Category: Voyages

Dear F&F,
Sunday Feb 17
We did not know that \”holding tank pumpout day\” was only on Thursdays. We missed it. With 3 of us onboard for 5 days, we really needed to take a dump, no pun intended. There was no other option but cast off the dock lines, motor out into the bay a polite 3 miles & empty out our refuse. As gross as that sounds, bear in mind that massive cruise ships do this routinely. And most of the boats here in the marina do not even using their holding tanks at all, or so we\’ve been told. Apparently, most of
them just flush directly overboard. It is common practice all over the world. Viva la difference… It was quite blustery in the bay, so we didn\’t do much more than the intended business & returned to the dock.

In the afternoon we went to the Nuevo Vallarta Yacht Club Sixth Annual Wine & Art Festival. Sounds more grand than it was. A lot of pesos for tiny pours of mostly not very good wine & mostly boaters homemade artwork. It was a benefit for a local women\’s charity so we made our contribution. Scott met the first boating couple we have run into so far that love to scuba dive. They gave us detailed GPS coordinates on many dive sites in places around Mexico we will be visiting soon. Where the water should
finally be warmer. It is still only 75 degrees here. Diving in 82+ degree water is really when you feel that you have arrived in the tropics (and Cindy does not feel like she needs to be in her dry suit!).

Mon/Tues Feb 18 & 19
Highlight was having Mary & Bill on our boat for dinner. Mary\’s BD is Feb 20 so we started the celebration early. I made sister Maria\’s famous cheesecake again with similarly fab results (had made it for Scott on Jan 25). We swapped stories, drank good wine that we\’ve been rationing from home & thanked them again for talking sense into us – to stay longer & really see & enjoy Mexico.

Weds Feb 20
Farewell to the dock & back to La Cruz anchorage. An entire 4 mile journey. Not worth putting up the sails for. We got settled in, washed the boat & headed to the beach with the dinghy. We were prepared for the \”wet landing\” & had not only shorts & water shoes, but our laptops in waterproof cases. We had learned of a pizza place,(Philo\’s) that is boater friendly with free WiFi. We spent nearly 5 hrs on our computers on two separate days: Skype calls, Scott ordering parts for our next visitor (sister
Alberta) to bring & me making the reservations for her to meet us in Manzanillo at the end of March. Did you all get to see the lunar eclipse? It was very cool. We all went outside the restaurant to view it. The sky was perfectly clear, it was a site to behold.

Tomorrow morning we will be up at 4:30 am in order to motor around the southern tip of Banderas Bay, called Cabo Corrientes while it is calm. That point has a reputation for strong winds against current from the opposite directions. Cabo Corrientes in Spanish means \”Cape of Currents\”. It is a similar phenomenon to Point Conception that many of you know in Southern California. We will continue traveling south enjoying the real heart of the Mexican Riviera over the next few months. Stay tuned…

Dear F&F,
Friday Feb 15
Sad day…Skye had to fly back to LA. The Hollywood Writers Guild strike coincidentally ended while she was with us & it is time to go back to LA & get another job. She\’s also studying for the GMAT, perhaps an MBA program in Fall 2009.

She made us promise to wear more sunscreen. Even though we had been in pretty cool climates up until Cabo & it seemed like we were covered up all the time, she pointed out the drastic contrast of her very pale skin to our getting a bit too dark & leathery faces. See photos on website. Of course she has been locked in an office building 12+ hrs/day during her 2 Warner Bros jobs over the past year. So a little vitamin D exposure went well with her SPF 30.
She & I took a cab to the airport. Scott & I tried to restrain ourselves on what we sent back with her. We are in constant discovery of what we need & what we aren\’t using, so we shuffle our stuff. Taking advantage of all visitors to bring stuff to us & take stuff away. I stayed at the airport with her until just before boarding time. We had Starbucks for old times sake. I was successful at not spilling tears with our parting hug. I had not been aware how much I have missed \”girl time\”. Skye gave
me a healthy dose that I soaked up fully. Bless you my child.

That evening Mary & Bill F. invited us on their boat for appetizers & a slideshow of their Mexico travels over the past 3 yrs. We got very excited about what lies ahead of us & they opened our eyes to the possibility of doing land based tours to Guadelajara & Copper Canyon (Mexico\’s much larger Grand Canyon).

Saturday Feb 16
Dustin Fox (Fox Marine), local gringo boat worker came & helped Scott with several projects for about 5 hrs. Poor guy has been ill & only managed to give us that one day. We stayed another 4 days (at the lousy dock) in the marina hoping he would reappear, but no luck. He is knowledgeable & skilled & we hope to get him for a few other projects on our way back through here in a couple of months.

It wasn\’t too hot that day, so I cooked some banana muffins & rice pudding. After dinner, other boat friends pulled into the marina. We first met Emmy & Eric (s/v Natarja) in the northern Channel Islands in October & have kept in touch with email. We were eager to talk story, so I invited them onboard, fed them a couple of hot dogs & was glad I had made dessert. They were \”ahead\” of us for a long time, but somehow we \”passed them\” & now we have \”caught up\” with each other again. In a way it is a
small community. By winlink email, radio contact & local gossip we keep track of our old & new boat friends.