Bahia Falsa-Costa Baja Marina
24 March 2022 - After spending a few very pleasant days swinging on the anchor in Bahia Falsa, just four miles up the road, we had a relatively easy day into the Marina Costa Baja in La Paz, BCS, where we will hang out for a few days ticking off our list of chores, preparing to launch northward and relaxing.
By mutual agreement between the Michin and me, I slept until 0600. Then I got up, fed him and made the coffee. Jimena got up (relatively) early. We had a light breakfast of coffee and cookies then readied the boat to depart.
We weighed anchor just before 0900 and motored out of Bahia Falsa in a light NNE wind which pushed us out of the bay. We made it around the couple of intervening points and then onto the marina fuel dock, once again never hoisting a sail. I may not be able to look a real sailor in the eye again.
The Costa Baja fuel dock is enormous, about 200’ long. A good thing it was that long since much of it was taken up with a huge power yacht which seemed to be permanently tied up on one end of it, and a big catamaran fueling just ahead of the power yacht. We still had plenty of room to get on the dock and the catamaran pulled away as we were tying up. We took on fuel to top our tanks, a whopping 12 liters total (although our starboard tank gauge read ¾ full when it was full up; just something else to add to “the ever-expanding list”).
We then threaded our way through a narrow and relatively shallow channel, hewn out of the rock, into the inner harbor and our assigned slip. The maneuvering room was nil but we got in without too much destruction and were tied up in the slip with the engine off by 1030. We immediately plugged into the shore power then went to the marina office to check in.
The entrance channel to Costa Baja inner harbor
The check-in was smooth as Jimena had already sent them everything they needed. They checked us in with the Port Captain so we did not have to sojourn downtown.
We came back to the boat then walked around the harbor, ate lunch in an excellent restaurant on the waterfront called Azul Marino and bought breakfast for the morrow at the mini market next to our dock.
Later we took (warmish) showers, I shaved, and we went by S/V Reverie but they were out kayaking. In the evening we did some more research and planning for the next phase of our trip and finally racked out around 2300.
It is great to be on shore power so we can charge everything and run the refrigerator without worrying about killing the batteries or starting the engine. I also set about updating our blog which is now at least a couple of weeks, and several stops, behind us.
Various boats that we have met before are here in the marina: S/V Reverie (the Valiant 42 we met in Los Frailes (they are recovering from transmission woes); S/V Sparkle Muffin whom we first encountered in Bahia Asuncion; and S/V Victorious whom we first met in Bahia Tortugas.