The trip back to La Paz from Agua Verde consisted of quick hops to Los Gatos, Isla San Francisco, and Partida; all places we have been. We didn’t launch the dinghy in Los Gatos, we only stopped to make some miles and lessen the travel time to Isla San Francisco the following day. We had a work meeting over Starlink from the anchorage and continue to be impressed by the Starlink connection; it’s better than our wifi at home. We had a nice surprise that afternoon from a local fisherman when he delivered lobster tails to our boat that he pulled from the rocks along shore minutes before. We watched the full moon rise over the Los Gatos anchorage that evening and listened to another cruiser on an Island Packet (IP420) nearby play an acoustic guitar.
We caught a mahi on the way south through the Canal de San Jose. We brought it right up to the boat and it flipped out of the water, hit the boat, and broke the line. The fish has his freedom for however long but sadly with a hook in his mouth; I suppose the alternative for him would have been worse – tacos. We switched to hand lining and had a bite but nothing that stuck around.
We arrived at Isla San Francisco and went to shore. We haven’t been off the boat in over 24 hours and it felt good to move our legs. We stopped by another Island Packet for sunset happy hour, a beautiful IP445. We enjoyed the tour of the boat, sharing stories, and learning how other IP owners operate on the water. The anchorage was still and quiet that night. In the morning we hiked the ridge above the anchorage before leaving for Partida.
We topped off the water tank in Partida that same afternoon. The watermaker was giving us some hassle and did not want to prime. After going through the troubleshooting guide we found it was a bad impeller, the very last step. Luckily we had a spare, replaced it, and were back in business. We left for the marina the next morning and the conditions were sloppy with short, steep, chop. A mostly uneventful trip back to the marina with the exception of a shark that jumped out of the water in La Paz bay. That was incredible to see!
Back in La Paz we finished the last few items on our list to get Solitude ready for her next adventure; rounding Cabo and back up the Pacific side of Baja to Los Angeles. We enjoyed some time off the boat and found a fabulous restaurant around the marina, Puerto, that opened last June. We had an octopus tiradito and achiote shrimp tacos on homemade corn tortillas, everything was delicious. Clients of the marina are able to use the pool here as well, which we enjoyed on a second visit. It was a successful, nine day shake down trip on Solitude and the boat is ready to bring back to Southern California. We drove home and will fly back down to La Paz in a few weeks to start the trip north.
SV Solitude 