Coco’s beach 12.29.08

As today was our play day, Pacific Jade & Lady Hawke suggested we go over to the golf course for brunch and then to the beach. Cool! We’re up for that…

We met in our dinghies around 10am on Monday and headed over to the Colimia side of the lagoon to the golf course. There is an exclusive hotel here called The Grand Bay Resort by Wyndham that also operates an amazing golf course here on the Isla, across the bay from the city of Barra de Navidad. So we dinghied over, tied our dinghies to a tree and, dressed in our beach clothes with soft sided coolers on our back, began to walk through the golf course. We first came to the clubhouse where we stopped and ate brunch. They had a good breakfast, complete with fresh squeezed orange juice, and we wondered if they were either irritated with us for being there or grateful as we were the only ones in the entire building! After lunch, we walked through the golf course, following the golf cart route directly to the ocean. Imagine a golf course that is right on the ocean in the U.S. allowing a bunch of non-golfers to walk through to get to the ocean! Once we made it to the beach, we walked down the beach until it dead-ended right into a large hill of rock. On the edge of the rock there was a walkway that went up & over the rock and took you to a beautiful beach with two coves separated by another large rock and a tunnel rock where the waves came rushing in and sometimes joined with the surf of the main beach. It was spectacular! I posted some pictures of the beach and will upload a video soon as well.

We spent the day just hanging out – swimming, combing the beach for shells, chatting, etc. We even found an old trashed volleyball that looked just like “Wilson” from the movie and we helped him out & posed him for some photos. There were very few people on the beach, only two or three at a time, and most came and stayed for only a few minutes and left so we were spoiled with a beautiful, hidden beach, all by ourselves. The water felt spectacular and it was a turquoise blue with white surf. We didn’t realize we had spent 7 hours until we got back to the boat so late! But it’s nice when you’re with friends and the time flies…that’s how you know you’re with good friends.

Unfortunately, I didn’t plan on 7 hours in the sun and got a little sunburned that I’m still nursing but it was so worth it. It was absolutely spectacular. A great hidden gem that we’re thrilled to have been shown.

Tuesday morning we arranged for another generator technician to come out to the boat & take a look. His name was John and his company is Johnco. He is an expat and has been working & living in Puerta Vallarta for several years. Anyway, he came over and wouldn’t you know it….the generator performed spectacularly. No problem whatsoever. Of course! We discussed the problem with him and he agreed though, we have a problem not with the generator, but with the inverter/charger. I’ll attempt to explain it.

- We have a 3.5KW generator which translates to 3500 watts. Divide 3500 watts by the volt output, which is 140 and you get a maximum 25 amp output.
- Now, we have a Xantrex Freedom 30 Inverter/Charger that when the batteries are low, requires 28 amps in the ‘Charge’mode.

So we’re bringing the generator ‘to it’s knees’ when it’s attempting to charge the batteries. Not a good thing. We need to figure out if we can change the amp requirements of our Xantrex unit or if we need to get a separate charger. We would have to re-wire a separate charger and finding one down here will be very difficult and it will cost a fortune to have one shipped down here. We’ll see. We’re able to keep up with it as long as we do not let the batteries go down below 20%. We’re running the generator a lot more than I like – I don’t like the ‘noise maker’ running so much but that’s the way it is right now and we’re still out here so what am I complaining about! But our Christmas list for next year is getting HUGE! Haha… Additional solar panels, re-insulate the fridge, maybe a new TV (ours is giving us fits now & then), jeez, it’s expensive to go cruising! Haha… With two additional solar panels and a re-insulated fridge we will be able to reduce the ‘noise maker’ significantly. Woohoo!

Once we finished with Johnco, we packed up the computer and went into The Sands Hotel for some more time on the internet for more job applications. Mike & Marylyn and Joe & Deb as was Ryan, an RV’er currently in Tenacatita who came down to Barra to lend us a frequency meter, were also at The Sands Hotel and we all decided to go in town & watch the sunset. Ryan had beenin touch with Kim & Linda on Endeavor and they were at a hotel in town called the Alondra. So we went there & joined an already large group of boaters for a fantastic sunset. The boats represented were Effie, Aquarius (who had just arrived earlier that day), Over Heated, Endeavor, Lady Hawke, Ryan & us. We had a wonderful evening chatting away. After the sunset, we went to eat dinner with Kim & Linda from Endeavor at Pepe’s Mexican again – did I mention the fantastic burritos for only 25 pesos! After dinner we all went back to The Sands Hotel and participated in a dart tournament. There were approx 8 teams and two dart boards and well, Marylyn & I were a team and didn’t do so hot. So who cares who won?! The groups were made up of both locals and us boaters and we had a wonderful time playing. We made it back to the boat around 1am. Fun!!

New Year’s Eve is next!!
Rene

Videos Uploaded 12.28.08

I finally got around to uploading some videos! Here they are...

These are from the Posada block party in Bucerias:




These are from Isla Colorado in Bahia Chamela





And these are from our jungle tour in Mantanchen Bay




I hope to have more uploaded soon!
Rene

Barra de Navidad 12.28.08

We’ve had a wonderful time here in Barra de Navidad. We are anchored in the Barra lagoon and we’re in between the cities of Barra de Navidad and Colimilla. The city of Colimilla is only about 5 blocks long & 2 wide but has lots of great restaurants, an outboard service business that we had our dinghy serviced at, & Maria’s tienda, who services the cruisers with water & food deliveries. Barra is a bit bigger and has just about everything you may need – restaurants, laundry, internet, propane, hardware stores, medical, etc. You name it, you can probably find it in Barra. The city is about 13 blocks long and 8 blocks wide, but the main area that everyone spends time is only 6 x 5 blocks. Barra is a Mexican vacation spot and the majority of vacationers come in from the bigger city of Manzanillo. It’s a beautiful beach town with beaches as far as the eye can see, colorful umbrellas propped up everywhere, beautiful palm trees, dirt & cobblestone streets, & the traditional town square & beautiful church. We were here once before, staying with our friends Scott & Liz on Ocean Lady, but it’s always so nice to experience it again. The people here are wonderful – very friendly & helpful.

The lagoon is full of boats – the numbers keep going up & down but are hovering around 25-30 each day. We are anchored out near the edge of the boundary, which is working out perfectly as no one wants to anchor around us. Haha.. Living in the lagoon is good & bad. There is absolutely no swell so the boat sits nice & comfy…but! The fishing pangas scream by early in the morning, any time after 6am, which causes a nice wake that makes the boat roll around, there are water ski boats that pull skiers during the day, causing more rolling around, and finally….the water is not clean enough to swim in (for me) or make water in. Ahhh…the perpetual problem….no place is absolutely perfect. I guess we’ll just have to keep looking. Darn! But it’s great to have the town to visit and there is a hotel, called the Hotel Sands that is ‘cruiser friendly’ and allows us cruisers to enjoy the pool, bar, & internet. The dinghy landing, a seawall that the dinghies tie up to, is at the Sands Hotel as well.

Our typical day, if you can call any of this typical, begins with the morning net. On the VHF radio, the morning net begins at 9am. They begin by asking if there is any emergency or priority traffic, followed by a call for departures or arrivals. If there are any new boats, they tell everyone the name of their boat, the names of everyone on board, where they have come from & how long they’re planning on staying. After that begins general check-ins. Everyone says their boat name and is acknowledged by ‘net control’. Following that is a call for mail – anyone who can take flat stamped mail back to the U.S. or Canada, General Announcements, rides & crew, treasures of the bilge (a swap or sell of items), and finally local assistance where you can ask for help finding places and items. After the net, the ‘French Baker’ makes a stop at the boat, selling bread, pastries, quiches, etc. He comes on the net and says “Zis es ze Franch Baykeur, I am coming into ze lagoon”….it’s so funny to hear him. He has been here for years & has yummy stuff…almond pastry, chocolate croissant, baguette, quiches, etc. We don’t buy stuff from him often – bread mostly but every once in a while that chocolate croissant is calling my name! haha…

During this time, our generator is running, pumping juice back into the batteries & running the fridge & freezer. We have breakfast & do our daily chores and prepare to go into town. We go into The Sands Hotel & do whatever we need to, & most evenings head back to the boat before dark. Dinghying at night can be dangerous as there are lots of pangas, both fishing & water taxi, that zoom through the lagoon and often without lights. So we make every attempt to get back before dark…or be extremely careful when we’re out after dark.

Wireless internet is out in the lagoon, but before today, there was only one provider – called Low Maintenance, that charges 350 pesos for a month of service. It seemed pretty extreme of a price since we will only be here a week or so, so we decided to just take the laptop into town when we needed to check e-mails. Just today though another restaurant, Fortino’s, began offering daily passes so we will check that out when we go into town.

We’ve had such an action packed week – I can’t believe it’s going by so quickly! We arrived on Christmas day & took it very easy. We immediately took to the one day work, one day play philosophy and the following day, spent most of it at The Sands Hotel working on the computer – uploading photos, updating blogs, checking e-mail, etc. We were introduced to a new drink called a ‘Caesar’ which is much like a bloody mary but somehow much more potent. The Sands has 2 x 1 drink special from 2pm – 7pm every day which worked out well as I would order a drink, get two, give one to Marylyn and then vice versa! Soon enough, it was time to get some food in our belly so we went on the hunt for Pepe’s Mexican Food for some fantastic burritos & fries. We walked through the town a little and then headed back out to the boat.

The next day was our typical routine. There was another ‘beaders annonymous’ class at 10am, a book exchange, & a gamers table at The Sands Hotel and I had been working on a new bracelet so I attended. I was able to complete my 2nd bracelet and get some fabulous ideas for others. Michael stayed on the boat and did some projects, took a nap, you know…the usual. Haha… After several hours of beading & chatting, I hitched a ride back to the boat and had another mellow evening on board.

Sunday was another full day in at The Sands Hotel using their internet. If we haven’t said before, we have decided to get jobs over the summer this year while the boat is holed up in Mazatlan. It was a tough decision but we figure it’s the best time to reinvest in the market! And if we can find enough work to cover our expenses for the summer and have some $$ left over to fill the cruising kitty, even better. So we spent the entire day at The Sands on the internet, applying for jobs! I have to admit – it’s a long & painful process! Haha. We figure if we HAVE to go to work, we’ll try to find a new area to do it, and something that will be fun to do as well. We have been applying for jobs in Alaska as we have both never been there and they have a lot of seasonal positions available. We applied as Park Rangers, tour operators, etc. So wish us luck and help us out if you know any secrets of how to get hired!!

More to follow…
Rene

More photos uploaded 12.26.08

I found a great internet cafe at the Hotel Sands. We are sitting enjoying a cocktail, overlooking the pool, catching up on all of our photo uploads. I hope you enjoy!

http://photos.aheakali.com/thumbnails.php?album=lastup&cat=0

Rene

Feliz Navidad! 12.25.08

Feliz Navidad from Barra de Navidad. We weighed anchor around 10:00 on Christmas day and headed down the coast to Barra. It was another spectacular day. No wind but it was a great motorsail. The coast was beautiful – miles & miles of beach and very few houses. We saw our regulars – whales, dolphins, turtles, lots of fish & birds. Though we never get tired of seeing it! Haha…

We arrived in the lagoon around 4pm or so. The Barra lagoon entrance is incredibly tricky, the opening in the middle of the entrance is only 12ft deep! And keep in mind…our keel is 5’5” down….so you have to pay attention! We were given coordinates in Mazatlan that had waypoints that marked the opening in the channel, as well as a route to follow that we followed to a tee. We also had Lady Hawke ahead of us that we were following and we entered without incident. It’s not uncommon to have a boat on the shoal – leaning awkwardly until they are either pulled off of the shoal, or the tide rises high enough to loosen them up. But we lucky, paying super close attention and made it without incident. Woohoo!

OK, so for our generator issues. We are still struggling, but are doing OK staying on top of it. The battery terminals were cleaned which made a big difference but still the generator is bogging down with different loads which baffles us. We’re ‘band-aiding’ it by running loads differently and seem to be staying on top of things. Just this morning we asked anyone on the net if they had a frequency meter and someone does…so we will try to get him to come over & look at it with us and see if the frequency is off (which has been suggested by the manufacturer). Since we’re in Barra now, we can also have our outboard motor repaired (it’s still running slow and needs to have the carburetor rebuilt) and this is the place so hopefully we can get our repairs while we’re here.

We are going into town this morning to check in with the port captain and try to find an internet café to upload our blogs, photos & videos.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! We miss you all very much and hope everyone is doing well. We love it out here!

More to follow…
Rene

Chamela 12.24.08

We had another great cruise down the coast today. We are making short hops down to Barra de Navidad, still hoping to make it by Christmas. We left Ipala on Monday around 08:00 and cruised down the coast by 50 miles to Chamela. The seas were flat as can be and it was a beautiful motorsail. No wind at to speak of but we had the main & mizzen up for stability & the occasional push. A fun thing about being out sailing down the coast is you’re never alone. Of course we have our buddy boats but also we are contacted on the radio often by other boats that pick up our conversations and want to chat as well. Communication between the 3 boats is plentiful – we talk about what we’re seeing (miles & miles of beaches), sea conditions (what a current we’re bucking!), report any wildlife we see (whales!) and our position if we can’t visually see each other. But we’re often contacted by others who happen to hear our conversations and are looking for info on weather, our plans, etc. It’s a great community and I’ve always been amazed how boaters always wave to each other & help out whenever needed. Why is boating that way, I wonder?

We saw logs of life in the sea again – turtles, whales, fish, birds – you know, the usual.

We arrived in Chamela and there was a south swell running, making the anchorage entirely too rolly for us to stay so we cruised out by the islands and anchored there. We had another scare as our batteries were not entirely charged – stressing Michael out. We did have full water tanks (we make water while we’re underway using our watermaker to pull the clean water from the ocean, desalinate it, condition it and put it in our water tanks), and hot water for showers though! We tried to run the generator and it was doing it’s bogging down thing again so we shut everything down for the night – we’ll deal with it in the morning. The evening sunset was absolutely gorgeous and we jumped overboard to cool off & look for the ‘green flash’ while the sun was setting. The water was perfect – just enough cool to cool us down but just warm enough to let us stay in for a while. After a shower & dinner, we read some more and unwound for a bit and hit the sack. The evening was quite a bit rolly and it was the first evening on the hook, so we didn’t get much sleep.

We woke up & Michael tore apart the back cabin looking at the batteries. We had thought about it a lot the evening before and decided it must be a bad connection or something wrong with the batteries as the engine alternator is directly tied into the batteries and after a 7 hour motor, they were not topped off. He identified 2 battery terminals that could stand to be cleaned up and disconnected everything to clean it while Mike from Lady Hawke supervised. The water was so super clear we could see the anchor and chain from the bow of the boat – 16 ft down. The anchor was dug in well and we could even see the ripples in the sand below. Just beautiful…

Around noon, we all decided to go into the beach for some snorkeling & beach time. Joe & Deborah from Pacific Jade & Mike & Marylyn from Lady Hawke. The beach we were anchored off of was about 150 ft long, super fine white & black sand, pelicans & booby birds everywhere, & the most excellent turquoise blue water lapping into the sand that I’ve seen. It was paradise. Lady Hawke brought out a nice umbrella and the girls took off looking for shells & beach glass while the boys installed the umbrella. There were hermit crabs everywhere – from small ones the size of a pea to larger ones golf-ball size – and they were running all over the beach hiding their beautiful shells from us! The island is a preserve, although it didn’t say whether it was a bird refuge or what exactly. There was cactus growing all over the island, both the traditional cactus and some cactus that looked like an octopus – tentacles everwhere. And there were trees & shrubs were everywhere. It was a super sunshiny day, temps in the 80’s and the water just as warm. The snorkeling was off the charts – by far one of the most spectacular places I’ve seen in a long time. There were what seemed like millions of fish everywhere you turned. Lots of schools and lots of colors! My new favorite fish is the puffer fish and I spent quite a while just hanging with one of them. There were needlefish, star fishes, blue, orange, & yellow fishes, all surrounded by spectacular turquoise blue water. We even saw a very pissed off eel that we stayed away from and a snake that took off quickly when we saw him. The sun was shining and was shimmering down onto the rocks we were snorkeling around, it was splendid. Mike from Lady Hawke showed Michael & Joe what scallops looked like and made it their mission to find some for dinner. By the end of the snorkel they boys had rounded up 5 large scallops!

Back at the beach we all snacked on things we each brought – a fresh cut pineapple & roasted peanuts – chatted, & enjoyed the beach & sunshine. The boys began the chore of cleaning the scallops which turned into great entertainment as they are not easy to open and then when you do open them up, they have little critters that come crawling out that elicited a hearty ‘Gross!’ from everyone watching & by the time they had them cleaned & ready…it was time to get back to the boat before dark. Mike & Marylyn had caught a sierra while fishing and was going to make fish tacos for dinner and I had pressure cooked some pinto beans so we figured it was the perfect combination and went to their boat for dinner. We had forgotten to turn on a light before we left the boat and it was pitch black when we were going home! There was no moon out and the million stars out were of little help but we managed to make it back. The phosphorescence was incredible though – it is like seeing little lightning bugs everywhere in the water. When we were motoring back to our boat, we had a 10’ tail of phosphorescence that was following us! It was just a spectacular day.

With everything from yesterday, how could we possibly top it? Well, we had a Christmas eve that went to our top 3 of all time. We were up & about early, as result of another horridly rocky evening. I was sitting at the computer trying (and failing) to send e-mails while Michael was up on deck and the generator was running. All of a sudden, Michael comes running down the deck (which is right above my head) screaming ‘Rene!!’ I was flipped out and started running towards the generator kill switch (a reflex since we’ve been having issues with the @#$(& generator) when he finally says “there’s a seahorse out here – come quick!” And there it was…a real live seahorse! It was a burned red color and was hanging out at the bow of the boat, nibbling the algae that was stuck to the chainplate at the waterline. It was spectacular. I’ve never seen one in the wild, only in aquariums and had always hoped to. After telling the others about it, I realized how rare it is! Everyone I spoke to had never seen them….and they have been cruising for lots of years! I took photos but they don’t capture how cool it was…sorry.

Mike & Marylyn had to go into town for beer & ice so we tagged along. At the main anchorage in Chamela, we found another boat – A Capella with Ed & Cornelia on board and stopped to say hi. We beached our dinghies & took off to town. The town was small and had one paved road through it. There were a handful of tiendas & abbarotes and we checked each one out! Lots of goodies. The main square was beautiful and there were several nativity scenes set up all along the street. We provisioned with the necessities and headed back to the dinghy only to find Ed & Cornelia having a beer on the beach! We joined them for a quick one & before we knew it, it was time to be back on the boat to prepare for our big Christmas eve celebration.
The 6 of us met on the beach again around 3pm with presents & dinner. There were two large beach blankets on the sand with all of our goodies and we each brought a beach chair. Each of us cooked an arracherra, a cut of meat popular down here that has a nice flavor to it, and a side dish. Marylyn brought a cabbage salad with a yummy ginger sesame sauce, pineapple slices, & a cream cheese/raspberry chipotle appetizer with crackers. Michael made some potatoes that were covered with bacon & roasted and we also brought some chipotle cheese to share. Deborah made a coconut key lime pie for desert…yumm!! After dinner, we exchanged gifts. We made off with a incense set, an ornament & a beaded hair clip from Lady Hawke and a crank flashlight, a loofah soap, & chocolates from Pacific Jade. I gave Michael a set of ‘worry dolls’ that the Indians believe that you tell your worries to before you go to bed and they worry for you, and an earring. I had picked up a tank top when we were in San Blas that acted as my gift. It was perfect.

We cleaned up our site a little and then began gathering our racers. You see, yesterday as we were looking at all those cute little hermit crabs….we had a wild thought. Let’s setup a racetrack & have hermit crab races!! Sounds great. A racetrack was created in the sand, with a start line & finish lines….and a few little speed bumps for the sport of it! We all hunted for what we thought was a speedy hermit crab and placed them on the start line. How exactly do you determine a speedy hermit crab you ask? Good question! Everyone seemed to have their own set of requirements – mine was simply putting a bunch of them in my hand and which ever one opens up first must be a speedy one! Haha… So once we all had our crabs down…we waited for one or more to cross the finish line. Deborah’s crabs won both heats, with mine coming in second each time. Somehow Deborah & I were the best at picking the crabs since everyone else’s crabs didn’t even finish! Of course we were the ones encouraging ours the most, so that must be the secret. Deb had brought prizes for the winners and my crab (that I called ‘Red’, hers was named ‘Hermie’) and I were awarded a kazoo! Red didn’t want to play so I played for him…haha. And before you ask…no, we weren’t drunk – just enjoying. The video I have to share will have you rolling in your chair….and if not, you’re too darn serious!! We also played a game called ’20 questions’ which was a handheld computer game where as a group you choose select an object and then the computer asks you 20 questions and then tells you what you had selected! We figured we could surely stump it so our first word was ‘seahorse’. The darn game asked us 20 questions such as ‘is it heavier than a 1lb of butter?’, ‘Does it have a long tail?’, ‘’Does it have legs?’, etc and it came up with the correct answer!! How did it do that?? So we tried again, this time choosing a volcano. Yep, it got it correct. We stumped it with a ‘kazoo’, but it redeemed itself with a ‘dinosaur’. Stupid game… hahaha…

The sun was setting so we started a bonfire in the sand and sat around & just enjoyed each other’s company. We talked about everything & kept warm to the fire. We watched as all of the pelicans and booby birds nestled into their trees for the evening, the hermit crabs retreated under the logs & burrowed into the sand, & the phosphorescence in the water sparkled as the tide was gently lapping in. We finally extinguished the fire & headed back to the boat around 9:30. Temps were still in the 70’s and the water was nice & cool. We went back to the boat and had one more rocky night and decided to weigh anchor and head further down the road to Barra de Navidad. This anchorage was absolutely splendid – perfect in my eyes. If it had only been a calmer anchorage in the evening….Michael would agree! We will definitely return here.

Rene

Ipala 12.21.08

We left La Cruz de Huenacaxtle early Sunday morning at o-dark-thirty so we could round Cabo Corrientes as early as possible. We have had a hard time hearing Don Anderson's weather forecast and have been doing our own research and figure today was the best day to make the crossing in the next few days. Cabo Corrientes is one of those places where if you do not time it well with a good weather window, it can be a harrowing place.

The seas were pretty calm during the passage, although there were some large swells. The wind was directly astern so it wasn't a pleasant sail (the exhaust fumes get pushed into the cockpit). The scenery here is stunning. Untouched beaches as far as the eye can see, mountain ranges in the background, palm trees everywhere, & a crystal blue sea. But we saw all kinds of marine life! It's like an aquarium everywhere we go now and it never gets boring! We had dolphins racing our bow, sail fish
jumping about 5 ft out of the water, turtles floating by with their flippers out of the water - waving them as if to say hi! This trip we have also seen a lot of rays - simple brown ones and even a few manta's (we think!). They are so graceful! When we were anchored, we saw a bunch of them jumping out of the water! Michael had a fishing line in the water most of the trip but didn't catch anything…bummer!

We arrived in Ipala around 2pm and grabbed a nice hold on the anchor & then just relaxed. I was hoping to do some swimming but the water didn't look as clean as I'd like so I read instead. I had also been given a recipe for cooked plantains that were like mashed potatoes. I had picked up all of the ingredients on our last minute provisioning trip into Puerta Vallarta on Saturday and so I made them last night. Honestly, they were pretty weird. They tasted like hot mashed bananas….so I guess I
used the wrong color plantains. I'll have to try again. Using the local ingredients is one of my favorite past times and I'm always up for trying something new. How will I know if I don't like it?!

The town here in Ipala consists of about 10 buildings. It's busy today - a Sunday - and there is a panga full of it appears Mexican tourists as they keep circling the boat taking pictures of us…haha. It feels weird to be the center of attention! We didn't go into town as it takes too long to drop the dinghy & re-sling it and we're heading out in the morning. The anchorage is a bit rolly, but not too bad. Lady Hawke, Pacific Jade, & a new boat - Acapella is in the anchorage with us, along with
a much smaller boat that we haven't seen the name of - but they have a young baby, under 2yrs old on board. A nice dinner & a movie and we were done for the night. I will definitely come back here for another visit & look forward to seeing the town.

Chamela tomorrow!
Rene

Posada 12.18.08

We were treated today! Marylyn & I took the bus into the town of Bucerias to shop & pick up some foccacia bread that she ordered the previous day. We had eaten at a little sandwich shop on the day we all went in looking for batteries that had to die for foccacia bread. We purchased some from them and asked where they got it from, to which they told us about this bakery in Bucerias called 'Yunior's'. We got off of the bus and walked around the small town. It's nice with dirt & cobblestone streets,
a beautiful town square, & a large shopping area. We wandered the streets looking at everyone's wares and found the bakery & picked up a full sheet of foccacia bread for 200 pesos. It was two large pizza boxes worth and was it heavy! Haha… Anyway, we stopped at a little shop and were shopping & talking to the ladies and they invited us to come to a block party where they lived that evening. Sure! We'll be there! So after a day of wandering the town, we walked to the bus stop and were hanging
when we saw Willem & Mary Jane in a van and the motioned for us to get in! It must be our lucky day! Haha…

Later that evening, the 4 of us took a bus back into Bucerias and wandered the streets until we found it. I hope I can do the scene justice as it was spectacular. Again, the streets are cobblestone & dirt, the street was a dead-end street and only 2 blocks long. At the open end of the street, a large light stage had been set that basically blocked off the opening to all vehicles & was booming music down into the street. When you were walking along the main street, you couldn't really hear it
as it was directed down the street. The lights were multi colored and spot lights, shining down on the street. And there were kids chasing the lights before the festivities began. The houses along the street were mostly one story with a couple two story houses. There were trees planted along the sidewalk and Christmas lights were strung on a few of the houses. Some of the kids were dressed up as angels, Mary, Joseph, & wise men. The celebration was for Posada, which is the 12 days before Christmas.
The kids in costume & many adults gathered in front of a gated house & began to sing verses to the Posada song. Paraphrasing the song, Mary & Joseph were gathered in front of the gates asking for a place to stay for the night, and were turned down. They asked again and were turned down again. But finally (after 6 verses of the song), they were allowed entrance. The song was very beautifully sang and the costumes were beautiful.

After the song at the gates, piñatas were brought out for the kids. Now this was funny. There were a total of five piñatas broken - 3 spiky ones and two Santa Claus shaped ones. Most piñatas have spikes on them and we were told this represents sins and when you are beating the piñata you are fighting the evils & sins of the year. And when the piñatas are broken the candy represents the 'fruits' of successfully fighting the sins. The piñatas were only for the kids and each kid got 5 whacks on
the piñata. There were big kids and also itty bitty small ones and those piñatas were tough! A couple of them were made out of clay and the others were made from paper mache and a couple times the adults 'helped' the breaking of it by either hitting it or helping to tear it open. When it was ripped open, all of the candy & confetti fell out and the kids would swarm the area, jumping on the piñata as soon as it was broken. I found the funniest part was the man who was raising & lowering the piñata
(the piñata was not stationary - it was raised & lowered by a man so that the kids wouldn't break it so quickly!) he was hysterical. He had a perma smile and was having a blast teasing the kids with the piñata. While the kids were hitting the piñata, the adults sat up & down the block in chairs chatting with each other. We spent quite a while talking with the lady who invited us, Cynthia, and after all 5 pinatas were broken everyone was gathered in the main area when it began raining balls.
Not beach balls, or soccer balls - but like a four-square ball? On the 2nd floor of one of the homes, just above one of the tiendas, all the lights were out but these balls kept being thrown - one or two or ten at a time, it was very random. Everyone was jumping & trying to catch one! One time, I even caught one (we were standing to the side but it was thrown directly at me!) so I handed it to a little one who hadn't managed to get one yet. There were probably a total of 50 balls tossed out to
the crowd and then the goodies changed. Backpacks, hats, jewelry, clothes, you name it. Everyone was having a great time trying to catch something and as soon as they caught it, they left the area and let the rest catch something. And amazingly….no fights! After that, it was time for food. The locals gathered for a nice dinner of roasted corn, rice & beans, & bbq. And one last thing before we left, all of the kids under 10 years old were told to line up on the street and each of them was given
a baggie full of candy.

We didn't want to impose, so we told Cynthia thank you and took off down the street to find a restaurant. We found a place that looked like a total hole in the wall, with an extremely large driveway so we thought why not?! We walked down & were seated…right on the beach! The waves were crashing in just beside us and we had an excellent dinner. There's nothing more relaxing than the sounds of the ocean and we were getting tired so we headed back to the bus stop & to the boats. We were sidetracked
in La Cruz at Philo's bar as they had a live band (they always have a live band!) and Bill from Grey Max was playing. We stayed there for a while and were surprised when we didn't make it back to the boat until after 1am. Time flies when you're having fun!

Here's the verses in Spanish for Posada, if you're interested: (I hope it posts OK!)

AFUERA ADENTRO
1. En nombre del cielo 1. Aqui no es meson,
os pido posada sigan adelante,
pues no puede andar yo no debo abrir
mi esposa amada. no sea algun tunante.

2. No seas inhuman, 2. Ya se pueden ir
tennos caridad y no molestar,
que el Dios de los cielos porque si me enfado
te lo premiara, os voy a apalear.

3. Venimos rendidos 3. No me importa el nombre,
desde Nazaret, dejenme dormir
yo soy carpintero pues que ya les digo
de nombre Jose. que no hemos de abrir.

4. Posada te pide, 4. Pues si es una reina
armado casero, quien lo solicita,
por solo una noche como es que de noche
la Reina del Cielo anda tan solita?

5. Mi esposa es Maria, 5. Eres tu Jose?
es Reina del Cielo, tu esposa es Maria?
y madre va a ser entren peregrinos,
del Divino Verbo. no los conocia.

6. Dios pague, senores, 6. Dichosa la casa
vuestra caridad, que alberga este dia
y os colme el Cielo a la Virgen pura,
de felicidad. La Hermosa Maria!

Marina La Cruz 12.17.08

We upped anchor on Monday and went into the marina. The marina is called Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz and is beautiful. Check out the website here… http://www.marinarivieranayarit.com/usmarinarivieranayarit/welcome The marina has 351 slips available and I’d bet there are only 90 slips full. It’s a nice, new marina and the best thing…it has power! Haha… Our batteries were mostly to the point we couldn’t go past so we came into the marina and plugged in. We contacted two maintenance men who are supposed to have a good knowledge about generators and hope they can fix it!

Until then, we went into Puerta Vallarta with Lady Hawke & Pacific Jade. Mike & Marylyn went in search of batteries and Joe & Deborah went in search of a solar regulator as they are having issues with their solar panels. We went in search of a generator mechanic that knows electrical. There is a magazine that is published here called “Vallarta Nautica” that has a large section on local businesses that can help cruisers. Under the battery section, there were several so we just started down the list. Michael found the guy we were looking for 1st thing and we made an appointment for 3pm. So we joined Mike & Marylyn on their quest for batteries. We walked to a place called Zaragoza’s, which is like a West Marine – a large marine store. There were batteries in the back and Mike & Michael tried to find the specific ones they needed. Marylyn & I walked around the store, looking at the goodies. We meandered back and found that Zaragoza’s did not have the batteries we needed, we were looking for 6 volt deep cycle batteries, and Mike asked the guy at the counter to call the next place on the list. Sure enough, the next place had them and the Zaragoza guy could arrange for them to be delivered for $2100 pesos each. Mike had a funny feeling that the Zaragoza guy was tacking on a percentage and asked me if I could make a phone call to the battery place and ask the price before he agreed to get them through Zaragoza’s. We went outside and started to walk down the street, attempting to get the cell phone to call the place. Mike & Marylyn have a U.S. cell phone which is very weird to use and we were having issues with the area code. We stopped at an OXXO, which a convenience store like a 7-Eleven. I was thirsty so I went inside to get a water while they were messing with the cell phone and pay phone. I went to check out and got behind a man who was taking a little longer than usual because he was adding minutes to his cell phones, all 3 of them, and he apologized for taking so long. I chatted with him for a while and when I had paid, went back outside to see how it was going. Still no good, there was something we were doing wrong! I figured I’d go in & ask the man what the area code was and during the conversation, he volunteered to make the phone call for us on his cell. What a deal! He called up and we played hot potato with the phone – first he told the guy I was going to ask him questions, I asked & answered his questions and the he asked if he could speak to the guy again! Turns out, the batteries were only $1500 pesos each direct through the company and our hero from the convenience store even had them come to deliver/pick us up right at the store! We thanked him vehemently and bought him a beer and gave him $5 for his cell phone use. We waited about 20 minutes and lo and behold…a little blue beat up pickup truck pulled into the lot with two smiling young guys with our batteries!! We asked them a million questions and eventually, Mike & Michael got into the pickup truck to be taken back to the company where he could pay for them, then they drove them all the way from PV to La Cruz, which is about a 20 minute drive. If that wasn’t enough, when they got to the boat, the two guys removed the old batteries from the boat which is NOT an easy chore! The old 8D batteries are like 200lbs and are stuffed into compartments that a midget couldn’t fit into. When the first battery was removed, one of the guys cursed long enough to make a sailor blush about those @#&$ batteries. Then they lugged them back up to the truck & were away! Now that’s what we call a true Mexican adventure. We could have been screwed by the guy at Zaragoza’s but ended up winning big time on the batteries.

Once Mike & Michael jumped into the pickup truck, Marylyn & I went….shopping! haha… We stopped for a fantastic lunch – a chicken parmesan sandwich on a wonderful foccacia bread (we even purchased a couple pieces of foccacia bread to eat later!) and then went shopping. We ended up at the tequila factory where we each purchased 3 bottles of tequila for Christmas! Haha.. We jumped back on the bus and was back at the marina by about 5pm. Mike & Michael had the new batteries wired in & were sitting back with beers in hand. Deborah & Joe from Pacific Jade came by & we all chatted & enjoyed the evening. Our generator guy didn’t show, bummer. We called and he rescheduled for Tuesday. Back at the boat for chicken tacos & watch Mama Mia.

Tuesday was boat chore, e-mail, phone calls, etc. day. That evening we went in to town & had dinner at Brittanica, a local pub that hosts a ‘jam session’ where musicians of every talent get together & perform. It’s totally random, some rock music, some folk, some country, etc. Dinner was bbq’d ribs with Spanish rice & coleslaw. The music was good, OK, fantastic, & phenomenol. I wonder if it had anything to do with the margaritas we were drinking, haha… It started out with a local guy singing with 2-3 cruiser guitar players, then another guy got up & sang some folk songs, then two guys from New Caledonia got up and rocked the joint & finally the local guy finished out the evening. The guys from New Caledonia were wonderful – one was a guitar/singer and the other played the harmonica & sang. All the while they had a bass guitar, lead guitar, drummer, & even a guy playing the spoons who accompanied them. This was probably the best harmonica player I’ve ever seen. I sat & chatted with them after they played and they are here for only 2 months. They began their ‘tour’ in L.A., then Tijuana, Mazatlan, here, & they are continuing to go South and play where they can, paid or not, until their 2 months are up. They will be in Zihuatenejo in a week and we’re bummed we will miss them! Oh, our generator guy still didn’t show up today. I guess he’s not coming…

So it’s Wednesday now and we’re still doing boat chores & internetting, & getting caught up. We had a new generator guy come by today named “Tea pot Tony”. Uh huh…just what I was thinking. He worked with Michael for about an hour and left scratching his head. We couldn’t reproduce the issue (of course! It’s like taking your car to the mechanic!) and he wanted to run the problem by one of his electrical gurus and will return on Friday. We’re going to run on battery power only, just like we had, and hopefully reproduce the problem tomorrow. It’s a nice hot day and we’ve spent the day on boat chores & lounging. Tonight we are supposed to do a dinghy raft-up with Pacific Jade & Grey Max but we’ll see if that actually happens! We’d like to get out of the marina again and hopefully something will get figured out soon!

More to follow…Rene

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle 12.15.08

We left San Blas on Thursday early in the morning to a fantastic sunrise. That’s the only good thing about getting up so early is to see those spectacular colors! We left the anchorage with Lady Hawke and ahead of us by a couple hours were Pacific Jade and Wirewalker. There were small swells and very little wind so we motorsailed most of the way. We were nervous as Don Anderson, the weather guru on the nets had predicted 35 knots of wind for our passage. And sure enough, they came. Pacific Jade alerted us since they were a little way ahead of us. We double reefed the mainsail & prepared for the winds. They came on us suddenly – and strong! There must have been a canyon that the winds were coming out of and they hung with us, pushing us along, for about 30 minutes. We were taking water over the bow and were healed over, rail almost in the water. It was a good ride! Michael got a salt-water bath when a wave hit us on the beam and soaked him…I have to say it was pretty darn funny! Haha… We had only one casualty – our tea kettle was on the stove – and secured in…but went flying across the cabin with one wave, spilling water all over & breaking the porcelain on the inside and out. We’ll be shopping for a new tea kettle now! Oh well, we were lucky – Lady Hawke had a box of milk fall out & explode…I’d much rather have water spilled than milk.

Once we passed this section, the wind & waves flattened back out and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way – even glassy at times. We saw a lot of wildlife – whales & turtles. We’re getting to the area where the turtles are called speed bumps – sometimes just bouncing off the sides of the boat as you go by! There were lots of them all out swimming around. I love turtles… J We arrived in La Cruz around 4:30 and dropped anchor. It was incredibly swelly all evening, we were bouncing around like a rocking horse. I went up to the bow of the boat and was mere inches from the water as we were rocking. There were 30 boats in the anchorage and we saw our friends Blythe Spirit, Grey Max, & Integrity. The batteries were topped off from our motorsail and the fridge & freezer were ran during our trip but the fridge is still taking way too long to cycle, which is running our batteries down. The first night at anchorage is always difficult as you get very little sleep because of the worry of dragging or of others dragging into you. You are on ‘anchor watch’ getting up to do a visual inspection of the other boats around you. Of course, we set an alarm on our GPS which would notify us if we have slipped, but not until we move twice the length of what we have out with the anchor. So visual inspections are required. Michael wakes up very easily and is on the outside of the bed, so he gets the pleasure of checking our position much more than I do.

The next morning, Mike from Lady Hawke came over to the boat and assisted Michael in charging the refrigeration system. We use a refrigerant called “409A” and were given a recharging kit before we left. There is a watchglass on each of the compressors and when the fridge kicks on, there should be bubbles appear in the watchglass, but then disappear after it runs for a while. There were lots of bubbles when it kicked on and they never disappeared, which told us we were low on refrigerant! You’ve heard the song “Tiny Bubbles”….In my wine, makes me happy, makes me feel fine. Well between the two Mikes, they got the fridge all charged up & happy. We went into town for lunch and to get some internet time because the internet at the anchorage is incredibly spotty. We at at a local cruiser’s hangout called “Philo’s”. It’s a happening spot in the evenings and has live bands most nights. We walked all around town, checking out each establishment. At Ana Banana’s we signed the ‘cruiser wall’ where most cruisers put the name of their boat, date, & who’s on the boat. We found a movie rental place and rented ‘Mama Mia’ and just checked out the town. We also checked in and back out with the port captain which was absolutely painless. We had to get back to the boat to run the engine to charge the batteries as we are still having issues with the generator and Michael charged the freezer with refrigerant as well since it was a bit low. We decided to forgo the evening in town as we were dealing with all of the generator issues and found out the next morning we missed one helluv-a-party. Seems everyone went in town & did some heavy partying! Oh well, next time…

Mike & Marylyn on Lady Hawke are having battery issues so they left the anchorage and went into the Marina in La Cruz. We went with them as line handlers and hitchhikers so we didn’t have to drop the dinghy and it’s a good thing we did! The windlass on Mike’s boat was not functioning, hopefully from the low batteries and the boys had to pull the anchor by hand-cranking the windlass, not an easy chore. The Marina in La Cruz is very nice! Everything is brand new, new docks which are almost completely empty! There is only about 3 docks that are in use and they are nearly empty. It’s amazing. We have heard rumors that in the past couple years they have charged up to $10 for the dinghy dock but this year they are not charging any money to leave your dinghy at the dock. Mike & Marylyn needed to go into Puerta Vallarta to meet with the agent to renew their FM3’s so we went in with them. We walked up to the bus stop, stopping to drop off a load of laundry, and took the bus into PV to Marina Vallarta. We walked around Marina Vallarta & had lunch & rode the bus back. It’s quite a change from La Cruz to PV – La Cruz is a small town, dirt & cobblestone streets, Spanish spoken, very small town Mexico. And then into Puerta Vallarta – where it’s very ‘Americanized’ – most speak English, bright & clean streets - landscaping, lots of traffic, mega stores, etc. It was nice being in the big city but we were so glad to be back in La Cruz!

We had a big issue with the generator the other evening and since then, the generator has not been charging at all. Michael called the manufacturer and they suggested the capacitor be tested, but we do not have the equipment to test it properly. Michael changed our the capacitor this morning and when we got back to the boat, we ran the generator and it charged…but it still has the same issues – it bogs out for no reason & we do not know why. If we can’t get it working correctly and can’t get the batteries topped off, we will also have to go into the marina to plug into shore power until we can get it looked at. I hope that’s not the case!

One of the local establishments had a Cuban singer in town so we went in to listen and for a refreshment. The music was wonderful – it was a woman with a fantastic voice who sang Cuban music in Spanish. She was fantastic. We walked around town a while to the different hotspots but it appears everyone was partied out from the night before so we went back to the boat. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

Sunday was a mellow morning. We are finally sleeping well and it was a very mellow night at anchor. Michael started the engine again as the generator is still on the fritz but the fridge & freezer are running like champs since being recharged! So all is not bad. But it looks like we’ll be going into the marina tomorrow morning as we’re having a bugger of a time keeping the batteries at a good level and it’s all consuming Michael, which is not fun. We went into to town, landing our dinghy & visiting with Mike & Marylyn for a while and finally ate breakfast around 2pm at a little place called Sylvia’s for some fantastic omelets & fresh squeezed orange juice. Yumm… We went back to Lady Hawke & visited with them & Joe & Deborah from Pacific Jade, doing some beading & chatting. We dinghied back to the boat in the anchorage after dark and even found it! Haha… Tomorrow – the marina!

We're in the paper! 12.15.08

The local paper in Ventura, California ran a story about us this sunday. How exciting!

Read it here... http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/dec/14/acting-globally/

Too fun!
Rene

The Bells of San Blas

THE BELLS OF SAN BLAS
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What say the Bells of San Blas
To the ships that southward pass
From the harbor of Mazatlan?
To them it is nothing more
Than the sound of surf on the shore,--
Nothing more to master or man.

But to me, a dreamer of dreams,
To whom what is and what seems
Are often one and the same,
--The Bells of San Blas to me
Have a strange, wild melody,
And are something more than a name.

For bells are the voice of the church;
They have tones that touch and search
The hearts of young and old;
One sound to all,
yet eachLends a meaning to their speech,
And the meaning is manifold.

They are a voice of the Past,
Of an age that is fading fast,
Of a power austere and grand,
When the flag of Spain unfurled
Its folds o'er this western world,
And the Priest was lord of the land.

The chapel that once looked down
On the little seaport town
Has crumbled into the dust;
And on oaken beams below
The bells swing to and fro,
And are green with mould and rust.

"Is, then, the old faith dead,
"They say, "and in its stead
Is some new faith proclaimed,
That we are forced to remain
Naked to sun and rain,
Unsheltered and ashamed?

"Once, in our tower aloof,
We rang over wall and roof
Our warnings and our complaints;
And round about us there
The white doves filled the air,
Like the white souls of the saints.

"The saints! Ah, have they grown
Forgetful of their own?
Are they asleep, or dead,
That open to the sky
Their ruined Missions lie,
No longer tenanted?

"Oh, bring us back once more
The vanished days of yore,
When the world with faith was filled;
Bring back the fervid zeal,
The hearts of fire and steel,
The hands that believe and build.

"Then from our tower again
We will send over land and main
Our voices of command,
Like exiled kings who return
To their thrones, and the people learn
That the Priest is lord of the land!"

O Bells of San Blas in vain
Ye call back the Past again;
The Past is deaf to your prayer!
Out of the shadows of night
The world rolls into light;
It is daybreak everywhere.

Jungle Tour San Blas 12.9.08

We were up & at ‘em early this morning as we all wanted to get on the first panga out on the Jungle tour. Again, when you think of San Blas, you think of the Jungle tour. You jump on a panga that takes you up the estuary similar to one we have been on in Tenacatita. Mike & Marylyn on Lady Hawke and Joe & Deborah on Pacific Jade with us beached our dinghies and locked them up at Ismael’s and walked down the street to the beginning of the jungle tour. Two other cruisers on Indian Summer joined us and all 8 of us jumped in a panga and began the tour. The estuary is lined with mangroves, cat tails, trees, & ferns – everything green you can imagine. The day was beautiful – sunny & warm and a bit muggy. We know we’re South now! We saw probably a hundred different species of birds, turtles, iguanas, butterflies, bulls, & crocodiles! Yep, freshwater crocs! We even saw an abandoned movie set. Our guide had eagle eyes and stopped the panga & identified every bird he saw, flower, tree, seed, & shell. Along the panga ride, we saw about 6 crocs from small ones only 3’ long or so and others that were bigger, fatter, & scarier! Our first stop was at a Crocodile farm which is a refuge & even a little bit zoo. There were lots of crocs – from itty bitty ones about 6” long to huge ones 6-7 feet long! And other animals – deer, hogs, parrots. We were attempting to take pics of the huge crocs and were worried that we would scare them and they’d run after us…well, I was taking a photos of a particularly large one and suddenly….a HUGE moth flashed right in front of the camera lens…it scared the beejesus out of me!! We all had quite a laugh at that. Then, I was also taking a photo of the hogs, which were so cute! I took a photo and the flash scared the hell out of one of them and it jumped, which made me jump twice as high! Haha… After spending a little while at the crocodile farm, we jumped back in the panga and went to a nice hidden swimming hole with a restaurant. It was heaven! The water was clear and turquoise, fresh & cool. We all jumped in & swam around in the cool refreshing fresh water. Ahhh….now this is living. They even had a swing that the boys used to jump into the nice cool water. After we were swimmed out, food & drinks were ordered and I went around the place to take photos. I was approached by one of the workers, the head maintenance man who lived on the property and he told me he lived on the property – a perk of the job – and he was responsible for keeping the pumps running 24/7 as they supplied San Blas with drinking water. We hung out for about an hour at the restaurant – swimming, chatting, & eating lunch, and jumped back in the panga to head back. We started the trip around 7am and returned around 1pm. What a fun morning! The Jungle trip is definitely high on my list of recommended activities – but especially the fresh water swim!

We walked back to the Bay and had our obligatory beers at Ishmael’s and made it back to the boat for some much needed rest & relaxation. There are plenty of small projects to complete on the boat – wash the dinghy, wash the boat, laundry, etc. We had a nice dinner & catch up on the blogs! We’re planning on staying for a couple more days and then heading further south to Guayabitos Cove to Jaltemba. The plan is still to be in the Barra de Navidad area by around Christmas.

I hope to update photos in the next day or so!

Photos uploaded 12.9.08

I have uploaded some photos of our trip so far. Check them out at http://photos.aheakali.com/thumbnails.php?album=20 Enjoy!!

Rene

Mantanchen Bay 12.8.08

We have had an action packed couple of days here in Mantanchen Bay! We arrived here right at sunset on Sunday evening and anchored in the dark just beside Lady Hawke. It is a very large bay and we were lucky, there were only 2 other boats when we came in. We were exhausted after a 17 hour trip so after anchoring we set the anchor alarm, scarfed down some food, & hit the sack. There’s something about those longer passages that just takes it out of you. The passage was uneventful – there were some big swells at first, but about ½ way through the trip, the seas mellowed out and by the time we were anchoring, it was a smooth as glass. We saw whales & dolphins and even a turtle. We dodged a few fishing vessels and were lucky as Lady Hawke was 2-3 miles ahead of us so they would contact us if they saw anything. We lost sight of 4-P.A.C.K. as they were headed to Isla Isabella but stayed in radio contact until we all anchored.

The next morning we slept in a bit & were putting everything away from the passage and observing our surroundings. It is spectacular – a huge bay that is rimmed with coconut palm trees everywhere. Everything is so green and lush I feel as if I’m looking at a post card from the South Pacific. There are palapas dotted along the long & inviting beach. As we were admiring our new home Pacific Jade came sailing into the anchorage. They set the hook and we all went into town. We beached our dinghies at a restaurant called “Ismael’s” which is cruiser-friendly. What that means is we can leave our dinghies outside the restaurant, secured to the business and he will watch them for us. They can also arrange to dispose of trash (a constant cruiser issue), send out for laundry, get block ice, etc., anything to help the cruisers. In return, the cruisers frequent the establishment, partaking in the ‘bucket of beers’ – 10 beers for 70 pesos (or about $6.50). Anyway, we beached the dinghy & parked them in front of Ismael’s and then walked to the corner of town where you can catch a bus, walk, or hitchhike into San Blas, about 9 miles away. We were in luck, a pickup truck slowed down for a speed bump and we asked if he would take us to San Blas – he said Sure! All six of us! Woohoo! We’re pretty sure he was related to Mario Andretti but he got us there safe & sound. In town we tried to pay him for the ride but he refused.

Both Lady Hawke & Pacific Jade have been to San Blas/Mantanchen Bay before so we were treated to a personal tour! We walked through town and took in the sights. San Blas is a beautiful town with about anything you need. It is a smaller town, no mega stores here, but lots of stores to check out. The town square was very cute and was all decorated with Christmas trees & lights. In 2003 & 2004 San Blas was hit with hurricanes and is still recuperating from the damage. They are building a new church and it is close to finished. We walked to Mc Donald’s (NOT the chain!) for lunch and enjoyed lunch with two other boats – Indian Summer & Frejea. The girls, Marylyn, Deborah, & I took off to go shopping while the boys all walked over to the Port Captain’s office to check in & out of the port. Us girls walked from shop to shop checking out the wares. The bead & wood work was amazing. They had handmade dishes for condiments that were in every shape you could imagine – turtles, frogs, owls, fish, etc. I watched as one of the women was making one and asked her if I could take her picture, but she denied. We are in the state of Nayarit and the native people are called “Huichol” and are known for their bead work, paintings, & woodwork. I wish I had enough $$ to get one of everything! Haha.

After the boys visited the Port Captain, they made their way to our rendezvous point, the San Blas Social Club, otherwise known as the bar. When we found them they were enjoying the special – a beer and shot of tequila for 40 pesos. We found an internet café in town that we checked out – it had some of the wildest internet stations, they looked like old video game machines (think donkey kong or Ms. Pac Man) that had the insides ripped out & replaced with a monitor & computer. The keyboard & mouse were where the old controls used to be located. Internet was incredibly inexpensive – 1 pesos for about 6 minutes of internet time. What a deal! The internet café was packed, but by young kids, probably 12 years old. They were all chatting with friends all over Mexico. It was fun to watch them as they watched us to figure out what we were doing! Haha. Of course once they found we were just checking e-mails, I think they were disappointed. Back at the bar, we sat & chatted for a while but it was getting dark & we needed to get back to the boats, plus we were getting eaten alive by the ‘no-see-ums’ or ‘jujunes’ that inhabit this area. Most people relate Mantanchen Bay or San Blas with No-see-um’s and many simply stay away. It’s a shame as the town is so beautiful but I’ll admit, the no-see-um’s are maddening! They seem to come out every evening just at sunset & hang around & bite the hell out of your legs between your knees & ankles. We jumped into a taxi and started back to the bay. I enjoy talking (can you tell?!) and began asking the taxi driver about the area and what celebration they were getting ready for as you could see them sprucing up the area. They are getting ready for the celebration for the Virgin of Guadalupe that is on the 11th & 12th. We won’t be in San Blas for it, but it sounds like a great fiesta! I had been told by several cruisers to make sure & get some banana bread while in San Blas and I also asked the Taxi driver where the best was in town. It just so happens we were driving right by it so we stopped & bought some loaves of both Banana & Coconut bread and eventually made it back to the bay where our boats were hanging out. Dinner & ½ a movie and we were out like a light!

Leaving Stone Island...finally 12.7.08

Stone Island was a blast! We had a great time there and stayed for several days longer than we had intended to work out some kinks in both our systems & our buddy boat - Lady Hawke - as well as wait for a package mailed down from the states that had our boat documentation inside & Michael's repaired sunglasses. It was near torture as we were forced to swim in 75 degree crystal water, dinghy into shore for pizza at Benji's, watch magnificent sunsets, watch cruise ships come & go from the commercial
dock, spot dolphins in the anchorage playing, break in our sea legs, and more... It was sunny & clear most days and just gorgeous. We shared the anchorage with Lady Hawke and only a couple other boats that straggled in and out during our stay. There were never more than 6 in the anchorage which was perfect! Grey Max & Pacific Jade joined us on Thursday in the anchorage and we all dinghied into shore & partied pretty hard Friday night. Everyone except us came armed with flasks of tequila! We
felt a bit unprepared and a bit out of our league, but soon fell right in step and had a wonderful time. It was a great night - dinner at Victor's, margaritas next door, a fun dinghy ride after dark to our boat for cookies, and everyone was gone by about 9pm - cruiser midnight! haha...

While at Stone Island we discovered and fixed a few bugs in the system. Sparky the generator was misbehaving again. One morning we could not get him to shut down! Yep, most people have trouble getting them started, we can't get it to stop. Michael eventually got it stopped by pulling a lever but the next morning it was worse than the previous and try as he might, it just wouldn't stop. Mike from Lady Hawke came over and watched in awe as even when they tried to shut off the air supply, it just
kept going and going. Maybe we should change it's name to the energizer bunny! haha... Eventually Michael found the problem - a set screw had come loose and wouldn't allow the lever to be fully disengaged. Problem solved! With only about 2 hours in the super heated engine room working around a super hot generator that wouldn't shut down - only a few small burns later, it was shut down. Whew! That problem was resolved but for some reason when Sparky is running, the AC Volts periodically drop
from 150 (where it prefers to run) to never less than 110, but with no new load placed and no real reason for a drop. We're baffled as to the reason and concerned, but since it doesn't drop less than 110, we're not freaked. All other systems are working well.

We are currently motorsailing to Mantenchen Bay, outside of San Blas. It is 4:54 in the morning and I'm on watch so I'm writing to keep myself awake! Michael is sleeping in the cockpit. We have a swell coming from the NW hitting us on our rear quarter stern and the wind is dead on the nose. It's a bit bouncy but not super uncomfortable. We have the mainsail up for stabilization only and it's bouncing from side to side. We left the anchorage around 0100 with Lady Hawke & 4-P.A.C.K. Lady Hawke
is about a mile ahead of us on the same course and 4-P.A.C.K. is directly abeam to us and is headed to Isla Isabella. We decided to skip Isabella on the way down because conditions are poor and there seems to be a lot of people out there. We plan on catching it on the way back to Mazatlan in the spring. The stars are out like gangbusters again. When we left the anchorage a beautiful quarter moon was setting, it is cool outside, in the 70's. I even put on a sweats!! And socks!!

We should arrive around sunset to Mantechen Bay and I'll send an update as soon as I can get a good signal!

Rene

Anchored at Stone Island 12.3.08

We made it - woohoo! We left Mazatlan Marina on Monday and headed South. The day couldn't have been better it was sunny, clear, the wind was 15-20 knots, and we left with a group of 4 boats - S/V Slacker, S/V Tao Min, S/V Lady Hawke, and us. We put up all sails and was scooting along around 5 knots. It was perfect! Stone Island is only about 10 miles from Mazatlan Marina but it was a wonderful sail & a lovely day. We are anchored in about 17ft of water, put the boat away from the sail, and
enjoyed our first evening at anchor with a nice meal.

Tuesday morning we ran the generator and had a nice lazy morning and around 9am jumped in the dinghy and went to shore to explore the island. Mike & Julie from Slacker, Mike & Marylyn from Lady Hawke, and Ed from Dolphin that came with Justin on Tao Min all went for a walk along the island. We introduced Geocaching to the group as there was one here and had a good time looking around for it! It was located inside the grounds of one of the beach restaurants and we chuckled as the employees kept
giving us hints that we were 'Muy Frio' (cold). It was pretty comical as there were 7 people roaming around the restaurant grounds! We all signed the log and checked out the goodies inside and then stayed for an ice cold beer. What a treat! Mike & Julie and Ed had to leave mid morning as they needed to get back to the Marina for her flight back to the states. We continued to explore the island with Mike & Marylyn and decided to stop for a homemade pizza where we left our dinghyies for the day.
Back at the boat, Michael and I had a nice snooze in the sunshine in the cockpit and recovered from our hard day! haha... We made rice and dinghied over to Lady Hawke for a wonderful fajita dinner. They were supposed to have other guests but apparently there was a problem on the road to get here and had to turn back. So we enjoyed an intimate dinner with them! After dinner we played a lively game of Mexican Train Dominoes. Ahh....life is good!

There are currently only 2 boats in the anchorage, us and Lady Hawke. We have a great view of Mazatlan's commercial port and have enjoyed seeing the cruise ships come in and out. There were 2 yesterday and so far 2 today. We're running the generator this morning and listening to the morning nets on the radio and are planning to jump in the dinghy this morning and explore the commercial port. We'll see!

More to follow...
Rene

Leaving Marina Mazatlan...12.1.08

Woohoo! It's that time! We're fully stocked & ready. FINALLY!! It's time for us to be cruisers again, not dockers! Our plan today is to leave Marina Mazatlan around 2pm and go over to Stone Island, just outside of the old harbor. We will stay there for a couple days and get used to the movement of the boat and just RELAX, then leave for Isla Isabella, weather permitting.

We have had a couple of crazy days since Turkey day. On Friday, we took off early in the morning and did the last of our provisioning, went by Nid Art to see our sailboat they are making for us, and got to Immigration around 11:15. Our appointment wasn't until 12:00 but we decided since we were there, to just go in & wait. We had asked earlier in the week for them to move up our appointment and so when we arrived, the guard at the desk recognized us. Only 10-15 minutes later, more people started to arrive and pretty soon, there were over 25 people in the waiting room. Now remember, we have to get our FM3's and make it to customs by 2pm so that we can extend our vehicle import expiration date. If I haven't explained it, when you enter Mexico, you purchase a Tourist card which is good for 6 months. When you enter with your vehicle, your temporary import permit is only good for as long as you are allowed in, in this case, 6 months. The FM3 is a document that allows you to stay in the country for 1 year at a time. But our issue is that once we get our FM3, we have to take those copies & a request for extension to customs to extend our vehicle temporary import permit to the year expiration date. Whew! That's a mouthful.

So anyway, Twelve o'clock came around, nothing. Twelve thirty, one o'clock, and we're starting to panic. Finally at 1:15, they call us (we were the 1st ones called!) and we go upstairs, put our thumbprints on our FM3's and we were outta there by 1:20. We are officially 'Estados Unidos Mexicanos' or 'American Mexicans' now...hahaha... I guess I really have to learn Spanish now! haha. So we high-tail it down the street to make a couple copies of the FM3 and then take off for Customs. It just so happens, on a total random sighting, I see the Aduana (customs) building by accident and it was not where we thought it was supposed to be! A little hesitation on Michael's part as he knew we had very little time to get this done, we turned around and went inside. We clocked in at 1:25, and back out at 1:30!! Can you believe it!? It was one of the easiest parts of the day. We just walked in, presented our request, made some more photo copies, and wha-la! The Jeep is safe & legal again. Whew! That even we were supposed to participate in a dinghy raft-up but decided to bail & make it a mellow evening.

Saturday came and suddenly - we're only 1 day from leaving! It was one of those crazy days - first the morning net, then there was a swap meet right after the net (and we sold lots of items), then there was a cruiser 'talk' about cruising in Panama, Cell phones, & Tenacatita. There were books to return, beading instructions given, chatting with Debbie on S/V Lovely Reta after her surgery, and visiting with everyone on the docks. We cleaned & organized the boat in preparation for guests. That evening, we invited Elvira & her fiance, Ramiro, to dinner and Michael made his famous Crab Newburg with some cauliflower. We enjoyed chatting with them and after dinner, jumped in their car and they toured us through Mazatlan. It was so much fun!

Sunday morning, when I should have been sleeping, we heard lots of police activity and even a helicopter! Mazatlan holds a marathon every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving day. The runners were running right by the marina! So I threw on some clothes & went out for lots of clapping & encouragement. When I got back to the boat my laptop was delivered - virus free (actually, he couldn't find anything wrong with it...yippee!) - and we continued to work on the small cleanup items - install the jack lines on the boat, do the last loads of laundry, update the blogs (wink!), clean & organize from last night, try to find the geocache at El Cid, run the dinghy around to make sure it's working properly (it isn't), & other little stuff like that.

We are planning to buddy boat with Mike & Marylyn on S/V Lady Hawke while several of our friends catch up with us. Debbie & John on S/V Lovely Reta are stuck in Mazatlan for a couple more weeks as she recovers from knee surgery on Friday for a torn miniscus, Linda & Wally on S/V Andanzas are also stuck in Mazatlan for a while as he recovers from back surgery, Barry & Pat on S/V Pacific Voyager are stuck until their refrigerator is rebuilt, and Anne & Jeff on S/V Outrider are still in La Paz with repairs. So we're going to take off & explore and will look forward to seeing them later.

At Stone Island, a couple other boats from the marina are going to join us - in addition to Lady Hawke, Mike & Julie on S/V Slacker and Justin on S/V Tao Min are planning to anchor at Stone Island as well - and we'll have a nice party out there! We will miss all of our friends here at the marina, but are looking forward to meeting all of the others out there!

So, here we go! Follow us along as we attempt to explain what we're doing and all that we're seeing. I will insert pictures as often as we can, but will be posting all of my future posts via the Winlink system - over a Ham radio signal.

Enjoy the posts!

Rene