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 18, 2016-Climbing Isla San Francisco

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Isla San Francisco

Isla San Francisco is popular with cruisers because of its beautiful semicircular bay and great walks ashore.

We anchored there after sailing in company with Alert from Espirito Santo. The bay was gorgeous and we all went swimming in the clear waters. Later we walked across the island and found salt ponds where we picked out large crystals of pure sea salt.

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On top of the Mountain

The next day we organized an outing to climb up to the top of the ridge behind the bay. There were five of us: Judy and I and Anastasiia and her two kids Oliver and Emily. It was a nice hike, and the views were stunning, but my heart stopped when eight year old Oliver ran ahead of me to the top of razor thin ridge which had a 200 foot sheer drop down the other side. I made him sit down and not move until we were all there. From that point onward neither of the kids could stand nor move about unless they were holding one of the adult’s hands, the drop off was just too scary. Maybe it was just me.

We sailed on after that, to the North, but Alert is a “Kid Boat” and they turned back to La Paz to meet up with some other boats with kids aboard. We may see them again next season or maybe not. We’ve been friends with the Alert bunch since La Cruz and we’ll miss them.

Part of cruising seems to be constantly parting with friends.

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Alert

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Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Isla San Francisco