We have been using the marina shuttle to get to and from town which is quite unlike any other Mexican town, it is neat and clean and people have a pride in their surroundings. There is the Club Cruceros at the Marina Baja who organize events for cruisers and fund donations to local charities, they also run the daily 8:00 am channel 22 cruiser net. We joined 250 other cruisers for a Cruceros sponsored Thanksgiving dinner at the Marina Palmira, a couple of miles from where we are staying. The food was plentiful with as much turkey as you could eat.

We have taken a number of photographs in the Marina and Beach Club area. The Marina is very well maintained, if we call for anything on the VHF, we get an immediate response and usually within 10-15 minutes someone shows up to help us with whatever we had needed. There is a central sewer system and every other dock has an outlet. So instead of moving the boat or having a floating pump-out station come to us, they bring a hose, hook us up at the dock and pump. It is all very convenient. Also, we have Cable TV and Internet at the dock all of which is included, they provide the cable modem and cables for us to use. Unfortunately, the internet is currently being repaired so we are reduced to using a slow WiFi link.

Grocery shopping is fairly easy as the Marina has a free shuttle service every two hours to and from town and twice a day they go to the BIG grocery store which is on the edge of town. There is also a well stocked grocery store a few blocks from the bus station which is convenient for smaller things. On one of the trips into town we went to the Bank and both of us had a haircut. Mine cost $3.50 and Anita’s $10.00 it was an interesting affair as I had a chance to delve into speaking Spanish and the folks in the salon were full of help and humor.

Many of the streets we have walked along have beautiful overhangs of Bougainvillea and shady old trees. We did find the traditional meat and fish market which reminded me of the old Birkenhead Market before it burnt down in 1969. I felt quite at home wandering the food stalls; it reminded me of my childhood and shopping with my parents.

I bought a pocket Spanish/English/Spanish dictionary which is easier to carry that some of the language books we have on board. I can decline Spanish verbs pretty well so our Spanish is coming along OK.

La Paz was famous as a center for Pearls however today there are none left, what there was passed into history by 1941 due to a mysterious disease. Today they are trying to revive the business but it is still early to see how they succeed. It is hard to believe that in the 1880’s, La Paz was the major center of business in the worldwide pearl trade. The Spanish arrived briefly in 1534 and then again in 1535 and 1596 then things went quiet for a hundred years or so. In the meantime La Paz became a favorite hangout for English and Dutch Pirates who raided Spanish ships using local weather knowledge. The Spaniards finally established the first mission in 1720 to try and counter the Pirates and this mission lasted a number of years. It was the local ranchers who finally established the permanent town in 1811.

Last Sunday was Mexican Revolution Day and during our shuttle drive along the Malecon we passed many people in national costumes, lots of horses and events taking place to mark this important Mexican holiday. This week the bi-annual Fubar arrived at our Marina. This consisted of about 50 power boats that had started out in San Diego and end here in La Paz. This made for more of a crowd and the Marina has had some special events including a film and opera night held at their open air amphitheater.

The film night was interesting as it documented a voyage by three Balsa rafts from Ecuador to Australia in the early 1970’s. Some of the people who had taken part in this expedition were present to answer questions. The film was called Las Balsas and all three rafts made it to Australia.

It is Saturday, November 26 and another Northerner is blowing which should finish by Monday. We are currently evaluating our next steps, cross to mainland Mexico, Mazatlan or stay put in Las Paz and spend more time exploring the islands in the Sea of Cortez.