We came to La Paz at Thanksgiving to start preparing Yohelah for a cruise south to Central America. She weathered her first hurricane season with few problems (the only issues were from excessive heat inside) and needed to be readied again for cruising by putting the sails back up and the gear back outside. When we went back to Seattle we were hoping Rob would get laid off and I could finish up my work for Real Networks from Mexico after Christmas. Of course just the opposite happened – I got laid off and Rob was asked to extend. So we’re back now at Christmas and I don’t have to return to the northwest but Rob does.
So as soon as he wraps up his project in January and we get our replacement vacuum panels for our refrigeration, we’ll be on our way out of La Paz and headed south. I know there’ll be little sympathy from anyone up north, but it’s been an unseasonably cold winter here. Yesterday morning at breakfast I had on long corduroy pants and a sweatshirt and I wasn’t too warm. The northerly winds have been howling down the Sea of Cortez since we got here over a week ago.
But the best news is that we got to catch up with Tim & Cindy again. They’re on their way south from the Sea of Cortez where they spent the hot summer. Unfortunately they’re not going to Central America this year, so we’re going to lose sight of them for a while again. We also got to spend time with John & Lisa from Andiamo who are old friends from our PSCC days in Seattle, and with Dorothy & Gary of Wandr’n Star who we met wintering over in Port Townsend what seems like so many many years ago.
This year’s cruise is going to be much less hectic than last year. We have friends coming down to Barra in early March, and Brittney will come down to Costa Rica at the end of her spring quarter. That will allow a nice pace for us, giving us three months to get from Mexico through Guatemala and El Salvador.
Today on Yohelah we’re finishing a repack of the boat and preparing her for a continuation of our voyage south….
