By the third week in January, we were BORED! We’d been in La Paz since the beginning of December when my mom came to visit. All the big projects (sealing the toe rail and the v-berth hatch, rotten mizzen spreader replaced) we needed to get done before bashing north to San Diego were complete, but we were starting to feel like that might not be the best option. We loved living on the boat in San Diego, but we didn’t want to live there forever because it’s too far from family and way too expensive. If we did move back there for Nate’s job, we would need to live on the boat, and truthfully, after four years of living on Astraea (especially the time away from the dock while cruising), we are ready to spread out a little bit and have a few comforts that come from living in a house. We realized that going back to San Diego felt like we were spinning our wheels and just putting off the inevitable of moving to the east coast to be near family.
We didn’t know what to do, but we needed to get away from town to clear our heads and think about what we wanted. So on January 23rd, we hauled the anchor up and and went out to the explore other nearby anchorages north of La Paz. We wanted to go to the islands (Espiritu Santo and Partida), but we wanted internet available for Nate to hear about job options, as he’d already started applying to jobs on the east coast just in case. We pulled into the anchorage at Bahia Falsa, false bay. We launched the dinghy and went ashore to play at Playa Tesoro, treasure beach, which got the name after buried treasure was discovered in 1965. This beach is great for families – shallow water, fresh seafood and cold drinks, and palapa umbrellas for shade. There’s also kids toys and the waitress brings her son to work everyday so Sully had an instant buddy.
Nate had to move the dinghy because the water got so shallow
Sully and his buddy, Alex, had motorcycle races along the wooden boardwalk
Sully and Alex sharing toys
We were really close to Costa Baja, so David picked us up for a pool day
Playa Tesoro sunset
After a few days in Bahia Falsa, we headed north to Playa Pichulingue, which is just north of the Baja Ferry terminal and port of La Paz. We went ashore one day to walk and explore and then got stuck on the boat for a few days due to strong winds.
“There she blows!” Sully and Nate spotted whales and watched the show from the bow
Cool dude in his shades letting us know which way to go on our explorations
Making a playground out of anything
Driving us home
Hipster?
Car wash in the cockpit
Once the winds died down, we moved further north to the most popular beach and anchorage near La Paz, Playa Balandra.
Sully rode the boom all the way into the anchorage
I paddled into shore on the kayak past “El Hongo”
All the tourists come to see this rock called “El Hongo” or mushroom rock. Astraea was in the background of everyone’s pictures this day.
We climbed up the giant sand dunes for a better view of the bay and Astraea. Our pictures don’t do it justice. You can walk across to the other side it’s so shallow.
Sailing off anchor
Balandra is completely open to the west, so staying overnight means a rolly and uncomfortable night. After a fun day at the beach, we sailed off our anchor (feeling pretty slick with all the tourists watching), and moved to the more protected Caleta Lobos for the night. The next day we went back to Bahia Falsa so Sully could hang out with Alex from the restaurant and David could pick us up for Nate to work.
Checking out a deserted restaurant on another beach in Bahia Falsa
Sully didn’t want to go in the water until he saw these boys playing on this kayak. Then he stripped down to his undies and jumped on. After the boys played, their dad offered to give Sully a ride all the way back to Astraea.
Back at Astraea, Sully donned his shorts and swimmies and swam, while the big kids jumped off the boat.
During our time away from the city, we had a lot of time to think about what we wanted to do. Getting stuck in anchorages due to high winds had become our life this season and we were sick of it. We weren’t “living the dream” anymore. Spending days on end on a 41 foot boat with a three year old isn’t paradise – even if you’re in “paradise”. We stayed in Baja thinking we’d be bashing the boat back up to San Diego for the Navy job, but after months of waiting, we still hadn’t heard any news about it. Finally, on February 1st while we were poolside with David at Costa Baja, Nate got the call about the San Diego job. It was too late though, as we had already decided to leave the boat for sale in La Paz and move to Maryland. With plane reservations to leave La Paz on February 23rd, we sailed down the channel into La Paz and into a slip at Marina Cortez, where we’d start getting Astraea ready to sell.
Just in time for Carnaval!
