BLA Village

August 15-19, 2013

We finally made it to BLA and back to civilization. We only stayed a few days to run errands and provision.

Capture — Bahia de Los Angeles (BLA) is about 2/3 up the Baja Peninsula. It’s far enough north that tropical storms and hurricanes very rarely make it up there.

From Quemado to BLA with a Puerto Don Juan drive-by

Logbook – August 15, 2013 (Ensenada el Quemado to BLA Village)

Passage Log Highlights

- 0911 Depart Ensenada el Quemado
- 1145 Arrive BLA Village

Daily Notes

- Troubleshot nav network connectivity issue. Got it to work – still no root cause
- Scouted Puerto Don Juan
- BLA tide range is 7 ft
- Visited town – very good selection at yellow store except for produce
- Winds to 20 kt in the afternoon – drinks on LC
- Fish & chips on Exodus

Edit: Just like in Santa Rosalia, we got to know the stores by their color.

Edit: Puerto Don Juan is the natural hurricane hole nearby. So, we scouted it and took depth soundings around the edges so if we ever needed to make a speedy entrance we could do it with the advantage of prior intel.

Ashore at BLA village, Joel tries to help Tim keep cool

Brenden found a shady spot to rest (and he still wears the hat Gary the weather man gave him)

Logbook – August 16, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

- Trash, laundry, groceries. Lo-balled the lady on laundry price. 😦
- Blue-footed booby guest on the port bow
- Journey around town in search of wifi. Found propane. Ride w/ Andres back to (illegible). Internet cafe at yellow store.
- Dinner at Costa del Sol. Carne Asada = shoe leather. Margarita = water.
- Sleepover on Exodus.

Tim grabs a selfie with the blue-footed booby

Email to family and friends dated August 16, 2013

Subject: BLA Village

We made it to the Bay of LA and we are currently anchored off the village. We walked around yesterday, and contrary to what we have heard, the main store has pretty much all grocery items and the prices aren’t too bad either. We fleetingly had internet from the boat yesterday, but lost the signal and haven’t been able to find it again. There is an internet cafe at the other end of town, and we will likely go there this afternoon.
Yesterday at the store we asked, in our broken Spanish, if there was a laundromat in town, and she said no, but there are women who will do your laundry, and she took us to a house next door and the woman there is going to do our laundry for us. I’m also going to ask if she’ll make fresh tortillas. Can’t hurt to ask (that’s what we did in Agua Verde).
We will likely be here for another couple days, then we will head just a little bit North, still in the Bay of LA, to a spot called La Gringa, for the cruisers’ full moon party on Wed.
We’ve rearranged the boys’ school days, and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner. Now, they do their independent work from the day before first and then we do their lessons after that. That way they can start school whenever they are ready in the morning and don’t have to wait for me. So far so good. We are going to give them next week off because Lady Carolina school books are arriving soon, and then they can all start school together again the following week. It should be a fun week off.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Exodus and Lady Carolina at anchor at BLA

Logbook – August 17, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

- Banana bread!
- Veggies get delivered Fri night so we went to the yellow store today. OK, but not great
- D- paddleboard and “run” along the “Malecon”
- Crazy bird fish feeding frenzy
- Fish tacos on Exodus. Another night on the net.
- Lost a towel & Tim dove & found.

Logbook – August 18, 2013 (BLA Village)

Daily Notes

- D/T – frustrating internet excursion to Costa del Sol
- Boys – kid ice cream excursion
- Alex/Kyle reprimanded for drifting too far away w/ the current on surfboards
- Soup dinner on LC
- Poker game on Exodus. Alex victorious.