We had a wonderful tour the other day. All of the crew of Mungo and Cat's-Paw IV plus all our visitors went on the tour so we had 9 in the van. We had a great driver who was a local who knew all the names of the people we went to visit and had grown up with them, super inside stories.

It was a 5 hour tour that included lunch. We visited a coconut plantation, a famous church that has seen many miracles, a market that is know for it's gold work, had lunch at a lovely spot located on a lagoon that housed a crocodile and toured around the city of Ixtapa. The coconut plantation fascinated all of us, we were shown how to split them, husk them and the old fashioned way of shredding coconut. The fellow that was demonstrating all the skills still hold the coconut splitting record. He did over 1700 in one day. you line them us and just hack away with an axe at them and they just lie there and the milk just pours out on the ground. We had a tasted of the coconut apple, which is the seed inside that grows to start a new plant if the growth is not stopped. I am not a big coconut fan but after tasting the freshly shredded stuff I was a convert!!

The church was an eye opener, when we got there, people were on their knees, kneeling down the aisle. I can't think of another way of describing it. They would line across the very wide aisle and proceed down the aisle of the church on their knees. I guess years ago people would walk on their knees for miles and arrive at the church with bloody knees to show their devotion. The priest stopped it by suggesting that God knew they were devoted and did not need to have bloody knees to prove it. Outside the church their was a line of new cars sitting their with their hoods up. People bring their new cars to the church to be blessed. I wonder if it works????? The stained glass windows were a work of art.

The driver was very knowledgable and told us about the local wildlife, the mango and coconut plantations, and the history of the area. The aboriginals used to send a man every year to be sacrificed to the Aztec gods, so this place became known as Zihualan or the woman's place because soon there were more women that men, interesting.

We are planning on seeing in the New Year on the beach, so that should be a lovely time. I hope wherever you are you have a Happy and Festive New Year. I wonder where we will be this time next year. Stay Safe.

We had a super Christmas Day that started with a swim to shore with my Santa sack, then a champagne breakfast, opening presents, brunch then a walk on the beach. The beach was filled with people, I guess in Mexico on Christmas you go to the beach There were all ages enjoying each other, playing in the surf and the sand. There were numerous games of volleyball and soccer. The Mexicans are very serious about their football, these pickup games on the beach were no holds barred, shoving and pushing it didn't matter how big you were if you were in the way you were dealt with. .

Today we went and had dinner at Sandi's parents' condo. There were 9 of us and after a wonderful supper of chicken and shrimp with Texas barley salad we indulged in the traditional Shanks dessert of figgy pudding. It flamed beautifully and the sauce even managed to turn out this year, overcoming the lumps in the icing sugar due to the humidity on the boat. After dinner we took on the pinata and I am not sure who won. The beast broke before we started due to a faulty hook in the ceiling, so undaunted we continued on with the pinata propped up on a plastic chair. Well after we destroyed the broom and a light fixture we indulged in a feast of Mexican candy. The weirdest one was a strawberry flavoured sucker that had been dipped in chilies. I am not sure I want to ever taste anything like that again!!! Notice in the picture of me bashing the pinata you can see the remains of the light fixture flying around in the air and in Steve's hand what remains of the broomstick. Barry says, I told you, you were break something, he would have nothing to do with the bashing process. Mom was disappointed she didn't get a chance!

It was a wonderful evening spent amoung friends, new and old, how much better can it get!h

Merry Christmas from Ziahuatanejo

We are going to spending Christmas Eve snorkeling and maybe even going for a small sail. Tonight we are going to Rick's Bar to have a traditional Christmas dinner of turkey and all the fixings. Due to Bill's health we are unable to have him aboard the boat so we will be opening our Christmas presents with Mom and Bill in their hotel room tomorrow. I am thinking I may make the Christmas morning wife saver for breakfast and see if I can get it to the hotel without getting wet!!!! Hmmm, I guess it will really depend on the surf.

We have spent this year getting ready to make our dream a reality and in August we cast off the lines and left the dock. Our dream is now a reality, I can hardly believe we are doing it. Now that we are here we are loving it. We are also engaged in making plans for next year. Barry truly wants to become proficient in Spanish so he is planning on taking a language class and immersing himself in the Mexican culture for approximately 3 months. I will have 2 new grandchildren next year, God willing, one at the end of April and one in July. I am quite anxious to return to Canada and get to know them and give Jen and Trish a hand if they would like one and also to see Heather, Cassidy and Elijah. Our sailing plans are not firmed up but the general plan is to head north into the Sea of Cortez, put the boat on the hard during hurricane season, then head south again. We will make the decision whether or not to cross the Pacific or head down the west coast and visit the Galapagos before crossing. I am determine to cross some ocean or other.

This message is wishing that you can find it in yourselves to make your dreams come true, whichever shape or form those dreams may be. During this festive season may you all enjoy the company of good friends and family and give yourself a moment to reflect on the blessings in your life. We dearly miss all of you, keep in touch, Merry Christmas and best to all of you in 2007.

Speaking of friends, we have thouroughly enjoyed our association with Steven and Sandi. We got Steven a little something for Christmas to help out with those dinghy landings. After the other day though I am not so sure that I shouldn't just put this in Barry's stocking!

Barry sporting his drowned rat look.

Well yesterday was the shortest day of the year and there must have been something in the air because for the day it was the surf 2, Barry 0!!!! We rowed in to see Mom in the morning and Barry was feeling confident so he didn't even take his shirt off. The surf was pretty big and we both managed to get out, but the next wave did Barry in. It shoved the dinghy against him and knocked him head over heels, he lost his hat and his shoes. I just held on the dinghy and rode the wave in.

We took my Mom out for a ride on Cat's-Paw, motoring out of the bay and around the corner. We anchored close to shore about 5 miles away. We jumped in and swam around, Barry and I tried to get some of the barnacles off the hull, scrubing away at them with a teflon egg flipper and my bath sponge. Needless to say I need a new one of both! Barry's arms got pretty scratched up trying to get the barnacles off. Things grow on your hull very quickly down here.

When we took Mom back to her hotel in the dinghy, she sat in the front on the bottom of the dinghy, I sat at the back on the floor and Barry sat on the seat and rowed. When we get close to shore I take and oar and so does Barry and we paddle in. We got through one wave okay and Bary and I jumped out and then the next wave came crashing down on us. Barry went for a loop and I yelled at Mom to hold on. The dinghy tipped almost 30 degrees and then settled back in the water, fortuneately Mom was still in it safe and sound. Whew!! We will have to be a little more cautious with Mom in there, although she was smiling and laughing after the experience. What was really funny was that in the morning some guy came up to us and said it had looked like so much fun he wondered where he could rent a dinghy!!! Then in the evening the same fellow commented that it just wasn't Barry's day for dinghy landings.

Mom and Bill moved rooms yesterday, they are now on the ground floor which makes entry into the room alot easier for Bill. This is the view from their balcony.

We have moved over to La Ropa beach, we are anchored just in front of the hotel Bill and Mom are staying in. We are not close to Mungo anymore and we are both feeling a little separation anxiety. We have had to anchor bow and stern to keep us into the swell as the boat is now open to the ocean swells.

The access to the beach is not nearly as good as it was in the other anchorage. We have had some very adventurous beach landings. There is quite a bit of surf infront of Mom's hotel so we have several different stradegies to get to shore. Our first attempt was to just anchor the dinghy and swim to shore. That worked pretty well, we would just put out clothes, shoes and glasses in a dry bag, fasten it well, throw it in the water, jump in after it and swim to shore pushing the floating dry bag infront of us. Once we got out of the surf we would open the bag, put on out shoes, shorts and glasses and casually stroll into the hotel. No problema!!!

The second strategy was to row the dinghy to shore, we do not want to subject the motor to a salt water bath. Barry would row until we got almost to the surf line and then we would both take an oar and paddle like crazy to get past the surf break and then jump out and pull the dinghy ashore. Last night we went ashore in the dark, I had a sun dress on, in the dinghy I tucked the dress into my bra so it wouldn't get wet when I jumped out. Once we had gotten our feet under us I realized there were lots of people wandering up and down the beach so grabbed the dress and straightened it out. The next wave proceeded to soak the bottom 6 inches of the dress.

That landing went well but later on that night we still had to get back to the boat, so in the pitch black we wheeled the dinghy back into the water and hauled it through the surf break. Well by the time we managed to get into the dinghy we were both soaked and the dinghy had about 2 inches of water covering the bottom. I guess we will just have to practise to see if we can't become a little more efficient with our landings. We have managed to keep upright on all our landings so far (touch wood) but a little fairy told us the Steven went for another tumble in the surf today, the dinghy landing gods must be frowning on him BIG TIME!!!!

All of our families have arrived safe and sound. It is just super to have them here. We had a wonderful opportunity tonight to meet each other. We met at Rick's Bar which is a cruiser's hangout. Rick is an ex-pat American that caters to cruisers, it is a treat to have someone you can contact who knows all the local info and is willing to share and go out of his way to give cruisers a hand.

Anyway, tonight there was a couple from a boat that is at anchor here that gave a flamenco concert. Rick played the guitar and his wife, Andrea, danced, and wow could she dance. We sat mesmerized by her flashing feet in her marvelous red shoes as she shimmied and stomped her way around the stage. Rick 's guitar playing was out of this world and I was astonished at the melodic soulfull sounds that issued from his throat. Who would think that an skinny white guy could spout this wonderful Spanish lyrics that just made you want to get up and DANCE.

In between flamenco sets there was a local Mexican group that sang. There voices blended beautifully. Near the end of their set, a little girl of about 4 attached herself to one of the singers. Sbe just stole the show, she quietly swayed to the music that the group was singing and when she was about to grap the microphone her Mom picked her up and held her to finish of the song. It was all about family and how here it is okay to have small children in the bars. While I was a bit disconcerted to see a small child out later in the evening her Mom managed to sing and look after her nina and all was right with the world.

Just wanted to show you Cat's-Paw's tropical look. Here she is with the bimini up the white sides hanging down at the back, they shade the cockpit quite nicely. Infront you can see the wind scoop that is attached to the front hatch. It scoops the air up and redirects it into the boat so you actually get a bit of a breeze coming in the boat. Lots of boats also have a large white tarp that they hang over their boom which shades their boat. The other day the deck was so hot I could not stand to walk on it in my bare feet, I had to put my Crocs on to go to the bow. We also have what is called a flopper stopper which we hang at 90 degree angles to the mast. It is just a retangular piece of plastic with a 2 diagonal cuts in the plastic which helps to dampen the rolling of the boat. When the boat goes up the plastic sheets open on the cuts and then they slowly close, dampening the roll of the boat, quite effective.

We were in town on a shopping expedition the other day and I decided that I wanted a pinata. I was really surprised by it's weight. In the middle of it there is a ceramic jug. I looked in it expecting to find all sorts of candy and goodies, but no such luck, I have to buy the candy myself. When we went back to the dinghy the fellow that minds the dinghies asked if we had ninos (children) Barry said no, only me. The fellow had a very puzzled look on his face. I hung it up from the back of the boat and am enjoying watching it shimmer and shine in the Mexican sun.

We went to town last night to see the latest James Bond movie. The last night before we left Canada we went to see Da Vinci's code with Mungo in Sidney. At the theatre they had a trailer for the next Bond movie, we made a pact to go and see it in San Diego. It wasn't out yet when we were in San Diego so we completed our pact by seeing it here!!! What an experience, for one it was really cheap, only $3.50 each, but the theater was really tiny and you sat so close to the screen that the outside edges of the screen were out of focus, so you daren't look at the edges or you would get dizzy. Then the sound was really poor, the movie was in English with Spanish sub-titles, so when you couldn't make out what they were saying you tried to read the Spanish, it was quite bizaare, but an experience all the same. The jury is still out on whether or not we like the new Bond.

My Mom and Bill are coming tomorrow as are Sandi's parents, Sandi and Steven's daughter will be here on Wed. We are both looking forward to seeing them and showing them the town.

We had a chance to explore Ziahua a little yesterday. We really enjoyed what we saw. It is a very pretty setting and there seems to be enough to do onshore that it will keep us busy the whole time we are here. We took a taxi tour which was an adventure before it even started. We did not do so great negotiating with the taxi drivers and at one point, one of them even indicated that Sandi and I were cheap. I did not know what the gesture meant until later but decided we should have been offended. The tour took us to see the places where our parents will be staying so we can send home pictures of where they will be, both accomodations looked quite nice.

Sandi's parents' condo

We also found Rick's bar which helps out cruisers in the area. When we were there we discovered where a Doctor was and we made appointments and managed to get or prescriptions renewed all in one day. Steven found a mechanic to try and get his outboard up and running and we can do laundry there, while indulging in cervezas. Great spot.

Today we are going to do some boat chores and then head out and do some snorkeling. It is going to 30 degrees today with high humidity so we thought spending part of it in the water would be just the ticket.

My Mom's hotels' beach access

Buddy Boating is the Best

It was great to have buddies yesterday. We motored all the way from Cabeza Negra to Ziahuatanejo today. It took 30 hours, but we are here, despite everyone telling us we had bitten off more than we could chew, we made it here and we are even 3 days early. I may not choose to do the trip that fast again, but it can be done. We are very happy to have arrived and are looking forward to relaxing and kicking back and getting to know Z-town.

Okay, back to the reasons it was great to have buddies. Mungo had a problem with their watermaker yesterday afternoon and were going to have to be on water rations until they arrived here. Buddies to the rescue, we have 2 five gallon jugs, we filled them with water and attached lines to them. Once Mungo was alongside we threw them the lines and then Barry lifted the water jugs in the water and Steven pulled them onboard Mungo. That 10 gallons was enough to get his watermaker up and functioning and they happily made water all night.

The other incident was a little more ominous. About 9:00 P.M. I was on watch merrily listening to a book on my IPOD when I noticed Mungo flashing his lights at me. He had his radar on and there was a boat that was closing on us from behind. It had flashed it's lights a couple of times at us and it was approaching us. The section of the coast we were on has been know to have drug smugglers ply the waters so we were a little apprehensive about this mystery boat. Communicating via VHF we got closer to Mungo and were matching speeds, the ship kept getting closer and closer to us and we were both frightened about what was going to happen. Barry had been sleeping, he came up on deck, naked, I just wanted him to put some clothes on so he would be prepared to deal with whatever was going to happen., it was funny my first reaction was, please go and put some clothes on. Once the boat was really close I flashed our big searchlight on it and we realized it was a Mexican Naval Vessel. Both Mungo and us tried to hail the fellow on the VHF and finally we got a reply, someone on board was able to communicate in English (thank heavens) and he told us to stop our vessels. We both slowed down and doused our sails. The guy came to tie up to us but Barry waved him off, we did not have enough fenders up, our sail was still up and the Naval vessel did not have any fenders out. Barry was worried the guy would damage our boat, he was going to get in the dinghy and go over to the Navy guy but there was not way I was going to let him leave me alone aboard. Mungo had his sails down so the Navy ship went over and tied up to them. We had to supply our passport numbers, our boat registration number and a couple of other things over the VHF to Mungo and then thankfully they left. They did not have to come and tie up to us. I took a couple of pictures but as it was pitch black they did not turn out very well, but I do have proof.
It was great to have our buddy around when this happened, it was unnerving enough with two of us, I can't imagine how you would feel if you were out there alone.

On the way in Z-town we saw a bunch of turtles floating around in the water. We got close enough to one to take this picture of him with his hitchhiker.

We are in Manzanilla, what a gorgeous spot to anchor. We are right in front of the huge hotel complex, actually the whole side of the bay we are on is stuffed with resort buildings. We have access to the hotel and we did not have to pay anything to leave our dinghy at the dock and use the laundry, we also took a cab to a very nice grocery store, somewhat like a Walmart in fact. There was other stuff besides groceries in the store, electronics, clothing, a pharmacy and a toy section.
We had quite the ride here yesterday. There was no wind so we motored for 7 hours, charging up our batteries and making water the whole way. We were about an hour out of Bahia Tenacatita, when we ran into our first fish net. I managed to get the motor shut off before the line got tangled in the prop but the line was hooked around the keel, Barry jumped in with goggles on and dove under the boat and managed to free the line without any damage to the line but the bait that was on a hook that had attached itself to the prop got away. The lines or nets are just a long series of line strung out with hooks on them every so often, with a pop bottle holding them up about every 50 feet. They are really hard to see, some of the bottles of course being clear!!!!! The nets or single long lines if you will are really long, over 2 miles. We know because the next one we saw we thought we would just motor around it and after 15 minutes of motoring in the wrong direction we devised a new strategy for getting over the lines. We would line up the boat halfway between two floating pop bottles and then gun the motor so we were going quite fast, once we got close we would shut the motor off roll out the genoa and sail over the line, usually halfway between the bottles the line had sunk enough we could get over it. This strategy worked until there was a panga or Mexican fishing boat, at one of the lines and he waved us off and toward what we thought was the end of his net. We then headed towards where he indicated and damn if we didn't catch another line. In went Barry again, he got it free without a problem and then raced downstairs to get some cold beer and Coke for the fishermen. He put the stuff in a plastic bag and threw it into the water and it floated there until they were able to pick it up. I think we must have passed at least 6 nets making the trip here that much longer as we diverted, slowed down, and generally mucked about. It was nice to see Mungo safely at anchor when we arrived. They were very kind and had us over for dinner, so after several dips off the boat we swam over to Mungo and had a lovely dinner.
We will leave here in the morning for an anchorage a day's sail down the coast and then from there it is only another overnighter to get to Ziahuatanejo. When the girls come surfing the spot they have picked is between here and the next anchorage so we will be able to scout out where the best spot is to plunk ourselves down while they are here.

It is 0330, I think, I am pretty sure we had a time change once we were east of Puerta Vallarta, anyways whatever time it is, I know it is dark, although an almost full moon beams down on us. About an hour ago the wind changed so we now have it on our nose and Wendy (our wind vane) has decided that she likes to handle the boat on this point of sail and she is steering the boat magnificently (you have to lavish her with complements and then she performs much better). I am listening to Stan Rodgers and Great Big Sea and humming away with the sea shanties that they are crooning. It is really warm, probably still over 20 degrees and I am wearing shorts and a very light shirt with my life jacket of course.
We are on our way to Manzanilla which will be our next to last stop before Ziahuatanejo, where we will be spending Christmas. We expect to get to Manzanilla sometime during the day tomorrow. The anchorage sounds quite nice in the cruising guides. You can anchor at one spot and then for $15 per day you can park your dinghy at a resort dock and use their facilities, laundry, showers and pool, I seem to remember some marinas in Oregon that we could hook up at the dock for that price. Slips seem to be quite scare in Mexico, we were told that in one marina if you phoned and asked for a slip the answer would be no way, but if you showed up in person and offered to pay cash there would miraculously be a slip available, such is life!!!
Both boats are looking forward to getting to Z-town and having some serious time in one spot. This starting and stopping and overnight sails plays havoc with your sleep patterns, we just get used to the shifts and then we stop and have a long rest and we find our bodies haven't quite caught up with the lost sleep so we are starting our trip tired, not that I am complaining mind you, just wanted you to know it isn't all fun and games, mostly but not always. To me sailing is about leaving port when you are ready and staying and exploring when you feel like it and I am missing that aspect at the moment, soon we can stop and smell the seaweed!!!
Next morning: We have decided to duck into Bahia Tenacatita today. Our progress over the rest of the night was fairly slow and we found ourselves with a very long day of beating into the wind in order to just barely make it to Manzanilla before dark so opted to change our destination. Steven and Sandi on Mungo were quite a bit ahead of us so could easily make our target. We will meet up with them tomorrow in Manzanilla, weather permitting.

We are in La Cruz at the moment, which is just north of Puerta Vallarta, it is on the same bay as PV. but it is a quieter spot, there are no seadoos, water taxis or party boats blaring out music so we are enjoying ourselves. We will stay here 2 nights and then head further south.

We went into town yesterday and wandered around trying to find the Capitan del Puerto to sign in and out of the port. After we were so overcome with the heat and humidity we stopped at this restaurant to have some refreshment. Barry ordered fish, thinking he would get a nice fillet and when it arrived there was THE WHOLE FISH, head, tail everything but the guts. He said it was really tasty!!!

We found out where the bakery was, but it was closed, would reopen about 6 P.M. so I am planning to head there this morning and sample some freshly baked Mexican bread. There apparently is a spot to swap books as well so I want to go there. It is very hot and humid here and if you look at the vegetation on the hills you will notice we are no longer in the desert like Baja. Our bodies are coping by sweating a great deal, perhaps we will be able to shed a few pounds. I took the shot below as we were headed to the anchorage.

All is well we are near the end of our second day out at sea. The winds quieted down, we are maintaining 5.5 knots with a full main, genoa and staysail, not sure we could put up any more sail but one never knows. We have almost caught up with Mungo who slowed down in order not to enter Banderas Bay, where PV is located in the dark. The other boat that was with us has continued at speed and we now longer have VHF contact with them. It is a gorgeous day, sun beating off the water, puffy white clouds here and there. There is a bit of haze so the visibility at over 10 miles or so is reduced. Only another 70 miles to go, we should drop anchor just after sunrise all things continuing on as they have been.
I forgot to tell you the other day about the spinner dolphins that came to greet us on our way into Cabo. I think they must have escaped from Sea World or something, they were amazing, they would leap their whole bodies out of the water and then go through all sorts of twists and turns and somersaults before their bodies crashed back into the waves. What a lovely welcome. When we were in Cabo we went snorkeling. There was a huge variety of brightly coloured fish to feast our eyes on. No wonder people pay good money to go snorkeling and diving all over the world, it is quite wonderful.

Update sent 9:09 PM Saturday Dec. 2, 2006
We are headed to Puerta Vallarta. This will be the longest we have been under sail at one time, a total of 60 hours or 3 nights and 2 days. We are midway through night number 2 and all is well. We are having a wild ride, winds at 20-25 knots with seas that have built all the way down the Sea of Cortez. When we left Cabo we motored for about 3 hours and then set sail. We sailed as a cutter all day today, with two foresails up our genoa and a hanked on staysail. Tonight as the wind built we rolled in the genoa, first about half and then all of it, we just put in the first reef in the main and are still maintaining 6.5 knots. I just saw 8.54 on the GPS so we are flying.
It is great to be traveling with 2 other boats, we are helping each other out supplying weather information and moral support. Both the other 2 boats are larger than us so on a long passage they get ahead of us, they are still within binocular range and we are able to hear them on the VHF. I am just going off watch and want to have a shower before I go to bed. Hope all is well with everyone.

We went to visit a beach that is at the entrance to the harbour yesterday. The sand was wonderful and the views were awesome. The cave was just at the edge of the rocks by the water. We are going to do some chores today and I would like to take a swim as well, then we will get ready to leave for a passage across the Sea of Cortez tonight, we are hoping it will only take us about 60 hours and we will be in Puerta Vallarta by Monday morning.