Just more photos

The Maxi-taxi.  Not a drop on Sam.

The Bennie bus.  Pretty typical actually.  The bus...always the cheaper ride.

Old photo of my dad and uncle Gordon. Lord I miss them.  

Shopping at Walmart. 

Sam loves cats and dogs.  We have dragged this thing everywhere.  That "leash" is my $40 runner wrangler.  

Lava tub at the Vallarta yacht club.  No kidding about the lava.  Hottest damn tub ever.  I'll bet it is 110 or more.

Playing in the pool

Again I shake my head in disbelief that this is the same girl who would NOT get her hair wet in a pool back in August. 

We are leaving here for Zihuatanejo at the beginning of January. Will take a month or more getting there and then we turn around and head back to PV in the middle of March. We are going to enter the Banderas Bay Regatta on the 11th of March through the 15th.  Any of you want to come down and race in paradise, let us know.  We will be staying in Paradise Village again and so can you!!  After the regatta we will be heading north to spend some time in the Sea of Cortez. June we are sailing back to Seattle via Hawaii. 

Felix Navidad!

Paradise?

We are in Paradise Village in Puerto Vallarta. Have been since the 20th.  Gringos as far as the eye can see.  But also a surprisingly large number of locals also.  This place has multiple swimming pools with slides, lap pool, great beach, restaurants and a night club.  Very similar to a cruise ship now that I think about it.  Isolated in a way.  The kids are having fun but pools bore them I think.  We head to the ocean more often than not.  That it is a little bit of a lie right now as Sam is into the crocodile slides right now but prior to her gaining enough gumption to do the slides, she was in the ocean with me and Ben dodging waves and swimming under the big breaking ones.  At first I had to hold her as she was afraid of the waves "killing" her but them she asked for her goggles and after donning them promptly dove under the first set of breakers that she came across.  Amazing.  To think that in August we couldn't even get her to get her hair wet.  

Our first day in paradise was taken up by me going to see a dermatologist about the back of my head. I have to wear a hat all the time and started to break out in pimples and a rash.  Then it got infected.  So we got our first dose of mexico's health care system.  $45 for a drop in visit to a derm.  Placed on doxycycline and that costs about $40 here for a month.  The office was clean and she was very good I thought.  My head is already feeling better.

I'll spare you photos of my head.

You can see the two crocodile slides in the photo above.  Crowded but not to bad.  

We finally got rained on.  Hard core rain.  Filled the dinghy about half way.  Jen and I woke up and closed all the hatches and I sat in the cockpit and just listened to the rain pour down.  Big tropical rain.  

We are learning the buses and making new friends.  Sand Dollar just today contacted us on radio after cruising with their "new" friends.  Haven't heard from them in awhile.  Maybe tomorrow we can actually see them.

We have a tiny Christmas tree and Ben has decorated the interior of the boat.  More later..

Merry Christmas and happy new year!!

We left and now are back

'

Here we are are pulling into Yelapa which is on the southern coast of Banderas Bay.  I think the saying goes "I rather be on Appa in Yelapa then have a condo in Redondo."  Yes I know, Appa looks like a gypsy wagon. 

The "town" of Yelapa. 

We left La Cruz around 10am or so and stopped at the fuel dock.  We took on 44 gallons of fuel.  We haven't filled since leaving San Jose del Cabo.  That means we traveled about 600 miles and ran the motor about 10 hours total to make amps for the battery bank and water. Not too bad. Gotta to love a good sailing boat. Maybe I explained this part but if not here goes, our boat has an engine driven reverse osmosis water maker that we use to make sparkling fresh water.  Some people don't like running their primary engine just to make water stating among other reasons that running a diesel motor while unloaded is not good for it. Diesels like to work hard.  I believe that to a point.  Truck stops across the US are filled with idling diesel trucks. We idled our ambulances in Chicago while waiting for 911 calls.  Thousands of hours on my old ambulance 218.  So while I don't discount that idling is bad, we are making water and charging the batteries whilst running the engine.  Our alternator takes about 2-3 horse power to run when it is in bulk mode.  Not sure what the high pressure pump for the water maker takes as far as horsepower is concerned.  I do know that when I engage the clutch for the water maker, the engine sounds like it is under a bit more load.  Nothing like spinning the prop against 30,000 pounds of boat, gear, piano, guitars, books (omg the books that this boat carries, we could be a branch of the public library system), and spare parts but you get the picture. 

Early morning on Appa. Sam is coloring and can color within the lines.  Here's proof...

Pure unadultered freaking GENIUS!!!  She gets it from Jen. She does have some Reichert qualities though.....bossy, strong willed, typical Reichert good looks, awesome hair, likes sailboats, I could go on and on.

Ben has been finally reading without being told.  I haven't seen him pick up that damn ipod of his for awhile now.  He has read the entire Charlie Bone series which is 8 books and now is on book 3 of the Percy Jackson series.  Who knew that you had to give something he wanted to read?  I kept pushing Black Hawk Down on him but he said it was overly violent and not to his taste.  He's 8!  He don't have no stinking taste yet!  Kids!  Btw I kid, I kid.  

Max has been reading World War Z about the coming zombie apocalypse.  He is suppose to be reading To Kill A Mockingbird. He doesn't like it he says.  Not to his taste he tells us.  See my statement above about taste and kids.  I remember liking the book when I read it in the sixth grade.  Jen recently read it and loved it.  

So schoolwork on Appa has been lacking lately. Max is done with algebra, biology, and geography.  He still has a ton of English to do and has to finish Spanish up.  Those two subjects are Jen's domain.  She learned English more then I.  Her Spanish is much better also.  We are figuring to have Max fly back to Seattle in February so he can visit with his friends while they are on break from school and also then he can go to a testing site and take his final exams for this part of his school year.  He'll still have another half year of school left then.  We were thinking about taking a bus to Guadalajara and staying a couple nights there while he meets with the proctor there and then takes his exams but I'll bet that it is more money for 5 bus tickets, lodging, food, and slip fees for the boat, then if we were to just fly him out of Ixtapa in mid February. That is the plan as it stands now.  Subject to change.  They say that plans in Mexico are written in the sand at low tide.  

Holy crap did I get off track!  Ok back to what I originally was going to write.  We made about 100 gallons of fresh water on the way to Yelapa.  Yelapa is a town on the southern side of Banderas Bay that only recently got electricity and telephone service.  Evidently they are also a collective of land owners and have been since the 1500s.  Google Yelapa if you want more info about the king of Spain granting this to them.

Anyway, If you look at Banderas Bay on google maps and then look for Puerto Vallarta, you will notice that PV is located in a totally flat area.  The mountains spring up just south and west of PV and continue upwards to about 2000 feet or so.  The anchorage in Yelapa is deep. Very deep.  To increase tourism the collective have placed a few mooring balls in the bay.  The deal is you come into the bay and a panga will come out and meet you and offer a mooring ball.  20 bucks a night.  We took a ball and it was about 50 yards from the beach in 150 feet of water.  The panga driver's name was Rafael and he was not overly friendly.  Not mean just not the usual Mexican friendliness that we are use to.  We grabbed the mooring buoy and settled in.  The plan was to go ashore and have a drink on the beach whilst reclined on a beach chair.  Yeah right.  Rafael picked us up with his 3 year old son and Jen ran down below to get the kid a hat.  Rafael stole it even though it was way to small for him.  Oh well.

Got on the beach and were immediately set upon by Rafael's father who was hawking jewelry and another dude with a HUGE iguana that wanted 20 pesos for a photo. An old old woman also showed up crying while trying to sell us purses.  Ugh. Hated it.  The beach was beautiful with a fresh water stream running into the ocean which was perfect for rinsing off and quite refreshing after a dip in the warm ocean.  The waves break very close to shore so no surfing possible but it was fun.  There are two water falls within walking distance but we got in too late for the hike.  We planned on doing it the next morning.  

Had Rafael take us back to the boat at sundown and I made dinner.  Pulled pork sandwiches with a red cabbage salad. Pretty good.  We also had leftover chicken pot pies that I made from scratch the previous night.  Jen is just another pretty face on this boat now.  Max and I do everything. 😉.  Smiley face emoticon inserted here.

We watched Ratatouille and then hit the bunks.  I've been in more rolly anchorages but can't remember when.  The kids and Jen all slept well as did I for the most part.  I do lay awake listening to the boat creak as she turns her beam to the swell.  Seems the floor boards in the master stateroom creak and groan a bit when we really get a big swell.  Once the kids were up, I grabbed those squeaky suckers and sanded them down a bit.  No more creak-a-squeak.  

Woke up to another sunny day and after breakfast we got ready to go to shore.  Rafael showed up around 11 and told us we had to leave the mooring ball even though the night before we were told that we could stay another night.  Now that I think about it, Rafael was asking if we were going to stay and we were noncommittal. I think if we had said yes he would have said we couldn't. It's weird down here at times.  Not weird but different.  So we unpacked our hiking stuff and decided to immediately head for Punta de Mita.  

A brief touch of the starter button and the Perkin's roared to life.  Haven't had to use the glow plugs once since hitting Mexico.  Hell maybe even San Diego.  The alternator belt squealed also so we repaired that underway and all was well.  No wind so we motored the 14 miles to Mita but we also saw this!!!

Look at the tail on the sucker.  Humpback whales.  3 of them.  I reckon they were about 40 feet long or so.  Of course being male I have a hard time estimating length. We have a ton of pictures but really you had to be there.  Sam was yelling and jumping up and down.  Ok ok, we all were.  Amazing experience.  And yes we are towing our dinghy.  

Got to Punta Mita and immediately fell into the water.  Then we launched our invasion fleet of two kayaks. Max and Benny took the kayaks out in search of waves to surf.  Ben is becoming quite adept at making the kayak go.  Makes me proud. They found some surf.  Mita is kinda famous for it.  Evidently too much surf cause Ben came back and wanted to hang with us.  Max went back and ate some waves for lunch. 

We never did make onto the beach but also we had just been there couple days before.  I grilled some pork loin up and we had burritos. Rajas comes in a can and we were told that it is awesome.  Mixed vegetable marinated in vinegar and spices.  Peppers, carrots, onions,etc., awesome.  I think we are going to be looking for it once we are back in the states.

After dinner we watched The Incredibles and hit the rack.

Mita wasn't too rolly and we got up and headed for the Tres Mariates islands about 8 miles to the west.  This chain if three islands are desolate and beautiful. Poor poor anchorage though and only recommended as a day stop.  I was last here in 2008 and boy has it changed.  Mooring balls are littered throughout the small bay and they all have the names of tour operators on them.  Multiply boats with tons of pasty white foreigners aboard were already at the anchorage.  It was like a scene from a ship sinking.  The water was littered with bodies wearing bright orange life vests.  We anchored in about 35 feet of water just off the tourist area.  We swam for a bit but didn't venture toward the many caves and little beaches strewn about.  We will save that for later.    

Yanked the anchor out around 1400 or so and headed back to La Cruz but this time we are going to hit the anchorage.  

Saw more whales this time and got yet more photos.  Dropped the hook in the anchorage just outside of the marina proper and loaded up the dinghy to head in to the little swimming pool and showers.  

Currently it is the following morning and we are motoring toward Paradise Village in PV. 

I'll update the blog from there.

La Cruz

Eventually we got away from the fishing lines and around the Punta de Mita.  The wind freshened up and we immediately stated to sail.  Sea Otter hailed us as we were putting up the main and wanted to know if we were really going to sail.  You could feel the collective groan as I answered "of course we are going to sail."  We had 14 miles to go and 15-18 knots of north wind.  Beam reaching is where it is at.  We even put in a reef of the main.  Sea Otter raised their main and then unfurled their jib and finally their staysail.  Sea Otter being in front of us I had the options available and decided to do a sort of a "fly by".  They were motor sailing still and I came up on their stern and overtook them to windward,causing their sails to lose wind as we blanketed them. As soon as we got in front of them Jen asks "water balloons?"  Mad scramble ensues and we started to stockpile balloons.  The wind started to die to 10 knots or so, we shook out a reef and laid in wait for Sea Otter.  As they passed us, we let fly.  Evidently the water balloon cannon is a fickle creature and the ability to aim is not a trait bred into it.  Shots flew everywhere but on Sea Otter.  I'd say we got more water on our deck from our own balloons.  Then those crazy Otters started to heave freaking limes at us.  Limes!!!!!  What in the hell???! What are you going to put in your beer?  They are mad I tell you, MAD!  Appa took a hit on the hull but sustained no damage.  I was a little worried about the solar panels taking a hit but nothing happened.  Our two boats weaves and bobbed like prize fighters trying to get a hit in but most shots went harmlessly into the ocean.  Biodegradable water balloons in case you are worried. 

After the battle royale, we landed in La Cruz Marina and paid for our slip.  

La Cruz is a funky little town that is still mostly Mexican folk trying to make a living but there are a surprising number of expats here also.  There is a bar named Philo's that is a replica of any beach side bar in the US. I went there back in 2008 and have no need to go there now.  We want street tacos.  

Maybe I forgot to mention that I follow a ton of blogs and one of them is Rebel Heart's blog.  Eric and Charlotte have two girls.  Lyra is ten months old and I apologize if I spelled that wrong.  Cora is 3. My hope was to eventually met them and maybe become friends.  As I said in an earlier post, Rebel Heart was going to Puerto Vallarta and here they are in La Cruz. So we have been having multiple play dates  and I even got to go out and have some beers with Eric and a couple of his buddies that also live, work and breathe boats.  My type of people. 

So what have we been doing in La Cruz.  Well we took a wild bus ride to Punta Mita with Rebel Heart. It was like Mr. Toad's wild ride.  We had lunch on the beach and played on a stand up paddle board. I think we are going to get one.

  We are also using Sea Otter's inflatable kayaks and hitting the tiny pool here at the marina along with having street tacos.  Street tacos are just what they sound like. You actually sit in one of those plastic chairs that you see worldwide right on the side of the street. Cars coming by and dogs everywhere.  Crazy good fun.  The food is outstanding.  They make it right in one of the hotdog type carts you see in the American cities.  All street side.  Bring your own drinks to most of them.  The famous one "Tacos on the Street" just got their license so they can serve beverages. So a meal for 5 consisting of 4 tacos each for Max and I and 3 each for Jen and Ben with Sam eating one of them comes to around $15 or so.  Maybe a bit more.  

I waxed Appa's hull again.  Shines like new.  The look on the Mexican dock workers as I scrubbed and buffed that hull was....odd.  Not sure if they ever saw an American waxing the boat.  I put on some Carden music while doing it.  He made a cd a while back called Twisted Sheets. Compilation type of deal. Went well with working my ass off.  Man did I sweat.  

I had screens made for the opening windows and the campanionway hatch.  

The screen had stainless steel chain sewn into the edges to hold it down.  The bugs aren't too bad but one mosquito wrecked the poor kids so up went the screens.  Poor Max and Sam looked like hell after that bug got them.  Hopefully this will do the trick.  We have screens for the majority of the hatches just not every single one. Well now we do.  

Kayaks on loan from Sea Otter.  

So we are eating a little to well, and having fun.  It is hot here and the cabin fans never shut off but I am loving it.  Sam no likey the heat.  Ben is part Cuban so he is good.  Max likes it and Jen is tolerating it.  Only going to get hotter but they know that.  We'll live.  

Tomorrow leaving for Yelapa or maybe head back up to Chacala. Yeah Chacala. I think we will go there.  Or maybe Punta de Mita. Hmmmm.  Nah Chacala but hit Mita on the way?  Per weather report not a cloud in the sky till Columbia and winds out of the NW at 11 or so for the foreseeable future.

 

Leaving Muertos

This is out of order.  I fixed a paragraph and stupid blogger wouldn't put it back in order. 

So there you go. 

 One last margarita and we are leaving.

This is from the pool at Gran Sueno.  Leaving here in couple hours for the "Galapagos of Mexico", Isla Isabella. Maybe that is spelled with one L. Anywho, winds are projected to be light to moderate from the NW or so and the swell will have long periods so off we go.  

Plan is to head to Isabella then to Chacala.  Chacala is suppose to be the anchorage you dream about when you plan these trips.  White sands blah blah. Rolly as hell too so stern anchor in tandem with the main hook to keep the nose of the boat into the swell.  

From there we are heading to La Cruz in Banderas Bay.   Stay there and maybe hit Punta Minta before heading across the bay to Puerto Vallarta for Christmas. 

After Christmas we are heading south still. Till about February.

In La Cruz

Watching the sunset while crossing the Sea 

Puffer fish and the shadow of Appa on the sand 20 feet under us.  

Approaching Isla Isabel 

Max speared this beauty. Grouper?

Iguana beach on Isabela. No iguanas though. 

Hiking up to the peak to see the caldera. 

Blue footed boobie with Appa, Sea Otter, and Alute in the background. 

The caldera with frigate birds flying over head. Wear a hat. They poop all the time. 

Rico on Ben's shoulder. At least that is his name at this moment. 

How she sleeps like that is unreal.  

Right after I posted the previous blog from the satellite phone, the wind sprang up and we started sailing towards Isabela. Beautiful morning, breakfast on the stove, boat surging ahead eagerly toward landfall, very nice. 

We arrived at Isla Isabela around 1200 or so.  After a brief look around, the Rocna dove off the nose of Appa, passed through 10 feet of crystal clear water and grabbed the nearest rock.  A shot of reverse confirmed that we were set and the race to get in the water started. Max won.  Dove right off the bow. I'll bet the water temp was in the 80s. Not too warm and very refreshing. 

The anchorage we were in had a reef just off our stern and that was connected to a large boulder which in turn made up the eastern part of the anchorage. This boulder had many caves burrowed into it by the wave action. When a particularly big swell rolled through, it would go into a cave and cause this shuddering BOOM!  The snorkeling was great with an amazing variety of fish swimming around.  

I swam with Samey for awhile but she is so determined to do everything herself, it can make for a taxing time.  She wants no help in swimming to the reef and none at all on the way back to the boat.  "I'm fine!" she says over and over.  She has no fear of anything in the water and can't understand the dangers of tides and currents.  She has been practicing diving under the water and gets pissed at her life jacket which is keeping her at the surface.  So hard for her and frustrating. But it is a joy to watch her skills develop and as time goes on, I'll be more at ease swimming with her.  While at Muertos she was dog paddling all over the pool, so we are close to her actually swimming.  

After snorkeling and hanging about in the water, Max jumped back in the water and speared a fish for us.  I think it is a grouper.  Then I grilled that sucker and we headed over to Sea Otter for dinner.  All of us were too tired to do much after dinner and I found my pillow around 9pm and called it a night. 

The next day we went to shore and explored the island a bit and got some good photos.  

Ben and Max found geckos but I think I've already blogged about that.

After exploring the island we set off for San Blas. San Blas has a bar entrance and is shallow.  It is advisable to wait till day and have a pilot boat show you in.  Being that Appa needs 8 feet of water to float in, I decided to sail to Manatchen Bay which is 2 miles south of San Blas. The wind was up so we sailed the whole way.  

We left for Manatchen right after lunch and were making great time. Ben sailed with Sea Otter and did he have adventure.  First they had humpback whales jumped out of the water for around 30 minutes. A baby and mama were there also.  Baby was jumping also.  Then they ran over a fishing line with a net attached.  I always thought Island Packet yachts,with their full keel and therefore protected propellor would not have to worry about tangled props.  Wrong. That net was so entangled that Mike had to clear it with a knife. Dark out, murky water (this area by San Blas has lots of run off so the water is brownish), and the boat pumping up and down in the swells made for an interesting time.  They eventually got the net off and took off again. 

We had a bit of our own adventure.  The wind was dying down to about 10 knots or so and we were just sailing along with another 20 miles to go.  The sun had just set.  I was reading my book and not paying to much attention to the water.  I saw no boats and knew we were 10 miles offshore.  The beam of a flashlight cut through the air and landed on us.  A panga materialized out of no where and was heading straight for us with the flashlight acting like the lightbar on a police cruiser.  Rapid fire Spanish was being yelled at me and slowly I could make out that we were headed for their nets.  It would really help if they used the light to direct me where they want to go but no, they thought it better to wave it around, occasionally blinding me, whilst pointing in two directions at once.  I turned to port and they shadowed me till we were clear of the net. Once back on course, I opened my book and was just about to start reading when another panga appeared. Same stuff, yelling, flashlight being handled like it was actually hot to hold and then I felt it.  We started to slow down and it felt like we hit a rubber band.  You could hear a stretching type of noise and then the line came off the keel with a twang, hit the propellor, and then the ripping started.  Luckily we were sailing so no entanglement but the ripping sound went on and on then the line hit our rudder and with another twang, it was gone.  We left the poor fishermen in our wake, holding their net, and probably cursing me.  I felt bad but you have to understand.  The lines are not marked in any way that we could see.  Add the fact that some of the pangas had no running lights, you get ripped nets.  After that episode, we put out a dedicated watch with wide eyed binoculars and had no further problems.  

We sailed 45 miles that day and dropped the hook in 12 feet of water and waited on Sea Otter.  All boats are compromises but I'll take my boat any day.  Appa may not have the most tankage, storage and huge centerline king sized beds but we can sail the hell of her.  Give me performance anyday.  Love, love our boat.  Fast and strong.

The purple dotted line was our course. You can see us come in, anchor, leave for San Blas, then leave again 2 days later.  I have to add here that ALL the blogs I followed mentioned that the charts for Mexico are damn near useless.  I would have agreed 2 years ago.  So far, my charts are dead on.  Some much so that when we did the La Tovara river tour, my charts were dead on for that also. 

The straight purple dashed line is when I power up the nav software.  It'll draw a line from last power up to current one.  See the river with the purple line.  Amazing. To me anyway. 

With Sam asleep and the boat gently pulling at her anchor, Max, Jen and I fired up the computer and Step Brothers while waiting for Sea Otter.  The movie ended and Sea Otter rolled into the bay.  They were wiped and we all went to bed.  All the screens were on as we were expecting the bug invasion.

The next day we decided to head into San Blas proper as we wanted to tour the river on the La Tovara crocodile tour.  It ends at a fresh water stream with a chain link fence to keep out the crocs.  It was recently repaired.  Not replaced.  Repaired.  Hmmmm.

San Blas has depth problems.  The bar is constantly changing and that changes the depth.  We draw 8 feet.  I see 9 in places on my charts. We went in slow and had Sea Otter in front to call out problem areas.  Never touched although it was close.  We got a spot in the Fonatur marina and it was pretty nice.  The people were great.  

The jungle river tour was great. Jen wrote about it so see her blog.

Doing the tourist thing

Rolling down the river

Fresh water swimming.  Haven't felt this clean since Seattle. Really.  That is Benny falling in after using the rope swing. 

Marina Fonatur at night. 

We had no bugs in San Blas. None.  Is it because of the near non stop spraying they have been doing nation wide to help get rid of dengue fever that is sweeping the area, or the quarter moon (our tour guide says this is the reason)?  I don't know but we loved it.  I'll type it again, no bugs in San Blas.  

We got up in the morning and got some school out of the way, we went for a walkabout of the town.  

We ate lunch in that straw roofed place, the Ramada.  We all had grilled marlin. Yum!

Cannon aiming toward town at the fort on the highest hill. 

After the walkabout, Jen did some shopping.  Not a mega, walmart, etc to be found.  She said it was interesting.

I bought ice.  One huge block.  Huge!  6 pesos.  Beat that thing with a hammer and we are once again civilized.  I am really considering a nice maker.  Really.  

A timely email from Michael made us reconsider Chacala and we decided to spend one more night in San Blas and then leave for Banderas  bay in the morning. About 60 miles.  

I woke up to Sea Otter hailing us on the radio, or so I thought.  I stumbled out of bed and hailed him back on the radio.  No answer.  Then the laughter started.  Mike was outside my window calling our boat name.  Is it my fault that Tutmark did such a great job on the vhf antenna install that it sounds like real life?  I think not.  

0600 we we up and out the marina, going slow and once clear of the harbor, revved up the diesel and started motoring to Banderas bay.  The wind would prove to be fickle till the final 15 miles.  In the meantime, we had other problems.  Fishing lines.  Again with the fishing lines.

Again with the fishing lines!

We ran over no less than 5 lines with Max having to get in the water twice to free us.  We were motoring and Max dropped his fishing line in the water and noticed that we were dragging something on our rudder.  Fishing line. Big line.  A quick look back verified that we were dragging about 1/2 a mile of line behind us.  How was this fishing line marked?  With white and blue bottles.  Sometimes orange crush bottles.  Once in a while there would be a pole with a garbage bag hanging off it.  Just one though.  It seemed that the pole would be marking the middle of the line.  Seemed.  We had lookouts posted and Sea Otter was also looking for lines.  No matter, we ran them over.  Good thing was they never got in the prop.  They hit the keel and run under it and I think since the keel is waaaay down there and the prop is close to the keel, the line comes up and just gets caught on the rudder.  The line has many many hooks on it and these would get attached to our rudder.  So in the end, all fishing lines were left intact and no one got hurt.  What a pain though.

I tired from typing.  More later...

We have 2 new pets!

Way before we even started this trip, I told the boys that if they could catch a gecko then they could keep it. We now have two geckos, Jimmy and Sir Sleeps-a-lot. Photos once we get to shore and Internet. Ben and his buddy Ben from Sea Otter went to shore on Isabela and trapped a bright green gecko/lizard and then Max, feeling left out, went and redeemed himself by catching another. We are told they keep the bug population down but currently (touch wood) we don't have no stinking bugs onboard. Ben made Jimmy a cute box with string to use to climb out and celery thrown in and a bed. Max did likewise. They are very cute but I have a feeling they aren't long for this boat. We'll see.
Isabela is fantastic. Warmest water we have had yet and 30 foot visibility. Saw all types of fish and a spotted eagle ray. Very cool. We hiked around the island and saw the Lago Crater. Very cool. Saw the blue footed boobies also. If you have any aversion to birds at all, NEVER go here. They are everywhere. Something out of Hitchcock.
Left Isabela about 1300 or so and immediately set sail for San Blas. Home of the no-see-ums. Jungle tour tomorrow I reckon.
Sea Otter is following us and we are having a lot of fun with them. I miss Sand Dollar though and it will be fun to get back together with them.
Jen is doing great with the seasickness. So far (touch wood). Sammy is still using the toilet for her poop. This has been a major change.
We are having fun. I have got to sail waaaay more than I expected. Way more. Currently the wind is out of the NW around 15 knots and we are deeply beam reaching under full spread at around 7-8 knots. Jen has loved this passaged and the kids are having fun. Max speared a grouper fish yesterday and we added that to the potluck on Sea Otter. Max filleted it and I grilled it.
More later...

Sailing and some motoring

We had a beautiful day yesterday, hanging out in shorts and Tshirts, having water fights with the anchor spray down hose, enjoying frozen yogurt, and watching Lion King and Bug's Life. All of this while doing 7 knots under a full spread of sails in the ocean while we make our way to Isla Isabela. We are currently at:
N22 00.57
W106 20.86
29 miles out of the Isla. The wind died around 2200 yesterday and so we started to motor again. Haven't seen another boat. Not one. AIS has had 2 targets for the past 30 hours but they were 40 miles away. Dolphins at the boat last night around 2000 or so and they jumped out of the water with their silhouette outlining them among the stars. Just a sliver of moon last night and it was orientated in such a way that it was a perfect smile.
Max has been an absolute joy to have on the boat. The little kids are getting let off at Isabela if they don't chill. I kid. They have been great and we are having fun. They definitely want to get off the boat though and play in the surf. Hell, I want to do that!
It is fun watching Max handle himself around the adults and quite rightly thinks that he is one of them. He'll have occasional episodes of being a kid (rolling down the sand dune at Muertos. Got airborne! LOL!) which is a good thing. He has been helping Benny with his math and handling Sam with an ease that belies his years. He is going to be taking his finals soon.
Jen has been acting comfortable and seems to be enjoying this 280 mile trip on our floating little world. The conditions have been great but there always is a rolling while at sea (I constantly have Joan Jett's I love RocknRoll going through my head) and these are the conditions that haunted her in prior passages. So far, so good.
I have roared through most of my books so I started John Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez. Had me laughing out loud at his telling of the evil outboard motor that they brought with them. Good fun.



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Crossing the Sea

Good morning!
We are at LAT: 22 53 N
LON: 108 18 W
Appa is rumbling along at 7 knots or so with the motor on in search of wind. Forecasted to pick up later today.
Don't want to jinx it but Jen is not, I repeat NOT, seasick. Wearing pressure bands, premedicated with Zofran before we took off, and wearing the Scop patch. Not to mention all the voodoo that we have been practicing.
Heading for Isla Isabela to see blue footed boobies.
Max pulled the 0001 to 0300 shift last night and Jen did the 0300 to 0600 shift while I took the 0700 to 0745 shift. I'm union. They aren't.
Ben is also helping on the watches. He got up at 0500 and stood by with Jen. Sam is helping by still using the head for pooping so NO diapers in our trash!!!


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Back to Muertos

They say that La Paz has a bungee that gets tied to your keel and you ALWAYS come back. We are stretching that bungee now. At 0700 yesterday, I pushed the button to bring the Perkins rumbling to life and we slipped the dock lines. We were suppose to leave with Sea Otter, an Island Packet 38, but their son accidentally left his back pack at the charity auction on Sunday and they had to get it once the doors opened at 0800.  

We have been hanging out in La Paz for good weather for a crossing to the pacific coast of Mexico. The radio net has a weather guy on it and he keeps saying to wait for better weather.  His "better" weather is no wind and small waves.  I really don't want to motor for 300 miles.  So we left when to wind was suppose to be abating but not yet dying out.  

We motored out of the channel and once the water got clear, started making water. Made 60 gallons of water and then motored up Bahia La Paz to the San Lorenzo Channel.  Once there the wind started to build from the NW and we sailed the 38 miles downwind.  Great sail and the boat was loving it.  Jennifer not so much.  Seasickness once again had it's grip on her.  The wind had been blowing at 25+ knots for about a week so the seas were lumpy as hell.  We were in about 15 knots till the end when we made our turn to Muertos.  The wind funnels there and we made the run at 10 knot SOG with no waves and winds in the high 20s. It was great.  All seasickness vanished and we came in with the sun lighting the sky a fiery red.

Sea Otter showed up about 2 hours later and we went to the seaside shack here and had tacos and margaritas. Very bueno. 

This morning we woke to the boat floating on gin clear water.  You can see the boat's shadow on the sand 20 feet under us.  Pufferfish abound and I am so glad to be back at anchor in a beautiful bay.  

The weather has been nice and it sure doesn't feel like Christmas although the kids are not going to let me forget any time soon.  80 degrees out and a light breeze to keep the air moving.  Xmas displays were going up in La Paz as we left.  On the malecon in the center of town they started to set up their Christmas tree.  Huge metal tree.  HUGE!!!!  They had a stage near it blasting music out.  Dance music and then Mexican music.  Polka kinda sounding.  Amps were turned to 11.  It was loud.  

On another front, Sam started to use the toilet on the boat for her "poopies".  This is pretty huge. She made me look at her deposit and I was shocked at the amount. I thought Max didn't flush before she used it. She was very proud and I couldn't help but laugh and be happy with her.  Ahhhh.....it's the little things that make me happy.

So thoughts on being out here. 

I don't miss work although the people I worked with I miss.  Good crowd.  

I am surprised at how much I miss having fast internet.  Answers to all my questions instantly. Although  as time flies by, I am missing it less and less.  

There is no weather reports here that are "official".  Many, if not all, are done by amateurs but they seem to know what they are talking about.  I take it all with a grain of salt.

Home schooling is a concern still but again, as time goes on I realize that it doesn't matter as much as I think it does.  The kids will be ok.  We are muddling though it.  Max is doing well with his school work I think and that is a relief also.  

I don't miss my phone. At all.  I carry a vhf radio with me and that is our phone.  The sailing community lives on the radio nets out here.  Weather net, announcement nets, etc.  Almost like a small town switchboard operator.  You know who is calling who on the hailing channel which is channel 22 here, then you can listen in when they go to another channel and talk.  Half the time I get done with a conversation on another channel, another friend will break in and so on.  Most of the shops in town all monitor channel 22 including the restaurants. Just last night I hailed the restaurant 1535 on channel 22 and made reservations.  If you go out cruising, make sure you have a good vhf radio.  I replaced our antenna and all the wiring.  Same old head unit.  I can transmit and hear much better than most of our cruising friends.  Get your radio tuned up before you go.

We are eating out a lot more than I thought we would.  Food is pretty cheap and good.  We ate out last night and will again tonight probably as the restaurant has a pool and we like to swim in fresh water after an afternoon of snorkeling. 

I might be wrong on this next bit but I was told that our boat didn't have enough fuel capacity and we would be adrift if I didn't carry jerry jugs of fuel on the deck to supplement our main tank.  I haven't see the need yet.  I filled up in San Diego. I filled again in San Jose del Cabo but only took 20 gallons.  We have sailed a vast majority of the time.  Great wind.  Of course this will jinx the shit out of me and it'll be motoring from here on out.  We still carry 15 gallons in reserve but those jugs live in the vented and self draining locker we have. I hate having tanks on deck.  One good wave and it is goodbye tanks and stanchions holding them.  

More later.  I'm taking the kids snorkeling now.