I arrived in La Paz a little over a week ago and it has fully been living up to its name (La Paz means "The Peace" in english).

My exit from Cabo happened to coincide with the passage of some substantial storm systems and I ran into one that really got the Rascal rocking and rolling.  It came on fast, but I managed to get my sails reefed in time and the Rascal came out a little damp, but relatively unharmed.

The rest of the trip up the coast was uneventful and I took my time, exploring bays and beaches as I sailed along.

Since I arrived in the La Paz area, I've spent the vast majority of my time relaxing.  Some days I do nothing but read my book.  I don't think I've ever been so relaxed in my life.  I've got no schedules to hit, no weather windows to worry about, and no job to show up to in the morning.

It is outrageously hot here.  High nineties or triple digits every day.  There is no escaping such frightful temperatures on the Rascal, but typically there is a light breeze blowing and I installed a couple of fans to help cool things off in the evening.  The sea is always just a dive away.

I've explored a bunch of the bays and coves along the coast between La Paz and Cabo, but for the most part I've been anchored close to the city.  Its nice to be able to row to shore and pick up a bag of ice or a delicious taco from one of the street vendors.

I have a handful of boat maintenance things to accomplish here in La Paz before I head north, the most important being the setup and install of my solar system.  I've been exploring around town a bunch as well, searching for good markets and picking up more fishing supplies.  

There is a very helpful crew of voyagers around La Paz during the summer and they run a morning radio broadcast where you can get weather info, ask about various local shops, and trade equipment if needed.  They put together a 4th of July party on a beach a couple miles outside of town and it was awesome to meet the dozen-or-so boats that came out for it.  I made a mean pulled-pork chili that wasn't too shabby if I do say so myself.

A friend of mine is visiting this weekend and after that, I'll probably work my way further up the Sea of Cortez.  I'm eager to explore new anchorages and get back into deep water where the big fish are!

I’ve been lucky to have lots of visitors in the past few weeks.

Wade!
Wade grew up in the back woods of Montana, earning his keep as a fly fishing guide and skiing all winter.  He has been attending Law School in Missoula for the past few years, and the second he walked up the dock, I could tell it had changed him.  Wade the country boy had disappeared and in his place was First Mate Fellin, looking like he popped straight out of a yacht club.

I couldn’t let him out-class me on my own yacht, so I decided to step up my game a little bit, as well.

We sailed out to Cypress Island and lucked out with some strong wind and a quick run.  We anchored up in a little sheltered bay and enjoyed an incredible dinner of wild Alaskan salmon we bought from a local fisherman, elk steaks courtesy of Wade’s hunting trip this past fall, and pasta with nettle pesto we made from scratch!  Delicious!

The trip home was against a burly 3.5 knot current for much of the way and it was a bit of a struggle to make headway at times.  That said, we were lucky enough to be surrounded by porpoises for much of the trip and they circled us for quite some time like we were a merry-go-round.

The weather held out the following day and we made a trip up to Baker to partake in some spring corn skiing.  Fun was had by all.  Heck, we might’ve even enjoyed a few Rahn-yays. 

My Folks!
I’ve been bugging my folks for quite a while to come out and see the boat and they finally made the trek this past weekend. 

We completed a pretty incredible tour of farmers markets from Seattle up to Bellingham on the morning they first arrived and we picked up some killer produce, dairy, and local, grass-fed beef.  We had lots of fun carousing that afternoon and we went out to a big meal in town, followed by a pretty serious game of cribbage that lasted into the wee hours.  The following morning, the weather looked good, so we sailed out into the San Juan’s to anchor up for the night.  We put all of our delicious farmer’s market food to good use that evening and I think everyone slept like a log.

We wanted a change of scenery for breakfast, so we sailed over to Wildcat Cove and anchored just off of the venerable “Whiskey Rock”.  Some breakfast sausage, sharp cheddar, and early morning sunshine rounded out the scene and we were all pretty content.  Sadly, the time had come for my Dad to head back to work, so we shuttled him back down to Seattle.

My madre was able to stick around for a few days, and she was eager to help me tackle projects.  We ran a multitude of errands and managed to accomplish a lot of provisioning as well.  The most important accomplishment, however, was the final commissioning of Wendy the wind vane.  I had heard that they can be finicky to get dialed in, but she must’ve been eager for sea time, because she was steering beautifully the second I hooked her up.  Yahoo!  

My mom was kind enough to drive the truck back to Wyoming for me, so now I’m officially 100% moved onto the boat.

Jesse!
Jesse recently quit his job as well and he has been doing some traveling around of his own.  He was kind enough to put me up when I was moving through San Fran and I was excited to try and repay the favor.  We fired up the engines as soon as he arrived and charged off across the bay to a snug little anchorage out of the breeze.  It was a fierce wind we were working against the whole time, but Wendy the wind vane kept us on course and we arrived in good style with the beer locker a touch emptier than when we had first started.  As soon as we pulled up, we saw a bald eagle hunting by a waterfall in the bay.  We both agreed that the only thing that would've made the scene more American was if the eagle had been wearing jorts.  I suppose evolution will catch up some day.  

A fisherman pulled into our anchorage for the night and we tried to persuade him to sell us a crab or two, but I guess the heavy hand of Johnny Law persuaded him otherwise.  We managed to drown our sorrows effectively, however.

The Future!
I’ve been slowly putting the finishing touches on boat projects and it looks like she’s nearly ready to take to the sea.  I’m planning to depart next weekend, on my birthday, April 20th, to begin the journey southward.  I’ll be slowly bouncing my way down the coast, taking my time and being flexible with weather windows.  The plan is still to spend hurricane season in the Sea of Cortez.  As of now, it looks like I’ll be in San Francisco in the early / middle part of May.  I know a number of folks are hoping to meet up with me there – I’ll try and nail down a definite date once I’ve made some progress down the coast.  I’m hoping to do a formal christening ceremony at that point – so if you’re in the area, you won’t want to miss it.  There will be champagne, numerous oaths to seafaring gods, and perhaps even a sea shanty or two.