We arrived back in La Paz on December 10, 2020. Just as we entered the long approach to the marina, the autopilot bolt sheared off again while I was at the helm, just as before. Luckily, hand steering with minimal wind, swell, and current made for a much less stressful situation this time around. Arriving in La Paz triggered the normal marina routine of cleaning the boat and running errands, but this time in more heat and humidity. Just as Connor finished scrubbing the outside of the boat, it started to pour rain. We waited out the storm and then left to anchor outside the marina once Eitan returned from his errands. We celebrated one last night in La Paz by eating at our favorite local spot called Super Burro and enjoyed hot showers at the marina.
The following day, our package of boat parts, that Eitan shipped from San Diego, was scheduled to arrive in La Paz “between sunrise and sunset”. We spent the day preparing to leave La Paz and cross the Sea of Cortez for mainland Mexico as soon as we receive our package. We continued with the final provisioning and small boat projects while we waited for the package. At sunset, the shipping company stopped answering our phone calls and it became apparent that we are not leaving La Paz. On Saturday morning, the next day, Eitan was able to get ahold of someone who said the package might show up on the Tuesday truck. More than just a little irritated, Eitan asked “What do you mean might show up?” and received the response “It’s Mexico… what do you expect?”. Ay caramba!
Despite having invested a tidy sum of money on parts, delivery, and import fees, Eitan kept his cool and refocused his attention on smaller boat projects that could be accomplished over the next four days. Since we were all itching to get out of La Paz, we decided to sneak up to a smaller bay to the north to spend a few nights and landed in Bahia Pichilinque. Eitan had picked up parts to replace the macerator pump which pumps the sewage out of the boat, literally a shitty job. Unfortunately, after the old motor was removed there was an issue with the new motor that left us with no way of emptying the tank until we got back to the dock. Given our current toilet use, the blackwater holding tank fills about every other day and since there is no sensor on the tank, the only way to tell when the tank is full is when things start to stink. Although this isn’t an ideal situation, if you are feeling gassy you can always blame the smell on the holding tank! We headed back to La Paz to wait for our package and luckily received a call on Tuesday night that it had arrived. Once Connor and Abbey returned with the goods, we prepared to depart that night for the 60-hour passage across the Sea of Cortez.
Would it be possible to translate your website into spanish because i have difficulties of speaking to english, and as there are not many pictures on your website i would like to read more of what you are writting .