10/17/2011 - EnRoute to La Paz

Man, we're good! We woke up at 0730 and were underway at 0745. Last night we decided that we could do all of our normal morning things, like breakfast, while underway. So we just got up, started warming up the engine and then, when it was warmed up, raised the anchor and headed out.

It didn't take long for me to get my chance to remove the offending secondary fuel filter that I wrote about yesterday. We'd been steaming along for about 4 hours when the engine slowed down and then quit. I restarted it once but it did the same thing. The main was already up so we unrolled the jib and, with almost no wind, started moving away from our chosen path at about 0.8 knots.

This time I knew exactly what I was going to do. I climbed down in the engine compartment and cut the fuel lines leading into and out of the secondary filter. One I left dangling and the other I coupled to the outlet line from the primary filter manifold. Restarted the engine. It took 2 tries to get it to get the air all purged but then she settled right in and we were back on our way. Total down time: 15 minutes. Could be my imagination but it seems like the engine is running smoother now. And, although this makes no sense since 2200 RPMs is 2200 RPMs, it seems like we're scooting along faster now too. Couldn't have been the tidal current as we were fighting it and would continue to fight it all the way into La Paz. Like I say, it pretty much had to be my imagination but it's been a long time since we've sen 4.7 knots.

We decided to anchor down by the end of Marina del Palmar where we hope to find a berth. We anchored in 15' of water and when the anchor bit in, it REALLY bit in! No question as to whether or not it's well set.

We dinghied ashore to see if we could get a berth in either Marina del Palmar, Marina Don Jose or Marina de La Paz. No joy anywhere. We'll check back with the first two but, if we can't find a spot in either of them, we'll shoot for either Palmira or Costa Baja. We'd prefer Costa Baja and it's also the most likely marina to have an opening since it's way the hell and gone out of town. But it's secure, has water, internet and power at the dock. And it does have a shuttle service to make it's distance from town a little more palatable

We celebrated being back in the city of good, easily available food by going to one of our favorite spots: El Taqueria Super Burro. We both had papas rellenas: mashed potatoes topped with butter, carne asada, mushrooms, cheese and corn and then served with the standard array of sides: salsa mexicana (pico de gallo), a salsa made of fire roasted chiles and tomatoes, an avocado-based salsa, pickled onions, cucumbers, limons, roasted chiles, and shredded cabbage. It was SO good! Saw our old buddy Mañuel from our beer store. He was glad to see us as we were to see him.

Good to be back in La Paz for awhile.