I love Baja, always have. Love it even more than the mainland. Last night I loved it because you could have heard a mouse skitter through the engine compartment it was so quiet. In other words, no swell! This morning I loved it for the ultra clear blue skies and crisp desert mountain landscape, and this afternoon I loved it for clear water. So clear and refreshing you are tempted to take a swig. I’ve known that I’ve wanted to cruise Baja for a long time, and I am happy to be here now.

Ouest and I escaped early this morning during Lowe’s morning nap and she was bouncing off the tubes of the dinghy with excitement. She was especially excited by the prospect of a dinghy landing with no waves. “No waves. No waves!” Beach landings usually get her nerves all wound up, so this was a welcome respite. Once ashore she immediately turned around and jumped in the water. The girl had clearly been cooped up on the boat too long. We had a lot of fun playing on the beach and it sunk in for me once again that this is why we’ve chosen this life. These moments of a carelessness and joy. The squeals of a two-year-old girl.

We all had lunner ashore and were reminded once more that eating out with two young kids is not money well spent. There is nothing relaxing and enjoyable about meal times. Feeding kids, running off to the bathroom three times, trying to keep everything out of Lowe’s reach, picking up spills, and trying desperately to shovel bites of food in our own mouths while the food is still luke warm.

Later on we found a playground that was actually underneath a huge palapa. Swings, slides, and shade? It was in some sort of small development on the beach. We’ve no idea if it was a hotel, homes, or what, but we had no problem trespassing either way. The gardener didn’t seem to mind so we figured we must be good.

I got the windlass working again. It was as easy as throwing a breaker. Yesterday Ali asked, “Don’t you just have to flip the breaker in the bedroom?” I said no. I for some reason thought I had bypassed that breaker back when I got rid of the up/down power cord for the windlass and replaced it with foot switches. Apparently I was smarter than that and left the breaker hooked up. While I thought I had bypassed it I instead installed a bus bar fuse in the battery compartment. So it seems I’ve now got double the protection. And yes, I admitted to Ali that she was right.