Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday February 11,2011
Still in La Cruz. Henry (my brother) arrived yesterday. He brought us all kinds of goodies, including water pumps, coffee, wine, GreenBay packer shirts, fabric and tent poles for my shade project, and various and sundry other boat parts. Is great to have him here. We are planning a trip in to old town Puerto Vallarta today, then tomorrow we will leave the marina here at La Cruz and head out into the bay for some surfing and snorkeling. The weather has been really nice - perfect actually -warm days, cool nights. If I could only kick this cold...... Its the first full blown cold I have had in two years, so I guess I shouldn't complain, but I really hate being sick. So, it is vacation mode for a week with Henry, then back to full tilt project and provisioning mode. More soon Carol
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Mazatlan to La Cruz
Finally left Mazatlan on January 29. The boat is fixed or at least has not overheated once since we left, and we have tried....We left the marina around 1400 to give the engine a bit of a run before we headed south to Isla Isabella. Its about 80 miles , so we left planning to arrive in the early morning. Last year we were uable to stop there becuase of unfavorable conditions so we were really hoping to spend time there this year. The over night trip was pretty uneventful. Dennis and Josh saw some phosphoressing dolphins, and I did my usual radar check of Venus (It comes up looking like a ship's light on the horizon, and always gives me a start.). We Buddied with Moondance who got the better dolphin show that night. We arrived to a settled anchorage, Yippee!!! Blue footed Boobies here we come!! Isla Isabella is basically an uninhabited island that is used as a base for fisherman and a group of scientists from the University in Mexico City who study the birds. It was a beautiful day for a hike and the birds were oh so cooperative. We saw cormorants with their red chests puffed out and fluffy white nestlings and lots of blue footed boobies. The boobies were in various stages of nesting, so we saw them on their nests with eggs, with brand new babies and older babies. It was so cool!!! The Lady from the university said these boobies have been being studied for 30 years. After our hike around the Island, we retired to our own private beach for a post hike bottle of wine and relaxation. After returning to the boat it was even warm enough for a quick swim to clean up (very quick I might add).
The next morning we left for Matachen Bay/San Blas again buddying with Moondance. We got caught several times in fishing lines, but fortunately never wrapped the prop or lost any tackle. Didn't catch any fish either. So far we have been skunked in that arena. We made it to Matachen for sunset - which was beautiful.
Don't know what the ground hog saw on the 1st, but we had another beautiful day. We did some school and finished off installing Josh's new bow seat in the morning. That afternoon we joined Doug and Carla from Moondance for an excursion into San Blas. On the spur of the moment Dennis stuck his thumb out as we were waiting for the bus and that is how we ended up in the back of a small pickup going into San Blas. What fun, and something you would never do in the States. The nice senors would take no pesos either. San Blas is a pretty little town with a nice central square and just about everything you could need, ferreteria (hardware store), tortilleria, esotetica (barber), market and tiendas. We enjoyed looking around and having lunch at McDonalds - no burgers to be found!!!!! Josh scored a new hammock on the way out of town. The bus ride back was far more conventional, but we didn't have to worry about losing anyone out the back either!!! When we got back to the beach we saw that s/v Scout had arrived. Josh could hardly wait to go see them, so after a bit of negotiation he was off to their boat to hang with the kids, and invite Lisa and Charlie to come in to the beach with the adults.
We left Matachen Bay the next morning managing to avoid snagging any lines or catching any fish for that matter. Our destination was Punta Mita. We were hoping for some good surf. A full day and another beautiful sunset later we were on the hook at Punta Mita. Sadly the next day did not dawn bright and sunny. We were experiencing the effects of the big high pressure system freezing the southern US and causing gales in the northern Sea of Cortez. Josh and Dennis fianlly decided to try it out, and did catch a few good waves. Two pretty tired and cold guys came back to the boat. We then decided to go on and head in to La Cruz (about 10 miles). We had great wind and actually sailed faster than we could motor. We dropped the hook in the La Cruz anchorage and here we are......
Being in La Cruz is sort of like coming home since we have spent so much time here. Many things are the same, and just as many have changed. Still it is comfortable. The anchorage is a little bouncy, and pretty full. The marina is busy too. We will eventually spend some time here at the dock, but for now we are out on the hook. Although we may move around the bay some, our next departure will be for the Pacific. Is kind of mind blowing. Also caused Dennis to break out "the list". I thought we had whittled that list down some in Mazatlan, but it sure doesn't seem like it to look at it!! Oh well got to have something to keep us busy, otherwise we would OD on social life!! We attended the Pacific Puddle Jump Party in Nuevo Vallarta on Friday, so I guess it is official..... We have the birgee (flag) and were interviewed for Lattitude 38 (the puddle jump sponsor) all that is left to do is finish the list, provision and leave. Wow again having a hard time getting my mind around it, it feels like a dream. Sure hope nobody wakes me up. In the meantime we have been catching up with old friends, meeting some new friends and are preparing for my brother Henry to visit. So yeah, we may not have jobs,but we are really busy.
Now you know where we are and what we have been doing. The one downside of La Cruz is poor internet coverage, so I will post this, then try to find a good place to upload pictures. Still waiting for warm tropical weather........Carol
The next morning we left for Matachen Bay/San Blas again buddying with Moondance. We got caught several times in fishing lines, but fortunately never wrapped the prop or lost any tackle. Didn't catch any fish either. So far we have been skunked in that arena. We made it to Matachen for sunset - which was beautiful.
Don't know what the ground hog saw on the 1st, but we had another beautiful day. We did some school and finished off installing Josh's new bow seat in the morning. That afternoon we joined Doug and Carla from Moondance for an excursion into San Blas. On the spur of the moment Dennis stuck his thumb out as we were waiting for the bus and that is how we ended up in the back of a small pickup going into San Blas. What fun, and something you would never do in the States. The nice senors would take no pesos either. San Blas is a pretty little town with a nice central square and just about everything you could need, ferreteria (hardware store), tortilleria, esotetica (barber), market and tiendas. We enjoyed looking around and having lunch at McDonalds - no burgers to be found!!!!! Josh scored a new hammock on the way out of town. The bus ride back was far more conventional, but we didn't have to worry about losing anyone out the back either!!! When we got back to the beach we saw that s/v Scout had arrived. Josh could hardly wait to go see them, so after a bit of negotiation he was off to their boat to hang with the kids, and invite Lisa and Charlie to come in to the beach with the adults.
We left Matachen Bay the next morning managing to avoid snagging any lines or catching any fish for that matter. Our destination was Punta Mita. We were hoping for some good surf. A full day and another beautiful sunset later we were on the hook at Punta Mita. Sadly the next day did not dawn bright and sunny. We were experiencing the effects of the big high pressure system freezing the southern US and causing gales in the northern Sea of Cortez. Josh and Dennis fianlly decided to try it out, and did catch a few good waves. Two pretty tired and cold guys came back to the boat. We then decided to go on and head in to La Cruz (about 10 miles). We had great wind and actually sailed faster than we could motor. We dropped the hook in the La Cruz anchorage and here we are......
Being in La Cruz is sort of like coming home since we have spent so much time here. Many things are the same, and just as many have changed. Still it is comfortable. The anchorage is a little bouncy, and pretty full. The marina is busy too. We will eventually spend some time here at the dock, but for now we are out on the hook. Although we may move around the bay some, our next departure will be for the Pacific. Is kind of mind blowing. Also caused Dennis to break out "the list". I thought we had whittled that list down some in Mazatlan, but it sure doesn't seem like it to look at it!! Oh well got to have something to keep us busy, otherwise we would OD on social life!! We attended the Pacific Puddle Jump Party in Nuevo Vallarta on Friday, so I guess it is official..... We have the birgee (flag) and were interviewed for Lattitude 38 (the puddle jump sponsor) all that is left to do is finish the list, provision and leave. Wow again having a hard time getting my mind around it, it feels like a dream. Sure hope nobody wakes me up. In the meantime we have been catching up with old friends, meeting some new friends and are preparing for my brother Henry to visit. So yeah, we may not have jobs,but we are really busy.
Now you know where we are and what we have been doing. The one downside of La Cruz is poor internet coverage, so I will post this, then try to find a good place to upload pictures. Still waiting for warm tropical weather........Carol
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