olga? is that Mexican?). They specialize in ordering anything you want and selling it for US prices. They have great meats, big selection of 6 peso beer, good vegetables, and are willing to do

We never go to the big supermercados anymore 'cause El Faro is cheaper and has a better selection. They have a big selection of frozen foods and deliver fresh fish everyday if you order it the afternoon prior

The other day I had to decide if I should do something about the 40' trimaran that I thought had just broken it's mooring ring and was on the beach about 100 yards from us. It is one of the six or so nice but abandoned multi-hulls on anchors or balls in this end of the anchorage. There is a big tri hard on the beach near us that the city has been trying to get off for the last couple or weeks. After checking with the marina office I found out that that the city had dragged the big tri off the beach and was going to leave it anchored next to the rocks. I'm not sure what that was going to accomplish? Two days ago a neglected 32' sloop broke away and went aground on El Magote. I guess the neglected boats are a real problem.

We read a great deal and are very pleased with the cruisers library system in Mexico. Every cruising port has a book exchange where the rule is "take one - leave one". I brought about 100 books with me from San Diego, 75 paperback and 25 hardback. Club Crucero has a small exchange library with about a thousand books. So, every week I get a couple new books. Cruisers read a lot of interesting stuff and I seldom have trouble finding something of interest.

Every other Saturday morning is the video/DVD swap meet at Club Crucero. Last Saturday there were about 200 tapes and 50 videos for trade. We do watch a tape or DVD about 5 nights a week.

This picture shows our daily water gathering exercise. We fill the six-gallon water jug and then transfer that water to the eight-gallon Sun Shower which sits on deck, in the hot sun, just above the galley. The hose from the sunshower runs down thru one of the overhead galley hatches and into the sink.

The sunshower water gets up to about 110 degrees by 11 AM and gives us good dish and hand washing water. We only have to run the watermaker once a week since we started using the sunshower this way . The water from the dock tap is safe to drink since it comes from a very deep well. We have had no problem drinking any of the La Paz water.

The only problem with this system is that is can take up to 1/2 an hour to fill the jug when the marina water is running at it's normal slow pace. But, that is why I always carry a paperback book with me, no matter what I am doing in Mexico. The normal mode of operation here is "slow, slower, mañana."

We are going to leave here on the 17th to start north to visit the secluded anchorages on the east coast of Baja and the many outlying islands. We just got a new book that shows about 50 anchorages in the next 75 miles north. Our first stop will be Bahia San Gabriel on the SW tip of Isla Espiritu Santos, about 16 miles from our current anchorage. San Gabriel is supposed to have great diving.

We'll be away from La Paz for several weeks but want to be back here for Carnival which starts about Feb 3.