Yelapa Video

Yelapa, Whales and Christmas

Hola,
We decided to take a tour of Banderas Bay, stopping in at Yelapa, the Tres Marietas, and on back to La Cruz from Puerto Vallarta.  We heard great things about Yelapa, so we were looking forward to seeing it.  It's a small inlet on the south side of Banderas Bay, apparently discovered by hippies many moons ago.  Now, it's still a quaint village, no roads go there so only boats take tourists to visit.  It is quite beautiful, yet the Mexicans who live there are dependent on the tourist dollars and it is aimed in that direction.  As in many towns here, there are folks selling jewelry, hats, food, horseback rides, fishing trips, and much more.  We enjoyed our time here, yet the 100 peso cost for a one way 50 yd. trip to our boat was a bit unsettling.  So, after one night, we decided to go visit the Tres Marietas, a national reserve of several small islands off of Punta Mita. 
  There is no access to these islands, you can snorkel, dive, kayak and sight see, but no landing.  They remind me of Santa Barbara island off California.  We motored around them, seeing many whales, some breaching and others with their tails so high out of the water it seemed odd.  Very fun to see though. 
   We ended up back in La Cruz marina, with many new arrivals.  It's like old home week, many folks from Long Beach, LA, and Seal Beach.  Today we took a bus to Sayulita, a surf beach on the ocean side nearby.  It was another fun excursion, yet filled with tourists, hippies, and locals selling their wares to anyone and everyone.  I am a bit tired of trying to eat and saying no gracias every 2 minutes.  Blankets, tee shirts, bracelets, silver jewelry, hats, fortune tellers, surf lessons, fishing tours, stuffed animals, dresses, scarves... ok you get the picture.  I feel rude, yet you can't look at them or they'll come over to you.  The economy is not great here, but they're doing ok for the most part.  Lots of new cars, laundrys, shopping malls, and many Yanks to help out with donations for the needy.


For 40 pesos even you can have a new friend!




Lovely sunset... getting redundant




Quite different from La Cruz, only a two hour sail away.

    Tonight, we saw a movie in our marina with other cruisers, "The Santa Clause", sure we've seen it many times before yet here it brought the Christmas spirit home a bit.  It was fun to see it in an outdoor amphitheatre with popcorn, snacks, wine and beer.  Not like the states there...  We all brought our boat cushions, fleeces and pesos for the popcorn.  Leif and I are not doing too much for Christmas this year, as this trip is our present to each other.  There are several events around the area to join in with, we'll see what we feel like doing.  Feliz Navidad

Cocodrilos, or Crocodiles

Finally, two missions accomplished in two days!  We chose to walk home instead of taking the bus, and when looking over a bridge which passed over the inlet to the marina, we saw our first cocodrilo, or crocodile.  He/she was only about 5' long, but definitely heard our shouts of joy at seeing him, as he quickly ran to the water and swam off.  Cool.

La Cruz to Puerto Vallarta, Whales!

Finally, on our way from the anchorage in La Cruz to Marina Vallarta we saw several pods of whales!  I noticed groups of boats gathered together and they didn't appear to be fishing boats, so out came the bino's.  Sure enough, there were huge humps appearing and disappearing near them.  I totally forgot to yell "thar she blows", as I had been so adamant that I would when I saw them.  We slowly circled around behind the boats and stayed a long distance from the pod, while trying to take pictures, tough on a rolling vessel with a high power lens.  I had just previously attended a seminar given by the local institute on how to behave when near whales in a boat, so we knew to stay at least 80 meters off, and behind them.  They are trying to educate the local tourist industry which gives whale watching tours, and they have rules which only allow one boat at a time to be 30 meters from the pod, all others must be at least 60.  Next year the distances increase.  These are humpback whales, although apparently blues do enter the bay as well, not as frequently.  They are keeping a basic count of them over the years and the numbers are increasing slowly. 
   We are in Puerto Vallarta, due to getting some chores accomplished.  Yesterday we went to Walmart for some supplies, and today we have a long list of required check-ins and check outs, with the marina first, then the port captain.  Of course the port captain isn't near our port, it's a bus ride away near the ship terminal.  Then on to find a shipping company for some mail to the states. 
   We've been riding the local buses, which are owned by the individual drivers who decorate them according to their taste.  Most are rather religious, as the Catholics are the dominant group here.  It feels like being in a shrine when riding on them.  But very blessed!  Which is necessary as they drive sooo fast!  The locals are busy getting ready for Christmas, and shopping is much like at home, perhaps a bit less chaotic.  There is a definite gap between the haves and have nots here.  We have been donating to some of the charities, but it is a constant stream of requests. Then, on our gangway there are several LARGE yachts which take out the rico Mexicanos for day rides and whale watching.  They have boat crews to clean, cook, and do maintenance, much like Newport Beach.  I feel more like the locals as I scrub the Honcho, do the cooking, and help sail.  Well, off to town once again, hopefully the last for awhile. 

   We are spending this week in and around the bay at several different places, Yalapa, Los Arcos, the Tres Marietas, then back to La Cruz for Christmas.   

La Cruz, still

We tried to get away, really we did.  However, we are still anchored off La Cruz, and enjoying ourselves by visiting friends and getting DVD's downloaded.  We were planning on sailing to Yelapa, across the bay, then on to Ipala and then Tenecatita.  This is still our eventual plan, but things happen and plans change.  We found a gentleman who downloads movies onto hard drives so we thought, great, we could use some more movies.  This sounded easy, and it was, just time consuming, as we drove with him to his beautiful home in Bucerias, just down the road.  He has a couple of acres of all sorts of fruit trees, pineapple plants and other tropical vegetation.  Ever heard of a "yaca"?  Well he has two trees.  Not yucca.  I thought of Mary B. and her garden when I saw his.
  Then, my kindle which has been a wonderful asset, decided to die.  So, after several calls to service dept., it will get replaced and hopefully mailed somewhere down here.  The mail here isn't overly reliable, so we'll see.  Then our friends in Panama invited us for New Year's, and that sounds fun, a vacation from our vacation!  We're hoping to join them, now need to figure out details on that one.  Gosh retirement is busy.
   The Honcho has been reliable, we cleaned the waterline yesterday, trying to keep us looking ship shape.  We also met some folks on a nearby boat who know our former dock mates on the Eyoni.  It's so fun to strike up a conversation and find out where, when, what, about people.  Everyone has a story worth listening to, and most are amazing.  It's incredible to me how many people are down her doing this cruising thing and have either retired young or just left. 
  

Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta

Ok, so, there are supposed to be crocodiles here.  There are these signs on the gangways and posted on the islands across from our boat like the yellow warning signs at home warning you to slow down it's a school zone, except there's a crocodile on it.  I haven't seen hide nor hair of one, so we took a cruise today on our 9' rubber dinghy to find them.  Smart.  We motored for 3 hours and didn't see a sign of one, looking dutifully under all of the mangroves along the side of the river.  NEVER saw a one.  Thank heavens, as it turns out.  We did see a cool green iguana about 3' long swim across in front of us, thought it was a croc.  Apparently, the crocs that are here? are about 12' long full grown, and leap out at you.  And, they have eaten people within the last few years so frequently that it doesn't make the news.  So, I look carefully as I walk to the showers and down the gangways. 
  We are headed towards Tenecatita hopefully tomorrow, weather permitting.  If it looks rough, we will stay a night or two at La Cruz anchored out until it looks good to sail around Cabo Corrientes, the local point Conception; it's where the weather changes here in Mexico.
  We have met some great people here in Nuevo Vallarta, who own a Davidson 44 named Io,  formerly Shockwave.  Our friends Dave and Jan own Pendragon II, also a Davidson 44.  Fun to see the changes on each boat.  The world is a small place.  We had a delicious dinner on Io, and celebrated Bobbie's birthday, then went home to decide on tomorrow's voyage.  I hear there are more crocs down in Ixtapa, gotta go see if it's real.

Leaving La Cruz

We decided to finally leave La Cruz, as I have to find a lab for some tests, and a pharmacy.  This could have been accomplished nearby, but we were growing roots and truly enjoying La Cruz way too much.  It's a place that at first sight doesn't seem like much, there's the marina, and a small village, or town, and school.  Not much really.  Yet, we met so many people, like our dockside neighbors, Jane and Jerry, originally from Sacramento, now living on their boat in La Cruz for 6 months and then in a motor home for the rest of the time.  Great people, easy going and full of friendly and helpful advice on where to get fresh tortillas, the free yoga class each day and great food at...  Then there's the other yatistas, who are an assorted bunch, from those who live here and have sailboats for fun; or those who are cruising like us and are headed south this year as it's unusually cold here.  Everyone is mentioning the weather and how it's chilly, have to wear fleece at night, sometimes.
  One cool thing we finally did was to blow up the dinghy and motor around the point to where we noticed a private beach.  We spent some time snorkeling finally, even though the water wasn't overly clear, it was great to be in the water with the fish and sea turtles.  I saw some turtles on the way, but none while snorkeling.  We did see an iguana there, rather fun.  It was our first time using the dinghy wheels, and landing in surf, small surf, but surf none the less.
 We ate our final lunch at AnaBanana's a palapa that used to be bay front before the marina was built.  They now have a 10' X 10' tarp with a picture of what it used to look like stuck in the sand looking out towards the marina, rather sad, yet funny.  While eating, we perused the multitudes of yacht names and people who had signed their wall, and surprise surprise, there was MATADOR, and Craig and Liz, 2006, big as life written right in front of us.  We had no camera, and no pen to add our names, but these folks were the inspiration for our trip, and are wonderful friends.  On our return trip, we hope to add our names somewhere on the wall, it's pretty crowded though.
    After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Jane and Jerry, backed out of our slip and motored to Paradise Village Marina, in Nuevo Vallarta, about 6 miles away.  Everyone said we'd hate it there, that La Cruz was "the" place to be.  Well, in many ways they are correct.  First, Paradise is at the end of a river and needs to be dredged constantly, and the water is dirt brown with lots of trash floating by.  Lovely.  As we entered, we had 2'.5" of water under us, rather unsettling, but we are by far not the biggest boat, so obviously they get in and out ok.  We get to use the amenities of the hotel, swimming pools, spa, yacht club, so this is one advantage.  It's our first night, and it looks like land of the lost, with trees growing down to the waters edge, and weird screeching noises.  On the other hand, there are huge mansions and mega yachts here, sort of like Balboa without the crowd.  All they need are the Duffy's floating by constantly and it would be the same.  There are little islands off our dock, tomorrow we'll get into the dinghy and check out the waterfront and the river.  I hope to see some different wildlife, not just hear it?  More later on "Paradise". 
    

La Cruz

We've been here in La Cruz now for a few days, first anchored out in non-rolly conditions, then we found out that the marina was a really good deal and moved to a slip.  Big difference from Cabo, $125. for one night there vs. $25. here, and actually better accommodations here.  The marina was built in 2007, so very new, and a ship yard, yacht club, laundry, fish market are all nearby.  It's officially called Marina Riviera Nayarit.  I love being anchored, the freedom of no neighbors is nice, yet everything is a dinghy ride away. 
   We have joined the morning net on the VHF and found a group here who are sponsoring a charity race series, and we couldn't resist.  It had three legs, one to our marina from where ever in the bay you were; then from La Cruz to Punta Mita, spend the night, then back to Nuevo Vallarta today.  We did the La Cruz leg, and of course... we did very well.  We were the smallest boat of 19 boats and came in 4th to finish.  The boats beating us were quite a bit longer, (42'-53') which means faster(we're 35').  And, we were two handing vs full crews of folks.  Not competitive at all :)  The charity is for the local schools, the American school here is one of the sponsors, they have a sailing team and help support the locals. 
  We went to dinner at Philo's, a local tradition here, it had live music and pizza just like home.  Kind of a treat for me, I'm missing burgers, pizza and yogurt.  The food has been great though, last night we had fajitas which were to die for, and two days ago I ordered what I thought was a burger, and it turned out to be a chicken sandwich on a bun, very delicious.  Of course the ambiance was part of it, we were sitting near the marina in the shade of a palm tree sipping diet cokes, or coke light as it's called here.  I thought of Susie at Philo's, they played some Stones music which was very well done.  There is one older guy who plays the washboard, complete with cow bells, cymbals and the metal fingered gloves.  He was the best part for me.
   I think we are going to leave here for the marina at Nuevo Vallarta on Sunday, and see a bit of the main town.  We can take a bus into Puerto Vallarta for 5 pesos or something.
   The town here is traditional cobbled stone streets, or dirt, with small tiendas or stores lining them.  These are mixed in with living accommodations, so you have to be careful not to walk into someones house.  The local market is on Sunday, which we missed last week, but it also supports the local schools and disadvantaged.   
   There are some English Labradors here, just like Penny's, she'd be in heaven.  Someone obviously brought a pair down and they've been multiplying...  Last night there was a group on our panga who had a Portuguese Water dog, and it lived on a J 160 sailboat.  It wasn't too thrilled about the leap from the bouncing panga to the bouncing boat, so one gentleman grabbed it and threw it aboard.  I'm so glad for Shelly and that our dogs have a safe and happy home!  Woody would want air conditioning.   
             

Puerto Vallarta/ Punta Mita

We left Cabo San Lucas mid-day, with good wind and amongst the many pangas, two cruise ships and jet skis.  The two America's Cup boats were out with their groups of tourists for a day of "racing", it was fun to sail by them as they raised their sails.  Fortunately they went one way and we the other, or we'd see how sluggish we truly are.  We were at sea for two and a half days with mostly light winds, they picked up on the last night as we approached Punta Mita and the Tres Mariettas.  Entering Banderas Bay at night was not recommended, but we had a gibbous moon which gave decent light by which to navigate.  There are several rocks and spires which are awash at high tide, and the GPS charts are notoriously incorrect for most of Mexico.  For example, according to ours, we are anchored about 100yds. inland.  Knowing this makes it a bit challenging, and for this reason arriving at unknown harbors at night is not recommended. 
   The trip across the Sea of Cortez was different than the outside of Baja, the seas were jumbled with swells coming off of the Pacific mixing with those of the Sea of  Cortez.  This creates a lovely cross swell which is not very comfy.  It only lasted about a day and a half, and then it smoothed out.  We tried to fish, but the only fish we took in was a small flying fish which beached itself on our foredeck.  Poor thing.  The sailing was slow, but we did sail mostly during the day, and motored at night, as the wind dies a bit, and since visibility isn't great, it's an option to let the whales know we're here and avoid us.  Speaking of whales, haven't seen any more, just the one several days ago.  Leif did see a green sea turtle yesterday. 
   We are anchored off Punta Mita, a resort, but a quiet one.  Today we are going to hang out and relax before going into port tomorrow to check-in at Marina Vallarta.  The water here is not as clear as I'd hoped, and it's a little cooler than Cabo, 71 degrees here versus 78 there.  I'm hoping for clearer water in the next few weeks as we leave the more populated areas and head farther south. 

   Leif and I are staying healthy, notice the bottled water!

Cabo Wabo or Finisterra?

We have been in Cabo for three days now, and it's been quite different than I expected.  I was in La Paz in 1964, ok, I'm old, but it was a typical Mexican town, dirt streets and all.  This is far from that.  Our boat is docked near the high end district, with a Rolex store, Hagen Daz, etc.  Tonight we found some more reasonable restaraunts, Solomon's Landing, and a lovely bar atop a hill overlooking the pacific, Finisterra.  The hike up was worth it, we watched one cruise ship leave and another arrive.  It was a beautiful evening, full moon, and soft music all around, not the throbbing beat that has been our bed-time music each night so far. 
  Today, Leif replaced the impeller, which makes the water cool the engine, and I did laundry.  Much more normal events.  A boat down the dock from us caught a stripped marlin today, and a black marlin yesterday, fortunately they do release most of these fish, yet not all.  The black marlin was draped across the stern of his boat, quite a magnificent fish. We are preparing for our trip to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow, it's supposed to be a 3 day sail, so we hit Walmart today, yup they have those here too.  Great store, lots of fresh fruits and just about anything you need.  I didn't see fruit cups though.  I did get some flan, which is yummy.  Oh yes, Leif talked the waiter at the Hotel Finisterra into selling us a couple of their wine glasses, which are the blue rimmed hand made variety, a nice memento.  Hasta luego,  Lisa

On to Cabo

We left Bahia Santa Maria in much the same way as we arrive, shrouded in fog.  I think it was 6 a.m. on a friday, time tends to get lost.  It is a very pretty bay, just before Magdalena Bay, where there are a few houses, like 3, and some fish camps on the beach.  We decided not to go ashore, as it got very windy (17Kts.) in the afternoon, and we were planning on leaving in the a.m.  The sail down had been uneventful, no ships, fish or whales.  We saw our first Tropic bird, and a Frigate bird, a prehistoric looking thing.  After leaving Santa Maria, the cruise ships started showing up on their trek back to the states.  On my last watch at 12:30 a.m. one of em was aimed straight at us for awhile before finally turning, very unsettling.  They move so fast, one minute there's no one out there, the next there's a ship bearing down on you.  Kinda creepy. We do 3 hour watches every night when sailing, starts around 3 in the afternoon, and when off watch, we go to sleep, or try to.
   As we neared Cabo San Lucas, Leif caught his first major fish, a 5.5lb. skipjack(caught on Liz and Craig's pink trolling lure).  It never fails, I set the line out, go off watch to bed, and wham, it gets hit!  He was so proud, yet sad, wanted to name it.  However I mentioned that if he names it, it may be tough to eat it.  I filleted,(using the new Honcho fillet knife from Deb and Steve) bagged and refrigerated it for later.

   We arrived in Cabo around noon, with good wind, but motor on to beat all of the hundreds of fishing boats in to the gas dock.  It was incredible to see all of the humanity, jet skiis, parasailers, fishing boats, day cruisers, just like Newport.  What a zoo.  Leif did a great job getting the boat around all the traffic and into our slip for a three night stay.  Very nice slips, very expensive!  We hope to leave for Puerto Vallarta on Tues.  This will be a 3 night trip, so I'm resting up, doing laundry and a bit of shopping.  It's 9a.m. and the Mariachi's are already at it, last night the night clubs were loud with live bands until 4 or so.  Not at all like our previous stops, but I have never been to Cabo and wanted to experience it at least once.  I think once is enough, but we'll see. Getting fuel was easy, no boat traffic, and the store there sold everything, from wine to boat parts.  We are going into town maybe today for some supplies, like more fruit cups and coffee.  More later, but the trip is fun, exciting, and eye opening with the various locations and life styles. 

Leif's first skipjack! Caught off Isla Santa Margarita

Enrique's Restaurant in Turtle Bay

Bahia de Tortugas

We sailed two days and nights, arriving here around 3p.m., in time to drop anchor, cook our first steak dinner and get some uninterrupted sleep.  The overnight sails are beautiful, stars, meteoroids, light wind, but quite cold.  It's nicer here in Turtle Bay, friendly people, like Enrique the diesel seller who also owns the restaurant.  We ate a yummy dorado lunch and watched the fishermen come in and unload their pangas on the beach, filled with yellowfin tuna, some whole, some eaten by lobos, or sharks.  They used all of it.  We have a great anchorage, only about 6 boats here.  We plan on leaving tomorrow around noon for Bahia Santa Maria, which will be another two day and night sail.  The moon is getting fuller, so it'll be easier to see in some ways, and hopefully warmer as we get south.  It's been nice here weather-wise, probably high 70's with a cool breeze.  This little town is more like what I expected to see, dirt roads, small cramped houses, lots of Ford Explorers, and people who are affable.  Fun place.  Really, this is why I wanted to come, get out of So. Cal. and all the hustle and bustle.  We were the only ones in the hilltop restaurant, and were waited on by Enrique's mother in law, his wife did the cooking and the grandson (Angel) trying to run downstairs before nana could yell at him.  We gave a hat to Aaron the diesel boat helper, he saw mine and asked if he could have one.  Anyway, seemed like a good thing to do as we want to spend more time here on our return trip. I'll add photos when we have a high speed connection.

Osprey at Cruiseport

Our going away party...

Dolphins off Ensenada

Our Departure From Longo

We left Long Beach on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 11:15 a.m., arrived in Ensenada at 12:30 p.m. the following day.  It was exhilerating to think that we were leaving and not returning for 8 months or so.  We had light winds, so much so that we motorsailed most of the way.  Leif and I started watches in the afternoon, sleeping when off watch, and tending the course when on.  In this manner we were prepared for the evening watches, and well rested when it became our turn.  Or sort of.  The weather cooperated until morning, just as I went off watch at 6 a.m. it started a light drizzle. 
   We had lots of dolphins following us all night and morning, at night their trails of luminescence were fascinating to watch as they streaked through the water.  I also saw some whales off in the distance in the morning.
   We arrived to Cruiseport Marina in Ensenada and checked in with Jonathan who immediately took us to check in to the country at the port captain.  We got fishing licenses and visas, and were set to go in an hour or so.  Not bad... it would have taken us much longer without his help.  We then toasted our trip down, and hit the sack as we were both pretty tired. 
   In the last days, we have picked up cell phones, tacos, visited a museum, picked up fuel in jerry jugs for the next phase of our trip and cooked many meals. Our trip to the museum was laughable, we walked up and down the streets for an hour searching for it, and it ended up right across the street from our marina.  But we did get some good exercise and learned a lot about the deaths of the native americans which culminated in the closing of most missions in 1840.  Nice.  Travelers are not always a welcome thing, as they weren't in the early days of Mexico.  However, we did find a Starbucks, which is a lovely addition to Mexico, as it has wi-fi!  So all you Words with Friends people out there, I'll keep up as I can when we find more Starbucks. Leif says Hi to Nadoamy and Masterbest. He has no ipad, so you're safe for awhile.
  We have decided to stay an extra day as we wanted to see the town today and not work on the boat.  So, Friday we'll be off for Turtle Bay, or Bahia San Bartolome.  It's a quiet bay, different from where we are currently.   Love the travelling, our boat is very comfortable and just big enough for us.  I learned about the net, which is a chat session on the VHF radio each morning, all the cruisers are organized and discuss weather, boat parts needed and upcoming events, very fun.   Well, dinner calls, sausages and rice a roni, very Mexican.

Arrival in Ensenada!

Estamos en Mexico!  We arrived in Ensenada on Monday around noon.  This will be a quick note, until I get adjusted.  Our marina is Cruiseport Ensenada, and it is very nice, Jonathan the marina manager has been extremely helpful.  He took us to the port captain and we are all checked in to Mexico, with visas and fishing licenses.  It would have been quite confusing without him.  Today we bought phones, internet card and are up and running.  We hope to leave for Turtle Bay in two days.  No problemas on the sail down, very little rain on Monday a.m.  Hasta, Lisa

Shake Down Cruise to Catalina

We are getting down to the final days of preparation, and Leif wanted a shakedown cruise to Catalina to test the watermaker, GPS/navigation system, and the auto pilot once again.  We left Friday around noon and motored across with a lack of wind, as they say "the calm before the storm".  We made water while motoring, and it tastes just fine, better quality than at home.  It rained a bit overnight, but the next day was gorgeous, deep blue sky, white puffy clouds, and warm.  We walked over to Cat harbor, had a late lunch, watched USC lose to Oregon, heard about the Beavers beating Cal, couldn't be better.  Our return sail was really great as well, 10-15 kts of wind mostly, and another beautiful day. 
  We are aiming at leaving on Sunday, Nov. 7, and arrive in Ensenada on Monday, in time for the offices to be open for entering into the country.  That leaves this week for all of the last minute "oh yeah I forgot about that" stuff.  Of which there seems to be a growing pile.

   I feel stronger and have greater endurance each day, so the drugs are working, yea, finally.  My hands are still stiff, but daily stretching helps.  I can't wait to "lose this popsicle stand" and get on the road.  I do have to admit that we will never be ready, completely, but we have done a thorough job preparing and have had many people give us the assurance that we are better prepared than most.  Our "humble adobe" hasn't sunk under the weight yet, and there's just a bit more food to load on.  More later, it's too nice an evening to be here inside, need to go out and enjoy the sunset.     

Living aboard, or abroad?

We officially moved aboard last Saturday, and it hasn't stopped raining since that day!  Actually it's been raining off and on for quite awhile, which has slowed our progress towards getting things accomplished.  Moving day was a bit hectic, but not too bad.  The biggest problem was stowing all of the gear in a tidy fashion, so we could move around on the boat.  After several trips back to the house to return clothing, tools, bags and all sorts of things that we really don't need, it appears that we are nearing a point where things are neat and tidy.  Today the boat was inspected by the Coast Guard aux. and it exceeded expectations in all areas except one, we don't have the documentation # engraved on the inside of the boat.  That's where Leif is now, engraving a plaque on the dock, which will be attached tomorrow.  Not bad actually, all the safety gear we have on board passed and we also have extra equipment that's not required, like an EPIRB, life raft, SSB radio, mom and life sling. 
   So, the sun has finally arrived, and I can dry out the towels.  We have gotten along well, given the small space in which we are living.  We've cooked some, and cleaned a lot.  Leif's been running on the beach, and I've been shopping for pillows, going to physical therapy and Spanish classes in Costa Mesa.  Also organizing the insurance papers for both cars and boat, and getting the financial stuff in order.  The weather could be nicer, but all in all, we're doing well and expecting to leave in early Nov., as we have a new laptop arriving in a week.  Another unexpected purchase, but necessary for backup.  Off to go watch Leif engrave the numbers. Hasta luego

Moving day!



Woody, not happy about us leaving.




Casey, can I go too????  I'll paddle!!

 So, the day has finally arrived for us to get our act together and get on board.  I spent the day packing, cleaning and arranging the house so our house sitter can actually move in tomorrow.  Leif helped in the a.m. and then moved down to the boat to create space for all of our stuff that needs to join us on the trip.  It's still beyond my imagination that we are really doing this, and I am sooo excited for the experience.  Hopefully all of the accounting and organizing will be spot on, and we can enjoy ourselves as we expect to.  Tonight we had our wonderful friends Craig and Liz join us for dinner to celebrate our departure, as they have been sailing for 7 years in the Caribbean and having the best time.  We'd love to join them in the future, and have them join us in Mexico, although they are old hands at that.  It's fascinating hearing all of their tales of friends, sailing, restaurants, and snorkeling.  I can't wait.  My bag is packed, although it weighs more than I do, and my car is loaded down with: fenders, life raft, wine, dinghy wheels, bbq, body board, noodles, fire extinguishers, scuba tank, all the stuff we have accumulated in our garage until now.  We hope to pack the boat and prepare for leaving in the next two weeks.  I gave the dogs a bone each, and wish we could take them along, but know it would not work out.  That's the only sad part.

Stern Extension Continued

Leif has almost finished the stern swim step, it looks like it belongs there, and now the boat is out of the water in the shipyard for bottom paint.  The weather didn't cooperate while he was working, varying from 111 degrees to the current rain and wind, which creates problems when trying to sand fiberglass and gel coat.  As we say, it's always something.
   We plan on moving aboard in 10 days so things are becoming more organized and the stacks of "stuff" to be brought aboard are growing.  Hope the boat won't sink under the weight... 
   The going away parties were very fun, yet I'm ready to settle down and get started arranging and ferrying items down to the dock.  Hopefully the weather wont' slow the bottom paint job, but it probably will as it's supposed to rain for the next day or so.  Not to be negative but I do feel pressure to get on with it!  Off to Trader Joes for more supplies, like dog food for 9 months!  I'm going to miss them for sure.  Casey, our lab is my constant companion, while Woody is my goofy one.  They wouldn't do well on the boat though, and are going to be well taken care of, happily at home. 

Food saver saves the day

I have discovered our food saver, hidden in the depths of a cupboard.  After the disaster of vacuum packing 6 bagels, which all ended up the size of a baseball, I have figured out how to slowly suck the air out and save the food instead of squishing it beyond recognition.  So, pasta, rice, bread mixes are all being repackaged in tiny bags, ready for storage.
   This has been keeping me busy, in addition to getting the paperwork in order, copies of passports, crew lists, charts, nature identification books, and the endless list of house fun facts for our housesitter. 
   Leif and I are getting excited, less than a month before we move aboard, and possibly leave.  One side note is that our departure date was dependent upon my reaction to therapy and medications for recently aquiring rheumatoid arthritis.  It has made this trip a bit more tricky, but we are going none the less.  I have difficulty climbing on the boat, and handling lines, as my hands don't close, but the therapy has been helping. Enough on that.  This was just in case some of you who know me wonder why I'm not surfing, golfing, gardening, biking etc.  Not possible...yet.
   Leif has the mold created, and the first fiberglass layers on the transom for our little step that he's making.  He's been working daily and has found new muscles he never knew he had until they began aching from leaning over and twisting while holding drills, screwdrivers and such.   It's not long now, and we are so looking forward to leaving. 
  
  
 

Sailing??

We have been working on the boat all summer, and only sailed to Santa Barbara.  Currently Leif is finalizing the wiring so the boat will pass a survey for Mexico insurance.  We got an inflatable kayak which has been a total blast to paddle around, it should be fun when we're down south.  The hardest part is getting out of it and on to the dock, rather looks like some weird yoga pose, with the kayak always trying to escape.  Next to try to fish out of it in the harbor.  Slowly we are adding to the "stuff" we are taking, and the boat is filling up, next is clothing and food supplies? 

The stern extension work has begun.  Leif will make a template, then mold, then the part, then add it…

Preparations



Now this is what Catalina is supposed to be like!

 We are finalizing our preparations, Leif just finished the water maker installation and we drank our first sample yesterday, not bad.  He turned the boat around in the slip so he can finish the transom extension soon.  He has made so many improvements, I can't wait to use them.  We also checked out our new navigation software, which seems to react with the auto pilot, so we are now looking at filters for both.  We hope to be on our way to Baja in late October or November.  More to come, this is just a practice for me to load info onto the website. This is Emerald Bay, Catalina, some months ago when it was peaceful.