What a week it has been. Got a few things done but just swinging on the hook makes for a lazy life for some people. Not us.
 
Spend almost 2 days cleaning the bottom. Have to confess did not do some parts for 8 weeks or so and it was getting bad. Bill from "True Love" borrowed us his hooka and that way could stay underwater for hours. Use a wooden scraper and carefully scraping preserves the anti fouling paint. Cleaned the prop with a knife and than with steel wool. Than put a garbage bag around it and tied it with a small string. The idea is to keep it clean and in a emergency the bag will rip to shreds.

Finished most of the varnishing for now. Looks real good but is a lot of work. Next year some more.

Our friend Bill reformatted our old laptop computer and set us up with a wifi card. So we bum a signal from a hotel at the beach. However the fun lasted not that long as the computer crashed and now we can't get it booted at all. Well to much time wasted any way.

Have trouble rebuilding a Motorola 105 Amp alternator. Should be strait forward but can't get it to work. Looks like the field is not working. May have to find a Mexican alternator shop.

The whales have been getting real close. Last night we could hear them sing in our bunks and at 0200 this morning I got up and they where within a stones throw of the boat.

Still like to get a trip down south together but looks like we are not getting enough interest. Anyone Feb 1-14 PV to Manzanillo?
 

Jan 11

Still swinging on the hook. We are systematicly re varnishing the cabins and now the galley. It come up very nice. Near new other than the few little blemishes we probably only see. Every day take on a section and strip down all the hardware, than sand, clean up and varnish. Than putting it back together. Tomorrow ready for the soles and than we should be looking good in a few days. Inside that is.

Discovered this morning that the propane bottle was empty. Way to early and after looking at it discovered a faulty hose. Made plans to go to PV to get parts but before doing that just stopped in the small hardware store here in town. Much to our surprise they had exactly what we needed and saved us a trip. A very small store but has lots of items stowed away in nooks and crannies. Also sells chemicals like bug killers and herbicides. Bring your own bottle and you can get anything you want. Seen someone coming in with a pop bottle and just gets a sticker on it and filled up with some poisonous substance. Hate to think the accidents that can cause. 

Life is slow down here. Still about the same amount of boats around. Some come others go. Have noticed that the cruisers every year get less sociable and hearing the radio the biggest thing is getting a wireless signal. So more and more boats are spending there time hooked to some electronic commitment. It is even affecting the anchoring patterns. As boats have anchored for years in the same places we now find that they start anchoring of the resorts to bum a wire less signal. This wire less is sure changing the world and some people live totally in a virtual world.  
 
As the world is spending there time at the computers most Mexican's could care less.
The fisherman is still fishing the way they done for centuries the only thing different they have now outboards but the fishing technique has not changed much. A old man is fishing off and on in the anchorage in the early morning. Has a small row boat with one ore he uses as a paddle. Sitting in the bow propelling the boat backwards as common around here. Just using a handline with a weight on the end and one hook is catching small fish til the sun is high. Than of to the beach trying to sell the catch to someone or taking it home and eat it himself. This is how many old age people have to get by here as there is no old age pension. A old lady in town is living of bottle collection. Others are working at the checkouts bagging groceries for tips as they get not paid by the store.

Start growing barnacles in harvest able quantities. However there is no market for it and thus we have to scrape it off and feed the tropical fish.
 

Jan 4

Every thing is back to normal after the New years celebrations. We onboard have resumed a work schedule and as we have nothing on the for the next few weeks are now re varnishing the forward cabin. Have set aside 4 days for that.

Other than that the anchorage has about 25 boats in it constantly moving in and out. Mainly sailboats but the this season we seen more powerboats than ever. This used to be sailboats only but with the larger size power boats and the trawler type vessels the range they can travel is getting bigger. Although they never pas by a fuel dock.

The new Marina is getting closer to completion and is slated to be open by the fall. 400 new spots should created some relief for moorage space in the are. Every year more boats move into Mexico and the Marinas getting fuller every year.

Jan 3
Today we had some rain overnight. Very little but just enough to clean the rigging from the worts of the Mexican dirt. We cannot remember the last rain we have seen here. It was cloudy all day and nice and cool. Very good for working as the heat usual saps our energy. Have the cabin ready for varnishing.   

Went briefly into town today. Did a garbage run and dropped off some laundry. Checked in with the port captain and had a look at the weekly market. Back on board at 1500 and back to cleaning up.
 

Jan 1

Since the middle of December have made 2 trips. One in the Bay of Banderas and one down the cost to Tenicatita.

Lots of whales the first trip with a few very close encounters. We learned that most whales when not in traveling mode are very curious. So in order to get real close we slow the boat down, make sure we do not make any noise like engines or sounders and wait for them to check us out. It is not legal to approach whales less than 50 Meters down here but if they come to us that is ok.

Most whale watch boats are outfitted with outboards and are fast (and aggressive down here) and more often than not they try to get too close and most whales disappear at that point. So we have the best encounters when we are by ourselves and take our time to gain their trust.

Had a great time making relative short distances and mostly under sail. Don, Ione, Brenner,Logan & Anna disembarked at Mismaloa.

The last trip was 6 days and we covered many miles and had to cover most under power. A tight schedule and long distances are not very good for sailing. All went well and on our return trip North had very benign weather at Cabo Coriente. ( Sometimes nicknamed the Cape Horn of Mexico although that is grossly overstated.)

Luis, Monica, Mariana & Sofia onboard. Traveled with a J 145 as our buddy boat but as expected could not stay up with them. Rendezvoused in Tenicatita and combined crew took the dinghies up the mangroves for the jungle tour.

 Back in Paradise Village on Dec 30th and stayed night over to get boat cleaned up.

Yesterday after church sailed the boat back to La Crux, our hangout place when not underway. Had a great little sail with just the right wind, temperature and a pod of pilot whales piloting us for most of the way. Arrived mid afternoon and made a lazy day of it. As we where tired did not managed to sit out the old year and did not hear the fireworks at midnight. 
The fiesta music however was still going till about 0700 hrs this morning. Now all is quiet and very little activity in the anchorage.
Did some small jobs this morning and while working in the engine room heard the whales calling.