Marina Vallarta

Well, this is the end of the line for this segment, here we leave SpringDay and Ana Mae with the babysitters Tom and Susan, friends and crew on Ana Mae. She is nice and secure all Tom has to do is check lines, fenders, voltage and bilges while we are gone.  The girls(boats) will be in Puerto Vallarta for Christmas getting sun kissed, a beauty rest and a weekly massage.  As for Don and I we look forward to spending time with family, Skipper will turn Farmer a couple of days to check out the orchards, then back to Skipper again to plan SpringDay's bright future just ahead.

Pete and Bea who live in PV in the winter paid us a visit

                                                                                      

Dante Gallery in PV is fun to visit, with a lot of different mediums, an interior garden area and beautiful bronze sculptures.  I took a picture of this painting it reminds me of my sister's style of painting.  Christiane, your paintings belong in great galleries around the world, you are the best! I miss you.

Kay and I took one day to explore shops and look at art galleries.

This sculpture by a Mexican artist represents the resolve of the American people to rise above the tribulations of September 11 in New York. It was a touching tribute I did not expect to see in another country.                                                 Walking down the street between galleries, I feel a tap on my shoulder, " Lili ?"  Friends of my sister, Richard and Claude from Montreal come to PV every year. They saw me walking by, I had not seen them or spoken with them for maybe ten years! What are the odds?






The next chapter of my world on water will resume on January 13 Who will join us, what will inspire me in the next two thousand mile stretch to the Panama canal?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!


Thinking of you...

San Blas, Nayarit - and D.A. Burns!

 After two incredibly peaceful nights at anchor at Isla Isabella, gently rocked to sleep all thru morning, we pull up anchor and head for San Blas, Nayarit. A boobie feather floats by and I think of its little face under a bonnet standing on blue feet.

A point of San Blas at dusk

San Blas was colonized by the Spanish in 1529 and was at one time the most important port of the North Pacific. Almost five hundred years of history! The entrance into the port was a little concerning, the Port Captain repeated that we had no more than three to four meters of depth and two meters by the marina. SpringDay is eight foot tall under water so staying at the marina was not an option, we anchored by the mangroves. Before I had a chance to close doors and windows, I spot an incredibly large (6" in width) moth looking insect trapped between the window and the delicate sheer silhouette blind of the salon. A closer look reveals that this hostile insect was spewing red blotches of fluid which fanned by its panicked wings, sent the stinky waste all over the back of the blind. Now I panic! I lift the blind knowing that the red will be squished through, and now its wings have no space restriction and the hysterical creature flings gobs of red all over the wood. Armed with two yards of paper towels I quickly enrobe the insect for whom I have lost all respect, but nevertheless I release her to her mangrove.
I reached for the very small bottle of D.A.Burns upholstery cleaner that I was given when I took all of SpringDay's canvas to D.A. Burns in Seattle. I start flooding the dainty fabric thinking it was pointless, I was just spreading the color.  Then by miracle, when I return with a water saturated cloth to rinse off, MILAGRO! The stains were gone. Hey D.A.Burns I will
talk about you for the rest of my life. Thanks D.A. Burns. Don't forget to get your bottle of D.A. Burns today!

Walking to town after this traumatic event we come up to this condemned church built in 1818. A friendly woman offers to show us the inside, she points to several places on the walls where there used to be a painting before it was stolen. She motions to follow her to the new church next door and leads us to the ancient statue of the crucified Christ left behind by the Spaniards. 

Relishing street prepared food, Bill is willing to share

                 

Popular restaurant La Isla, food was very good, shells interesting to look at while you wait

 Next day friends Kay and Suzan take front seat in the panga excursion up the estuary to see crocodiles.  I stayed on the boat to rest, to have some alone time and to give my skin a break from insect bites.

Our brave Susan on Ana Mae... handling a snake

Isla Isabella

female frigate

Just Don and I, it felt good to have the whole boat to ourselves with a freshly washed teak deck. Headed for Isla Isabella or what was to be our first day of fun since we first set eyes on the boat, not a single repair, no entry on the to-do list or part list, nothing!  A day run. Only ninety nm to the largest breeding ground of blue footed boobies and frigate birds in the Pacific Mexico.


 Most restful water so far, just flat. Island in sight, I am camera happy. The island is three quarters of a mile long, no human residents, just passing through fishermen resting in camps. Enjoy the pictures.

                                                                                                                    







   

The walk through the National Park was almost surreal, a feeling of being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie without the eye gouging. Maybe fifty-thousand birds, one hundred thousand black eyes sensing and scanning our presence. The canopy of the garlic-pear tree they perch on is low and seems too weak to support the weight of so many. Wing span is two meters. They spread their wings to cool themselves in a shape that reminds me of a plié. I can touch them if I raise my arm, but I don't want to break the peace between bird and man.                                            

Unlike a walk through the orchards, I don’t hear the snapping of a pear tree twig and I don’t feel the squishing of a fallen fruit under my foot, no here I feel every round rock, I see holes everywhere on the ground on each side of the path wondering if earth dwellers would slither out to arrest my heart! It’s so hot. My feet slow down when approaching a white washed portion of ground and I look up to avoid an unpleasant air drop of… I don’t know what they eat or when they eat, hours observing them and all they do is fly and rest, seems heavenly.  I thank God for the gift of traveling and seeing beyond "my" pear trees at home.

Isla Isabella garlic-pear tree

male frigate

                                                                                                                                                                           

 Blue footed boobie

You can get so close to them, one wonders why they are so amenable at letting humans trespass

This small bird paradise reveals not so paradisical things from a bird’s perspective. The island seems to suffer from segregation, the frigates on one side with the thick vegetation and the blue footed boobies on the more rocky side.  Over the water, from the fly bridge of SpringDay I observe their own beautiful flights and then... oh not so beautiful, a sky war, a frigate chases after a boobie, nips (no pun intended) at it and pursues it until it has no choice but to crash sit on the water and wait. It does seem like frigates stay up in the air or on land. Wished I could have taken a video of this fowl play.

Iguanas had the same behavior as their winged occupiers, still and letting people step inches from them

One thing SpringDay and I are grateful about is my husband. I thank him for his perseverance in curing SpringDay, his determination to solve her problems and his efforts to keep me satisfied in my moments of ungratefulness. I love you.

Thinking of you...

Roberto

Reunited in Mazatlan are four other Nordhavns. Three boats became customers of Roberto’s, a wash here and a wax there. Hard work. When we left La Paz he told me that he came on board with no money at all so the much needed income allowed him to lodge mother and son in a hotel for five days so he could see his son, he would work until three and see his son until evening. It was bittersweet to see how happy he was playing with his son and to know how short lived this visit was going to be. 

 But that's just it, Roberto knows how to do what I find very difficult; he finds joy in the moment, a moment that is preceded and followed by trials and difficulties. He takes the gift with full gratitude and smiles. "I can't understand why people aren't in awe of Christo, He provides..." he says.

An exhausted daddy Roberto preferred the hard floor to the bed in the pilot house claiming it is better for his back. Notice his pillow; his bible. Little Fernando came to the boat for an afternoon and sat at the counter like a good little boy and watched daddy prepare a meal for him. Bill and Kay came over to see Fernando and gave him a truck and three books. Fernando’s favorite?  The two page Toy Story book. Adorable!

 

Roberto took care of his son and I would take care of Roberto, cooking, washing his clothes and chatting with him. Ironically, one night he peeks in the door at 10:30 pm and says: Hi Mom, I’m home! I smiled.

Mazatlan - I found the city lively, and the taxi drivers were exceptionally kind and friendly, selling me the idea that violence in Mazatlan had been eradicated with the election of the new President. Another would explain to me that the mafia and the local government work hand in hand to insure that tourism is not affected!?! Regardless, we felt very safe walking the streets of the Old historic Mazatlan.  

Pulmonia - unique to Mazatlan, these taxis are windowless Volkswagon chassis with a fiberglass body. The doors are low and thin, it was scary in the curves at high speed - american music blasting, drivers like to race each other when taking two groups of boaters, a little margarita happy back to the marina. Locals claimed that one can catch a pneumonia when riding, ergo the name "Pulmonia".

Restaurants at night and repairs during the day. One more major victory! SpringDay’s fresh water pump was cured of her incessant cycling and stoppage.  Skipper spent hours every day in the tight hot forward compartment, finally detecting two tiny vacuum leaks on the suction side. Bingo! One more dark stain off of SpringDay’s history.

TTG (TimeTo Go) I got up at 4 am to make sure I could send one more blogging session before losing internet, Skipper’s alarm clock sounded at 5 am. Roberto had cleaned our teak deck at midnight! We leave him on the dock at dawn with his bag and some of Don's clothes (shhh! Don does not know he's missing a few shirts) money for his return, a goodbye and a God bless you. "Mom" made sure he also had a bag full of food and drinks for his last day of boat cleaning before returning to La Paz. Soul fed. Mine.

Thinking of you...

A passenger

Leaving La Paz with faithful Ana Mae close behind.

I don’t know what to make of this modified life yet.  I find it hard to leave our beautiful orchard grounds with trees soldiering on wearing their gold, rubies and emeralds; a quiet and still world, perfect for soul growing. 

I miss my church, God seems so close every Sunday of my regular life and other days too with bibles laying open and Songs that wet the corners of my eyes.

Safely cocooned in the Valley that adopted me thirty years ago, I now have to leave it for a world on water, uprooted and left to search for new ways to grow roots. But here, who will feed my soul next? The magnificent sunset day after day, the breeze that moves the fingers of palm leaves or the ocean dwellers that let me take a peak at them, or what about a spectacular moonrise on the flat horizon? Surely a feast for the eyes of my soul, but for the feeding of the heart?  I have to rely on SpringDay, when her long and supple black roots attach to cleats on a dock of a marina long enough for perhaps a special encounter.

 

Meet Roberto.

“Lili, can d’you make sure the weendows are closed for washing?” he says cloth in hand ready to bathe and moisturize SpringDay the same way he took care of Lilipad in November of 2011. “How have you been?” I said.

"Super blessed!", he would answer always.

As soon as the wax is on and that a final touch is put on the electronics, SpringDay leaves for Mazatlan and Roberto ventures a question. “ Can I get a ride to Mazatlan?”

Roberto changed his life three years ago when he became a christian. Three years ago he also became a father. His son Fernando lives in Mazatlan and they have not seen each other for two years. "Yes of course!" and we can use an extra pair of eyes for the thirty hour crossing of the Sea of Cortes. A few clothes, a bible and a tricycle for sonny and we're off.  

 Unsuccessful fishing but happy conversations about the Word, then we are summoned by Skipper to watch for a

four mile long yellow fishing line floating just below the surface of the water, reported by boaters ahead of us. Every three or four feet of line, hangs a vertical line with a hook clutching a piece a squid.  SpringDay’s long nose/bulbous bow (much like Skipper's nose!) kept catching the line so we decided to pick up the line with a fifteen foot pole, cut it, and Roberto ran one end of the line and I the other end to the back of the boat where he reattached it and dropped it in the water. Arrival in Mazatlan.

Roberto shining stainless steel under way

Meduse

Just wanted to post this picture I promised of Paul Allen's smallest boat MEDUSE moored across from us in La Paz.  The unmistakeable sound of the helicopter sent Skipper running to the bow to watch the pilot exercise the helicopter.  From our dinghy he talked to the pilot the next day and received a ton of information from his endless questions. 

Leaving Costa Baja, La Paz, Mexico

I had to say Goodbye to this place I love, Costa Baja La Paz, a resort that doesn't seem to attract a lot of people and I love it! I  would have spent another week to lay by the pool, to walk on the beach, to play tennis, try golf and maybe one more massage, but SpringDay robbed us again of recreation. 

Quickly, here are the problems we had: the chiller loop needed to be rewrapped at the air handlers (10 of them), that problem was discovered when we ran the AC for the first time and I noticed that water was leaking out of a speaker which means that we had our own rain forest going inside the walls (condensation). 

Four AC workers for three days

We were lucky to find Jeff, an electronic specialist from Canada who moved to La Paz for a change of pace and a lot less taxes. He is in very high demand so Bill and Don would escort him between our boats to make sure he would not get away on other jobs.

Secondly, years ago inferior connectors were used for the antennas, which affected the signal strength (VHS and AIS). Thirdly we ran AIS (Automatic Identification System) to the radar, something this boat never had before. 

AIS allows us to see other boats on our charts with their info. Next, we added a USB port for each computer, it 

improved the performance of the mouse and keyboard. And about ten more things...

Happy about these fixes and improvements, we leave with a smile…. but not so fast, half way across the sea of Cortes, we discover that the cameras were not working, some connection may have been bumped while working on the antenna. The AIS is now…. Alright!  I am skipping the rest it only depresses me more…

I would rather think now about four legged creatures from other boats that made me smile a multitude of times.  Meet SQUID my neighbor, big personality and very fitting of his boat named MR Terrible. Reportedly, Squid jumped off the bow (15ft high) to join dolphins he was watching ?!?! He never did it again.  He also jumped through the haashole of the cockpit to chase fish. Owner is upset that he paid $40.00 for Squid”s “Terrible" haircut! But this bad grooming job and the piece of tooth showing on the side of his mouth go hand in hand with Squid’s pirate style adventure-hungry personality.

SQUID

Meet Cody. Cody the beagle (9yrs old) a little thick around the waist, a little grey around the face, leader of his own leash pulling behind his valet, he barks like an old sea lion and is king of our dearly beloved LILIPAD our 55 we sold in August.

Meet HARLEY, a happy little Silky Terrier Papillon mix, for a treat she’ll drop and roll at the sound of BANG! I have a twelve second video but I can't load it unfortunately.

When and “IF” SpringDay returns to the Northwest, unless I personally decide to sink her (!) before too long my priority will be choosing my own little four legged companion as promised by Skipper but for now I am enjoying a virtual zoo.


Thinking of you...

La Paz.... la Paix....the Peace

Six a.m. departure from San Jose del Cabo, my camera catches the beginning ritual of this fisherman's day.

Well, look who's here?  Right next to us and passing us is Lilipad ! Neil and Elaine (below) first laid eyes on Lilipad late August I believe, and quickly made the decision that she was the one for them and right away started preparations for the Baja Rally.  Lilipad became "Insignia" but she continues to perform at the top of her game, making Don proud however a little nostalgic about her five bladed prop he wished he had on SpringDay.  Somehow I  know that's coming next....

A short stop in "Los Muertos" for the night for a reprieve from the head seas, the first ones since
we left Canada.  I loved watching the line up of the Nordhavns, they are great boats once properly commissioned!  I think this rally has about ten Nordhavns.
 
Ana Mae in the foreground stands watch while Bill and Kay swim over to Spring Day.  I wish I could reciprocate but the thought of being within an abundant sea life of ALL types gives me the heebie-jeebies!