Loving the Land!

We have been busy on land this spring and summer.  Most recently, we are at Little Bow and Bill has a requirement of 2 hours a day of work.  Well…I have easily banked 3 days doing things around here but honestly, it is so great out here, the work is worth it.  Today was a mowing day, using the lawnmower, weedwacker, and tractor. A lot of area to mow!

Another work day included righting the outhouse that had blown over last winter.  It took great minds (thanks Randy for the A-OK) and a good tractor to get her standing again, minus most of the roof.

We always find time at the end of the day, however, to enjoy the lake and wonderful company.

Once again, it was Wild Oats and Notes…the music festival in Tofield, AB and on the farm of a good friend, Brian!  So many people work so hard to make this incredible event a success!

Most of the time, the weather cooperated……

but when it rained, it poured, making it almost impossible for the big RVs to move out.

We enjoyed fabulous music, great friends, and scenic surroundings!

I volunteered this year and got to work backstage, keeping the musicians fed and hydrated.  I enjoyed a totally different perspective and met some very talented people.

Back in Canmore, we have tried to get out and enjoy the gorgeous scenery, when weather permits.

Bill was also busy all spring enlarging and enclosing the front entrance to his house.  What a great improvement!

What did I do on land all Spring?  Watched it hail and snow,

had great ‘Nana’ times,

spent time with brothers and old friends,

and cheered on my son, Andy, as he received his hard earned Masters of Education.  (Thanks to his great wife, Jana, for all her support for his success.  The rolls were reversed two years ago, when she received her Masters of Education too).  I am so proud of these two!!!

On my way to Calgary, I detoured to Boston and spent a week with Whitney, Jason, and my darling Kennedy!

I loved every minute with them and hated to say good-bye.  I’ll be back!!!

We are hoping all our loved ones are having a great summer, loving the land and the water!!!!

As the Boat Swings….

From the title of this blog, you may think that I am going to talk about the soap opera like dramas that go on at the marinas and among some cruisers.  It would be easy to do, especially as cruisers gather almost daily in what they call a “Circle of Knowledge” along the dock or at a central location.  That is were we find out whose boat has been on the rocks, who is jumping ship, whose relationship is on the rocks, …gossip is huge.  The Circle of Knowledge also is a great place to pick salty old sailors brains about all the million things you can learn from their experience.

But, I am really going to share, literally, about the boat swinging on and around its anchor.  Just Dandy weighs in at about 9880 pounds.  Most newer, bigger boats are about 18,000 pounds.  Because we are so light, when we are at anchor, we literally swing, we swing left, we swing right, providing us with a panoramic view of any bay we are in or any boat that is in the bay.  It is pretty fun to have the binoculars out as we swing so that we (actually I am the nosey one) can see what boats are in the bay with us.

(Taking photos of some of the views and vistas just don’t do these areas justice nor can you feel the movement of the boat).

For Christmas, Bill gave me “The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America”.  We have taken to trying to identify the birds that fly around us but who knew there were soooooo many birds that look alike?  This also gives me an excuse to use the binoculars to study them, or truthfully to scope out other boats some more and see what is going on.  My favorite so far is the French boat with the guy in a speedo!

AT least I can identify these two… A seagull who loved sitting and pooping on our dinghy. Fortunately, he wasn’t eating the fish he caught and leaving blood all over the dinghy like the pelicans do.

a roadrunner, who was running around like the wiley coyote was after him.

Talk about as the boat swings, one night was like the West Coast Swing or Mister Toad’s Wild Ride!  We had heard that a storm was coming down from California and had returned to Puerto Escondido to ride it out.  We came in and dropped anchor in the “Elipse” which is a man-made anchorage, so the bottom is not sandy and not ideal for dropping an anchor. The wind started about 9:00 pm and was quickly gusting up 40-50 knots.  We felt that our anchor was not holding so we kept using our scope to check if we were closing in on other boats and we were!  So we had to re-drop our anchor but as we were doing that, the winds got worse and we were being blown all over.  Luckily we were able to hook onto a mooring ball.  However, the mooring ball has been there a while and we weren’t sure if it wass still strong, but we seemed to be holding.

The gusts had us swinging quickly from side to side and if the wind hit us right, it laid us on our side (or at least it felt like it).  Things inside the cabin went flying!  We donned our life jackets, pulled out bumpers and ropes just in case and prepared to ride it out.  With the ball around our anchor, we couldn’t move plus the wind was too strong to pull the anchor again.  To make matters worse, others were on the radio with their own issues and we were witnessing other boats with anchors that weren’t holding. Once we determined that the mooring ball was holding, however, we relaxed a little and played ‘Skipbo’ (cards) most of the night, just in case.  What a long night!!! And the next day, it hailed! (About the size of peas)

Boy, did we all celebrate afterwards too!

Brian and Sharon on Music (from Alberta)

Dennis and Donna on EZ Duz It (also from Alberta)  Gotta love those crazy Canadians!!!

Meanwhile, while the boat swings to and fro at anchor, we take ourselves ashore.  Once again I was asked to give some basketmaking instruction, so several of us gathered around the tineda (store) in Puerto Escondido and made baskets.  I’m getting to be known as the basket lady but Bill calls me ‘basket case’.  As I am teaching more and more people to basket weave, I am quickly putting myself out of business when it comes time to sell at a craft fair but the time spent gathered and chatting is well worth it!

Sadly, our 3rd season has come to a close.  We have learned more, rekindled friendships, and made new friends.  One of the best parts of the winter was having people come visit us and being able to take them out and show them what we love to do.  We hope that continues next year.  Just Dandy is put to bed but also been put up for sale.  We love this life so much, we are looking for a bigger boat that will be a little less like camping and allow for friends and family to come visit comfortably!

Hunkered Down…

We have heard over the last two years about being unable to go sailing because of the ‘northerlies’ or ‘blows’.  This means that the winds are coming from the north straight down the Sea of Cortez at quite a howl which makes the waves ‘square’ and too hard and dangerous to sail into.  In fact, they close the Port of La Paz.  As a result we have been ‘hunkered down’ or unable to go sailing at all.  Needless to say, we are anxious to get out of here and visit some of our favorite spots and discover new ones.

Daily, we check weather websites to see what is on the horizon.  This site, windyty.com, is a great visual site!

So what have we been doing with our time while we are ‘hunkered down’?  Definitey, making the best of it!  We ventured out to this great theater that serves us food and drinks at our seats and has reclining seats with friends from the dock to see Star Wars,wandered around local neighborhoods and come across very interesting little parks.

Bill played in a Cribbage contest, didn’t win, but claiming 2nd place,

while I sold my baskets at a craft sale, (These were both fundraisers for the local orphanages)

and as a result have been giving basketmaking classes.

We have driven to the town of La Ventana, which is very popular with kite surfers.  After talking to some of the kitesurfer and being informed that there is a steep learning curve, Bill and I feel that might have to come off the bucket list.

We also had a very special visit with Bill’s long time and my newer friends, Robert and Brenda Clark, from the Edmonton area.  They came down for about 10 days and we really had a great time, spending 2 nights and 3 days out at sea.  One night we were able to keep Bill up until about 9:00 pm which is almost a record!

In between all this ‘hunkering down’, I flew to Park City, Utah to spend Christmas with my great family.  It was very snowy and cold but a perfect Christmas!

The Andy Tullis family on Christmas Day.  Jana’s mother made the suits for Jana and the girls.  The hats make their heads look large but actually their helmets are underneath!  They made quite an impression on other skiers!

Our sailing skills are not improving much sitting here at the marina, although Bill is now very acquainted with the head.  He has had to repair different parts of it over the last two months.  We are planning on leaving in the next day or two and heading north for the next 4 – 6 weeks.  Can’t wait to get out there and really sail!  Will do another blog upon our return.

Check out the Photo Gallery for more photos!

PS:  Here is another one for you Tommy, that’s 2 blogs!

Christmas

Getting Our Sea Legs Back…..

We are back in the swing of things and enjoying the cruising life.  We have met up with some friends  years past and are meeting new people all the time.  While at dock, it is not uncommon to unwind at the end of the day with boats nearby,

joining others for dinner like Lucy and Ben on Georgia.  They are veteran sailors who spent their honeymoon sailing from the Bay area to Hawaii on a 6’3″ wide, 27′ (I think) boat.  Talk about togetherness!

Having a ladies lunch in town,

or watching football in english at the local hangout.

We finally restocked Just Dandy, did the few projects we had in mind and took off for a couple of days.  The first day, a fiasco!  Our communication was so out of whack that we were making some big boo boos!  But we finally entered the first bay we were headed to and were some what in sync.  If you were able to look at our path on the GPS, it was pretty funny, a few circles and zig zag course.

But our saving grace, is our new ‘marriage savers’!  You might ask, what are those?  They are bluetooth headsets!

Dropping anchor can be very stressful and can cause many arguments.  In our case, Bill has to drop and pull up the anchor by hand as we do not have an electric windless to do that.  At the advice of our gurus, Dan and Debbie on Caper, we purchased walkie talkies our first year out but they are hard to use when Bill needs both hands on the anchor and chain and I am at the helm, steering and using my nifty rangefinder to make sure we are not to close to another boat or shore.  Many cruisers recommend hand signals but I can’t see Bill from where I am because the dinghy is usually on the bow and he is hidden in front of it.  Besides, we can’t ever remember what signal means what.  Thus, the ‘marriage savers’ and yes that is what they are called.  Bikers use them to talk to each other on a bike or between bikes.  We can now talk to each other without raising our voices, hand signals or stress.  We look like pros now when we drop anchor!

The water is warm so we swam, practiced getting in and out of the dinghy with our new ladder and walked along the beaches.  Bill has a little harder time adjusting to the warmer weather.  I immediately take off the long pants, shoes and socks while Bill still clings to his canadian clothes, loving when it cools off at night to be able to put on a sweater.  Everyday, is it a long pants day?  NO! It’s hard to get the Canadian out of the boy!  In fact, it has been so warm that doing anything much after about 11 in the morning is difficult, thus the need for siestas!

The highlight so far, is our visit with Sara (Bill’s daughter) and Tommy.  We were able to sail out and spend the night in a bay. Although it was very quick, it was great having them with us.  Next year, hopefully, a lot longer stay!

Cruisers – a small, exclusive group of people who are mentally ill and feel, for some reason unbeknownst to anyone, that by getting on a small boat about the size of a jail cell and heading out into the most inhospitable place on Earth (the ocean), they will somehow enjoy themselves.

Check out more pictures in the Photo Gallery.

Splash Down!

We ‘splashed’ on Monday, Nov. 2nd! Which means after a couple of days of getting her ready, Just Dandy was ready to go into the water.  She has been ‘on the hard’ (dry dock) since early March and we are excited to be back on the water again.  It is amazing how closely the boatyard packed us in and how effortlessly they moved us into the water without banging into another boat.

Before leaving San Diego, it was suggested that we drive down through Mexicali and San Felipe and so we did.  I hadn’t been to San Felipe in 30 years and boy has it grown!

The drive was lovely, with a beautiful, newly paved road all the way to Gonzaga Bay.  We chose to stay our first night there, which was a good decision, as it was beautiful. (Sunrise)

Also, a good decision, Gary Malone, as the road is not paved past Gonzaga Bay for about 50 kilometers.  The Baja 1000 is much smoother than this was so it took a very long time to travel over it.

Towards the end of the dirt road is Coco’s Corner.  It is custom to stop there and say hello.  Sadly, with a new road going in (probably a couple of more years) the road will not go by there.  (Yikes, look at the size of those panties!)

But once we reached the paved road again, it was a fairly easy drive to La Paz, with a stop to help out stranded people on the road. Even though we were happy to give them a gallon of gas and a gallon of water, something told us they were good at doing this time and again, as they had their own funnel and syphon, just in case 🙂

I jump ahead though.  Bill and I both enjoyed beautiful falls in our separate locations, sadly, not together.  I came home earlier than normal from Canada to babysit Emma, who is too old for preschool and a kindergartner who started school a week after mom and dad went back to work. So, we headed to Boston to see Whitney, Jason, and Kennedy.  We had so much fun (although, I came home pretty tired)!

While in Boston, we went on the Duck Tour,

played miniature golf and ate ice cream,

went to a splash park with Janice, Kennedy’s other grandmother,

went to the beach,

and had lobster!

Can’t wait to see the Cardosi family at Christmas!

Once back in Park City, I just got into the swing of things, like Tuesday and Thursday Twilight golf, (my brothers Rick and Jim, in the green and black shirts)

and played in the 2nd Annual Ladies Frisbee golf tourney (which I scored in the bottom 3). This picture is of all the Whitney family who joined us that day.

had a visit from some of my favorite people, Gary and Jean Malone (love the pink socks!),

But most of the time was spent just loving my Emma and Abby! Oh yea, Andy and Jana too!

Finally, Bill joined me in Park City.  He was a great sport and helped me babysit Emma and Abby, while their parents went to see Green Bay and the Chargers play in Wisconsin.  For 5 days, Bill put up with a 2 and 5 year old, playing dolls, going to the zoo and the pumpkin patch, potty training, and a few 2 year old melt downs.  Who did Abby want when she had a melt down?  Not mommy, not daddy, not Nana but Mr. Bill!  What a trooper he is!  I am so lucky!

Exhausted but excited to be heading south, we left Park City for San Diego.  We were able to see a few dear friends (how I miss my San Diego friends) and then headed to La Paz.

I read a quote somewhere that said: “Cruisers write their future plans in sand at low tide.”  We have changed our plans so many times and am unsure as I write this, what we will do next, so stay tuned!

Check out more pictures in the Photo Gallery.

Spring Forward to Summer

OK, I guess I shouldn’t have complained so much about the cold weather!  We are now breaking heat records in the West, all up and down North America.  It hit 30+ degrees centigrade in Alberta which is 100 degrees fahrenheit and no air conditioning!  And as you probably have guessed, I am  back hanging with the Canadians and loving every minute, aye?!?!

Before arriving in Canada, I took advantage of my time in Park City, Utah. The best part is spending so much time with family!  I was able to watch the presentation and be the very proud mom of my son, Andy, getting named Teacher of the Year,

I went camping in southern Utah with Andy’s family and friends.  The red rock and search for Butch Cassidy’s hangout brought back so many memories of times spent in that part of the state.

After playing disc golf in San Carlos, Mexico and getting pointers from pros, I thought my game may have improved but not so much.  However, playing in my old stomping grounds with new and old friends was worth the lousy throws.

I rode the new zip line at Sundance with my friend, Kim, who came to visit from Carlsbad.  It was soooooo fun being 500 feet above ground and going really fast!!!!

The best of all, though, was getting to have all three of my granddaughters together!!!  A nana dream!!!

Bill was also busy, getting Little Bow ready to enjoy and play this summer.

HIs favorite activity was taking  a motorcycle trip with old friends to British Columbia.  This group of men have known each other for over 40 years and have some incredible stories to tell. (As I write this, Rocky, in the gray shirt, is in a coma at the ICU in Calgary after contracting a blood infection and meningitis.  Very unusual at this age, it usually occurs in children. Prayers and thoughts can be sent his way.)

This is my 4th summer in Alberta and it is starting to feel familiar.  I can find my way around, enjoying Bill’s, and now my friends, as well as celebrating their national holidays, like Canada Day on July 1st.

Feeling a little homesick though, on the 4th of July, a couple of Bill’s good friends, Vickie & Mike, had a BBQ for me.  A great way to spend a USA holiday in Canada!

We have spent a lot of our time at Little Bow this summer, Bill’s cabin on the lake.  I love it there. Bill has put in a one hole golf course, improved the horseshoe pit, and we are in the process of putting in a waterslide.  We want people to come and visit and enjoy!  We also try and have an afternoon float, swim, and/or kayak on the lake.  It is a perfect way to unwind.

One day, I realized, for sure, that I was not in San Diego or the US, when at the sound of hoofbeats, I discovered the Canadian posse or some of Bill’s friends riding down the hill!  A beer later, they rode off into the sunset!

Opening this blog, I commented or complained about the heat.  As I write this on July 17th, it is now 47 degrees (29 centigrade) in Canmore…brrrrr!!!!! I promise no more weather complaints! (Thanks Sara, for letting me borrow your jacket for a quick walk).

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, whether it is hot or cold, rainy or dry.

It is Still Winter!!!

We feel like we have traveled into a whole other world or season.  We left La Paz on March 10th in flip flops and shorts and flew north.  Bill flew to San Carlos, picked up his truck and headed north.  He spent a night in Park City with Andy and his family, even getting to celebrate Emma’s 5th birthday with her.  He then continued north to Calgary and is now digging out his long johns to finish the winter in Canmore, Alberta.

I flew to Boston to be with Whitney and the birth of her baby.  She had to bring a coat for me to the airport as it was about 19 degrees!  It stayed that cold and snowed off and on pretty much the whole time I was there.  I had to shed the flip flops for boots, the shorts for levis, and wear a hat and gloves whenever I went outside.

Luckily, Whitney’s baby was in no hurry to arrive as she and Jason had just bought a new house and were madly trying to paint and lay new flooring before she arrived. (Thank heavens for their great friends who put in so much time helping do all this!)

Finally, a week late, at 1:00 a.m. Saturday, March 21, 2015, little Miss Kennedy Josephine Cardosi entered the world at 7 lbs. 11oz. and 21 inches long. I was so happy to be able to stay until April 1 to help them move into their new home and bring Kennedy home.

I flew to Salt Lake City/Park City excited that the weather would be spring like.  Joke was on me, the temperature dropped to freezing and it snowed a couple of inches the first night there.  It has remained cold since. However, I am having a great time with family, celebrating Easter with an Easter Egg hunt and a family brunch!

So, I am settled into a lovely condo on the Park City golf course and a block from the ski resort until June 23, when I fly to Calgary and spend 6 weeks in Canada.  Admittedly the boat is small and a little too cozy at times.  Bill and I were together 24/7 and both of us were looking forward to a little break but that lasted only a few days and the 3 months apart seems really long, we do miss each other!!!

The weather continues to be cold, in fact, on April 15, Salt Lake was hit with the ‘storm of the winter’.  I awoke to 21 degrees and snow!!

Bill is struggling with the same weather in Canmore!  Will it ever be spring?  At least we can whine together via Skype!  Luckily, my friend Karen Dean stopped by for a few days on her way to Kalispell, Montana from having spent the winter in Lake Havasu.  Our sons always worry that we will get into trouble but we always have a grand time together!

So for now, Bill is in long johns and I am keeping the fireplace running!  Hopefully, the next time I send out a post, I won’t be shivering and so anxious for warm weather.

Whale Watching…Bill 2, Kim 0

We have now sailed the Sea of Cortez for 2 winters and I have yet to see a whale!  (No we didn’t take that picture of the whale). People on other boats will say, ” Did you see the whales as you came into anchor?” NO….. and Bill claims to have seen spouts and/or whales everytime I go below.  Believe me, I am looking when I am on watch but no luck.

Well, this seems like it has been a very short season for us.  We spent 2 months in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico before actually getting the boat into the water due to repairs and now we are putting her up earlier than last year.  Our best sail was the crossing from San Carlos to Punta Chavata in 12 hours on a reefed main and jib.  We felt so much more confident this year and Just Dandy is running better and faster than ever!

We just arrived back in La Paz and we feel like we are home.  We spent 2 months here last winter and love the place!  Bill is even able to get his hair cut at the marina, bummer I was hoping he was going for the ponytail like a lot of other cruisers!

My last blog ended with us in Bahia Conception for about a week.

Well, our intended 2 days turned into 21 days.  Some of the days we were going to leave, weather prevented us, but I have to admit it was mostly the people and fun we were having that kept us there.

One day, I joined other ladies for some watercolor painting,

 we paddleboarded in the mornings,

and even joined a bunch of other old farts for music with Fast Eddie and the Slow Learners.  (Fast Eddie used to play for Van Halen).

 The rain lasted only long enough for an intermission, then the band played on.

Finally, it was time to head further south. Our first stop was Calleto San Juanico, which was one of our favorite places and we weren’t disappointed again. This location is really pretty and we were able to hike around to some new spots, not to mention paddle boarding gave us a new perspective.

Full Moon Arising

While in Santispac and in San Juanico we saw a lot of Red Tide.  At first glance, it looks like a boat has emptied their septic tank into the bay.  It does leave slimy stuff on the bottom of the boats, dinghys, and paddle boards.  But at night, it is specatular!  The phosphorescent properties of the Red Tide, create an effect that looks like ‘glow in the dark’ sparkles.  As we left EZ Duz IT, some friends’ boat last night, the trail in the water from the red tide left from our dinghy was amazing.  Bill tried writing his initials in it and I dipped my hand into the water.  Upon pulling it out, my hand was a glow with little lighted dots.  Absolutly beautiful!!

Side Note: Red Tide

• Having lived in San Diego for 30 years, I was aware but ignorant about the Red Tide.  Bill says that he used to hear about ‘Red Tide’ warnings.  The Red tide occurs when colonies of algae—simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds.  But not all algal blooms are harmful. Most blooms, in fact, are beneficial because the tiny plants are food for animals in the ocean. In fact, they are the major source of energy that fuels the ocean food web.  (I don’t know which one this was.)

I even left a momento, using some of my basket making materials, on the cruisers shrine…

We spent a few days in Puerto Escondido, then to Agua Verde.

This is another bay we stayed at last year but this year we met some cruisers who showed us around the village.  They took us to a goat farm, where we purchased fresh goat cheese, yum!, and homemade tortillas and later had the best quesadillas!!!

Bill even found the local jail!

Then onto Timbabiche which is a small fishy village.  One of our least favorite stops as the current creates a lot of rocking at night.  We wanted to stop here to see Casa Grande, a big old house.  The story is told that a boatless fisherman in the 1920s found a 5 carat pearl in the waters here.  He received enough money for it to build a fleet of fishing boats and build Casa Grande.  After his death, it all went to ruin.  It makes me wonder if this pearl is this the inspiration for John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. He wandered around this area quite a bit.

We have encountered a lot more rain and cooler weather this year but nothing like poor Whitney and Jason in Boston!

Another sidenote:

• Some people who know me might describe me as a little bossy and wonder how Bill is surviving 24/7 with me.  Just Dandy, thank you!  As a little girl, my dad used to call me Lucy from the Peanuts cartoons and my siblings would all say that I had been the bossy older sister.  My ‘fab’ friends have a nice term for my bossiness, Captain Kirk.  I like to think I have strong leadership skills and am a decision maker with creative ideas.  My children are thrilled that Bill will put up with my ‘leadership skills’ and I will admit that I do throw out great suggestions and ideas along the way.  But Bill also likes to be in charge and yet no one that I have met that knows him well has described him as bossy.  He must just be more subtle about it.  To get around being bossed, we have started playing cribbage with the winner being boss for the next day.  Now Bill claims to be the Cribbage Master and I am fairly new to the game, so guess who is usually boss?  However, what we are finding out is that each one of us struggles when we are not Boss for a Day.  We are both used to being the decision maker and have to be reminded who is the boss.  Yikes, I have got to work on my game so I can boss him more!

Well, I am off to Boston, brrrr, on March 10 for the birth of Baby Cardozi!!!!  We will be putting Just Dandy up in La Paz and Bill is flying back to San Carlos to get his truck and then saunter northward via Palm Springs, San Diego, and Park City.  Thanks for all the positive comments about this blog and the concern that I haven’t posted enough.  Don’t want to bore you but love sharing!

We Are On the Move…

Bahia Conception

After many hours of research, work and receiving the blessing from Omar, the mechanic, Bill and I sailed Just Dandy to Bahia San Pedro for a couple of days as a test run. Not only did she run perfectly but the sailors did a mighty fine job themselves.  I was afraid that I would have forgotten much of what I learned last year, but it all came back!!! I guess this year I will focus on fine tuning what I learned.

We had such a great time being on the water again.  Coconut Express, a boat we had meet in the ship yard was also in the bay.  We had fun each trying out our new stand up paddle boards.  Mine was very squibbly and I immediately went into the water, brrr……  Turns out I didn’t have near enough air pressure in her. (I have since filled her correctly and am totally ruling the bays!).

Once back in San Carlos, we decided to buddy boat with another boat, Gitana, across the Sea of Cortez, so we set off the next day at 2 a.m., Jan. 12.  We made great time, 12 hours!  Last year I would do a little dance each time we hit 6 knots but I would have had to dance almost all the way across so I have upped my dance routine to 8 knots!

Of course, sailing for 12 hours requires a lot of coffee but can be tricky with the rocking and rolling of the boat.  Bill usually makes 3 cups of coffee but invariably one ends up on the cockpit floor. Oh well, it all washes up easily.

We pulled into Punta Chavata around 2:00 p.m. We have been here before and what a difference it makes pulling into a bay that we are familiar with. (See “And the Winner is Bill”)  This time we stayed an extra day and took a long walk along shell beach.  Bill immediately covered his ears with shells saying I talk too much and these keep the sound out (imagine that) but I think it is his way of getting back in touch with Dr. Spock and his Vulcan roots.  (Look at all the shells behind Bill!!)

We buddy boated again with Gitana to Bahia Conception.  At one point, we saw a buoy floating in the water, so I practiced a man over board and was able to get close enough for Bill to fish it out on the first try!!!

Well, we intended to stay in Santispac for a couple of days, we are now going on over a week and may stay until after Superbowl, February 1.  There are great people here and there is so much to do.

• first run movies on Mondays
• the veggie lady, artist get together and Happy Hour on Tuesdays
• BBQ Ribs at Ana’s on Thursdays
• Dancing at Armando’s on Fridays, and the list goes on.

We are also hitch hiking into Mulege for internet

 doing a lot of hiking (oh, those old bones!)

As many people here say, “It is like an adult day-care center!”

On a side note: Cruisers are very dependent on being able to hear the weather reports.  One person who is heard up and down the Sea of Cortez and all the way down the mainland side of Mexico is Gary.  He reports every morning and many of the Cruiser Nets refer to his weather reports.  He lives here in Bahia Conception in Burro Bay.  Bill and I commented the other day how great it would be to meet him and put a face to the voice.  While hitchhiking back to the boat, we get picked up by a man and half back we realize her is the famous Gary!!  We were so excited, I am sure we boosted his ego incredibly, oohing and aahing over him.  I even took his picture!!

Well, I am sure the hard core sailors we have met are upset that we aren’t sailing more but I should be able to do more sail talk in my next blog.  Just know that Bill is sleeping well at night with these last repairs and the great sailing we have done so far!

We think of many of you often and hope all is well, until next time….adios!