February 1st, 2010

Where are we???

Well, today we are in Paradise Marina in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It rained here and that is amazing as it has not rained in Februrary since they began recording rainfall! We don't mind as it cools things off a bit!

November 10th - January 30th, 2010

Well we are not really natural bloggers. Sorry for the delay we will try to be more diligent in the future. Having read so many wonderful blogs out there I must confess to a wee bit of blog envy – interesting text neatly flowing around beautiful pictures, perfectly placed. (sigh)

Here is a quick catch up of our trip to date. Hopefully we can get some photos on soon. The slideshow is new and we'll change it every so often to highlight some of our adventures.

November 10^th – 16th, 2009 Morrow Bay - Catalina Harbour, Catalina Island

We left Morrow Bay under blue skies and calm seas. Otters escorted us out of the harbour and dolphins spent the first half an hour playing off the bow. Not a bad start considering there was no sign of the predicted 15-20 knots that we hoped would push us along. Instead we motored at 5.5 knots.

Point Conception was calm and we continued motoring through Santa Cruz Channel. We saw several whales in the distance and enjoyed the friendly antics of the dolphins off and on all morning.

1500hrs on November 11^th, tired of the noise, we put up the sails at the first puff of wind and managed to ghost along at 2-3 knots. Our only excitement was a batten that flew out of the main and luckily landed in the cockpit. Oops, someone didn’t tighten the screw in enough. Our course was a bit erratic as we struggled to keep the sails full but the positive side was that we would arrive at Catalina Harbour at dawn rather than the middle of the night.

We had no trouble entering the harbour and decided to catch one the mooring buoys for our stay. It is an interesting Island, very steep and rugged with spectacular views all around. We spent several days in the harbour and enjoyed the hiking, flying and dinghy sailing. Charlie was able to fly his Weasel on the hills surrounding Cat harbour several times while the kids and I hiked and explored. There are several little guest camps around the island which offer an escape from the mainland rat race. It was pretty quiet while we were there however the local grocery still had the basics.

We saw one of the famous wild bison on the island. According to the signs posted, the bison were left behind in the 1930’s by a movie maker. Since then the herd has grown and is now controlled at 150-200 head.

November 16^th,2009 - We liked the sound of White’s Cove so we motored around (2hrs), it also meant we had a shorter day to Newport harbour. Chris went snorkelling and saw lots of great fish. Charlie changed the zinc on the prop and boy did it need it!

November 17^th 2009 Catalina Island - Newport Beach CA

9am we left White’s Cove and headed for Newport Harbour for some boat jobs. No wind so we motored. Just outside the harbour we stopped to watch a sea plane land and take off again. What an amazing amount of energy to get off the water!

Newport was a great stop for water, fuel, groceries, and boat things. We tied to a mooring in C section which left us close to the outer beaches.

November 21^st 2009 Newport Beach - Dana Point

We headed to Dana Point today. Motoring again. Anchored in the West end of the bay between moorings G and F. Nice overnight stop but that’s about it.

November 22^nd, 2009 Dana Point - Mission Bay

We left Dana Point in the dark and motored to Mission Bay, just North of San Diego. There were big swells going into Mission Bay but we were fine. Watched a sport diving boat broach, he was lucky and pulled out of it just fine. Kids were impressed with the power of the waves. Great place for the sailing dinghy and just hanging out.

November 23^rd - Dec 16^th , 2009 San Diego

We moved on the La Playa anchorage at San Diego. We shuffled between there and the police dock for the next few weeks. We had some land time visiting Nik and Lee. Great fun helping them dig up there yard! We visited some of the galleries; Chris and Charlie visited the SEAL training and the aircraft carrier down town.

A tremendous windstorm came through, flipping dinghies, knocking down trees and a few boats broke free of their moorings and ended up on the beach. Very exciting for San Diego. We got more boat jobs done, caught up on school and generally had a nice time hanging out.

December 16th -17th San Diego - Ensenada, Mexico

We finally leave the USA! It felt great to be on the water again. We left San Diego about 13:30 Dec 16th and arrived in Ensenada around 8:00 am Dec 17th. We sailed most of the way at about 2-3 knots. Not very fast but at least we didn't have to listen to the motor. There were lots of shooting stars on the night watch and the usual dolphin show!

We anchored first and then moved into Bahia Naval Marina. Incredible surge, the boat moved all over the place while tied to the dock. Time to make some chaff protectors for the lines!

The first adventure was officially signing into the country: tourist visas, import for the boat, check in and out of the harbour - we'd forgotten the paper chase!! As with all things everything happenswith lots of patience and smiles. Why get frustrated, you learn to never go anywhere without a good book to read and no time frame.

We found a great little restaurant just opposite the fish market and enjoyed some delicious fish tacos. The kids love Mexico and both commented on how friendly and colourful it is! We wandered around the town for a little and then headed back to the boat. Next day we found our way to the museum, small but interesting, and then the art gallery. The photo exhibit at the gallery was the most interesting, it captured the variety and spontaneity of the Mexican people. All of us are excited about the months ahead in Mexico - learning spanish, visiting different places and eating different foods. It feels like our trip has just begun.

December 19th - 22nd Ensenada - Turtle Bay

We motor sailed most of the way to Turtle Bay which was a little dull to say the least. We anchored off the village and went ashore to organise fuel and water. They bring a panga to the boat with fuel which makes it easy. For the water, we flagged down the delivery guy who just happened to drive by in his truck. We bought a couple of jugs which we transferred to our jugs and carried back to the dinghy.

December 23rd - 25th Turtle Bay - Bahia St. Maria

We were really eager to get to one of our favourite stops, Bahia St Maria so we left Turtle Bay early and headed south. Caught a Sierra mackeral as we headed out of the anchorage and that seemed to herald good sailing as we were soon flying along at 6 knots. We were soon joined by dolphins and the show began as they leapt and dove around the boat.

Our next surprise was a tuna! Then another! We kept one and let the other go. Not a bad way to start off your day! During the night we had a terrific display of shooting stars - always exciting to see!

Christmas eve found us still at sea. The winds picked up and we were soon reefing sails to keep the boat balanced and under control. We raced along through the night only to find ourselves motoring by morning. We put out the fishing lines and caught a lovely yellowfin Tuna just as we were appraching Bahia St. Maria - fish for a belated Christmas dinner!!

As soon as the anchor was down the kids were in the water and swimming. The warm water felt great and we were lucky enough to share the anchorage with only a couple of other boats. Christmas was late this year as we enjoyed our stockings and fish dinner on the 26th rather than the 25th. Nobody seemed to mind though as the day was beautiful and the beach spectacular.

We spent a couple of days hiking, exploring the beach, and swimming. It really is an idyllic place - wild and remote. We found a whale skeleton on the beach, too bad we couldn't fit it on the boat!

December 27th - December 30th Bahia St. Maria - Cabo San Lucas - Los Frailies

Can you believe it rained as we headed into Cabo San Lucas!! We only spent a couple of hours in Cabo - we needed water and that was it. The anchorage was exposed and roly so we left in the early afternoon. The wind and seas picked up so it was a little bumpy to Los Frailies. It was dark by the time we anchored but it felt great to just put our heads down and sleep!

It continued to blow for the next few days so we stayed put. The hiking and snorkeling were fun and the fishing was good too. Actually, we were not so lucky fishing but out neighbors shared their catch with us!

The kids had to work hard to paddle the kayak to shore but it was worth it. Swimming and just hanging on the beach is not a bad way to spend the afternoon after a morning of school!

A little veggie truck comes by the campground so it was nice to buy a few fresh things to supplement our dinners. The fishing camp looked deserted and we didn't know if it was just he wrong season or if they had moved on.

January 3rd - 6th, 2010 Los Frailies - Mazatlan Harbour

January 7th - 21st, 2010 Mazatlan Harbour - El Cid Marina (Mazatlan)

January 22 nd- 25th, 2010 El Cid - Isla Isabella - Bay of Mantachuen (San Blas)

January 26th- 29th Bay of Mantachuen - Chacala

January 30th La Cruz anchorage

January 31st Paradise Marina