Busy, busy! 2.27.09

Jeez, we’ve been back in Mazatlan for about 5 days and it has flown by! We’ve been so incredibly busy! We arrived with an unhappy computer – which turned out a full day’s work later to be a faulty driver with our wireless Linksys adapter. Once that was up & running, I tackled the website issue. It had a hidden script on the home page that was attempting to download a virus. Oh great!! And finally, I figured while the site was down I would re-do the blog page as the archive links were not functioning properly. Work work!! Haha… But it’s looking better and I’ll be continuing to transfer the old blogs over to the new one all the while getting caught up on pictures & video uploads too. So stay tuned!

And while I’ve been doing all of that fun stuff, Michael has been tearing the boat apart! He pulled everything out of the bilge the first day we were here (his favorite task!) to clean it all out down there & pull out any stuff we didn’t need as there is a swap meet this Saturday. Cleaning out the bilge is much like cleaning out a garage or attic….you pull everything out, scrub the inside of the bilge, and then put everything back inside. That took most of the day. Tuesday we made the ‘plan’ and pulled out our list that we must complete to get the boat ready to leave for hurricane season – a 3 page document! The past few days he has spent most of the day washing sails, soaking lines, straps, bungy cords, & tie downs from the dinghy, gerry jugs, MOB pole, etc. He pulled out the anchor chain & rode and washed it, scrubbed out the chain locker, replaced some fittings on the solar panels, refastened the towel bar in the galley, took apart & stowed the stern anchor – whew!! Laundry, website updates, organizing things to go with us this summer, and researching vehicles that we can trade the Jeep in on has been on my list.

We have decided we will drive up to Alaska so we can see more of the countryside that we have never seen. But we have also decided that the Jeep just isn’t the proper vehicle to do this trip with. So we’ve decided to sell or trade the Jeep in and purchase a Westfalia or Rialta…a very small RV type vehicle. It actually makes much better sense for us to have a vehicle like that so we can use it as a camper as well. The Jeep is just too small for our needs. Our only problem is how do we sell it & buy a Westfalia in a short amount of time?! We have few options so we are looking at a couple of things right now. I have found two dealers – one in California and the other in Colorado – that are willing to take our Jeep in on trade for an older Westfalia. Now we just have to figure out which place is the better spot to stop! We will be contacting them via phone next week and figuring out what our options are. Changes are always in the air! :-) So I’ll be posting a for sale ad on the blog to try & generate interest. And if you know anyone with a Westfalia who is trying to sell or who would want to trade for a Jeep, let us know!!

And you know us…we have been keeping busy socializing since we’ve been back too. There are daily dock parties on Dock 6 now from about 4pm to dark, we went to Carnaval on Tuesday, had Pamela & Ivy from S/V Precious Metal over for drinks & appetizers on Wednesday, Steve from Warren Peace had a birthday party on Thursday,



and today us, Barry & Pat from S/V Pacific Voyager and Milan & Adrian from M/V Integrity



went to the ‘shrimp ladies’ to pick out our fresh shrimp



and then over to a restaurant called ‘Dunia’s’ where you bring in your fresh shrimps and they cook them up how you like



and serve you tortillas & beers!



It was very yummy. It was another must-do while in Mazatlan! I love this city…

We will continue to tear the boat down for hurricane season – we have 2 sails down so far, only 3 more to go. We’ve decided to remove the halyards this year, clean them & leave them down for the summer and they are filthy!! We have lots of cleaning both inside & out to prepare for leaving for the summer. Scrubbing & treating the walls, cleaning the floors & cleaning out the cupboards… work work!! We hope to leave Mazatlan around the 9th of March or so, heading up to Alaska where we want to be there around the 15th or so. In between now & then…who knows!! Hopefully lots of exploring & enjoying!

Oh….it was just announced…the pesos closed at 15.22 to the U.S. Dollar. People often ask how we can do this so inexpensively…well that certainly helps!

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend! Give me some feedback on whether you like the new SLOG…
Rene

Another Whale Video

Here is the video of the way cool whale that slapped its tail on the surface for more than two minutes! Hang in there, ther first 30 seconds or so you only see it surfacing, but then watch! It's amazing and even more amazing in person!! Enjoy...

Carnaval 2.24.09

Ah…it’s so nice to be back in Mazatlan! We’ve kept busy since arriving – doing lots of socializing & catching up. And we arrived on the Sunday of Carnaval again! We didn’t make it to the Sunday evening parade as we were absolutely exhausted, but did make it to the Tuesday parade. It was just as spectacular as last year. We went with Mike & Julie from S/V Slacker, Tom & Gail from M/V Wanderer, & Pamela & Ivy from S/V Precious Metal and Pat from S/V Mystique and had a great time.





Like last year, we went into the ‘pay’ section (a whole 20 pesos, $2) and then found a restaurant that had outdoor tables we could sit at. We found a great spot & watched a beautiful sunset before the parade started. The parade was spectacular…amazing colors, bands playing music everywhere, the floats were spectacular as were the costumes of the performers.









We were standing on the street, just a foot or so from where the parade was and the full emotion of the parade was in swing. The performers often danced with the group of us as they passed by!



It was great fun, a must see! I have more photos in our photo album... click here. And you can also check out Mike & Julie on S/V Slacker's blog... click here. They have some great videos & photos!

After the parade, Pamela & Ivy, Tom & Gail, & us walked down to our favorite baked potato place for street potatoes! Yum… We chatted the evening away and remarked on how fantastic the potatoes were. Afterwards we found a taxi and were back at the boat by around 11:30. It was a very festive day. I love being here for Carnaval.

Made it to Mazatlan! 2.21.09

We had a long, hard passage the remaining way to Mazatlan. The weather was predicted to be ‘flat calm’, with winds no greater than 10 knots. Well…as someone said to me before….Mother Nature was definitely still in charge this evening and had different plans! We left the anchorage at 11am expecting a 20 hour crossing. The wind was great as we left – between 5 to 10 knots, right on the nose (of course) and the seas were a bit choppy, no problem. The problem was it kept building…and building! For most of the evening it was 20-25 knots of wind with a very lumpy sea, making the crossing pretty uncomfortable. It wasn’t ‘horrible’, just not fun. We left a couple of hours ahead of M/V Wanderer but they caught up with us around 3am. We kept in radio contact the entire evening and they ended up pulling into the dock about 45 minutes ahead of us.

When we arrived at the dock, it was like coming home! Several friends were on the finger ready to catch our lines and then we spent an hour or so just chatting & catching up! We still had to secure & put the boat away from the passage – rinsing down the decks, fixing the sail covers, & all that stuff….and we were starved by the time we finally went up for breakfast around 11am. After the crazy passage, we laughed as we talked to Tom & Gail from Wanderer and it still felt as though we were moving! We hadn’t recovered our ‘land legs!’ When we made it back to the boat from chatting with everyone, we were exhausted – 22 hours is a long time! We both went down for a nap and woke up just in time for dinner & a movie and back to bed. It will be better tomorrow…

We’re glad to be back…
Rene

Mantanchen Bay 2.20.09

Up and at ‘em again this morning, we upped anchor and headed to Mantanchen Bay around 8:15 and arrived about 11:30. Just a quick 20 mile trip, no problems. The sea state was about the same as yesterday – large, long period swells, wind around 10 knots. It was not as clear today and was partly cloudy but still a magnificent day. More whales are showing off to us – today we had lots of breaching whales. We’ve seen a lot of smaller whales with mature whales, so we figure they are learning from mom & dad. It took some more videos and will get them posted when we arrive in Mazatlan.

We left nice & early with S/V Twins and M/V Wanderer and it sounds like we’re lucky! The rest of the group behind us, S/V Precious Metal, S/V Optical Illusion, & S/V Warren Peace, have encountered long lines and have been dodging them this afternoon.

Once everyone was anchored, Pamela & Ivy from Precious Metal

invited us, Janet & Bill from S/V Optical Illusion, &


Steve & Linda from S/V Warren Peace


over for happy hour. We had a wonderful time visiting & getting to know them! They are all from Canada and we enjoyed chatting, laughing, eating & drinking with them during the evening.

Weather permitting, we will leave here tomorrow around noon and begin the long trek up to Mazatlan, a 20 hour passage. We should get into Mazatlan around 8am Sunday morning. Michael is looking forward to tying up to the dock & getting started on the huge task of figuring out how we’re getting to Alaska, scrub a dub dubbing the boat and preparing her for leaving her for the summer. We decided to remove the halyards this year, cleaning them up for next season, which we did not do last season.

I gotta get into the water for one last dip before heading to Mazatlan!
More to follow…
Rene

Chacala 2.19.09

We left the anchorage at 7:30 this morning, heading to Chacala with a couple boats heading the same way. S/V Optical Illusion, S/V Precious Metal, S/V Warren Peace, S/V Twins, & M/V Wanderer were all headed the same way, around the same time and formed a line down the coast as we all cruised at different speeds. S/V Optical Illusion was in the marina and told us a harrowing tale yesterday – they hit a whale! Luckily, there was no damage to the boat except for some deep scratches on the hull, but nothing major. They said it must have been sleeping and they hit it on the side and kind of rolled off of it. Scary.

We had some amazing whale activity during the day! We watched in awe as one whale did a tail-flap, slapping the water with its tail for about 5 minutes! Luckily, I got some of it on video and can't wait to post it. It's part of the mating call – I forget whether it's the male or female, but one sits at the surface slapping the water with her tail while the other does the spectacular breeches. We saw a lot of spy-hopping, where the whale just comes out of the water about ½ way, and lots of gracefulbreaths at the surface. I know I've said it before, but I never cease to be amazed by how amazing these whales are. And it's such a treat to see them so often! We didn't see many turtles this trip.

We arrived in Chacala around 3:15, although we moved out of the Central timezone so we gained an hour. The motorsail was nice – it was a sunny & clear day – we had a spectacular sunrise as we were leaving La Cruz and the swells were large, but long period so it was a comfy ride. There was a red algae bloom at the entrance to the anchorage turning the water blood red. We anchored along with 3 others in the anchorage (before the cavalry arrived behind us!) and were visited by S/V Deerfoot who highly suggested putting out a stern anchor as the anchorage gets incredibly rolly in the evening. He said he didn't put a stern anchor the previous night and it was his worst night's sleep in 30 years of cruising! Duly noted…we threw a stern anchor….and it was fine. It was very rolly and the boats that did not put one out were doing the twist around 3am! The town was beautiful – bright colors of yellow, burnt orange, & blues. The area was reportedly devastated in 1992 with Hurricane Kenna but theyhave rebuilt a lot and it looked very welcoming. We didn't go into town…we'll stop here next season and check it out.

Tomorrow we're heading to Mantanchen Bay! The final pit-stop before Mazatlan…Rene

Hanging with Selah 2.17.09

After a nice evening resting & relaxing from the long trip, we were contacted by Bob & Marlene on S/V Selah this morning. I believe I mentioned that they have a condo in Puerta Vallarta and a car! So they drove over to La Cruz with their daughter, Sherry, and picked us up with the plan of showing us their favorite spots in Puerta Vallarta. I did a bit of research before they picked us up and found 4 geocaches in PV and figured if we were by any of them, we would see about stopping. But after telling them about it, they were just as excited to find them as we were and we ended up finding all 4! Woohoo! We ate at a local hotspot called 'Andale's' (which is pronounced On-da-lay, you know….like Speedy Gonzalez… "andale, andale, eee haw!") where at the end of the meal we were given a special shot – tequila, coffee liquer, & coke – and the waiter placed a napkin over the top, slammed it down on the table and shouted "uno, dos, tres, Andale!" and you were to drink up the fizzy shot. It was actually pretty good! After lunch, we walked the malecon, checking out the sculptures & having a bracelet made for my bracelet pole on board, & even stopping to taste test a handful of tequilas. We drove back to their condo and sat chatting on the porch, enjoying the view, the company, & the day! Their condo overlooks marina Vallarta and they have a great spot for people watching as well as watching all of the boats come & go. Then we walked all around the marina, stopping for a refreshment & chatting with others. We knew that in La Cruz they were having open mic night at the Brittania in La Cruz and we all decided to check that out for dinner & music. The food was excellent – ribs & chicken from Casa Laurie and the music was good as well. Mike & Ceacy from S/V Ramble on Rose played 5-6 songs until the house band arrived and then the place started hoppin! They played, we danced, & chatted with those around us. Sherry started to feel bad and so they went home while we stayed & enjoyed the music. We are always amazed how amazing cruisers are, and Bob & Marlene fit the bill to a tee. They are a wonderful family, great people, and we enjoyed getting to know them better. As always, it's always a bummer when you can't spend as much time with others than you would like and alas…we had to leave La Cruz on Thursday. We hope to meet back up with them next season though, later in the year, & catch up! He had a great toast that I thought I'd share…

There are good ships,
there are wood ships,
& there are ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships
are the friendships
and may they always be.

Nice…huh?!

The following day we did our boat chores, went in town for some internet time and GUESS WHAT?! We were offered jobs in Alaska. We ended up with 3 offers and had to pick the one we both wanted the most and after mulling it over & a tough decision, decided to take a position in Ketchikan for the summer, giving Hummer tours & working on an amphibious vehicle named the Duck! The company is Alaska Hummer Adventures in Ketchikan and they have Hummer H2's that perform a minimum 4 hour tour around the area. When we interviewed, it was described as a 'Jeeves meets Indiana Jones' job. You have no set place to visit, the clients set up the day to what they want to see! If they want to go shopping, you hold their bags, if they want to go on a 2 mile hike, you go with them. It is the best of all worlds for me – I will get to really learn about the area as I need to be well versed not only about Ketchikan but about Alaska for all of the questions that come up and we will have some off time to get to explore the area! I have never done a tour guide job before, but have always felt I'd be good at it – as you know, I love to talk, I love to learn a lot about the area, & I love to share that info! And if we need more hours, we have the opportunity to work on a 90 minute amphibious tour called the Duck tour. Sounds cool, huh?! And to top it off, this will make you laugh….housing is very expensive in Ketchikan and we were worried about finding a place to stay. But the owners of the business offered to let us stay aboard their power boat in the harbor! We'll be right at home, living on a boat for the next 6 months. Haha!! It will be awesome, we can't wait! We have so much planning & preparation to do now though! How will we get there? When will we leave? What route will we take – whew! We'll be busy in Mazatlan.

So we're off tomorrow, heading for a place we haven't been before, Chacala.

More to follow!
Rene

Cabo Corrientes 2.16.09

We left at midnight, or a little before, this morning with S/V Selah leading the way & have been motorsailing the entire way. It is about 52 miles up to Ipala and Cabo Corrientes is about 10 miles North of Ipala. We had no issues on the crossing – mostly calm seas, winds between 8-12 knots the entire time. We saw a lot of turtles but no whales this trip. The phosphorescence in the water was stunning, cascading off of the disturbance in the water that we made, it lit up the ocean with a blue-white color. Bob & Marlene have made this trip several times and it was nice having a buddy boat for the trip. Bob made contact via radio with us at least once an hour and we each chatted for a bit to help keep the z-monster away. Selah cruises quite a bit quicker than we do, she is a 54 Jenneau with beautiful lines, a longer waterline and very sleek. Bob kept backing down, running slower to allow us to catch up, and never letting us get more than 2 miles behind. We ran the RPM’s up this crossing to try to keep up too! The moon came up around 12:30 and was a beautiful blood red quarter moon on the horizon before giving us plenty of light the rest of the trip. The clouds were out, a pineapple express is hanging around which kept the temperatures down, but it was still a bit chilly! I even put on my Ugg boots & sweats! Oh man, I’m going to freeze my patooty off in Alaska! Haha…

We made it into La Cruz around 2pm and anchored just as the winds picked up to 12 knots or so. But the holding here in good and the anchor stuck on the first try. We wanted to get near the front of the pack to attempt to get wireless internet, but still can’t pick it up We will need to go into town to catch up. Next year we’re purchasing a super duper wireless antenna so we won’t have this problem….hopefully! Michael was beat – these long crossings take it out of him. We did shifts during the night, but still it’s difficult to get such little sleep, at smaller increments, & not be comatose the next day. Once the anchor was down & we felt secure, he immediately laid down in the cockpit & fell asleep. I was pretty wide awake so I immersed myself in a new book that I can’t put down – Disclosure by Michael Crichton. We attempted to watch an Adam Sandler movie and were crashed early. We are looking forward to spending the next couple days in La Cruz and spending time with Bob & Marlene.

More to follow...
Rene

A day in Chamela 2.15.09

We made it to Chamela around 2pm and were originally thinking we would just stay for the afternoon and head out at midnight for Ipala. However, after listening to the weather & getting weather fills from friends who had the info at their fingertips, we made the command decision to stay a day in Chamela and leave the following evening. So we had the good fortune to spend some time in Chamela, one of my favorite places! As soon as we were anchored, we were visited by Justin & Dahlia from S/V Steady Beat who we knew from Mazatlan.



We enjoyed chatting with them. They are heading South now and then up North to Canada once the season is over so it is the only time we will see them. It's the bummer side of cruising.

The nest day, we dinghied into shore & walked into town with the folks from S/V Baywolf looking for an internet café. We had been to town previously and I needed to find the tienda that sold the ‘Gorilla Snot’ shampoo! I didn’t get a bottle of it the first time and kicked myself figuring it would be all gone by the time I got back. As luck would have it, they had a couple bottles left so I picked one up for a gift for my niece or nephew! And I have to tell you….I’m beginning to get desperate….It’s time to get back to the States. I’m out of Coffee Mate. Haha!! See, I really like my coffee mate in my coffee, just a little flavor. They sell coffee mate down here, but it’s just not the same. Last year when Michael flew back to the States for business, I asked him to bring me some ‘real’ coffee mate and he did….so I’ve been using that since we left. But I am on my last couple teaspoons of it and I’ve even started rationing it – cutting down the size I’m using and even skipping coffee a couple of mornings (these mornings are not Michael’s favorites!) to try and make it last. OK, so I’m a bit of a nut, but it’s time to get back & buy more of it! Haha… Oh, and yes, I found it being sold one place, in Barra de Navidad….for $12.50! I wasn’t desperate then….I would buy it now!

Anyway, Chamela. We walked into town with the folks from S/V Baywolf – Kirk & Sachi with their two kids – Miya & Romi. The youngest was 8 and was just a treat to chat with. She told me everything – what they had been doing, where they had gone, who they met, what kinds of fish they caught, which ones were her favorite & least favorite, etc. We talked the entire time looking for the internet café. When I asked her what her favorite thing about being out here cruising was….she replied….the pools in Puerta Vallarta. Check out their website... www.sailblogs.com/member/baywolf The Internet café I knew about was closed as it was Sunday so we asked if there was another one it town and were given directions from one of the tienda clerks. Two or three blocks up the street, two blocks over. We walked into a residential area of town, dirt streets, with no storefronts to be seen but asked a guy walking down the street and we just missed it by one street. We found a little tienda that sold lots of gifts, balloons, wrapping paper, & misc items and in back were 4 internet stations. We ended up using the internet for about 30 minutes for a whopping 10 pesos, around 80 cents! And the shop owner was wonderful, even offering us use of her memory stick. The folks from Baywolf had more internetting to do so we left them & headed back to the beach with our fresh fruits & veggies & gorilla snot shampoo!

Bob & Marlene from S/V Selah were at the palapa enjoying the sunshine and some snacks so we joined them & chatted away. We decided to leave at midnight, skipping the stop in Ipala and heading straight to La Cruz, an unplanned stop. Bob & Marlene have a condo in Puerta Vallarta and convinced us to stop so they could show us the area! How fun… The last time we were there we dealt with generator issues most of the time so we didn’t do a lot of touring the area so it was a nice offer.

Leaving at midnight…
Rene

Dolphin scratching on our anchor chain 2.14.09

While we were in Tenacatita, 'Chip' the friendly dolphin came over & spent the entire day rubbing his back on our anchor chain. I was lucky enough to get a decent video of it!

Enjoying Tenacatita 2.14.09

Tenacatita is fast becoming one of our favorite stops down here. There are no pangas zooming around you, no jet skis or water skiers around, it has beautiful warm turquoise water, & there are always plenty of activities! We arrived with 14 boats but that number quickly swelled to about 27 during the three days we were there. There were friends of anchorages past and new people to meet. We spent the entire day we arrived camped out on the boat reading, relaxing & listening to music. Beverly from Sea-tacean came over to invite us to the Valentine's day dinner but our plans would make us leave on Valentines day morning so we had to decline. The next morning, Michael went over to visit with Archie from Sea-tacean in the morning as I was frantically trying to send the updates via radio and finally managed to get it to go. Whew! That's when the fun started. There was a bocce ball game scheduled on the beach and both Michael & I went to play. We were joined by Archie from Sea-tacean, John from Begone, & Bob from Selah. John & I paired up as a team and did a fantastic job playing.



After the game, we all went to the palapa for a post-game refreshment & visiting. John & Patricia from Paloma came up to the palapa and we all decided to play some volleyball the following day. We had 12 people show up to play or watch or cheer! We ended up with 4 on 4 - Rene, John, Archie, & David from Decade Dance played against Bob & Marlene from Selah and John & Patricia from Paloma. And we smoked them – won 3 games in a row – woohoo! After another celebratory beverage at the palapa & more chatting, we made our way back to the boat to prepare for the evening's dinghy raft-up. There were 14 dinghies that attended the raft-up! The largest turnout so far. Whew! At the raft-up, 3 dinghies dropped an anchor (it was pretty windy so needed some added protection), then everyone faced bow in and tied off to their neighbor's dinghy, securing the 'circle'. Everyone brought an appetizer to share and they were passed around along with boat cards (like business cards with all of your pertinent boating info), & any books or DVDs to trade. It was great to have such a large turnout and was so much fun getting to know everyone. All this fun….it had to end sometime.

So this morning, we packed up the boat & headed up to Chamela along with Bob & Marlene from Selah. As soon as we anchored, we were visited by Justin & Dahlia from S/V Steady Beat, friends from Mazatlan that we haven't seen since December. Again, it's always nice seeing old friends – especially when it's a surprise! There is a possible weather window to round Cabo Corrientes so we wanted to get close to it to time our crossing. We're not sure when we'll make the crossing yet, but we're only about 60 miles from it right now. There is a possibility we go up to Ipala, which is 50 miles north of here, but it's super windy right now in the anchorage – it's gusting up to 30 knots! So we may not. We'll see!

More to follow…
Rene

Dinghy raft-up in Tenacatita 2.13.09

A short video showing all of the participants in the Friday night dinghy raft-up in Tenacatita!

The bash back to Mazatlan 2.11.09

We’re all stocked up and ready to head North. We left Barra de Navidad, and all of our friends on Wednesday early morning. It’s the bummer part of cruising – you get to make some incredible friendships and then have to leave as everyone has different plans! But it’s so worth it in the long run. Our friends Wally & Linda on S/V Andanzas made it into Barra and were hanging out in the marina as he is recovering still from back surgery while we were in Santiago Bay and we were excited to hook up with them on Tuesday.



We met them at their boat and then did something so decadent & luxurious….we hung out at the hotel pool!




The Grand Bay Hotel & Marina is a very expensive spot. Rooms are rumored to cost $350/night and even the marina is expensive - $2.55/foot/day! For our size boat, it would run us about $125/night! Yikes! A little too $$ for us. Now there is a big discount if you say a month and it ends up being around $1K for the entire month. So the general rule is if you’re staying 10 days, you may as well stay a month as it’s the same price. BUT! I will tell you that the pool was absolute luxury. They had lounge chairs with big, fluffy cushions on them PLUS a lounge cover that was like a terry towel fitted bed sheet that covered the entire chair. AND a super fluffy towel! Haha… I enjoyed every minute of it. The pool was cool in temperature and in coolness! It had two water slides that Linda & I enjoyed. The boys both have sore backs so they were just hanging out talking



but Linda & I went to each of the different pool areas & did the water slides!





We also walked up to the lobby and I took a photo of the marina with the boats anchored in the lagoon just outside.



We’ve been without internet since Monday evening but hope to catch up on posts via the radio and will upload photos when we get to an internet café. It was great catching up with Wally & Linda and since they’ve decided they will do a 2nd cruising season next year, we are hopeful we’ll be able to cruise together!
Tuesday evening a group of friends and us went to the Hotel Alondra for one last sunset & cocktail evening. Joe & Deb on Pacific Jade, Bill & MJ on Grey Max, & Michael & Cece with crewmember Dan on Ramble on Rose were there and we enjoyed a windy, chilly evening atop the hotel.





We split up from the group after sunset & went to dinner alone as Michael’s back was hurting. What happened to his back? Well, he thinks he has figured it out. He had previously attributed it to his upper back & neck needing a chiropractic adjustment, but now that we’ve traced it back….it is probably that he strained or pulled a muscle when he was lifting the dinghy off of me back in Santiago. He pulled a kind of ‘hercules’ move lifting the dinghy (it weighs in excess of 100lbs) so we figure he had some adrenaline coursing through his veins and lifted it wrong. It continues to get better each day and he’ll be fine.

We were up & out of the lagoon by 8am the next morning. There is a bit of weather heading our way so we wanted to get into Tenacatita before the winds built. We made it before noon & enjoyed a nice, mellow day reading & relaxing. ‘Chip’ and the other friendly dolphins came over to greet us and spent most of the day feeding around our boat and rubbing their back on our anchor chain. I tried like hell to get a video of them rubbing their back on the anchor and got one that is pretty good! They would do a figure 8 – come up right beside the boat, maybe 2 feet from the bow of the boat, then dive down and rub their backs against the anchor chain for a minute or so, then start the figure 8 again. It’s pretty cool to watch! We also had human visitors come over to the boat to say Hi, previous boats we have met during the season and a lot that we have not seen or heard of. More boats from Ventura – it’s amazing how many there are out here from our hometown! There are about 14 other boats in the anchorage. It’s beautiful here… We’re planning a couple days of hanging out here – snorkeling & visiting with friends and then leaving on Saturday. It’s bad luck to leave on a passage on Friday – and especially on Friday the 13th! So we’ll wait… :-) Then we’re on to Chamela for a couple days, then Ipala – and we will wait until we have a weather window to round Cabo Corrientes.
We didn’t get a chance to check e-mails so we’re not sure if we have a job offer yet…but we’re anxious to hear! Wish us luck… We will post as often as the radio waves will allow…
Rene

A cruiser jam in Barra de Navidad 2.8.09

A little video to show you the 'cruiser jam' at The Hotel Sands in Barra de Navidad. Enjoy!

Back in Barra 2.7.09

We made it back to Barra de Navidad lagoon on Friday. We dropped anchor and before we knew it, Linda & Wally from S/V Andanzas with Angel their dog were on board catching up. We chit-chatted with them for a while and then ran into the internet cafe to check messages & call in for another interview. This one was for a job doing an H2 Hummer Tour and a tour aboard an amphibious vehicle in Alaska. It sounds like fun! We'll see...

I have to tell you something kinda cool about this area. Last week we walked through a big celebration in the new church in town called San Antonio's Church.

It has some interesting history. When Hurricane Lily struck the area on September 1st, 1791, according to the locals, during the most violent part of the storm the many families who were sheltered inside San Antonio's Church began to pray feverishly. After which, the image of Christ in the church lowered his arms and all of a sudden the strong winds and rain stopped. The image is now known as ''El Cristo del Ciclon'' (The Christ of the Hurricane) or ''El Cristo de los Brazos Caidos'' ('The Christ of the Fallen Arms) and is prominently displayed in the new church.

I have heard that the vatican approves of the image and has allowed it to be displayed as the 'miracle of Barra de Navidad'. And since that time, there have been no hurricanes or tsunami's hit the area. Cool, huh?

We spent Saturday on the hunt for a chiropractor for Michael - we found a deep tissue masseuse and a accupuncturist in Barra so we jumped on a bus and went into Melaque and finally found a massage/chiropractor and Michael was adjusted to the best of this guy's abilities. He is still in a bit of pain and continues to take medicine to help. We are planning to see the accupuncturist tomorrow to see if he can help. Until then, Michael is taking it easy & resting. Poor guy...

Have a wonderful weekend!

More to follow...

Rene

Carrizal 2.5.09

We hauled anchor out of Santiago Bay with Pacific Jade and headed just up the coast to a cute anchorage named Carrizal. We were greeted by a couple of whales as we exited Santiago Bay – we never tire of seeing them. Carrizal is a smaller anchorage with a long entrance of high, rock hills on each side.

Some of the rocks had the red tint like lava rocks and there were lots of trees & foliage everywhere. Our first attempt at anchoring was skipping so we re-anchored and got a good bite. Both of us jumped into the water to cool off and Michael scrubbed the bottom & the propeller while I supervised. Wink wink! The water was a bit chilly so I made a mental note to wear a rash guard to help keep me warm when we went snorkeling. After a quick bite for lunch, we jumped into the dinghy & went to the North side of the entrance for some snorkeling with Deb & Joe. The water was still chilly & a bit murky but was still awesome. We saw several new fish that we haven’t seen before, some incredible blue coral, a sting ray that I watched for some time before it burrowed itself under the sand (it was trying to get away from another fish, not me!), & a sea anemone that looked like a dandelion when fully extended but would suddenly shrink up and look like a straw when startled. The colors were amazing & there were just so many fish everywhere! You could just hover around and see all of the life around you. It is just so spectacular here. We joked that a mediocre day snorkeling beats a good day at work anyday! Sorry, don’t mean to rub it in…

We rinsed off from snorkeling and headed over to Pacific Jade for another evening of margaritas & snacks.

Tom on another boat in the anchorage called Tis Magic joined us and we laughed & chatted for the evening. The swell had increased and was really coming into the anchorage – about 4-6 feet, but luckily a long period swell. And the boat pretty much stayed nose to the swells so we were doing the rocking horse maneuver, befitting the ‘carousel’ name of the anchorage! We rocked the entire evening and the swell just stopped about the time we were pulling anchor the following morning.

Because of the timing of the jobs we’re looking at in Alaska, we decided it’s time to begin heading North back to Mazatlan. We will leave the boat there for the summer again and need to have time to stop in places on our way and enjoy the rest of the time we have instead of bashing up quickly without stopping & having fun! We still don’t have jobs lined up, but have interviewed with several places and are waiting on offers, which we expect to get in the next week or two. Some places we interviewed at are expecting to make a decision by the end of the month, but the start date in Alaska is April 1st – 15th. So we will need to be in Mazatlan and get the boat put to bed by the middle of March. And so it goes…

So we are heading back to Barra lagoon and will be there for a couple of days, provisioning for the voyage North. We had a spectacular sunrise this morning and Pacific Jade was just behind us in the pictures!

There is some weather coming our way and we will stay in Barra until that passes, more than likely leaving early next week. Whew! How time flies. Next year we hope to have this system down better and will know what to expect! It is a bummer to leave friends but we’re sure to buddy boat with others heading North as well.

More to follow!
Rene

Lost my sunglasses 2.4.09

We decided to head into town in Santiago and check out the place with Joe & Deb on Wednesday. It was another spectacular morning & we jumped in the dinghy to the beach. Beaching the dinghy takes finesse – timing the approach just perfectly, jumping out & keeping the bow forward, and pulling it before the next wave approaches. No problem! Some days everything goes right, some days not. Today was one of those days. Now before you get too excited….no, we didn’t flip the dinghy. Long story short, somehow I ended up underneath the dinghy….again! You will remember that I was held underneath the dinghy just before Christmas in 07 when we did flip it that time. Well…here’s what I recollect about the incident.

We were coming in, a wave had just broke & we were right behind it. Perfect! I jumped out of the dinghy & was running forward when Michael said “Oh, here comes another wave”. I dashed forward trying to get to the front of the dinghy to pull the nose straight (so it wouldn’t flip) and somehow was bowled over by the dinghy and ended up directly underneath. Completely underneath and stuck between the sand & the dinghy. Fully clothed mind you! As the dinghy moved along & I pushed myself around it, I finally found the engine and was relieved, at least now I could breathe! Above water, Michael was frantic. He couldn’t see me and didn’t know where I was! He screamed my name (I didn’t hear him) and Pacific Jade who was on the beach tending their dinghy turned around and saw I was no where to be found. Once I got a breath of air, suddenly Michael lifted the dinghy like a car hood and I escaped. Of course my shirt was over my head, my hair was in my face, my hat & sunglasses were gone & every spot on my body was filled with sand. Haha… I managed to see my hat floating away along with the power bar I was eating that was in my pocket and scooped them up. I swam out to deeper water & tried to rid myself of all the sand & compose myself while cursing like a sailor. I was pissed! Everyone convinced me to go back to the boat & rinse off & change and it was on our way back to the boat I realized I had lost my sunglasses. And they even had croakies on them! Damn it! My favorite, new sunglasses! Oh well, I wasn’t hurt – just scared shitless. I jammed my pinkie finger & one of my toes, supposedly while trying to get the dinghy off of me and I’m still pulling sand out of my ears some 3 days later, but not even a scratch on me. We joke now that I was trying to lift the dinghy with just those two digits ‘get this thing off of me!’…haha… So, yep, the dinghy attempted to kill me – again! It better start behaving! I will trade it in on something else if it’s not careful.

Once I was showered & in dry clothes, we made attempt #2 to get into the shore and was successful. We jumped on a bus into town and paid our 5 pesos each. Joe & Deb had also never been into Santiago so we just jumped off when we thought we were at the end of town. We were looking for the famed Chandlery in Santiago and after asking a couple people, found it. There’s one thing about boaters – wherever there’s a ships chandlery, there is cool stuff that must be checked out! We figured it was just because we used to own one, but Joe & Deb assured us it wasn’t! We spent quite a while inside ooh’ing and aah’ing over all of the boat & fishing supplies. We also did a quick check at the internet café for any job offers, but were only treated to another interview request. We found a flat chicken restaurant and had chicken, tortillas, salsa & rice…yum! We walked around town & found a Mercado that we walked through & picked up some fruit & veggies and trinkets. The town center was beautiful, as always...

And while we were eating lunch, we were surprised to see that the circus was coming to town and they were advertising it up and down each street with several bright red vehicles each pulling trailers full of animals! There were tigers, monkeys, camels, llamas & lots more! It was quite a spectacle!

Michael went to the bank for some $$ and the ATM said it was ‘unable to distribute money right now’, so we went back and now we are over our limit. Damn! It just isn't our day! o back to the internet café to let them know we didn’t get the first disbursement. We walked down the main street as Joe had seen a chiropractor sign and Michael is in much need to get cracked. We found it, but it was closed. There is one in Melaque that we’ll stop at when we’re there again. Had a quick refreshment & noticed a BBQ place on the opposite side of the street so we stopped for a BBQ brush, something Michael has been looking for in Mexico since his fell apart. After all that excitement we jumped back on the bus back to the boats. We had a wonderful stroll along the sandy beach to our dinghies & went back to Pacific Jade for one of her fabulous margaritas. After such a stressful day, a margarita was just what the doctor ordered! Haha… Back on our boat, we ate dinner, watched a movie, & thanked our lucky stars for the outcome of the day.

More to follow…
Rene

Santiago Bay 2.2.09

We left Barra de Navidad lagoon on Monday morning and headed South for Santiago Bay with Lovely Reta,

Eyes of the World,

& Pacific Jade. On the morning we were leaving as Michael was cleaning up the cockpit, he found a boat card from our friends on Seabird – John & Linda – and written on the back they told us they had just come into Barra! Of course! On the day we leave, after being here a whole month, some long lost friends turn up! I don’t know if you remember John & Linda but they are on a 47’ Nordhavn which is a super nice power boat. We met them on the way down the coast of Baja early last year and buddy boated down until Mazatlan. Since we last saw them, they went back up to California, then to Alaska for the summer, and now are working their way back down Mexico and will go through the Panama Canal and over to the Mediterranean. Wow! We were thrilled as they dinghied up to the boat and we were at least able to chat with them for a few minutes before leaving Barra. And to add insult to injury, Wally & Linda on Andanzas also showed up in Barra on Monday. Bummer! We hope to meet up with them when we head back to Barra in a week or so. The day was spectacular, we motorsailed all the way as we only had wind enough to sail as soon as we rounded the corner. It was nice & sunshiny, warm, & calm seas….perfect! The coast here is just amazing – miles & miles of sandy beaches and no houses! The mountains & hills are tree lined with brown & green foliage and the sandy beaches have a bit of black on them. It’s really beautiful. We anchored on the northwest side of Santiago Bay along the beach of Playa Miramar along with Pacific Jade. There is about 13 other boats here, but on our side there are only 4. There is a wreck in the middle of the bay, one that was called the “Mexican Titanic” by the tour boats that are visiting the area, that you are able to snorkel. We hope to see it before we leave. We are right outside of an estuary entrance and water is clear on the incoming tide. We anchored right next to Joyeau, another boater friend from Mazatlan, Rob & Sue, and had them over to the boat for quick conversation the day we arrived.

OK, so Santiago Bay is absolutely beautiful….a long stretch of sandy beach lined with colorful umbrellas & palapas. We had a restful evening on Monday and decided to stay put on the boat as it was very windy that evening & just settled into our new home. Tuesday morning we dinghied into the Playa along with Joe & Deb and went in search of internet. We had scheduled two interviews for Tuesday and wanted to make sure we could find a strong wireless signal to phone them via Skype. Skype is an internet phone service that has very inexpensive rates. The only other viable option is to use a cell phone, but it is .60/minute…where Skype is between .02 and .05/minute. That makes a big difference on hour long interviews. So we found two options – one was at the Oasis restaurant & bar where we ate lunch and I did my first interview of the day. There was nowhere to plug in for electricity except for right at the bar so I asked the bartender if he would mind if I sat there & made my phone call. He even turned the music down so I could make the call uninterrupted…they are just so kind here. Unfortunately though, the restaurant began filling up & the bar started to get busy and before I was done with my interview, I was surrounded with people who were staring at me amazed that I was talking to my computer. I explained what I was doing and everyone was just floored! But I will say it was very intimidating trying to do an interview with people around you staring! Not so good for the concentration. Haha… So I wanted to find a little more peace & quiet, sans onlookers for my next interview. We were thrilled to find out we had two additional companies hoping for interviews and scheduled all 4 of them for that day. Whew! We won’t do that again! We’re sure that by the last interview, our brains were oozing out of our ears as we were toast! I had 4 interviews, Michael had 3. It was amazing. We found our 2nd spot for interviews right down the beautiful cobblestone street behind a small tienda. There was a table & 4 chairs and the price was 20 pesos per hour. We got there around 1:30 and began the interviews. Joe & Deb were so nice to stay with us nearly the entire time, chatting to whichever one of us was off the phone at a time. But after a while, it even got boring to them and they headed back to the boat. We finally finished up our interviews around 5pm – whew! And the gal at the office only charged us 50 pesos for the internet. We were absolutely spent. We headed back to the dinghy & out to the boat where we were so surprised to see John & Linda on M/V Seabird anchored right beside us! We dinghied over & chatted with them for a half hour or so but Michael’s back was hurting him so much he could hardly stand it. We went back to the boat & crashed…ate, read, & crashed.

The next morning Seabird contacted us and told us they were headed further down to Zihuatenejo and were thrilled we could visit with them. They’re headed to the Mediterranean and so we figure we won’t see them for a couple years. Again, that’s the good & bad of meeting cruisers down here! The friendships are wonderful but so often separated by cruising plans! It happens and we just can’t wait to hear of their trip.

More to follow!
Rene

Leaving Barra de Navidad 2.1.09

Ahh, what a wonderful place but alas, it’s time to check out new shores! With a happy generator, we spent most of this past week submitting resumes & applications to Alaska for jobs. It’s amazing how much time it takes to fill out applications, scan them, & e-mail them out! We’re still on the hunt for the ever elusive job in Alaska for the both of us for summer. I will let you know as soon as one comes through! But I think we’re closing in on one. Here's Michael interviewing for one now...

There was a temporary mass exodus of our friends this week – Lady Hawke, Pacific Jade, Lovely Reta, & Eyes of the World all went out early in the week for a few days out of the Lagoon but with so much work ahead of us, we hunkered down & got to work. But at the same time we figured – hmmm…the generator’s happy, Michael has finished studying for his HAM test, we have time to ourselves….it’s time to socialize!! We made a point of meeting a new cruising couple a day and get to know them. We had a new boat appear in front of us called Eagle Wing and invited them over for appetizers & refreshments Wednesday evening. Joe is the boat owner of a 56’ Alden ferro cement boat that has an awesome layout. It actually has a full sized kitchen! He purchased the boat about 6 years ago and has been cruising for a couple years now. Katie is his crewmate and he has two additional crew joining them for their crossing over to the South Pacific! They are both young – in their 20’s and are enjoying their time out here. We also met & had dinner with the couple off of S/V Freestyle – Jenna and Tim. Jenna & Tim were the couple instrumental in raising the $2800 pesos for the local hospital in Colimilla for the respiratory equipment they desperately needed.

We had dinner at Fortino’s restaurant and feasted on their special chille rellenos made special for the evening, grandma’s recipe! Saturday was Tim’s 50th birthday so I attempted to make some cupcakes….which turned out incredibly awful….but took them over anyway. I guess my mix doesn’t like to be vacuum packed…mental note for next time. Hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?! Haha… We have been trying to get together with Dave from S/V Shoot the Moon for this entire week and have only managed to see him at the pool, but hope we can hook up with him when we return.

We had a nice surprise on Friday – when we were listening to the morning net, we heard ‘Slacker’ check in! Mike & Julie on S/V Slacker are on Dock 6 in Mazatlan and we have had the pleasure of getting to know them this past year. They work 6 months out of the year at the Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego & cruise the other 6 months. They’ve been doing this for over 6 years and decided to spend this cruising season doing projects on the boat for the entire season. We were bummed when we learned we wouldn’t be able to cruise with them but understood their reasoning. Anyway, we contacted them on the VHF and found out they were traveling with another couple and would be in Barra for the next couple days! We met them at the pool at The Sands Hotel and enjoyed catching up & cooling off in the pool and then went out for dinner that evening. The couple they were with turned out to be from Alaska and we learned a ton about the different cities we were applying and they gave us lots of info to think about. Sam cruised Mexico on a boat called ‘Livin’ and has it up for sale with the hopes of buying another smaller boat once it sells.

Saturday evening we went over to Heather & Jim on Meerkat, a catamaran from Ventura harbor along with John & Deby on Lovely Reta & Rick & Karen on Eyes of the World and attended an ‘It’s no-one’s birthday, birthday party’.

Yep, that’s right, it was no one’s birthday – a great reason for a party! Haha… Everyone was instructed to bring their own hamburger patties and were assigned an appetizer, salad, side, etc. I had the honor of bringing appetizers so I made my favorite carrot/cream cheese/olive appetizer as well as crackers & a cream cheese dip smothered in raspberry chipotle sauce…yum!! They were gobbled up as the 10 of us chatted, sang, & viewed photos. Meerkat had another couple on board, Alan & Susan from Anaheim who had joined them on their sail for the past month. They have a boat named Toshal at home & we enjoyed getting to know them. Anyway, Jim fired up the bbq and tossed the burgers on while everyone else was getting ready with baked beans, salad, & condiments. We chowed down some fantastic burgers & just enjoyed the evening. Deby from Lovely Reta has a large plastic duck that she was given by her sister and was named ‘Alice’ and she brings the duck all over & takes photos & sends them to her sister. She even has a theme song which was played loud over the speakers & sung to. Too funny…

Sunday was, of course, SUPER BOWL!! Yep, even down here we were able to watch the great game! We didn’t get the American commercials so luckily it was a good game! We took the shore boat into town around 2pm and walked around the town, scoping out the town for the best place to watch it. We had lots of options – a pig roast at one place, drink specials at another, sunset at another! We finally decided on Los Arcos and we ended up with a group of 13 people – Mike & Julie on Slacker, John & Deby on Lovely Reta, Alan & Susan from Toshal, Heather from Meerkat, Rick & Karen from Eyes of the World, & Sam and his girlfriend.

Can you BELIEVE the Cardinals LOST?!! Amazing… Anyway, another enjoyable evening & back at the boat. We’re leaving Barra tomorrow morning & heading to Santiago Bay! Woohoo!

More to follow…
Rene