our time in La Paz

 

 

In La Paz we had several things on our to-do list. Before going ashore to start getting things done we wanted to make sure our anchor was well set and to inform ourselves of the Covid situation in the city by listening to the morning VHF radio net.

La Paz is an infamous anchorage due to what is known as the ‘La Paz Walz’. That is, wind against the strong current in the channel that causes boats to assume a different orientation to each other. The wind forces the stern away from its direction of travel while the tidal current forces the stern towards the wind. As a result boats end up being held side ways to both streams with the tide gripping the keel and the wind acting on the boats’ superstructure. Each boat exposes a different profile to wind and water. This causes much angst among skippers when boats, that were anchored safely when wind and tide were flowing in the same direction, begin to sail over their anchors and become alarmingly close to each other. There is also the danger of one’s anchor becoming fouled at the change of tide and fail to reset.

On this occasion we anchored just outside off Marina Cortez, quite close to the break wall. This was probably not the best choice due to the waves being reflected back off the break water causing an irritating cross swell. Also the pangeros (fisherman and tourist boats) used this gap between Taiko and the break water on their way to and from the municipal pier, of course at full speed and with a big wake. This made our spot less than pleasant during the day but it made for a manageable row to the dinghy dock that we had to use.  

Our friends from Milou anchored nearby because they wanted Renate to alter their dodger and make a connection piece between dodger and bimini, which she did very successfully.

Milou had the use of a friend’s car for reprovisioning and general boat errands around town. We were pleased to be invited along on a shopping trip to do some serious re-victualling. 

While in La Paz we took the opportunity to speak to the radio specialist about our continuing problems with our SSB/Ham radio. We still could not figure out why we couldn't connect via Pactor modem to any Winlink station or weather fax service, nor could we discover why we were transmitting voice so poorly.

 

We ordered some new glasses for Renate and some sun glasses for me, which should have taken about 10 working days. In the end only Renate's glasses where done and I missed out. Mexico! We also took time to look into the problem with our Balmar high output alternator and external regulator.

All these activities involved several trips to town, during which Renate took the many photo’s of all wall paintings you see in this blog.

Due to the high rates of Covid infection in La Paz we did everything on foot and avoided the use of public transport, except the private car for the previously mentioned grocery trip and a trip to town where we used the Susimi’s push bikes.

In all this time Covid was a constant worry for us. Actually, it was the first time that it struck close to us. A sailor we met last year, Jim on Ripple, came to La Paz to see a dentist. While at the dentist’s practice he got infected with the virus. After a week of illness he felt a little better and was seen moving about his boat. Sadly, the next day we saw him taken away to hospital by an ambulance crew wearing protective clothing that looked appropriate for dealing with nuclear waste. Two days later we heard that Jim had died. I had been contemplating a dental check up in the near future; given Jim’s experience I have decided to postpone this for awhile, thinking it better to suffer the consequences of a bit more dental plaque than risk a deadly infection.

Additionally, a technician, who was to help us investigate the problem with our Pactor modem, cancelled his appointment because he was waiting to have a Covid test after being in contact with an infected person. These events made us reluctant to spend any more time in La Paz than was absolutely necessary.

Hazel and Paul bought themselves a used Pactor modem and came over to test the unit on our setup. Their Pactor behaved in the same way as ours. Therefore we suspected that the problem lay elsewhere. Together with Paul we investigated further to discover that our new communication cable between Pactor and radio was plugged in upside down due to having to make the connection at the back of the radio by feel rather than sight. Once this was rectified both Pactor modems functioned perfectly. Later I rigged a new antenna with a larger diameter wire, inside a length of double braid rope cover, directly from the tuner up to the top of the foremast. So that there are no external connections and the fore sail can’t foul it. These changes made a difference. We just have to accept that our mast is not very high and therefore we may have some limitations in voice broadcasting. We where happy not to need the attendance of a technician.

My Birthday this year was on a Sunday, a day when there was a race on the Bahia de La Paz. It was decided that a good way to celebrate would be to participate in the race then have restaurant dinner afterwards. Three of skippers from our little fleet joined me on Taiko for the race. Max from Expression, John from Maraki and Hazel from Susimi arrived in good time for us to motor out of the harbour for the start of the race. Unfortunately, the anchor chain was fouled on something and it proved impossible to lift the anchor and make it to the start line in a timely fashion. With much application of forward and reverse gears the chain came free of its obstruction and the anchor came aboard. This delay made us 15 minutes late for the start. Nevertheless we had a fun time sailing in very pleasant conditions during which I largely left the sailing to my three experienced guests, never having sailed a junk rig before, who were happy to adjust sails and observe the rig working. Hazel was at the helm, she is probably the best helmsman you could have when racing. Should that be helms-women? Despite the late start we managed to overtake one competitor on the windward leg. After the anchoring in a different spot we had a small cockpit party aboard. Everyone was less than enthusiastic about going out for dinner and mixing with the general public after hearing the news of Jim’s death. After just a little less than 3 weeks we lifted anchor and left La Paz.

Our plan was to head over to the mainland together with Susimi while Milou and Maraki headed back north couple days before. We didn't sailed far as we still required some internet connection to keep an eye at the weather forecast and to finish filling out and sending the exemption forms for French Polynesia. While we waited for the right forecast, we cleaned the hull under water and renewed the shaft anode which had corroded away to nothing. There were no barnacles but plenty of thick brown slime that was the home of many thousands of tinny shrimps. The sea water was quite cold and I was only able clean one side a day.

With the right forecast we headed out for the 100 NM crossing but how so often in the Sea of Cortez we faced a totally different scenario. There where almost no wind. Our destination Topolobambo is a big harbour with a small entrance and we had to enter on rising water. We couldn't sit it out in the calms and had to use the engine for much of the time. It was a boring shitty trip in very fickle wind which made me a tad grumpy.

The next morning we entered the harbour at speeds of up to 7.5 knots over the ground, such was the strength of the incoming current. We found an anchor spot away of the commercial shipping and industry but it was still in the tidal stream. In the afternoon the wind picked up and gusted with 30+ kn. We were pleased not to be at sea. That night Hazel called us on the VHF radio asking if we had checked our position. As soon as we heard her voice we knew that we must have dragged anchor as it was a little after midnight. With the tidal change we had dragged about 500m without noticing. Luckily Hazel had looked out when she got up to pee. The anchor was brought aboard to reveal that the chain had wrapped itself around the one of flukes of our Bulwagga anchor, and preventing it from resetting. How lucky we where to have ample space around us. The anchorages in the harbour of Topolobambo are not very yachty friendly. It’s always a long way to row and it is difficult to get ashore because there are no beaches or floating piers to land the dinghy. After 2 days of strong wind, our boats covered in desert dust, we decided to got into the marina to ready ourselves for the much anticipated Copper Canyon excursion.