La Paz, Mexico....Crew arrives from El Norte....minus one bag

Yesterday afternoon the shuttle crew arrived from the north... now the skipper doesn't have to carry on both sides of a conversation by himself.

For my readers that haven’t been introduced to the crew I’ll attempt to remedy that oversight right now…

TJ Stets is a long-time friend from Seattle who’s been bracing for a cruise in the tropics from years. He recently took an early retirement from the FAA where he worked as a wetlands ecologist. Now in his free time he guides white water rafting trips in the Pacific North West. TJ visited the Baja several times before, and recently drove down the Baja with another friend. Anyone who has seen the roads down here knows that it takes a brave soul to navigate the highways of the Baja. That’s just the kind of grit I’m looking for in a crewmember. As I edit this posting at 10:45PM,  TJ is fast asleep, snooring loud enough to raise the dead. I'm tempted to put him into the dingy, so he can drift off a ways while he slumbers, but alas I don't think I could lift him up through the companion way without waking him, so I'll just dig out my ear plugs so I can rest in peace.

Mike Gregory is a sailor from Calgary, Alberta who now keeps his 44-foot Hunter in Blain, Washington. He told me it was getting difficult finding a big enough slip in Calgary,but I think he might have been pulling my leg. I recruited Mike from one of the many sail forums on the internet that sailors use to find crew or boats looking for crew. I was leery about sailing with someone I never met before but with Mike my concerns were not warranted. As I discovered, Mike is easy to get along with, pitches in to help on the boat without being asked and is a real gentleman. Mike is retired from Ryder Truck Company where he worked as a service manager. I learned that Mike is a mechanic by trade, and having that skill set on the boat makes me very happy. Hopefully his skills will not be needed but it’s nice to know that he can help if some mechanical problem arises.

When Mike arrived we learned that some luggage doesn't fly as fast as others, or maybe its just that some luggage gets side tracked talking to other luggage when it should be running across the tarmac to catch the connecting flight. Whatever the reason, Mike's luggage never made it to La Paz. Hopefully Air Canada and Alaska Air can find this missing bag and return it to its owner before we have to leave La Paz. Mike's trying not to worry too much about it, but he's beginning to run out of clean cloths and may be forced to wear some of his boat mates hand-me-downs. So if you notice in future photos that Mike is wearing a pair of baggy shorts or an old Hawaiian shirt with salsa stains you'll know why. We suggested that if his new waredrobe looks shabby enough he may be able to build his cruising kitty by standing on the corner with a cardboard sign that reads something like, "Sailor stranded in La Paz, need money for fast passage to Tahiti and beer". All kidding aside, we're optimistic that Mike will be  reacquainted with his baggage when the next Alaska Airplane lands in La Paz on Saturday.


For our first evening together, I planned nothing but leisure time to get acquainted and for the crew to get the kinks out of their legs after their long flight. After showing them the boat and stowing their gear aboard, we walked about a mile and one half to the Tailhunter Restaurant and Bar for dinner and beer.
We sat on the second floor balcony at the row of tales that faces the street, so we could get a good view of the parade of people walking the Malecon. An ex-pat American was sitting a few chairs from Mike and began to tell us everthing he knew about La Paz. Soon the conversation between the three of us stopped as we couldn't get a word in edgewize. We hope that as soon as he asked for his check he would say good night and disappear into the night. Instead, he slid over to the seat next to Mike so he could more formally join our group. At that point I lost my patience and explained to the fellow that this was our first night together and that we wanted a chnce to talk among ourselves to get to know eachother. Then I wished the stranger a good night and invited him to leave. I was sorry to be so blunt, but I knew if I wasn't he'd dominate our conversation until it was time for us to walk back to the boat.
After the ex-pat left we enjoyed our tacos and beer while we got to know eachother. It was an early night as the crew was tired from travelling, so we returned to the boat and called it a night.

Today, we took another walk to town to exchange US dollars to Pesos and shop for groceries. Like other similar excursions, this took most of the day and we probably walked 4 miles or more. Along the way TJ and Mike took photos of many of the sculptures, we even found one that was perfect for a beginning of the trip photo. I hope you enjoy it and the few other we threw in for good measure…

The Crew of S/V Cool Breez'n posing infront of the sculpture of the "Old Man of the Sea in a Paper Boat", on the Malacon in downtown La Paz.

Horse sculpture made from palm fronds in front of the "Arte Hotel", this is the same horel that has the dead monkey sitting in the from seat of a junked Model T automobile in its out door lobby. Only the very daring would stay at this inn.

   

Dancing hamerhead sharks. There is a seamount near La Paz that is famous for its schools of hammerhead sharks. In the 1970's Capitan Cousteau visited the Sea of Cortez thrilled nature lovers when he filmed the schooliing hammerheads.

Mermaid and dolphin sculpture on the Malecon.