Our Guadalajara Trip

Here is the delayed report on our Guadalajara trip week before last.

What a great bus system Mexico has. There are multiple levels of service. We took the ETN company's bus. This was top of the line, perfectly clean, air conditioned, reclining seats, leg rests so you can stretch out and sleep (many of the long distance buses leave at night, arriving in the morning.), movies, music and more room between seats than airlines first class. The bus was configured with 2+1 seating. The weak point was the sandwich meal. No problem. We won't starve.

We had arranged for a room in a Bed and Breakfast Quinta Don Jose (see: http://www.quintadonjose.com) in Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara. Many of the homes in the area have been converted into galleries. So there were all sorts of shops with exotic or unusual home decorating items, a few jewelers, ceramics and pottery and (of course) restaurants. We spent time wandering this area.

There were wonderful parks and plazas, especially in the central area, that were great for people watching. The children were a real treat to watch. We did the usual: cathedrals, government buildings, monuments, museums and the largest market we have ever seen, Mercado Libertad. It was multistoried and jam-packed with stalls with everything from parquets to electronics. Besides all the merchants selling wonderfully fresh fruits and vegetables, there were fish mongers and butchers. Then one entire level was full of booths selling meals. We scouted them out somewhat before deciding which one to choose. We continued on our way, only to see more that we wanted.

One very interesting place was the Cultural de Cabanas. The central area was full of Orozco murals, on the walls and ceilings. A freelance guide was very helpful in understanding the time and the murals.

Tonala is a nearby town known for it's pottery and pottery factories. We did visit the area, seeing their wares and getting a factory tour in Spanish. It was a family business, with each member having his own specialty, such as right diagonal lines or dots. The pieces were very intricate, covered with complimentary patterns and designs.

At one restaurant, we had a Oaxacan delicacy we've been looking to try: Huitlacoche (wheat - la - COACH - ay), a mushroom that grows on corn cobs. We had it in a chicken dish that was absolutely fabulous.

In the US the farmers in the corn belt throw the rare fungus away - they don't know what they're missing. They even call it by the unappetizing name of "corn smut".

It was a fine three day visit. But it was also great to come home, to our boat.

Warmest Regards,
Mary and Bill

Update from Barra de Navidad

It's been a little while since our last update. We are still well and enjoying ourselves and the surroundings.

I don't know how the time can flyby so quickly here! There are a few routine things in the day.

We listen to the cruisers' "Amigo net" on Marine SSB (8.1220 MHz USB at 9:00AM CST) for the weather (if we are up that early).

Then at 9:00 AM on Marine VHF Channel 22A is the local Barra and Tenacatita cruisers net. This keeps everyone up to date on who is arriving and any activities going on, as well as a source of help and information for each other.

Also around this time the French Baker (from the town of Bara) comes by in his panga (the panga is the all purpose Mexican boat for fishing, water taxi and whatever is needed.) selling freshly made French bread, almond and chocolate croissants, and assorted pies and sweets. This is definitely nice and possibly addictive.

We try to get in a swim at the pool everyday. Everyone seems to gather from 2 to 4 for a swim and chat. This is a very social lifestyle. That is one of the most enjoyable parts. We have folks stopping by during the day. And we are visiting with each other at sometime during the day, either on their boat, ours, or at a local restaurant.

In between all this there is visiting the local towns, grocery shopping, e-mail and the ever present boat chores.

It's been fun renewing friendships made on the Baja Ha Ha, Cabo and Puerto Vallarta as our paths cross here in Bara. We say good by to friends here, knowing we will be seeing them again, somewhere along the way.

Last week the hotel and marina sponsored a fishing tournament. That brought in a huge amount of people and boats�huge power boats. There was a lot of music and activity those three days. I did hate to see the sailfish, and swordfish strung up for weighing and viewing. We even saw one that was only 4-5 feet long brought in. What a waste! I understand in many tournaments, a person is placed on each boat to verify the catch and weight and then the fish is released. That, unfortunately, was not the case here. Tuna and dorado were also caught. At least these were filleted and eaten.

Other activity here lately involved the MTV crew filming a contest and commercial, another film crew with a reality TV show, and last week, an episode of Fear Factor. This gave the hotel a party atmosphere with all the young people around.

As I'm writing this, Bill has the steering column taken apart and is greasing the dickens out of it.

He'll need to finish up soon. It's about time to head to the pool for a swim.

Warmest wishes,
Mary and Bill

Barra de Navidad

Let me try a slightly different format. Below is a brief additional update with imbded photos. Please comment and let me know if you like this format better. I can only do it when I'm connected directly to the net, so we'll still only post text only messages when at sea.

If you want a larger view, you can click on any of the pictures. But to get back to this BLOG, use the BACK control on the browser. The "Home" icon on the pictures will take you to our website

You can also see ALL our pictures posted on our website at http://raptordance.com

We go a lot going on in Barra de Navidad and across the bay where we are in Isla Navidad - see: http://www.islanavidad.com/

Since we got here on January 1st we've been busy exploring the area, trying the local restaurants

and enjoying time at the pool.

One restaurant we particulary enjoyed is Restaurant Maya - see http://www.restaurantmaya.com/ in the nearby town of Melaque. We visited with Simon and Charlyn of Lily Mae and had a wonderful dinner.

It's quite a bit warmer here than anywhere we've been so far so our sun shade is very important. We've also purchased a hammock and it's a very nice way to spend the afternoon.

That's a quick update from us for now.

We hope you have a great weekend.

Regards,

Bill and Mary

Wines in Mexico

Living in Sonoma County spoil you! When we sailed out the Golden Gate on September 30th, we had 6 Cases of wine on board. Here it is in early January and we’re out of wine ;-{

We thought that we’d be drinking more beer in the Mexican heat, but even in the heat our preferences definitely run to wine and we’ve been doing more entertaining than anticipated.

Our tastes run in the direction of big, balanced, fruit forward reds. In varietals my top three in order of preference are Zinfandels, Syrahs and Pinot Noirs. Mary’s preferences are Pinot Noirs, Zinfandels and Syrahs. Yes, we of course also like Cabernet Sauvignons, Petit Sirahs and the occasional Merlot, but most are generally too wimpy! We’re long time members of ZAP, Zinfandel Advocates and Producers – see http://www.zinfandel.org

When it’s hot out we also like nice crisp whites. In whites, we also like a good crisp balanced wine with good fruit. We tend to shy away from wines that are over oaked or too buttery. We both like Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs.

One winery in Mexico that we’ve found that has nice drinkable wines is L. A. Cetto in the Tecate – Ensenada – Valle de Guadalupe area of Baja California. Their wines are available if you look carefully for them. In particular, they make a nice Zinfandel at a surprisingly low price point of around $6 US per bottle. They also produce Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, but the Zin is our favorite. If you like soda pop – they also make a White Zinfandel – but that’s not REAL wine!

That's the news for today from Barra de Navidad!

Warmest Wishes,
Bill and Mary

Update and news from Thailand...

We are now in the marina at Puerto de la Navidad. This is just across the small harbor from Barra de Navidad. The marina is on the grounds of the Grand Bay Hotel here on Isla Navidad (which is really a peninsula, not an Island).

With all the storms hitting Southern California, the effect down here is that the wind died and it got hotter! So we left Tenacatita on Saturday and came over here to plug in the air conditioning ;-}

We'll probably stay here for a few weeks before working our way back up to Puerto Vallarta in February.

We decided to visit locations further south via land excursions rather than sail as 1) there's not much wind, 2) it's a long way between anchorages 3) since we'll be heading back to the Sea of Cortez in the spring - it's a long round trip, 4) it's at least 10 degrees hotter in Zihuatanejo and 5) we're at the southern end of the "nicest" part of the coast.

That's the major update from us... We're off exploring the locale including the local village of San Patricio Melaque and nearest city: Manzanillo.

A now for some news from Thailand:

When I was at Wells Fargo, I worked closely with Dudley Nigg, who retired in 1999 and set sail on his Island Packet 45 "Happy Now".

He and his wife Philippa were on Happy Now in Thailand when the tsunami struck and I though you might find their report of interest. I've included their complete email below.

Warmest wishes,
Bill and Mary
--------
Hi Everyone,

So many of you have written asking how things are here that I thought I would send off a quick e-mail describing the effects of the tsunami here. Contrary to the news that I have had described to me, Thailand is not in chaos, and even Phuket on a day to day basis can seem frighteningly normal.

Yet behind all this when I volunteered down at the community center a few days ago, and friends were searching for the son of friends - then nothing seemed normal. Boards were covered with horrifying photos of victims of the sea under the heading, "Can you identify any of these people?"; lists and lists of victims, in hospitals or dead; people searching for their loved ones, putting photos up, "Have you seen this person, this child?" so much to make ones heart bleed; then the lucky ones, walking wounded, who have lost everything including passports.

All the embassies had set up emergency centers to deal with these issues. The biggest problem was looking for people who had not appeared on any of the lists... When I asked, "Can I help you?" the answer, "I am looking for my wife," was the hardest to deal with! So many unidentified bodies, being taken to so many places with no central record keeping. And so many people simply missing.

The next day I went back but left very shortly, the flow of people had so reduced I felt I was redundant, so we went across to the beaches to see how they had fared. Andrea had asked us to check out some hotels where she has clients booked and which had informed her it was business as usual for them.

We started at Kata Nui beach; the sight of their wedding last year and the hotel where we had stayed. Kata Bhuri is set back from the beach and other than the fact that the pool beside which we had had the ceremony was full of sea water and grunge they are unaffected and the tourists were vacationing, lying in the sun, enjoying the courtyard pool which was as blue as ever.

The Kata Thani, being beach front had fared worse, every ground floor room had had the windows smashed in and workers were shoveling out sand and debris - but the upper floors were unaffected and the gardeners were hard at work getting the grounds back to normal. Once again tourists frolicked in the waves and sat in the sun. All that seemed to be missing were the rows of beach chairs and umbrellas!

As we traveled north the story got sadder. The next beach up, where the kids had stayed, the water front restaurants had been demolished. At Patong, the real hub of tourism on the island, the road along the front was closed, and in the small section we saw, a car was dangling out of a restaurant window! Wrecked cars, smashed in by the wave, still littered the area. It looked like a bomb had gone off.

That is as far as we went but further north still and on the islands is where so many lives were lost. People simply disappeared, washed away by the speed and force of the wave. Yet when we drive into Phuket town and on this side of the island, it is easy to forget that any thing has happened.

One hears amazing stories. From the yachties perspective in Thailand we all had a miraculous escape. The marinas were hardly affected. Our Marina had a warning call, then a large swell came thru lifting the whole marina to with in a few feet of the top of the pylons, and then it all subsided, so close to disaster but actually no damage.

For the 150 or so boats anchored in a bay for Christmas they too simply rose over a huge swell which then rushed ashore clearing the beach of restaurants, deck chairs and people. Since then they have been helping the locals rebuild their businesses on the beach. The Thais are resilient people. We definitely have the feeling that around here they are bouncing back. As Dudley points out in a capitalistic society disaster brings jobs, and we saw many, many people working in the devastated areas, and hopefully they will earn enough to replace their tuk-tuk or their long-tail which was washed away.

Other areas were not so lucky. The two marinas where we stayed just before Christmas in Langkawi, Malaysia were both decimated with the wave roaring in, swirling around and then sucking all the yachts out, sinking some, damaging others. We all know we are lucky to be alive and even considering our plans for 2005!

And as for our plans. The route we had planned to take is to areas of far greater disaster. Sri Lanka we know we can not go to. The Andaman Islands, originally our first stop, will take a while to recover and we need to leave next week so have decided to miss them. The Maldives have already contacted our marina and told them to please let us all know they hope we will still
go there. So despite what you hear on the news, "The Maldives are finished as a tourist resort area," I think they are bouncing back as fast as they can.

Instead of the Maldives we have decided to go to Cochin on the south west corner of India. We had never considered it before but now we have heard about it and started to research it it an exciting alternative. In fact it is in the book Andrea and Brandon gave us for Christmas, "The 1000 Places You Must See Before You Die!" so we are excited again. I am a little apprehensive as it means 10 days at sea getting to Cochin as well as the 12 day trip from the Maldives to Eritrea. I will just be especially glad to see Cochin when we get there!

We are busy preparing the boat for a three month voyage: checking the tension of the rigging, packing away the kayaks, getting in basic food supplies, putting in safety lines, checking the emergency equipment. It has been a long time since we did a major ocean crossing. We are excited to be on our way again and will be back writing monthly, rather than semi annual
updates once again!

Our very Best Wishes for a Happy New Year to you and yours

Love

Dudley and Philippa
S/V Happy Now
IP 45

Happy New Year

Hi Everyone!

From beautiful Bahía Tenacatita on the Mexican Riviera, Mary and I want to wish you all the Happiest of New Years!

The last few days we've been snorkeling, doing boat chores, getting fishing gear set up for the next opportunity, learning Spanish, doing some computer work, contending with a busy social calendar and generally having a relaxing time.

Every day there's a swim into the beach from the anchorage followed by activities on the beach and in the local Palapa. Which is nothing more than an open thatched shelter with tables, chairs and a kitchen.

We've been learning to play "Mexican Train" and "Chicken Foot" dominoes and bocce ball. Interestingly, you can't buy "double 15" (for chicken foot) or "double 12" (for Mexican train) domino sets in Mexico. The days go fast.

Yesterday afternoon was the weekly dingy raft up. The "Mayor of Tenacatita" (another cruiser) drops anchor and all the dingys tie up together and pass around stories, appetizers, boat cards and books and videos to trade. Following that, we had some friends over for an early new years celebration. It was also Philip on Carina's 60th birthday.

In a few hours we'll up anchor and head 10 miles down the coast to the marina in Barra de Navidad for a week or so to get a real network connection, take care of some re-provisioning and get our January mail shipment.

Tenacatita remains our most favorite anchorage so far and we will most certainly stop here again on our way back North.

Warmest Wishes,
Bill and Mary

Bahia Tenacatita

We arrived in Bahia Tenacatita yesterday. This is the place that has received the largest number of kudos from our friends who have been here before and we can see why. It's the best spot so far!

A great anchorage with lots to do, great snorkeling, diving, warm clear water, even a Jungle River Trip! We've also caught up with many of our friends who left Puerto Vallarta ahead of us. There either here in Tenacatita or just another 10 miles down the coast in the Marina of Barre de Navidad.

The Jungle River trip was a lot of fun. This morning we left with our friends Bruce and Nora of "Jamboree" in their dingy for the 2 mile run up the Rio Las Iguanas river. The mouth of the river is right at the beach here in the anchorage. We followed a winding channel through the mangroves which was sometimes sunny and sometimes covered by the branches of the tress to create an environment similar to the "Jungle Boat" trip at Disneyland but with different critters - and these were real! With no wisecracking guide..... except for Bill ;-} We saw colorful birds, butterflies and a Coatimundi. All in the lush foliage of mangroves and vines. Tendrils of aerial roots dangled like sausages from the green canopy overhead. touching the mirror clear water.

The end of the river led to a dingy landing on the backside of the Las Escolleras beach further up the bay. A short walk took us to a series of beach palapa restaurants with outstanding fish rolls made with fish and shrimp served with an almond sauce. Quite yummy.

After we returned, we went snorkeling on the point just around the corner from the anchorage. We swam over and hitched a ride back on a friend's dingy. We saw lots of fish of all varieties. From puffers to damsel fish and many more. Great clear water. A very nice time.

Now we're back on the boat relaxing with a cup of tea.

Mary also comments that "why is it a perverse delight to do a little bit of hand laundry and hang it on the lifelines?" (we do chores too!)

We'll probably stay here for at least a week of more, socializing with the lively community of around 15 other cruising boats here in the anchorage.

Warmest wishes to all
Bill and Mary

Anchored out in Bahia de Chamela

Happy Holidays everyone!

Our cruise down from Ipala to here was uneventful. Calm winds and flat seas, so we motored the 52 miles in just under 8 hours. Saw a few whales playing a few miles off, none up close. Dolphins were jumping and playing in the bay when we arrived. During the night a few were playing by the boat and their breathing (blowing) woke us up. Noisy critters!

We're anchored out in this beautiful bay: Bahia de Chamela (pronounced "chah-MAH-lah"). This is a large bay, over 4 miles across with villages at either end and some small islands in the middle. We're here with just 4 other boats anchored in the NW corner of the bay by the small village.

Compared to Ipala, this place is huge! Lot's of space to anchor and a much larger village. Probably around 100 families and lot's of family run palapa restaurants on the beach.

We'll probably stay here through the weekend, going to the bay's islands for diving over the next few days.

Last night we went to a very nice one with two friends and had a wonderful seafood platter with fish, shrimp done three different ways, Langostino (crayfish)and octopus done two different ways (it was tender and delicious). The dinner for 4 only cost 280 pesos ($25.50 US).

We got a couple of questions about how to locate us on the map with more precision than the map on the website. There a couple of ways to do that. The easiest is got to your local auto club office and get their Mexico road map. This gives a good overview of Mexico overall (but not a lot of detail). Right now, we're nearest the small town of Chamela, on the west coast Mexico highway 200 south of Puerto Vallarta. Chamela is the town at the other end of this bay from where we are.

A better way is if you have a really good Atlas that covers Mexico. The best maps are the Mexican Topographical maps, available at many libraries.

Look up the area and then zero in to our exact location using the latitude and longitude reported on our website.

Right now we're at 19°35.070'N 105°07.887'W. Isn't GPS is great! That's our position to within 6 feet. Unfortunately, The Nautical charts are mostly obsolete. All our charts show us 2 to 3 miles inland. So we navigate using the "Mark 1 eyeball", radar and depth sounder, interpreting our charts appropriately.

Warmest wishes for a great holidays!

Bill and Mary

In Ipala

We arrived in Ipala at 3pm this afternoon after a nice motor down from Puerto Vallarta.

This is a lovely little bay. The village consists of 14 families with 3 (count them!) 3 restaurants! All outdoors.

Mary and I had Langosta con Ajo (Lobster with Garlic) for $11.00 each. They also have wonderful fish and (cooked) oysters!

There are 4 cruising sailboats in the anchorage and we went to check out the place next door and 75% of the visiting sailors were at our table.... 6 people total!

Great time.... We'll probably stay here tomorrow to and leave Thursday.

Warmest Regards,

Bill and Mary

Still in Puerto Vallarta

Wow. Time is flying by. Sorry there haven't been as many messages recently.

All is well here and we are fine and having a great time.

We're into our second week of Spanish lessons. We're taking a class for cruisers that meets twice a week on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. The class is geared to phrases we would actually use here.

Last weekend we went to the north of Banderas Bay (which is the Bay we are in) and anchored off a nice little village, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. That was very peaceful. We ran into some folks we had met in San Diego. I expect this will continue to happen, where we crisscross paths with many of the same people.

The feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe is this month. So in Puerto Vallarta, every night, something is going on: ballet, parades, dances, food and drink.

Last night a famous Mariachi band from Guadalajara played at at the amphitheater on the beach. When they played at the Sheraton hotel the day before, it cost $100/each to hear them. The public concert was free. They were fantastic! Rather than deal with the crowd, we noticed that the restaurant right across the street had empty tables 1 story above the amphitheater and was open to and facing the concert, so we went and had some drinks and snacks. No bad, a balcony seat with waitress service for a great free concert
;-}

The evening was great. The square, the church and all of down town was crowed with local and tourists. There was a parade with Aztec dancers etc. There were some excellent singers and then the Mariachi band played. We were told that they were the best Mariachi band in Mexico. They certainly sounded great!

Besides all the people out, there were stands set up with food and drinks. So we were trying an wide assortment of foods.

Note, the entire time we've been down here, we've eaten at street stands, festivals, etc. With NO ill effects.

It was very festive. we hope to go into town tomorrow night too.

A few nights ago five of us went to Las Carmelitas, a restaurant high up (1500 feet) on the mountains behind Puerto Vallarta to watch the sunset and have dinner. We had a great time good food, good company and awesome view.

Also yesterday, Mary went to the beach which is only a matter of feet away and got a lesson in buggy boarding from our friends Bruce and Nora. They have been doing this everyday. They have the boards at the beach for the hotel/marina guests to use. The place is quite large. There are four swimming pools that we've found, complete with waiters to bring drinks or food. Is this too decadent? Plus there is a spa, several restaurants, disco (we haven't gone there yet), a zoo with tigers etc, great beach, and then the hotel naturally and a nearby shopping center with a grocery store and Laundromat, other stores and restaurants.

In the past few weeks, we went on a hike to a waterfall, a walk through the jungle, snorkeling at Los Arcos (a nearby popular spot) and lot's more.

We've also got a lot of chores done on the boat but we have a few more to accomplish before we head south down the coast.

We're a little behind at getting our web site updated but will do that with some of our Puerto Vallarta pictures before we head south.

Warmest regards to all for a happy holidays!

Mary and Bill