LIVING ON THE HOOK IN LA PAZ

Yes, we have been out in the harbor for over a week now and are beginning to feel rather comfortable. Being only a dingy away from the dock is great as we motor back and forth whenever we need something even if it is just a social time. There is no shortage of that here as there are many, many cruisers, and ex-cruisers that visit and re-visit this area. This seems to be a very popular location probably because it is very nice weather wise, not overly commercialized and is populated by a very welcoming Mexican community. The cruiser presence is very strong and well organized but not cliquey. They are very involved in the community and are well received.

The "Net" which airs every morning on the VHF introduces you to the area and provides all the information that you need while directing you to the Club Cruisero. Membership there is very dear—one hundred pesos per year-which gives you access to book trades, DVD borrowing, service information, weather reports and social calendars………….lots of great folks who have been cruising and or have moved here-some year around some for the winter. The network is amazing and very genuine. As an example there was a craft fair and swap meet on Sunday, coffee time every morning, a ladies group called SASS—which translates into Sisters at Sea Surviving……………..great time there today as we had lunch and heard each other's stories. Very encouraging for me as some of these ladies have been living on their boats for years and years and all started where I am. Picked up a few pointers and another handful of "boat" cards with emails………….the list is growing.

We have also made use of the laundry service; the Captain blessing me with this gift was a great treat as I have been doing the laundry by hand! The Internet is not very consistent so have gone up to a café a couple of times. If you buy a coffee you get 15 minutes of free time…………so I download your emails and take them back to the boat to read. Thanks all of you for emailing—it is great to see your names and hear your news. Thank you so much for the pictures Sophie………..Stella is so beautiful. I hope to do a Christmas letter next week when I have moved to a better reception. There are many little shops' to check out and after awhile it is the type of thing you get your fill of. We did make a few trips to the big market and will do so one more time before we leave. This is always such an adventure as everything is written in Spanish and products are somewhat different. For example the other day, this young lady was chopping away at some cactus………..she offered me a taste and I tasted and as they say …..it was good. So, now we sprinkle some on our salads after marinating in lemon. Very tasty. Use a lot of cilantro and lime, lots of tomatoes, avocado, salsa, and yes beans and rice along with our choice of meats. I opened up a can of what I thought was green peas to find chick peas……………they were good, greener than what I am used to back home and smaller. The milk is very rich here and I have not found a skim milk yet. The yogurt is sweeter and the bread yellower and sweeter as well.

The little faith community that we visited on Sunday is also very involved in the community. Called Cross Roads it is basically a gathering of 12 constant folks with up to 100 other folks coming and going; some are transient like ourselves with others go back home in the summer. It is amazing at how much they get involved in with such small numbers. Some of the projects include the orphanage, and the women's shelter. Being the Christmas season of course there have been many parties. The main project is feeding over 200 children breakfast so that they can stay awake while in school!!!! There were a few Mexican folks but mostly we were from out of the country. The music was great and we so enjoyed seeing some young Mexican teens involved. Please pray for them all as money is so tight for everyone these days never mind hurricanes, swine flues and just plain living.

Today was Thursday, December 16^th already; Kristen, from S/V Nautilus and I are got to get together to do a little Christmas baking. The boys are thrilled. Her and I have been spending a lot of time together and are becoming rather good buddies. To date I have done some cleaning as well as decorating and have obtained the ham and gouda cheese for our Swedish Christmas dinner as well as have made the meatballs and red cabbage. Claes came home with some prawns so I have just finished pickling them for the Christmas feast. Hmmm cant wait. Sure hope we can find someone to share this with as we will be back at Los Muretos which is a pretty small place. Usually there are a lot of boats anchored there.

We purchased an excellent book about cruising in the Sea of Cortez so that has become Claes Christmas present………..Tanya I had mentioned that to you so please do not buy him one!!!!! We plan on leaving here, La Paz early Monday morning to make our way back to Los Muretos—which is about 50 miles from here. We will hang out there leaving for San Jose del Cabos Christmas Day………….where we will gather with Pippa and David, Judy and Denise, our friends from home…………..for a week of fun and visits. That will be our Christmas present to each other as we will be staying in a marina.

The plan then is to leave for Mazatlan after New Years, The Lord willing of course!!! I have recently made contact with a niece, Yavona Bedard who is living in Mazatlan so am looking forward to spending some time with here and meeting her family, including her son. As well we have friends Brent and Donna there.

All is well here as another day comes to an end in the beautiful Sea of Cortez. The weather is nice with temps of 82 during the day and 56 at night. It remains a little windy but nothing that we can not handle here in the harbor. It is suppose to be calmer by Saturday. Claes has a cold and is under the weather so I am playing nurse……………I will now sign off to go feed him some soup.

When I get a good solid connection I will post this so until later………….have a great day! Don't get tangled in the tinsel!

 

Wishing you a happy Santa Lucia Day we will say good night.

 

Lue and Claes on The Whiteshell II with Joey the Kat as crew