And The Parties Begin in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle...

Here we go...
Everyone was so proud of us for only staying two nights in La Cruz on our way South.
Somehow we avoided getting sucked in.
Not so this time.
We are now sucked in...
Big. Time.
Oh well, there are worse places to be, that is for sure!
We have loads of friends here.
Loads of fun people.

We moved into the marina for a few days yesterday to do some cleaning and provisioning...
There are eight catamarans on our dock!
Two more on the other finger.
And a few more over on the far dock.So what are we doing?
Having fun, eating dinner, having vino on other boats, having hora felizes, exploring and yes, doing some provisioning and cleaning.




So 1st night ~ dinner at Ana Banana's with John and Debby of "Lovely Reta", Dave and Kellie of "Sweet Lorraine" and the crew of "Rapscullion" ~ another catamaran.





I left my mark.
On some guy's too white cast...

Chamela to Cabo Corrientes and into Banderas Bay

Cabo Corrientes is known as "The Point Conception of Mexico", and for good reason.
It is sloppy, lumpy and bumpy.
The seas and swells come from different directions.
The wind picks up and gusts send salt spray across the deck and cabin top.
For those of you in houses imagine picking up your house and putting it inside one of those snow globe things.
Only in place of the snow, picture salt water.
Now shake it really well and continue shaking it for about six or eight hours.
And you are inside the house wondering what you forgot to stow properly or what is going to fall over.
Yes, even in a catamaran.
Shake, shake, shake some more and listen to how loud it is.
Water slamming the hulls, water hitting the underside of the bridgedeck, water coming through the nets up forward tossing the kayaks up into the air.
The kayaks of course have to come back down to the nets, as they are tied to them, but the sterns of the kayaks continually slam into the deck where it meets the net.
Shake, slam, bang, fun, fun, fun.
And we are so happy to see the Corrientes light house slowly pass along our starboard side.
And really happy when it is astern of us.
And really, really happy as the seas, swells, slop and wind mellow out as we enter the bay.
And even more happy when we cross over to the North side of the bay and anchor in La Cruz.
Twelve hours of shaking, slamming and banging.
Glad it is O V E R !

Breakfast and Provisioning and Watching for the Window in Chamela

First thing first ~ right?
Beer.
Food.
We moved over to the North end of Bahia Chamela along with "Lovely Reta" and met up with "Gosling" and "Sea Level" ("Sea Level" being a catamaran designed by our second favorite designer, Jeff Schionning ~ our cat being designed by our first favorite designer, Eric Lerouge).
Time to buy some beer for Jimmy and get some huevos rancheros for me.
So when Jim and Kent of "Sea Level" asked if we wanted to join them for breakfast in the small town of Perula, there was no hesitation on our parts.
You can always buy beer after breakfast ~ right?
So in to the beach where we wandered the dirt streets in circles, because Kent thought she knew where she was going.Not right.
My Jim finally asked a guy who pointed us in the right direction.
To food.
Found a place by the run-down town square and proceeded to order.
We (was up to six of us now as Fran and Jean-Guy from "Gosling" had joined us by then) all ordered orange juice and different egg dishes.
About 10 minutes later we see the owner walking back towards the restaurant with a big bag of oranges.
I guess they did not expect six for breakfast...
Buy as dishes and drinks are ordered ~ so typical.
Four of us got our meals and were pretty much done by the time the other two got their meals.
So typical.
Then we hit all the local tiendas and found fresh food to buy!Enough to get us up around Cabo Corrientes and into Banderas Bay.


We also found out you can drive an ATV here at any age.

And have as many underage passengers as you want.


Now we are waiting for the wind to die down.
Watching for the weather window to head further North.
Waiting to watch a few boats leave early in the evening to head around Cabo Corrientes ~ the Point Conception of Mexico.
We will leave in the middle of the night or really early in the morning and head to either the small anchorage at Ipala or back into the bay.

Bahia Chamela's Incredible Islas!

We motored further North and anchored at Isla Colorado to explore the three pretty white sand beaches.
And swim.
And beachcomb.
And watch pelicans sit in trees.
And take pictures of the boats.
And watch hermit crabs.Hundreds of them.We watched one poor hermit crab be hounded, held onto, poked, pinched, followed and grabbed by several others for about 45 minutes...
Yes, we have too much time on our hands...
Either she was a female in heat or she had the best shell on the beach!We went to the south beach where we used to go years ago ~ still beautiful!





Then motored over behind Isla Passavera for the night.

Glenn on "Beach Access" had invited "Lovely Reta" and us over for movie night in his cockpit!
Sort of like being at the drive in movies...

And we had a nice view of "Meerkat" and "Don Quixote" from the movie theatre.

We ended up with one trimaran, one monohull and three catamarans in the anchorage!

Wow, have times changed...

The Filth Has Overtaken Us!

Ok, the filth has won!
It covers the deck.
It encompasses the cockpit.
It oozes from the rigging.
It drifts from the bimini.
It hangs from the lifelines.
It drips down the hull.
It means we haven't been to a dock for awhile.
It's what happens when we spend a couple months at anchor.
It's the best.

Paraiso ~ Finally!

We had always heard of this tiny little anchorage, but never had the opportunity to go in.
Until this trip.
We put out a stern hook to leave room for "Lovely Reta" who joined us.

Unfortunately for them, we got in first and ended up being in the choice spot.

More on this later.


The beaches all have planted coconut palms, with the main beach having a ranch style house and beautiful pool area.All off limits.
All privately owned.
Bummer.
So we swam, kayaked, dinghied and explored the main bay, the surrounding small bays, rocks and islands.
We played a few games on our boat in the late afternoon and watched the wind come up.
Watched the wind come up directly into the anchorage.
Which brought swells and seas.
Directly in to the anchorage.
We were sitting pretty good, but it made for a rolly, lumpy, bumpy night for "Lovely Reta".
Maybe another time when we have a Southerly...

Back to The Inner Anchorage and Beyond ~ The Start of the Head North

Another afternoon of boogie boarding...
Some chafe on my arms...
Chafe means time to do other things!
So we cruised by Tamarindo to pick up internet, check email and make sure our taxes were proceeding.Back to the inner anchorage in time for the Friday Night Raft-up!
Where we tie our dinghies together, pass boatcards, books and appetizers and get to know each other.




Quite fun.






Then three dinghies, "Lovely Reta", "Sea Level" and Mommy and Daddy of "Don Quixote", who were still tied to us, ended up floating back to our boat for wine, raicilla, talking and tours.
We are still trying to figure out what happened to "Don Quixote Big Girl" and "Don Quixote Ninas"...
Apparently someone took them home for the evening...

Quite fun.

The next day "Mommy Don Quixote" felt that they had drank us out of house and home, so sent "Don Quixote Big Girl" over with a bottle of wine and a half loaf of zucchini bread ~ yum!
"Mommy Don Quixote" can come to my boat anytime...

Another day of play and a little preparation to start our trek North.
Then off we went with quite a fleet behind us.
And a Mexican shrimper alongside us.


This is the view from the water of the abandoned hotel at El Tecuan.




This is a monster house along the coast.




This is the weird sculpture that is giant and none of us understand...

Happy Birthday To ME!

Yea - the birthday pics survived!
(Actually I still had them in the camera...)

This was my 5th birthday to celebrate in Mexico!
Three birthdays were spent in Banderas Bay, so I didn't want to be there again...
One was in Ensenada ~ too cold.
Where to be?
Tenacatita of course!
The outer anchorage at Tenacatita, so the new birthday boogie board can be put to use!

So we said "adios" to the lagoon at Barra and "adios" to several friends.
A giant "thank you" to Chris and Lorry of "Hiolani" and Celebrity Tours.
And off we went, along with John and Debby of "Lovely Reta".
To Tenacatita!

The pre-birthday afternoon and evening was spent playing a really fun game, "Pegs & Jokers" on "Lovely Reta".
The boys won the first game.
The ladies won the second game.
We will be playing two out of three of course!

Birthday breakfast!
YUM ~ I was treated to bacon and eggs, along with thick sliced sourdough (my home-made) toast perfectly cooked by the sweet husband.
Who also cleaned up.
Thank you Jim!

The meerkats, Fluffy and Mr. Bee Mine partied for days...
Well, they had to, because Susan's birthday is the day after mine.
So Happy Birthday to Susan too!


Off to the beach to use the birthday boogie board!We were joined by Chris, Lorry and my sweetheart pal, Jungle Joe of "Hiolani" and John and Debby of "Lovely Reta".

I have always said things on boats should have two uses.
Debby had only used her boogie board for a "bar" during "noodle parties" before.
Not so anymore.
She is now a hooked boogie boarder and her boogie board now has two uses!
Of course we were on old lady beginner waves...
But we had a blast!










I even boogie boarded in my birthday crown!



I bet this was a first on this beach...





Then a road trip in "woodie" up to the small Raicilla distillery in El Rebalsito.Complete with birthday decorations...













A tour, tastes and our entertaining of the other patrons and back to the beach for an early dinner.And more boogie boarding, of course!

The restaurant even brought me a cake!


Which I shared with the family of the restaurant owners...Then to the boats for cake by Debby!

I decided this was my best birthday ever and John, Debby and Jim decided this was one of the most fun days ever!

We Need More Turtles!

We need more turtles.
Lots of them.
Loads.
Bunches.
Herds.
Flocks.
Pods.
Gaggles.
Tons.

Who knows what a group of turtles is called?
Dolphins are a pod of dolphins.
Seagulls are a flock of seagulls Hey, who is old enough to remember that band?
Fish are a school.
What are turtles?

We need them to eat the jellyfish.
The loads of jellyfish.
The bunches.
The herds.
The flocks.
The pods.
The gaggle.
The tons.
The flippin bloom of jellyfish that is blooming along the Mexican Coast between Barra de Navidad and Chamela.

February 27th ~ For My Sister

My sister, Donna would have been 51 on February 27th.
This year, I am sure I would have rubbed it in that she was on the wrong side of 50 and I was remained on the right side of 50. It would have seemed that we were years and years apart. In your fifties? In my forties? Eons apart. My birthday is four days after her's ~ on March 3rd.
When we were kids for those amazingly long four days she would gloat and brag and hold over my head that she was four years older than me. Well, when we were adults and starting to not want to admit our ages, for those four fleeting days I would gloat and brag and hold over her head that I was four years younger than her.
I am now older than she was when she died...
I do not feel that I have lived a full life.
I simply cannot imagine how she must have felt knowing she was being robbed of so many years.
Her husband and children were being robbed.
I was being robbed.
We were cheated.

Someone awhile back lent me the chick flick, "In Her Shoes". About two sisters... The younger sister always feeling not quite up to the older sister's expectations. Not quite up to the older sister's intelligence. Not quite up to the older sister's beauty and reputation. Only wanting to be like her sister and be liked by her sister. Well, I was the youngest out of five kids... Try showing up at high school with the last name of "Stapleton" after four others had already left their mark. Fun. Anyway, at the end of the movie, Cameron Diaz who plays the younger sister, reads this poem aloud in front of a lot of people for her older sister, the sister she admired, the sister she only wanted to impress and the sister she only wanted to be approved by. Something about this poem and the situation in the movie hit home with me. I only hope she can read this from heaven...

i carry your heart with me
i carry it in my heart
i am never without it
anywhere i go you go, my dear;
and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling
i fear no fate
for you are my fate, my sweet
i want no world
for beautiful you are my world, my true
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart
i carry it in my heart

ee cummings

Just a Few Birthday Pictures to Tide You Over Until The Big Piece of Shit Computer Wants to Work Again...

Well all the birthday boogie board pics are stuck in the big computer...
Soooooo... the official birthday boogie board post will follow after Jim dismembers the big computer and performs computer surgery.
Until then, here are a few pics Debby of "Lovely Reta" took.
And just because I can, I am not going to explain any of them.
You can each come up with a good story and put the story in a comment.

What Does a Cruising Woman Girl Want on Her 48th 29th Birthday?

A boogie board of course!