November 11, 2007

Ashley invited me to go to shore and up to one of the hotels, where you could use the hotel pool if you ordered a drink. The hotels were not busy at all so it was nice to have a lounge chair, the water in the pool was too hot, just like a hot bath, but the boys enjoyed swimming in it anyway.  Noel came to pick us up in his dinghy a little later, or tried to but the surf was so big, the dinghy filled with water and it was impossible to get all of us in the boat.  A panga came to our rescue, it took the painter and pulled the dinghy out of the surf, away from shore and then dropped Noel off at the dinghy which was completely full of salt water, but he managed to drive it back to his sailboat.  The panga driver delivered the rest of us to our boats too and then didn’t want paid, he was great!  Thank you Jesus!

November 12, 2007

The next day we were planning on leaving but I was so sick, I had been sick all night with the flu or something that made your whole body ache.  I guess Ashley and her family were feeling quite sick too.  We decided to go and get fuel, I had told Mike not to expect much help from me as I just wasn’t up to much.  We started on our way and our engine overheated, so Mike figured out the impeller needed replaced.  Last time he replaced the impellor it was not fun but it did go a little smoother this time.  The engine was still overheating and it turned out chunks of the impeller were in the heat exchanger. He got that cleaned out and it was fine. We decided to stay another night in Cabo, so we threw out an anchor and so did Ketching up. We planned to leave at first light in the morning.  Mike decided to clean the boat deck and in the process dumped water through the windows twice and got it all over me! He’s in big trouble!

November 13, 2007

We got underway with Ketching up, going slow as their boys wanted to fish! We are headed to Los Frailes, approx 43 miles from Cabo San Lucas, about 8 hours at 6 knots.  The boys caught a tuna and a mahi mahi and gave them to us. How nice! Noel told us how to marinate them before we cooked them and they were great!  Once we arrived at Los Frailes there were about 15 boats there but there was still plenty of room for us to anchor.  Ketching up family came over for appetizers and drinks after the long sail, we enjoyed their visit. The plan tomorrow was to go ashore, along with Oasis, who was anchored nearby to play on the beach.

November 14, 2007

We got up to a beautiful morning, put on our swim suits, had lunch and then dinghy ashore. Oasis and Ketching up were already there having a great time.  The water was warm and Mike and I both swam and chatted with Debbie, Richard, Ashley and Noel.  One of Debbie’s boys looked and acted so much like Darren, we couldn’t believe it!  The ladies went for a walk down the beach, it was great to be getting exercise and be able to talk with other women.   There were a lot of little stinging jelly fish on the beach and no one seemed to get stung.  Later we went back to the boat and Oasis invited us to their boat for Port. We thought that was great and dinghy over after dinner, along with Ketching up.  Their boat was a ketch also and very nice, including a washer dryer combo. Great visit!

November 15, 2007

Everyone one in the Los Frailes anchorage was invited to a potluck tonight! What to make? I finally decided on tuna salad on crackers and I made banana bread.  It seemed that every boat in the anchorage came to the potluck. There was a nice selection of food and it was very enjoyable. I tried to introduce myself to everyone but later I couldn’t remember any ones name, but we see the same boat names over and over, so we do recognize that part, and hopefully we will meet again.

November 16, 2007

We left Los Frailes at 7AM and had coffee and banana bread underway.  It was windy enough so we put up the main, but our course had to make a turn and then the wind was from the wrong direction.  Mike figured out how to use the IPod so we know longer had to keep 2 computers on to hear music. That is good because it takes less power to operate that way. Once again our engine quit, now what? Mike discovered we were out of diesel, the tank did not get completely filled up at Cabo. Thank you Jesus! We had another tank that was full!  We arrived at Muertos, means the dead, but a great place to anchor and they have a great restaurant called the Giggling Marlin.  We headed straight for the restaurant after anchoring, so did Oasis and Ketching up.  It was the open air type and seemed very clean so we had dinner.  They had a gimmick where you can be strung up by your feet, so Noel strung up all the boys.  They also played outside and knocked coconuts out of the trees. I think they enjoyed themselves.  The Giggling Marlin had a sign that read, “Complaint dept, 300 miles down the road” – you would end up in the water to complain with no one to listen to your complaint! J They also had another sign that read “if we don’t meet your standards, lower your standards” J

We didn’t leave our mast light on, so we could save power, and we had the hardest time finding our boat, we thought we might have to spend the night in the dinghy! We saw Ketching up and knew we anchored near them. All is good!

November 18, 2007

We left Los Muertos and headed for La Paz about 7AM along with Ketching up.  We are motoring as there is no wind.  Our depth sounder doesn’t seem to be reading correctly, so we called Ketching up to see what their depth was. I guess we are fine.  We called on the VHF radio to try and find a slip, there are several marinas, however they are not all open on Sunday. Needless to say we can’t find a slip so we anchor out.

November 19, 2007

The next morning our depth sound read zero, we were near a sand bar, a little too close for comfort. So we reanchor a little closer to the marina. We were still unable to get a slip today but Ketching up did get a slip.  They were very kind and let us use their key until we could get a slip. That meant we could go ashore and use showers etc.  We checked out the cruisers club, they serve coffee and cookies each morning and they have a book exchange and it is a great way to meet other cruisers. We also got info on Spanish classes.  We went to lunch with Neil from Isis, Noel, Ashe and family at a taco place that was nearby.

November 20, 2007

The next morning we got a slip across the marina from Ketching up. Now we can take care of stuff a little easier.  We walked up to the Spanish school and found the Spanish lessons start on Monday 8:30-10:30 through Friday for $100 each. It is a lot of money but we feel we need to know some Spanish to get along in Mexico.  We walked to CCC for a few groceries. It was 9 long hot blocks away.  The sidewalks were extremely uneven and sometimes just dirt. You could never ride a bike on them and you would probably get run over if you were on the street riding. It’s crazy here!  We bought stuff to make artichoke dip and chips and Ashley invited us to have Sangria…Great Time!

November 21, 2007

We heard on the cruisers net, Sam and Susie are now in La Paz. We kept wondering if we would run into them again or not.  This morning we took our laundry in to be done. It is $4.50/load and they do it for you. I was a little nervous but when I got it back it was excellent, way better than if I did it. They folded it so it looked like you just bought it!   We walked to the bank and then over to the Spanish school to pay for our lessons. Plus we had to pay a $50 key deposit at the marina. We had dinner with Catch the Wind and Ketching up at another Taco place where they marinate the beef and sell it by the kilo to your table, plus you get corn and flour tortillas! It was really fun! 

November 22, 2007

It is Thanksgiving Day and we are without family and Mexico obviously doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Ashley, Susie and I took a taxi to City Club, like Costco and shopped for groceries. You can get a one day pass, if you know how to ask for one, good thing Susie was there to help us! Ashley asked us to go to the Gorilla Grill, who was serving a traditional turkey dinner, with her family.  We did go and had turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, veg, bread and dessert, not bad. We were really glad we were with them as it would be lonely knowing it was Thanksgiving, although the weather is certainly not typical to Seattle this time of year, so it didn’t seem like Thanksgiving.  The dinner was served outside on a screened in porch. There were not a lot of other people there, so the service was great.  On our way home, to our boats, we walked down the malecon, like a board walk on the beach. Afterwards the Ketching up crew came over and we made Bahama Mama’s and had cake for dessert. It was a nice day! Miss our kids!

November 23, 2007

Didn’t do much today. Went over to Ketching up and shared the rest of the cake from yesterday.

November 24, 2007

Ashley asked me to go for a walk with her and her boys to the Mercado. We really didn’t find what we were looking for but it was interesting. The boys ordered ice cream cones and I bought some bread at a bakery.

November 25, 2007

Mike installed Skype and I called my mom, the girls and Kathy and the Videen’s, only Yvonne wasn’t home L. It is great, it’s only 2 cents a minute and you can talk anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection, which is hard to come by.  We are trying to find a high gain antennae to help with our problem.  Ashley called to see if I wanted to go for a walk and of course I did, I need exercise. Wils came in his dinghy to pick me up, he said it was a good thing I brought my money because his taxi charged $2 dollars.  I asked him if I could pay with tootsie rolls and he replied yes with a smile.  Just Ashley and I went for a walk, it was very long but I enjoyed it very much. Later that night we had wine and sugar cookies with Ketching up.

November 26, 2007

We have our first Spanish lesson today, Sam, Susie and Dan from Myah are all going to school together.  They ended up dividing our class into 2 groups and Mike and I are with Doug, who is living in La Paz for the winter, our teacher is Martha, we really like her.

We have to leave the Marina and so does Ketching up. Before we go Ashley and I take a taxi to CCC. I ask her if they’d like to come to dinner and she says yes, so I buy stuff to make chicken fettuccine.  We had a nice dinner and play Chinese checkers with the boys. Tomorrow they leave, we are going to miss them so much! We have really gotten to know them and really enjoy their family! It is tempting to change our course and follow them but we know we should follow our plans and we are sure to meet others and so will they! J

November 27, 2007

Today we say good bye to Ketching up on our way to the dinghy dock.  It is sad but we will stay in touch the best we can. We have to leave a little earlier to dinghy ashore but the good thing is we are saving about $50 not being in the marina.  The down side is the wind is really blowing and spinning our boat around.  There is what is called the La Paz waltz where the wind blows you one direction and the current pushes you another, this is very evident today as you look at boats all turned a different direction.  We just realized that one of the boys left their sandals on our boat and also the Marina said they left a hatch, that seems odd. 

November 28, 2007

We went to Spanish class today, it was a wet ride in via the dinghy.  After the lesson we had lunch at the dockside Restaurant. Mike talked to Janis today about getting together for the Christmas holidays.  While over at the club we met Diane and Mike from Sagittar.  Very nice, they did the Baja too.

November 29, 2007

To Spanish class we go! New teacher today, our class joined Sam, Susie and Dan. The teacher is very nice but very confusing.  She explained verbs and other info in Spanish that we didn’t understand.  Suzie helped by explaining a lot but it would have been nicer to keep Martha.  We moved our boat back to our slip in the marina since they are predicting Northerly winds that might blow for about 3 days.  Afterwards we went to Ciao Italian restaurant with Sam, Susie and Neil for lunch and to use the internet connection. Finally my emails ‘sent’ from a couple of weeks ago.  I called Julie and she told me we got a $900 refund from Boat US insurance since we bought the Mexican liability insurance. Great news! Thank you Jesus!

November 30, 2007

Today we finished a week of Spanish lessons, we had the new teacher again. It was a better day but still wish we had Martha. We took pictures of everyone and the school. We celebrated by having lunch with Sam, Susie and Doug at the Olympia restaurant. Dan was sick.  Breakfast was only $3 and we had ham and cheese omelet or scrambled eggs with ham, beans, chips, tortillas, coffee and juice, it was very good and a large quantity of food for the money. It was fun because the menu was in Spanish and used many words we learned in class. The waitress only spoke Spanish too. The class paid off already!

December 1, 2007

I can’t believe it is already December! Cruising you lose track of time and the season since the weather isn’t that of home.  It has rained for the last 3 days and the wind is blowing a lot so the weather isn’t nice lately but it is still warm during the day and chilly at night. I have no idea of the actual temperature though since our thermometer broke.  We invited Doug, Susie and Sam to dinner so today I have baked a pound cake and made tapioca in hopes of using up our eggs. We had to buy a large quantity of eggs and we don’t normally use that many. Also in Mexico they don’t refrigerate eggs. And I can’t pronounce refrigerator in Espanola. It seems so weird. I guess you check to see if the eggs are still good by putting them in water, if they float they are bad.  Doug came early and brought a bottle of vino, Sam and Susie came over soon after Doug.  Susie had to find a stool to get up on our boat, our boat is higher than hers. I made Pad Thai, veg and salad and dessert, it must have been enjoyed it was all gone! We all exchanged email addresses. And we received an email from Ketching up today. We miss them. As everyone was leaving we heard splashing and looked over the side of the boat and there were several large fish, approx. 2 feet long swimming in circles in front of our boat.  Very nice evening.

December 2, 2007

We woke up to sunshine today and Mike made us pancakes. I mostly read today and Mike downloaded more music.  The North winds are blowing like crazy today.  We called Videen's and Hanson’s today, nice to be able to check in with family and friends, although we didn’t have a great connections.  We watched a movie and went to bed.

December 3, 2007

This morning the sun is shining but the wind is really howling! So I decided to catch up on our cruising log! Mike is updating our cruising map and photos!  All is well and as soon as the wind stops blowing so hard we will be on our way North up the Sea of Cortez for a few days before heading to Mazatlan.  We were invited for a belated Thanksgiving dinner on a 55’ beautiful power boat (yes Yvonne, it is very sleek!) with Mark, his brother Dan, son Matt and Matt’s wife Tracy.  I got to make the gravy.  It was a very nice evening!

December 4, 2007

Today we need to take care of stuff as we are leaving for the Islands tomorrow. We took our laundry up to be done, they do such a great job for $5! We went with Susie to CCC and this time we took public transportation, it was called the chicken bus and cost 60 pesos. We took a taxi home as we bought too much stuff to carry on the bus. Spent the afternoon working on the website and following up on emails. We have an appointment to get fuel in the morning, they don’t man the fuel dock here, thus an appt. So we are about ready to leave.

December 5, 2007

It is a beautiful day, we filled water tanks, returned marina keys, and got fuel. Mike took a lot of time to get fuel as he measured on a stick and marked every 5 gallons so we will know how much fuel we have whenever we dip the stick. This should be a great tool as in the past we have always had to guess.  We try to make a Skype connection so that we can make reservations at El Cid to meet Janis and family and also at PV to meet friends but can’t get a connection. Sam came to our rescue and let us use his cell phone, we really appreciated that a lot!  Now we are off to Espiritu Santo approximately 4 hours away.  We arrived at Ballena, which includes several very small uninhabited islands that we anchored between that we hope block the wind. There is only one other sailboat here and it is very peaceful, except for the tiny flies that seem like mosquitoes! Get the bug spray!

We decided to tootle around the bay, so Mike lowered the dinghy. Once we were in the dinghy Mike gave me refresher lesson on starting the engine, so I drove us around. First we decide to go see what is jumping near one of the little islands, lots of fish about 6 inches long. Looks like a good snorkeling spot except Mike thinks it is too cold.  We go to the main island and as we get closer it is very shallow, so we stop the engine and row. Not much to see in the water but the water is so turquoise, it’s beautiful!  As we were rowing back to our boat we see Catch the Wind sailing up and they anchor near us. They have a few days before needing to be in La Paz for a concert so decided to join us.  We also met another boat called Star, the skipper is Reno, and he was also rowing around his dinghy. It is great exercise.

December 6, 2007

It is a cloudy day and according to the weather report there is no wind. We did hear there are 20’–25’ swells down the pacific coast due to a storm. Glad we missed those swells!  Last night Mike heard banging on our boat like a seal was trying to jump aboard, thankfully the hull is too high up for them to board!  We decide to stay at our current anchorage and spend time cleaning the rust off the stainless, it is worse than ever.

We went over to see Catch the Wind and Sam was in his underwear, he says they’re more comfortable than shorts and from a distance they look like shorts.  We invited them over later for cake, so we left them to go bake. Before Sam came over he called to see if he should wear a tie, Mike suggested pants.  We had a nice visit and they rowed back to their boat in the dark.

December 7, 2007

It was a sleepless night, the wind generator made so much noise and there were lots of swells rocking the boat.  After listening to the weather we decide to head up to Partida which is only 7 miles North and much more protected from swells. It is a nice sunny day with light winds. Catch the Wind joined us and we sailed up there going only between 1 and 2 knots all the way. It was a slow go but it was peaceful. When we arrived there were quite a few boats there, including Myah, what a surprise!  There were 2 different white sandy beaches, one with a cut through the island that could only be taken at high tide in a dinghy.  Once we anchored, the wind had picked up and Sam came over in his dinghy which is also a 2 person sailing boat and he took Mike out for a sail. They had a lot of fun! By bedtime the wind had died down.

December 8, 2007

It is cloudy and raining today, bummer, we were going to finish cleaning the stainless.  Mike discovered the whisker pole was bent at the goose neck, another bummer. It must have happened during the Baja race as we haven’t used it since then. Now it won’t go up the mast to be stored. We don’t know how we are going to get that fixed!

It stopped raining so we decide to dinghy around the bay and through the cut. It is so shallow that we worried about the dinghy engine hitting bottom and decided to row instead until we reach deeper water.  On the other side it is beautiful, the formation of the cliffs have been wind blown and are all different. It is difficult to describe but we did take a lot of pictures. On the way back the tide had gone out so we hit bottom and had to push the dinghy through the cut back to the other side. No big deal.

After returning I decided to swim over to Catch the Wind to see if Susie would come swimming. I climbed aboard with my fins on and was sitting there resting when Mike swam over and tried to scare us. He did, I didn’t expect him to come over as he thought it was too cold to swim. After awhile Sam, Susie, Mike and I all went swimming. Sam and I swam over to Myah and invited them over for appetizers and they accepted.  Mike came over with the dinghy thinking we would be too tired to swim back but Sam pulled the dinghy back to our boat. I think he just says he 72 years old! 

Mark and Dan, Sam and Susie came over and I made artichoke dip, along with cheese and crackers. We had a nice visit.

December 9, 2007

We left this morning at 9AM along with Sam and Susie to go to Ensenada Grande.  It was only about an hour away and we motored. Once we arrived there was a great little cove with only room for one boat. It seemed like it would be protected. It also had a cross on the hill above it, we wondered what that was about.  We decided to anchor there even though it was pretty shallow, only 5 feet under us and maybe a 5 foot tide, that was fairly low already.  Sam came over in his dinghy and picked us up and we all went in his boat to Los Islotes where you can swim with the seals, not that I see myself swimming with seals. But it should be great snorkeling.  Once we arrived it was beautiful, again we took lots of pictures. The rock formations were interesting and seemed to be home to a multitude of seals and birds. There was a ‘party boat’ anchored there and its crew was swimming with the seals.  On the way back to our boat Susie made us all lunch, scrambled eggs with tortilla strips and salsa, very good. We visited a little while longer with them and then decided it was nap time. As we were getting up we saw these fish that looked like a russet potato. Susie threw them some baked potato and they came right up to the boat and ate it. Fun! After getting on our boat it started pouring down rain, so we had to go inside.  We checked our depth and we were at 2 feet, this was not good since our boat started getting swells and rocking like a bucking horse. We would need to re anchor tomorrow.

December 10, 2007

It was not a restful night, we rocked all night from a West wind. We decided to re anchor this morning to make sure our boat wouldn’t hit bottom or the rock wall around us.  Sam called us right after that and said they weren’t comfortable and were going to leave. Their boat had drug their anchor enough that they didn’t feel safe. I didn’t want to leave because it was very stormy with white caps in the sea, so we stayed.  Once they left we re anchored again towards the opposite side of the bay.  Our cute little cove was not so cute in this weather. Before night the wind had died down a lot. We were hoping for a good night sleep.  Not sure where Catch the Wind went!

December 11, 2007

It was a peaceful night, thank you Jesus!  I decided to go swimming, since it was so nice out. When I got in the water I saw one of those stingray fish, it was on the bottom but it still made me nervous.  I didn’t swim long!  Looking over the side of the boat we could see our anchor and chain down about 15-20’, it surprised me that it was looped around and not pulled out straight.  We had out a lot, about 6 to 1 scope due to the weather. Mike started the engine and pulled the chain out straight but in about a half an hour we were siting the same as before with the chain in a loop! Weird!   Winds are predicted to be 20-30 knots tonight, I sure hope our chain holds! Flying Free, a cat in our anchorage heard Catch the Wind on the SSB but we couldn’t hear them and they couldn’t hear Flying Free. At least we know they are OK after going out in that storm to find calmer water.

December 12, 2007

Last night was sleepless, we woke at 2AM with the wind howling again! And to top it off the wind generator was making a lot of racket as well. At 4:30 Mike decided to just get up.  I decided to go sleep in the forward cabin but I just kept hearing the anchor chain pulling tight and creating creaking noises.  When I finally got up Mike had already made coffee and was making French toast, what a guy!  It was a nice sunny day but the wind blew hard all day coming through the canyon causing big swells that rocked us, the opposite direction as before.  You could see large swells out in the sea as well.

Mike put a brake on the wind generator today. That should make it safer in all this wind and it doesn’t seem to make quite as much noise.  He also fixed some faulty connections, so now the generator seems to be charging, “I did a heck of a nice job” says Captain Mike.  We took cold showers today, no hot water.  Mike asked me if the water was warm in the shower and I said “You’d be surprised”. Surprised that the ocean water is warmer than the shower water! We cut Mike’s hair outside today, hoping to get most of it off the boat, but with the wind blowing we still had a mess, but better outside than inside the boat.  There were 3 tri-marands in the anchorage and they all left today, so we are the only ones left in the bay. We need to figure out where we want to go next.

December13, 2007

We decided to go to Isle San Francisco this morning. It is 29 miles, approximately 5 hours.  The wind seems to have let up but there are rather large swells, at least 4 feet.  We see a couple of other sailboats with their sails up, so we decide to go for it too.  It is cold and the wind meter is reading 10-15 knots, not too bad.  We arrived at 1PM and put down our anchor. There were 4 other boats there, all ones we thought we had seen before.  We ate lunch first, because Mike was starved.  Then we decided to go ashore, so we put the dinghy down and I suggested just bringing the oars vs. the engine, as it is good exercise.  Mike wasn’t into rowing, so I rowed us to the beach and back. I did pretty good for not having much practice.  When we were ashore there were tons of shells, this is different than other beaches we had seen, so we decided to collect some while taking a walk.  Not sure what we will do with them but we thought the grand kids would like them if nothing else.  Back at the boat Mike found Spanish music, it made us think of Christmas, after all it is almost Christmas although it sure doesn’t feel like it. We are away from all the commercialism surrounding it. We know that is it the season and it makes us miss our family and friends all the more.

December 14, 2007

Another sleepless night, that is all I write lately but it is true. We even took Melatonin last night and the winds weren’t bad. We couldn’t get the weather report today as Don doesn’t give it on Fridays.  It is cloudy today and looks like little chance of sun, but you never can tell. We decided to go farther North today, just not sure where, there are several choices depending on the weather.  We are sailing with full sails, to weather, with 17 knots of wind and are heeled about 15 degrees.  We decide the wind is picking up and quite a few white caps, so we reef the head sail. Swells are increasing in size so we decide to reef the main too.  Mike sees a big splash behind us and watches and sees a whale tail.  As we continue to watch we see the spray of a pod of whales, maybe 5 or 6, and see their fins, tails and at times almost there whole body jump out of the water.  This went on for at least 5 minutes or more. It was incredible!  The wind is now gusting at 25 knots so we decide to go to the first safe harbor which is San Evaristo a little fishing village.  There is a catamaran in the cove and we decide to anchor near them.  They came right over and said Hi, Garret and Carly. They said there doesn’t seem to be any activity ashore, everything is closed up.  Another boat, a ketch arrives and anchors on the other side of us, now we are in the middle but there is ample swinging room, thank goodness because we are swinging 90 degrees!  Even though it looks protected here there is still a lot of wind coming over the hill.

I baked focaccia bread today and made chicken stir fry for dinner. Now it is bedtime and very windy!

December 15, 2007

Boy, another sleepless night!  The boat sailed while on anchor at least 90 degrees each direction all night.  The wind meter is reading 29knots of wind!  We heard the weather report and it says it is going to get worse, 20-30 knots today and 35 knots by tonight! Ugh!  So Mike got out the old canvas and sewing machine and made a ‘sail stabilizer’.  I believe it did help but we still are sailing around on the anchor!  It already tore as the wind is so strong.  We tied the sails up tight with the sail ties. We moved the dinghy to the end up the boat, using it as sort of a sail stabilizer for the other direction.  We also took off the bimini as it is starting to tear, it looks like it is wear from the sail rubbing on it but with this wind it could rip to pieces, so better safe than sorry.  I baked Mike a few cookies and he was disappointed that we had to pour out the milk, it had gone bad. So fresh baked cookies and water had to do.

December 16, 2007

We finally slept all night after taking sleeping pills, I had to get some sleep. Mike didn’t take anything he wanted to make sure he could hear the anchor alarm, but he did sleep better.  The weather report is favorable for the next 2 to 3 days but the winds were still blowing all day and there are still white caps, so we stayed put today too.  We heard Catch the Wind on the SSB and sounds like they are heading to Mazatlan tomorrow. Maybe we will be able to reach them on the radio.  After the weather report we decide we are not comfortable going North any farther. We need to head south so we can be in Mazatlan ourselves right after Christmas. So tomorrow we will see about heading back.

We had quite a few people tell us the best time to do the Sea of Cortez is in the spring, but we can’t if we stick with our current plan of going to the South Pacific.  But now we can certainly see why, the Sea gets what they call Northers that really blow and usually for 3 days at a time. It seems to us they blow for 3 days, stop for 2 and blow again for 3, somewhat of a vicious cycle.  A lot of the anchorages are not well protected from the weather.  We would love to be here in the spring to sail the sea again at some point.  We also would love to spend up to a year visiting all the coves around Vancouver Island.  God made so many beautiful places!

Mikes project today was trying to make an ice cube tray. Someone left the ice out all night so we have no more ice.  We are running out of breakfast stuff, milk and eggs. So I decided to try out the vanilla soy milk and make tapioca which Mike likes on his oatmeal.  I didn’t have quite enough so I had to use 1 ½ cups of powdered milk. But it actually turned out quite good.  It is a good thing, since I made 6 cups of it. J

Mike updated the website map and I worked on naming the photos so we can upload the pictures once we are back at La Paz.  I also finished my book, called Left Behind, a really good reminder that we can not be passive Christians and we need to be ready for his return.

Well it is time for bed and it seems like the wind has finally died down.

December 17, 2007

8 Days until Christmas!  We decide to turn around and go south, it just isn’t the right time to go north from the weather or protection at night perspective. So we are heading to Partida, we loved it there.  We discussed whether our future plans should be to come back North in the Sea of Cortez or go across the South Pacific.  That thought has to be pondered a lot. God will lead us! We arrived in Partida at 2:30, it is sunny and there are only a few boats. We miss our friends!

December 18, 2007

We decided that we would head to La Paz at noonish, that puts us back in La Paz before dark.  This way we can relax and enjoy the sunny morning.  I finished another book and Mike straightened out the spinnaker.  We arrived in La Paz at 4:30, we anchored out to save dinero.

December 19, 2007

Today we watched an offshore sailing video and the Switlic life raft video, you can tell we were bored.  Wish we had a better selection of movies.  We listened to the weather report and evaluated our to do list. We decided based on the weather report we had better head for Mazatlan tomorrow and our to do list could wait.

December 20, 2007

We left La Paz at 1PM after getting fuel, we were shocked we needed fuel, it doesn’t seem right but if we have to motor to beat the coming Norther then we must have enough fuel.  The rollers are inconsistent today, some 3 feet and others 6 some close together and others far apart.  We ended up between two Baja ferries, one going each direction, both passing us at the same time, SCARY!  At this point we were under sail, in shallow waters with swells up to 8 feet and we will get a wake from the ferries.  The wave came over the bow, over the dodger, and right into the helmsman soaking him.  I let Mike know that he would not be going down below to change his clothes, leaving me alone in this weather at the helm.  So I went below and found him dry clothes, he striped in the cockpit and put them on.  It was getting dark and at 7:15PM we should be able to get Don’s weather report. We turned it on but it was difficult to hear with all the static, but we both thought we heard 35 – 40 knot winds, we couldn’t hear what day the prediction was for. Not good, so we went to Muertos, we arrived at 2AM, we followed our old course from our last visit into the bay.

December 21, 2008

We didn’t know when we could get the next weather report as Don doesn’t give reports Friday mornings! But we turned to the Amigo net and they announced for the weather report today turn to the San Resa net. Thank you Jesus! Wide as wide as the ocean, deep deep as the deepest sea is my Saviors love! Weather was given at 7:45AM, we listened and discovered we better get going, we probably had 24 hours until the winds would come and big big rollers. It is so flat today, unbelievable to think that the weather was going to get so bad.  Our plan was to head straight across, the fastest way across. We were always hearing the closer you get to the other side the better the weather was and then we could truly sail down wind along the coast to Mazatlan.  We saw a whale today. We also saw the most beautiful sunset it seemed to surround us.  We had a full moon too, great for night sailing!

December 22, 2007

We checked our fuel tanks, at 14 hours we still had 20 gallons left, we are using a lot of fuel.  We arrived in Mazatlan old town anchorage at 12:30, it was beautiful.  We were so tired. We anchored several times before we were comfortable.  We had a drink and a snack and went to bed. Supposedly just for a nap but we forgot to wake up to eat dinner.  I woke up at midnight to loud music, there was a wedding on shore. I took a sleeping pill, I wanted to sleep the rest of the night, and went back to bed. I found out that Mike had woke up at 9PM, had cheese and crackers and then went back to bed too.

December 23, 2007

We woke up at 7AM had breakfast and went ashore in search of a dinghy dock and restaurants etc.  We met Jerry and a few other people that gave us some information to help us get around.  Jerry is on a cutter and single hands his boat.  We walked about 2+ blocks and up 183 steps to the El Midador Restaurant, boy am I hot and tired now. We had fajitas (steak and shrimp) different, Mexican style, but good.  There is a fantastic view from up here, the beach, the anchorage, Stone Island and much more.  We met Jennifer, Steve, Shirley and Doug and had a great time visiting, they are staying at a local hotel. We tried to avoid the stairs going back and boy did we take the long way home.  Now back at the boat exhausted.  Burned off that lunch! So now Mike wants dinner. I took the left over taco shells from the restaurant and I filled them with black beans and rice, great little snack type dinner.  We watched the movie “Out of Towner’s” and went to bed.

December 24, 2007

Sam and Susie are in Marina Mazatlan and they invited us to go to dinner with them tonight.  We would have to take the bus, it is too far to walk. Should be interesting.  There are four buses to choose from and the drivers do not usually speak English so you have to figure it out on your own.  We went to shore and were able to call Janis, Lynn and Mom, although the connection was poor and we were cut off several times but at least we were able to communicate some. We also downloaded email but once again couldn’t send. Urrrrh!   Back at the boat we got ready for dinner and took the dinghy ashore to catch the “Toreo” bus per Susie.  It was only 60 pesos.  It was a great tour through the town, we enjoyed it, although with some anxiety about figuring out where to get off. We tried to ask the driver but he wasn’t all that helpful.  Finally across the street from the Hotel Mazatlan, the driver stopped and pointed to get off. We couldn’t see the water at first an then Mike saw the boat masts.  Yea, we made it.  Called Sam on the VHF and he let us in the gate!  After a short visit on their boat we walked back to the bus stop and took it a few blocks away to another hotel where we had an excellent Christmas Eve dinner with Turkey and all the trimmings. It was great!  We took the Sabola bus back to the ferry dock and walked several blocks to Club Nautical where our boat was anchored.  It looked like the gate was locked but the padlock was on just not hooked, ah! But once we got to the dinghy it was half flat, oh my gosh, what happened!  Mike got in it anyway and since it didn’t sink, I followed. Now in the dark way out in the bay we had to find our boat and hope we didn’t sink. We made it, thank you Jesus!

December 25, 2007

Today is Christmas, no family and no friends are around, it is sad.  Oh well, I made or tried to make biscuits but they weren’t that great.  We just lazed around and for dinner I made chicken fettuccine and green bean casserole, chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate for dessert!

December 26, 2007

Today we couldn’t hear the Net Controller on the Cruisers net, bummer.  Today we are going ashore to Video Zone to update our computer. They were closed but the lavanderia was open and had computers with internet connection service too. They were very helpful but unfortunately email wouldn’t go again. The owners son was there visiting from CA and he was very nice. He suggested we go to the plaza a few blocks farther and have lunch where there were several restaurants. We found one with outdoor seating in the sun.  They had the best fajitas and the cost was surprisiingly inexpensive! Just my kind of restaurant. On the way home we went to a farmacia that Jerry recommended and bought some milk, ice cream bars, snickers and a few other necessities.

December 27, 2007

Today we are going back to Video Zone to see if we can send email! But again it won’t go! So frustrating!  As we were leaving the club we met Henry and JJ from Rapscullion, a cat.  They took us to the market, it was great!  We saw pig heads and skinned cow heads! YUK!  We bought some vegetables and fruit. Very interesting place, it looks like you can buy just about anything you want there. We walked home and saw the Cathedral on our way.  It wasn’t open so we couldn’t see the inside, the outside was interesting but not really beautiful.  Hopefully we can see inside at some point during our visit.  Once home we made our own chicken fajitas, they were so good! Just chicken, onions, green peppers and mushrooms on tortillas and we added sour cream and salsa.

December 28, 2007

Today we go to El cid Marina about 8 miles north.  We left the anchorage at 8AM to arrive by 10AM so we would miss the dredge that cleans the excess sand out of the channel.  It was really rolly out in the open water today.  Another boat, Solace was also going into El cid, so we just followed, how easy!  We did not get a slip with power, even though we had reservations and the water only trickles out of the faucet! Oh well, they said we would get a 20% discount.  They have a pool and towels available too, along with showers, which were not hot, sometimes barely warm. Oh well, it would be easier to visit the Chittick’s this way! We met Ed, he helped us dock and immediately made an offer we couldn’t refuse, to drive us to the grocery store!  That was wonderful! We stocked up pretty good at Mega foods and he took us to a meat place called Henderson’s meats, where the meat is shrink wrapped and frozen, great for cruisers.  They had arrachetta beef, so good!  Mike worked on our email and finally got it to send by changing a number on the send port. I don’t care how, I am just so glad it works.  Email is my lifeline home!

December 29, 2007

The Chittick’s arrive today, so we eat breakfast and wait until 1PM to walk to the Pueblo Bonita hotel.  When we arrive they are sleeping.  They had a red eye flight and were very tired but got up to have lunch with us.  After lunch we sat by the pool but could see they needed their beauty sleep so we went home and thought tomorrow would be easier to have intelligent conversation!  They will be over after breakfast.

December 30, 2007

The Chittick’s arrive and we decide to go out for a short sail.  They arrived and surprised us by bringing Christmas gifts, so nice to be loved and thought of!  We didn’t exchange gifts on Christmas so it was a real treat.  Kathy had sent Janis a gift for me too! They got Mike a mermaid bottle opener and they didn’t even know how much he likes mermaids.  We really enjoyed the gifts. We decided to go sailing after Janis and Cindy go back to the hotel to pack up so they can move to a better sunnier room. The one they had seemed dark and cold.  Once out on the water, there are only light winds, but Cam being the sailor that he is, hoists the sails.  After that he seemed a little seasick, he is not used to sailing on ocean swells.  We put out the head sail too.  John seemed to enjoy doing everything including taking the helm!  Janis just enjoyed being on the sunny water all together. J After a little sail we went back to the dock and cooked the tuna that had been marinating all day, we actually over cooked it, darn it.  But it was still pretty good and we all enjoyed having dinner together on the boat.  We made plans for tomorrow and they left for their hotel.

December 31, 2007

New Years Eve!  We sailed over to Old Town anchorage, to give the Chittick’s a taste of cruisers life. We drop anchor and dinghy ashore, Cam drives of course and we hike along the water and up the 166-183 stairs, John counted 166 and mike 183, walking them seemed like 283 to the El Midador restaurant for lunch.  Last time we were here we forgot our camera, so we took lots of pictures this time.  We met Wanda the iguana and Cam held her for a photo moment.  After lunch we walked to Old Town to see the architecture, Cathedral, Theatre, and the market, with the pig heads.  This time we were able to buy champions (mushrooms) and other vegetables we wanted.  On the way back we had ice cream cones.  Janis gets the award for taking the most pictures today and Cam was right behind her.  We walked back to the anchorage and Cam drove the boys back to the boat while the girls went to the banyo and then he came back for us.  We enjoyed tuna salad on crackers and happy hour on the way back.  When we arrived at the channel to El Cid Marina it was dusk and difficult to see but we figured it out and got home safely.  Since it was New Years Eve, we decided we must go out to dinner, we went to Los Zarols.  We had great food and fun. The restaurant took a family photo for a cost of $6 but John negotiated $5 each for two. Such a deal! We stayed in the Chittick’s room and watched the fireworks from their balcony!  It was an “excellent” day, as Mike would say!

January 1, 2008

New Year’s Day!

At 11:30 we walked to the Pueblo Bonita to enjoy a pool day with the Chittick’s. Cam and John played Frisbee on the beach, Mike and Janis chatted and I swam and read my book. Later we went back to the boat and all had arrachetta fajitas and went bowling. It was a great day!

January 2, 2008

Today we took the bus and saw some monuments as we walked the malecon, on the ocean beach.  We saw a cliff diver too. Cam brought his Razor and rode along and he bought a silver ring for his girl friend. He put his negotiation skills to work and felt he got a good deal.  We had lunch at the Shrimp Bucket, actually they were still on the breakfast menu, but it was good.  Then we went inland to see the inside of the Theatre, which is a building that had been restored, it looked great compared to the old building. There was an authentic Mexican restaurant near here that was recommended by Jammin and we planned to come back tonight for dinner.  On our walk back we were able to see the inside of the Cathedral, it was beautiful.  We also went into a small museum and little gift shop, that Janis really enjoyed.  And I bought a necklace. We had ice cream again and caught the bus back to the hotel so we could take a nap before dinner. Later we took a bus back to the market, and were dropped off on the opposite side as before, which may explain why we got a little lost finding our way back to the restaurant but we did find it.  There was lots of Mexican’s eating there so it must be good. The menu was very simple and the owner spoke English and gave us terrific service, even going next door to get drinks or things not in stock!  Afterwards we walked around the plaza a little and we saw the Cathedral at night with lit crosses all around it.  We took a pulmonia back to our respective quarters, we barely fit inside, it was $15, the bus is so much less expensive! But we all had fun!

January 3, 2008

Today is the last day of the Chittick’s visit. We decide to let them have their morning since we knew they had to pack.  We found them later having breakfast, so we joined them for coffee.  Then decided to go to the beach in front of their hotel for the day.  There were lounge chairs out there too and Cam was planning to Parasail from the beach.  There were lots of nagging vendors so I asked them what I could buy for 10 peso’s and one beautiful shell, this caused them to leave us alone for a while.  Later another guy selling jewelry stopped and Janis decided to play along too but in the end we bought 2 pairs of earrings, one pair each.  We ordered drinks during happy hour, they were 2 for 1 and they brought you two at the same time, so we had 6 drinks for the 3 of us! Too funny! Now it is time for the Chittick’s to pack up. It is a sad time L  We waved good bye to them and then decided to go to Heather’s Place for nachos, we just don’t want to go home yet! On the way home we stop and buy some sandals for Cindy that should be good for the beach since we can’t find the ones we are really looking for.  I guess it is a week to spend money on Cindy, poor Mikey!

January 4, 2008

Today we need to decide what we need to do before we leave the marina!  Laundry, water, fuel, grocery shopping, meat are a few things that come to mind.  Well today we did nothing. We will try again tomorrow.

January 5, 2008

Today we took the bus to Home Depot, they didn’t have what we needed.  Then to Gigante and bought a few groceries that we could carry. Then to office Depot to buy printer cartridges. Now to catch a bus home, here’s one, we get on and pay and then notice the bus is going the wrong direction. Wrong bus, get off and find another bus.  Not to hard, but we have to pay again. We go to Heather’s place again, since we are passing it and they have great nachos.  Before going to our boat, we checked out the pools at El cid and then stop to invite Myah to lunch tomorrow. It is too late to leave again!

January 6, 2008

We walked to Henderson’s Meat after breakfast but it is Sunday and they are closed. So we come home and clean up boat and make lunch for Mark and Dan.  I made chicken fettuccine, pea salad and cabbage salad.  I was making brownies when they arrived and couldn’t figure out the directions, Mark is fairly good at Espanola and he helped decipher the directions.  So for dessert we had brownies, that didn’t quite cook enough, and whipped cream.  They are going to the South Pacific too around the same time as we are, so we discussed the trip as they had been before.  We had a great time.  After they left I found the website for Pacific Puddle jumpers at Yahoo Groups.  So I signed us up, we really would like one more person for crew to help with watches and a buddy boat or two.

January 7, 2008

We are leaving today! We have been here for 10 days and the cost is $376 US, heart attach plus $162 in fuel! Ugh!  I look at my email since I still have a connection and see that Charisma emailed us. They are part of the pacific puddle jumpers group and we met them in La Paz and they did the Baja. They are in Marina Mazatlan, so I let them know we are going to old town and maybe they can catch up with us along the way to PV.  We walked to Henderson’s and bought some meat finally! This was our 3^rd try!  We took showers and headed out.  I told Mike we have to motor as we need to charge the refer and run the water maker.  The water smelled so bad, we are not sure we can or want to drink it, so we started the cleaning process which takes two days.  We had a nice motor to old town anchorage as there were no real swells and it was hot. Just what I love!  Once we were anchored we enjoyed the sun a little while but it was cold just before dark.  I spent the evening naming more photos an enjoyed remembering old times. And Mike worked on his program again!  We made fajitas with chicken and cabbage for dinner and ate by candlelight to conserve battery power.

January 8, 2008

This morning Mike did the next step to cleaning water maker. Then made coffee out of water tanks, and decided to make us pancakes and spam for breakfast.  We have decided we like spam for breakfast and wish we would have bought more, we are almost out.  Mike found out the English speaking hair salon charges $75, I decided I can find another place.  I have spent all morning updating this log, and now it is lunch time.

I spent the afternoon researching the South Pacific, islands and routes.  It looks like you need to be out of the area by September.  I don’t think we realized that it is several hundred miles between the chains of islands.  I plan to email Michael and Nancy to find out where there went in cyclone season.

January 9, 2008

Today I woke up feeling sick, chest congestion and sore throat.  Mike made us oatmeal with leche (boxed milk) for breakfast.  Not bad!  I continued to research routes to sail home using the Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Routes.  Mike worked on our website, he has done a great job improving it!  Mike cooked a tuna for dinner tonight.

January 10, 2008

Today we hiked up to the lighthouse, the second highest natural one in the world. We hiked a ½ mile or so in compact sand up hill and then climbed 339 steps. It turned foggy by the time we got there but it was a very nice hike. We met Malachi, a boat that is also going to the South Pacific, but they plan to leave from Cabo. It was fun to chat with them.  They let us know there is a PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP meeting in PV on Feb. 8, so we are going to try to get to that. We were sweating when we got back to the boat so we decided to use the sun shower. Mike filled the shower up at the dinghy dock. It wasn’t quite hot enough so I heated a little water on the stove to add to it. So we had a wonderful shower.

January 11, 2008

I just finished reading South Pacific Passages by John Neal and Mike and I discussed weather or not we are ready to make this passage. No final decision until we go to the February meeting. Today we walked to the lavanderia to work on the internet, Mike was uploading our photos on to our website, finally! Everyone keeps asking but you have to have a good connection to do this.  We met Terry and Dana from Windblown there and come to find out she is a hairdresser.  She said she would cut my hair for $10, great!  They came over after we got home and looked at the photo’s Mike had taken of another women’s hair and said no problem to cut mine like that. So now I have very short hair. I like it, but now my head is cold. I still need to learn to fix it. It takes much less shampoo and water now to wash! That was the goal.

January 12, 2008

After 5 months I have now filled every page in my journal that Kathy gave me!  She would be proud! Now I can start on the one that Wendy gave me! I can’t believe we have been in Mazatlan for 3 weeks. I am still coughing so that is partly why we are here, to rest.  Mike cut his hair today and then went ashore to see if he could get an Internet connection, he didn’t finish loading all the pictures yet.

January 13, 2008

Still feeling under the weather but went ashore to check email. It is windy and cold! Called Mom but with a poor connection just got disconnected.

January 14, 208

Today Mike is not feeling good at all, so we lay low all day.

January 15, 2008

Today Mike is still not feeling good, we had planned to sail to the Isle of Isabella but that won’t happen yet.  Plus we still have not made it to the market.  We discovered we can watch TV on our boat, great picture but the programs while American are dubbed over in Espanola, so we could not understand much, although enough to laugh a few times.

January 16, 2008

Mike is really not feeling well. So we lay low again.  We decide to take a shower and to heat it by putting it near the generator while we run it to charge the batteries to run the refer. Before doing that we looked at the water, which we got at the dinghy dock, it is so gross! It I so dirty and to think we took a shower in it a few days ago! We dumped it out and used our tank water. Tonight we watched Alfred Hitchcock movies, I really don’t like them, but we have a limited selection of movies.  We both fell asleep during them and when we woke up Mike said “those were so exciting I could hardly stay awake”.

January 17, 2008

We both slept OK last night and woke up just in time to hear Don at Summer Passage’s weather report at 7AM. It should be nice today and cold tomorrow.  So we decided to walk to the market today. It is sunny and warm, so nice.  We ran into two different older couples with questions, and we felt pleased we could help them.  Today we walked down different streets to the market then we had before just to take in a few more sites. At the market we bought vegetables from one stand, fruit from another and we found black beans at another stand. We walked to a place that makes tortillas a few blocks away and bought some. Then we walked to the Pacifico Restaurant to have lunch. They have great fajitas and outside dining.  After we ordered we saw Rosemary and Phillip who were one of the couples we met this morning, so we offered to share our table with them.  They have a time share on the beach and are here for 2 weeks.  They ordered the same thing as us, chicken fajitas! We shared our sailing stories and they said they really enjoyed listening and bought our lunch. That was not necessary but it was really nice of them.  We walked home stopping at the farmacia for more drugs and we had to ref to our Spanish to English book to make our purchase. Then took Mike home to rest. I drove the dinghy both ways. I am not so good at docking at our boat but we made it safe and sound. Nap time!

January 18, 2008

We listened to the cruisers net today to get the weather report, it is windy and cold. We decide that today would not be good to leave as that would keep us outside in the cold for about 15 hours, the time it takes to get to Isabella.  Since we have been so sick we want to stay warm.  We want to go ashore and do email but other than that we will lay low, once again.  We did go to shore to do email and while we were there we met Evan and Lindsey on Jazz, a catamaran.  We discussed getting crew with him, he has sailed all over the world and has gotten crew several times.  Flying Cloud also said they knew someone, Stu in CA that wanted to go to the South Pacific.  We also met Tin Soldier, Marilyn and Glen and they have a son.

January 19, 2008

It is Julie’s birthday today! I emailed her yesterday, hope she got it.  We are leaving today before dark to sail to Isles of Isabella. So are Tin Soldier and Espirtu, so we will buddy boat down to Issabella, should take about 15 hours.  Great wind now but should be dying off later this evening.  Kind of sad to leave Mazatlan, there was still places we did not see but it is time to go.  The good thing is since Club Nautico was by the sewer plant, we are so glad to leave that smell behind! On our way to Isabella we saw a turtle, how fun!

January 20, 2008

It is early morning and we are about 10 miles from Isabella. There is no sign of Tin Soldier or Espiritu and we can’t reach them by VHF either. Oh well, time for coffee.  After breakfast, the other boats appeared, they were motoring. We still had 5 miles to go and decided to motor also since we needed to charge batteries and refer. We arrived at 10:30AM, it is a very small cove with lots of submerged rocks. We had to wait for a power boat to leave in order for there to be room for us to anchor. Espiritu anchored on the other side of the cove and just drove their dinghy around to the beach. There were dozens of panga type fishing boats going in and out of the cove with tons of birds hovering around them hoping to get the scraps from all the fish cleaning.  Mike still did not feel well so we took a nap and he took IB profen and sinus tablets!

January 21, 2008

It was a very rolling night and all the fishing boats coming and going just added to it! However it is beautiful and sunny this morning.  We are not sure if we can go ashore due to the surge.  Espiritu was going ashore so we asked them to radio us once they got in to tell us how the landing was. They said good, you just had to dodge lines from fishing boats that were med moored and rocks. We landed on a pebble beach, not bad.  I am not a big fan of birds and Isabella is a bird sanctuary, there were thousands, maybe millions of birds nesting in the trees. When you walked down the trails the birds were very close to your head, yuk! I don’t know about this place. We went a little ways and there was an abandoned observatory. So we explored it, there were rather large iguanas hanging out in there, also a guest book but nothing else seem to be going on. It was sort of open air so I was really surprised there were no birds in there. I had enough of the birds and iguanas so it was time to go. Now it was low tide, lots more exposed rocks and not easy to get back to our boat. We had to walk out quite a ways and then paddle instead of motoring. Once back on board I made lunch and Mike cleaned barnacles off the sides of the boat, there were so many! After lunch Tin Soldier dropped by and invited us to appetizers on their boat. It was really fun to see their boat and a very enjoyable evening.

January 22, 2008

All the boats have left the anchorage except for us. We plan to leave for San Blas about 1AM, so we can arrive at high tide and in the light. We did some chores, cleaning the stainless, some laundry, greasing the windless and got the dinghy back on board so we are ready to leave. We changed our mind, we are going to Matenchen Bay, 2 miles past San Blas with no tide to worry about.

January 23, 2008

Since we don’t have to worry about tides we left at 6:30AM, some people do like to sleep.  It is sunny this morning and no wind. I hung out some of my laundry, hope it dries before we anchor.  Mike saw 4 whales today, he has such a good eye for them. We arrived at Matenchen Bay at 1:30 and there are 4 other boats already here.

January 24, 2008

Two boats left this morning. Second wind with Jim and Mary Ann stopped and introduced themselves first and gave us some pointers on going ashore.  On our way to shore we stopped and introduced ourselves to Claus on Sonota, a German man who is single handing it. At shore in one of the palapas we had brunch. We ordered through a series of Espanola and hand signals.  We ended up with scrambled eggs, frijoles, French fries, fried banana, lime, lettuce, tomato and avocado, very enjoyable.  Mark from Myah showed up on the beach looking for us. We planned to meet up later. Then a Mexican boy drove us to San Blas. He dropped us off at the Mercado, which seemed to be out of stuff in the middle of the afternoon. The Mexicans all take siestas plus we were told you need to get there in the morning for the best produce. We just checked out the plaza and wandered around town. It was very interesting, the streets were either cobblestone or dirt and very narrow. There seem to be a fair amount of activity in the plaza. There were lots of little restaurants, the cathedral, and a few hotels and a surprising number of hardware stores that all carried small amounts of different items. The San Blas marina was also nearby, there were no slips but you could anchor there. Once we were ready to go back to our boat, we planned to take the bus but we couldn’t figure out how it worked. So we took a cab back to the bay.  Back at our dinghy it was a wet ride to our boat. During the day, the restaurant owner watched it for us and we paid her 20 pesos.

January 25, 2008

After breakfast we went to shore to check on the jungle cruise. There was no set schedule, you just show up and they take you. Mark was going with us but he was sick so we planned to go tomorrow. On our way back to our boat we bought banana bread from a boy on the side of the road. It seems that every home along the road, sells banana bread! We went back to our boat but decided later to go back to the palapas for dinner. We ordered guacamole and chips and tostados camorane, we shared them and they were very good. Claus showed up and we had a drink together. Nice visit.

January 26, 2008

Today we got up early to meet Mark for the jungle cruise and it was foggy out, I couldn’t tell which way to go to shore. But of course Mike knew the way.  When we arrived at the jungle cruise parking lot Mark was already there. We paid our 440 pesos and they took the 3 of us.  We heard that if you went early you would be more apt to see more wild life. That was not true of today. We didn’t really see a lot, maybe 6 species of birds, and one big and 2 little crocodiles.  For another 40 pesos you could see caged crocodiles, we decided not too. We went down another part of the river to a restaurant where you could have breakfast and swim. But there was no one in the restaurant and the swimming pool was fresh water, it looked as if the crocodiles could get in, plus Mike and Mark did not want to swim. I wish there would have been more people there, it looked great with a swing over the water too, but I wasn’t going to go alone. Afterwards we walked back to the palapas with Mark for breakfast and Claus showed up too.  We decided to take a bus and go to the historic fort of La Contaduria with him.  Claus led the way and took us up a steep, rocky and dusty dirt, trail. I certainly didn’t have on the right shoes for this. I told Mike we were not going back the same way.  Once at the fort the view was fantastic and the buildings were very interesting, especially the old church. The whole fort was in the process of being refurbished. Mike and I took the cobblestone road back to town and ended up walking by the cemetery, lots of tomb type graves with lots of plastic flowers on them. We walked through a local neighborhood where it seemed everyone had something for sell. Mostly fish that they were barbequing right along the sidewalk, which seem to be their homes. It seemed to be a very poor area but the people seemed friendly. There were lots of young people dressed very nice. We walked by a church where the people were singing very loud in an open air type facility.  We lost Claus during all this but he showed up at the International Bar. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner and then he showed us the bus depot where we all caught a bus back to the beach.  It was a long day so we went to bed at 7PM, we were so tired.

January 27, 2008

Today is a cloudy morning. We listened to the net with Norm.  He is the liaison for the Port Captain who doesn’t speak English.  Mark is near him in the San Blas Estuary.  Norm told everyone on the radio that Mark is feeling better today.  We met Ari who is from Israel and on the sailboat Los Palmas today.  He stopped by our boat for an hour or so. Nice guy that is single handing also, his wife is not interested in sailing.

January 28, 2008

Ari wanted us to go to town with him and we agreed to go. We took his dinghy and stopped by Claus to see if he wanted to come too. Claus is off to Chacala this morning. We took the bus into town and had breakfast first, then basically toured the town again. I used the bano and it was unbelievable, even for Mexico. First you walk in through the kitchen and there is a wire that will strangle you if you do not duck, it’s just hanging across the door way, then it looks like termites have eaten through everything, you can see right through the door into the bano.  It did have a seat which is a surprise, however there was no water to flush or wash your hands. But “any port in a storm” as they say!  We went to the Mercado to buy a few groceries and then caught the bus back to our boat.  Ari invited us over for a Margarita to celebrate my birthday. He also served us hummus he made with pita bread. Very nice evening.

January 29, 2008

My birthday! Mike made me pancakes and coffee!  Mike worked on the refer cooling system as it wasn’t working and ended up replacing the pump with another one that was on board.  Ari came over for dinner and we made chicken fajitas, another nice evening.

January 30, 2008

It was sunny and windy, so I did some wash.  We ran out of propane today in one of two tanks, so Mike made the switch.  We plan to go to Chacala tomorrow if the weather is good.  I rowed our dinghy over to La Paloma and gave Ari some information he had requested. Then we rowed over to Solstice as he was going to Chacala too, we had met him in La Paz.  Mike built a directional antennae so we could get our email, or have a better chance to get it.  I got 55 emails using this device, he is such a genius!

January 31, 2008

We headed out after talking to Ari and Mark, we hope to see both boats again, you just never know when or where!  It should only take us about 4 hours to get to Chacala. We understand you need to stern anchor here, which we have never done. Today on our way, we saw a spectacular whale show. Three or four whales jumping almost completely out of the water! Amazing!  They smacked their flippers on the water like they were playing. All this went on for about half an hour and they got so close to our boat, we had to stop for fear they were run right into us.  When we arrived at Chacala there wasn’t much room to anchor with the number of boats there and everyone was stern anchored.  Once we dropped our bow anchor, Mike got out the stern anchor, it hadn’t been used in so long it was a mess, rusty and everything. Mike put it in the dinghy and rowed it out to where he wanted it and dropped it over falling backwards himself. It wasn’t an easy task! I made a nice dinner, downloaded emails and went to bed.

February 1, 2008

Gosh it is February, only 23 day until Videen’s, Ajeto’s and Crenshaw’s come to Mexico for a visit. We can hardly wait! We miss everyone so much.  On our emails I did receive a lot of birthday wishes, it is so nice to be loved!  We went to shore to do email and have breakfast. It was really nice, a palapas right on the beach with wireless. My kind of place!  Later we checked out the town, it was a very small tourist town with only a couple of hotels and restaurants on the beach. There was an RV park right on the beach too. Behind the hotels there was a dirt road and a few tienda’s. We watched a Senora make corn tortillas. We prefer flour but since we watched her make them and she seemed so poor but clean, we bought some.  We also bought a watermelon. Then we went back to the boat to make a plan of where to sail to next, although we loved this place and plan to stay a few days. 

February 2, 2008

We went to shore today for email and lunch. We ordered cheeseburgers, they were so good.  The waitress gave Mike some Caladryl as in Matenchen Bay Mike got bitten by no see ums. It seemed like he had thousands of bites. He counted them on his one leg and had over a hundred. Next time he won’t refuse to use bug repellent. He is miserable.  We went to the farmacia behind the restaurant and bought our own caladryl. The bottle was only half full and cost $6.50. I mentioned this up to the store clerk and she just shrugged her shoulders and said there were no other bottles for sell. It was irritating to say the least but Mike needed it.  We got email from Stu the crew Flying Cloud recommended, he sounds great.  Back at the boat, I decided to go swimming, but the Monitor was in the way, so I climbed into the dinghy, and jumped in, it was very difficult for me to get back in the dinghy and up the side ladder.

February 3, 2008

This morning we leave for Jaltemba, so we need to get our stern anchor up.  Mike had a good plan, he got in the dinghy and pulled himself along the anchor line out to the anchor. Then he pulled the anchor straight up and tied it to the outside bow of the dinghy. Then I pulled the line in with Mike and the anchor attached and tied the anchor chain to the cleat on the back of the boat.  Mike climbed aboard and pulled the anchor aboard and put it in its place and off we went to Jaltemba, about 8 miles away.  It is beautiful and sunny and we saw lots of whales on the way.  The anchorage here does not look protected but the engine alarm came on and we have to figure out why the engine overheated  Water is not coming in the through hole.  Mike decided to dive to see if he could try to unclog the through hole under the boat, he poked at it with a screw driver, got back on board and realize he did the wrong hole, so down again. Once back on board it still didn’t work so he came up with another idea using the dinghy pump from the inside of the boat to blow out the hole and it worked. Mike really is a genius!  This bay is quite the tourist attraction; there are tons of hotels and restaurants but quite a lot of surf!

February 4, 2008

What a sleepless night, so rolly. At 1AM the boat had turned sideways to the swells and was seriously rolling! Mike decided to try to drop the stern anchor in the dark!  Mike got in the dinghy from the side of the boat, the swells were so huge everything was so difficult and dangerous.  He motored out so far that I couldn’t see him since it was so dark!  He finally got back and we went back to bed.  2 hours later we are taking swells broadside again, the anchor had drug!  Morning could not come soon enough!  At first light we pulled up the stern anchor and headed to Punta Mita, 22 miles away.  As we were leaving the bay Mike noticed a poorly marked fishing net, marked by small clear bottles. Thank you Jesus we missed that. We had no wind so we motored all the way and anchored at 3:30. Again we saw lots of whales and from our boat we could see lots more. They are everywhere!  There are only a few boats in the anchorage, it seems a little rolly but lets hope tonight is better than last night. 

February 5, 2008

It is a cloudy morning and we both woke up with headaches, not sure why. We had coffee and then breakfast and then we sailed to La Cruz where there are lots of boats anchored out! Our guide book says this is a calm anchorage, not sure how it could be, it seems a little rough right now.  We can see lots of whale watching boats and catamaran party boats.  Once anchored, Charisma stopped by and invited us to their boat for vino, yea!  We had a nice time and plan to meet ashore in the morning to go to the PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP meeting, along with Ralph and Glenda on sailing vessel ‘Our Country Home’.

February 6, 2008

We meet ashore in the morning to catch the bus to go to Nuevo for the PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP meeting. Ralph and Glenda seem really nice. We also rode the bus with Sally and Jeff from Grace.  We had to take 2 buses and it seemed very confusing. Thank you Jesus that we met these great people to help us find our way.  The meeting had 2 speakers, Teapot Tony, diesel mechanic and a Watermaker representative, both informative.  We went to lunch and then bought a few groceries at a nearby store and then took the buses back to LaCruz.  We arranged with Nueva Marina to tie to pylon which was just a dinghy ride away from the PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP meetings and Paradise Village where Charisma was able to get a slip.  Our Country Home got a slip in PV, which were 2 buses to the meetings only less confusing. We move tomorrow.

February 7, 2008

We followed Charisma to the Nuevo entrance, in route we discovered our engine gage and tac were not working again. One more thing to fix.  There were 2 other boats and a catamaran tied to the pylons. The marina helped us tie up, good thing or it would have been difficult, our lines were not really long enough.  Alan and Kristen came over and invited us to go out for burgers with them, we said yes! We went to Estudio Café, and after lunch went for a walk and saw people swimming with dolphins, plus they brought seals up to the waiting area, where the seals kissed people. They were very close to me! We traded DVD’s with Charisma, nice to have something new to watch!

February 8, 2008

This morning we checked in with the marina and the Port Captain, and then walked to the Sun Market for ice. Today is the next PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP meeting, so we dinghy over to the Yacht Club that had a sort of dinghy dock. At the meeting they took everyone’s picture, I guess they plan to use them in the Latitude 38 magazine.  They also provided lunch and a woman from Tahiti gave a presentation. We got a PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP flag too, it was a fun meeting and of course we met other puddle jumpers. Charisma, Myah and Our Country Home were all there.

February 9, 2008

Today we were able to get an email connection, so we called Mom and Dad, and Videen’s.  We were invited to go to dinner tonight with Charisma and Mike and Diane on Sagitare.  So we dinghy over to Paradise Village to meet at Charisma’s boat and from there take a bus to downtown PV, then another bus to the malecon where to got off and walked to a Cuban bar and had mojito’s, happy hour, two for one. The problem was you each had to get two drinks at the same time. We ordered appetizers and chatted about our experiences and watched the sun go down. Very nice, then we took a cab over to Ernesto’s Good Grub and had their famous Tortilla Soup, so good. We got the recipe from them too. We had also ordered fish taco’s, something that we should not have ordered, we were so full, but fish taco’s would not be good later, so we ate them until our stomachs hurt! Then we took a bus to Wal-mart and bought some groceries. Then a bus back to Paradise Village to our dinghy where we then motored back to our boat, about a mile away. Good thing we brought our flash light as it was so dark! What a night, I am so tired.

February 10, 2008

We got email again today. Sent lots of emails and also Stu had emailed us back. We planned to do a phone interview via Skype but we lost our connection, I guess the owner realized cruisers were using his connection and blocked us.  Mike tied double lines on the pylon today as the wind has picked up. We watched a movie and cleaned the boat, we were getting mildew again!

February 11, 2008

Today we went ashore and were able to take showers, so nice to be able to have a normal shower.  We went to Estudio Café and shared a hamburger.  We also took our propane bottle over to Annie at Sunseeker to have her take it to town to get filled, it’s very expensive at 120 pesos.  We went to shore again with Charisma to have a special shrimp dinner at Estudio Café. We checked out their art gallery and topped the evening off with banana splits.

February 12, 2008

Mike fixed my wireless, there was an on/off switch that got changed so I couldn’t get email.  He also worked on the generator again and found a broken diode.  Teapot tony recommended AC Delco to get the part. Their ad said they spoke English but we couldn’t find anyone that did.  Glenda called and said we could get into PV marina, which would be a better place to try to provision from, so we plan to move.  We watched movies and went to bed.

February 13, 2008

Nice sunny morning, yesterday was overcast. Had coffee out in the cockpit. We heard from Stu, he planned on 5 weeks, we are planning on 2 months, however it is just an estimate.

February 14, 2008

Valentine’s Day! We moved to Marina Vallarta today. We couldn’t actually check out of Nuevo Marina until 9:30 Nuevo time. There was a difference of an hour between Nuevo and PV time and we found it confusing.  Kristin and Alan came with us as they wanted to go shopping.  That worked out great as the slip we were put in was extremely tight, our fenders touched the other boat, so it was great to have their help, Ralph and Glenda helped too.  Once docked we went to Zaragoza’s the best marine store in PV.  It really didn’t have much that we needed and it was super expensive.  We left there and went to the marina office to check in.  They were extremely upset that we were in that slip, we told them that was the slip we were assigned to. They gave us a new slip and said to move ASAP. It was actually a great slip with docks on both sides. Once we were docked we went to El Fargo’s and had nachos while we waited for the siesta to be over so we could officially check in.  Then Mark from Myah was coming to meet us for dinner.  He suggested we go to Barcelona for dinner. We took a cab and when we arrived little boys opened the cab doors for us just like we were in a limo, of course they wanted a tip. The restaurant was so nice, great view and we ordered tapas and shared. Mark selected a great bottle of wine.  We ordered too much food! After stuffing ourselves we walked down cobblestone roads touring the neighborhood. We saw the cathedral and walked over the river which was like a quaint little town.  Everything was very pretty in the tourist area. My feet hurt from walking on the cobblestone so we called it an evening and took a cab home. Very nice Valentine’s evening.

February 15, 2008

We signed up for PVairpath internet connection, after we signed up, it sucked and cost a mere $50/month.  I tried to call Bud and I could hear him but he couldn’t hear me, same with my mom.  I had some laundry done and it cost $7.20/load. The sad thing was it came back with spots that looked like soap or more stains.  I decided to just do it by hand, boy is that difficult. We bought Chile Relenos for lunch from an elderly Mexican woman, she sells them everyday for $3.  We invited Glenda and Ralph to dinner so I walked to the Commercial to buy a few things to make fajitas.  Also Ralph looked at our outboard engine, he had brought over some stuff that was guaranteed to get it apart, but no luck.  We had a great visit.

February 16, 2008

The Internet connection still sucks!  Tried to call Mom again and no luck at all.

February 17, 2008

We wanted to go to the local church but Mike had hired Carlos to clean the bottom of our boat and he was to come today, so we couldn’t leave. Carlos and his friend used a home made hookah system. One of them free dived and the other got the air. Mike fixed the compass light while they cleaned the bottom.

February 18, 2008

Mike walked to the store and bought a fuse and black paint, he wants to repaint the boat stripe to black vs. baby blue.  We also replaced the water maker filter, what a difference, so much better.  Glenda and I went to the provisioning meeting together, we had fun. Kristen and Alan came back to Marina Vallarta with us and we all went to the shrimp place for dinner. For $10 you got 32 shrimp plus your drink, soup and dessert. A great deal. 

February 19, 2008

The Internet won’t send email again, ugh!  We think the refer is out of refrigerant, the temperature is up to 33 degrees, not good. We are trying to reach Don May with Fresco to get some refrigerant or tell us what is wrong.

February 20, 2008

Don shows up to look at refer. It is not out of refrigerant, it is the water pump again. We didn’t think to look at the pump as we just replaced it. Mike worked on it and got it going. So Don’s visit cost us $35 for virtually nothing, other than he showed Mike how to check refrigerant level and told us where to get R12 in PV, downtown.  Now we defrosted the refer and we are working on eating everything in it before buying anything else so when we provision to go across the South Pacific, everything will be fresh.

February 21, 2008

We contacted Daphne regarding Mike’s prescription, as the pharmacist said it was not a drug they could get in Mexico. Daphne gave me the names he needed to search for. Very helpful! I gave the other drug names to pharmacist and this time he had no trouble but he had to order them and I had to give him a deposit and pick up tomorrow.

February 22, 2008 

We are so excited, Videen’s and Ajeto’s will be here tomorrow night!  Mark says instead of calling when they arrive we will text each other, it is only .20 per text. Great idea!  We just found out that Cam is in PV right now. We would love to get together with him but we are in the midst of so many problems!  Mike accidentally put water in the diesel tank.  Thank goodness there wasn’t much fuel, less than 5 gallons because we had to switch fuel tanks since the other one was near empty.  It set up most the night in the bilge trying to separate the fuel from the water.  I was able to pick up Mike’s Rx today and I was so frustrated, yesterday the price was $16.50/60 tabs and today it is $24.00/60 tabs. And of course the pharmacist doesn’t understand my concern on this pricing issue!  I went to a salon and had a pedicure and a haircut. The haircut was the worst, it is shorter on one side than the other! Just when we are going to see our friends, that is the last thing I wanted was a bad haircut! Oh well, what’s done is done, its already so short it really can’t be fixed. Ari from La Paloma tried to sell one of our dinghies for us as his neighbor’s dinghy was stolen. The guy came to look at it and it was too big for him, no problem, we weren’t really trying to sell it.

February 23, 2008

We packed our bags today to meet our friends at Los Tulles where we will have our own room and we get to take a hot shower everyday! We are so excited! We found out that their flight will be an hour late, bummer! We took a taxi to Los Tulles and found Videen’s and Ajeto’s checking in at the lobby! It was so amazing to see them, we all started hugging immediately! We checked out our room, it was awesome, especially the deck! And Rita brought us Starbucks coffee, what a treat! Most coffee in Mexico stores is instant! Yuk! We went to dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. And then back at the room we got presents! Yea! It was so fun, I could not believe how much they brought us. There were almost 100 DVD’s, I guess our famil and friends love us! J  They brought us boat parts and books and presents from family and friends too! They had a whole suitcase just for us. Rita brought us our own supply of Starbucks! We had a wonderful time!

February 24, 2008

This morning was Starbucks out on our fabulous deck with our very special friends! Then it was deemed a pool day, my kind of life.  We took lots of fun pictures! All six of us went shopping for dinner and breakfast stuff. It is a little challenging with 6 people putting stuff in the cart.  We had dinner with Jack and Phyllis once they arrived, more friends.  We made chicken fajitas and they were so good. 

February 25, 2008

Another Starbucks morning with all our friends out on the deck in the sun! Too bad we had to wake Jack and Phyllis by going through their bedroom to get to the deck!  We planned to go out on our boat today but Jack was not feeling well, so they stayed and the rest of us went. We had to make sure our refer was still working and it was, thank you Jesus!  We went out into the bay for a couple of hours and had cheese and crackers. Nice afternoon.  Then we went back to condo, Jack was feeling better so we went to dinner at a place Phyllis scouted out earlier.

February 26, 2008

After breakfast Mike and I had a PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP meeting in Nuevo, so the others went to town. We had lunch with Charisma before heading off to the meeting.  It was regarding radios and above my head, and as it ended up Mike wasn’t too interested in the material covered. We just wanted to know what SSB station we could check in on since we did not have a ham radio license.  We went back to the condo and joined everyone at the pool.  Rita and I checked out the surf on the beach, it was rated “cautious” and the guard at the beach didn’t seem to want us out there.  Later we all took the bus and went downtown to Pipi’s for dinner, it was great.  And it was Jacks treat, what a nice surprise!  We had “doggie bags” and as we walked down the malecon some Mexican guys said they were hungry and wanted our doggie bags.  They were doing the sand sculptures, so we gave them our food. I guess they were hungry they started eating it immediately.

February 27, 2008

After breakfast we packed up again to go sailing for the day.  We had great wind but Yvonne and Phyllis claimed they were seasick. We still sailed out to Los Arcos, hoping they would get better. Danny, Rita, Phyllis and I all went swimming.  Mark threw crackers to the birds, right where we were swimming, then preceded to laugh his head off, I hate birds to be near me.  Jack sat in a chair and snored, I thought he might fall in. The water was so choppy, it was hard to enjoy, swimming or snorkeling, although I think Danny did.  Since the ladies were sick we headed back to the dock.  Rita seemed to enjoy sailing the most, her and I sat on the bow of the boat and it was a nice day, sunny and windy.  Jack and Mark went and got wine, Mike cooked the fish on the BBQ, Danny chopped salad stuff for me, and I made salad and pasta for dinner.  Mike and Mark hung the lights the Videen’s bought for our boat, they were so great! We love them.

February 28, 2008

Another pool day! As always we had a great time, although the sun wasn’t shinning much but it was still warm.  Afterwards we went to dinner at a place Danny scouted out near a dive shop, Italian restaurant called Espresso Italian. We walked all over trying to find it and eventually we did.  Danny treated us all to appetizers! It was really good!

March 1, 2008

Party Boat time!  We had a great time. We snorkeled but didn’t see any fish. We did see whales and a manta Rey from the party boat.  We motored around the chain of Marietta Islands, that was fun as we had sailed by them and were afraid to get to close due to submerged rocks.  After snorkeling we had lunch and then motored over to a white sandy beach where they took you ashore by panga. We played football on the beach and had a great time. Back on the boat they had music and a conga line. Very fun day.

March 2, 2008

Last day with our special friends. We had to pack up and leave Los Tules. They still had several hours until their flight so they left their luggage at the Flamingo hotel where Jack and Phyllis were staying a few days.  We sat around the pool at the Flamingo and made our own drinks. It was a sad day when they left!  Jack, Phyllis, Mike and I went to a buffet dinner after they left. We were too sad to do anything! After dinner we went out for ice cream that should cheer us up or at least cheer up Mike!

March 3, 2008

Jack was not feeling well, so they slept in and came over late morning. I think it was because they finally had a day where no one was walking through the bedroom to the deck J  I did my taxes and Jack and Phyllis mailed them in the states for us.  Then I made us lunch, tuna salads, not great, but okay.  I had started making meals to freeze for the PACFIC PUDDLE JUMP crossing. Later the four us decided to take a bus to Ernesto’s for dinner. We got lost and ended up at the Espresso Italian restaurant, we knew they spoke English, so we ask them how to get to Ernesto’s. We took a cab, but the cab driver didn’t speak English and he couldn’t read our map and we couldn’t see any street signs listed on our map. He did confer with another cabby and we finally got there. We had just stayed on the bus way too long.  We all ordered tortilla soup, it was so good.  A supposed musician came in and strummed a tune on his guitar and then his partner walked around the restaurant and almost insisted on a tip. The guy was not good and this was a very weird system. Jack gave the guy 50 cents American money which no one takes in Mexico.  We left and got ice cream again! It was a really fun time!

March 4, 2008

Ari came and took Kristen and I shopping at Wal-mart and Sam’s, since he had rented a car.  We could barely fit all the food we bought in his car.  Afterwards I made Fajita’s for dinner for Ari, Jack and Phyllis. We had a really nice time.  Carlos and his mechanic came and picked up our outboard to see if they could fix it.  They said it would cost $70.

March 5, 2008

Jack and Phyllis had to leave today, another sad day. They brought donuts and I made coffee, nice morning.  For lunch we went to the taco place and then Jack and Phyllis had to get their bags together to go.  They had met Alan and Kristen on Charisma and they shared a cab with them to the airport, since they were on the same flight.  Carlos came back and said the outboard cost would be $140.

March 6, 2008

We got our outboard back today and the cost went to $240, he didn’t get our approval for this increase. It may have been a good deal but to not ask us is not right. Then Carlos wanted a tip for bringing us the mechanic. Mike explained this ever increasing costs and how it was not acceptable and then gave him $5. Carlos was not happy!  Oh well, neither were we. And the engine doesn’t run very good at all. I walked to Commerical and bought too much to carry back, it was so heavy! Later Mike and I took a bus to the Port Captain, but he was on siesta, so we walked to Soriano’s where we found alfredo sauce and a few other things I wanted.  Then back to Port Capitan. He wasn’t happy we failed to check in earlier.  Then we walked back to the boat. After dinner it was time for bed.

March 7, 2008

6 more days and Stu, our crew, should arrive.  We are still trying to get everything ready, Mike changed the oil and worked on the alternator on the ginset.  The ginset doesn’t seem to be charging our batteries.  We asked Randy on the boat next door to us, he lives on his boat in Mexico. He recommended that same shop that is listed in the guide. He had work done there and it was good. He gave us a ride there and helped us communicate too. He had dinner plans in town, so he said he didn’t mind. Thank you Jesus! The mechanic said, through an interpreter, that it was the regulator not the alternator. We made an appointment for him to come look at our boat tomorrow morning.  Mike and I took a bus back to the marina and then met up with Charisma to have dinner at the shrimp place.

March 8, 2008

Kristen and I took a bus to Costco, or maybe half way there. We ended up walking quite a ways partly because we got a little lost. Anyway, good experience, great store. We took a cab back to marina, he said $8 and then once he realized there were 2 drop off places he charged $10, we barely had enough money to pay him.  Diane from Sagitare was visiting Kristen and they both helped carry groceries to our boat, thank you Jesus. They also had 2 carts, we had to carry about 3 blocks to our actual boat.  Cruising is hard work! While I was shopping the mechanic came and reinstalled the alternator and it worked fine. And he charged us $50 again for virtually no help.  Mike also cleaned fuel filters today.  After we put all the groceries away we met Charisma and Our Country Home at the top of the lighthouse to watch the sunset.  I wish we would have known about this when Crenshaw’s were here. The sunset was so beautiful from the lighthouse! Nice evening.

March 9, 2008

Only 4 days until Stu arrives and Mike’s birthday.  More laundry, more groceries and we walked to McDonald’s and had Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a coke, we hadn’t had anything like this in so long. This is the first McDonald’s we have seen in so long, there are not many in Mexico. Good News from Tony our accountant, we get a refund! Yippee!  We need it, everything is so expensive.  Charisma and Our Country Home are coming over for appetizers and sangria tonight.

March 10, 2008

Mike and I took a bus downtown to find exhaust hose, Zaragoza’s did not have the right size. We were so proud we found the place, plus a place that sells R12, we bought some for Charisma too.  We walked to “Once Upon a Bean” and did email and had ice cream.

March 11, 2008

Today Mike went up the mast, he needed to install new Windex wind vane that goes on the top of the mast and just check out the equipment on his way up. It was so hot. He also hired a guy to add stainless to the quarter stern for safety and to hang solar panels on. Alan came over and brought us copies of 38 degrees magazine that he had brought back with him from his trip home to California. We all had our pictures in the magazine in conjunction with the Puddle Jump across the South Pacific. How fun, except they called Mike, John.  Alan also said he would like to leave a day earlier with 2 other boats. Now we really need to step it up.

March 12, 2008

This morning, Randy’s sun Mitchell got up the nerve to go up our mast, he wanted to so bad but was a little apprehensive.  I think he really enjoyed it and now his Dad will have to help him go up their mast.  Mike’s Birthday and Stu arrives! We make a sign that reads Stu/Airwego so he can spot us. We did have a photo of him but with a hat and we were not sure we would recognize him, other than he is blond and 6’4” tall.  He found us immediately and we introduced ourselves, took a picture and caught a bus, to go about ¾ miles to the marina.  After depositing the luggage we met Charisma for dinner at the Shrimp restaurant to celebrate Mike’s birthday and Stu’s arrival.  Kristen was very kind and made Mike a birthday cake, it was so good. So we walked to their boat for dessert! We had a nice time and also planned the agenda for tomorrow which was checking out of Mexico.  Carlos’ stainless guy has not shown!

March 13, 2008

Today Mike, Stu and Alan headed for the Immigration and the Port Captain to check us out of Mexico, a very slow process.  Kristen, Kevin and I all headed to town for last minute groceries, mostly produce.  We stopped and had latte’s, stopped at the fabric store and bought more sewing machine needles and then we walked over the river and through a tourist area, kind of park like to Rizzo’s. Rizzo’s supposedly stocked some American foods, like Dream Whip for $9 a box, no thank you. I bought produce there but it was really too ripe.  We took a taxi back, some young boys helped us load our stuff into the cab. Of course they always want a tip.  The stainless guys finally showed up, late afternoon and they did a great job! Mike and Stu went to Home Depot and bought propane for us and Charisma, it was $6 per bottle.  Kristen and I had looked every where for it and couldn’t find it.  We just wanted a little extra for the BBQ.  Charisma took our propane tank and had it filled.

March 14, 2008

We leave the dock today to go to La Cruz to anchor for the night before we head across the blue plains.  We emailed everyone and tried to call Mom on Skype but it would not work today, not surprised.  We checked out of the Marina and the cost for one month was $1,000 US, who said Mexico was inexpensive? That is almost the cost for 2 months in Washington.  We bought Chicken from the Chile Relleno lady before we left, it used up the last of our Mexican currency and helped her too. And it was very good.  We had a beer with Randy just before leaving, he was so helpful, and we really appreciated him.  His son Mitchell climbed up the mast, he had wanted to all week, so I was glad he got the chance.  We leave the marina and stop at the fuel dock on our way out of the bay only to find out that they are out of fuel. There is no other fuel in Banderas Bay and we can’t leave with out fuel. They tell us to come back in the morning. I was a little skeptical that they would have fuel first thing in the morning.  Since we had checked out of the marina we sailed over to La Cruz to meet Charisma and Blue Plains Drifter.