Puerto Vallarta

December 18th,2009
Happy Holidays everyone! We are alive and well. Reluctantly, we left Isla Isabela heading southeast to San Blas around the 12th of December. We were a bit hesitant to explore San Blas as we were told the mosquitoes were prolific, I think we saw one during our brief stay at anchor. San Blas is a historical village immortalized by H.W. Longfellow’s final poem, The Bells of San Blas. Had a great breakfast, walk, re-provisioned and pushed off to our next anchorage: Chacala. What a beauty! If you ever want to get off the tourist track and stay on a lovely beach with a strong cultural component, this is it. If you enjoy the tropical jungle environment call us for an unbelievable hotel recommendation. Steve and I took a crazy walk one day and ended up on top of a crater and surprisingly this funky hotel built in the jungle (Anita, if you are reading this you would love this place) just appeared…..wild! This is where the picture was taken of Steve behind bars. Again, reluctantly, we left Chacala for Punta Mita, a rather first class place on the northern end of Banderas Bay. I was in need of primping and a bit whiny so Steve took me out to a fabulous Italian dinner. We found a hotel and almost checked into it but Steve was unwilling to spend $450 a night, maybe on Valentines Day. We then cruised another 10 miles south to La Cruz where are friends on Rocinante had a condo. Spent a couple of days boogie boarding, swimming in pools, listening to great music and re-provisioning via long expensive bus rides which prompted us to pull anchor and head into Puerto Vallarta which is where we are now. I have typed this entry in two segments and presently it is December 20th and things are beginning to look like Christmas around the Lady J. When we have power…….and everything revolves around power…..I hang up the Christmas lights in the cockpit. I guess I’d better take a picture! The boat is spic and span, Steve has spent the past couple of days upgrading our batteries, and tomorrow we will leave PV and sail out of Banderas Bay south round Cabo Corrientes perhaps to Bahia Chamela. We will be accompanied by our buddy boat Rocinante and no TV, internet, power, or family for Christmas. Vicky is baking a Turkey and I will bake the pumpkin pie. I so wish you all could join us for this fabulous journey we are on, but in my heart I truly would rather be with all of you for the holidays. Much love, and Feliz Navidad!

Jam Session on Lady J

ISLA ISABELA

December 11, 2009
I think we have found paradise! This is a remarkable island totally uninhabited except for the fishermen who populate a small beach off our bow. The island is 20 miles off shore, the exact position for those of you using google earth is: 21.50.6N, 105.52.7. Huge flocks of birds populate what feels like every square inch. Blue and yellow-footed boobies along with frigate birds, terns and gulls live in on the cliffs and nest in the trees. Even Steve tip toes through the groves so as to not disturb the mating pairs and babies. The blue-footed boobies are my favorite as their young are covered in snow white down. It is amazing how they allow us to walk literally a foot away, sometimes closer. I’m talking thousands and thousands of birds. Jacque Cousteau protected this island from development in 1980 as it was one of his favorite places. We have had some amazing walks along cliffs and lava shorelines. And the weather, well it’s always clear, hot, and humid with a slight breeze blowing.
Today is Friday (if it were not for this computer I would be unsure) and we arrived on Wednesday morning around 7:00am. Our departure from Mazatlan began around noon with the spinnaker gently blowing us past the tourist beach and south 150.° We had two remarkable encounters with whales on this journey the first being the most spectacular. We had just finished lowering the genacker into its sock (this is no easy task for just Steve and I…we miss you Amy) and literally 25 feet off our starboard side I saw a massive whale swimming parallel to us much like a dolphin would do. I shouted to Steve, as we are all a little paranoid of whales due to the incident that occurred during our first leg on the Haha, and he calmly replies, “Look, he’s playing with us.” So,this journey began playing with whales. There were two of them, which looked to be as long as our boat (39’) side by side and they gradually spouted away off our stern and we continued to have multiple sightings the entire way to Isabela.
I went snorkeling yesterday and saw a manta ray, turtles and lots of various tropical fish. I have never snorkeled in such deep water and the reefs were incredible off the cliffs. Great exercise! We spent hours mindlessly swimming amongst the treasures of the sea. Lots of jellyfish and the biggest danger is sharks……haven’t seen any yet but this bay is named Bahia Tiburoneros which means shark in Espanola.
We also had our first jam session on the Lady J. Our buddy boat Rocinante has musicians aboard and they joined us for dinner with a bag of musical instruments and five of us serenaded to the sound of the sea till the wee hour of 9:00pm. We have only two other boats at anchor with us and I’m sure we provided interesting entertainment for them and the fishing village! We leave tomorrow for San Blas 45 miles southeast. Things we need: A water maker, solar panels, more ice, scented candles, sunflower seeds (can’t find them in Mexico mainland) a bigger battery, sweet ginger for bread and chocolate. The fishermen love chocolate for trade. They arrive at our boat every morning with fresh fish. They really are not interested in money and ask for things like water, candy, clothing and smiles! Great people here and life is simple. However, there is a penal colony of four islands southwest of us called Islas Tres Marias which is patrolled by the Mexican Navy and is to be avoided at all cost. I’d love to do a research project on that! We often mention how the prisoners live in paradise out here in the middle of no where….yet I’m sure life is quite miserable for them. Enough said for now, love you all!

Local Drug Dealer

Feeling Groovy

Sunset crossing the Sea of Cortez

MAZATLAN

December 3, 2009

We did it! We crossed the Sea of Cortez. This crossing took us about 42 hours. We slowed way down and took the sails in around midnight as we had to delay our approach until daylight. This is typical when pulling into a new port as one never knows what may lurk close to shore. Speaking of………………… we were sailing ever so quietly and slowly into Mazatlan on November 30th (the morning of Steve’s birthday roughly 6:00am, and it was dark) and suddenly Steve heard a rather large splash. As I arrived in the cock pit we both witnessed a huge spouting whale with a rather intimidating growl sound. We should have turned on the motor (this is what THEY say) or at least music to let them know we were in their playground but ohhhhhhhhhhhh noooooooooooo we heard and saw a few more swashes and thankfully avoided a collision. There is definitely whale paranoia amongst the fleet (okay, mostly with the women). But seriously, you should make noise as their neuro-receptor sensors (just Google it, or call Ali) are different than that of the dolphin. It was a freaky event for both of us, exciting nonetheless. We are in the Mazatlan Marina, dock 4, slip 23 and for those of you interested in finances we are paying about $23 a night, that is with the baja haha discount and if we pay for four nights we get three for free. So much to Steve’s dismay we will stay an entire week before departing to Isla Isabela. Steve likes to keep going and I am one that likes to stop, relax, stay awhile, socialize, cook, eat and enjoy the new surroundings. Steve is taking very good care of me as he knows traveling is tough on my equilibrium. I did not get sick crossing the SOC but it was touch and go at times and hey, we are in no hurry to get anywhere. Therefore, Sunday morning the 6th we will push off again. Steve would like to get to Zihuantanejo for Christmas but I’m not sure we will sail that quickly. Apparently the anchorages between here and Z-town are absolutely divine and my plan is to enjoy, snorkel, fish and RELAX. Today we will pick up our new hammock that we special ordered from a local (cotton seat and nylon handles) and I need to purchase a few kitchen utensils such as a cheese grater and a juice squeezer. Our laundry is being done for a mere 45 pesos folded and all, and I do miss the simple act of a one flush toilet. We are walking several miles every day and our diet includes lots of shrimp here in the shrimp capital of the world. We are still traveling with new found friends on the Rosenante and are never bored or lonely. Thanksgiving was a tough day for me as I missed all of you and was sick. I was also irritated because there is a pumpkin shortage over here and I couldn’t even make a pie……we had to have Kahlua and ice-cream instead. I know, you feel sorry for us! We haven’t had any visitors yet but I did get to spend a few hours with Susie Webster, my sister-n-law who is a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines. We are thinking about a short vacation to the mainland in January to visit our parents and family……….but would much rather you all come visit us here in sunny Mexico. The above photo is of Steve caught in a squall while crossing the SOC, our first rain since we left Seattle on October 15th).