Category: 2022-01 (January)

Up at 7, breakfast, bible reading and then ashore at lunch time for lunch and a bus trip to the market. Then back to the boat and naps. We have not been sleeping well (Ok, I have not been sleeping well). Somebody in this bay, or in one of the condo’s/houses turns the music on VERY loud from about 11 pm to 1 am.  We planned to stay here only a couple nights, Saturday and Sunday so we could go to church Sunday and grocery shopping.

Up at 7 am, breakfast and then get the dinghy down and into port by 9 am.  We were going to take a bus, but we waited for over a half hour and never saw one, so we tried Uber and InDriver and finally took a cab. Church was held in a restaurant with about 15 people. After the service we had lunch then Reneé and I walked to Sams Club. We attempted to use a bus, but again wound up in a cab. We paid for leaving the dinghy (300 pesos, about $15 USD) then back to the boat. When we decided to pick up the dinghy we thought about using the electric winches and made a mistake and wound up breaking one of the winches. Afterwards, we had dinner and showers and bed. 

We have been discussing a couple of major issues on the boat. They are solar, and our dinghy. The biggest issue with the solar is finding a technician (competent in electrical and electronics) I have only found 3 people I can rely on to do this. 2 are in La Paz in Baja. The other is in Puerto Vallarta. We have checked with a variety of resources south of here, and we are not finding much. Our situation is that we will need to move between 4 and 6 antenna on the arch and build a new frame to support the solar panels. The other issue we have is that our dinghy is just too big. The one we would like to have is made in New Zealand, and we have looked at the logistics of getting it here, and we have finally given up. So, second choice is a lighter dinghy than we have but similar design. That apparently is only available here on the west coast of Mexico in Puerto Vallarta. So, we have decided that we are going back to Puerto Vallarta after we go south to Ixtapa. In March we will be in the states for the birth of our newest grand baby. Then when we get back to the boat in early April, we will head north to be in Marina Vallarta for hurricane season. 

This will be a one year delay on getting to Florida. 

Up at 7, breakfast listened to the net, then bible reading and got ready to go. Then a few miles of motoring to Punta Salagua which has a resort and a small marina. This has a dinghy dock and we will be going to church in the morning. Much easier to get there from the dinghy dock. We had a quiet day, after we got the boat anchored. That as a lot of effort.

Normally, we put out our anchor in about 30 feet of water. I put it down and let out about 75-100 feet of chain. Reneé backs the boat up slowly to stretch out the chain and when it is tight, she “sets” the anchor. This means she brings the engine RPM up in reverse and pulls the anchor into the bottom. This time we were not so successful, we tried 4 times and the anchor would not set. So, we moved and were further out and got it set, …. But we were in a place where we  could have drifted into another boat. So we moved again and finally set the anchor in about 34 feet of water. So, we got anchored but it took 6 attempts! This is not normal.

We stayed on the boat, Reneé polished some stainless steel, and I caught up the blog, and we researched and bought tickets for our trip next month back to the states.

Up at 7, no particular reason other than that is when we get up. Breakfast, we listened to the net from Barra de Navidad. We got a call in the middle of the net from one of our neighbors. Mike on S/V Endeavor to tell us there were whales between our boats. Reneé was on deck and watched them. Later we kayak over to thank him for the whale notice and then continued on to shore around the other boats where the whale were playing. We snorkeled from shore and saw a lot of colorful fish, including puffer fish, and octopus and star fish and others. Finally back to the boat and naps. Followed by going over to have apps with Mike and then back to our boat, showers and bed.

No pictures today.

Up at 7am. Breakfast, bible reading then the net at 9 am. This is the latest start time I have found as we have cruised south. Reneé will take the laundry in today, while I run the water maker to fill our tank, and clean strainers. There is always something to do on a boat.

Reneé is going to the market as well while there she will be looking for snorkeling equipment, mask and fins. She has looked into where we are headed, and Manzanillo (which is a day or two south) has a couple of dive shops, so if she doesn’t find exactly what she wants here, she will wait until we get there.

She found the snorkeling equipment. We finished filling the water tank, I did not have to run the high pressure pump, the water pressure at the dock is pretty high. Early afternoon, we headed to the pool and we were there an hour or so, then got a call that the laundry was done, so we headed back and got it. On the way back I ran into some other Panama Posse members and heard about a great sushi restaurant with a saxophone. So, we walked out for dinner. Along the way, we ran into another couple and chatted for a bit, Ben and Miranda from S/V Fickle when we got to the restaurant, they walked on to check out the rest of the town, we offered to share a table as the restaurant was full or all reserved except our table. Ben and Miranda walked around and came back and joined us. It was an enjoyable discussion and dinner, with nice background music. Then back to the boat showers and bed.