FELICE ANO NUEVO

Happy New Year from SV Grace, now located back in our Mexican home, Marina La Cruz, just a bit north of Puerto Vallarta.  It's been some time and a few hundred miles since I updated our blog.  Everything is good on board, our son Kris has joined us for the holidays and our other son, Kevin, is going to be coming soon.

Kris took this 2013 picture on the Malacon in PV with some new friends he met in La Cruz.  They did an amazing job getting the numbers just right.

Its pouring down rain here today.  Feels like we are back home in Seattle, except the outside temperature is 74 degrees F.

We will be here in the Banderas Bay area for a while before starting our move down to Panama early March.



There is truth here.  Mexican love their music.  They love it more when it is loud.  They love it best when it keeps them awake and ready to party 4:30am.

Wanna remake yourself?

Beach Bob can help.  He has a beautiful home on the beach in Behia Los Angeles, and he will sell it to you.  You can be the new Beach Bob, Beach Jerry, Beach Paul, or Beach Bum.  I don't know the exact price, but you can afford it.  Really. 

The House

The View

The Living Room

The Neighborhood

The Beach

Neighbor

Neighbor

Neighborhood

Neighbor



Neighbor

Beach Bob's house is on leased land.  The lease runs for several years and he has had no problem renewing it.  He pays about a hundred a month.  There is no electricity or water, but most of people like it this way.  Water is delievered from town whenever needed, and this part of Mexico is perfect for solar power. 

There are plans to run a paved road down to Beach Bob's neighborhood, along with electricity.  Prices will go up when this happens, so act quick.

Behia Los Angeles is about an 8 hour drive from San Diego on paved roads.  The village has adequate shopping.  Internet, TV and telephone are available.  The sun shines every day.

Ok, Beach Bob says make an offer.  About $30k would spike his interest.

Back at Santa Rosalia.......

And it feels good.  We left Puerto Don Juan last week, making several stops before getting here. The first time we came to Santa Rosalia the consensus was that is is a dump.  Now we realize it has good things going for it.  Ice Cream. Internet. Showers. Pizza.  You get the idea.  And yes, it may be a bit dumpy, but the people are very nice and the shopping is good.

We are tied up in Fonatur Marina, a Mexican government operation. There are five marinas in the Sea;  Mazatlan, La Paz, Puerto Escondido, Guaymas and Santa Rosalia.  It is nice to have a place to tie up, take a break, and get some beer and fuel.  There are only seventeen boats here today.  Revenue for today is probably about $500, which is typical.  This pays the salaries of seven or eight full time and a couple part time employees plus supports the cost of maintenance.  This is not a good business model.  I hope the Mexicans don't close them.

The facilities are identical in every marina.  The steel beams have numbers welded on them. Assembly by the numbers.  Its a nice way to save money. 

They saved a bunch on the docks, too.  They are also identical from marina to marina, and barely sufficient to do the job, being made from plastic and aluminum, with a few pilings scattered about to keep them from floating away.  People say this type of dock was designed for use in lakes, where the weather is more benign and the boats are not heavy ocean capable cruisers.





This afternoon were a having 25 to 35 knot winds blowing across the piers, putting them under high stress.  Our 36,000 pound boat is tied to this cheesy pier that is just wide enough to walk on, floating on styrofoam blocks, lacking support from a piling, connected to the main body of the dock by a few clamps tightened around an aluminium rail.  I don't feel real secure right now with this wind, and have run a line from the end of our finger pier, under the bowsprit of a boat, and tied it to a piling a couple slips away.  Hopefully this will take some of the side loads off the pier.

We were the last cruising boat to leave the BLA area this year.  We always seem to be behind the pack, and kind of like it.  The anchorages are usually empty, and it feels good to be alone, except for our buddies on Windsong.

Leaving an empty Puerto Don Juan

We felt a bit nostalgic leaving.  We won't be back this way again, and we will miss the place and the people we have met here.

Hola

Start of the 1st Annual Behia de los Angeles Regatta 

We migrated back to the village in BLA.  Ran out of beer and soda.  Judy is continuing to mend slowly, and may be ready to some sailing soon.  We are waiting for our sailing buddies on Windsong to arrive from San Carlos, then we will be out of here.

Entrance of Puerto Don Juan
(from inside Don Juan)





BLA

Behia De Los Angeles, or BLAH to cruisers, is where we're at.  We have been at anchor in Puerto Don Juan, about 7 miles to the east, for a little over a week.  It is the local hurricane hole.  Surrounded on all sides by land, with very small fetch and therefore almost no waves.  The water is flat no matter what the wind is doing.  This is what we have needed for the last week or so, Judy hurt her back while riding a dingy thru a patch of rough water, and has been on her back unable to move.  The quite water has been essential for her recovery, which has been progressing slowly. 

More later.

Outbound to San Francisquito

Glad I don't have to say San Francisquito more then a few times a year.  I have been trying to say it right, but have a hard time with the abrupt transition between francis and quito. 

Its about an 80 mile run, and will bring us to within 50 miles of  Puerto Don Juan, which is the hub we will circle around for the next 6 weeks.  Don Juan is a great hurricane hole, it is a small bay, virtually surrounded on all sides by land.  The geography of the place is ideal for hiding out from the killer storms.  There are 10 or 15 other anchorages within a short distance of Don Juan, plus there is a small village in Behia de Los Angeles where we can provision and refuel plus there are two internet stores. 

I would probably not spend much time there if it were not for hurricanes, but I am looking forward to getting there.  Its the destination we have been heading toward since leaving Puerto Vallarta back in May, plus it becomes cruiser central for all the folks who are spending the summer on their boats.  It can become quite social.

We will leave probably early Monday morning, about 2a.m. so that we can get into San Francisquito before the normal starting time for Chubascos.  Delaying departure until 2a.m. also gives us the chance to make sure there will be no Chubascos in the early morning hours, prime time for them to arrive on the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez, having travelled across the Sea from Sonora.

You can check out the web site we will be using to make the go/no go decision.  The address is http://eebmike.com/.  Scroll down to the first color chart.  That shows current thunderstorm development, which give rise to chubascos.

Santa Rosalia has not improved much over the last year.  The big mining project that was turning it into a boom town has seen some reversals.  The city budget does not seem to include any clean up crews.  It is very very dirty.  We know several Mexicans who are cruising up here who are embarrassed by the mess and the locals acceptance of it and their propensity to toss liter almost everywhere except in the garbage cans that are fairly common through out town.

Its a shame the mine is not putting much money into the city coffers, I think if they had the money they would keep it cleaner.

One neat thing about Sta. Rosalia this year is the absence of cruisers.  There are only four boats with crew on board.  There are may 20 boats that are being stored here w/o crew.  As a consequence there are very few gringos in town.  Its kind of nice for a change.  Three of the boats are leaving tomorrow or the next day, so gringos are going to be quite rare here.

Will check in again from the village in BLA.