La Cruzin'

As I write this I am sitting in Philo's Restaurant/Bar in La Cruz, drinkin' a cerveza and enjoying the evening. The temperature has cooled down to around 75 and will likely stay there through the night. How sweet it is!
Learning to be a "cruiser" is a steep curve but I'm working hard at it. Now that the long passages and cold nights at sea are over it is getting easier by the day.
Yesterday Patty & I took the bus to Puerto Vallarta to do some shopping. Riding a bus here is definitely an "E" ticket ride! The roads are either rock or cobblestone in the towns so IF the buses came from the factory with shocks they rapidly disintegrate. This, coupled with speed bumps that could dislocate even the stoutest backbone, makes for an interesting ride. OK. Now we have reached town so where do we get off (and even more pressing...HOW to let the driver know?)? We decided to just wait until we got to the end of the line and the driver told us to leave but then we saw an Office Max and decided to chance it. As luck would have it, we de-planed (so to speak) at the end of a wonderful shopping mall with great clothing and jewelry stores galore. We had spent several hours browsing and buying when we found ourselves at the Malacon (a wonderful walkway along the ocean) and craving a Margarita. It was, after all, lunchtime! Patty suggested a place she'd been to years ago and we sated ourselves with some great food and the obligatory Cadillac Margarita (sans Grand Marinier). After lunch, we discovered that the desire to shop had been replaced by the need for a siesta. Unfortunately, this entailed an hour long busride back to La Cruz and a 20 minute walk to the boat. By then we were really toast. It was still pretty warm so we forced ourselves to partake of a second Margarita in the Sky Bar at the top of the ramp...just to cool off after the hot bus ride and walk mind you. When we arrived, Chris was having a cold beer and working on his computer so he was blessed with our company.
Today Chris was the one enjoying the bus ride to P.V. as he had to locate some boat parts. While he was gone Patty and I went shell collecting on the beach, washed the boat and then settled in for a little reading followed by a siesta.
Yep...this cruising stuff is definately hard work!

La Cruz

Hola mis amigos! It has been a very long time between internet connections that were strong enough and long enough to post on this - hopefully this one will stay connected long enough! The 1st leg of the Ha Ha from San Diego to Turtle Bay was the longest and we had a great time. We started 19 minutes "late" (tho' it really isn't a RACE) but had great wind and started blowing by boats as soon as we passed the start line. First was a Halberg Rassy 46, then an Irwin 60...like they were standing still. Then we just started picking them off one at a time and by the time we reached Turtle Bay we were in the top 1/2 of the fleet of 180 boats! The anchorage was beautiful except for the bazillion dead sardines in the water & on the beach! Seems a fisherman had a tip that there was a bigger catch to be had so he dumped all the ones he'd already caught and took off for more. It was pretty "fishy" while we were there. Still...after the first 24 hrs the water was clear enough that Chris & I went in for a short swim. After a couple days to explore and the beach party leg 2 (shorter... only about 40 hours) began - to Bahia Santa Maria. Another gorgeous anchorage tho' by the time we arrived it was pitch black so we ended up anchored quite far from the beach and main pack. With a windlass that had decided to go on vacation "we" (think Chris) weren't much interested in pulling up 150' of chain by hand just to move closer in so stayed put and made use of the numerous pangas to get to and from the beach. Those guys are amazing. They can get you in & out of big surf without getting you wet (well...until you jump out of the boat). I must say, however, it is a bit disconcerting when they bring you back to your boat...at full throttle...after dark...with NO lights! No one was hurt in this exercise! The final leg to Cabo San Lucas was an easy passage and we arrived just at sunset on the 6th of Nov. This was my first time and I wasn't exceptionally impressed. Chris & I took the dinghy to "Lover's Beach" to see the Arch but it was high tide so we couldn't get a good look at it. Still, the water and beach are beautiful. The anchorage was quite rolly due to all the traffic but was still preferable to being at a dock in front of all the night clubs and bazillion tourists walking the streets 24/7. The party at Squid Roe was a hoot but we managed to haul our butts out before to midnight. Still not quite caught up on our sleep! We stuck around Cabo until the Ha Ha festivities were over and then upped anchor first thing the next morning and motored up the coast about 20 miles to San Jose del Cabo where we stayed in a beautiful new marina, got showers, did laundry and shopped until Sue left on the 11th. Next morning we were off again for here. We had wind for about the first hour and then nothing above about 6 knts so we motored almost the entire 2 day passage. We are again in a beautiful brand new marina...in La Cruz. It is darned expensive to be in these marinas (the "New" Mexico) but we need to get some boat jobs done (not the least is fixing the windlass!!!) that can't be done rolling on an anchor. Once those are finished we'll be anchoring out most of the time.
La Cruz is a beautiful place. The original town was, clearly, just an authentic small Mexican town but there are tons of big resorts etc going up all over. This marina (like the others we've seen in Mexico) is clearly 5 star but when they have it finished I'm sure it will be way out of our budget to stay here!
Chris has had some reasonable success with fishing. Caught a Blue Fin Tuna, a Bonito and a Dorado (Mahi Mahi!!). We still have fish in the freezer but have been going to town for eats while we are here.
Have had LOTS of dolphins come and play around the boat. They are especially fun at night...feels like they are coming by just to keep you company when you are on watch.
Well, it cooking down here inside the boat so I'm signing off and will take my book & my beer out and sit in the sun.