Feliz Año!

We said adios to 2024 in style in La Paz, playing beach games in the afternoon and watching fireworks at midnight on the bow with friends while toasting with a glass of Espuma de Mar prosecco. On New Years Day we hiked with sailing friends from Playa Tecolote to Playa Balandra with sweeping views of the mountains, islands, and beaches, and went for a refreshing dip in the sea after a picnic lunch. We spent a little over two weeks enjoying the city of La Paz during the holidays. So many wonderful restaurants, a few museums, and city life kept us busy. We met up with sailing friends, and with Seattle friends whose vacation plans crossed paths with us. We anchored in the bay for a little over a week, then spent the last week in a marina. It was our first marina stay since leaving Ensenada almost 2 months prior. I’d almost forgotten how luxurious a land shower can be! We had some work done on our gas dinghy motor (more on that later) and had protective Sunbrella chaps made for our dinghy to extend its life. We also had our laundry done, went to the dentist, washed the boat, polished the stainless steel, and loaded up on provisions to keep us well fed for the next 3 weeks as we island hop our way north.

While anchored in La Paz, we organized with a dive guide to pick us up in their dive boat so we could join their group diving at Los Islotes. Los Islotes is a protected island within the Isla Espiritu Santo National Park. Only permitted boat operators can enter the water around the island and the park limits the number of boats each day to protect the sea lion colony that lives there. We had an unforgettable dive with the sea lions. The pups were very curious and swam right up to us and to the snorkellers above to see just how chewy our arms and fins were. I think everyone in our group received at least one nip from a pup. A juvenile male was also very interested in Kris and her snorkel. She ended up twirling around underwater with the sea lion gently gnawing on her snorkel for 4 or 5 minutes. Both of us generally do not touch anything underwater. However given the extremely close proximity, and the sea lion’s choice to be that close to Kris, she decided it was ok to reach out and lightly pet the sea lion. You’ll see all of this from Mark’s perspective in his video below. From Kris’s perspective, it was magical. She was in awe throughout, feeling so lucky that it chose her to dance with! Afterwards our dive guide said she was quite nervous for Kris because larger sea lions, especially males, can be dangerous and she had never seen one approach a diver and stay with them for so long. Pick your perspective!

Today we’re in Caleta Lobos. We had intended to head up to Isla Espiritu Santo straight from La Paz, but the weather dictated otherwise. We’re hoping this is a short stopover and we can continue back north to Isla Espiritu Santo for more diving later this week. The New Year also marked our 6-month anniversary for full-time cruising. It’s been an extraordinary and incomparable journey so far, and we can’t wait to see what the next 6 months brings us.

Next Stops: Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Partida, Isla San Francisco