Heading North (with papers!)

Dock 3, with the marina condos behind,
here at Marina Palmira

Just a quick update -- since Anna and Ellie were here in La Paz we have given Solar Wind another BIG cleaning (including a paid bottom scrub and hull polish), teak varnish touch ups, stainless and topside polish, and all is again ship shape!

We had dock mates, Mike and Kelly over for dinner and got valuable tales of their experiences sailing among the Hawaiian Islands. Maui Mike lived there for 12 years and has multiple crossing under his belt. They are both super positive about the benefits and beauty of cruising the islands and had some practical advice as well. They loaned us some cruising guides that we are pouring over.

Our walk from the dock to the restrooms here at our La Paz home!

We used the internet here to get our taxes ready to file and to look into renewing Lanham's tourist visa. Melinda's renewed when she took the trip to Seattle, but Lanham's 180 days were set to run out in early April. We got a generous offer from friends Ed and Amy to use 2 of Ed's "buddy passes" from his piloting on US Air and come stay with them at their home in Phoenix. It was a quick trip -- to 3.5 hours to Cabo by bus on Sunday AM, and 1.5 hour flight to Phoenix.

Dinner at the Village Tavern

Two great dinners out, lots of time to relax and chat, two good sleeps in a comfortable non-floating bed, and we were back walking the Malecon on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks Ed and Amy! We are now good to go -- and don't have to worry about either of us being illegal aliens.

Today was a huge provisioning, and pre-flight maneuvers for the engine (oil filter and transmission fluid). Tomorrow we are heading North again. The idea is to scoot pretty quickly up past the first few islands where we have already spent time and then slow down as we hit new scenery and villages. The next for sure stop will be Loreto -- one of the historical towns -- the earliest Spanish mission on the Baja  Peninsula. We will not have cell or internet for the next weeks -- maybe as long as two months! We are really looking forward to the freedom and open plan for the next 7 or 8 weeks -- the Sea of Cortez calls! And, then of course... we could end up staying put most anywhere if we are waiting for weather or fixing things!!

Please remember you can reach us anytime -- on land or sea at our sailmail address.
wdf6911@sailmail.com
We usually check it twice daily when we get weather reports, using the single side band, and we get VERY excited when we receive a personal "hey" from any of you. Sorry the pics are few, but wanted to say we are on our way. Thanks for reading --
Happy Solstice wherever you may be toasting to the spring!

Sunset at Marina Palmira