Orca Update #8, La Paz, Mexico:

Good afternoon,

Another couple of days in La Paz took care of most of our shopping. Our alcohol stove is always a challenge to fill; this time we found “alcohol industrial” in used salsa jars at the local hardware store, at half of US prices. We bought every bottle they had.

The local grocery store, “CCC”, always seems to be about as crowded as Trader Joe's and Costco the day before the Superbowl andThanksgiving all combined. You have to be aggressive to even catch a glimpse of the shelves, and competition for produce is intense. Tortillas miraculously appear out the end of a 10 foot high, 15 foot long, 6 foot deep Rube Goldberg super-duper tortilla making machine at the rate of five a second; flame spits towards a charred spot on the ceiling. Various minions scurry around the collosus adding corn flour, water, and oil. The cost of a kilo of tortillas? 60 cents, and they are always hot off the press.

Once you gain the parking lot, you find yourself at a distinct disadvantage. It seems that no Mexican architect ever thought anyone would be stupid enough to try to walk; everyone owns a car. The sidewalks look more like obstacle courses; a set of stairs with 3 feet between steps is common, low hanging branches, trenches, pits, debris and tripwires are to be expected. Cross walks, stop signs, and stop lights? Not a chance; they may be there, but they're unenforced. Everyone rolls through at 20 kmph, you have to hit it at at least 40 to alert the police.

One other interesting thing we've encountered comes up when talking to drunk sailors; half say La Paz is the best place in the world, the other half think it's sheer hell. We've found this all over; people who have committed to a place try to convince themselves by persuading others that they have planted their lives in the best place on the planet. The other half, people who plan to leave, think they can find somewhere better and try to persuade everyone that they are smart to leave. We've decided that that there is no way to figure out where the best is until we've seen them all--we can always go back later.

So, after another day in La Paz we decided it was time for our Sea of Cortez adventure. We snuck out at dawn, weaving out through the anchored boats quietly under sail. We ran down the long, deceiving channel (the channel is 3 miles long and guarded by a nearly invisible sandbar which is about all of about 2 feet deep) and set a course for Espiritu Santu, a nearby island notorious for its crystal clear water and rugged beauty. The wind was light and variable, and, true to form, we averaged 2 knots under all the canvas we could pile on. We tried to jig up some baitfish on our small 15lb test rig to spice up the passage but the only thing we were able to catch was...a big shark! The line smoked out and we panicked. Before we could start to reel in the line went slack and the 6 foot shark leapt out of the water right next to Orca. Since we had our weak little bait rig out we lost the beast, but it was exciting,

We stumbled onto a beautiful anchorage called Ensenada Grande at the very end of Isla Partida, one of the two islands that are generally referred to as Espiritu Santu. The water was crystal clear and the weather was perfect. We decided that we would never leave. We dove overboard to change the zincs and scrub Orca's hull, but found that the algae we freed attracted number of puffer fish. At first, one or two would appear; very cute. 5 minutes later, surrounded by a hundred or more of the pesky scavengers, we would scamper back up intoOrca with the hebbie jeebies.

Instead, we worked on the dingy, safely on the beach drinking beer, and had cocktail hour with other boats that stopped in our anchorage. We snorkeled and speared a good sized triggerfish that was quickly transformed into tasty ceviche. We met some beach campers who were somehow, for some reason, simultaneously circumnavigating the island by kayak while doing yoga—or something like that.

When it was time to leave, a week later, we again ghosted along at two knots. We tried to fish, we really did, but we caught nothing at that speed. Back at La Paz, we ran into some friends we met at Ensenada Grande that motored at 5 knots; they caught 2 beautiful dorado on the way back.

We've since realized that its time to start the next stage of our adventure. This is a decision point for us; hurricane season for Mexicoand the rest of the tropical N Pacific, is fast approaching. There are two courses available: go North, deeper into the Sea of Cortez to ride out hurricane season, or leave Mexico, and the northern hemisphere entirely.

We've decided to continue to the South Pacific. This will be Orca's first blue water passage: at least a month at sea, a thousand miles from land. We've stowed 40 lbs of potatoes, 30 lbs of onions, a shopping cart load of canned goods, spare parts for all crucial systems, 700 lbs of drinking water, and 50 lbs of flour, rice, and noodles. Enough fresh veggies to hold out a week or two, maybe three, 'till they go bad. All together, we estimate Orca is toting 2,000 lbs of extra gear and supplies, and it shows; she's way down on her lines. We'll move back down to Cabo San Lucas, the most southern point of Baja, to fill out paperwork and top off our water and fuel tanks before setting sail for the Marquesas.

I doubt we'll have the chance to send another email before we leave, so don't worry if you don't hear from us for a month or two!

-J&K