Bahia De Los Angeles

We arrived here at 11:30 this morning, a distance of only seven miles from where we were anchored. We are just off the little village here, and there are nine or so other boats here as well. I think one of them might be another Valiant 40, but we aren't sure, we will have to ask. Valiants like ours are rare, so it is always interesting to find another one. But there are a few other types of boats that are similar, so it is not always easy to tell.

We came through here the first time we went to Baja California by car, which was about 10 years ago, and this place has really grown, although it is still remote enough that it has no cell phone coverage. We took the dinghy out pretty much as soon as we got here and found a place to dump the trash we have been accumulating since Santa Rosalia. There is a big trash bin the equivalent of about three blocks from where we pull the dinghy up on the beach. On the way to it, we passed by restaurant/store/trailer park called Guierrmos, which is where we were told to dump the garbage by other cruisers. But we didn't do that, and I am glad we didn't because the woman who runs the placexpressed gratefulness that we knew the proper place to dump garbage. I can't believe other cruisers would be so lazy as to not be willing to walk the block and one half further on to avoid putting their trash in this poor woman's trash bins - it was obvious that people had been doing it because there were bags of trash spilling out of her bins and also obvious that animals were getting into it. By contrast, there was no way animals could get into the bin that was beside the road that we used. That is the sort of thing that gives all cruisers a bad name.

We also stopped at a little restaurant and had a nice lunch - it was fun to have a meal that we didn't cook and it was nice not to have to clean up and do dishes. We are planning to have dinner on board - barbecued ribs and baked potatoes on the grill (there is a hibachi-type grill attached to our back rail) and a salad, which is a big treat. We walked to the gas station today and filled up one of the five gallon jerry cans that we use for our dinghy engine and for our generator, and on the way back we stopped at a little grocery store and got lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a nice ripe avocado. Salad is not something you have regularly while cruising because fresh vegetables only last so long, and there is not a lot of room in the refrigerator. I am looking forward to dinner tonight!

We plan to be here for two or three days, and then we will leave on our 150 mile trip to San Carlos, on the mainland, where we will meet up with our friends on Sundancer. We figure it will take about four days, maybe more, who knows. We have not taken this long a trip since we went from Ensenada to Turtle Bay last January. This will at least be a lot warmer - we froze on that trip. I wore long underwear, jeans, sweatpants over the jeans, and rainpants because it got so damp. I also had a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, and my foul weather jacket. I huddled up next to the companionway in order to keep warm on night watch. This time it will be a lot more pleasant - if we don't have to deal with any storms. I really hope this crossing is uneventful. I'd rather be bored than scared to death!

Well, there isn't a lot more news. Tomorrow we will do some more exploring of this little town, and will find some place to drop off our laundry, which we are told is a five minute walk from Guierrmo's. It will be nice not to have to use the bucket and plunger, so I am taking advantage and washing all the big towels and the sheets. So - have a great day!

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