Preparing for visitors

Arriving at Bahia Falsa Oct 25, we have about a week to do some boat projects and get ready for our guest, Ray & Mary, arriving Nov1. First was cleaning the bottom of the boat which took about two hours over two days. I was really pleased to see how little growth was on the boat. Just some algae and 4 or 5 barnacles. There have been times when I had to remove hundreds of barnacles.

We took the dinghy to Playa Tesoro and found that the restaurant would not be open until noon (it was before 10am) so we went into town, getting a ride from Dennis, an American who now lives in La Paz. Very nice guy who drove us around quite a bit over the next few days. On the 27th he took us out to Techalote (end of the road past Bahia Balandra) where we had lunch at one of his favorite places.

In La Paz we found Tienda del Jardin, a store that had a great assortment of herbs, seeds and other things we needed.

We had a great evening with friends Colin & Julian at Capuchino Cafe, where there was a live band and more cruising sailors to meet.

Capuchino Cafe

The cafe is vegetarian so we came back a few days later for a good dinner as well.

Oct30 we moved a few miles to Bahia Balandra, a favorite tourist place due to the great snorkeling. 

Bahia Balandra
An abundance of fish
Large ‘aggregations’ of fish everywhere

I call this an ‘aggregation’ vs a ‘school’ because a school has to be all the same kind of fish.

A couple of Trumpetfish (note the long thin tail to compare with next photo)
Trumpetfish with a bite taken out of his tail
A Rainbow Wrasse and a small juvenile Damselfish
A very big Pufferfish – over 2 ft long!
King Angelfish
Balandra has some very nice coral
Watch as this Trumpetfish changes from ‘banded’ to …
… unbanded. Took about 10 seconds.

Oct31 we motored in to Marina Cortez in La Paz, washed down the boat and went into town for provisions. Then out to anchor in the bay (none of the marinas had space for us overnight!). We were welcomed by dolphins on our way into the bay.

Nov1 & 2 are important days in Mexico, the celebration of ‘Dia de los Muertos’, the ‘Day of the Dead’. Traditionally it is a time where people remember those who have passed, with Nov1 for children and Nov2 for adults.

One of many displays (sorry for the rotation)

Nowadays it has been somewhat combined with Halloween from the US, with costumes and parties. 

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