Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad everyone. We are finding it very different having Christmas in 30 degree weather rather then rain,snow etc. You notice we said different nor difficult. We went carolling around the docks






and into the lobby of the hotel last night,

Then off to the hot tub and enjoyed an adult beverage. There is a boat here with 3 small kids on it and Lynn took them to see the lights around the El Cid housing complex. They were very excited and it made their Christmas Eve. Helped to put Grumpy in the spirit.













Who says you can't get good chocolate down here.

Lynn needed his Christmas Eve shopping fix because it would just not be Christmas without doing his shopping on the last day before Christmas so it was on the bus walk 3 or 4 blocks between stores and take a taxi home because the wine was to heavy to carry on the bus.

We will be joining friends for Christmas dinner tonight at a house in El Cid and will get to sleep in tomorrow (no Boxing Day sales to get up early for). Such is life in the Mexico fast lane.

Well need to run now, it is time for bingo at the pool.

__________________________________________________________________
Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now at
http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com/.

Mazatlan Dec 19 2008

Since leaving Cabo we stopped in San Jose e Cabo a brand new marina that did not have a working visa machine good thing we had pesos .  Here had to adjust the voltage on the inverter another first.

 THIS  CROSS IS THE MARKER FOR THE MARINA 

THE OFFICE IS SO FAR FROM THE MARINA THEY DRIVE YOU AROUND

Then off to  Los Frailes where we met up with Kalagan this where  most boaters stop to snorkel or scuba diving. We tried to snorkel but the waves were to rough.

We headed up to Los Muertos which means Bay of the Dead. 

The area up behind the sand dunes looks just like southern Alberta or Sask.  

There has been a restaurant there for ever. It is in the middle of nowhere.

 

   

 There is now a new resort going in with a new golf course so the restaurant will not look so out of place, and the developers have renamed the area the Bay of Dreams. Guess they figured sales would be better with a new name.

While here a second northerly blew in, with another one forecasted for a few days later. We decided to forgo La Paz and headed down to Mazatlan. Lynn wanted to sail so we headed out before the northerly was over. Needless to say, I`m glad that I was already on my seasickness meds. As the Captain was not prepared for the confused seas and felt a little under the weather for most of the first day.

On day two we saw 5 turtles the first couple had birds standing on them which confused us has we did not think of turtles at first. It's to bad that you can't see how big this turtle really is

THESE CLOUDS DONT LOOK GOOD BUT

THOSE WHO WAITED FOR THE NEXT DAY 

MOTORED ALL THE WAY

 

Well we have been in Mazatlan for 10 days and this is the first time we have stayed on the boat all day long. We are at the El Cid Marina Resort . Very good wireless internet, and cable tv to the boat (even have some English speaking channels). What a tough life.

Since arriving here our family here h as kept us very busy. We have been to 4 ballgames. Down town to the old part of Mazatlan a few times on a light tour and a couple of xmas parties. Santa Claus is only 50 years old here.

But they celebrate almost ever Saint you can think of between Dec 6th to 20th. We attended a Salvation Army event for the orphanage down here. The get no government support so the shows are a major fundraiser for them. The young teens have really learned how to dance and the school from the village sends the kids in to sing. It was really entertaining.  

 We try to work on boat chores in the A.M. when it is not so hot then its off to the pool or to tourist items. This is really the life. The boat has been decorated for christmas

We are going to go out to a restaurant on Christmas day. I must say that having xmas down here with just the two of us means no pressure for the perfect gift or meal. But then that means no gifts for us either. (Lynn the Grinch)

__________________________________________________________________ Connect with friends from any web browser - no download required. Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger for the Web BETA at http://ca.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php

Mazatlan

Well we arrived in Mazatlan and after spending one night at anchor (since we got here at midnight) we are at the El Cid Marina and will be here probably until the end of January doing some much needed relaxing. The trip just go better as we went, except Lynn was a little seasick on the first part if the trip across the Sea of Cortez. Anyway Debbie will be adding more to the blog in the next day or so if her busy schedule permits.   

A NEW HOME FOR THE BOAT

 

__________________________________________________________________ Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane with All new Yahoo! Mail: http://ca.promos.yahoo.com/newmail/overview2/

Mag Bay to Cabo San Lucas

Entering Magdalena Bay was like manoeuvring through a mine field. There were small lobster traps though-out the channel. At one point we could have picked one up with our hands it was so close. But once again we were able to avoid picking one up in the prop.  One of the shrimp boats tried to get candy for lobster tails from Kalagan they gave them cokes, beers, crackers and cookies. Which gave them enough lobster for both boats,

We decided it was time to get the dingy in the water. We turned on the inverter plugged in our electric air pump to help inflate the dingy, and BANG in blew up. Out came the manual pump and 45 minutes later we were on the beach and in the ocean for our 1st swim in Mexico the water temp was 29 degrees C. We found a couple of large and colourful shells. Lynn was astonished at how well he could float in the salt water.

We have now covered over 2000 nautical miles and rounded four capes, and have arrived in Cabo San Lucus. On this last overnighter we had a small bird ride with us during supper and then on Debbie's watch around 5:00am she was joined by a 10" flying fish that slapped her on the side of the leg and then flopped around on the deck till she threw it back in the ocean. Let's say there was a slight squeal and then laughter when she figured out what it was. Just after sunrise Lynn had his own dolphin show with them jumping straight out of the water into the air in front of the boat.

On the last part of the trip into Cabo we had the winds build up to 28 or 30 knots which gave us a good sleigh ride with the boat surfing some waves and boat speeds in excess of 7 knots.

WE BOTH THOUGHT THIS

JONNY ROCKETS RESTUARANT 

WAS AMUSING

A SURPRISE TO SEE SANTA SO MODERN

What a change an overnight sail can make, we went from being anchored where the fishermen live in tents and ruined building on the beach to all the affluence of Cabo.

Being anchored in Cabo in front of the white sandy beaches and seeing the fancy hotels and condos on the beaches makes us feel like we are living in the travel magazine advertisements it is just beautiful here. We took a trip in to town to report into the Port Captain only to be told it is Saturday and he will not be back till Monday, guess we really are in cruiser mode now.

We have successfully landed the dingy on the beach through some very small surf, Yeah no one got wet. Now leaving the beach was another story. Pull the dingy back down to the water. Get it deep enough to start the motor. Oops turn it bow out, pull the motor to start, now we are out to far. Debbie is ¾ wet Lynn can't get the motor started. Thanks to a panaga operator he came and buffed the waves while we rolled into the dingy like beached whales and got it going. Hmm we will have to figure out how to get in the dingy and get it off the beach with out getting soaked. I guess that's why they invented dry bags.

We will be leaving here to start making our way around to La Paz in a day or so.

__________________________________________________________________

Bahia Santa Maria Nov 24

Arrived here after a long and no or low wind trip from Turtle Bay , 55 hrs.

Turtle Bay is not much , a small Mexican village that serves a large fishing and lobster fleet, as well as boats going up and down the coast. Fuel is delivered to your boat by a panga. Internet access in slow slow and the computers in the internet office have seen better days. To get to Turtle Bay from the main highway its 107 miles of so called road. Most of the vehicles here look like they have been driven over some very hard road or competed in the Baja cross country road race. Turtle Bay is
known for its many auto parts stores , and one can now see why.

Out trip to Bahia Santa Maria required Debbie to use here Spanish to call a ship , it would not respond when called in English. But when it did respond it was in English, so you go figure. We seen a few cruise ships, fishing boats and other cruising boats , so at night it gives you some thing to do rather then look at a blank radar screen. We will be here for a day of two and then may move a short distance to a place called Bahia Madalena (Mag Bay) for a few more days to allow us some shore time.
Mag Bay will have seen 200 -250 Grey whales as they migrate up and down the coast. So Maybe we will see one as well.

In Mexican Waters

We left Ensenada around 9 am Nov 16 on our first overnight in Mexican waters. We enjoyed watching the whales during th day, as evening approached we fired up the radar only to find the Mexican fishing fleet (well only 6 boats) was in front of us. After taking evasive action we were no closer to them just closer to New Zealand , they were going the same way. During the night we were joined by numerous dolphins which rode our bow wave as we motored under a 1/2 moon sky and lots of stars arriving a
San Quintin at about 10:30 am on Nov 17. 

This morning Nov 18 we left at 6:30 am for Credos Island and or Turtle Bay. We should be there some time around 6 am on Nov 19. Since leaving San Diego we have had very little wind so a lot of motoring, however today we did get the spinnaker up for a while when motor sailing. Right now we have about 5 or 6 knots of wind with very flat seas so are still motor sailing. We continue to lean new things every day. Sea birds can stand on the water, that is if thekelp patch is thick enough. Well that's all for now as its time for me (Lynn) to have a nap.

We arrive at our anchorage on Credos Island and will spend the day here

GETTING READY TO TELL US 

TO BACK OFF

THIS LITTLE FELLOW TRYED TO GET ON THE BOAT

 Then  head to Turtle Bay.

We have been having a few computer problems with the computer we use to do email and position reports from the boat via the radio so if you do not ee a posting for a while don't panic as we may be limited to doing them only when we have internet access.

Ensenada

We left San Diego at 5:30 A.M. arriving in Ensenada around 5:10 P.M. We jumped on to the dock just as the last bit sun disappeared under the horizon. Poor Dolphin Tales was pushed very hard today. This will be the last time we push the boat or our selves this hard. From now on any trips over 45 nautical miles will become overnight passages. The anchorages on the west coast are very rocky and rolly so we would not be getting much sleep anyways. Since arriving, we have done the paper shuffle, it only took 90 minutes. They have set everything up in one building with numbers. 1 to 5 only problem being is that you go from one to three then back to one then over to 2 then back to three then back over to 2 then over to 4 if you need a fishing licence which everyone does on the boat if you have just one hook. Then it’s over to 5 where you push the button to see if you can stay in Mexico or if they need to search your boat. Yes we get to stay and no they do not have to come to the boat. People are friendly and very helpful, our little bit of Spanish seems to be helping and we are learning more as we go along. We had supper one night were drinks were 2 for 1 they supplied you with taco chips, pasta and salad, all for $8.00 U.S for the both of us. To get fuel they bring it directly to your boat in a 45 gallon drum with a baha filter attachted, pump it right there at a cost of $3.00 a gallon taxes in.

San Diego

San Diego

What a place, you could spend a month here and still not see all the sites
We spent 9 days with 4 of them devoted to boat chores. We were given free tickets to either the zoo or the wild animal park. We choose the Wild Animal Park where Lynn and I went on a 3 hour safari. There were only 6 of us on the tour so we had access to all sides of the vehicle. We took lots of video and over 500 pictures. As you can see we got to be very close to the animals. I have enough photos of the 15 different giraffes that I should be able to make a calendar. We also experienced some close encounters with a few Rhinos.

Our buddy boat Kaligan opted to just walk the park, which we did after the tour. We all had a great time. After hours here we had no desire to see the other zoo. But we did go to one of 20 Museums in Balbo Park.

We did go to the Midway which is a retired aircraft carrier which has been turned into museum. It took us 4 hours to see all of it.

We left for Ensenada on Nov 12, 2008.