Back At La Paz

We made our run to La Paz today and it worked out better than we had hoped.

It was important to complete the journey today because the prediction was for 20-30 knot northerlies beginning at dawn tomorrow and with the weak engine we wanted to avoid departing from San Evaristo and arriving in La Paz in strong winds.

We were up at 5 AM and saw that the wind was from the SE at about 5 knots. That meant a gentle wind on the nose for our exit from the anchorage but we figured that the engine would handle that. At 5.30 AM we started the engine, and again it required the inhalation of WD40 to keep it running until it could sustain itself. We let the engine warm up for 30 minutes and at just after 6 AM we weighed anchor and shot out across the calm waters with no problem at all. Our plan was to motor all of the way to La Paz if possible and that is what we did, We had our periods of 2-3 kt speeds but for most of the day we did over 5 kt, all but the last hour against an apparent headwind of 15-20 knots.

We started taking water over the deck as usual and while Arnold was putting away the toaster wire in the pots & pan cupboard he spotted a hole of maybe 2 mm diameter spurting serious amounts of water into the cupboard. I knew that there was a serious water leak on that side of the cabin but it had never occured to me to look in that small square where there is no ceiling while the boat was under way. This is my obnoxious leak at the moment - the one that had me sleeping in a wet bunk for 3 days on the passage to San Francisco - and Arnold's discovery gives me a good chance to track it source. The prime suspects are 3 deck fittings in the vecinity of the leak. I could not reward Arnold with an extra tot of rum so I bought him dinner instead.

In the late morning we were able to roll out a bit of jib which helped the boat along. The engine ran well and drove the boat superbly but it put out black smoke big time. We made our approach to the beginning of the La Paz Channel just before 3 PM doing more than 6.5 knots. I hailed Peter and Cheryl on VHF 22 to notify them of our approach and advise them to look for a cloud of black smoke headed their way. We kept up the same boat speed up the channel and about an hour later we dropped anchor directly across from the La Paz marina in 6 meters of water, in the general area that Peter and Cheryl Ainsworth had suggested. We must be getting better at anchoring because once again we were pleased with our location and I was not beating myself up over whether maybe I should have gone more this way or that way before dropping the anchor.

We again spoke with Peter and Cheryl on the VHF radio and were invited over to their boat Stolen Kiss about 200 meters south of us for cold beers and nibblies. We spent a pleasant hour chatting in their cockpit and once again I thanked them for standing by ready to tow us had it become necessary.

Arnold and I then headed for the restaurant for a good meal overlooking the marina. Rough fishing villages may be OK for a few days but nothing beats the creature comforts of a modern marina, and wow, is it great to have access to the internet again!

My plan was to hit the deck running in the morning arrange for people to look at the diesel engine and the refrigerator.