SVAquadesiac

Isla Mujeres random site seeing pictures

2014-04-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Che, yep we are close to Cuba

Iron Shore

Pero Bravo! Viva Mexican dogs


Great shopping if you are in the market for just about anything made in Mexico


Always good to know where this building is, it's not always very obvious


Gringo on the beach

Just some random pictures I took when exploring the island.


Rust never sleeps

Next stop Isla Mujeres, Mexico

2014-04-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

Exiting the jetty at El Cid Marina

What are the plans are for the 2014 sailing season? Where is the boat was going to be put up for the next hurricane season? We really did not have a plan, Doug just kept tossing out names of islands and I would thumb through the many pounds of guide books I brought along. A few days ago he finally said Granada -via- Cuba, it's out of the hurricane latitudes, my reaction was gulp! It's over 2000 miles from here and it is already the middle of April. So after MUCH discussion we decided to head back to the USA, Savannah, Georgia to be more precise. It's time to regroup.

That's the Caribbean Ocean back there, blue water sailing

Isla Mujeres!

Not really the quiet little fishing village any longer

Chichenitza

2014-04-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

We took a bus tour service to Chichenitza.

Don't forget which bus you need to get back on!

It was a very delightful bus trip, full service! I could get used to these full service trips!

I think we picked a perfect day to go as the weather on the coast was blowing up to 50 knots with rain and inland it was cloudy, cool and breezy.

We had a guide that walked with us all around the inner city, it was pretty interesting.

Wow, not sure what he was "splaining" here but it must have been good!

You can no longer climb to the top

Sweet older woman selling napkins


We took a short hike to the older ruins as well, this was an observatory

Restless natives


It was pretty much all the beer you could drink until the next stop!

When we got back on the bus they handed us a cold, wet hand towel and an icy cold beer!

The second stop on the trip was a Mexican buffet lunch at a restaurant in an old colonial city. Very pretty town and very yummy food, I ate so much I did not need dinner. Many of the building here where built by re purposing the stones from the Mayan ruins.

Flowers worn on the left means this woman is married

Really?! In Mexico

I saw a real stop light with the pedestrian signal. I think this is the first one I have ever seen in Mexico. I asked the guide about it. He said that people respect the sign.

The third stop on the tour was a cenote. It was really not a very good cenote as it was in a city and it looked polluted. I would not have swam in it. It was interesting and apparently it is a sacred site.

I hope they did not throw virgins into this cenote

Tulum and Dos Ojos Cenote

2014-04-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

Tulum by the Sea!

We rented a car and took a rode trip to Tulum. It was incredibly hot and windy. Must have been spectacular when it was a working city.


Ruins at Tulum

They Mayans are very small people, I had to watch my head!


And we're done. Hot, windy and now really thirsty!

Swinging in the beach bar breeze

What is this? Mexican crafted beer! It was really, really good and really, really cold

Une Ojo

Amazing cenote

Sprinkled throughout the Yucatan are Cenotes. They are really amazing crystal clear fresh water. They are of course all sacred but for a price they will let you swim and dive in them. The water at Dos Ojos Cenote is so clear I could see the diver below us heading into the labyrinth of caves following a yellow rope. It was really amazing. We also ventured into a cave filled with bats, it wasn't until we came out that I saw a sign that said you needed a guide to enter.

Back to the boat

2014-04-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

The calm after the stormy seas of 5 days before

The crew

The boat ready already 500 miles into the 2014 season

I arrived here in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo Mexico, it is now April 5, 2014. Well into the 2014 cruising season. This is my first trip to the boat in 10 months. I had a very anxious moment when I arrived at the marina and saw the ocean through the entrance at the breakwater, I just about stopped in my tracks. From the entrance all I could see was white caps dancing in the wind. Doug had already sailed the boat over 500 miles without me on board thanks to friends and family who helped him get this far. But where to now? Realistically....

A note on being seasick

2014-02-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

The only cure for seasickness is to sit on the shady side of an old brick church in the country.
- ENGLISH SAILORS PROVERB

I have tried many a potion, pill and gimmick. I think these are words to live by.

First Voyage of 2014

2014-02-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

The SVAquadesaic was put up on the hard at RAM Marina on the Rio Dulce in June 2013 (the start of hurricane season) for some rudder repair, bottom paint and a new 2014 survey for insurance. The first leg of our 2014 sailing season starts with a trip down the Rio Dulce, Guatemala to Roatan, Honduras. As you follow the track you might notice that they, the captain and crew, sailed almost the entire way. This was due to the failure of the saltwater impeller. A small part that is a critical item needed to run the engine. I was not on board for this portion of the trip and the data is slow to come in so I don't know what happened to the spare impeller. I do know that so far this sailing season I have not been seasick, due to the fact I'm sitting on my lovely deck overlooking the river in our back yard. Its off to a good start I would say.
http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=328162

It's a wrap 2013 in a nutshell or more appropriately hermit crab shell

2013-12-31T17:41:00.000-08:00

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Our 2013 cruising season on board SVAquadesiac began in February at Bocas Del Toro, Panama where we provisioned SVAquadesiac in a marina on an island once walked upon by Christopher Columbus! Our cruising plan was to make our way to the Rio Dulce, Guatemala by June 2013, the start of hurricane season. The voyage to the Rio Dulce was interesting as we plotted courses to islands in the Caribbean we had never heard of. The islands of San Andrés and Isla de Providencia both considered Hawaiian island type gems of Columbia, were our first two stops. San Andrés promotes modern day tourism and trade while Isla de Providencia was the home away from home of Captain Morgan! Both were pretty unexpectedly amazing islands to visit.

On March 31, 2013 we arrived at our next stop Islas de la Bahía Roatán & Cayos Cochinos. Here we joined up with fellow cruisers we had first met in Mexico and enjoyed exceptional diving, snorkeling and exploring. Our friends love the island so much they started a business there called http://www.zeppelindiveandsail.com and now call it home.

We welcomed several friends on board for a vacation away from it all!... be careful what you wish for… The cruising life is not all cocktails and sunsets. We were very grateful for all the spare parts they brought to fix our autopilot or “Auto” for short. We spent a lot of time at a resort called Fantasy Island, yes, just like in the old TV show. It is complete with a plane wreck in the lagoon. We went to the trendy West End, old island haunts such as “Hole in the wall”, probably not in your Lonely Planet guide and Cayos Cochinos where we had lunch served to us on a tiny speck of an island called Chachauate by a Garifuna fisherman who is name Fausto. Yes, he wrote it in the sand for me. No reservation required.

Towards the end of May on a full moon, we set sail for the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. We entered the Rio Dulce following a catamaran and watching our depth sounder instead of the scenery. We inched our way over the sand bar into the Rio with only inches of water under the keel to spare. This was Tarzan country, jungle for as far as you can see. The town, Livingston, is only accessible by boat. We were greeted by an unusual contingent of officials all looking for a cold beverage in return for stamps in our passports and cruising documents. Our goal was to head up river and locate the marina where we had made reservations to keep the SVAquadesiac for the coming hurricane season. The water under our keel was now an emerald green, gone was the blue water of the Caribbean. I kept a sharp look out for canoes, crocodiles, manatees, submerged pilings and of course Tarzan, just in case. I had read somewhere that the Rio Dulce can swallow a gringo. I believe this to be true.

We returned home to Napa in June. Doug picked up some more contract work to refill the cruising kitty, I still work at doing nothing all day, wink.

In December we celebrated the 1^st birthday of our granddaughter Summer Lynn Simms. Oh so cute! Her folks Dillon and Megan are pretty special as well.

We started 2014 with a wedding! Gregg and Courtney were married in beautiful, sun drenched Carpinteria, California on January 4, 2014. So as you can see our family continues to grow and we could not be happier!

What was I thinking? Semuc Champey Guatemala

2013-05-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well we did it! Holy smokes! I still can't believe they were advertising for this tour at a cruisers swap meet in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Did they really think these Gente del mar people could actually survive a trip to semuc Champey ! The trip is not for the faint of heart. It starts with the bus trip there. Our shuttle bus was 2 hours late... They bought us a beer while we waited. So no problemo.
The road to Linquin was crazy! At one point we had to get out of the shuttle bus and walk because the road was flooded. We walked about 100 yards in knee deep water. The road there is mostly dirt/rock/ruts. When the driver came upon another washed out section he just floored it and we were almost swept away into a fence. I was in the front seat so it was very exciting. With all our delays we arrived in Linquin after dark and was met by yet another driver this time in a truck with only one open seat inside the cab. Doug got the short straw and had to climb in the back and ride for 45 min up/down a rocky, rutted road while trying to sit on a 2x6. We arrived at the hostel and they turned on the generator just so we could get to our room. We stayed at El Portal right at the park entrance.

Our room was nice enough and we were certainly tired enough that I did not notice the termites eating our headboard until the second night! Nice place, they had good food and nice wine in a bottle for sale. No ice!

We had a hearty breakfast of pancakes and yoghurt with fruit then headed out on the first part of the tour. This was billed as a 40 min hike. What they did not mention is that it was literally straight up! It took me an hour to get to the "mirador" and I was drenched! The view was very pretty indeed, but ug!
Next we hiked straight down, I had to go down some of the stairs like a ladder it was that steep and slippery.

One of the points in the brochure says "12:30 - Viewing the largest waterfall where the river leaves the tunnel". What they don't say it first you walk across the river on the limestone bridge then descend down the waterfall on a rope ladder and enter the cave that has ragging water coming from all directions! I was so scared I could hardly move. The guide says come here Linda and look at this... I did not move, I was still trying to figure out how I was going to get back up the rope ladder without falling to my death. I managed but I was terrified.

As we walked back down to the park entrance a snake crossed our path. It went right over the guides foot. I got a good picture of it. Yes it was poisonous.

After lunch we ventured up to the k' an-ba caves. Again the brochure says visit the cave, no details.
Enter at your own risk, do not enter without a guide. The brochure shows people walking wearing swim suits and holding a candle. What the don't tell you is that this is full on spelunking in your swim suit while holding a candle in one hand and trying to swim with the other. We ventured 1.6 km back into the abyss. At least half of the cave time was spent swimming. The water was also ragging in several areas. It was way more then I bargained for. There was also a cave waterfall we had to either climb a rope or take a ladder up and over. The ladder was of course on the opposite side from the rope. It was so dangerous it makes me shake just thinking about it. When the guide offered to help me cross under the waterfall I guess I imagined more of a bear hug approach of helping me, instead he grabbed my boobs and held on as we swung through the water fall. Well it did take my mind off of how petrified I was. I just took on a little water as I gasped. At the top I did not even consider jumping into the deep pool from a great height. The guide jumped into the pool, disappeared for a long time and then I noticed he was standing behind the group who were gazing into the deep pool all wondering what the fuck we were going to do now. Yes, it was funny but that was the second time he had pulled our chain, so to speak. The first time he took all our candles and disappear ahead of us to light the way to the waterfall. he was gone just a little bit too long. Doug took the water slide near the exit and I took the ladder. I was pretty happy to see day light sense my candle was down to 1/4 inch.

We opted out on the tubing down the ragging river. Instead we went back and put on dry clothes and watched the rest of the group fly by on their tubes. It started to rain as they got to the end of the tube ride and they had to walk back up the road to the hostel carrying their tubes in a downpour. It was fun and terrifying and extremely dangerous. Doug and I are too old for these extreme adventures. There is NO safety backup anywhere. It was one guide to 8 people. No life jackets, no climbing ropes or harnesses.

You have come a long way baby!

2013-04-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Where to start.... it has been over a year since I lasted posted to the blog. I have oodles of reasons why, but why start there. Where in the hell are we now?

Fantasy Island!
Roatan, Honduras (The Bay Islands)
We arrived here on March 31, 2013! Easter Sunday.
Hard to believe we have been here for over 10 days now. We came into the west end of the island due to the weather that was forecast- really high winds. The island acts as a wind break to the anchorage and there is no fetch there. I had phoned ahead to make contact with a friend we had ,Wayne & Ely on board SVZeppelin, in the anchorage because it was apparent it was going to be dark when we reached our way point. Without fail he answered his phone and said keep on heading to the way point and he would meet us there, in the dark, in his small dive boat. It was with great relief when I saw his running lights, even though they looked very small and dim. He took us between the reef and over to the mooring field. He had a mooring all set up for us. After over 52 hours of hand steering (Broken Auto Pilot) from Isla Provindencia Columbia we thanked Wayne and went to bed!

The next morning we started off with Wayne and Elly in their SUV and accomplished everything on our list in a matter of hours. Normally it takes days because we don't know where things are and have to rely on taxi or buses. By 3:00 in the afternoon we were actually ready for company! It was pretty amazing.

That night I was feeling a bit bedraggled so I went to be early, about 8:00 pm. Doug wasn't far behind. At 11:00 we heard a really loud BAM, not a good noise. It was a noise that actually got Doug out of bed first. Our mooring line had snapped in the wind, Chaffed. We had put our line through the mooring line eye, then attached to the boat. It just could not take the boat motion. We found ourselves up against the reef, a noise not good to hear. I heard Doug start the engine so I grabbed our glasses, and started turning on instruments and nav lights. Doug seemed to have a much better idea of where we were in the mooring field so he stayed at the helm and I went forward and dropped the anchor. It held on the first try, nice! I looked around and realized we were both butt naked running around the boat, what just happened? Having just a little bit of adrenaline I sat in the cockpit for another half hour on anchor watch. I finally went back to bed only to hear the sound of voices and a anchor being let down. So I was up in the cockpit again seeing what was going on. Apparently another boat had also come loose from their mooring. And yes, they were also butt naked running around top side. In the morning we picked up another mooring using only the mooring line attached to the boat, which is what we really wanted to do the first time.

The next day, Wayne drove us to the airport to pick up Dave and Julia which was really nice of him. It was great to see Dave and Julia !

They brought us lots of boat parts and most importantly spare parts and tools to fix the auto pilot. The new parts were metal instead of plastic, this was a good sign. Dave and Doug installed the new parts and they work like a charm. We stayed in the West end for several days as the weather was blustery. It was an opportunity to explore the west end. By Thursday the weather was forecast to lye down so we headed out to a place called Cayos Cochinos or hog island. Here we finally got in the water to snorkel, it was beautiful. Very clear, not too murky. There was a westerly swell that was not forecast and bothersome. We went over to the Turtle Cay Resort and had a rum drink and checked out a very green spotted eel that lives under a stone wall.

We had dinner on the boat and enjoyed the breeze in the cockpit. I was awakened at 3:00 am by the sound of a plastic bag fluttering around the cockpit. It wasn't just a little breeze any longer. I had towels and swimming suits laying on the lines so I got up to check on things. Our dingy was still in the water attached only by its small painter line. I decided it was more work then I was awake to do on my own so I rousted el captain. We doused the wind scoop, brought anything in that wasn't attached and hoisted the dinghy. I stayed up and watched as a lighting storm passed. There were 3 other sailboats moored in the harbor but no one had proper mast lights glowing. I could only see the boats when the lightning flashed. Very eery. I was wondering if I was the only one awake.

The next morning I awoke to find Julia awake, well sort of, in the salon. We had a good laugh at the state of things including our hair. Morning are always fun. It's a time to rehash the events of the prior day or evening. She rises very early in the morning and when I looked at my watch 615am I knew she should be up. The weather had not calmed, in fact it had gotten worse and we were now squarely on a lee shore in bad weather. We managed to boil some water for tea and went up to the cockpit. Dave poked his head up only to be told if he wanted coffee he was on his own. Dave managed in a galley he hasn't seen in years to ascend the companion way with a steaming hot cup of coffee. He had barely placed his second foot on the soul of the cockpit when we heard the familiar BAM of our mooring line snap. Luckily the four of us have lots of experience being on boats together both in good and bad situations. This was bad. The dinghy was still hanging off the halyard full of all our snorkel gear. The wind was howling and we were very close to shore. All we could do at first was small circles until we came up with a plan of action. Doug popped up and wanted to lower the dinghy into the galloping sea, but first we needed to get our gear out. Dave at the helm, Doug precariously hanging in the dinghy and Julia and I tossing everything we could grab on board below decks. We lowered Doug then had to find the towing harness to attach it to the stern. Doug was truly riding the bull that morning. We had Wayne and Elly on the radio asking what in the world? They were wondering if they could help. We had decided already we were just going to tow the dinghy and leave, not try to reconnect to a mooring. I was able to hold the boat straight into the wind, off the rocks while Dave attached the towing line and Doug scampered aboard. Another act in the Simms family circus! Julia descended the companionway to tame the gorilla who had tossed the entire contents below decks. Nothing was in its place, yes contents may shift was an understatement. As soon as both Doug and Dave were at the helm and making course decisions on how to exit over the reef I ducked down below and found solace gripping my pillow.

Our course was decided, Fantasy Island. It's been a working harbor for hundreds of years yet there are mere floats marking the entrance and reef. Mind boggling. The sail over was rough but everything was fine so all was well. We called to the harbor master and he responded and gave us a location for a side tie. Not just a straight forward side tie. Between his boat and a 63 foot Cheoy Lee motor-sailor. So it was once again all hands on deck with fenders and lines. We managed to thread the needle, within inches, and glide up to the dock. Whew!

We were met by Jerry, a long time cruiser himself. He was the dock master here at fantasy island. We were checked in and given the grand tour of the resort. Being at the dock meant we had all the privileges of being at the resort. There was lots of places to snorkel. Wrecks, planes, walls to dive. Lobsters to look at in the anchorage a reef just outside. Monkeys, iguanas, no see ums. This place has it all. For the next two days we snorkeled and ventured all around in the dinghy. We even saw the Roatan yacht club being fully renovated. We also got invited over to a private island, which as long as the cruise ships are not in is really quite amazing. Seems they also invite everyone from the cruise ship over as well when they are in port. Every one needs to make a living.

Dave and Julia left on Sunday and we spent all day on Monday exploring the island by car on dirt roads. I wished they could have stayed and explored with us.

The island is beautiful and the diving and snorkeling really amazing, the best I have ever seen.
Looks like we might be here until middle of May waiting on our new inverter to arrive via slow boat from Florida.
After that we are off to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala to put the boat up on the hard for the season.

2012-04-09T18:17:00.003-07:00

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Holiday traditions of Mexico

2011-12-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

December 12th is Dia de Guadalupe which is one of the most important celebrations of Mexico and Catholics around the world.
This time last year we were in La Cruz and the celebration started on Saturday the 11th and was celebrated with lots of festivities including activities around the town square across from the church, street parties and loud music until about 4 in the morning, along with what we call flash bang fireworks, sort of like a cannon, which are lit off from the afternoon until well into the wee hours of the morning. Here in Zihoutenejo they are selling fireworks on the street. They shoot them off randomly during the night they are pretty to watch and haven't kept us awake or frighten the dog. It is relatively quite in the bay here during this celebration or maybe we are just getting used to the music. There was actually an opera singer we could hear the other night. It was a nice change of pace.

So what was the celebration all about? My friend Carol from SvStrayCat found an article about the Virgin of Guadalupe I thought I would share.

“The Virgin of Guadalupe is the most famous and celebrated of all saints and she is also known as the “Virgen Morena” and is the patron saint of Mexico. Supposedly she was first encountered by an Aztec Indian, San Juan Diego, on the hill of Tepeyac now known as modern day Mexico City, in 1531, shortly after the conquest by the Spanish Conquistadors. As the story goes he was on his way to a monastery and when passing the hill of Tepeyac he heard signing as the sky turned brilliant colors and at the end of the signing he heard a call from a woman. As he knelt before her she identified herself as the “consummate virgin Saint Mary, mother of the true deity, God, the giver of Life, the creator of all, the ever present lord of heaven and earth”. Then she then asked for a temple to be built on the site so that she could attend to the “weeping, sorrows and prayers” of all the people of the land. While he tried to rely this sighting to the Bishop he had no proof and was afraid to offend the deity so he returned to the hill and once again he saw her and she told him to pick some Castilian Roses and return to the Bishop with the roses that were very uncommon to the area at that time. With this “miracle” the Bishop then believed Juan Diego’s story and shortly thereafter there was a Basilica built on that site in honor of The Virgin Guadalupe. Dia de Guadalupe is more important for many Mexicans than Easter or Christmas and is celebrated with parades, pilgrimages and fiestas throughout much of Mexico and most of Latin America. In 1737 she was recognized as the patron Saint of Mexico City and eventually by 1946 to include all of the Americas. This day is to celebrate the love we give to the Virign de Guadalupe and is known to many as the day of Love (Amor).”

December 12th marks the beginning of the Christmas Posadas (festivals) and holidays all over Mexico and Latin America Carol asked the family that runs a favorite week-end “tacos in the street” eatery. She told her that after December 15th it gets harder and harder to conduct business or get services done as executives and employees travel to see their families in other parts of Mexico or the world (like the US). The holiday festivities or Posadas will continue until the last day of Christmas which in Mexico is January 6th which is Epiphany or Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes). This is where the 12 days of Christmas originates and many Mexican families still give one small gift every day from Christmas until the 6th. She said Posadas are sometimes just a family or a neighborhood and start with a candlelight procession and are often are all night celebrations like the one on the 11th.

The tacos in the street lady remembers as a young girl her family painting a dried Century plant silver for their Christmas tree. Now she says her family has what we gringos would call a traditional artificial fir tree. Of course poinsettias are plentiful here and are found everywhere. Santa Claus is not a traditional figure here in Mexico but he is becoming more popular and some families open all their gifts on Christmas Eve after a big family dinner. But rather it is more traditional here for children to write their wish list to the Three Wise Men and wait until January 6th to see if their wishes are granted. Instead of leaving milk and cookies for Santa, they leave their shoes outside filled with hay for the camels.

But wait there is more. This will kind of remind you of Mardi Gras and King Cake and who gets the baby. On January 6th families eat a sweetbread ring shaped cake with small bits of fruit and candy inside and a small plastic baby that represents the baby Jesus. The person who receives the baby in their slice is responsible for giving a party and making tamales for the Fiesta de la Candelaria (Candles) on February 2nd, the last party of the Christmas season.

And we didn’t talk about what happens for New Years?!!

All the details above where as I mentioned from my friend Carol and I wanted to log them in and the blog seemed the perfect spot. I love learning about peoples traditions and Carol somehow is really good at searching them out.

I received a DHL package today here in Zihoutenejo. It was my new credit card. I am thankful for the wonderful network of people that made it possible for me to dingy to shore and pick up a package at the little grass shack at the end of the pier, how amazing is that?

We haven't really figured out what we are doing for Christmas eve or Christmas day yet, just going with the flow. There are now 8 boats in and around the bay. The restaurants in town have posted some dinner specials which look good.

Zihoutenejo for the holidays

2011-12-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

We left la Cruz December 1, 2011 right smack at the starting gun for this years Bandaras Bay Blast. Timing is everything right. Our destination Zihoutenejo for the holidays. We made a few stops along the way at Tenacatita and Las Hadas. The weather was warm and sunny for our trip but there was a lot of swell in the sea. I was a bit mal de mar. We saw jumping tuna, turtles, dolphins and of course a few fishing nets along the way. I really don't do to well with lack of sleep, I start hearing music that is not playing. In the past it was always The Magigal mystery tour, this trip I heard and old western tune (the one where the horses gallop).

Well we arrived here December 12 and put the anchor down for the holidays. This is our second visit to Zihoutenejo. We are familiar with most things in walking distance. The weather is warm, the water is warm 89 degrees. Doesn't really feel like Christmas. I took out my gallon size bag of decorations and was done decorating in about two minutes. I also found some solar Christmas type lights so they are outside on our solar panels, flashing!

We don't have any big plans, in fact no plans for Christmas. We are going to meet up with my sister in laws sister "Dorothy and her family" who frequently come to Zihoutenejo from the pacific northwest.

My friend Carol from Santa Rosa on board SVStraycat sent me this interesting news regarding the poinsettia plants that we see everywhere.

It seems like everywhere we go we see poinsettias – at the tienda (convenience store) ferreteria (hardware store) in the doorways and by the cash register, restaurants, offices, homes and even street taco stands as well as in the churches. They are sold at markets and from the back of pick-up trucks. The plethora of poinsettias prompted us to inquire about their significance. We were told the poinsettia was originally used by the Aztecs who called it “Cuetlaxochitle” (don’t ask me how to pronounce that). The Aztecs used the sap from the plants to reduce fevers and to make a reddish-purple dye. It is said that Montezuma, the last Aztec King, brought the flowers from Southern Mexico in caravans to Mexico City because the poinsettia would not grow at the higher altitudes.

In Mexico it is called “Flor del Noche Buena” (Christmas Eve Flower or literally Flower of the Good Night) or in Central America the “Flame Leaf.” In North America it became known as the Poinsettia and was so named after Dr. Joel Poinsett, who was the first United States Ambassador to Mexico from 1825 to 1829. The plants are native to the Taxco area in Mexico and while Dr. Poinsett was visiting the region he fell in love with the flowers and shipped some to his own nursery in Greenville, South Carolina where they were also given to several other nurseries to eventually be grown commercially. The Poinsettia starts out with star shaped green leaves that turn into a deep red at the top. Nowadays at home we see white ones, pink ones and variegated ones as well as the traditional red.

Naturally there is a wonderful legend in Mexico as to how the flower became used to celebrate Christmas. The story begins with a poor girl named Maria and her little brother Pablo (or cousin, Pedro, depending on who tells the story). Maria was very sad because she was so poor she had nothing to give the baby Jesus in the manger scene in the Village Church. On Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) on the way to church Maria picked some “weeds” to make a bouquet to leave at the manger scene. Her little brother (or cousin) said to her, “it does not matter what you give as long you give it in love”. Naturally the other children in the village teased them until they saw the “weeds” turn from green to a bright red right before their eyes as Maria knelt at the altar. The whole village then realized they had witnessed a true Christmas miracle and from that day forward the plant became known as the “Flor del Noche Buena.”

Día de San Patricio

2011-03-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hola, Leo joined us here last night just in time for the St. Patricks day celebration in Melaque. OMG, it was the most amazing fireworks demonstration and fiesta I have seen in Mexico. We would NEVER, NEVER, EVER see anything like this in the USA.

Festivities began this week with the Fiesta del Torros which included rodeo events, bullfights, carnival, parades, blessing of the fishing fleet, folk dances, boxing matches, and nightly fireworks.

The town which I refer to as Melaque, is actually three towns seamlessly joined together: Melaque, Villa Obregón, and San Patricio. St. Patrick is the patron saint of San Patricio as in many other towns in Mexico. They all have a Saint Patrick's Day celebration but perhaps the biggest celebration is the Melaque, Jalisco, March 17 celebration which is the one event we went attended.

We took the bus over to Melaque from Barre de Navidid around 6:30 PM in the evening. The fiesta was in the town square. We wandered around and marveled at all the food stands selling taco, crepes, pancakes, hot dogs, hamburgers and finally decided on a taco stand that had a table, real fine dining.

After eating our tacos, which all had very elaborate names like a volcano, a gringa, etc., we shuffled off towards the bull ring to watch the dancing horses and the bull riders. On our way there we went by the church which was still having a service that was now including 3 troops of native dancers in the aisles of the church. I couldn't help but poke my nose in an have a look, very fascinating.

Just outside the church they had erected the "Castillo" which was a free standing fireworks display. You could smell the ingredients of the fireworks, it looked very explosive indeed. There was one small circle of caution tape around it with two fire extinguishers. This was to be set off around 11:00 PM. I noted that there was not a bombadero (firefighter) in site, not even a truck. I guess if something were to go wrong it would just be part of the show.

We continued down to the bullring and enjoyed a show of 2 dancing horses and the blessing of the bull riders. From our seats you could hear the 12 piece live band loud and clear! As we sat in our seats we experienced another only in Mexico! a vendor coming by our seats offering 10 peso aqave shots. We watched several bull riders (no hands) in the ring. One of the bull riders fell off and was trampled by the bull. It actually looked like he was injured pretty bad. The ambulance came into the ring. It was an old pick up truck with flashing lights. The driver/medic only had one leg but managed to move rapidly. They tossed the bull rider into the back of the pickup and took off. I'm figuring if he wasn't hurt by the bull that the truck ride to the hospital would certainly finish him off. On that note we decided to go pick a place to view the fireworks show.
We had heard you didn't want to be too close to the castillo so we found a spot in the square and waited for the fireworks to begin. We didn't have to wait too long, a guy just walking through the crowd let off huge bottle rockets with his cigarette! It was as loud as a shot gun and the crowd moved like a wave. Then the castillo ignited. The castillo is a very, very tall structure with several pinwheels attached. They started at the lower pin wheel. I can't even imagine why people where standing so close. The castillo launches fireworks out into the square and up into the sky at all levels. The crowd just goes wild trying to avoid the hot fireworks. Inside each pinwheel was a spinning figure of some sort having to do with the festival. Where we stood way in the back we were still ducking and jumping to avoid the fireworks. The show seemed to go on for a very long time. It really gets your heart pumping as you are wondering about crowd control, what crowd control! The top of the castillo finally ignited with even more gusto then any of the pinwheels. It was a little difficult to watch the whole show as I was avoiding hot piercing fireworks and trying not to get trampled but it was spectacular! The finale was a hot molten sign that said "fini" was launched into the crowd and landed on a tree and caught fire.

So we were thinking, ok, shows over the same guy who had started the show with the bottle rockets lit off several mortar rounds. I didn't even see the guy set them up but we where so close I could feel the concussion. I never even looked up at the fireworks cause I was too busy looking at the mortars that looked like they had misfired and exploded on the ground. Just after that little show a guys starts running through the crowd with a fireworks shooting rig in the shape of a bull. He ran through the crowd, leaving NO ONE out and aimed the rig and shot off fireworks intentionally right at people. It was absolutely nuts! This was a pretty big square and it was packed with people and I think I actually had eye contact with this guy at least 3 times! We had been trying to stay together as a group but at this point it was every man for himself. I ran into Kathy and Leo behind a small box truck trying to duck out of the guys aim only to see Kathy get pinned in between the truck and a motorcycle. It was crazy, crazy! When Kathy came out from behind the motor cycle we chatted and decided we thought we both we our pants on that one!
We tried to regroup where we all had been watching the show and let the guys know Kathy and I had to go find a bathroom. We walked around for a very long time trying to find a bano that did not have a huge line. We never did find one and I won't go into any details about that. What we did find was a carnival, Mexican style. I'm telling you it was like a dream, only we were walking through it. The carnival was pretty typical with the carni rides and amusement booths. At one booth they where playing a bingo game for kitchen plastics. It appeared to be a family oriented right up until we came to the full bar booth complete with "titty" drinking cups, "Call" drinks at a carnival.
Kathy and I spent the next 30 minutes looking for our group in the crowd so we could go back to Barre de Navidad. When we finally did find our group they where all sharing their version of how they managed during the show. Most everyone had black soot somewhere on themselves. The buses had all stopped so we went in search of a few taxi cabs. I think we were finally tucked back in our bunks by 2:00 am. what a night.
We are renting a car tomorrow (Saturday) and driving down to Zihutanejo to take Clark to the airport and drop Leo off on his next crew position about SV Precious Metal.

Isle Grande

2011-03-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

We are now on our way North back up into the sea. We stopped here to snorkel and enjoy this small island paradise. There is a Club Med over on the main shoreline, so I guess this is one of those places you might see in a brochure. Soft white sand beaches accentuate the island's shore along with a host of colorful palapa restaurants serving cold adulto beverages and fresh seafood. That's where lunch is today anyway!

Our next stop, after an all night sail is Las Hadas in Bahia de Manzanillo. We will meet up again with Leo, our crew since last November in Las Hadas. Leo has been in Guadalajara picking up his new passport and ATM card. We will also met up with our buddy boat SV Blue Dolphin.

We will take a little road trip back to Zihuatanejo to drop Clark off at the airport and send Leo South on board SV Precious Metal.

International Guitar Festival 2011 in Zihuatanejo

2011-03-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

Enjoying the music of guitar fest 2011

Eric McFadden and Omar Torrez jamming at Paccolos

www.zihuafest.info or www.youtube.com/zguitarfest

We were in the right place at the right time to catch this years International Guitar Festival 2011 in Zihuatanejo. Amazing! Outstanding! are just a few words I can think of the say about the festival. It was very well put together and the price was right. The cost to attend a session was 100 pesos, plus your dinner and drinks. The venues all held varying amounts of people. We went to two shows a Paccolos with SV Zeppelin and there where only about 60 other people there.

The opening concert was held in Ixtapa, Plaza Ixpamar the cost was $500 pesos with dinner and all you can drink. We did not attend however I heard it turned out to be a very nice evening.

We did attend the closing concert on March 12 at the Zihuatanejo Centro. The cost was $250 pesos plus dinner, drinks and a taxi ride. Total for the evening was about $360 pesos per person. This was probably the highlight for us. It was a jam session that included all the artist that performed at the festival. Wow, you would never no these people only just met this week. The talent up there on the stage was staggering. My hats off the the women artist! They BELTED out the song lyrics and played those guitars with all their hearts. I couldn't say I had a favorite as they all had such different styles. They were all wonderful.

Adrian Raso & Nick Johnston the Canadian contingent

Tsunami

2011-03-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

Our morning started out at approx. 5:45 am with a phone call from our friend Ernesto in Mazatlan. He wanted to give us a heads up. The tsunami event happened here in Zihuatanejo at about 4:00 pm. We had moved the boat over to Las Gatas beach area and anchored in 40 feet of water, we had been anchored in about 15ft. near the pier in town. The port was closed and a big red flag was flying at the end of the pier. The bay was usually quiet all day long. Typically there are boats, parasailers etc., buzzing around the bay. We spent most of the day anchored at Las Gatas beach waiting for an event that was predicted at approx. 1:00/2:00 PM...., A guy in a panga boat came out and invited us over to a restaurant but we declined not really wanting to leave the boat.

Finally at about 4:00 pm I said I thought we should head back over to the anchorage since we have tickets for tonight's guitar fest. We hoisted anchor and headed back to the main anchorage and the bay proceeded to empty.... the level went from about 20.5 to 10.5 FEET in about 10 min. It was all very exciting. There is a small natural breakwater just off Las Gatas beach and Doug said he was looking at it and thinking he could see a lot more of it then usual, but was already concentrating on moving the boat. He headed towards the anchorage. The water in the bay became very violent with lot's of conflicting currents and waves. Upon getting closer the the anchorage they noticed that a disabled sailboat here in the anchorage (Blythe Spirit) was already beached on it's side, since all the water resided past it. It went back and forth in the waves but held anchors (bow and stern). All the other sailboats at anchor were dancing around on their anchors as we were moving around looking for a spot to anchor. The water literally rushed out like someone pulled a plug in the bay then swooshed back in. The small river near the pier looked like the Truckee River in Tahoe. In the river was washing a ton of debris being into the bay.
Doug was at the helm, Clark was on the anchor and me, well I was below resting after having made breakfast, lunch, bread, did dishes, washed the deck....., they said they called me up to have a look but they guess I didn't here them. When they finally got the boat anchored and turned off the engine I popped my head up and they said wow that was freaking amazing! I was like what? Oh you missed it.
Well it turned out I only missed the first wave. There were many, many more wave events.

Over at Las Gatas beach a panga boat sunk, there were kids in the water having fun at first then very scared, water up to the palapa tables, The water went out then back in within just a few minutes. The panga driver who had come out to ask us if we wanted to go to shore for lunch was on the radio saying you are on your own, I'm heading to high ground! The folks from SV Precious Metal were on shore over at Las Gatas having a cooking class at the restaurant. They dropped everything and started grabbing kids, helping with the pangas. They said it all happened so fast. One minute they were enjoying the food from the cooking class then all hell broke loose. They eventually got into their dinghy and headed back over to their boat in the anchorage.

All in all everyone faired very well, the waves continued well past midnight in the anchorage. We took a water taxi into the guitar fest and only stayed on shore for the performance then hailed a fellow cruiser to come get us from the pier. At 11:00 pm the water was still rising at the pier well over the walkway then residing below the walk in the course of 3 to 5 min. intervals. We had to dodge our way through a debris field to get back to the boat in the darkness. I stayed up on anchor watch until about 1:30 am when I felt that everything had seem to fall into a calm pattern.

We have company!

2011-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Clark Hemphill, Doug's cousin from Napa, California where the temperatures where in the 40's the morning he left.

Surf's up

This is as far South along the Pacific Mexico coast as we will go this season.

I have to take everyone on a Mexican bus ride! That's just part of the tour. Yes, the guy with the guitar was singing his heart out.

Clark is one of our original crew members from the 2009 Baja Ha Ha.

Crocodile warning

Lunch in las Gatas, Zihuatanejo

2011-03-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

We had an invitation from Noyo and SV Precious Metal to join them and SV Sea Turtle over at las Gatas beach for the day to sample some fresh tuna dishes. The chef made 3 or 4 dishes that were outstanding. My favorite was desert!

las Gatas Beach, natural breakwater in the back ground

This beach is only accessible by small boat. During the tsunami that occurred on March 11 the water level dropped beyond the breakwater, then came back in past where the tables, chairs and umbrellas were at an alarming rate. The water level dropped by over 10 feet in 5 to 8 minutes.

Shopping in Zihuatanejo

2011-03-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

The seafood section

Pan or Bread at the street market.

The shopping mall, Mexican style. This is not really the tourist zone

The fruit and vegetable stall


The meat section

Zapatos or shoe section

Dry goods

Gift section

Shopping in the Mercado in Zihuatanejo is a must do if you are ever in town. It is huge! There is the indoor area, an outdoor area on Mango Street and every inch of real estate on the surrounding streets. It literally takes up whole blocks. It is quite an adventure to provision the boat here. I did go up to the Comericial Mexicana (Mega) and was not very impressed with it at all. A good place to buy wine is at the MERZA on Mango Street. They have a nice wine selection, the more you buy the cheaper it is by the bottle. When I'm provisioning the boat I like to go have a look see at what is available first and shop on another day so I have more of a game plan to get the provisions back to the boat. Just try and carry the contents of your Safeway shopping cart more than a mile, then pack it into a dinghy on a shore where there is surf!

2011-02-27T10:11:00.000-08:00


First night out in Zihuatanejo		We went out the Corner Bar for Michaladas

Leo and Lucero at the Corner Bar. Some kids borrow the car to take a girl out on a date, Leo borrows our dinghy!

Florie all packed up for the dinghy ride to shore. She was heading back to France via Mexico City and Costa Rica

Leo sold the bike he bought in Berkeley, CA to a restaurant owner in Zihuatanejo. His cruising kitty was getting very low.

Noyo, a local here, is always around to lend a hand.

Hilda has a panga service to delivery beer, water, soda, fuel, laundry, trash disposal etc., This is the only anchorage we have been in where this type of service is offer.

Zihuatanejo

2011-02-23T07:55:00.000-08:00

Florie sitting by the dock of Bahia de Zihuatanejo

Our first morning here we went for a walk around the waterfront just to stretch our sea legs.

A flock of egrits

It is really common now to see egrits instead of sea gulls

A fleet of over 50 pangas

We arrived in Zihuatanejo around 8:00 am in the morning. There were many, many fishing boats out in the entrance to the bay. Our friends Jerry and Lauren on SV SOMF were at anchor here, it is nice to see familiar faces. They left the next morning and were headed down to El Salvador. They plan on coming back up to the Sea so they wanted to get a move on.

Caleta de Campos

2011-02-22T07:39:00.000-08:00

Body surfing at Caleta de Campos

Leo cooking fresh fish and veg at Caleta de Campos

We tucked into Caleta de Campos and spent part of the day at anchor. We wanted to time our entrance into Zihuatanejo during the day light hours. Caleta de Campos had a lot of surf and was very rolly so we did a bow and stern anchor. Doug, Leo, Florie and even Tucker swam into shore to go check out the small town. They bought some fresh fish and a few other provisions. Doug and Leo swam them back to the boat. The surf was pretty rough and everyone, including Tucker took a few tumbles in the waves. Doug came back with a big red raspberry on his forehead. At least he had a big smile.

Barre de Navidad

2011-02-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

Linda and Leo on the bow in Barre de Navidad

I'm really am out here on the boat, I don't show up in too many pictures

Barre de Navidad

2011-02-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Florie thinking about her night watch?

We did a over night trip to Barre de Navidad. It was Florie's first night at sea, underway and she took her own watch. We had home made lasagna for dinner while we were underway. Love the freezer!

Nils and Caro, crew from Blue Dolphin showed us the way into the lagoon. We only went aground once! Seems everyone does.

Crew catching up, but first beer for everyone!

Pot Luck dinner by the pool at the Sands. I know it looks just like drinks but there was a very fine meal.

We only spent a 2 days in Barre de Navidad, we figured we could always spend more time there on our way back North. We mainly stopped to drop off a care package from home for Blue Dolphin. We had a quick visit with Blue Dolphin, when I say quick I mean quick. The second morning we were there I went over to Blue Dolphin for coffee and a chat without taking my radio. Doug decided it was time to leave so he weighed anchored and yelled as he went by. I had to jump in my dinghy and catch up to the boat. I'm sure it looked like another chapter of the Simms family circus.