Altair Departure

 I've set Altair up in her summer camp again.  She is sitting happily in San Blas, Nayarit, where she was 5 years ago.  I think she remembers.  I got a fantastic deal on the haul out, and it will be less than I spent in San Carlos last year, and I like the location better as well, since it is closer to the places I like to go to (Surfing in Punta Mita and Isla Isabel).  On my way up to San Blas I happened upon a breaching humpback whale, and it was leaping and splashing around, and since I had my motor on, I wasn't concerned about getting hit, so I allowed myself to get quite close (it was heading towards me and I just didn't alter course).  It came fairly near and breached about 100 yards away, which was close enough to get a nice photo.  I'll miss these guys, they were singing under the sea for a lot of the nights down in Bandaras Bay and I hope to see them soon when I get up to Alaska.
The Haul-Out was fairly straightforward, with a big travel-lift and simple stands.  This is a concrete yard, so I have a good grip on the earth to keep Altair upright.  There are a lot of bugs here, so I hid from them, and in the fall I will have my work cut out for me to do some things before going back in the water.  I'd like to patch the hole in the bottom of the dinghy that lets water in, and re-paint the bottom (or maybe not, I haven't decided) and of course, set up all the lines and sails again.  I hope to do a trip out to Isla Isabel in the early fall when the water is super clear.

 So I left Altair and then took the bus up to Mazatlan and then took the Baja Ferries boat over to La Paz, where I'll be for a few days before flying out to Bellingham.  Here is a picture of one of the ferries:

It was an overnight trip, and pretty easy, except I probably should have got a cabin, since it was hard to sleep.  They have seats and movies that play loudly and the seats aren't very easy to sleep in, so I went to the floor, which wasn't very comfy.  All in all, I got about 3 hours of sleep broken up in 10 minute increments.  So I'll be taking some rest today and the next before flying back.  

I awoke at 5 without being able to sleep again, as the boat was making a turn up Cerralvo Channel, and I went out on deck to look around.  There was a big thunderstorm outside and I took a few pictures of the lightning!  It was great, taken from such a big boat where I didn't fear getting struck.  I like lightning when I'm not in Altair.  

 So that's all for now, I'll be in La Paz for a few days and hopefully I'll take my camera out some and do another farewell to mexico post.