We pull into San Carlos tomorrow, and with that it will be my last time this year. From here on out, it will be the same. The last time this year at one place or another. It’s interesting to think of it this way, but this is an interesting life I lead.

At this point I have pretty low moral, and drive, it’s funny, actually. When I first get to the boat, I attack every new job with a vengance. Even at this point I’m hungry to find projects to keep busy and make the ship better. Then as time goes by, theres less and less little projects done, and more and more of just getting from one task to the next. By week 6 I’m pretty much ready to go and just doing what is needed to get by. It’s not that I ever do a bad job, it’s just that the majority of the really good work I do is in the first 2-3 weeks.

Everyone is like this. It’s an interesting thing to watch, because every person that comes to work on the boat does it. It’s even better when you get people coming and going not all at the same time. This way, you are “fresh” while they are tired, then when you are tired, a new “fresh” batch comes in.

Anyways, I’ll be home in 11 days after a short stop in Utah to pick up Elijah. YAY!!!!

After all the times I’ve been to Santa Rosalia, I’ve never actually been to the town. Yesterday I actually got to go out and take a look around and I found a really cool little town.

There’s actually quite a bit going on here, which is probably due to the fact that the town is right on the main highway 1 going south. The town really reminds me of the little gold rush era town I was born and raised in, back in Northern California. There’s lots of history every where and evidence of the mining that took place here.

I really liked the feel of the town, just walking around every where I saw people that were just simply living. No touristy BS, no neon and night clubs. It’s quite nice.

It does make me a little homesick, though.

We weren’t lucky enough to catch the Humboldt Squid fisherman in action, which was kind of a bummer. Apparently there’s not much happening with that right now, for some reason. We never really got a good answer as to why. The squid sure are interesting to watch swim around, but I have no desire to go for a swim with them! They look like they control the water pretty well.

After living and working in the Sea of Cortez for going on three years now I’ve become totally fascinated with it. Reading Steinbeck’s account of traveling over the same waters and visiting some of the very same places I go regularly is quite interesting. All that I can say is “My, oh my. How things have changed in the last 70 years.”

It’s really cool to read of his travels, and what he thinks about these places. If Steinbeck could see Cabo San Lucas now, he would surely be surprised. Apparently, when he steamed through in the early 40’s there was not much too it, and now it’s a huge place with many resorts and hotels.

Throughout this book, he does quite a bit of talking about life in general as well. I really appreciate the way the man thought. Often times through the book I was reading his thoughts and thinking to myself, “he is explaining this better than I ever could”.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when they are talking to some Indians outside of the town of Gauymas, and both sides are trying to figure the other out. He tries to explain to the Indians what it’s like to live in the US, and all that they know is that it must be great where “There is no poverty in your country and no misery. Everyone has a Ford.” In essence, this is the very lie that we are being told to believe about our people today. It hasn’t changed from his time to ours. I find it very interesting to see this from their point of view.

The Log from Sea of Cortez is a great book, worth the price of admission. I highly recommend this book.

There’s lots going on these last two weeks, so things should go pretty quick. Jay Dickman, the National Geographic Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist is here on board this week, so things are amped up a bit. We are going to some great places at early and late times for the perfect photo opportunity, which means long hours for me, but it’s worth it. I get to hang out and work with a genius.

All in all, it’s been a good rotation, and it’s looking like the coming vacation will be equally as good. I can’t wait!

What do you think? Post a comment and let me know!!

There haven’t been too many days I’ve been down here in Baja where it’s rained on me. Yesterday in La Paz was the first time I’d ever been in town when it happened. I really don’t know why it was such a big deal, but I guess it was just the fact that it doesn’t happen all that often down here. It’s interesting to watch, because the way people react is great. Back home, when a big snow storm is about to roll through is about the closest thing I can compare it to. Everyone was out covering things with their jackets and boots on. It was almost comical, because the rain only lasted about 4 hours.

We are on a photo trip this week, so there’s going to be lots of great opportunities for pictures. I’m pretty excited about getting to go to some of the lectures the staff will be giving on photography as well. I hope to get a step ahead in my photo abilities this week. I believe that the next trip is a photo trip as well, all the better for me.

Santa Rosalia is on the itenerary this week as well. This is a great little town on the border of Baja California and Baja California Sur, which is basically the middle of the peninsula on the east coast. The claim to fame her is the squid fishing, but there is also quite a bit of history from the town copper mining days. I haven’t had a chance to get out all too much here, so I hope to and get some pictures as well. We will be there on monday.

Heading north up into the Gulf of California and things just get better and better as we go. The sunrise this morning was one of the best I’ve seen in quite a while, and that’s saying a whole lot.

It’s been decided that we will not be heading west again for the next couple of weeks, the Gray Whales have left Mag Bay and so have we. From this point on we will stay in the Gulf and enjoy all of the great little islands. This is the point I’ve been waiting for. I really enjoy this side of Baja and I like it much better when we stay here the whole time.

The whales aren’t as close, we won’t be able to get in a zodiac and touch them, but there are so many more on this side, as well as many different types. It’s a pretty cool thing to experience.

I’m at the tired part of my rotation now. Every time, it’s the same thing. Week one is adaptation back to the boat life. Weeks two through four the readjustment is over and work goes on as usaul. Around week five or so is the starting to get tired week, which usually consists of some naps at random intervals as the opportunity arrises. Week six the second wind comes in and it’s a mad rush to the finish.

Unfortunately, I’m on an eight week stint this go around. At week six now my body and mind are unsure of what to do. Hopefully the second wind will kick in here soon.

The boat has been an interesting mix of problems as of late. I’ve worked on everything from plumbing to ice machines to a server. It’s certainly been an adventure, if nothing else.

I got to talk to my friend on the Nat Geo Sea Lion last night for a bit on the sat phone. He says that all is well down in Panama, and that they have had a good couple of weeks worth of trips. They will be heading back north here in about 3 weeks for a couple of trips here in Baja. After that they will head up to Alaska. It will be nice to have my old ship running around in the same waters. Hopefully I’ll get to go over for a midnight excursion and a visit up in Alaska, just to say hello.

Two more weeks after this. I’m ready to get home to see the kids and pick up my new van. It should be another great vacation.

The town is alive with people, on the streets and enjoying their surroundings. Maybe it’s because I have been to small towns in the US, and can compare the two. People seem to be far more community oriented here, it really makes me realize how isolated people in the US can be, with out even noticing it.

We had a bit of a scare from the tsunami set off by the Earthquake in Chile yesterday. There was much speak of the possibilities, we got ourselves pretty worked up about it. when the time came it ended up being nothing. The waves where nothing different than we would experience on any other day. Oh, well. It was fun to think about for a while.

I have some family headed over to Hawaii next week, and I want to wish them safe travels! My Grandparents, Mom and Step Dad are headed over. Surely they will have a great time.

My friend Tim and his wife are going over the week after that on a totally seperate trip. I’m hoping to get a hold of a friend over there to help them find some extra cool things to do, but haven’t been able to get a hold of him yet. I will though…. I didn’t forget.

I’m jealous. Maybe I’ll get to head over soon.