Dave did a repeat of the SSB seminar today. No surprise that there weren't as many as the first time (60) - but still nearly 20 people showed up for the second session so it was worth doing again. One woman who had specifically asked for a repeat because she missed the first one came up afterwards…
Blog posts : "2013 South to Mexico"
Dominos doesn't deliver
Despite getting to bed at 2am, Dave gets up early and heads to the boat yard to splash Apsaras back in the water. We decided to bring her to Paradise Village marina rather than make our way all the way back to La Cruz. So Melissa gets up a while later, checks out of the hotel, and heads for the do…
Apsaras gets her flipper repaired
Since the new rudder installation in April, the rudder has been making a clunking noise. Dave first noticed it on the way down on the Baja Haha because that was the first time he had slept in the aft cabin bunk underway and heard the noise. The rudder manufacturer was "pretty sure" it wasn't a str…
Today it rained
Today it rained. And rained. And then it poured. 1.7 inches total for the day. You would think we were in Seattle.
Melissa figured the day was going to be a loss anyway around it, so she headed into town on the bus to run some errands. She got soaked by a truck splashing her by the side of…
Ok, he'll do it again
Someone who attended Dave’s SSB seminar stopped by the boat today. Just to tell Dave how great it was. He said that he used to do seminars on how to do the TransPac race where SSB used to be required equipment. He said that SSB is a super hard subject to do without talking over everyone’s heads a…
Apsaras gets her sails back!
This morning Dave held an SSB test net for people from yesterday's seminar so that they could test their SSB unit signal strength. About 20 people checked in - many of whom again expressed their thanks for Dave doing the seminar. This afternoon the marina again asked if he would do it again before…
Great turnout!
Last night it POURED rain again. Because of the threat of lightning, we had put all the portable electronics (cell phones and laptops) in the oven before we went to bed to protect them. None the less, we managed to forget to close all the hatches. Not a big deal because other than the electronics…
Getting organized
So the light dawns that we need to get organized for our trip home to Seattle, as well as deciding what we want to do with our remaining week in the Puerto Vallarta area. If we want to haul the boat out and get the rudder looked at (its making a funny noise that the manufacturer assures us is "prob…
A relaxing Christmas
Every day on the morning net there is one of the local hotels that advertises to the boaters to come over and try out their facilities and hang out by the pool. We figured that sounded like a great Christmas, so we radioed them and asked for a 9:30am pickup at the marina. We hopped on the bus with…
Sunset sail aboard Gravlax
We were invited aboard Gravlax for an evening sail. Melissa cooked up some pasta salad and sent Dave for one of the roast chickens from the local street vendor. She would have cooked a chicken herself, but alas she was also baking a cake in the oven for the Christmas pot lucks tomorrow. And besid…
Its always the coax in the mast
Dave worked on Cygnus today. Joe's VHF radio was not working right. The range was more limited than it should have been. Dave figured it was the coax up to the antenna at the top of the mast. Because its always the coax in the mast that goes crappy first because its more exposed than any other s…
Crocodiles? Seriously?
So we were visiting a boat on the dock next to ours when someone noticed an 8 foot crocodile making its way through the marina. Went within a few feet of Apsaras. And of course, no camera. Dang. Highly unusual here in La Cruz and a tad bit disconcerting. Melissa has been sticking to the center …
Small Project Day
We awoke this morning to a deluge. It rained an inch in a matter of minutes. This is the first rain we've seen since San Francisco in September. The dinghy was full of water before you could blink. Workers were out digging out plugged sewers that had overflowed. Then a short while later the sun…
Never speak to us again about great Seattle coffee
A week or so ago we purchased some coffee from a local organic grower. He roasts in his garage and the coffee had been roasted just that morning. He sells it through one of the restaurants. He happened to be in the restaurant when we were there for a music event Larry was playing in. He explains…
MacGyver spends a day helping other boaters
On the net this morning there was a boater needing help towing his boat “Computer Doctor” from La Cruz across to Puerto Vallarta – an 8 mile trek. (The “morning net” is when all the boats in the area get on the radio at 8:30am to converse about all kinds of topics – what’s going on, if anyone needs…
Melissa finally wins one
Spoiler alert - this one has a happy ending. Agonizing middle. But happy ending.
So before we left Seattle, we switched from T-Mobile to Verizon because they have a plan that lets customers make calls from Canada and Mexico with 1000 minutes of international roaming included in the plan. Since…
Radio Day
Melissa volunteered Dave to do a seminar on SSB radios here at the marina next week. She got on the morning net this morning (time when all the boaters get on the radio to chat about what’s going on and who needs help) and asked if there were people who were interested in an SSB seminar to contact …
Banderas Bay Blast
The past three days there has been a charity event called the Banderas Bay Blast. About 20 boats participated in the three days of racing and raised $2000 USD for the local orphanage. They buy school supplies and deliver them to the orphanage (as opposed to just giving them the funds).
Since Ap…
Anyone know a good lawyer?
Last March when we were planning this venture, we decided to cancel our previously booked France summer vacation. We had some British Airlines tickets from London to France that we had to cancel. When Melissa canceled them with Expedia, they confirmed that there was $750 worth of credits on the ti…
Naked in La Cruz
A few months ago we were clewless when the clew blew out on Apsaras' main sail. The sail maker that repaired it told us we should take the sails in for maintenance to Mike at PV Sailing in La Cruz when we arrived. So first thing today Melissa visited Mike's sail shop to ask when he could take the …