Birds, firsh and other sea life

We actually left Paradise as we planned on Friday. The boat is now anchored in Tenacatita and Rog and I came over to Lla manazanillo by digny to use the internet. Currently I am very frustrated because I have done this posting four times and it keeps going away. So I will make this very short


Rog has learned a great deal since we came down on the

This is fish nomber one. Great fun and a tough fight. I couldn´t help at all--This guy was around 20lbs

This is fish number two and he weighed closer to 35lbs and took at least 40 minutes to bring into the boat. We still use catch and release so there was no fresh fish on the boat that night.

The next morning we were safely anchored in Tenacatita and I was ready for a swim, well maybe not. In PV is cost 130 us dollars to swim with the dolphins but not here in the anchorage, they are all over the place and you never know when one will pop up right next to you.

Goodbye Paradise

In the morning we will be leaving Paradise Village for warmer anchorages further south. We have decided after much thought that we will leave Paradise around 10am and head directly to Tenacatita. Originally we had planned to drop anchor in Chamela but that is a 90 mile trip and to make it before nightfall we would have to leave very early in the morning. After watching the Rose Bowl Game and a few beers we are now leaving mid morning and doing one overnight to Tenacatita. We don't have any boats traveling with us, they are already there or are leaving when then get some work done.

You all have heard the song Eye of The Tiger, well let me tell you that the teeth of the tiger are a bit more fearsome. We walk by this guy everyday as we head to the beach. Rog has seen the three baby tigers but I never did.

This is where we spent most days, under the palapas reading a book. This week Paradise is very busy and almost every palapa has been occupied by noon. Lots of little kids having fun in the sand or big boys going down the alligator slide. Rog did this with both of his boys just to show them both that he is still young at heart

That is Rob in the water trying to get out of Dad's way!

The grounds around Paradise Village are always spotless. There is never any trash and yet you never see anyone picking up after guests. The gardens---let me tell you they are spectacular.

Just yesterday we got a frantic call from our neighbor Penny in Bakersfield. She had just checked our mail and found a certified letter from the Alameda County Tax Assessor's Office indicating that we had not paid our property tax on the boat. We knew we had not because we never received a bill and we had contacted them about it. Well the letter stated that we were long overdue paying and there would be penalties etc. After a quick phone call from me I got it all straightened out and the bill was paid by phone. They still had a very old address on file and could see that all bills had been returned to sender. Don't know how they found the Bakersfield address but I am glad they did

I did mention to the tax collector that the boat was out of the country right now and would be for another month so I would not have to pay the 2009 property tax. She said to make sure I document that so here are pictures of Di's Dream in Puerta Vallarta on Jan 1, 2009. It is well documented now.

I don't think I would dressed like this in Alameda on Jan 1st this year!! Warm and sunny in PV.

Happy New Years to all

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