Baja-o-rama

Hmmm... cruising with a one-year-old doesn't leave a lot of "spare" time - who woulda guessed it? To make up for the paucity of posts from Mexico, here is a parting barrage of pictures (if this dicey wifi connection allows).

While I'm thinking of it, a story from earlier in our trip is in the March issue of Pacific Yachting magazine, so if you're in the Pacific Northwest, pick up a copy.

Alisa's parents had a great visit in La Paz, including a sail in perfect conditions.

Elias got to play with his cousin Kali.

My folks came out for a sail, too. Here Dad steers while Mom navigates.

Dad reading to Elias.

My Mom taught Eli to sing "Row Row Row."

Jamie and Kelly came down from Haines for a week-long sailing/kayaking trip.

The three guys got in some birding time.

Jamie made a big impression; Elias still says "Jamie!" about twenty times a day.

Jamie kayaking...

...and Jamie sailing.

This is the yellowtail tuna that we finally caught, after much effort.

This is the Rose, way back in January, as we were on passage around the southern tip of the Baja.

Elias continues to love to read. He's now more interested in our books than in his own. Field guides are a particular favorite.

Magazines are good, too, though he almost exclusively looks for pictures of dogs and horses. This picture was taken on our first day in a place called Ensenada de Los Muertos, where we ended up spending a LOT of time. (And it's where we are now, anchored up on the start of our trip to the Marquesas.) We had beat against 20-25 knot winds to get to Los Muertos, with lots of water on deck, and a persistant deck leak had soaked these cushions. We finally tracked that leak down when we were in La Paz, and the boat is really starting to feel dry.

This is Los Muertos from above.

We spent a lot of time on the beach at Los Muertos. Check out Eli's wet suit.

Elias loves the beach.

He really loves the beach - he asks to go there every day.

This is the beach on Partida Island where Jamie and Kelly were camped - a great intersection of desert and sea.

The view from the top of Partida, looking over the Sea of Cortez.

Alisa and Elias on the beach.

Cacti...

...cactus.

Pelagic anchored among the cacti.

Trying to seal the mask around the ever-growing beard.

Practicing with the sextant for the ocean passages ahead.

Fast friends, fast. We met Megan and Brian from Nomad and hit it off quickly. They're heading down to Central America this year and are bound for New Zealand in 2009.

And then there were the jobs. I made deadlights (storm windows, basically) for the Pacific crossing.

Alisa racked up big hours on the sewing machine. Here she's making a sun awning for the boat.

Here she's making a wind scoop to bring refreshing breezes below in the stultifying tropics.

Here she's patching the sails for the rigors of tropical squalls and convection cells.

I installed a rebuilt anchor roller.

And went up the stick to check on a few things.

We're not sure who this character was, but he seems to have fixed the wind vane.

That's it!