We departed on schedule: Wednesday morning, November 9, promptly at 6 a.m. Sunrise was, as usual, very pretty, especially against the San Carlos mountains. We set our course for Santa Rosalia with rather flat seas and no wind -- motoring AGAIN! On the bright side, however, we ran our new watermaker for over an hour, and it seems to be working perfectly (so far).

Mid day the wind picked up a little, so we put up the Genoa (still with motor on), had confused and swirly seas for a few hours, but arrived on schedule at 4:30 p.m. Boat neighbors from the Ha Ha were anchored in Santa Rosalia, Conte Partiro, so we hailed them and invited Jeanette and Anh over to visit and share snacks and cold cervesas. They were leaving the next morning, so we bade farewell until we see them further south. We had a sound night's sleep at anchor.

Thursday, November 10 - first order of business was to inflate the dinghy so we could row over to the dinghy dock, check in, and, of course, walk through town. We met Lou, Billie and Toby -- all of whom had good advice about where to go in town.

We walked through town, ate lunch and returned to the dinghy dock to discover that our dinghy had a leak! Roy rowed back to Jellybean to get our pump, and by the time he rowed back to shore, one side was completely collapsed! Uh-oh -- we better stay and fix the dinghy (dinghy patches require 24 hours to set).

Friday, November 11 It could have been much worse - Santa Rosalia is a nice town to spend an extra day in -- and besides, it gave Roy a chance to work on several of his endless projects: 1) replace the cracked drum on the furling jib, 2) clean the electrical connections to the windlass, 3) install the Dutchman Boom Brake. I convinced him to take a break and walk up to the produce stand with me to pick up some melons, and yet another walk to fetch some diesel in a jerry jug.

I took a long walk in the morning. Roy asked me to pick up an allen wrench that he needed (ooops, the 3/16 had fallen overboard) so I set out on a quest. The town has very narrow streets, resulting in all but one being one-way. They are referred to as the "first Up street, the first Down street, the second Up Street, the second Down street, and the Two-Way street, all paralleling each other. The cross streets are numbered, and they, too, are one-way.

The architecture is different than any we have seen in Mexico. The town was initially settled by French mining moguls; homes and commercial buildings in the center of town have a European flair to them: picket fences, verandas, balconies with lush greenery.

Late afternoon we inflated the dinghy and then went back into town. We ate dinner at the recommended hotel restaurant. When the waiter brought drinks, he also brought a small bowl of something creamy and lumpy. We asked what it was and he said calamari. It was absolutely delicious, and a nice break from salsa and chips.

After dinner we were relieved to find the dinghy had retained air, so we deflated, rolled it back up, lashed her onto the deck and prepared for a morning departure.

Saturday and Sunday, November 12-13

We headed for Bahia Coyote in Bahia Conception and had a good sail -- the best so far in all the days we have spent in Mexico. We pulled into a little cove west of Sanispac Beach and lo and behold, Conte Partiro was anchored there as well. We were hailed by SV Last Resort, Susan and Steve, also Baja Ha Ha vets from 2004. We had spent some time with them in San Carlos. Also at anchor was Slacker, Mike and Julie. The next day Steve and Susan took me snorkeling -- I tried out some of my new gear -- and Steve harvested dozens and dozens of claims, including one chocolate clam which they earmarked for me. All four boatloads came over to Jellybean for a potluck of snacks, clams, pasta, salad, freshly baked bread and wonderful deserts.

Roy continued working on boat projects -- I went ashore with Susan and Steve. We had enough clams left for four people, so the four of us shared another dinner and nice evening. While Conte Partiro departed early Monday, Last Resort, Slacker and we left Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, November 15

We surfed swells and had fun sailing for only a few hours. Wind was on our stern, and our downwind pole was "frozen," stuck in its chock at the deck -- our spinnaker was twisted in its chute, so alas, we relied only on the genoa as long as it would fill. We took photos of Last Resort (left), and they took ours as well(right).

Slacker pulled into Punta Pulpito; Last Resort and Jellybean continued on to Caleta San Juanico, a breathtakingly beautiful anchorage. Conte Partiro was at anchor -- it seemed like we were following each other.

Wednesday, November 16

We got our dinghy in the water, Roy went fishing with Steve, Susan and I exchanged digital photos, Roy baked a loaf of bread, and I followed a recipe and made a pretty good, but big, 3-bean salad -- then a BBQ rib dinner at Last Resort -- a perfect day at anchor. We left our offering at the cruiser's "shrine" on the beach.

Thursday, November 17

A few boat projects in the a.m., followed by an afternoon snorkel. Before deflating the dinghy and getting ready to depart in the a.m. we delivered bean salad to Conte Partiro and Last Resort.

Friday, November 18

Conte Partiro left first, then us, followed by Slacker -- all went to Bahia Balandra on Isla Carmen. A gust of wind swept Roy's hat right off his head in spite of it being secured under his chin. Steve from Aurora happened by in a kayak. He retrieved the hat and we treated him to a cervesa. We spent a pretty rolly night at anchor.

Saturday, November 19

Now, we are on a mission -- to get to La Paz by Monday evening, November 21 -- we have plane reservations to fly to California to spend Thanksgiving with our kids and grandkids. We sailed all day from Balandra to Bahia San Marte, around the corner from Agua Verde, to pull into an anchorage with the help of Sunbreak, David and Leslie, also from 2004 Baja Ha Ha, whom we had last seen in San Carlos. Once again, Roy baked a beautiful loaf of bread.

Sunday, November 20

We departed San Marte at 6:30 a.m. after a VERY rolly night at anchor. As has been the case all week, the long lasting "norther" had us on a run all day -- but lo and behold, we had to motor for more than we liked -- the sails just didn't like the swirly winds, and the hull didn't like the swirly swells -- pulled into Bahia Evaristo early in the afternoon. I relaxed in the cockpit, reading -- Roy worked on boat projects (never ending). Sunbreak pulled in behind us. We will leave in the a.m. for a 50 mile run to La Paz. The east coast of Baja is gorgeous. The layers of mountains, plus the geologic layers are breathtakingly beautiful. The sea sparkles in the sun -- we plan to spend lots of time here during Spring 2006.

Monday, November 21

At 6:00 am we were underway in 20 kt winds. We headed out toward the islands in hopes that we could sail with the wind for a while, before heading straight downwind into La Paz. The swells came one on top of the other, which made for a lumpy, bumpy ride...alas, we end ed up turning on the motor after lunch and heading straight in, arriving at about 3 p.m. Several cruising friends welcomed us, and after doing about 4 loads of laundry, we went to Rancho Vieja for a wonderful dinner of baked potato topped with arrechara marinada. We liked it so much that we returned the following evening with dock neighbors, Stan and Lyn on Homer's Odyssey.

Wednesday, November 23 - Sunday, November 27

Aero California from La Paz to SA, shuttle to Dave and Linda's, drive to Concord, spent Thursday and Friday celebrating Thanksgiving and Joshua's birthday, drove to LA on Saturday, spent Sunday gathering stuff to return to Jellybean.

Monday, November 28 Aero California to La Paz, and the "real" start to cruising without schedule -- at long last......

Next update scheduled for sometime in December when we have access to wifi to upload more stories and photos.