Merry Christmas

I know it has been way too long since my last post but Rog and I have been very, very busy what with having to find Christmas presents for Santa to bring to Nicholas. We shouldn't have worried though because so so many people worried that there might not be anything under the tree for him that it is now impossible to walk by the tree! Well, it might not be quite that bad but he sure is going to be busy Christmas morning and after opening presents he will play hosts to friends on the islands and a few just sailing by. To our surprise, Judy & Torben Bentsen in the sailing boat Tivoli are anchored just offshore in the Georgetown harbor and will join us for Christmas brunch.

We will return to the boat shortly to begin our cruising season. Di's Dream has been in a slip way to long and she will attach herself to the muddy bottom on Banderas Bay if we don't get going soon. But First we must take a trip back to Carmel to celebrate my father and r

emember fondly all the stories he so loved to tell. We lost Dad on Dec 23rd after 96 wonderful years so we all need to get together to toast him with " in your eye" with his favorite Rob Roy Perfect cocktail .

This beautiful picture of Di's Dream crossing the finish line of leg three of the Blast was taken by Janet of the power boat Ozzie. According to her husband Jim,who was crewing for us, she has never centered a boat in a picture before! She certainly caught our boat in this picture and the following just perfectly.

If you look closely at this picture you will notice how flat the seas are, no waves, no sea chop which means no wind. At 3 1/2 miles from the finish the boat spread was all of 3.5 knots and quickly dropping. The guys had to get across the finish before the wind dropped completely.

The team got the spinnaker down and away quickly, they must have wanted that cold beer waiting on the docks pretty badly. I think they were hungry too!

There is certainly more of a wake behind Di's Dream as Rog motors her into the harbor than when they were sailing but that is ok. It was a wonderful three day adventure that had raised lots of money for school supplies for the children of Punta de Mita and we were happy to participate.

I took this last picture from the beach rather than at the end of the jetty where Janet was shooting. It had been an overcast afternoon but the sun kept trying to break through. Temperature was still very comfortable and all the beach chairs occupied to watch the boats sail across the finish.

Results not in yet

Wednesday was the start of the Banderas Bay Blast and we thought we were ready to go but our dockmate Mic was convinced we needed a little more bottom cleaning. Turns out he was very right because the winds were certainly light for the first leg of the three day event. Hopefully there will be more today.

Rog and our crew member Rog did a great job of supervising the last moment scrup. We had planned a boys day race so the girls were off at the beach having a "cold one" while we awaited the start off the Paradise jetty. We were very confused because we thought Rog was over early until he headed back to take the start perfectly timed. However, this being a very informal race people were starting at will so the girls on the beach just couldn't quite tell when the start actually was. Rog looked to be a little late.

So with plans for a great three days of sailing Rog has left the docks. Our crew will be returning home every night and hopefully returning for more fun. No injuries along the way is what we are shutting for.

Busy,busy weekend

We did not have our family down for the holiday weekend but we did get to spend the afternoon with a wonderful group of cruising friends. Gily and John Foy hosted twenty cruisers to the most amazing turkey dinner. They did all the cooking and we brought wine and sailing stories. Rog was given the enviable job of testing both the BBQ turkey and the oven roasted one. He couldn't decide which one he liked better so Renee finally had to separate him from the platter!

Gilly was still smiling after a very long day in the kitchen. Notice the heaping platter of turkey, we went through all that!

John was busy getting caught up with friends from the 2007 Ha Ha. We were one of the few friends that had not come down on that Ha Ha. Jake of the sailing vessel Jake has become my mentor for the single side band.

Richard had volunteered to do the dishes knowing full well that Gilly's dishwasher was on the fritz and he made good on his promise. He even did all the pots and pans. He can come to dinner on my boat any time he wants.

Saturday we finally got Di's Dream off the dock after three failed attempts. We had planned on sailing last weekend but Rog irritated his back to the extent that he was down for two complete days. Next attempt to go out was on Tuesday, however after a quick game of tennis, quick because he sprained his ankle big time, so that day we stayed tied to the docks. Finally on Saturday we took off for the short sail over to La Cruz. It is only 5 miles so it really was a short sail.

We did have one little hic up as we were trying to leave the dock, no bow thruster! Rog has grown to love that little toy and was really disappointed when he didn't hear that garbage disposal sound coming from the bow. Being a little creative he was able to use a wire to jump start the thruster. We were off.

Our good friend Captain Rob out on the docks to give us a proper send off. Last year Rob had been on the beautiful 1956 90 ft Rhodes motor sailer Sea Diamond. After spending the summer in the Med as her captain he is now on the 165ft power boat Piano Bar.

We finished Saturday with a party at Mike's North Sails Loft. It was a gathering to kick off the racing season here on Banderas Bay. Wednesday we will start the three day Banderas Bay Blast with a quick run over to La Cruz from Paradise Village. We hope to have a full crew of guys so that Di can spend that time shopping or at the spa with girlfriends. We will report how that turns out.

Sunday we spent the morning at the La Cruz Farmers Market however those pictures did not turn out so well. Just means we will have to go back this weekend so we can share all the wonderful crafts and delicious delicacies available for purchase.

Telcel troubles

We arrived back at the boat on a Thursday afternoon and bright and early Friday, alright 10am is early for me, I made the trip into the Telcel store in downtown PV. Telcel is the Mexican version on AT&T and can change my US sims card in my Ipad into a Mexican card so that for a fee, $50.00 per month, I can have 3G coverage anywhere I go. It worked very well all last year so I had no qualms about singing up again this year even though there is a Starbucks within walking distance of the boat. I can only drink so many lattes.

All was working for two days, long enough for me to feel very comfortable. Suddenly on Sunday there was no connection until very late in the day and Monday there was nothing. Tuesday Rog and I drove into town for the first time to report our lack of connectivity to a lovely account manager that just smiled at us. I think that meant he did not understand a word we were saying. Soon there we other customers complaining about the lack of Internet so it was decided that the entire system was down for all Apple devices and Blackberries. Should be up soon!

In the meantime my iPhone is going haywire. It is shutting itself down and restarting itself every five minutes. Needless to say the battery was going dead in less than four hours. Did not think the two problems were related so I started researching new phones and how I could get one shipped to me down in Mexico. After two more days of frustration I was ready to just give up on the phone when I tried it one more time. That's right, it was now working perfectly! iPads are back online too so I am back in business.

Home again, home again

From 2011 To 2012 Season

Thursday afternoon around 3pm we finally arrived back at the boat. The drive down from Nogales may be all the adventure we will need for this season but we are ready to start the 2011 cruising season.

From 2011 To 2012 Season

Crossing the border in Nogales was very uneventful until we got on the city streets. We had to dodge potholes, avoid deep trenches, and try and merge three lanes of traffic into one. Our idea was to cross the border early to avoid a backup but failed to think about the morning rush hour in Mexico. And there were no traffic signs in English! So while Rog was doing everything possible to avoid running into anything I was busy looking for the turn off for Auto Importation and Visa location. I knew it was 21 kilometers down the road but our car does not record kilometers so Rog kept driving until we finally saw the necessary building.

Before you can import the car you have to have a travel visa just like the kind you get when you fly into Mexico. Filling out the form was not the problem, paying the fee became very time consuming. At our early hour in the morning there was only one teller accepting fees for the visa as well as the car import so you can guess how long we waited patiently to make sure we entered Mexico legally.

Once out of Nogalas the drive to Navojoa was was uneventful. The landscape changed by the mile with cactus becomming scrub brush and streams with no water flowing. We used the toll road and found little traffic to slow us down, however we did drive at the speed limit all the way. Getting a ticket was not the type of adventure we wanted.

From 2011 To 2012 Season

In Mazatlan we stayed at El CID Marina and Hotel where we have brought the boat many times so we knew we would enjoy a good nights sleep. Again we left early in the morning and ran into commute traffic as well as a major detour. It was a nightmare trying to navigate back roads with everyone trying to edge in front of the other cars but we got through it thank goodness.

The roads in Mexico had been four lanes for the most part until we arrived in Tepic. We had heard from Garry Dobson that this last section of the trip was a bit difficult. He did not understate what we were about to experience! From Tepic to Bucerias we had two lanes of hair rising turns and breath taking views all the time trying to watch out for those daredevil drivers that think they can pass on curves or hills. We navigated the section successfully and arrived at Paradise Village without a hitch. Now it is time to unload the car!

At the Border

After a wonderful two day visit with our good friends and sailing buddies Paul and Kathy Eugina we headed to Nogales. Tuesday morning we plan to start our 2011 adventure by driving down to Puerta Vallarta. With any luck we should post Thursday that we have arrived safe and sound. Keep your fingers crossed.

On our Way

Most departures do not go as scheduled but I think we did very well considering all we had going on just before we left for Mexico. On Monday of our finale week at home I found out I have Valley Fever and not pneumonia as previously diagnosed. That means all new meds, more blood tests, bed rest and no exercise. The no exercise is the worst part!

Since I was confined to the house I decided it was time to update our IMac to the current operating system and put all our important documents in "the cloud". Decision was both good and bad because our printer needed to be upgraded too. All was working well, no problems with the email so far, but at 10pm on Thurs I could still not upload certain documents that I had just scanned into the computer. I scheduled a 7am help call with Apple support so that I could get this resolved before we left. Wrong, after an hour and a half I learned that my new printer imported certain documents as PDF files and not doc files and the ICloud would not accept them! By now it was 8:30 and I had not cleaned out the refrig, we would be leaving late.

I was finally pleased with the way the house look so we locked her up at 9:45 and started our 2011 adventure. First stop would be Chino Valley to visit with Paul and Kathy, our crew from the 2010 Ha Ha.

Rog and Nicholas

This past weekend was spent honoring different fathers on their respective birthdays. First it was Roger's birthday that we celebrated in Healdsburg with my brother Don and his wife Page as well as Jenny, Andy and Nicholas. Then we migrated over to Sacramento to celebrate Roger's father Nolan's 90th birthday. The entire family made it a very memorable event for him and We had all our kids come in to wish him well. The last birthday we celebrated was my father Don's 96th. He celebrated by ordering two Rob Roy Perfects much to my horror. So much for not letting him have anything to drink.

Nolan may not be able to see much anymore but his was still smiling at Nicholas and Nicholas was more than willing to go gets hugs from his Great Grandpa Nolan.

What Have we been doing all summer?

The summer has not gone quite as planned but we are having a great time never the less. I thought we would be in Bakersfield doing home projects and playing in the garden everyday. We have had a few days of tree trimming and a short stint of weed pulling but it certainly has not been the quality time I had expected. No new plants to replace ones that are not doing well and not one bedding flower to add a bit of cheer to the place. I did purchase two succulents to put on the patio table but that hardly counts as gardening. That being said we have had the summer to remember!

We spent the month of July just ordering all the new gadgets that will make the next cruising season even more enjoyable. We have our new Engle Freezer that should double our frozen food capacity, two more solar panels that will double our amperage on the boat, noise canceling speakers for the SSB as well as a new grounding system so Di can better communicate, and new sandals for both of us. We are all set to drive down.

August saw us visiting Canada for the first time. We went to Saskatoon to share the Baptism of our grandson Nicholas with our son in law's family. Andy's parents Peter and Sofie played host for five beautiful days while we got to soak in all of Canada's charm. I have never seen a city with more beautiful flower pots decorating each corner of the streets. Truly beautiful, and the climate was perfect! Not too hot and just a hint of rain to keep everything green. Loved every moment we were there.

September has brought us to Carmel in order to help Di's Dad move into an assisted living facility. Many of our friends have had to do this already but for us it came about very suddenly. Dad is 96 and has been living at home with some daytime assistance but it became apparent to us that he just was not safe by himself. So with little complaining we moved him into a lovely assisted living facility in Monterey which is close enough all his friends could still come by to visit. That has just left us the job of sorting through thirty years of personal effects, cleaning an acre of land that was badly neglected, insisting that the Gardner remove his chickens from a back yard pen, finding a home for a very distructive cats, selling all the furniture and finally painting the house inside and out as well as installing new carpet. If all goes as planned we will be out of Carmel by the first of October and the house will be on the market. Rog has earned his time back on the boat!

The patio roof has to go!

House looks better already

We filled three dumpsters with all yard waste! What a job it has been

Dad is very happy at his new home and has admitted that he had no idea that he could make so many new friends at his age!

What time are we playing???

Ok, we have been home one month now and we have settled into retired life back in the states. This is completely different than being retired on the boat where life was very laid back and casual.  Here you move at the speed of traffic or life passes you by.  No calling a doctor and getting in the next day here in Bakersfield.  You are lucky to even find a doctor willing to take new patients so there goes our plan to get prescriptions refilled!  Plan B is of course to visit our doctors back in the Bay Area just one more time.

But what are we doing with all our spare time now that Rog doesn't have to work in sea trials and surveys, well we are playing golf and a bit of tennis.  At least Di is just playing a bit, Rog is going out three evenings a week and Saturday morning too!  Now we have been invited to play with another couple at 7 am on Monday morning.  That is right, 7 am.  Never in all my years of working did I ever arrive somewhere at 7 am, you couldn't even get me to open my eyes at that time so the thought of a 7 am tennis game just does not make any sense.  Even worse, we are getting golf times no later than 7:30 am and we do that twice at week least.

Di prefers working out in the air conditioned gym here at the Solera gym

Early morning activities are the norm here in Bakersfield and that had never occurred to us in all our previous visits.  By noon it is over 95 degrees most days and at 5 pm is when the heat actually peaks so late afternoon activities are limited to the pool.  In fact, 7:30pm is when most people start emerging from their homes to take walks or even start small gardening projects.

So what do we do during the middle of the day??  I have been working on a photo book of our journey over the past year trying to distill over 2,000 pictures down to a manageable 250 that would tell our story.  This has consumed all of my time and I am glad to say I have finally ordered my book through two different on line publishing programs.  I used the Mac program and found it very easy to use except when using photos that had been emailed to me.  I also used MY Publisher as it was running a special on no charge for extra pages.  With over 50 extra pages their deal really appealed to me. If anyone would like to look at the finished project it can be found at 
http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/friendbook

The login name is:   M2211998     and the password is:  2414997
Many of the pictures included are the ones I have already used on my blog but there are some new one too.  I think the sunset pictures are my most favorite in the book.

We do plan on some traveling this summer including a trip to Carmel to visit Di's father and then a  quick run up to the Bay area to play golf with John Estes and back down to Los Gatos for a tennis game with Bruce and Paul Tomlinson.

The following weekend we are off to Canada for Nicholas's Baptism.  We can not wait to get our hands on the little guy.  By the time of our visit he will have started taking solid food and trying to sip water out of a cup.  What fun we will have.  Think I better get the sewing machine out quickly and make up some cute bibs to take up with us.

Not sure what caused this look but I think it is my favorite!

The Green Light

Most sailors get quite excited when they see the green flash at dusk but what really gets my
heart pumping is the sight of the green light on my printer. For some unknown reason my printer decided to stop talking to my computer sometime last January. It would not even talk when connected by the printer cable, not good. How could I print off pictures of Nicholas for my Brag book!

Two days ago it became a do or die situation here on the boat. Rog had ordered a new IPad 2 for me for my birthday and I read about it's ability to print via AirPrint. This sounded great but would require a new HP Printer that had AirPrint capabilities, even better I thought until my good friend Eric found out I would still need to work through a network system on the boat. So back to the drawing board to try and resurrect the network on the boat.

I had a couple of problems I had to overcome including USB ports that have become faulty. Several phone calls to Fujitsu and different repair ideas I realized there was no hope for running more than one USB port at a time. Maybe a new small computer was the answer, something that would talk to a new HP Printer that would also talk to a new IPad. It all sounded good to me until I realized it would require updated navigation software, at the cost of $495.00, and other various programs I like. I am still running off an old XP operating system so none of my programs would match up.

Back to the drawing board once again. After uninstalling both the router and printer and then reinstalling them I finally got the green light and boat network was once again functioning as it should. However that was only half the problem, could I get Roger's IPad to recognize the network and connect to the printer. This required a phone call to Lexmark and downloads to both the iPad and computer before there was success! My first print job was a photo of Nicholas and Andy that I had recently received from Jenny.

So after one full day of frustration and elation I am finally ready to turn Roger's IPad back over to him and know that my new IPad will work with everything when we return to PV in November. To my way of thinking, this new IPad did not cost Roger a penny because I did not have to buy a new printer for the boat or computer and navigation programs. I am so proud of being thrifty now that we are retired!

Party Time

The season is drawing to a close here in PV, the rain, thunder and lightning has the majority of cruiser headed for dryer climates. That does not mean we can't get together for one final party to celebrate Philo's birthday and 10th anniversary of his restaurant. A very large crowd was on hand to enjoy music and dancing into the wee hours.

We shared a ride and table with Chuck and Clista off the power boat Shilo. They are the parents of our good friend Chip and Katie on Miss Teak. Shilo had planned to join all of us
up in the Sea this spring but Boat gremlins kept them tied to the dock.

It was great to see Teapot Tony there along with his wife Tealady Ronnie. I still remember meeting them for the first time and wondering why anyone would go by those names. Still do not know the history of the names but with their British accents I can not imagine calling them anything else for all these years. They have certainly earned everybody's respect and admiration in the PV area.

Dire Predictions

Forty four years ago when I was a very young girl of 19 my Mother made some very dire predictions. You see, I wanted so very badly to get married to this guy by the name of Roger and my mother was throwing a complete fit. We were both way too young and dropping out of college. She had never thought I would do anything so irresponsible! He was nothing but a boat bum out of Newport Beach, CA., never mind that she had married a life guard from La Jolla. I couldn't remind her of that and my Dad did graduate from Cal Tech and Stanford so it wasn't quite the same. So she predicted that we would have too many kids, we have three fabulous kids, live on some boat just anywhere, I kind of like Puerto Vallarta, and eat hand to mouth, yes our yellowfin tuna was mighty good.

As Rog and I were enjoying a beautiful dinner overlooking the marina here at Paradise Village wishing Both of Moms were still alive to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary we were remembering our Mothers dire predictions and how they have finally come true. Mom never said when all these terrible things were going to happen, she just warned me and I am glad she did or I might never had to enjoy the fabulous times Roger and I have shared.

We have seen whales breaching right in front of the boat, had the thrill of reeling in huge sailfish out in the middle of ocean, sailed under the full moon while crossing from Mazatlan to PV, enjoyed the morning sun as she woke us up, met many wonderful cruisers and most of all gotten to know the very friendly and courteous local Mexicans.