SATURDAY 6TH JANUARY – Underway from La Paz towards Panama.
Well, we finally managed to extricate ourselves from La Paz at 0700 this
morning and are now on our way south. For the month of December we have been
cruising in the Sea of Cortez which is the inside of the Baja California
peninsula and is quite spectacular. The shore is very rugged desert with
lots of cactus and pastel coloured mountains with amazing rock formations.
The sea teams with life – whales, dolphin and fish – and the local Mexicans
are very friendly and helpful. We are sad to be leaving and hope to be back
one day.
As we left the marina we motored into stiff Norhterly head winds, but after
an hour we were able to turn around the point of land and head south. As
soon as we got clear of the bay we set a reefed main and full genoa, shut
down the engine and under sail making over 12 knots. There is a big sea
running on our port quarter but the sun is shining and it is a great day for
sailing.
We have not put out the fishing lines due to the conditions but we are quite
happy to just settle in and get more comfortable before we have to deal with
any monsters from the deep. The forecast is for the wind to go down so we
may as well make the best of it while we can.
If you are interested, Mike the mate on board Timoneer, has set up his own
website with numerous great photos of our travels over the years. You can
check these out on www.usemypics.com There are photos not only from here in
Mexico but also from our summer up in Alaska and previous trips to the San
Blas, Caribbean and the Med.
Our next stop will be at Puesta del Sol Marina in Nicaragua where we intend
to stay for a couple of days to break up the trip down to Panama. From La
Paz to the Panama Canal is 2,300 miles, about the same as crossing the
Atlantic.
All is well on board
PHil
