10 days to La Paz and back

Just got back last night from a truly awesome trip. Had an absolute blast!

My son and I hit the border at 6:00 am on the 23rd to take some furniture down and bring my boat back and get as much fishing in as possible. Pulled into secondary to first get our FMT (they moved the office to behind the buildings) then to pay duty on the furniture we were bringing down (15%). Both Immigration and Customs officers were extremely polite and helpful, especially the Customs officer who explained in depth how to follow the new detour. Headed south in no time. Traffic was light even going through Ensenada. Waved straight through every check point without even a check of the vehicle. First stop for fuel was El Rosario for a whopping $45 of diesel then on to GN for the first night. As has been the case for several years the road through Valle of the Ciros was heavily patched and rough but very few potholes. Stayed at Malarimo's and enjoyed a great scallop dinner then retired to the bar for margaritas. Woke early in the morning and turned on the news. The anchorman had absolutely nothing to report. Apparently my son and I had solved all the problems in the world the night before over numerous margaritas

Back on the road after breakfast about 8:00. Just before Ciudad Insurgentes they had about 2 miles of road torn up so they detoured us through the dirt. We ended up directly behind the water truck assigned to dust abatement. Now I know what Mississippi mud must be like. That mud immediately turned my tires into slicks and my son put it into 4WD to get us through it. Topped off the tank in C. Insurgentes for another $45 and we cruised into La Paz by early afternoon with still a half tank of fuel! San Diego to La Paz on less than $90. Yeah, now I remember why I originally bought a diesel. Thank you Exxon/Mobil for making me forget. Put the boat in a slip and got everything set up for a few days of fishing and snorkeling. Fishing from La Paz rather than Muertos provided a whole lot of quantity but not much quality. Didn't even see a marlin jumping. Spent several afternoons snorkeling around Espiritu Santos. Found a great spot on the backside of Isla Ballena with some caves we could snorkel in.

My son's friend flew in on Sunday and as soon as we got back from the airport my neighbor invited us to Pichilingue to ride his new wave runners (yes, lake lice). These new models are FAST! Without even opening it up I was hitting over 60mph! At my age I could break a hip so I backed off. Continued just fishing and snorkeling each day and got ready for a Thursday morning departure to get the boat home. Stopped in Loreto to get in one last day of fishing on Friday. Had to launch at low tide in the dark and learned there is quite a drop off at the end of the ramp (downtown marina). No problems, just a bit of a surprise. Saw most of the pangueros headed toward Coronado so after getting about 15 nice mackeral we headed that way too. Saw some boats stopped on the NW corner of the island so we decided to do a slow troll through the area. Almost immediately picked up a dorado but found it was only about 10-12#'s so figuring they were going to be a big school of small fish we moved on outside. Saw some bird activity north of the island so in go the baits. Hooked up with a 25# bull so we figured that's more like it. Had our limit in less than an hour of 15-25# fish and only 3 baits left. In go 2 of them and almost immediately both baits get slammed! My son starts to set the hook and a sailfish comes flying out of the water! One shake of the head and he spits the bait and is on his way. Oh well, my son's friend is still on so we set to working that one. Must be a nicer dorado. He is using a Tiburoned jigmaster with 30# but isn't making much headway with it. Darn, he's nearly spooled! so I start to chase it down and out flies a nice size sailfish. Drat we would have had a double going! Finally get some line back on the reel so we settle back to let him enjoy his very first billfish. All of a sudden up pops another sail cruising the surface and looking for a meal. I gently put the boat in gear and start nudging that way while my son hooks up our last bait. Almost within casting range, just 30 more yards to go when the already hooked fish gets a burst of energy and is off to the races... the opposite direction! It's his first billfish and I can't let him loose it so I turn the boat to get him some line back. Finally we get it up for a picture and a nice release. I think that kid is still grinning! I love it!

Up early Sat morning with plans to only go as far as El Rosario. Lo and behold, someone parked their truck blocking me in and they are nowhere to be found. After about an hour and a half we located a floorjack and some plywood so we jack up the front of the truck and moved it sideways. After three lifts and shoves we have it moved enough for me to squeeze my truck through and we hook up the boat and are on our way. Came across a section that they were just putting down fresh tar so I've now got lots of extra scrubbing to do on my boat this weekend.

Pulled into El Rosario only to find Baja Catus completely booked but they directed us to another hotel down the street that had plenty of room to park my boat. The girl at the Baja Cactus didn't know if they had room down there for my boat but said that in case they didn't I was more than welcome to leave my boat in their parking lot. (Thank you Antonio, you really do run a class operation). After a breakfast across the street at Baja's Best we were on our way to the border. Rather than attempt a Sunday afternoon crossing at SY we decided to head up and cross at Tecate.

All the way up that morning I was looking for Capt George who said he would be heading down that day. I THINK I passed him at Santo Tomas (at least the truck matched his description). With no place to pull over I just gave a big wave and continued on.

That was my first time on Hwy 3 in about 30 years and boy has it changed! Winery tours? Wow, oh well that will have to be another trip. Crossing at Tecate was a dream. Even on Sunday afternoon I don't think it took more than 10 minutes. The Customs officer directing traffic was really nice. He asked if it was the first time I had crossed there and I said, yes? Apparently it was already obvious to him because I was in the far right hand lane with my big old boat behind me when I should have been in the far left lane. He just smiled and explained that I wouldn't be able to make the turn from any other lane then stopped traffic so I could get over there. Just a cursory look in secondary and we were on the road looking for an In - n- Out.