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Dear F&F,

February 12th
Some of you have asked about the night watches. So far we are doing 4 hrs
shifts. We haven\’t done more than 2 full days & 2 full nights at sea yet, so
it isn\’t that tough. Actually, it\’s probably tougher to do short coastal
passages versus long ocean passages as we have a harder time initially
adapting to the sleep pattern. In a longer ocean voyage, we would develop a
rhythm.

Usually I try to make & clean up dinner before dark. Then I take the 6-10 pm
shift. Scott is often still up for a couple hours with me, but I try to get
him to at least lie down for a while. Then I go to bed from 10 pm – 2 am.
Often I don\’t sleep too much, but try to just rest. Then I am up from 2-6
am. For some reason Cindy likes
this shift. She has been a light sleeper so it is not hard for her to get up
at 2 am. There are so many stars, it\’s truly amazing when you get away from
the light pollution from the land. There are also a lot of other ships to
look out for: tankers, cargo, cruiseships. We see them miles away with our
AIS gizmo. The AIS gizmo, is like a transponder that aircraft use. Our
instruments identify commercial shipping up to 100++ miles away. It tells
us their name, radio call sign, speed, location, compass heading and a lot
more including where they are headed. Cindy prefers to wake Scott up if
there is any concern about being on a collision course. He gets on the radio
& asks them if they see us & if either of us need to alter our course or
speed. So far all have been responsive & the system has worked very well for
us. Because it is daylight or nearly sunrise when Scott comes on watch at 6
am, Cindy is more relaxed knowing the captain is in charge she finally
sleeps pretty well from about 630-930 am.

We won\’t have to do any overnight trips for quite a while now & that is
fabulous as day sails are easier. These 1-2 nighters are the toughest. But
as we decided we won\’t cross the Pacific for over a year, we will have more
time to enjoy the Mexican mainland & Sea of Cortez. (Also known as the \”Gulf
of California\”).
KIT,
Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

February 10th……continued
After the dinghy ride around Punta de Mita it was warm enough that I decided
to go swimming. There were about 10 boats anchoraged besides us. A few
pangas zipping around & a couple of jet skis zooming about. Enough traffic
that I did laps under the boat (for fear of getting run over). I wore my
dive skin, mask, snorkel, fins, shark shield & jumped in. Scott is adamant
that we wear our shark shield whenever in the ocean. There is a velcro strap
around your ankle & a 4 ft trailing antenna that gives off an electrical
pulse that sharks don\’t like. I didn\’t really notice it was on after a
while. That 72 degree water was pretty brisk, but as long as I kept moving,
not bad. It felt terrific to be in the water again. It had been a month
since I\’d last swam. Scott jumped in too & we finished our workout by wiping
down the waterline of both hulls with soft rags. We had the bottom cleaned
by a diver in San Diego & since we got new bottom paint in Ventura in
September, there isn\’t much growth sticking, just an algae slime coat.
Cleaning the bottom gives a nice cardio workout. Trying to wipe the hulls
down & hold your body position with nothing to grab onto & stabilize
yourself. I rather enjoyed that. Which is a good thing, because we will need
to do it a lot more now that we are traveling in warmer waters, the growth
grows faster & you need to stay on top of it to keep the paint in good
shape.

After a shower & lunch, we pulled up anchor & motored the 8 miles to where
we are now (La Cruz de Huanacaxtle). Since we didn\’t get ashore yet I don\’t
know what the main attraction is here, but it obviously a popular spot since
there are nearly so many boats. We are moving again later today (now 2 am so
definitely later…) to a marina at Nuevo Vallarta called Paradise Village.
We know another boat couple that have been in Mexico for 3 yrs & they really
like it there. We wanted a secure place to leave the boat while we go to the
airport to meet Skye. Scott gave her a shopping list a mile long, so we
expect she will be loaded down with suitcases full of boat stuff. P.V. is an
easy place to fly into & since the Writers Strike is still going, she is
still on unemployment. We are excited to see her. It is only for 5 days. Not
sure if we will just stay at the dock the whole time or take her anywhere
else. She is not much of a sailor, so we may just stay at the dock so it is
easy to get off & the boat & walk around. One of the things she is bringing
us is new wiring for our wind instruments. We have not had our wind speed or
direction indicator functioning since we left Ensenada. I really miss that
information. Of course when it\’s really blowing it\’s probably just as well
to not see those big numbers on the gauge, but I will be happy if we can get
it working again. I hoisted Scott up the mast when we were last at a dock,
but he didn\’t have all the equipment he needed to get it working. We also
got a referral for a marine electrician in Nuevo Vallarta, so hopefully he
can help Scott with the several things that are not fully functional.

We have decided to spend another year in Mexico. We were just feeling like
our schedule would be very rushed trying to see the entire Gold Coast of
Mexico, all of Central America & make a decision whether to cross to the
south Pacific in June or summer in Ecuador. So even though we originally had
not considered spending a season in the Sea of Cortez, we now will be. This
change of itinerary has made us feel much more relaxed. We know it gets very
hot in the sea, especially in Aug & Sept. Many boaters park there boat at a
dock & fly \”home\” avoiding the worst of the heat. We don\’t really have
anywhere to go other than being guests of friends & family for a week or 2.
I want to go visit my Dad this summer, so will use the easy opportunity of
flying out of La Paz or Loreto to do that. Scott thinks he will stay with
the boat, but we\’ll see what we find once we get up there. We may try to do
a tour of \”Copper Canyon\” (Mexico\’s EXTRA Grand Canyon) on the mainland of
Mexico, adjacent to \”The Sea\” (Sea of Cortez).

That\’s about all the update for now. If you haven\’t been to the website
lately Scott has put on many new photos. Don\’t miss the elephant seals &
whales.
www.svbeachhouse.com

Regards,
Cindy & Scott

Dear F&F,

February 10th
Right now we are anchored at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. There are about 40-50
cruising boats are here. There is a brand new marina, but hardly any boats
are inside at those new docks. Why pay when you can anchor for free? The
docks are not attractive because you can\’t easily walk to the town from the
new marina. And apparently the water there is not potable. There is a lot
of construction along the coast everywhere we go. More and more condos &
hotels. I am afraid Mexico is becoming Orange County & ruining much of its
natural beauty. Anyway, we did not go to shore yet here because we didn\’t
realize it required a \”wet landing\” from the dinghy. Meaning we need to be
in shorts & water shoes in order to beach the dinghy & pull it up with its
flip-down wheels & drag it up (heavy) out of the surf. So we just cruised
around the anchorage & met another couple we had spoke to on the radio –
friends of friends that we had helped do a radio relay for. When Boat A
can\’t hear Boat B via VHF (short distance) radio, sometimes we can act as
Boat C & relay the message between A & B. Scott is very big on boating
communication & loves to help whenever he can. Anyway, I had really been
looking forward to a walk onshore, but it was getting late & instead we came
back & had dinner.

Last night we arrived at 11 pm into Punta de Mita after a day/night/long day
at sea after departing San Jose de Cabo where we were at a dock for 2
nights. It is just 15 miles north of Cabo. Prior to that we had anchored out
in Cabo (open roadstead) for 4 days. Cabo was quite a culture shock after
the isolation of Magdelena Bay. The good part of Cabo was being able to take
the dinghy to a dock & walk around (dry landing). The bad part was the daily
cruise ships with their tourist shuttle boats zooming by & then all the
people in jet skis, parasailing boats & glass bottom boats & day fishing
charter boats zooming around & through the anchorage making for a really
rolly anchorage during the day. At night it was just fine. We were far
enough off shore not to hear the noise of the bars & restaurants & I enjoyed
seeing the lights of the hotels & condos. It was quite pretty. Kind of like
Palm Desert at the beach. They have kept the height of the buildings down,
so it is not (yet) Miami Beach or Vegas. But very developed with much
construction still going on.

So the 15 mile trip from Cabo to the marina at San Jose de Cabo should have
been a piece of cake, but instead we had wind of 20+ knots on the nose &
pounded into pretty big swell for 3 hrs. It was pretty tiring & we felt kind
of beat up upon arrival. There was a lot of current & surge even at the
dock, so I didn\’t enjoy a good sleep there even though it cost us $50 a
night to stay there. And they didn\’t even how power or good internet
connection. We did however get to use the dock hose & gave the boat a good
wash down. The main reason we went there was to pick up our resident visas
that we had shipped by our agent in Ensenada. They took longer to process
than we anticipated, but Carlito (from Ensenada who helped us with our
Visas) sent them to the DHL office & that worked out fine. We also got some
generator spare parts sent there. We took advantage of the cab ride into
town to do marketing. There are a lot of gringos living in that area. There
was a huge (Costco size) store called Mega, that had very nice produce,
panaderia, tortilleria & I spent $350 in 2 hrs. So we are well equipped for
a while.

The weather reports indicated decent conditions to make the passage across
Banderas Bay to Puerto Vallarta area. Well, so far we have always had more
wind & rougher seas than indicated on the weather charts. The sea was
hitting us from the side, which makes for a very uncomfortable & wet ride.
We were a bit slow to reef the main & put up our side isinglass which can
protect us from spray into the cockpit & I got a complete baptism with a
breaking wave into the cockpit. It was still cold & I was pretty crabby &
just not entirely psyched up for the conditions that we were in. Nothing to
do but press on. Scott described the conditions as \”boisterous\”. I had other
words…Eventually the wind & sea subsided and by morning we had to motor.
It really warmed up the 2nd day. We had crossed the Tropic of Cancer on our
way from Magdelena Bay to Cabo, but only as we crossed toward mainland
Mexico did we start to feel the chill in the air lessen.

We never like to enter a new place in the dark, but we had talked to s/v
\”Fantasia\” (Jeff) and he gave us good landmarks & guidance for entering. We
were here eleven years ago, but approached from the South and now we would
be approaching from the North. We did not feel like bobbing around outside
the bay for another full night, so we made our way cautiously into Punta de
Mita. Our night vision scope really made the difference as we could easily
see the detail of Tres Marietas Islands approaching in the dark.

Many people had told us how beautiful this place was. It is pretty but
again, with overdeveloped. I think it has lost some of its appeal. There
was no easy place to beach the dinghy, too much breaking surf, but we did
take a tour along the coast. Many gorgeous gringo homes. Reminded us of
Montecito/Santa Barbara area. We can\’t imagine how it is for these Mexican
construction workers building mansion after mansion on these beautiful
beaches & then returning to their humble domains. The contrast between the
haves & the have-nots is definitely in your face down here.