Dec 26th Shopping

We have all heard about the downturn in the economy so Jenny and I decided to do our best to improve the situation in the Romantic Area of Puerta Vallarta. We set off early on Dec 26th by ponga on a wild ride over rough water. We should have known better when we saw our "Capitan" was no more than 10 years old!! His father was on board to supervise his protege and all things considered it was a safe ride, just bumpy.

I know you are not suppose to eat anything from the street vendors but the shrimp looked so good and Andy and I were sooo hungry. I got the shrimp stick and Andy got the Marlin stick, wow were they great. They looked very hot and spicy but they were not. Can not explain the red sauce but I loved it. So after our taste of Mexico we were off to find more fun things

These pareos were beautiful, the picture is not doing them any justice. There are two large iguanas with intricate cutouts and stitching. Of course the opening bid for two was 960 pesos and after several no thank yous and two walk aways Jenny was the proud owner of both pareos for a little over 600 pesos

Andy was not sure how much could go into Jen's bag but she kept finding little special things that she had to have, a dress for a friends new baby, t shirts for the guys back home, a belt for mom and several small bowls for out on her new patio. Well, maybe I exaggerate--some of those things I bought but they all went into her bag!!

So instead of fighting the crowds at Macy's for all those specials the day after Christmas we were strolling through the vendor stalls along the river front in Puerto Vallarta. We worked up quite a thirst so decided to stop at the Riverfront Cafe for margaritas before heading home for some beach time.


While enjoying his margarita Rog looked up to see an iguana perched in the tree right above our heads. Not funny, not funny at all. Earlier in the day Scott Rader had spotted an iguana climbing up a dock line onto his neighbors boat. I think I will be closing up the boat when I go to sleep nights now.

We finally made it back to the beach for a little r and r after a hard day of shopping. We found out that Rob and Stacy were napping after a hard morning of relaxing, Bill was fast asleep after reading a book so that left Gail on the beach along with our friends Sue and Scott. Scott was busy ordering a round of beers for all and if you look closely, Rog has a book in his hands. He has turned into a voracious reader down here since we have no cable tv to keep him entertained. Poor boy, no playoff football!!

When Jenny finally made it to the beach after all her shopping, Rog and I left her alone with Andy to go tequila tasting, she was completely shopped out. The rest of the day she graciously said "no gracias" to everything offered by the vendors.

So that is how we spent the day after Christmas in Puerta Vallarta. Hope all of you had just as much fun as we did. Remember, it could be you next year bargaining with the vendors on the beach in 85 degree weather and very sunny skies.

Day Trip Yelopa

We decided to take a day trip over to Yelopa but no one knew exactly where it was. It did not show up on the E120 charts at all so we headed blindly out to sea this morning. We did have Charlie's Charts and it gave us a waypoint so we did have some idea of where we were going. Bill, Scott and Rog discussed our options and settled on the waypoints in the book.

While the guys on the back were plotting our course we sat on the bow of the boat keeping a lookout for whales. We did see several off in the distance but nothing up close. Hammock time was enjoyed by Cindy.

As we entered the bay we were pleasantly surprised to be met by a ponga that took us directly to a mooring ball and then loaded us up for the trip ashore. That sure beat trying to get eight adults in a six person dingy.

Rog met a new friend

We decided a toast was necessary to all our friends back home braving the cold snap. We have heard stories or 45 degree highs for the day. Not what we are seeing down here. We wake up to 72 degrees in the morning and highs of 85 during the day. And the air conditioning is working beautifully right now.

We did head over to the waterfalls but only made it part way. The stairs were just too much for my knee!! But we did get far enough to take beautiful pictures

Those of you who know Rog very well can tell from this picture that one of his favorite songs is playing on our stereo. I think it was something from the sound track to Love Actually. What a perfect end to a beautiful day, singing Christmas carols while sailing in Mexico with good friends on Di's Dream. The girls all all taking tomorrow off to go to the spa so that the guys can go run around the bay on jet skies. We are just trying to keep them happy.

Dinner for seven

Dinner at the Vallarta Yacht Club was enjoyed by Rog, our son Joe, myself, Sue and Scott, and their boat guests Cory and Cindy. Other club members had to share their own fishing stories with us, some great, some not so great.

After a wonderful day of fishing we had the yacht club prepare our fish. What a job they did, breaded dorado, garlic dorado and grilled dorado. None of us could agree on which we liked best, it was all amazing. There was so much fish that we have enough for an another complete meal.

Great day for fishing

Joe came down for a fishing excursion so we felt it was necessary to join him today. I went along not knowing what to expect other than knowing that most people get very seasick on fishing trips. Today was the exception to that rule. The weather was beautiful, seas very calm and the fish were everywhere. The only problem, the fish just were not very hungry. The captain explained at the end of the day that during full moon the fish feed all night long and are not very hungry during the day. I am here to tell you that he was not pulling our leg. I was a spotter most of the day and saw many dorado that just went right by our bait as if it was not even there.

At the end of the day we turned towards home and another boat took our fishing spot only to catch a very large marlin!! We watched them fight the fish as we headed to shore knowing that we gave up just a moment too soon

As we left the docks we were very excited about the prospects for the day. Sue and Scott Rader joined us along with their boat guest Cindy.

Rog was in the right place at the right time as he was the first one handed the pole. We had no idea that this would be the only large fish we would catch.

If you look at the picture closely you will see the dorado just before we brought it in

I had nothing to do with catching the fish but Rog was more than happy to share his good fortune with me. I was not too keen on getting that close to such a big fish that was still flopping around

He really was a big guy

Rog was not sure that he would not drop the fish!!

Fun Shots in La Paz

Our first day in La Paz Rog and I went for a LONG WALK around town. We took local transportation down to Marina La Paz to join friends for a cup of coffee. After a bit it was decided that we all needed to head up to the local version of West Marine. Of course Monday was a holiday and they were closed so no necessary purchases were made. There were two of the meanest dogs guarding the place too--scared the daylights out of us.

I was in love with all beautiful gardens we passed along the way. I had to take a picture of this Ficus Benjamin--I could never get one to grow this big back home. They usually last all of a year and then just start losing their leaves.

On our walk around town I could not believe my eyes when I found this dress shop. The dresses are unbelievably beautiful, must be meant for pageants?? My daughter knows exactly how I reacted to finding such unusual gowns on a back street in La Paz.

The main reason we had gone to La Paz was to meet up with our good friend Sergio. Those of you that have seen all the stainless work he did on our boat know how much we appreciate him. We had a great visit with him and his lovely wife Lupe. We were treated to a fabulous tour of La Paz and then treated to an amazing meal at their home. On our next visit to La Paz we agreed to take Sergio and his wife out sailing to the nearby islands and then she is going to give me a few cooking lessons.

Sergio's new home included a cabana / pool area. Mexico is looking more inviting all the time

Puerto Vallarta arrival

This is not your local Safeway!!
Sunset at PV the day of arrival

Leaving Muertos for Mazatlan--good bye for now

Today is Tuesday a day off to clean and ready the boat for the Banderas Bay Bash. After the overnight from El Cid and a night out on the hook in front of Frank’s place in La Cruz a good fresh water bath is in order. The Bash is a three leg cruisers rally for charities starting in PV going to La Cruz for the night to party at the new Marina. We have heard a lot about the new sky lounge above the restaurant and of course music at Philos. From la Cruz a 2 hour sail to Punta Mita for a night of fun and celebration, Then to end it all we sail back to PV all a down wind spinnaker trip that should be a blast!

The Bay is full of sea life as we saw numerous whales breaching on the way in from Mazatlan right off the point, but just shortly after that the rod and reel start to sing….fish on????? Not really….A hungry gull saw our lure, hit it and took off with it!!! Not a pretty sight with wings a flapping madly so I quickly cut the line and he flew off with some new jewelry on its lower lip.

Time to write has been scarce and the sunrises and sunsets during the passages have been spectacular. The nature in the sea where the desert meets the sea is a sight to behold.

Di and I are looking forward to R+R after the Bash in the Bay. The resort here at Paradise Village is full and we are so blessed to have met so many new and old friends here. Anyone who is looking for a great spot to veg out and unwind should consider this place. It may not quite be a breathtaking as be Barra Navidad at the Grand Isle but what else on this planet is? It is really nicely maintained and in short proximity to the airport and all the spots anyone could want just a short bus or cab ride away.

Anyway, Di has her cheek healing up much better now and is the best crew and mate one could ever ask for. Everything is fun and exciting and time is flying by so quickly. It won’t be long and we will be focusing on our return in February so we can get ready for the spring show and all the folks who will have the chance to outfit the boat to take them on their adventures.

Feel free to email us back with any questions on gear, provisioning or any other thoughts and we will be able to respond quickly as we are now hooked up to email for the month of December here in Paradise Village.

Keep the pointy end forward and the water on the outside!

Rog and Di

Amazing Shoreline

We anchored right offshore of this headland in Ensenda Grande. What a sight to see.

The lacy top layer hangs down like icicles over the sculpted bedrock in fasinating shapes along the shoreline in Ensenda Grande

Trading for fish

When we left La Paz for the two islands just off the coast we did not know what we would find. We had heard there was fantastic snorkeling, incredible cliffs and beautiful anchorages. However, no one told us we would be able to trade two hats and two drinks for calamari!! We had taken off on a kiyak exploration our first morning in Caleta Partida Cove when we heard the fisherman on the beach calling out to us about calamari. Of course we had to check it our and with Kat doing most of the talking, she does well speaking Spanish, we learned that they wished to trade fish for hats and cold drinks. This we could do.

They even delivered the fish right to our boat. Not sure exactly how much we got but it was enough to split in half so that both boats had more than they could possibly eat at one meal. Now that we are at El Cid we will take the huge fillets to the chef and he will bread and deep fry what we have left.

The day after our trade we were brought another delivery of dorado fillets for two shirts and a pair of tweezers!! I might run out of hats or shirts eventually but I would be well fed if I stayed here longer.

Swimming with the sea lions

On Monday we went to the northern most islands off Isla Partida which are called Los Isolotes and is inhabited by a sea lion colony. We read in Charlie's Charts that you can actually swim with the sea lions if you are brave enough. Rog and I were both very hesitant to say the least but after putting on our wet suits we were so hot we had to dive right in. We were quickly surrounded by dozens of sea lions that were very curious about us. We had been told not to feed the sea lions or even extend our hands towards them. Jay Watt got a little nip on his second dive of the day.

We had gone to Islas Espiritu Santo and Partida on Thurs to explore the beauty and wildlife. We were joined by the Watt family on Kat Den Rie and the recent college grads on Triumph. Gary just received his degree in marine biology so we learned so much. He had a great underwater camera and took most of these amazing pictures.

The sea lions loved to roll around just like puppies, diving deep kept them busy all morning.

This sea lions looks very curious about the bubbles come up from down below--do we have a diver in the water??

The sea lions loved to play and wrestle. We have twenty diving around our boat for the better part of the day. Snorkeling in the area was amazing too. Huge schools of fish were everywhere,



By the end of the day we were all very tired and I had a little problem getting out of our dingy and onto Triumph. I slipped when boarding the trimaran and you can see the results in this picture of me. It sure gets a lot of comments but I hope this fades quickly. All in all this was a wonderful adventure and I am so glad we joined the others on the outing.

We lost a day

We arrived in La Paz after a beautiful trip. Once again Rog hooked up the big one--but this time he got away without taking anything with him. I was down taking a nap when I felt the boat lurch, thought something had hit us. As soon as the engine slowed I knew we had "fish on" so I prepared the net and gaff. By the time I got back into the cockpit the fish was gone and we never saw it. But we sure felt it!!

We were suprised to learn it was Sat. when we checked into Marina Palmera. What happened, we were sure it was only Friday. Where did we lose a day?? We are not sure but that is what cruising is all about, letting Rog relax in the hammock and Di just keeping a close eye on everything.

We got up early Friday morning after spending the night at anchor in Ensenada De Los Muertos to make our passage to La Paz. Not sure how long it was really going to take we had the anchor up at 6am. Not my usual time to get up but if we wanted to get into La Paz before nightfall we decided to leave at first light. It turned out to be another beautiful day of motor sailing north. Winds were light, current strong and the islands we passed were huge and incredibly beautiful. Rounding Punta Prieta and seeing La Paz for the first time was exciting.
Thursday were went from Los Frailes to Ensenda de los Muertos. We were able to sail half this leg and arrive well before dark. I tried my Internet just for fun and found I had a very strong signal. However, if you look at the picture above you can see that we were out in the middle of nowhere!! We met up with several boats from the Ha Ha to learn that a golf course was being built by a former football player just past the sand dunes!! There is a beautiful boat launch under construction too--so anybody coming down next year please let us know what has gotten finished.

Los Frailes looked very inviting after our bash up the coast. We saw 25knts of wind right on our nose on this passage. The anchorage looked calm but the wind continued to blow for another day and a half. We did enjoy a morning of snorkling and an evening of fine dining on Kat Dan Rie. Nobody pulled anchor so all was well

Tues Morning

Rog was tried after our stay in Cabo so he decided to catch a few zzzs in his hammock on the way up to Los Frailes. Of course we did not know at the time what lay in store. Another noserly for Rog!!!

Cabo Evening

After all the excitement of the Ha Ha we decided to chill out in Cabo for a few extra days. We moved Di's Dream from the noise of docks and close by cantinas to the peace and quiet of the anchorage. Well, we thought it would be quiet but all the little jet skis and pongas woke us bright and early. Doesn't anyone ever sleep in Cabo??

Saturday Night Awards

The final night!!

A fabulous evening with new and old friends alike celebrating a fast and warm Ha Ha! Such a great time with humor and sea stories all based primarily on recent experiences that we can all relate to after better than a week "out there".

In our Jalapeno division of eleven boats Di's Dream finished 2nd just minutes behind the first place boat that sailed day and night with a radial chute a pole out, and an all guy crew! I think we are very happy with the speed and performance of Di"s Dream as we take the chute down and sail with white sails only after dark. Should the wind or sea conditions warrant being more cautious with one helmsman managing the boat we always consider the safety of the crew first.

Everyone on the boat played a big part in the process as it was comfortable and a fun trip even with a couple exciting moments and situations like anchoring at one am in Bahia Santa Maria with no moon and 20-30 knots of gustong wind and a dead spot light!

Di and Rog at Awards

Congratulations from the winning skipper Tom

A few thoughts from Rog and Richard.....

The first ever one design fleet for the Ha Ha in 15 years! Eleven Catalina 42's!!!!

Farallone Yachts provided hats and very nice Tequila to each Catalina 42 skipper

in honor of such great support from these Catalina Yachts owners and crews.

Frank Butler and Catalina Yachts sent a nice letter to the Grand Poobah and owners congratulating them on their support and spirit for the 15th anniversary Baja Ha Ha.