Sunday, February 28, 2010

The highs and lows of Puerto Penasco

We have arrived in Rocky Point, aka Puerto Penasco, northernmost port in the state of Sonora, Mexico. We are only an hour's drive from the international border, with Lukeville, Arizona on the other side!  We have come here for several reasons:  Bill's brother Barry is here on his boat, the marina is inexpensive, AND we will be able to travel to California in just a few hours~  which we will do on March 1.
Barry has been showing us around the town and made sure we got
to have the chili size and the Sunday breakfast at one of his fave
restaurants-  The Pink Cadillac, a cool fifties themed place.

Puerto Penasco 'enjoys' some of the world's most
extreme tides, and with the full moon this weekend,
it was even more extreme! Our depth under the boat
measured less than three feet during this photo...
Au contraire, in THIS photo we were at 25 feet!  Pretty crazy, huh?
This wide swing doesn't affect us much, unless you want to walk up
or down a ramp at LOW tide- that means a work-out!  The place
featured in these photos is the local boat yard... where we just may
have the boat painted this year- pulling out at high tide, obviously!

Monday, February 1, 2010

What a Two Humpback Whale Show!

Almost on cue, two huge humpbacks begin to rise from the
sparkling blue water of Bahia de La Paz.  We were one hour
north of the city when we noticed a boat making circles ahead
of us.  Only when we got closer did we realize why AND that
the boat was a whalewatching vessel!  We got a free show!

The two whales came very close to the boat that was allowed
to approach them.  We had to stay back, but still got quite a
show.  You cannot see the whale in front of the boat, but the
one to port looks like he is waving, "Hey, look over here!"

The La Paz Singlar Marina Mascot Greeted Us...

This sunning sea lion had staked his claim at the end of the fuel dock
the day we pulled in to fuel up before leaving the La Paz area.
After getting warmed up, it was time for a dip in the
harbor.  This pelican seemed totally oblivious to him.
After cooling off, it was time to climb back on the dock!