The Final Days

On Tuesday, our friends Dwight & Karen were passing through La Paz as part of a month-long RV caravan trip down and back up the Baja. We spent the better part of two days wandering around La Paz, sitting in the hot tub, enjoying local cuisine, and just getting caught up on news from home. Dwight & Karen also dropped off a pretty good load of last-minute items they brought from Albuquerque. It was great to get the stuff, but by now the boat is getting pretty full so finding space for storage is not easy. It was good to see them!

As we quickly approach our departure date, there are so many things to do. We completed the first official step to leaving Mexico. On Wednesday, we received our “Certificado de Sanitacion,” which is good for six days before exiting Mexico. This requirement appears to be necessary only in the La Paz district of Baja California, Sur. Chris from WIND DANCER and Dianne for PRARIE OYSTER and I started the process by taking a bus and then walking to the Edificio de Salude and coordinating our inspection appointment time. Other boats had found that the inspectors would make their inspection within 2 days, but two inspectors were at our boat within 2 hours. Both were very friendly and asked to inspect our provisioning lockers, galley, and head. They asked if we had seen rats or mice. We assured them that there were none on board. Sitting in the cockpit, two forms were completed, stamped, and signed by all present; and after paying our 200 peso fee, the process was complete. Yesterday, after repairing the dinghy floor and cleaning the cockpit enclosure, we went to La Paz for some errands. We met Alisa from PALAGIC, who needed to make a copy of one of our charts, made multiple copies of all our official documents (to make future clearance procedures easier), visited the bank to pay for our tourist cards, got Linda’s hair cut, and picked up the first of our perishable fruits and vegetables. We did find time to eat a couple of Tacos at a taco stand near the square.