Andy the Electrician

Radio setup at our Navigation Station

I was trying to decide what to write about when Andy started losing his mind over our radio.  Which radio?  This time it was our radio we use to plug our ipods into.  Jake was wiggling the cord one day to get it to “work” and the end of it snapped off into the radio.  It worked for a little while if we stuck the broken piece in and wiggled it this way and that but eventually, it stopped working all together.  Overall, not a must have item for crossing the ocean, but it sure is really nice to have.

We’ve had lots of radio problems this year, the past few weeks in particular.   First we ordered some cables to help us hook our SSB radio up to our modem and computer so we can get weather faxes and send/receive email.  Well, the cables didn’t come in time (before I left CA), despite paying for 2 day shipping so we had to find them here in Mexico.  In addition to that, we were having trouble getting people to hear us on our BRAND NEW SSB.  We called a local radio guy over and not only did he have the cables but he fixed our tuning problem too.  Technically, I think Andy fixed it the day before, but Rob was able to make a few tweaks to our settings to get everything working together.  (Anyone in PV looking for radio help, call Radio Rob on VHF22 – great guy)  Needless to say, I’m thrilled as we’ve never had our email working and we’ve sounded fuzzy on the radio nets for the last 8 months.

Seriously?

When I came back from CA I brought a new hand held VHF because ours was crap.  As soon as we had that up and running, our main VHF radio decided to quit working.  After many hours of trouble shooting, two trips up the mast to install a new antennae and a few cocktail hours getting ideas from others, Andy finally decided the problem was in the wires leading from the mike to the radio.  Well, they don’t sell those separately.  The only way to replace that is to replace the radio.  So we have one on the way from LA where a fellow boater is flying in from next week.  But today, Andy got ambitious, took ours apart and now it’s fixed!  At the very least, we have a spare.

As I write this, he took the drill to our music radio as he announced he knew exactly what he was doing and well, lo and behold, we have a working radio!

He’s very close to adding electrician to his resume.  He’s even starting to fix things that aren’t broken (like our autopilot).  We have a hard drive that won’t power up…let’s see what he can do with that.

Testing 1, 2, 3

We're down to the wire now...10 more days until we leave for the Marquesas.  One of my items on my list of to do's is to make sure I can email posts to the blog.  So here is my first test.

My plan is to email our position and general weather conditions, catch of the day, deepest, darkest thoughts (well, maybe not) daily so that all of our friends, family and followers won't worry too much about us while we're crossing that big pond out there.  I won't be able to upload any pictures since I'll be sending the emails through our SSB radio, so you'll have to wait until we get there to see those.  We're anticipating anywhere from 17-21 days - give or take.

All that's really left to do (from a big project standpoint) is to change the oil and provision.  I'm sure I'll be complaining about the small things over the next few days but in general, we're ready to go.  Even Jake is ready.  He asked me this morning if we couldn't just go ahead and leave - "I'm ready for the South Pacific."

So there you have it.  I'm going to stop now and keep this short in case my little test doesn't work.  Keep us in your prayers and please don't forget to follow!  It's really nice to have this connection back to everyone and it means a lot to us that we can spend our days with you, even if it's just through my big mouth on the internet.  It can get lonely out here :).

Stuff

Well, I had hoped to have the time to write a few posts about our last couple of days but time seems to be flying by.  We're about 12 days out now from our departure and I'm taking the lazy way out and just posting pictures (I know that's all most of you want anyway).

Jake's friend, Zada turned 6 last week so here are some pictures from her birthday.  Her parents ordered her a jumpy tent and invited all of the kids (boat and local) to join.  Jake had an absolute blast and Nancy, Ethan and Zada were perfect hosts, as usual.  Again, my pictures are kind of crappy...Nancy has some good ones I can hopefully add later.

Lola and Yude were able to join in the party as well.

Nancy, Zada's mom.  I made her pose for this :)
I don't think I have any other pictures of Nancy in the past 8 months I've known her.

Zada and Jake munching on cupcakes.  I think Jake had
three that day.

Yesterday, Jake and I went with some other families to a local town called Sayulita (no idea how to spell that).  We had a great time exploring the town and continuing to make our way through the bus system.

Jack, Jake, Abby, Christian enjoying their ice cream after a long day
at the beach.

Local town square

The mom's.  Me, Tammy (from SANTOSHA), Tami (from ANDIAMO)

Shopping

More shopping.

Local art gallery (My intent is to go more into this at some point in the
future.  I'm fascinated by the Huichol Indians and their art)

Our new friends!  We found them at the beach as well!

2/28/2011 - Whale Watching and New Friends

In the midst of busily preparing for our trip across the pond, we managed to take some time out and go for a nice sail around the bay on Sunday and do a little whale watching.  When we were in Yelapa we met a nice French Canadian couple with two kids and they had never been sailing on a Catamaran.  They are doing a bit of traveling of their own and made their way to LaCruz this past week so we asked them if they wanted to bring the kids and head out for the day.

They have a really neat story.  They’re from Quebec and have been traveling in Mexico for about two months.  They have varied backgrounds but the purpose of their travel (aside from getting reacquainted with their adorable family) is to make a pilot for a TV series about family travel.  They take their cameras with them everywhere and film their kids as they interact with the local folks, learning their culture, history and just making new friends.  They’re having such a great time and making such good headway on their project that they’ve decided to stay in Mexico a bit longer and finish their pilot.  You can check out their website at www.yudeetlola.com (but you need to brush up on your French J ).

Lola driving the boat.  She didn't want my help at all.

We had a great day on the bay.  The weather was questionable so we went out with low expectations, but as soon as we got out of the channel we saw a mama humpback and her baby.  We spent about 20 minutes just drifting and watching the whales.  Then the wind picked up so we were able to have a nice lazy sail for most of the afternoon.  The kids had a great time.  The youngest, Lola, took right to it and even helped me steer the boat.  Yude and Jake just enjoyed each other’s company playing legos and Hero Factory, occasionally coming outside to see what all the hubbub was about.

Yude

Sailing is really exhausting!

Lola, after seeing a whale!

We’re not the most outgoing people in the world so we’re not the best at meeting strangers.  In this case, I’m glad Patrice and Maria were there to make the first move.  This is a truly beautiful family and I hope we find some way to keep in touch and keep up on their travels and movie and become better friends.

I didn't get as many good pictures as I thought.  Patrice and Maria took some additional pictures with their camera (the professional one, as opposed to my happy snap)…hopefully I can get a few of them in the next few days and add them here.

The family visits!

Apologies for the lengthy time between posts but we’ve been pretty busy.  Andy’s parents came to visit for a week and since they’ve left we’ve been running all over town looking for last minute parts and trying to find decent internet connection to take care of some of the administrative details of crossing the pacific (more on that later).

We had a wonderful time with Mac and Merle.  We showed them around LaCruz the first few days and then we took them over to Yelapa, a small town across the bay.  Here’s what our guide book says about it…

“Yelapa is part of the Indigenous Community of Chacala, in which land was legally deeded to the indigenous people who have lived there for centuries.  King Philip II of Spain granted the property rights of this territory to the indigenous people of the governing town of Chacala and its neighboring villages… Land here is owned by the community collectively, and no one person or family privately ‘owns’ the piece of land they live on.”

Enjoying the beautiful sail we had going over.

Before we even arrived in the small bay, we were met by a panga trying to sell us a mooring.  The depth in this anchorage is well over 100 feet so we opted for the mooring for $20/night.  Kind of steep in my book, but they know our options are limited so who can fault them for capitalizing on that?

The water taxi came to pick us up the next morning at 9:00 as we had planned the day before.  After a dicey landing we had breakfast at one of the many restaurants lining the beach.  This is the kind of place where you go to pay for your bill and they tell you not to worry about it, come back when you’re finished sightseeing and you can pay for your whole day all at one time.  This is a pretty ingenious marketing strategy if you ask me.  They know you can’t get back to your boat without them (i.e. you won’t skip on the bill) and now they ensure you come back to their restaurant and no one else’s when you decide to have lunch/snack/drinks.  And that’s exactly what we did. 

Jake bombing one of his sand castles.

Mac and Merle doing some serious bargaining with one of the vendors.

We met a French couple and their kids doing some traveling of
their own.

A lady carrying a pie on her head while trying to cross at low tide.
(She made it!  We bought a piece later in the day)

One of many para-gliders landing on the beach.

It’s a strange, but pleasant, little walk up to the local waterfall.  A little bit of beach, stairs, town, mules, hills, trees and then there you are.  It wasn’t the most magnificent waterfall we’ve ever seen but if you put the whole experience together, it was well worth the effort.  One of the mules decided to relieve themselves right in front of Andy and Jake…. The look on their face alone was worth the time.

We spent two nights in Yelapa and just as we got out of the anchorage Merle called “WHALE!”  Wouldn’t you know it, right next to where we were anchored a humpback whale was breeching!  So we turned around and headed back for a closer look.  We spent a good 20 minutes watching the whales – there were two – and then headed back to La Cruz.

We wanted Mac and Merle to enjoy the bus experience we have grown so fond of (truly we didn’t think a trip would be complete without it) so later in the week we took them to Bucerias.  Luckily, we got on one of the newer buses both there and back so it didn’t beat everyone to death.  As I’ve mentioned before, Bucerias is a small little town with restaurants lining the beach.  It’s a little more touristy than some towns we’ve been to as was evident with the many vendors stopping by our table throughout the day.  I’m not quite sure how any of us had the discipline to pass up the onyx pigs they were selling  (Colby, you can thank Merle for not having one of your very own) or the tatoos and hair braids (really, wouldn’t Mac look cute with braids in his beard?).

You can never fit everything in that you want to do in one week, but we’re thankful we got that week with them.  Now it’s back to preparing to leave for the South Pacific.  Our VHF Antenna is broke and we still don’t have all the parts to get our email up and running on our SSB (yes, it’s been a  year now).  Our head seems to be leaking (for all of you non boaters out there, that’s our toilet – yep and that’s  gross).  We’ve eaten a good portion of the food we bought at Costco so of course there will be at least one more run. The list goes on and on, but the days don’t!  We have less than 3 weeks until the big voyage…  I’ll try to be better about posts but bear with me if the content is scattered as that’s how my brain is these days.

Home again

Andy and I were talking one day about what we missed the most from living on land and in the States.  My answer (aside from the obvious family and friends) was the simplicity of everything.  I’ve often talked on the blog about buses and hauling around groceries and walking miles and miles…  it just seems like things were easier in the States.

When I went home this past week to see my parents, I discovered it’s just the ILLUSION of simplicity.  The first clue was the fact that my parents didn’t have a home phone or the internet due to spending weeks arguing with Verizon about what kind of service to get and when someone could come out and install everything (again).  I personally witnessed an hour long phone call.  At least I get intermittent service in Mexico.

 

The second thing was one of Jake and my many trips to Chick-fil-a., one of my favorite fast food restaurants.  They didn’t just screw up my order, they gave me someone else’s order entirely.  I know this happens all the time but when traveling in another country you seem to forget that and think it’s because you’re in the middle of nowhere dealing with foreigners (even though technically, I guess we’re the foreigners here).

I was finally convinced the “simplicity” I was looking for was an illusion when we were at CPK having lunch and I discovered they had taken EVERY SINGLE THING I ever ordered off the menu.  When we finally decided what we wanted, the pizza crust was still doughy.  So they put it back in the oven.  Then it came out burnt.  When it was time to get our bill, it took forever.  In Mexico, getting your bill is a time consuming event but it’s not because they forgot about you, it’s because they truly don’t want to rush you through your meal.

I’m not writing all of this to complain about the United States (I’m a big fan), but only to point out that living in a different country really isn’t all that different.  I needed this little reminder.

Walking to church with Papa and Gigi...
(I can't believe this is the ONLY picture
I took of Jake and my parents)

Overall our trip was fantastic and Jake and I had a blast seeing our family and some of our very closest friends.  Luckily we were in CA and missed the extremely cold weather everyone else is getting up there.  I’m not sure we had the clothes for it anyway…  I was able to get in some shopping (only a slight understatement), had dad help me with my taxes and enjoyed some rest and relaxation (because you know I don’t ever get any of that on the boat).

Some pictures from our trip....

Jake with his long lost buddy Jett!  One of my best friends, Jennie
flew all the way out to see me (well, technically her grandmother, but I know it was me
too :) ) and brought Jett up to play with Jake.  Two peas in a pod.

Jake with our good friends Eric and Nicole Tilford.
Can you tell he LOVES Nicole?

Jake and Eric arm wrestling.

2/3/2011 - The latest happenings in our world

I think the paint fumes have gone to his head.
No one smiles that big when they work that hard.

"Daddy, you need to quit working so hard and have more fun!"
All work and no play has made Monica and Jake bored.  Andy has been working so hard on the boat that he hasn’t gotten to partake in any of the fun Jake and I have been having.  He’s repainting the entire deck as well as our cockpit and I have to say it’s looking fabulous.

To keep from getting painted into the cabin by our overachiever Captain, Jake and have been hitting the town.  We finally made our way to a little town close by called Bucerias.  It’s a short bus ride from La Cruz and well worth the hassle (can you tell I don’t like the bus system here?).  It’s full of fun little shops and a Mercado as well as tons of restaurants right on the beach.

 

The various booths at the market are always so tempting!

Jewelry making is a huge business for the locals.

The light sabers are always the first toy to come out.

The kid scene has also picked up here.  There are two little boys close to Jake’s age that pulled in last week…Matero and Shondro.  Matero had his birthday today at a local housing development site that happens to have a fabulous pool.  Unfortunately, today was the coldest day we’ve had in Mexico since we left and the kids didn’t actually do much swimming.  But they had fun anyway just getting to be together. 

Vallarta B - beautiful pools (and bushes?)

On a hunt to look for a stray crocodile.

The kids had to hide from the wind to keep Matero's candles from blowing out.

A nice surprise sailed into the anchor a few days ago…some friends we spent the summer with in the Sea…Eyoni.  Zada and Jake talked on the radio for a few minutes promising to get a date going soon.  There are also some older kids here and we found a babysitter for tomorrow afternoon while Andy and I go to a special party for the folks crossing the Pacific this season.

Tonight we ended our busy day watching a couple from France put on an acrobatic show on their boat.  We had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be pretty darn good.  They’re doing another, different show later tonight.  As good as the first one was, I’m sad to say it’s just too cold and too late to go see the next one (we’ve gotten soft out here).

Looks like fun, right?

Jake and I are off to CA to see my parents one last time before we head to the South Pacific, so the blog posts might be scarce for a week or so.  We fly out Sunday leaving Andy for a week to finish up his projects (and enjoy his time alone).  When we get back, Andy’s parents are coming to visit for a week so we’ll have plenty more stories to tell I’m sure!  We’ll be doing a lot more exploring with company here. We’ve been here for two months but have really just been working on the boat and doing day to day chores…not the usual exploration we normally do.   But we’re looking forward to learning more about Puerto Vallarta with Mac and Merle and can’t wait to see them!