Yes...I know. I have been quite tardy with the blog as of late. Could I make excuses...yes. I could, but they don't really mean anything anyway. But...to keep me writing here...I encourage you to post comments back. Let us know you're reading this.
La Paz to Mazatlan:
We left La Paz late on a Friday night and dropped anchor in a rolly Coleta Lobos so we could get an early start the next day. A significant wind had come up in Bahia la Paz, and a few boats were dragging anchor, and even a marker bouy had gone walkabout. We didn't want to get caught up in anything unnerving, so we decided to get out of the bay before it got worse.
About 2:00am, we hauled up anchor and set out to cross the sea for Mazatlan. It was a somewhat turbulent ride for the first 60 miles with 6 to 8 foot confused seas, mostly on the beam, followed by almost no wind for the remaining trip. After the seas calmed down, it was actually a pretty enjoyable and relaxing trip. Yes....Kimberley kicked my ass at crib yet again.
Mazatlan:
Really enjoyed Mazatlan. We stayed at Marina Mazatlan on dock 8 and made many new friends. Even joined in on a potluck supper where it seemed our guacamole was the hit of the show. One night, very late, I was out walking Bailey when the security guard called me over to speak with a boat in mild trouble outside the breakwater. Their prop had fouled on a fishing net and they were dead in the water. I offered to go out in the dinghy and help tow them in, and after a fun midnight trip out of the breakwater, then returning to borrow the marina's panga because we needed a bigger boat, and then another fun trip back outside the breakwater, we finally managed to tow them into the marina. I have a much better appreciation now for just how well engineered those panga's are. They are a gas to drive, even in rough seas.
I did unfortunately have a last minute work trip come up, so that meant an extra week in Mazatlan. We did take advantage of that however and had Total Yacht Works do some engine service which unfortunately also included installing two new engine mounts.
Mazatlan to La Cruz:
Relatively uneventful trip. We sailed with an average speed of around 7 knots for the first 8 hours of the trip, but then, as usual, the winds faded away and the engine was fired up. We would have loved to have stopped in Isla Isabella, and originally had planned to spend a week in San Blas, but as I had that trip to Calgary....the schedule took a hit and La Cruz was waiting. Didn't see much in the way of sea life on this trip, but I did see an incredible moon rise. The moon rose almost looking like a fireball in the sky. I'm not sure what meteorological anomaly caused it, but it was a very cool and hypnotic site to take in. We did see some whales playing far off in the distance shortly before turning into Bahia Banderas. Very cool watching them raising their flippers out of the air and realizing those fins are likely 15 to 20 feet long.
Christmas and La Cruz:
Let me start by saying that I'm loving La Cruz. This is for the perfect example of small town Mexico. yes there are many from the States and Canada there, and yes that influence can be found in many places, but the way the two cultures meld together just works. In fact, it seems like you get the best of both worlds. La Cruz is about 15 miles away from Puerto Vallarta, which means you can enjoy time in the small town, but still have access to the city if needed. Thankfully, we haven't needed the city much, and anyone who knows me will know that I avoid cities at almost any cost, but having access to the resources of Puerto Vallarta was nice as we prepared for Christmas and did some re-provisioning.
We had a special bonus over Christmas as it turned out my aunt and uncle were spending their first holiday without family at a resort in the town of Bucerias, which is only 5 miles from La Cruz. This was the first time Kimberley and I had had a chance to see Trudy and Wayne since we moved on the boat, and the first time Trudy and Wayne had seen the boat, so enjoyable for all. A few drinks, some games, a nice day of sailing (including our first ever broken drive belt just as we were heading back to the marina), and a great time visiting. I know they missed the kids and grandkids, but I think they had fun all the same.
Christmas itself included the Cruzers Christmas potluck arranged by our friends Wayne and Ellie on the boat Zeppelin. Originally slated to be 3 boats and 8 people, the dinner quickly grew to 20 boats and 60 people. Plenty of fun and you can see a short video of images from the event on the home page of this site. I actually didn't plan on putting together a video, just had shot some clips for myself, so the quality of the sound and some of the shots aren't exactly stellar, but I think you will still get a sense of the fun we all had that night. Hats off to Wayne and Ellie, and their visiting friend Patti for all the work that went into it.
Bring Us Up to Date:
After Christmas, Kimberley, Bailey and I moved out to the anchorage for a few weeks. I love being at anchor. It's quiet, you get rocked to sleep, and the boat almost always faces the wind, so it provides a nice colling effect. There is a bit of a red tide issue in Bahia Banderas right now, but hopefully that will move through rapidly. Ran into many friends while we were at anchor (not literally of course, our anchor holds pretty good). Viking II, Sea Turtle, Acupara and others all started arriving in the weeks after Christmas
Kimberley and I finally got our first close up looks at whales.....almost too close in fact. We were heading out to Tres Marietas, three small islands near the mouth of the bay, and just as we were pulling into the anchorage...2 huge humpbacks crested not 15 yards away. You can't really appreciate the size of these majestic animals until you can reach out an touch them.
Irish Diplomacy is now back in Marina La Cruz as I had yet another trip for work, heading to Montreal, Toronto an Calgary. Why I always seem to make the trips in the dead of winter, I'm not sure, but that's the way the snowball rolls.
I guess that pretty much brings us back up to date. Could I write a whole book on the events of the last month....I sure could. Would you want to read it? I wouldn't expect so. That means I'll wrap up now.
Please do post comments thought and keep us up to date with what is happening with you. No sense writing a blog if no one is reading it, so let us know you're out there and we'll keep updating the site. And by the way.....Feliz Ano Nuevo!
La Paz to Mazatlan:
We left La Paz late on a Friday night and dropped anchor in a rolly Coleta Lobos so we could get an early start the next day. A significant wind had come up in Bahia la Paz, and a few boats were dragging anchor, and even a marker bouy had gone walkabout. We didn't want to get caught up in anything unnerving, so we decided to get out of the bay before it got worse.
About 2:00am, we hauled up anchor and set out to cross the sea for Mazatlan. It was a somewhat turbulent ride for the first 60 miles with 6 to 8 foot confused seas, mostly on the beam, followed by almost no wind for the remaining trip. After the seas calmed down, it was actually a pretty enjoyable and relaxing trip. Yes....Kimberley kicked my ass at crib yet again.
Mazatlan:
Really enjoyed Mazatlan. We stayed at Marina Mazatlan on dock 8 and made many new friends. Even joined in on a potluck supper where it seemed our guacamole was the hit of the show. One night, very late, I was out walking Bailey when the security guard called me over to speak with a boat in mild trouble outside the breakwater. Their prop had fouled on a fishing net and they were dead in the water. I offered to go out in the dinghy and help tow them in, and after a fun midnight trip out of the breakwater, then returning to borrow the marina's panga because we needed a bigger boat, and then another fun trip back outside the breakwater, we finally managed to tow them into the marina. I have a much better appreciation now for just how well engineered those panga's are. They are a gas to drive, even in rough seas.
I did unfortunately have a last minute work trip come up, so that meant an extra week in Mazatlan. We did take advantage of that however and had Total Yacht Works do some engine service which unfortunately also included installing two new engine mounts.
Mazatlan to La Cruz:
Relatively uneventful trip. We sailed with an average speed of around 7 knots for the first 8 hours of the trip, but then, as usual, the winds faded away and the engine was fired up. We would have loved to have stopped in Isla Isabella, and originally had planned to spend a week in San Blas, but as I had that trip to Calgary....the schedule took a hit and La Cruz was waiting. Didn't see much in the way of sea life on this trip, but I did see an incredible moon rise. The moon rose almost looking like a fireball in the sky. I'm not sure what meteorological anomaly caused it, but it was a very cool and hypnotic site to take in. We did see some whales playing far off in the distance shortly before turning into Bahia Banderas. Very cool watching them raising their flippers out of the air and realizing those fins are likely 15 to 20 feet long.
Christmas and La Cruz:
Let me start by saying that I'm loving La Cruz. This is for the perfect example of small town Mexico. yes there are many from the States and Canada there, and yes that influence can be found in many places, but the way the two cultures meld together just works. In fact, it seems like you get the best of both worlds. La Cruz is about 15 miles away from Puerto Vallarta, which means you can enjoy time in the small town, but still have access to the city if needed. Thankfully, we haven't needed the city much, and anyone who knows me will know that I avoid cities at almost any cost, but having access to the resources of Puerto Vallarta was nice as we prepared for Christmas and did some re-provisioning.
We had a special bonus over Christmas as it turned out my aunt and uncle were spending their first holiday without family at a resort in the town of Bucerias, which is only 5 miles from La Cruz. This was the first time Kimberley and I had had a chance to see Trudy and Wayne since we moved on the boat, and the first time Trudy and Wayne had seen the boat, so enjoyable for all. A few drinks, some games, a nice day of sailing (including our first ever broken drive belt just as we were heading back to the marina), and a great time visiting. I know they missed the kids and grandkids, but I think they had fun all the same.
Christmas itself included the Cruzers Christmas potluck arranged by our friends Wayne and Ellie on the boat Zeppelin. Originally slated to be 3 boats and 8 people, the dinner quickly grew to 20 boats and 60 people. Plenty of fun and you can see a short video of images from the event on the home page of this site. I actually didn't plan on putting together a video, just had shot some clips for myself, so the quality of the sound and some of the shots aren't exactly stellar, but I think you will still get a sense of the fun we all had that night. Hats off to Wayne and Ellie, and their visiting friend Patti for all the work that went into it.
Bring Us Up to Date:
After Christmas, Kimberley, Bailey and I moved out to the anchorage for a few weeks. I love being at anchor. It's quiet, you get rocked to sleep, and the boat almost always faces the wind, so it provides a nice colling effect. There is a bit of a red tide issue in Bahia Banderas right now, but hopefully that will move through rapidly. Ran into many friends while we were at anchor (not literally of course, our anchor holds pretty good). Viking II, Sea Turtle, Acupara and others all started arriving in the weeks after Christmas
Kimberley and I finally got our first close up looks at whales.....almost too close in fact. We were heading out to Tres Marietas, three small islands near the mouth of the bay, and just as we were pulling into the anchorage...2 huge humpbacks crested not 15 yards away. You can't really appreciate the size of these majestic animals until you can reach out an touch them.
Irish Diplomacy is now back in Marina La Cruz as I had yet another trip for work, heading to Montreal, Toronto an Calgary. Why I always seem to make the trips in the dead of winter, I'm not sure, but that's the way the snowball rolls.
I guess that pretty much brings us back up to date. Could I write a whole book on the events of the last month....I sure could. Would you want to read it? I wouldn't expect so. That means I'll wrap up now.
Please do post comments thought and keep us up to date with what is happening with you. No sense writing a blog if no one is reading it, so let us know you're out there and we'll keep updating the site. And by the way.....Feliz Ano Nuevo!