In Mexico

We left the Galapagos with tearful farewells on parting with friends Chris and Dave and started our trip to Mexico. The first week the wind was behind us and we could sail a direct route using the spinnaker but it was slow progress as the winds were light. After the first few nights we settled into a routine and got more used to the sleep deprivation. The seas were calm so it was good for reading lots of books! As we made our way north the winds became more north westerly which meant we had to tack.. There were 2 days of good wind when we crossed the gulf of Tehuantepec (this is an area known for strong winds) but other than that progress was slow and it took us 21 days in all to reach Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. The only excitement we had en route was a flock of Boobies (like gannets) who used our boat as a meeting place and one night a dozen decided to roost on our pushpit. This seemed fun until we had to clear up all their mess the following morning! The trip was 1860 miles direct line but we had to sail 2300 to get there!

We were very relieved to arrive with nothing more than a broken block for which we fortunately had a spare. However, Cabo San Lucas was a big disappointment. It is incredibly built up and touristy. We had gone there as it was supposed to be an easy place to clear in but the office that was supposed to have been created to do this did not exist. The port captain advised us to clear in at La Paz, which is where we were heading, as it was Friday and it would have taken 2 days to clear in at Cabo and they don't work on a weekend!

So we left the next morning and sailed (motored) to a bay called Bahia Los Frailles. This was a lovely bay so we stayed a day and recovered a little from our long trip. Then we moved to Ensenada De Los Muertos and Puerto Ballandra before arriving in La Paz on 25th May. On the way in we radioed our friends Wendy and Bobby who now live there. We had met them in St Martin and saw them a number of times in the Caribbean before we said good-bye in Cartagena so we hadn't seen them since January 2010. It was lovely to see them again and they now also have a delightful dog called Peanut which they found.

We still had to clear into Mexico so our first stop was the immigration office. After queuing we were told we had to fill a form in on line, print it out and then go back. We went to Wendy and Bobby's house to do this which was good because the form was in Spanish. All 4 of us struggled with it and could not fill it in so Bobby asked his neighbour for help. We still failed so headed back to immigration to be told they had directed us to the wrong form. So we had to go away and complete the correct form. After 2 more visits to the office and the officials finally realising we were on a boat not in a car we were cleared in. Fortunately the visit to the port captain was very quick and painless!

We have been in La Paz nearly 4 weeks and are not sure where the time has gone. We had a few boat issues to sort out, the generator had to be repaired again, and we have had a cover made for our dinghy to protect it from the sun a little. Wendy and Bobby have shown us around a lot and we have been sampling the local cuisine. La Paz is a big town and thing are quite spread out so their local knowledge, and their car, have been very useful. We think La Paz should become the 53rd state of the US as there are so many Americans here!

Last week we took Wendy, Bobby and Peanut out sailing (their boat is not in the water at the moment). It was the first time on a boat for Peanut but she took to it very well. We are hopefully going out with them again next week before we leave La Paz. We then need to head up the Sea further to avoid the hurricanes and also to get some swimming in. It is very hot during the day and we need to be able to cool off!