Away from La Paz

The check out process was sure a lot easier than checking in. It took about 10 minutes and cost $10 less to have Marina de La Paz do the paperwork than if I'd done it myself and walked the ~4 mile round trip to the Capitan de Puerto (again... I figured 4 times was enough!) We made the rounds and said goodbye to new (brief) friends. Just before leaving I purchased a used watermaker (PUR35) from Sumara II. They're loading their boat on a ship (Dockwise transport) for the "easy way" to make the trip back to the northwest. They'd been out cruising for 13 years, and were great to talk to. Too bad our meeting was so brief. We don't really need a watermaker because we can carry 400 gallons of water, but it's going to start getting harder to find water that's easy to get into the tanks... transporting 400 gallons is 5gal. jugs in the dinghy sounds like a long day! If we're making our own, there's no concern about waterborne critters making us sick. Also, 400 gallons of water weighs about 3500lbs, which makes Imagine's waterline settle too low - I should have raised the antifouling paint another 2 inches! We made out way (upwind, of course!) to Isla Espiritu Santo, and are anchored in a little cove at the sound end of the island with Wyndeavor rafted to us. I'd hoped to take a dinghy trip around the south end of the island to try to find a hotspring that is mentioned briefly in Charlies Charts... it doesn't say exactly where it is, just mentions it while describing Punta Bonanza. Unfortunately, we woke up to light rain and overcast skies, so we may just stay hunkered down today and let the kids play together. While walking on the beach last evening I found an intact nautilus shell... one of my "goals" for the trip! Apparently, there is a small island off the north end of Espiritu Santo where you can swim with playful young sealions. We talked to a couple boats that had done it and all said it was a fantastic experience... We'll work our way up there over the next couple of days, then go around the north end and back to Los Frailes to meet up with my sister and her family before heading over to the mainland. -Pete