My second (ever!) time snorkeling at Playa Arbolitas. I’m totally hooked.
We weren’t intending to spend over a week in Bahia Frailes, but I’m glad the North wind pinned and held us there for as long as it did. Otherwise we might not have stuck around and explored this incredible anchorage. The fish were abundant meaning that we ate well and the snorkeling was excellent, there were plenty of places to walk around, and the community of fishermen and RVers were ridiculously friendly.
Our next stop at Bahia de Los Muertos was beautiful, but definitely had a more…how shall I put it…expensive (?) and exclusionary feel, due largely to the Gran Sueno resort and (really sad looking) golf course. The highlight of this stop was clandestinely lounging around this luxurious resort and eventually happening upon a bar where we challenged the friendly but bored bartender/property manager/professional guest welcomer to a couple games of pool.
We reached La Paz mid-month and started trying to integrate ourselves into the very large (sometimes really intimidating, but mostly friendly) cruising community. The transition was not without its challenges. La Paz was a great jumping off point for island exploration and proved also to be a great home base while we did some fairly major engine repairs.
Here’s the quick recap!
18 … nights on the hook
13 … nights at the marina
150 … miles traveled
4 … edible fish Jeff caught at Bahia los Frailes
6 … dead cow carcasses witnessed on our walk to go snorkeling at Playa Arbolitas between Bahia Frailes and Cabo Pulmo
2,200,000 … the asking price, in US dollars, for a five bedroom high-end second-home in Bahia Frailes (being sold by Sotheby’s)
700 … per night charge in US dollars for a private “villa” in Bahia Frailes
0 … guests staying at high-end luxury Gran Sueno (Grand Dream) resort in Bahia de Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead) that is marketed to “discerning” travelers (meaning it’s probably wicked expensive)
6 … loads of laundry when we finally reached La Paz
4 … loads of laundry that were Jeff’s (he has higher standards of cleanliness than I do)
3-4 … the average number of days in between showers when we reached La Paz (all enjoyed with an ice cold beer from the corner store)
1 … number of dinghies purchased at the swap meet in La Paz
3 … total number of dinghies now in our fleet
5 … pesos ($4.50 US), the price of a single beer in Bahia de Los Muertos
100 … pesos ($8 US), the price of a “tower” of draft beer at The Shack (which equals roughly 5 beers)
100 …. pesos ($8 US), the average price of 1.25 liters of our tequila of choice in Mexico, which is delicious and doesn’t give us a headache
3 … the number of open mic nights attended at The Shack (where we enjoyed the tower of beer)
4 … the number of short scenes acted out by the Naked Theater Company in La Paz (their first production!) on our date night
15 … number of Skype dates with friends and family back home
60 … minutes, the average length in time of our skype dates
22 … the VHF channel used to conduct the morning “net” and to hail other boats (one could argue it is the social hub of the boating community here)
6 … number of times we contributed to the morning net
5 … pesos, the “suggested” donation price of coffee at the clubhouse each morning at 9:30
2 … the number of times that coffee organizers reiterated over the morning net that non-payment for coffee is NOT an option
1 … the number of times we attended coffee at the clubhouse (it’s difficult for us to socialize that early in the morning)
8.2 … knots, the max speed we reached while racing aboard SV Scout during the Veleros de Baja race
6.8 … knots, our theoretical max hull speed aboard Serenity (“our warp ten!” says Jeff)
12 … nights we were in La Paz before we needed to “escape” the madness for a little bit
5 … the approximate number of lures we lost while attempting to fish in the dark over craggly rocks at Ensenada Grande in the Sea of Cortez
0.5 … distance in miles from the sea lion colony on Los Islotes when our engine broke down the first time
0.5 … distance in miles from Marina de La Paz when our engine broke down the second time
18 … number of tacks required for us to sail into the La Paz channel
25 … the number of times passersby interrupted Jeff while he was doing work on deck at the marina (most of whom asked about the solar panels or the wind generator or how the engine work was going)
5 … number of major projects accomplished while in La Paz (along with many, many other minor projects)