Tuesday in La Paz

View from Perla Hotel

Book Selection at Club Cruceros

Rebuilt Club Cruceros

Malecon Looking Toward City Center

Panoramic of New Slips

I checked out of the hotel room at 12.30 PM and visited the nearby bank to draw out 2,000 pesos.  I then walked to the apartment hastily dumped my luggage then walked to Ken's apartment.  Ken has the end apartment on the top floor, the one that I occupied during my first summer in La Paz and which Brenda will remember well.  I am at the other end of the floor next to the stairs.  On the other side of the stairs is Don.  There is now another American on the floor, which means that if the fifth apartment is empty this is at the moment an all American floor - “piso Americano” Bob called it.

 Ken's door was open and we had a good chat.  He grumbled how the daily walks with Don are getting more difficult but I told him honestly that he is looking real good.  Yes, walking up the hill and up the stairs to the 3rd floor are difficult, but stressing the body to a reasonable degree is a requirement for good health.

Don was out so I then walked a half block to visit Doug at his Snug Harbor Sails loft.  Doug was in and I spent 30 minutes conversing with him and his new assistant Mary.  Doug is one of those people that I simply like being around and it was hard to get away.  Before I left I stated my case very clearly that he should avoid taking his boat around the Horn at all costs when he sails to his ancestral home in Norway.  His boat looks great and it has a wonderful set of sails that he made for it.  However, he confessed that he is not sure of the age of the rigging and I told him that the  passage around the Horn will stress his boat in ways that he cannot imagine.  If he gets into trouble using the Panama Canal route he will be reasonably close to assistance but 1500 miles off the coast of South America his only option may be rescue and abandonment of his boat.  Sure, I had my share of troubles during my passage, but at least Pachuca had been battle hardened by the winter storms of the Southern Ocean and the Tasman Seas, not to mention the horrible gales off the Oregon and California coasts.  Doug would be setting off without those advantages.

I then walked to the Marina de La Paz.  Along the way I had a good look at the new slips built at the “virtual marina” next to the wonderful pink condominium building.  I walked past the school for navy children remembering how cute they had looked in the little sailor's uniforms that they wear.  The first person I saw at the MLP was “Jose the Diver”.  Next to him was “Rafa” the cab driver, and we had a brief chat in which I outlined my adventures round the Horn and my stays in Argentina and Brazil.  Next I visited the marina office where Adriana was at her desk and I had a chat with her and the office manager.  Before I left I complimented Adriana on her “new look” hair, telling her that it was more exciting.

Adriana told me that Neil was in the next door office so  I knocked at the door and soon I was sitting down having a long conversation with him.  I talked about my experiences in Argentina and Brazil as a cruiser which he seemed to find interesting.  I told him that I was about to see the new Club Cruceros club house and I congratulated him on his support for  the project, telling him that I haven't seen any other marina that treats cruising and resident yachts so well.   I asked Neil about using the MLP wireless internet facilities and he printed out all of the information that I will need, then pointed out the locations of the various routers and the option to connect directly instead of by wireless.  I told him that the wireless service in the Bracui marina is so bad that the staff  have to very generously allow me to work in their office.  I then walked over to Club Cruceros and was stunned at the number of books and videos on offer.  The videos must be returned but the books are free for the taking.  The new building is spacious, solidly constructed, and should provide a home for Club Cruceros for many years.

I then walked over to David Miller's boat Questor and found David at home but not presentable since he was stark naked in the heat of his boat.  Mercifully, by the time I entered the cabin he was somewhat clothed and we had a splendid conversation about the wonderful charting, AIS, and weather fax software that he is producing.  I billed it as the beta tester meeting the software creator.  The discussion got a bit technical and he described some of his problems and gave some demonstrations that gave me more insight into his MarinPlotter package. 

On the way out I had a look along to bike rack to see if the folding bicycle that I had sold to Robert was still there.  When I turned away after not finding it I ran into Robert himself and Bruce.  The bicycle was probably in New Zealand by now.  A visiting Kiwi has asked Robert for a loan of the bicycle.  Robert had ridden the bike only a couple of times and offered to sell it to him for the same price that he had paid for it, $50.  The sale was made and who knows, maybe I'll be able to buy it back if I ever visit New Zealand again.  (Just kidding.)

Then Joel the mechanic who had installed my Volvo engine passed by.  I gave an outline of my travels, told him that Pachuca was in Argentina, then assured him that the “volvo motor perfecto”.

I then returned to the apartment and had the first cold shower since, well, since leaving La Paz in November 2011.  I came out of the shower, flipped on the air conditioner, then settled down for a rest.  Just like old times.  It was great to be back.

I met bob at the malecon at 6.30 PM and we walked to the center of town to have dinner at a very elegant and interesting restaurant that he knew about.  Dinner was on him but the next one will definitely be on me.