After a brief trip home to California, we are once again back in Puerto Vallarta. It was terrific seeing family and friends. We think we saw more family and friends in 3 weeks than we ordinarily see throughout any given year. It was lots of fun and we very much appreciated the wonderful hospitality.
Now we are beginning our preparations for the next step of our journey. We thought it was all done when we left San Diego for the Baja Ha Ha, but alas that was just the list for coastal cruising. Now we are looking at what we need for the big enchilada, our trip to the South Pacific. We will be installing some more sunshades, fans, a new auto pilot, WiFi antenna, sealing up leaky dorads and hatches, and the list goes on. We are also considering purchasing an asymmetrical spinnaker. We just don’t know how much we will use it. On the other hand we have heard that in an El Nino year the trade winds might be lighter necessitating more use of our engine in light winds. Anyone have any advice for us?
Our current sailing plan is to leave directly from Puerto Vallarta the end of March when the moon is at its fullest and head to the Marqueses, postponing the Galapagos island until we return through the Panama canal. The angle of waves and winds are better from here than further south. The weather conditions will dictate our departure, routing, and arrival in the South Pacific. We hope to be in Marqueses the end of April, Tuamotus in middle May, Tahiti, middle June.
Sandwiched in between boat work, daily chores, provisioning, seminars for Puddle Jumping Cruisers, we are managing daily bicycle rides, trips to the pool, yacht club parties, and local excursions and experiences. We love being retired and recommend it!
January 2010 – Turtles, Traditions, and Jungles, Oh My
Turtles
Prior to our trip home to the states we spent some time at the nearby Turtle Conservancy (1/2 mile from the marina) where we had the opportunity to learn about the Olive Ridley turtles that lay their eggs on the 13 miles of beach along Nuevo Vallarta. These turtles are on the endangered species list, but Mexico is taking action to protect the turtle. Here are some follow-up links you might enjoy:
During the high season up to 300 female turtles a day lay eggs in the sand. At night when the beach is free of tourists and birds, conservancy naturalists roam the beach on an ATV and dig up the eggs (often 100 eggs in a nest 24 inches deep), and bring the eggs to the fenced conservancy on the beach where the eggs are reburied and marked with their lay date.
Within 5 days of the anticipated hatch date (50-60 days after being buried), the turtles hatch and climb out of the nest.
Sometimes it takes the turtles 3 days to reach the surface. They have an umbilical cord filled with nutrients that lasts them up to 13 days. They are safely removed from the hatch area and stored in a sandy wading pool
until twighlight when the birds and tourists have gone home for the night.
Last of the birds for the evening waiting for a snack.
The babies if turned on their backs are quite vulnerable. The turtles are placed tummy down in the sand above the wave line and they must make it to the water.
To make it interesting and to raise money for the conservancy, tourists are allowed to help with the release for a small donation. A rope is placed in the sand. Tourists and volunteers, rub their hands in the seawater and sand before touching the turtles. Everyone stands behind the line in the sand and releases the turtles at the same time, rooting for their turtle to make it to the sea.
During their little hike into the water the baby turtles absorb the smells and light memory from the setting sun, that will help them return to the same place to lay their own eggs in about 7 years. Every night for 4-5 months, there is a turtle release. We hope to do this a couple of more times before we leave. It’s a special experience to think we may have held the one in a thousand that will survive. They are delicate treats for the dolphins, fish, and birds.
Traditions and Jungles
Russ and I and another couple, Lori and Ken from
SV-Trim, took a Vallarta Adventure trip into the Sierra Madre. We spent the day exploring small villages, visiting a Mexican home in the mountains, and taking a hike through the lush Sierra Madre jungle. We learned about cultural aspects and traditions of Mexican life and the rich eco-systems of the jungle.
Some of the most interesting cultural aspects and traditions that we learned about were: 1) Why do Mexicans have unfinished homes with rebar sticking out of their roofs? 2) Why does every Mexican village have a gazebo and square? 3) How many tortillas does the average Mexican eat each day?
1) 1) Many rural Mexican homes have rebar sticking out of their roofs because they anticipate that their children may wish to add upwards to the family home at some point in the future. Years ago, unfinished homes were not taxed, but today even unfinished homes are taxed. Nevertheless, families still leave rebar sticking out of the top. Financing home building in Mexico has not always been available, so most Mexicans self-finance their homes building as they go.
In Mexico, the water is not on all of the time. Residents in rural areas fill up their home tanks and
gravity feed it on demand to their homes.
2) 2) The town square across from the church is central in every Mexican town we have visited thus far. Street vendors position themselves close to the square. After church and in the evenings the square is filled with families. One of the traditions we learned about that apparently still exists in some of the more remote Mexican villages is the courtship walk around the square. On Sunday afternoons after church, parents of courting age children sit on the many benches around the square.
Their eligible daughters walk clockwise and the their sons walk counter clockwise.
When a young man fancies a girl, he hands her a flower. If the young woman accepts the flower, he turns and walks in the same direction as her. If she does not accept the flower, he drops the flower in a pile near the girl's parents (the more flowers a girl accumulates, the more she is popular).
The young suitor gets a new flower and keeps walking until he finds someone who might accept him. Eventually, the young men and women are paired off and are closely scrutinized by
their respective parents as they walk around the square. This maybe the first step towards a
longer-term relationship.
Mexican romance, tradition, and folk dancing captured in sculpture in Puerto Vallarta
3) The average Mexican eats 15-20 tortillas a day! That’s a lot of tortillas! This means that the mother in a family of six either must make 120 tortillas a day or buy stacks of them at the tortilla factories or grocery outlets. Many families still make their own. I just bought some corn flour and plan to try making some of my own. Here are some photos of tortillas being made with a press and special baking bowl.
Of course, we got to eat some of the home made tortillas in the form of tacos. Flour tortillas are used for burritos, corn tortillas are used for tacos. Fillings for the tacos included guacamole, prickly pear, and spicy salsa.
After the cultural aspect of our adventure, we did a little hiking in the Jungle.
We found coconut clusters
(smaller coconuts in a cluster) far more aromatic than the large coconuts, the oiled scent used in perfumes,
extracts, and sun tan loction and little pods containing and orange seed used in the coloring of cheddar cheese and cheetos.
February 2010: Provisioning and Getting Ready
Here we are in February. The time is moving quickly. We’ve returned to Mexico with gluten-free foods brought from the states with a letter from Roz’s doctor. With a little hassle and a lot of sweat, we were able to import the foods we declared through customs with some modest duties. We came back into Mexico laden with boat parts and food.
Once back in Puerto Vallarta, we’ve been busy updating our boat stores list, bicycling to small villages
Eating up the calories we just burned off.
and visiting open markets
and sculpture exhibits,
provisioning attending seminars, spearheading a cooperative for chart copying for puddle jumpers, completing the installation of our WiFi antenna and router, and building starboard boxes around the dorads.
We have had one small incident moving our boat with some minor damage to another boat when the current caught our stern and swung us under the flare of a power boat, bending one of our bimini struts and chipping paint of off our new neighbor’s boat. Nice way to make friends. Ugh! Forutnately, the damage was under $150. Our friends when caught by the same current rammed their bow into another boat’s toe rail to the tune of $3,000. We consider ourselves lucky.
In addition to the work, we are having fun by eating out, enjoying fabulous sunsets,
(This was the start of a sunset that went from golds and yellows to purples and pinks)
and attending cooking classes.
Roz and Lori on Trim signed up to take a cooking class from
Tapas Del Mundo. We had all gone to this restaurant the Friday before and learned of these classes. The ladies had a great morning learning from Jorgito and Rosie
Roz, Jorjito, Lori, and Rosie
Jorjito explaining the finer points of peppers
how to prepare Caesar Salad, Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, Charred Tomato Table Salsa,
Fried Olives Eudardo, whole roasted Garlic Heads, Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast, Pimento Stuffed with Goat Cheese, and eggplant raku. Of course, we go to eat everything we ate and drink lots of wine to go with it. Whoo hoo! What a blast! Now we just have to figure out how to get all this stuff on the boat and have it last for several months.
On Monday, February 15 our newly upholstered cushions were installed. They look terrific and really lighten and brighten the interior. We are very pleased. Here are some before and after pictures.
Lower Salon Seating area:
Before in blue.
After in golden tan with blue and burgandy accent. We didn't have to change any of our other color coordinating pillows or rugs. It all blends beautifully.
Lower Salon Setee:
Upper Salon Area:
Roz is the offical bean counter.
As we near the end of February, we are busily shopping and provisioning for food. The boat is filling up and getting heavier. We are planning on having enough food on board for 3-4 people for 90 days or more. This means lots of staples, protein, and foods that are not perishable. Quite a challenge for us as we like to eat fresh every day. Oh well. It's all about the journey!
We were on our boat at 11:45 this morning when the tsunami was expected to pass by Puerto Vallarta. This is what we did notice from our vantage point. It was high almost slack tide and the water was up to the base of the leaves on the overhanging mangrove trees behind our boat. About 12:00 noon, the current behind our boat picked up to 6-7 knots on an ebb flow. The ebb flow was pulling from the bottom and the previously blue green water turned mucky brown. The water under the mangroves, dropped about a foot and a half to two feet, and the water under our boat and floating docks was swirling around and boats were dancing about. The ebb lasted for a couple of minutes, then stopped, and reversed it self with a small flood. This action to lesser degrees occured a couple of times. By 12:15, other than brown water, and the normal ebb after a high tide, the tsunami had passed us by.
Of course afterwards, it was beer and Margaritas for all.
"The peacock has nothing over me!"
Here we are attending a Seven Seas party with veteran sailors and fledglings. Hosting the party were commodores Kay and Steve Van Slyke. We had a lovely afternoon listening to tales of the South Pacific, asking, and receiving sage answers and advice to the questions we had. Steve took the picture. But here he is, hat in hand......no not passing it, but getting ready to pull tickets for the raffle. 
