LA PAZ TO PUERTO ESCONDIDO 2025

April 14, 2025
La Paz

We were very nearly out of groceries, so our first mission in La Paz was to reprovision. First, however, we wanted a nice breakfast. It was Sunday, so my usual haunts were closed. I suggested that we go to Super Burro and we headed up Abasolo, but the restaurant appeared to be gone. Passing a sushi restaurant, I noticed a sign advertising breakfast. We turned in and discovered a pleasant patio restaurant featuring breakfast and coffee in the rear. I had some wonderful huevos rancheros and Fred had an immense American breakfast. The restaurant was a little pricey, but the quality and the service were good.

Fred had a list of non-food items that we needed in addition to groceries. We were able to find most of them between the big hardware store on Abasolo and the Farmacia Guadalajara. We spent quite a while at the Chedraui Select, filling two grocery carts with food, drink, and paper products. By 13:00, we were exhausted and glad to call an Uber to ferry us back to the marina. When our driver arrived with a tiny subcompact car, we had our doubts as to whether or not all our purchases would fit. It held more than we had feared and we only had to sit with two bags. Fitting it all in the dinghy was actually more difficult, since the laundry had been closed and the dinghy already contained two large bags of dirty, salty clothes and linens. I had to perch on the bow for our return trip. Fortunately, the seas were calm.

It was a hot afternoon and it took all of our energy to stow our purchases. We spent the remainder of the afternoon napping, lounging, and devouring the fresh sourdough bread we had bought. On our way back from the store, we had passed Super Burro’s new location. We decided to go there for dinner, since it was only a couple of blocks away. John and Lynne decided to join us, When we got to shore, Fred realized that he had forgotten his shoes. He walked barefoot all the way to the restaurant and later over to the malecon to get ice cream at La Fuente.

We had planned to leave on Monday, but were delayed by the laundry being closed. It wasn’t open on Mondays, either. Fred decided to take advantage of the day to shop for a few items for boat projects and fresh vegetables, which had been surprisingly absent from Chedraui Select. I decided to stay on the boat to work on a beading project, listen to podcasts, write, and practice the guitar.

April 17, 2025
Caleta Partida

Cafe Gourmet Frappuccino

Monday night, we stayed in and had chicken thighs and broccoli for dinner. Fred had developed a pain in his groin. We were a little concerned about leaving readily available medical care without knowing what that was about. Tuesday morning, we took our laundry in and then spent time searching for a doctor who could see Fred that day. Finally, he got an appointment for 16:00 that afternoon.

We took an Uber up to the doctor’s office and he examined Fred thoroughly, He couldn’t find anything wrong and eliminated some of the more worrisome possibilities. Ultimately, he decided it was probably a muscle strain and gave Fred some anti-inflammatories. We were scheduled to meet John and Lynne for dinner at 18:30, so we had a couple of hours to kill. We walked downtown, bought a couple of pairs of sunglasses, and then went to the Cafe Gourmet for two-for-one frappuccinos. One was not enough for Fred and he bought a second round. I scraped the whipped cream and chocolate off the second one, but I was still stuffed when we left there to walk to the restaurant.

We had a pleasant evening with John, Lynne, their crew, and Jim from Quincy at Casa Madre. John ordred a few bottles of wine and some pizzas. We weren’t very hungry. I only ate a little salad and one slice of pizza. We weren’t impressed with the food, but it was a nice going away party.

Lounging in the La Paz Anchorage

Edwina departed for La Cruz on Wednesday morning. I had been up until 3:00 after those two frappuccinos and woke again at 4:30, so Wednesday was sort of a lost day for me. I slept most of the afternoon. We went ashore at 15:00 to pick up our laundry and stock up on mineral water from the Oxxo.

Back at the boat, I made salad and green beans while Fred barbecued a couple of filets. We both thoroughly enjoyed the steaks. We even had chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Thursday morning, we hauled up the anchor a little after 9:00 and motored down the channel. Little wind was forecast, but we found enough wind to sail by the time we exited the channel. We set off for Caleta Partida after taking down the awning and raising the sails. We managed to sail until 15:00 when the wind died. We were just about to take down the head sail when I saw a wind line ahead. Suddenly, the wind filled in from the west and we sailed for another hour.

Sailing to Isla Partida

The wind finally died about 16:00 and we dropped the jib and motored toward the anchorage. Once again, the wind filled in from a different direction and we had a nearly 20 knot norther as we approached the anchorage. It was challenging to drop the main in that wind while maneuvering through a crowded anchorage. We folded the main and got the hook down.

A spring had broken on our wind vane and we spent a couple of hours fixing that and munching on guacamole and chips. I wasn’t free to make dinner until 20:00 and then we just had smoked pork chops and spinach. Fred worked on the wind vane some more after dinner and proclaimed it ready to go the following day. I did dishes and then settled down to write a bit before bed.

April 18, 2025
Caleta Partida

It was very calm when we woke up. Weather models differed as to whether or not there would be enough wind to sail to San Evaristo, but they all agreed that there would be more wind the next day. Not liking to motor and feeling like he needed more time to work on his boat, Fred decided to spend the day in Caleta Partida.

Sunrise in Caleta Partida

After breakfast, we reinstalled the rudder on the wind vane. Then I practiced the guitar while Fred found and repaired a leak in his dinghy floor. After lunch, he repaired the computer shelf he had broken during our rough crossing and then started on installing a more efficient power supply for the Starlink.

I spent the day working on a beading project, reading, and writing. We never saw any wind, all day. Staying at the island had probably been a good choice, as crowded as it was in the anchorage.

April 21, 2025
Agua Verde

The Caleta Partida Anchorage

We pulled up the anchor to head for San Evaristo about 9:30 on Saturday morning. While there was slightly more breeze than the day before, we still did not have enough wind to sail during the morning. We motored towards Isla San Francisco while a seemingly endless parade of (probably charter) catamarans passed us going the other direction.

Sailing to San Evaristo

The wind came up as we passed Isla San Francisco about 14:30 and we began tacking up the San Jose channel. We charged along with 18 to 20 knots of wind except when we sailed into a hole behind the rocks north of Isla San Francisco. We careened into San Evaristo in 20 knots of breeze, hurriedly dropped the sails, and coasted to our spot in the north lobe of the anchorage before 19:00. It had been an awesome afternoon of sailing.

The wind continued to howl at 20 knots all night, but we were safely tucked behind a wall of stone. It was calm in the anchorage though the wind blew overhead.

Anchored in San Evaristo

The wind had not blown itself out by Sunday morning. We had been having a little trouble starting the engine from the cockpit. By Sunday morning, the corrosion on the starter terminal had reached the point where even the backup starter button in the engine compartment wasn’t working. Fred futzed with it. He could start the motor by jumping it with a screw driver, but we knew that wasn’t going to fly if we needed to start the motor in a hurry. He got it working, although it was obvious that the starter terminal needed more attention. Then, we tried to pump the bilge and realized that the bilge pump was weak. We spent an hour or so cleaning gunk out of the pump and hoses. We also removed the set screws on the prop shaft that had been working loose every day and reinserted them using blue Loctite. Hoping that would keep them in place more permanently. These projects resulted in delaying our departure until 11:30. We had a long way to go to reach Agua Verde, not wanting to try to anchor at Puerto El Gato in strong offshore winds.

Leaving San Evaristo

We had good wind for the first few hours of our trip. We continued tacking up the San Jose Channel, seeming to be lifted on both tacks. Unfortunately, the wind quit about the time we reached the tip of Isla San Jose and we had to drop the jib and begin motoring. We were nervous about motoring long distances because, while we hoped we had corrected the problem with the set screws on the prop shaft, the prop was still behaving oddly and shuddered horribly when we started up. More disturbing, it would occasionally start thumping all of a sudden, although it always stopped.

Fred at the Helm

We motored uneventfully until it got dark. My watch began at 21:00. Just prior to that, Fred started having difficulty with the autopilot cutting out. The situation deteriorated when I took over until, by 21:30, I was having to hand steer while Fred worked to replace the autopilot with the spare. Unfortunately, the spare (which had tested fine at the dock) didn’t work at all. It was pitch dark outside. Wings uses Open CPN for navigation and the computer is below deck. Fred had downloaded a course to his tablet, but it was so bright that it completely blinded me. I couldn’t look at it. I didn’t want my phone back by the tiller where there was no secure place to put it, so it was hard to use Navionics. We located Agua Verde by Fred looking at the computer and telling me which heading to steer.

Finally, we saw the lights of the anchored boats and were able to steer for those, only watching the chart to be sure we missed the reef. Fred’s preferred spot in the north lobe of the bay was packed with twelve boats and we didn’t want to cruise in there in the pitch dark. We anchored in rather deep water off the beach in front of the restaurants. It was nearly midnight by the time we got the hook down. We were rolling badly and something was making a terrible racket in the stern of the boat, but we were thankful to have made it without losing the drive train or running aground.

Despite having been up until 3:00, Fred was up and working on the autopilot by 7:00 on Monday morning. I wanted nothing so much as to roll over and go back to sleep, but he made so much noise that I had no choice but to get up. I hoped that coffee would improve my attitude.

The Broken Autopilot Connector

With the leisure to test the autopilots with the boat anchored, Fred determined that the problem was the connector that supplied power to the motor. Unfortunately, while attempting to clean the corrosion off the connector, it pulled out of the deck of the boat. He attempted to affix it with larger screws, but only shattered the plastic of the connector. Replacing the connector entirely solved the electrical problem.

Wings' Engine

Next, we removed the engine cover. We were happy to discover that the set screws had stayed firmly in place. Fred inspected the transmission linkage and found no problem there. He already knew the cutlass bearing was a bit wobbly, but that would have to wait for the next haul-out. He tightened the packing gland a little and then tested the drive train. Everything seemed to be working. Fred’s conclusion was that the folding propeller blades were worn and didn’t always open evenly when they should and would sometimes close partially when hit by a wave, resulting in temporary thumping until they fell back into place. We relaxed a bit.

The Anchorage at Agua Verde

As the morning wore on, several boats left the anchorage and we were able to tuck into the north lobe with better protection from northerly winds. As there was no wind forecast for the day, we elected to remain in Agua Verde. I posted a blog entry and wrote while Fred resumed working on the new power supply for the Starlink. It was warm and we put up the awning. After our harrowing arrival, it was nice to bask in the sun in Agua Verde, a favorite spot for both of us.

Sunset in Agua Verde

I made chicken in green mole over rice for dinner and we enjoyed a quiet evening.







April 24, 2025
Puerto Escondido

Leaving Agua Verde

Knowing we were going to have to motor to Puerto Escondido, we had no need to wait for the wind to come up. We hauled up the anchor about 9:00 and headed out of the bay, past Roca Solitaria and north towards Puerto Escondido. We didn’t even bother to take down the awning. It would have been a relaxing day if it were not from the strange noises emanating from the drive train. Still we made it as far as the Waiting Room outside of Puerto Escondido and dropped the hook there about 15:30.

Anchored in the Waiting Room

For many years now, anchoring has not been allowed in the Waiting Room. This irritated Fred and, the previous year, he had discussed the matter with the port captain. The port captain told him that the marina could not prevent him from anchoring there and he had anchored there in 2024. We had barely had time to relax after anchoring when the harbormaster from Puerto Escondido pulled up in his runabout to tell us that we couldn’t anchor there. Fred haggled with him and told him (truthfully) that we were having trouble with our transmission and couldn’t go any further (more true than we knew.) The harbormaster then tried to charge us the cost of a mooring ball to anchor there. Fred continued to argue with him. Finally, he required us to check into the marina, but agreed to let us stay one night for free. According to the harbormaster, the marina had received a concession for the Waiting Room and intended to put mooring balls there. This would have been more believable if the existing mooring balls all had working pennants and the current mooring area was more than half covered by mooring balls. Still, they were serious about preventing boats from anchoring for free.

New Slips in the Ellipse

The ellipse, which once was also an anchorage, was finally being filled with large slips, almost entirely tenanted by expensive sport fishing boats. Additional slips were under construction.

We went ashore for dinner at the restaurant. I had a pizza and Fred ordered a hamburger. We indulged in excellent margaritas. We had been entirely too virtuous when we provisioned the boat and had only bought one package of cookies. We were both craving sugar. After dinner, we went to the convenience store and I spent 340 pesos (about $17) for a pint of ice cream and some cookies. The price was outrageous, but we enjoyed them immensely. The ride back to the waiting room wasn’t any further than the dinghy ride to one of the moorings.

Stalled Outside Puerto Escondido

We had promised to leave the Waiting Room on Wednesday morning. We got up and began preparing to depart for Isla Carmen. We pulled up the anchor and quickly determined that we had no propulsion in either forward or reverse. Fortunately, it was quite calm. We had to launch the dinghy and use the outboard (firing on only one cylinder at that point) to slowly push Wings into the mooring field. It seemed to take forever. It was somewhat difficult to steer at such a slow speed, but we made it through the entrance channel and eventually found an unoccupied mooring ball.

Picking up a mooring is never simple because the helmsman cannot see the ball once he or she gets close to it. We envisioned this taking several tries, but Fred managed to grab it from his position in the dinghy on the second pass. I took the pennant and ran forward with just enough length to secure it to the bow of the boat before we drifted away. We were very relieved to be secured.

Disconnected Prop Shaft

Fred was imagining having to haul the boat and call a mechanic to repair the transmission, but he decided to take a look at it first. We pulled off the engine cover and discovered that the propeller shaft had pulled completely out of the transmission. The one set screw that had never moved had not moved because it was too short to reach the shaft. The other screws had worn a groove around the prop shaft, making it hard to attach the flange to the shaft. Fred spent a few hours grinding the set screws (all the same length, now) to points and grinding divots into the shaft to receive the screws. When he finally put it all back together, the shaft turned. We were back in business.

Once the boat was repaired, we went to the marina office to pay, ordered a rental car for the next day, and had a beer with our friends Chris and Alexandra. Then we returned to the boat where Fred reattached the wire in the outboard so that it could once again run on two cyninders. By the time I cooked pork chops, beans, and zucchini for dinner, we felt we had had a productive day.

We had a lot of errands to do on Thursday. We picked up the rental car a little before 10:00 and headed to Loreto, stopping to fill our propane bottle along the way. Our next stop was the liquor store for whiskey and decent red wine. We stopped into a bakery, but missed the sourdough bread. Fortunately, we were able to buy my favorite tortilla chips at the Tortilleria Dulce. Then we went to try to buy a park pass for the islands. A ranger had stopped by the boat in Caleta Partida to check our pass, but had let us slide. We finally found the correct place to get the pass, but they would only accept online payments and the website would not accept any of our American credit cards. I had experienced this, before, when I had tried to buy a pass online. Fred finally gave up and we went to find lunch.

We ate lunch at El Zopilote Brewing Company on the plaza in Loreto. Fred enjoyed a glass of their stout and we were both thrilled with our food. I had a wilted lettuce salad with bacon and pecans and a pork belly taco with ginger sauce and sesame seeds. Fred had a pork belly taco and a New York Steak taco. Everything was excellent.

After lunch, we went in search of a roast chicken for dinner and drove around Loreto for quite a while until we round the one place that was open. Then we went grocery shopping, calling at both El Pescador and Ley before we found what we needed. Produce was in short supply and rather sad. We didn’t find any decent bananas until we got back to Puerto Escondido. We returned the car and ferried all our shopping out to Wings. We stowed the food and then settled down to write while we ran the engine to charge the batteries. Our solar panels worked well, but we ate up a lot of power by running Starlink. Dinner would be roast chicken with sourdough bread that Fred bought at the store in Puerto Escondido when he went to drop off the car keys.

Dawn in Puerto Escondido

Slips Under Construction in the Ellipse