February 2009
photos at bottom of page (text that refers to a photo is followed by o)
February was all mixed up and crazy. Nancy was still in the states dealing with her dad's health issue in Virginia, and a property dispute issue in California, for the first two weeks of the month. Meanwhile, Mike and the kids went between a couple of spots to hang out and do school and life while they waited for her return. Dana and Izzy had plenty of time for bonding while underway o between the two favorite spots, Tenacatita and Barra de Navidad. The kids helped with the cooking and came up with some fun ways to do it. To solve the onion/crying situation they began to wear their swim goggles o. Pretty good idea if you ask me! Fletcher got some surf time in between school and other activities. Mike was amazed at how little he could get done when he was in 100% charge of school. It really does take all day to do the schooling, amazing, but true. For Fletcher's birthday, another boater and his son joined the three Desideratans at a small local water park o. It was a fun diversion. When they returned to the boat, a freshly baked lemon poppy seed cake was waiting to be eaten o. Nancy returned a couple of days later laden with gifts for both boys. It was so great to all be together again. We went out for dinner and then returned to the boat for present distribution and opening o, which lasted for a couple of hours! After a couple of days of putting things away and provisioning, we took off for points north. We were three weeks behind schedule, and feeling a bit pressured to make haste. On the way north, we wanted to explore several areas that we had missed the last time we were in Mexico. One cool thing that you can do these days is to use Goggle Earth to get close up arial shots of places along the coast. Mike had been busy looking at this while Nancy was gone, and he had several spots that looked beautiful in the pictures. We pulled into a couple of them along the way. Some of them you could not see at all until you actually went inside. One cove was so narrow that we could barely turn around. They were pristine and beautiful crescents of sand at the head of a small crystal clear bay o. Little gems. At a couple of them we took Izzy to shore. We wanted her to get used to the dingy o, know about going for walks in a harness and leash o, and to put her in the water o so that she would know that she could swim (just in case she ever fell overboard). She had fun walking in sand, grass, and along pathways; she did not have quite as much fun when we plunked her down in the water! Of course in all of these spots we were stuck on board for most of the day doing school and maintenance on the boat. The old cruising adage is very true... cruising is just doing normal life, and boat maintenance, but in beautiful places. For those of you who think that our life is just fun and games, believe me, there is plenty of stress and pressure to try to get everything done that needs to get done everyday. This is not an easy or cushy life by any means. The only real difference is that we are doing it in beautiful places. On one of the last legs of February's sailing, Fletcher caught a good size Jack o. He is always mighty proud of the fish he brings in. Izzy loves fish and Mike is her best friend when he is cleaning the fish and throws her the tidbits. She is such a big personality in such a little body. She continues to keep us rolling in laughter all day long. The last two days of the month were spent in a little village, Yelapa, on the south side of Banderas Bay. We have some friends from Lake Tahoe that live there for half of the year, and we had a nice dinner and waterfall hike with them. It is always nice to see friends when you are far from home. The last day, we sailed across the bay to La Cruz, where we spent the first couple of months when we first arrived in Mexico in 2003! It felt like a homecoming, although the place has grown so much we could not even recognize it from the water!
PHOTO JOURNAL
Please click to enlarge!
While mom is away... Dana & Izzy underway position; Dana & Fletcher found a solution for onion chopping and cooking!
Fletcher's birthday at the water-park, and his cake back on board; Mom comes home, a couple of days later, loaded with gifts.
Underway once again, exploring some beautiful coves that we had missed the first trip; Izzy's Big Adventure onshore.
Yet another great cove that we pulled into for a lunch stop; Fletcher's big catch fed us (pets included) for more days than Dana cares to remember.