and a lot of cash created a fine, ocean-capable  cruising yacht. He shares his knowledge and skills with fellow boaters on the Sea of Cortez and is sort of a Mr. Fix-It down here, especially for that most important cruising accessory in Baja: the watermaker. (One morning in La Paz, six boaters were waiting, seeking aid with balky watermakers, when Bill first poked his head out the door.)

Bill and his cruising partner, Angie Alejandre, are keeping watch over our party of five snorkelers. I haven't snorkeled in decades and was having problems getting my mask and tube to fit. Bill and Angie came alongside and he adjusted the gear perfectly. Bill lives in La Paz aboard Ocean Quest, a Romsdal built in Norway in 1960. Angie is a surgical nurse in a local hospital.

His yacht is one in a two-boat team cruising among the islands north of La Paz. The second boat is Ursa Major, a 65-foot Malahide North Sea trawler built in Norway and Ireland and launched in 1972. I'm a guest aboard her. Joyce Gauthier, the owner of Ursa, is snorkeling off to my left. A certified scuba diver, she's taking it easy today.

Bill, a former San Diego resident, and Joyce, a Seattle area rheumatologist, have been friends for years because of their common interest in classic North Sea trawlers. I first met Bill about five years ago at a boat show that Joyce sponsored in Seattle, and I had heard much about his never-ending restoration project. It's been exciting and inspiring to see the finished product. (Watch for a full feature article about Bill and Ocean Quest in a coming issue of PMM.)

Curious as a kitten, another sea lion pup zooms toward me, and I aim my digital Olympus 770 (which does work underwater, as Olympus promises) and snap a picture as it scoots by like a torpedo. I move so slowly compared to the frisky young sea lion. I know I've missed. So I snorkel along into a huge school of fish. There are so many, I can't miss. Snap, and I have a picture.

Warming up from the exertion of swimming in 82-degree water, I climb aboard Ursa Major's inflatable tender to cool off in the light breeze. What a crazy world this is. I like it.

GETTING READY

opportunities and popular for diving, kayaking, fishing, and hiking. Baja California, a long, rocky spine separating the sea from the Pacific Ocean, contains two Mexican states, with Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas its two best-known ports.

La Paz, far from the posh resort atmosphere at Cabo San Lucas, is a busy, seemingly properous town, with a shipyard, hotel, major box stores, and hospitals. It has a charming waterfront boulevard, shaded with palm trees and decorated with impressive sculptures, that stretches along a white sand beach. Find a bench above the beach and watch the panga owners negotiate fishing and sightseeing trips in their small, open boats.

There are three marinas in town, and Ursa Major and Ocean Quest were in Marina de La Paz, along with dozens of other craft bearing U.S. hailing ports. Some owners come south for the winter season, and others, like Bill Lee and Ron Miller, a sea captain and cruising friend, live here on their boats year-round.

Ursa Major is operated as a charter yacht in Alaska in the summer and in the Sea of Cortez in the winter. She has been in port only a few days, following the long run

Top:  A palm-shaded plaza overlooks the harbor in La Paz.
Above:  Pangas available for charter await sightseeing and fishing clients on the La Paz waterfront.