Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Icons on map are clickable for more information on anchorages, marinas, snorkel spots, etc. Zoom out for others. When we arrived in Bahia Puerto Balandra around 5pm we were stunned by how beautiful the bay was, with rugged cliffs and small coves of white sand beaches. We set our anchor as usual, in 12 feet of water at low tide, and paid out 75 feet of chain. After making sure that it was set well, we jumped [...]
Going Digital
Before moving aboard we converted as many of our things as possible to digital format. We knew there would be no space on a boat for years of paperwork and stacks of music CDs. We had originally planned on not keeping anything that wouldn't fit on the boat but there were just some things we couldn't part with so we bought a small cargo trailer that is being stored with family. When we moved from Portland to [...]
Iguanas de La Cruz
Our favorite taco spot in La Cruz is nestled among the trees and all throughout lunch you hear things drop onto the awning above. Turns out it's the iguanas running around in the tree tops knocking down leaves and seed pods. Oh, and pooping... good thing that awning is there! Siesta time Look at the length of that tail!
Making Water
Remote panel above pillows. All other parts are under dinette seating. Mike wrote a testimonial about our water maker for Rich at Cruise RO and we wanted to duplicate it here. There are a lot of blogs out there who write "reviews" to get free gear. While we are not above getting free gear we just wanted to reiterate that we are very happy with our watermaker and didn't receive anything from Cruise RO in exchange. Before we bought [...]
DIY Boat Cards
Traveling by boat we meet a lot of people - we live “next door” to them in marinas and anchorages. Having a common bond, we get to know each other quickly and “what do you do for a living” and "can you believe that traffic” is replaced with “what do you think of the upcoming weather” and “where can I find the showers”. It's nice to be able to have a little something to remember these people [...]
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
Copa Mexico Regata We are currently docked next to my parents' boat Prana in a very nice marina on Banderas Bay - about 20 miles from Puerto Vallarta. La Cruz de Huanacaxtle (pronounced wahn-a-caxt-lay) is a sleepy fishing town with cobble stone streets and an outdoor restaurant with live music on every corner. My folks arrived here a couple of months ago and have made themselves at home. My dad has been busy working on the latest installment [...]
Cabo San Lucas and more Tales of Gales
After the sand storm we left Turtle Bay on a great weather window. Or so we thought... On the morning of our third day at sea the wind became gale force within a matter of an hour. Apparently the Northers that plague the Sea of Cortez during the winter months can make their way across Baja and blow into the Pacific without warning. With good sized swells form the NorthWest and high winds from the NorthEast the seas [...]
Sand Storm in Turtle Bay
The day we had planned on leaving Turtle Bay (on a good weather forecast) a wicked sand storm blew in from the east. It lasted for two days and sand got into every nook and cranny on board. One of our neighbors, who also didn't know what was coming, had secured his dinghy by simply hanging it from a halyard - something a lot of people do. Take a look at how his dinghy beats into [...]
Turtle Bay
After a two day, three night sail we arrived in Turtle Bay at first light. It's only about 200 miles south of Ensenada but when you are moving at 4-5 knots things tend to take a little longer. Turtle Bay seen from our anchorage The dinghy and fuel dock The abandoned fish processing plant The lone sailboat in the distance is Camille
Feliz Dia Del Amor
This is the view we had over dinner the night before Valentines Day. We went out the night before to avoid the crowds and our cunning plan was a complete success. Some people (the two people that actually follow this blog) have been wondering where we've been? Here is what we've been up to. The Mexico-USA border fence. This is the old fence at Tecate. In Tijuana there is also the new fence. Both have an excellent view of the United [...]
Celebrations
Some days ago Mike had yet another birthday. We hadn't really been out to a fancy dinner since leaving Portland and were happy to have an excuse to dine in style. Punta Morro Resort, just outside of town, has a fabulous restaurant over the ocean. When the seas are big, waves splash onto the windows just beyond the tables. Since the sun has been setting around 5pm here, we arrived after sunset and instead were treated to the moon setting [...]
Vaka Visit
Seven beautiful vakas (traditional polynesian voyaging canoes) pulled into our marina today. They are on their way to the South Pacific via the Galapagos while filming a documentary on preserving the oceans. More about their journey... Today was Australia Day and since we have a few boats from Australia here, we had a bit of a celebration and potluck. Mike and I even had our first taste of Vegemite - not bad!Not having a lot of time between boat [...]
Ensenada, Mexico
This morning we headed out looking for a fast internet connection to place some orders and call family. The connection at the marina can get a bit sluggish especially when the cruise ships come in. When we got into town the first thing we noticed is that it was eerily quiet and everything was closed - including our favorite coffee shop. Everyone must have been sleeping in or at church. Luckily, Starbucks doesn't seem to follow local custom and we got a [...]
Coffee and Culture
Ensenada's Cultural Center is just across the street form the marina. They have a cozy little coffee shop with free WiFi so we head over there to make phone calls once in a while since the WiFi in the marina is not fast enough to use Skype.
Full moon
Beautiful full moon here in Ensenada. The Santa Anas have been blowing all day so we don't even need to turn on the heater tonight.We had another whirlwind weekend in California. Dropped off a bunch more things at our storage trailer. Spent many hours at West Marine and hardware stores. Took our biennial First Aid/CPR class to keep our captains licenses up to date. And even had some time to visit with friends and family.Now we're just waiting on [...]
A Successful Day
Our current home port - CruisePort Marina in Ensenada The view up our dock Most things on a boat take at least twice as long, cost twice as much, and are three times as difficult as anticipated. But today we had two projects that took hardly any time and cost us nothing at all! The fridge had been running a bit too often. Not a problem here at the dock but very costly (in energy) at sea [...]
A New Year
A great start to a new year because we're finally doing what has been in planning stages for years. We're living on our boat and traveling the world at five miles per hour! We've slowly been getting tasks checked off the list. Watermaker install is nearly complete, liferaft and new (smaller) dinghy are on order. It's getting a bit chilly here in Ensenada so we hope to be ready to leave in a couple of weeks.
Passion
I love Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks. Unfortunately, it's just not in our budget for daily consumption, so I was really excited when my dear friend gave me a box of Passion tea from Tazo, along with a handwritten recipe card, as a going-away present. It was not only a great gift because I love the tea so much, but because Tazo's headquarters in Portland, Oregon - where we'd been living the past five years. Incidentally, here in Mexico it's [...]
Fire Safety
On a boat you can't simply step outside and call the fire department if something catches on fire - unless of course you happen to be in a marina. We're planning on spending a lot of time at anchor, so being ready for a potential fire is important. While working aboard ships, we both attended several days of shipboard fire-fighting classes, both in classrooms and fighting "fake" fires aboard old ships. Even with the fake fires my adrenalin got [...]
Space Saving Ideas
Storage on a boat is at a premium. Since we first started talking about preparing to move onto a boat we have been getting rid of bulky stuff and buying tiny versions of everything we wanted or needed. But being tiny isn't the only requirement to make it aboard. Serving double-duty is another. Hardly anything on our boat serves just one function. Tables make into beds, couches and beds cover electronics and tanks, refrigerator doors serve as counter space. [...]