Bahia Asuncíon (November 2003)

We had a wonderful stopover at Bahia Asunción, just south of Turtle Bay.  A very friendly Canadian woman, Sherri,  lives there with her 14 year old daughter and husband, a local lobster fisherman.  They live very simply.  I had a good time practicing my Spanish and playing “Carl Safina” (author of Song for a Blue Ocean),  as I asked the local fishermen about any changes in the catches they have been getting through the years.  My contacts were lobster fisherman who also work as shark fisherman when it is off season.   They have caught 100 sharks in one day—imagine that many sharks in a panga!  The only changes they have seen are that the sea lion population is skyrocketing and thy haven’t seen pods of killer whales in awhile.   The sea lions are a nuisance to them.  They take the bait out of the lobster traps.  The sea lions don’t have any natural predators around (sharks or killer whales), so they have taken matters into their own hands.  

We’ve been fishing when underway, using a great rod and reel that Jim Dietz gave us.  Other than a small blue shark, all we’ve caught is bonito and skipjack, which we’re throwing back because we’ve tired of their gamey taste.  We’re hoping to get dorado soon.  Lou’s been scuba diving, and finds the lobsters in Mexico much easier to catch than those in Southern California.  Catch yes, but keep and eat—wouldn't think of it!!!

Sherri and her family took us to a fossil grounds—a desolate, but beautiful place.  It’s several miles inshore, but obviously used to be the bottom of the sea.  The kids found a backbone from a marine mammal.  I enjoyed just being out in this wild place.  There are so many places like this in the world.  My thoughts were on Iraq and Afghanistan.  

The edge has gone off all of us.  We all enjoyed Bahia Asunción.  Emily and Martin spoke Spanish to the other children and had a great time.  I’m finding my own.  I do miss my friends and just having somebody (besides my immediate family) just know me without too much explanation.  Emily misses her friends also.  Martin misses La Costeña—and burritos made by Flor.  He ate lots of homemade tortillas in Bahia Asunción.    Lou is truly in his element.  He misses parts of our life in the Bay Area.  And I think he likes it better when I have other friends to banter with.  

We’ve enjoyed buddyboating with Sea Kardinal and Annabelle both from Sausalito.  We’ve traveled with them since San Diego.  Emily and Martin love Noreen (a 4th grade teacher on sabbatical) and John of Annabelle.  John is teaching Emily to juggle.  Today, we said goodbye to them as we head for Mazatlán and hope to see what Emily and Martin might be able to do in Mazatlán’s “Nutcracker”.  

Mazatlan (Dec 2, 2003) 

I know you all have been waiting with bated breath… for our Thanksgiving feasts we had Japanese food for lunch and then smoked marlin tacos (fried), made by a local family we befriended, for dinner.  Yum!!!

We’ve been in Mazatlán for almost two weeks now.  We have enrolled Emily in the ballet school here.  We had hopes that she could participate in the Nutcracker, but they were too far along in their rehearsals to add her to the cast.  The ballet school is right next to a beautiful old theatre and a square.  When we go there in the afternoons for her classes, there is so much artistic (music, painting, sculpture, dancing—you name it) energy that it does your soul good just to be there.  So, now to see how long we can keep our gypsy souls at bay while Emily is having this terrific experience with this ballet school.  They even have a pianist that accompanies them while they dance.  Her name is Margarita and she is easily 80 years old.  She wears her beautiful white hair in a bun (which reminds me of my paternal grandmother- Elizabeth Delaney Heeney).  But where she differs from my Grandmother is that she wears bright red lipstick.  Oh va!  Emily told us a story of when the ballet instructor repeatedly told Margarita (who is hard of hearing) to stop playing.  Margarita said, “I hear you”, but kept on playing with a smile on her face!  When you are on a roll, you are on a roll!

We have met a wonderful Mazalteco family.  They have an 11 year old daughter.  They all speak fluent English.  We are learning quite a bit about this town.  

The marina life isn’t for us.  There are certain conveniences (produce available for purchase Monday, Wednesday and Friday; laundry; nice marina staff) to it, but much of the cliqueness of the gringo community is unattractive to us.  There are people who have chosen to be stuck here.  There were a couple of boats with cruising kids aboard when we first got here—but they have headed out.  

Marinas are good for getting boat projects done.  Lou and I cleaned and rebuilt the head, which was getting cantankerous, and Lou is building a shelf in the bow for an additional rope/chain anchor rode.  Our slip does not have electrical hookup, but we don’t need it because our solar panels are up to the job.  It feels good to live completely on solar.  Photons from the sun are powering this computer as well as the radio that transmits the e-mail, in addition to refrigeration, lights, etc.

I still think my favorite thing about coming into a town is seeing how fast I can figure out the lay out and how to get around.  The best way is to ride the main bus from beginning to end.   And then ride it back home again.    I also love the market . (I can thank my mom and my maternal grandparents for this interest).  Yes, seeing the various stages of meat processing is a bit repulsive. But, the market is an amazing place.

Martin, Emily and Lou are enjoying getting to learn how to surf and boogie board on boards we have borrowed from a friend here.  They are learning at a beach called Las Brujas == The Witches.  They’ve had some good rides on their stomachs (Mexicans say bocabajo, “mouth down”), but Lou has only managed to get on his feet for a second or two.  The beach has a good riptide when the surf is big.  The kids got caught in it the first day before we figured out where it was.  Lou rescued Martin, and someone else helped Emily and her friend Daniela.  They knew to swim parallel to the beach to escape, and they probably would have been OK without assistance.  It was a good learning experience without too much excitement.

Foods that we have enjoyed:  smoked Marlin (Mary), churros made fresh from a streetcart (Lou, Martin and Emily), Tonicol (a vanilla soda—kind of like crème soda only made in this state- Sinaloa).

Books we’re reading:  Mary is still reading Zanzibar Chest and amazed at her total ignorance of African history and politics.  The author was a reporter in Africa in the early 90s and even though Lou and I traveled there in 1991—I was oblivious to the depth of problems.  Lou just finished an autobiography of Ben Franklin.  Martin is in need of books to read.  We’ve ordered some to be brought with my parents when they come to Puerto Vallarta for Christmas.  Emily is writing a novel.  And reading The Great Gilly Hopkins.

School is going okay.  Inevitably one child has to have their “fit” of the day about school.  This seems to be a common problem with cruising families.  I’m enjoying learning with the kids about Mexican history.  I’m also going to have them memorize the states and capitals of Mexico.  

It seems like the reality of this trip has taken hold on me.  I feel an urgent need to come to some understanding of my purpose in this life.  It doesn’t help the book that I’m reading makes you grapple with the essence of human nature—are we more good than evil or vice versa.   And just how lucky we are to have the ability to dream about what we want to do.  I feel that I am a good representative of the United States.  But, I can be that way—not necessarily because of who I am—but because of the comforts that I have been fortunate to have bestowed upon me.  My basic needs have always been met.  I have never had to compete for a scrap of food or a shelter to sleep in.  

Okay—sorry—Yes—I miss you all!  And yes I’m thankful for this opportunity to see the world!

Dec 16, 2003 - Happy Holidays!   Hope you are enjoying the holidays—surrounded by the people you love and vice versa!

Current position:  Anchored at Isla Isabela.  Isabela is a beautiful island 20 miles off of the mainland coast.  It is inhabited by fishermen in a small fish camp, millions of frigate birds, terns, yellow- footed boobies (I’m not talking about my crew!), iguanas and other critters.  This is truly an awesome place.  The nesting birds are unafraid of humans – we can walk right up to them and take close-up photos.  We have had wonderful hikes and snorkeling here.  It is nice to be on the hook and off the dock again.  And I’m happy for it to be just the four of us for awhile.

Mazatlán was wonderful.  It was difficult to leave our new friends—Ramon, Liliana and their 11-yr old Daniela.  They were very precious to treat us to wonderful meals and many sleepovers for Emily and Martin.  I love making friends of the locals—but the saying goodbye is very difficult for me.  It won’t stop me from pursuing these relationships—but it is bittersweet.  In this case, we hope to return to Mazatlán in April or so.  And then again, as we head down the coast to Central America next fall.

Oh, so we finally decided our itinerary for the next year.  Rather than cross the Pacific this spring, we will spend the summer up in the Sea of Cortez, and then next fall and winter sailing back down the coast ofMexico and Central America.  There is just too much to see and do in this part of the world to leave it behind three months from now.  This also gives us the chance to have some friends come visit us in the Sea of Cortez next summer.  

We had a very special Virgen de Guadalupe Day (the day commemorates the day Juan Diego saw the Virgin of Guadalupe).  We had collected food and cleaning items from other cruisers to be distributed to the two orphanages in Mazatlán.  Martin and I went with another cruiser, who was dressed up as a clown (in her previous life she had been Bubbles the clown), the very compassionate office manager of the Marina and another Marina worker.  It was a nice experience.  Although I  wished we had more time to just be with the children.  After that, La Familia de Ace went downtown to the Cathedral.  There were many children dressed up like Juan Diego or the peasant women of that era.    Then we went to the Nutcracker Ballet where we were guests of the school.  Emily and I got to help backstage.  They gave me a needle and thread and I started sweating. Fortunately, I was just helping to reinforce the ribbons on their toe shoes.   The girls were all very patient with me.  Lou and Martin were out in the Plaza having a good time ---making friends.  We all got to watch the show.  The costuming and energy was wonderful.  It is so different from the Mountain View production of the Nutcracker.  At the Mazatlán ballet school, they start them on point at 8 years old!   Emily handled the whole event beautifully and was supportive and enthusiastic of her fellow ballerinas.  We took a late night bus home with a bus driver who had an electronic wolf whistle for pretty girls.  He was using it quite often as we passed discos and bars along our route home.  (This was on the one of nicer buses—the ones that get out of 2nd gear!)

All in all our Mazatlán experience was fantastic.  We could have done without some of our dock neighbors—one specifically.  She was a piece of work! But, hey, that’s the nice thing about a floating home—we can float away from annoyances (except if the annoyance is in our boat!)

Boat projects accomplished in Mazatlan:  cleaned and rebuilt the head (oh joy!), built a shelf for the anchor locker to hold a secondary anchor rode, cleaned and polished hull and deck (after 3 years of neglect), built lightning cables to drag in the water during thunderstorms.

I’m reading Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari.  I’m really enjoying this book.  In some of his previous books Theroux was quite grumpy and it was painful to read.  This one is about his trip through Africa and is a great read.  He has a great way of describing scenes and people that make you feel like you are right there.  Lou is reading The Zanzibar Chest, also about Africa.  Martin is reading some of Sinbad the Sailor.  Emily is reading anything she can get her hands on and sometimes twice.

Future plans:  We’ll leave Isla Isabela in the next two days.  We’ll head to San Blas, then on into Banderas Bay (Puerto Vallarta) where we’ll be anxiously awaiting the heavily laden arrival of my parents.  Then, my brothers and their families meet up with us after the New Year.  

Isla Isabela (December 2003)

Christmas Day and I wish we were back in Isabela.  I loved being in that wild place with my family.  Yes, I worried for my children as they pushed their freedom as they snorkeled away from the family group.  But, I also was exhilarated by their freedom.    And hearing the anchor groan as the rode finds a rock or two that it snags upon—is more than disconcerting.  But, the wildness of this island intrigued.  Am I always going to be torn between the many manifestations of nature (“civilized and un”).

We had a wonderful hike on that island.  We rode the dinghy into the beach and secured it among the pangas (fishing boats) in front of the small fishing village.  We found the path to the Crater Lake and walked to the lake.  We saw many huge birds nesting in the trees—most at eye/head level.  They looked at us straight in the eyes.  They did not budge.  At first, being novices with birds, we thought these were the boobies that we were looking for.   Only later in our hike did we discover that they were the pterodactyl-like frigate birds.  When he wants to look impressive, the male displays a red throat balloon.  We followed the trail through the jungle.  When I took my turn at being the trailblazer (the trail was marked nicely with pink tape ribbons)—my biggest challenge was spider webs.  And hearing the heavy and fast movement of iguanas as they made for more camouflaged environments, made me even more watchful.  

Finally, we reached the other shore—the north side of the island.  We saw more birds—and then, there sitting as pretty as you please, was a booby taking care of the nest.  Again, being birding novices, we assumed it was the female.  But, later we determined it was the male.  The nest owner did not budge.  He plucked at the nest when we got too near.  But other than that, he watched us cautiously,   but not aggressively.   I spotted an egg near the nest that was intact, but not being supervised.  Emily and Martin saw the egg but did not seem overly concerned.  We continued our walk along this rugged north shore.  Emily, Martin and Lou found a booby father basically on top of his booby chick to protect it.  The chick emerged as we approached.  Not long after that, the mother arrived back.  I knew that the female was giving the male a parental reprimand for revealing their most precious treasure.   

Martin and Emily kept talking about the abandoned egg .  At first Lou and I discounted this to random thought generation, but then the theme keeps recurring.  Martin gets in his head that we can not leave this egg.  We must do something.  Lou and I have already categorized the egg to “the will of mother nature” and have long ago left it alone.  As we head back to the trail, that goes by the abandoned egg—the volume of the entreaties from Martin and Emily to “save the egg” become deafening.  And suddenly, Lou and I are drawn into the need to participate in the survival of this precious egg.  We talk about all different scenarios—one of them being that we bring the egg with us and try and hatch it on the boat (Yikes!).  Finally, the compromise occurs.  It is not far from the first booby nest we encountered.  We will move the egg to the booby nest.  (I thought—okay—the booby will take charge of this--- he will have nothing to do with this defunct egg).  The engineer among us (Lou) devises a way (with straw and sticks) to transport the egg to the nest without our touching the egg.  We all move toward the nest, Lou transporting the egg.  The booby father (I love that term!) moves off the nest, exposing the one egg he is responsible for… okay he does not just move off== he gets the heck out of Dodge.  We put the abandoned egg in the nest.  We all moved away.  Holding our breaths,  will the father return?  We notice the egg he left behind has a crack in it—imminent chick?  We all give a sigh of relief as the father returns, checks the nest out and sits on the two eggs and appears not to notice the different feel on his booty (Let’s see—would that be a booby booty??)   

We then turned around and headed for the trail.  We were completely satisfied with our adoption scheme.  In my head, I played out the female booby coming back to the nest and giving the male heck for being so clueless, “How could you not know you had two eggs instead of one?” (not that I’ve ever done that to any male in my family!)    We did ponder how long the booby would sit upon the egg if a chick didn’t emerge.  We didn’t return to Isla Isabela to check on our meddling.  But, I know Lou, Emily, Martin and I have all imagined that there emerged two chicks from that nest.  (After reading this—Lou says he didn’t imagine that— it was such a magical day, I was hoping some of the magic had rubbed off on the engineer).

Tenacatita, Mexico (March 2004)

Anchored in Tenacatita, Jalisco, Mexico.  We are about 10 miles north of Barra de Navidad.  There are about 20 boats in this anchorage, but it is a nice size bay so it doesn't feel too crowded.  There are **8** "kid" boats in this anchorage.  The kids range in ages from 2-14.   Their community is amazing and complex.  But, it is so cool to see them at play.  Martin and two other boys take a low (like 2) horsepower dinghy out to go fishing.  The kids boogie board, go tubing and just have a blast with all their freedom.  The parents watch for any "Lord of the Flies" type behavior and try to deal with it before it gets too drastic.  Otherwise, they have much more freedom than they would in the States.  

This community is really nice and it's comfortable.  But, Lou and I both really love to have more cultural interactions and to be off on our own exploring.  Mexico has been a nice transition to cruising life.   How do I say this without sounding like I'm too good to hang around with other Statesiders and Canadian or that we will never be satisfied?  But, look-we had wonderful friends and relationships in the States and we embarked on this adventure to see some of the world, not to travel around with our like kind.  When we reflect on our time that we have been out cruising, some of the best moments are when we have had some up close and personal experiences with nature or when we have had experiences with the locals.  So, we've decided to head south to Central America for the summer, and get a little bit further off the beaten path..  

But, life is good here.  No complaints.  In the afternoon, I kayak to the beach with a friend and then we walk along the beach talking and looking for seashells.  So, regular exercise has continued to be part of the mix.  

We had a bonfire last night on the beach.  We had musical instruments, fireworks and sang all the songs the guitarist knew-several times.  

Books we are reading:  I'm reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the Emily and Martin.  Even though they are both avid readers, they love having a book read to them and I love reading to them.  When they were small, Lou always read to them and I think that hooked them on to reading and on to the pleasures of being read to.   I'm continuing to read the Eye of the Albatross by Carl Safina.  Lou is reading some Heinlein books and other science fiction, while he is keeping his eyes open for something more substantial to read.  Book selection is limited to what we can trade with other cruisers!

Addendum:  As of March 7, we are now in the lagoon at Barra de Navidad.  Emily, Martin and I leave tomorrow for Kansas.  As we left Tenacatita Bay, two humpbacks breached in front of us.  The largest one was full body out!  I screamed in delight and awe-Emily and Martin thought something had gone wrong.  

Addendum #2:  As of March 15, Mary and kids are now in Topeka, and Lou is slaving away on boat projects in Barra de Navidad, looking forward to the visit of our friend Bill Zuravleff.

Zihuatanejo (February 2, 2004)

We’re anchored in Zihuatanejo (located about 100 miles north of Acapulco) in the state of Guerrero.  (I was asked to give more specifics about our locations).    We’re about 50 yards off of Playa La Ropa (how is that for specific?), anchored near two other boats, Pegasus and Lemuria, with similar age kids.  Our “typical” day consists of:  getting up at about 6:30 a.m. (Central Standard Time), having some breakfast, turning on the Amigo net at 8:00 a.m. to listen to the weather and hear reports from other cruising boats (on passages and anchored/in a marina), school starts around 8:30—although at this point its difficult because we are listening on the SSB to the Amigo net and then listening to the VHF radio for the Zihuatanejo local net—so, if by some slight chance one of our dear students is not motivated to self-start—some times school doesn’t start until 9:00.  By noon, school work is usually complete for the day.  The kids then contact the other kids on boats to see if they are “ready to play”.  The kids invariably head to the beach—boogie boarding, swimming and sand castle building.  The parents then do whatever they need to do and then prepare for the 3:00 Zihuatanejo swim team practice—where we swim about ½ mile and end up at the beach,  Then, we walk/run the beach and decide we’re thirsty—those that are so inclined get a beer.  Then we talk about the day as we hang out on the beach and watch the kids.  We swim back to the boats and spend the evening on the boat—with a gorgeous view of the sunset.  

Martin is also taking guitar lessons—three times per week.  He is loving it!  A musician who formerly played with the Beach Boys and is a famous surfer - Corky Carroll- plays at the local “yacht club”.  The night we went to see him- his voice had given out on him (he said from a party, others said because he yells when he catches a good wave).  Martin was in deep admiration of him and enthusiastically shared his opinion, “The Beach Boys are better than the Beatles.”

This is very delightful.  It is nice to have other families close by.  Again, we would like to have a balance of cruising friends and “natives”.  We participated in Sailfest which was a flurry of activity—all fun, but very reminiscent of our filled to the brim calendars in the Bay Area.  We were in the regatta (finished 4th of 11 entrants),  in a parade, in a treasure hunt with dinghies and kayaks—you get the picture.  The Sailfest benefits the Indian (Nahua—part of the Aztec tribes) school  here.  We were fortunate to have the director of the school and three children from the school with us on the sailboat parade.  The director of the school, Marina—is an amazing woman.  Petite, but full of direction and purpose. She had the vision for this school and started it without government backing.  The school now has an enrollment of 325 and is now recognized by the government.   I look forward to working more with the school in the next couple of weeks.  They are also teaching the native Indian (Nahuatl) language to the children—so it doesn’t get lost and they keep a thread of their heritage!

Our stop before Zihuatanejo was Tenacatita (Emily liked the name so much she wanted to change her name).  Tenacatita is located about 50 miles north of Manzanillo.  Our short stay there involved a wild dinghy ride through a mangrove river, some snorkeling, going to town called St. Patrick de Melaque (Irish mercenaries helping the US against Mexico-in one of the many wars- jumped ship, switched sides and settled in this town) and celebrating my 44th birthday.    We’re looking forward to spending more time in Tenacatita on our way back up to the Sea of Cortez.

My mood has improved one hundred percent. I’ve got my laugh back!  It’s a combination of exercise and having some friends.  It was hard to be so far away from those that understand when we commemorated the anniversary of the Columbia accident.  Its difficult to tell new friends how your heart and soul aches.   Thank you so much for your e-mails and letting me know of your joys and challenges.  I’m continually grateful for my family and friends.   

Our cell phone works nicely here— so please feel free to call us 650-465-0655.   On the weekends we have more minutes.  We are in Central Standard Time here.

What we are reading:  Lou is reading--- Ingenious Pursuits and Two Year Before the Mast:  Martin just finished the second book in Brian Jacques’s series Redwall (although the book got a thorough dunking as we mistimed our exit from the beach near Tenacatita);  Emily is reading Redwall now: Mary is in reading doldrums.  While on passage, I listened (on our iPod—wonderful thing!) to Hillary Clinton read her autobiography, “Living History”.  (No revelations-except a reminder how brutal Washington was to the Clintons—even if I correct for Hillary’s bias).  I attempted to read Travels with Cranes by Peter Mathiessen and maybe my timing was wrong, but I wasn’t captivated by it.  

16 February 2004

We left Zihuatanejo this morning.  It was a beautiful and magical departure as we were escorted out of the Bay by a mother humpback whale and her calf.  The mother treated us to a breach about 3 boat lengths in front of us!  Yippee skipee! (as my friend Stephanie says).  And now we are under sail- we’ve been going as fast as 6.6 knots- which is wonderful since the winds at this time of the year are usually right on the nose (from the Northwest).   It’s nice to have Ace doing what she does best- sail!

Other magical experiences in Zihuatanejo were:  

I found a seahorse swimming right next to our boat.  He let me hold him for a little while, but when I let him back in the water he moved quickly to the depths.  

We viewed many spectacular sunsets (my favorite pastime!)   I could sit at the bow pulpit and watch as if the show was all for me!  

And (you’ll think I’m getting a little touched here)- I enjoyed donning scuba tanks with Lou and cleaning Ace’s bottom.  The growth on her bottom was amazing in these warm and fertile waters.  It was an act of grooming and love for a boat that has really taken good care of us.  The fish that took up residence with us while we were living in Zihuatanejo enjoyed the tasty tidbits that were being scraped off the hull.  

Waking at 3:30 in the morning to see the double treat: the Southern Cross and the Big Dipper/Polaris.

And, last but not least, watching Martin grin from ear to ear as he jammed with a band at the local cruiser’s bar on the song, “Gloria”.  He’s got the chords down for “Gloria”, and we’ve been hearing lots of it.

We’ve been out cruising for 5 months now!  Emily and Martin were queried today and both want to keep on cruising.  Emily wants to go for another six months and return to Mountain View.  Martin was not so specific, but he wants to keep going.  This is a big and welcome change from 5 months ago!

Zihuatanejo has offered us an ideal location of being on anchor, yet enjoying the benefits of a nice sized city.   We also loved the proximity to La Ropa beach so we could swim in and walk the beach.   Did I tell you there were crocodiles on the beach?  Yes indeed!

We have enjoyed some decadent luxuries.  Lou and I won a night at a hotel from a silent auction at the SailFest.  It was nice to stay at this hotel perched on the hill overlooking   the beach and bay.  Emily and Martin stayed with a marvelous couple, Rich and Hope on Ceilidh.  They have grown children, but had volunteered to take our “littles”, as Hope calls them, for the night.  Everyone was happy for the break in routine.  Russ and Fay (friends from the Bay area) came to Zihuatanejo for vacation.  One evening, they shared their beautiful accommodations with us.  They had a suite overlooking La Ropa beach and Zihuatanejo bay that had an infinity pool on the patio.  Emily and her friend, Amy (from Pegasus) were treated by Fay to one of the simple joys to a cruiser- a shower with unlimited hot water.   Then Fay spruced Emily and Amy up and got the rasta knots out of Emily’s hair.  They were delightfully clean.  Russ and Lou carried the girls out on the beach and through the surf to Amy’s dad who was waiting in a dinghy.  You wouldn’t want to get them all salted up again! Lou and I enjoyed the sunset from the infinity pool!  

Emily had a wonderful weekend celebration of her birthday with all of the cruising kids.  It was fun and I was happy not having to scramble around to prepare goodie bags. She is having fun being ten.  She enjoyed the beach, boogie boarding and free boarding (boogie boarding behind the dinghy with a tow rope).  

Our experiences with the locals have been limited in Zihuatanejo.  I wish we had done more at the school.  Basically, we  didn’t have to speak much Spanish.   It is one of my goals to make this more part of our cruising experience.  It is too easy to just hang out with the cruisers and other travelers.   

Home schooling is going some better.  There is still a little bit of resistance.  We have also enlisted the help of some other cruisers.  Emily had her writing critiqued by Michael on Sabbatical.   Michael is a journalism professor.  He typed up his comments to Emily and gave her some excellent examples.  He put a lot of thought into what he wrote to Emily and it made Emily feel good and capable.  She is pouring her heart into her novel.  And it is good and interesting.  There is a wealth of knowledge in the cruising fleet.

We really have been blessed with the cruisers we have met.  Its been nice to have the other cruising families around and taking turns watching the kids.  But, it is also nice when we are accepted by cruisers who aren’t cruising with kids.   Michael on Sabbatical and his friend, Sanders treated our whole family to Valentine's dinner.  Michael is “batching” it while his wife is back at work in the states.  It was so nice to spend the evening with them—and have our children welcomed and enjoyed by them.  We were going to sing sea chanties but we couldn’t compete with the music coming from the beach.

What we are reading:  Martin is on his third book of the Redwall series, “Mattimeo”.  Emily is reading Tamora Pierce’s, “Trickster’s Choice”  Lou just finished “Two Years Before the Mast”, which gave him some ideas for dealing with mutinous crew members, and is now reading some Isaac Asimov and Fatty Goodlander.  Mary is reading, “The Mastery of Love” and is listening to Isabel Allende’s, “My Invented Country”on the MP3 player.

Martin, Emily and Mary will be in Kansas (to celebrate my dad’s 80th birthday and St. Patrick’s day and to do taxes!) from March 9th-March 28th.    Lou will be “batching” it in Tenacatita or Barra de Navidad.  He might like some company!

En Route from Acapulco to Oaxaca

We just left Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico headed for Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, Mexico. We were tied up to a mooring buoy near the Club de Yates- where we are enjoying their wonderful facilities—pool and good Margaritas with lots of tequila—so Lou and I share one at the end of a long hot day. Martin gets on his boogie board and skimboards from a platform in the pool that is about four inches underwater.  People love to watch him—and think he has a lot of potential as a surfer  because of his good balance.  Oh well…last year he wanted to be an astronaut this year- a professional surfer.

We had some canvas work done here to add some more shade—a critical component as we move south (and east).  Our sailboat looks like a true prairie schooner—we bought a product called Shadetree to make use of the deck when at anchor. It’s basically canvas and tent poles arched across the deck of the boat!  It has opened up use of the deck as a dining room and a kickback and read room.  It also acts as a wind tunnel.  I never appreciated that of the covered wagons of old.

Our passage to Acapulco from Tenacatita was almost picture perfect.  We get into such a nice routine as a family.  We were out for three days.  No one got sick.  Everyone just hung out and enjoyed the nice sail.  We only motored for 25% of the time—its so nice to have the motor off!!     I was sitting reading a book (Eye of the Albatross) in the cockpit and I heard—yes HEARD a spout.  The spout was less than a boat’s length behind us.  Then a few minutes later we saw a gorgeous humpback whale surface—this time about a boat length to our beam (that’s to our side).  I just love being in the natural world and feeling part of that rhythm.  

The Easter Bunny visited our boat and delivered Snickers bar—that had to be found quickly or else they would melt.  None of the Easter Bunny part of the Easter tradition has infiltrated Mexico, yet.  Even when shopping in a Sam’s club—yes you read that right—there were no baskets, chocolate egg marshmallows etc.  But, what they do up big in Mexico is Semana Santa (Holy Week).  Good Friday, we were eating on the 3rd floor of an open air seafood restaurant when we heard a commotion in the street.  We went to the balcony and looked down to see a procession of people following a glass casket with a statue of Jesus in it—as one could imagine he looked just being taken down from the cross.  In other words, pretty bloody looking.  Then, on Easter Sunday we went to the Central Park in Acapulco, Parque Papagayo, and watched a Passion play (Pasion de Cristo).  They depicted the stations of the cross - complete with Roman soldiers vigorously whipping (the whips were made of naugahyde material) Jesus and the two thieves.   I was impressed, though, that the women played a very active role in this depiction—they seemed the most vocal and demonstrative against the Roman Soldiers being brutes.  It was all in Spanish—but we understood most of it—partially because we know the story and partially because our Spanish is getting better.  We weren’t quite sure how they did it, but Jesus got bloodier and bloodier as the play went on.  They also depicted the cruxificion.  I never appreciated the logistics of the cruxificion and how long it would take to put three men on crosses and lift the crosses etc.    One of Emily’s and Martin’s assignments for Semana Santa was to study the last days of Christ and to listen to Jesus Christ Superstar.  Emily is able to draw the correlations between the songs and the New Testament passages.  But I think our most spiritual experiences have been out here—on the ocean---in what I feel is a very holy place.  

We have had a wonderful first part of this passage.  We flew the spinnaker and moved Ace nicely along the water.  Just as the sun was setting, a pod of Spinner dolphins (I think that is what they were) came by.  I think they were Spinners because they were jumping and flipping out of the water every which way.    We have had a few visiting boobies—they land and stay on our masthead and bimini (that is one of the covers over the cockpit).  We don’t mind the stowaway but we do mind his lack of toilet training.   The phosphorescence is very beautiful.  Last night there were dolphins swimming by in the night.  Their phosphorescent glow made them look ethereal as they glided around Ace.  I was delighted and enveloped in the absolute magic of the moment.  There are several turtle nesting beaches on the Oaxaca coast and it is getting to be that season.  We have seen one Olive Ridley turtle.  I explained to the kids how these turtle moms just lay the eggs and head on back to sea—never spending any time feeding and nurturing their offspring.   You can imagine the look I received from them—you know that “Yeah, so what’s the point” look.  

What we are reading:  

Mary-Finally finished and thoroughly enjoyed “The Eye of The Albatross”  by Carl Safina and started A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray.  I also listened to Isabel Allende’s, “My Invented Country” on CD.

Lou—is reading Undaunted Courage and a short story collection.

Martin- is continuing to read the Brian Jacques Redwall series.

Emily is reading both the Tamora Pierce series and the Redwall series.

We read together as a family as part of the school.  We alternate between stories in Spanish (where Emily especially gets to correct her parents’ pronunciation) and Shakespeare stories.