People we meet, places we go and things we do

Communing with the spirit world (Photo by Sammie Lomeli)

Yes, it’s really the people that we meet that makes the sailing adventure so special.  There are so many people that we meet it’s hard to highlight everyone but in this blog we are posting a few of the pictures of people who have come to visit or we’ve met along the way.

The first to highlight is our long time San Francisco friends Leo and Marilyn

Marilyn at rest (unusual position as she’s a bundle of energy)

along with their daughter Sammie.

Leo and Sammie trying to relax

Climbing the waterfall in the Isla Partida arroyo

 wow did we have a good time.  I think we all got along (at least that’s my perspective) and we got to get out to some of the anchorages around La Paz. Leo got to partake in his favourite sport of kite boarding and a few of us got to climb,  not to the top, of the mountain/hill on Isla Partida.

Karen, Char, Connie – Todos Santos

came down for about 5 days.  We spent time at Caleta Lobos swimming, hiking  and relaxing and helping Char recover from a very bad cold.  Unfortunately it wasn’t a good enough holiday to get rid of her cough as she returned to San Francisco still coughing but sounding better than when she first arrived.  One of the highlights of her visit was a grand circle tour of Baja Sur.  Char rented a car andwith me as chauffeur we headed off on the east road down the Baja coast, through the mountain passes and along the east cape to San Jose del Cabo . A stop for lunch and a walk through town then on to Cabo San Lucas which we did not stop for then on to the west coast for a competely different driving experience to Todos Santos.

Todos Santos is a beautiful old settlement in an arroyo with plenty of underground water making it incredibly green and agriculturally productive.  The town itself has maintained its heritage and despite its focus on tourism it’s well worth the visit.  We finally completed the circle tour and made it back to La Paz by 2100hrs, a 9 hour circle tour.  Tiring but great roads and amazing scenery.

Heinrick, Nina and Connie

Hudson River and into Lake Ontario followed by a quick escape along the Mississipi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Hans in Todos Santos

is sailing to Hawaii as I’m sure that we can beat them there despite the fact our boat is 10 feet

Connie and Jeannette studying spanish!

shorter than theirs – umm, I don’t think that’s possible but we’ll try hard and put on extra crew in the attempt to beat them.

Tauhara at anchor

is a 1966 (give or take a few years) cold molded New Zealand built boat refurbished by Hans and Jeannette over a 2 year period. The end result is a beautiful sailboat that combines the best of New Zealand boat building with Dutch ingenuity and attention to detail.

There are many people in the anchorage in La Paz, both at anchor and in one of the 5 marinas in the bay.  We can’t possibly cover all the people we’ve met and the generosity by all.  It’s a great community and one we remember from our previous sojourn and feel very comfortable entering back into this world. We may get sick of saying goodbye all the time but for a while we want to make it work so let’s hope we contine to host both great guests, old friends, and make plenty of new friends.

Next Blog Posting – Carnaval in La Paz, 2011 – stay tuned

Photo by Hans Klomp – Party, party, party – La Paz Carnaval 2011