The boys visit Baja.

The end of April brought us over to the Baja side where we picked up my youngest son Tallen and my nephew Rawly in Cabo then sailed north with them to La Paz and the surrounding islands.  Although the water temp is a little cooler, the scenery is beautiful and the visit with the boys coundn't be better!  Here are a few pics with the boys.

 Tallen set up his slackline in Bahia de los Muertos

 Fishing huts at Caleta Partida

Dinghy surfing at Muertos

 Having fun in La Paz

 Fish on!

 This is the way they do the movies in Mexico!  Saw the new Jungle Book, luxury style!

 At the movies.  Cost...about $4.50.

 Good times with the youngest son Tallen.

The boys doing some sailing.

 Sailing on the east side of Isla Espiritu Santo.

 Sunset...Baja style!

 Rawly chilling in the cockpit.

 Marne at the fishing village. Caleta Partida.

 No clue...but some sort of spine from something.

 A crab in the clear waters of Caleta Partida

 Tallen heading back to the dink.

 The beauty of Caleta Patida.

 Not sure if Raw is praying or peeing...

 Rawly's new buddies

 The prayer hut at Caleta Partida. SV Liahona in the background.

Anchored on the east side of Partida.

The harvest.

 Before

 During

 After

 Yes, night diving in cooler waters requires some insulation.

 Marne's monster Parrot fish.

The first meal taken with the new speargun. Courtesy of Marne!

 Snorkeling with the sea lions at Los Islotes.

 Friendly pup.

 The lazy ones that didn't come out to play.

 Rawly with a friendly swimmer.

Marne, Tallen and unnamed sea lion.

That is a sneak peak of the vist so far here with the boys.  Until next time...

SV Liahona

Bret, Marne, Tallen and Rawly

Women who sail.

Hello from the First Mate,

I am enjoying life aboard and south of the border very much. Living the dream does not come without a cost. The cost for me is the missing of my family, dear friends, and my poodle. Distance does make the heart grow fonder as they say, and I have found it shines a light on gratitude as well. Newly added to my gratitude list is the gift of reading. I have been devouring books. My mom and step dad Jim have always been avid readers, sometimes reading more than one book at a time. In the past my biggest reads were the long comics in the Sunday paper. What a decadent treat reading is. Who knew!

  I have been practicing my Spanish almost daily, about 15 minutes of book time each morning added to emersion and bit by bit its starting to stick. Brets being able to speak fluently is a major help, but he is not always with me on trips in town. If only I had taken spanish instead of 3 years of German in high school. I have traded das is gut for esta bien and Guten Nocht for Beinas Noches.

Women Who Sail seminar

 We are entering into our 6th month and I have already met so many women cruisers. I have become part of a network of women who truly love what they are doing. Some are part of a crew, many are first mate or Captain, and some amazing women are single handers. I recently attended a women who sail seminar. One of the speakers told of how her vessel was hit by a whale. The boat did end up sinking, but she was able to get the entire crew off. Another speaker has been a single hander for the 15 years since her husband passed away. During those 15 years, she has circumnavigated several times. As with my Spanish, we have been adding more to my sailing education. I no longer just pull in the main sheet, or drop the anchor when asked. In preparation for the South Pacific, and anything that can happen at sea, I have to be able to single hand the Liahona. That means I have to be able to sail her with or without the motor, I have to be able to transmit on Ham frequency, I have to be able to be the Captain if ever need be. Bret is not only amazing at sharing all he knows with me, I can tell he enjoys it. I hope it will help him to sleep more on long overnight crossings as well. The majority of my work life has been spent behind the wheel of a truck and my dad always said I had diesel in my veins. Now at the helm I am hoping to add a little salt air to the mix.

Urchin shrapnel 

The surf report for the south end of Matanchen Bay...NOT happening!

 I am looking forward to more surfing when the broken toe and sea urchin spines feel better, and if I can let go of more ego I will enjoy it even more. We were looking at magic seaweed surf report the other day checking swell and conditions in some spots we wanted to surf. One of the spots had a nice soft long rolling wave, and apparently was less " Sharky" than the neighboring break. At first glance we both thought it was a play on words and that the wave just had less of a bite. Turns out there is a break further up the coast that happens to be near a fish plant. Needless to say we will not be surfing near the fish plant, and my fear about black urchin spines is gone....

 I can here the anchor chain being raised, so I had better end this letter.

Hope everyone has a charlie charlie day,

SV Liahona
Marne and Bret