January 4, 2018
Really? For awhile the back light on our chart plotter had been flickering when dimmed for night passages. And after crossing to Mazatlan I found that it had completely died. Turns out from a bit of internet searching this is a common failure due to a poorly designed high voltage power supply circuit for the florescent back light lamps (called…
January 1, 2018
Whew looking back at 2017 was a another year of firsts; Farthest North in the Sea (Bahia Los Angeles), Sail plan for downwind sailing (Double headsails), Thanksgiving away from home (La Paz), Visit to the Southern mainland (Mazatlán and others), Teeth cleaned in a foreign country, and many more. We just keep finding more things that we love about Mexico.…
December 23, 2017
Something I had been looking forward to all season was my daughter Anna and her friend coming to visit. Anna spent two years in West Virginia and became good friends with Ande before moving to Montana. A trip to Mexico was a perfect way for them to reconnect and enjoy the warm sun/ocean, in addition to blowing off some steam…
December 22, 2017
I shake my head at the vast number of cleaning products we have on board. And I’m speaking of just for the outside of the boat. It seems really fucking ridiculous but it is what it is, and it takes what it takes. Schedule: Washing/Cleaning/Metal polish – When out cruising it is often 3 – 4 weeks since we are…
December 19, 2017
It could be part of getting older. It could be having kids. Or it could be a bit of both. But time slips by so fast, shockingly so sometimes. In April of 2008, our family went to Puerto Vallarta for spring break. Being crazy travelers, we decided one day to take the bus to Bucerías. Insane, I know. Actually I…
December 16, 2017
We had heard rumblings of a second waterfall in Yelapa and after doing some Googling we had some rough directions. While they did get us to the destination, they still left something to be desired, so here are hopefully very clear and easy to follow directions for anyone else hoping to enjoy swimming and playing in more gorgeous of the…
December 15, 2017
The rumor mill was packed with things about Yelapa but we tried to come into it without expectations or reservations. Straight out of the gate it got interesting. About a mile out a panga came to meet us and introduces himself as “Bule Bule” and says follow me to a mooring ball. Good start. About half way back another panga…
December 13, 2017
A warm welcome at the docks by our friends Helen and Ralph from Moon Drifter. After sharing Thanksgiving together in La Paz we went our separate ways. The yacht club was a perfect way to reconnect over dinner and catch up on the past few weeks. Not shockingly, we settled in to urban living quite fast and relearned what it…
December 11, 2017
This adventure is supposed to be about sailing, right? So when the winds picked up after motoring out of Chacala out came the screecher. Motorsailing along we decided to put out the fishing lines even though the freezer was looking good in the pescado department. Fish on! The wind was from a good angle so up came the main sail…
December 10, 2017
Could I live here? I’d definitely put it in the very firm maybe category. Which is saying a lot from me. This town is top of my list for the mainland. Gorgeous beach, check. Kick ass food, check. Nice locals, check. Not too big, check. Good ratio Mexican/Gringos, check. Sign me up for a few days in this slice of…
December 6, 2017
My initial thought was to dinghy to shore and then grab a bus into San Blas for a look around. Vicki suggested we just take the dingy straight to San Blas. I was a little apprehensive but figured this was a chance to expand the envelope of my comfort zone (I get nervous once past the distance that would be…
December 5, 2017
We heard horror stories about the jejenes (little biting bugs) so while in Mazatlán we bought some black veil material and Vicki slaved over needle and thread to fashion us bug screens for the large saloon windows. And yes we absolutely needed them. But let me back up a bit. Matanchén beach from Strikhedonia We arrived in the afternoon from…