Well first off, Happy New Year and secondly our apologies for such a long time since the last blog!!

It is funny how time seems to slip by...even when you a have ton of it! Just like a fist full of sand slips through my fingers, it's incredible to think it is 2010!

Craig got back on Dec 20th and had a successful trip to Seattle. It was a short trip for the trial and then as much shopping as time would allow to bring back some 'must haves' that are harder or impossible to find in Mexico...including a new spinnaker since we tore our old one in the heavy winds coming down to Cabo, shackles for the anchor, fasteners, maple syrup and of course some Skippy peanut butter!

We had a good Christmas, although I did get teary a few times at being so far from family. It is heartwarming the way cruisers strive to make family when far away from our respective families...The cruisers club of La Paz put on a potluck on Christmas eve and a few talented people played instruments and sang Christmas caroles. In addition, we attended a Christmas church service (also at the marina) that was really beautiful. After that, we headed to the condo and much to the boys relief, Santa found us there. They had been somewhat apprehensive that Santa might not know that we were no longer in Auburn and of course they'd not seen him at the mall this year....

We also made a turkey dinner and invited our friends from the sailboats Albatross and Bint Al Khamseen to join us. Having turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and carrots (topped off with apple pie, coconut pie and chocolate brownies for dessert) was especially yummy after months of torillas, salsa, beans, rice!!

We left La Paz on Dec 26th (seems odd to call it Boxing Day!) and decided to head for Mazatlan. We had been kicking around going directly to Puerto Vallarta but in the end a crossing to Mazatlan (from Los Muertos...about 10 hours from La Paz) made more sense. Going to PV via Mazatlan only added a little bit of additional distance but it let us break the trip into smaller segments which is easier on us and lets us re-provision with fuel and produce more often. The crossing was a bit bumpy to begin with as we'd lost our sea legs...however, after some meds, we felt better and then the winds picked up and the seas calmed making for a great crossing with winds averaging 15 knots.

In the middle of the crossing the Sea of Cortez we had a couple hitchhikers. Some kind of large(ish) seabird wanted to stop for a rest but he wouldn't land down on deck where Craig was on watch. So instead he circled and tried for about half an hour to find somewhere to perch. Finally he figured out that he could land on top of our mizzen mast (that's the back one of our two masts). He was able to hold on even though it must have been like riding a bucking bronco for him. A little while later a couple more came along and they wanted a place to roost too. So a large squawking match ensued as they tried to bully the first bird off of the mast. In the end two of the three found places in the rigging to hold on and they got to rest for a couple hours. Marcus wanted to help Melanie for her night time watch, so he was up at 2:00 am when the birds were resting. He named them Joey and Jo-Jo.

We arrived in Mazatlan on Dec 30th and celebrated New Years Eve walking around town and watching the fireworks from the beach with another sailing family on the sailboat Alias. Mazatlan is very nice place...we plan to spend more time here when come back in the spring.

We are off again tomorrow...trying to make our way to PV quickly so we can see Bertha and George, our friends from Grace Community Church who now live in a small town outside of PV. We will spend a few days with them before they return for a stay in the US. We are excited to experience a more authentic way of Mexican life and to spend time with such fine people.

We are not sure what our internet access will be, so you may not hear from us for a bit...but this time it's 'legit'!!

love Mel