Al Fresco... Part Deaux......

After 4 weeks in a Marina I finally tired of the yacht club, starbux, the mall and feeling like I was back in Encino. Plus the expense was getting to me!

Earlier this week I pulled the plug, lit off the engines and headed 5 miles north in the bay to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle ( try saying THAT fast!). There is a very nice marina there, but also an anchorage that is really popular with the cruising crowd, of which I feel more comfortable. 34 saiboats and me, the lone powerboater. When I got here there was a sailboat named Buena Vista anchored next to me, crewed by a couple from Ventura. Don and Debbie Robertson. He's an Aussie, she a local gal.  They are heading to Barra de Navidad and I hope to meet up with them if I get that far south. Sometime next year they plan on going to the South Pacific. They invited me along but I declined, LOL

Living "on the hook" is totally different than being tied to a dock.  But thats what I came here for, so i am getting used to it. The anchorage is right outside the marina and for a small fee I can use their dingy dock to get into the town of La Cruz. It's about half rustic Mexican town with great charm and half condo development. The old part is really quiant, where everybody's front door is open and people are outside most always. Very friendly. This would be a cool place to have a 2nd home, as many Norte Americanos do.

An interesting thing is that Puerto Vallarta is in a different state than La Cruz, therefore a different time zone. My ship's clock is set to P.V. time, but my cell phone can;t make up it's mind where it is. So, someitmes I wake up not sure what time it really is. Not that it matters, but it seems I've spent so much of my life on a time schedule it has been a bit confusing.

Another interesting change in Mexico since I was last here is the appearance of the "Big Box Store". In P.V. there is a Costco, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and  a Sam's Club. Bucerias has their own version called Mega. Less English is spoken, but what a differnce in prices!!. I had been shopping at the Mall market. In some cases, prices were half.

The weather here has gotten a bit cooler. HIgh 70's during the day. low 60's at nite. Perfect!. No wonder there are soooo many Canadians here.

In any event, family will be here in 10 days. We'l be heading for Chacala for a few days, probibly exlore more of P.V. proper and just relax. And celebrate the new year!!!

Living Al Fresco...six weeks on my own. Part 1

Canadian chilli sux!!

 After the departure of my delivery crew I had a lot of time on my hands. I was still at Paradise village and several projects aboard were calling my name. Fisrt was finding a new propeller for the dingy motor. The origional one had given up the ghost after we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. My dingy is my car, so it's an essential piece of equipment.

Let me interject here to share that my boat ran perfectly on the trip down. The only issue we had was a generator waterpump impeller that went out a few days before we arrived in PV.  My bad, as that was the only one that I had forgotten to bring a spare for. We had TWO overnighted to Brian (Tom's friend) in New York and he brought it with him. Now I have a spare.

Other than the prop. everything else was cosmetic, so it was easy to procrastinate. Which I did!!!

My typical day begins with coffee on the bridge, an hour of Jerry and then some more coffee. Breakfast around 10am. Then is a bit of cleaning. Sometimes I'll walk to the mall and do a bit of shopping. Afternoons, I'll hit the beach/pool and read for a bit and admire the quivering , young flesh. This place does'nt feel like Mexico at all. In order to get to Puerto Vallarta proper, it requires a taxi or bus ride. There was a bridge washed out last summer that is still under repairs. During peak traffic, it can take up to an extra hour t get into town. I've only ventured into town twice since I got here.

There are a lot of Xpats here, especially Canadians (EH?) I've met a few and this is a very friendly community. Most live in the condo developments around Nuevo Vallarta during the winter. From what I hear, it get so hot and humid here in the summer, it becomes a ghost town.

Canadians at play...Chilli cook-off in Bucerias

Alex, Kaitlyn and Ronelle are going to be arriving Dec. 29th , staying thru New Years, so I'm really looking forward to the company.