June 10, 2022-Kids Achieve Critical Mass

A young girl squealing with delight suddenly leaped from the newly arriving boat and started splashing towards the nearest other boat among the small fleet anchored in Aqua Verde. At the same time a second girl, on the other boat, also squealing with delight, jumped from her boat and started swimming towards the first.

They met in the middle and shrieked and hugged. It was clear that they were happy to see each other.  

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Kids Swarming

This was our introduction to the gathering of cruiser kids, soon to achieve critical mass, which was happening in Aqua Verde.

Before nightfall there were 10 boats anchored in the northern lobe of Aqua Verde and most of them were “kid boats”; boats with kids aboard. They had been travelling around Mexico for weeks and had met at anchorages where they had established many close friendships. What happened when they got together was a joy to watch.

After launching their kayaks and paddle boards they all migrated towards one or the other of the boats. When four or five kids got together things were sort of quiet, but when there got to be about six or more things exploded and invariably there erupted a flurry of gleeful and excited voices and frantic splashing, the sounds of which echoed off the rocks surrounding the anchorage. The gatherings turned into spontaneous water based versions of King of the Mountain.

Aboard Wings the screaming and squealing that echoed off the rock walls surrounding the bay was amazing and we loved it.

One day, on the beach, they had a Pinatta for a girl’s birthday and when the stuffed donkey was finally bashed to the ground the mob just swarmed on it. The adults just backed away. On another occasion they had a scavenger hunt where they had to get clues from each boat in the anchorage, including Wings, and the paddling and squealing as they went from boat to boat seemed like an aquatic Oklahoma Land Rush.

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Judy

When the kid fleet resumed its journey north Wings sailed south, to Isla San Francisco and then on to Evaristo, both favorites of ours, and finally to La Paz. As we neared La Paz we started to encounter a mob of a different kind: Party boats for charter. In each anchorage we were surrounded by large powerboats which came from La Paz for a couple of days or nights loaded with party goers. They were all intent on having a grand time, and we were subjected to loud music, jet skis, and the all night running of gen-sets. Each yacht had uniformed crew as servants and fancy dinners were served on the upper decks to owners and guests who all dressed for the occasion. We watched as plates and trays of food and fine Champaign were carried up and down the yacht’s stairways.

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Isla San Francisco

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Now we’ve made our way to La Paz itself, the home base for all these charter boats. At first it seemed like La Paz hadn’t changed very much from when we first visited here in 1997. The dusty streets were paved over and the small houses replaced by towering condos, but it was recognizable. Now we see that suburbs have popped up and there are shopping malls and more traffic. The marinas have been populated with rows and rows of those big fancy powerboats, and the marinas are full. It is a good thing that we are not looking for a marina berth now, they are all taken. La Paz is absolutely the busiest port we’ve ever been in. The radio traffic from boats to the Port Captain fills the airwaves all day and into the night. But we’re happily anchored out in the Mogate and we can go ashore whenever we want in our dingy. Of course we can’t wash Wings so the grime from three month’s cruising is just accumulating, and the crowds and prices in town seem to be increasing, but we can survive all of these things, and the multitudes of pangas which whizz by each morning and night, as well.

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Parked in Panga Highway

So that is our routine now: Stay anchored in La Paz, or nearby, relax, ignore the hubbub, and fix some boat projects (we could tell you some stories). There has been some socializing, we’ve met some of our cruising friends here and made some new ones, but it’s all been pretty relaxed.

We’ll be back in La Cruz soon.

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Fred & Judy, SV Wings, La Paz

May 15, 2022-Ballandra and Beyond

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Sunset in Ballandra

 

Life on Wings has been as tranquil these days as the Sea of Cortez where we’ve been cruising. We haven’t been worried by storms or rough seas; our anchorages have been calm and, since we completed our frantic race to get here back in April, have been quite pleasant so we haven’t been in a hurry to move from one to another

We’ve been in these waters before, going back more than 20 years, and we know where our favorite bay and harbors are. To those favorite places we have returned this season and when we have glided into their quiet waters we’ve just dropped our anchor and stayed. As always we’ve been awed by the majestic beauty of Baja and the peace and quiet here which surrounds us has invaded our souls and we, in turn, have become peaceful and quiet.

And that is why we came here.

Since arriving we have maintained a gentle routine which has included doing almost nothing other than taking care not to miss our daily naps.

That is not to say that we actually have been doing nothing. We’ve found boat projects to work on and we’ve made trips to town for shopping. We’ve met new friends and, when the mood strikes us, have socialized with other cruisers.

For three weeks we stayed at Caleta Ballandra, on Isla Carmen.  We sun bathed on the beach and attempted to swim in the clear waters but found it too cool. We took a tour in the dingy to another beach, our secret beach, to hike around and explore.  

Then, one day, lacking wind to sail, we motored to another favorite spot, Aqua Verde, and where we sat out a rare for this time of year weather event, a cold northerly. The harbor at Aqua Verde offers protection from northerly winds if you get there early and can find a spot. We did but we shared it with nine other boats that squeezed in after us.

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Roca Solitaria

Neither Ballandra or Aqua Verde have changed much in 22 years. In Ballandra bees are still there and still looking for water but they didn’t bother us much. In Aqua Verde there are still goats, however the lady who runs the El Faro Restaurant there told us there is less water these days and the goat herds are diminished.  We shared with her our fond memories of 25 years ago when we anchored here there were large herds of goats roaming the hillside, and how a farmer put on a banquet of barbequed goat for several cruisers, including ourselves. Her eyes brightened and a smile came to her face and while she crossed herself, she said that it had been her father who often would prepare a feast of goat for the cruisers.

Another big change is WiFi. The little store in Aqua Verde now has a satellite dish and offers WiFi, for a price. Our WiFi antenna can pick it up from where we are anchored. It’s slow, and we have to rotate the antenna when the boat swings, but it works. Back at Ballandra there was no WiFi but we had cell service from Loreto, 9 miles away, so we were able to get Internet there too.

So I guess, besides protection from winds and peace and quiet, we like to stay where we can get Internet.

Times have changed.

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Judy Waits Her Turn at Bache Ball

The next afternoon, after the winds passed from our “wind event”, we went to the beach here at Aqua Verde with several other cruisers and played Bache Ball until it got too dark. A man named Joaquin whose family has occupied that cove for more than 100 years lives in a shelter on the beach as caretaker. Apparently Bache Ball is often played on his well kept stretch of sand and he often must join in because he was clearly the best player amongst all of us.

Judy did OK, but I was the worst. I have never played Bache Ball before.

We are not watching a calendar; we have plenty of time before we need to head back to La Cruz, but we are keeping an eye on our provisions and when they get low we’ll be on the move again, to more beautiful Sea of Cortez sites, and maybe one with a good store.

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Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Mexico