April Fools'

Well, here we are in La Cruz - the trip around Cabo Corrientes was definitely not flat.  It was probably the most exhuasting watch I have had in recent memory.  It was windy (15-20+knots) and bouncy and of course we were heading right into it.  To add to it, there were 6 targets on the radar all night long.  At about midnight as I came on watch s/vGatoGo passed us by, then Persistence and several others.  Throw some big ships in the mix and it felt like the sailing version of the 580 on a holiday weekend!  We made it in to La Cruz by mid afternoon, the sailing was fine as soon as we rounded the corner.  Seems like just about everybody we have ever met sailing was here or has come since. It has been interesting watching the boats we know complete their preparations for the puddle jump and take off.  I have decided that I am glad that we are not doing the jump this year, but am definitely taking notes!! The last of the puddle jumping kid boats that Josh hangs with (s/v Totem and Capaz) are leaving tonight.  The kids are cramming as much video game time in as they can, we'll probably have to pry the controllers out of their little hands....Tomorrow will be a quiet day for Josh, but today our boat looks like the "Evergreen home for video game addicted boys".  I am way outnumbered

WHY WE ARE STILL IN LA CRUZ

We will be here well into next week due to a dead fresh water pump for the engine.  It was not rebuildable and not one to be found here, so we are flying a new one from San Diego via Tiajuana on Monday. Thankfully we discovered this issue here and not under weigh - that would have been no fun.  For an engine that is 27 years old with as many hours as it has, it really has not had too many issues, and we have bascially had no problems since La Paz. And as Dave from s/v ExitStrategy reminded me today - Cruising is all about doing boat maintenance in exotic places.  La Cruz is also very comfortable -especially when you are in the Marina, which we are.  The town and people are friendly, the kids can run around safely, the food is good, there are big stores close by to provision from and it is great fun to socialize.  So what's not to like?  The only downside is that when we finally do leave we will have to go to the Sea of Cortez more directly than we had planned - not necessarily a bad thing, just another lesson in flexibility.

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT MEXICAN TOURIST VISAS

When we arrived in Cabo San Lucas last November, we were issued Visas good for 180 days.  Back then, it seemed like an awfully long time, and I didn't do the math.  As it turns out, our Visas expire on May 7.  Our haul out date in San Carlos is May 15th. HHMMMM!  Well, we had heard that you could get a 30 day extension, and the internet talked about extensions. So Kevin (s/v Albatross) and I decided that since we were here, we would go to the airport in Puerto Vallarta and see about getting extensions for our families.  Quite the adventure it turned out to be and in the end, no extension for the visas.  Four hours, 3 immigration offices, 1 port captain, 1 marina and lots of bus time were all we had to show for our efforts.  I polled some of the more experienced cruisers the next day and found that yes, sometimes if you're livning right, the moon and stars are lined up and the person in the office is in the right frame of mind, you might get an extension.  Try Mazatlan..... And the consensus is that as long as you are not flying out, no one looks at the tourist visa anyway.  The general suggestion was to not worry about it, and if we get caught play dumb and pay the fine.  More on that later.....