Almost Ready?

Well, Dave and I have been working like crazy to get our final preparations completed before the big jump to the South Pacific. Barring any more boat breakdowns, we feel as though we are almost ready as our short list is getting very short at this point. Gail will be going to Arizona next week to visit the kids and finish last minute things like taxes (ugh!) and car maintenance (double ugh!). Upon her return to Puerto Vallarta, final things will be last minute provisioning and last chance laundry before we check out of the country. We are hoping for a departure date of March 15th, give or take a few days and weather considerations. We are then hoping for a three week passage, although closer to four weeks may be more realistic. And then our next stage of this journey begins in French Polynesia - first stop Marquesas!

Even though we have been very busy with the boat, we have found time to visit the Bay area. We stopped at several local places on the way down including Chacala and Matanchen. We have spent most of our time in La Cruz, which seems to be the local cruiser hang out in a small town with local restaurants, farmers markets, etc. For the first time in six months, Gail was more than forty feet from Dave when she and a friend, Sue, escaped to, or rather enjoyed the nearby town of Bucerias for a ladies event of local shopping and dining. Very fun!

We are currently in Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta, which does not really seem like Mexico, but American tourism at its best. They really know how to entertain us "gringos" here with lots and lots of food and drink, water activities, and entertainment such as dancing. But probably the best thing of all has been the whales. We are still astounded by the number of humpback whales that exist in this bay and in such relatively shallow water. It is commonplace to see them mating, breaching, and best of all listening to their songs through the water in the late evening!

Check out the other pictures on this site for our Banderas Bay experiences...

We Have Arrived - Banderas Bay

We have arrived! Banderas Bay which includes the towns of Punta De Mita, La Cruz, Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta is our final resting place for the next five weeks until the really big 3,000 mile crossing to the South Pacific in March. Next stop Marquesas Islands!

See below picture for Dave's latest fish story for the day on our way here. Looked like it was going to be a big one.... So glad it wasn't a Mahi Mahi but one of the local prevalent "Bonito" fish or Skipjack with the red flesh. Apparently the larger local fish like this Bonito. As we were trying to deal with the fish, slow the boat down by sail in 20 knot winds as we were rounding the point to come in to Punta De Mita, almost hit another whale which again dived at the last minute! Never a dull moment...

Banderas Bay is teeming with sea life and the whales are all around. Yesterday, we were out in the bay doing some whale watching with other boats and even one person was in a dinghy. We saw quite a few whales and then finally saw a breaching whale! Last night, we kept hearing a sound under the boat and then discovered it was the whales again - way cool!

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. I won't discuss who we are rooting for, but we will be at the Marina Clubhouse along with some of our new friends for the all you can eat wings and ribs (along with all you can drink) for 200 pesos. What a deal! Wishing all our family and friends a happy and safe Super Bowl from here in La Cruz, Mexico.