Emerald Star

The Mulege river

Bahia Conception.......here is Jack's boat. We anchored next to him for two weeks, had several dinners together and he's a great tour guide.

Bahia San Juanico

Hiking at San Juanico.

Luna checking out the view at San Juanico.

The inland view from the ridge hike at San Juanico.

The Bay at San Juanico.

Ahh!!! Shade. It wasn't that hot, but still the shade was welcome.

Yikes!!!! Is that a bear or a dog??

Los Gatos-the trail to the top at the north end of the bay.

Los Gatos-taking a break for water.

The bay at Los Gatos.

Hiking inland at Los Gatos.

The girls checking out the wildlife at Los Gatos. 

Emerald Star at Los Gatos.

Los Gatos.........

More hiking at Los Gatos. 

The "Hook" at Isla San Francisco.

Isla San Francisco- the east side.

Isla San Francisco had some pretty interesting vegetation.

Desert flowers at Isla San Francisco.

Boats anchored in the "Hook" at Isla San Francisco.

Sunset at Isla San Francisco.
nsider

After leaving San Carlos in mid-October we headed straight for Bahia Conception.  The water and air were both 80 degrees and the water was flat in the anchorage. Perfect! So we stayed and Diane worked on varnish most mornings. We can understand why people come here and stay for months. There is so much to do here!

Then we headed south for La Paz. We were in San Juanico for about 6 days-one of our favorite spots. Then did quick stops in Loreto and Isla Carmen. We were in Puerto Escondido for 3 days, mostly for internet and laundry. Agua Verde was very crowded so we only stayed one night but then settled in a while at Los Gatos. The anchorages with no goods or services tend to be less much busy. Before arriving in La Paz we had to stop again at Isla San Francisco and Puerto Ballandra for more hiking. We arrived in La Paz the Friday before Thanksgiving.

While in La Paz we were very busy. Diane took, and passed, the exam for the general ham  radio license. So now she's a "hamster". We had Thanksgiving with about 250 other cruisers. Quite the potluck dinner! We attended a few dock parties. We also worked on varnish and some other boat projects. 

We planned to visit the states for at least a few weeks and possibly up to several months. Diane had a potential work opportunity, but we didn't know any details about the schedule of the project. So, being cruisers....flexibility rules! At the end of December the boat was hauled out of the water, "put away" and left in dry storage at a boat yard. We rented a car and did a road trip. Within a few weeks of arriving in Santa Cruz Diane was back at work. The schedule of Diane's work project turned out to be almost a year. So Ray worked on the logistics of getting the boat back to California. We didn't really want to leave the boat in Mexico for more than a few months.

Ray returned to La Paz in early March and had the boat relaunched. Emerald Star is much happier with her new bottom paint and a few other new parts. Our friends Roger and Jean from s/v Avalon helped Ray with relaunching the boat. Thanks Roger and Jean!! Several days later Capt Ray of s/v Adios and Capt Ray from Emerald Star did the "Baja Bash" up the coast to Southern California.