Steve
05/08/2012, Another boatyard

Well, our parts finally made it and this morning we woke early and made our way to the Opequimar boatyard in Puerto Vallarta...a distance of about 5 miles. Our dripping stuffing box continued to drip at a steady one drop per 4-5 seconds. It's always somewhat nerve wracking having your boat hauled....I should know, as this is the FOURTH TIME since I've owned Si Bon that she has been hauled. Never the less it is always stressful pulling into an unknown boatyard, between a row of unknown barnacle covered pilings, while some guy is yelling in Spanglish "grape da line" or "poosh de barco dat way".
I'm getting kinda sick of hauling Si Bon. The costs go beyond just the boatyard and repairman, we have to get a hotel room, eat out for however many days....blah blah blah. Along with the costs we are also displaced from our home....a home that we love and a home that is kind of like a family member. On the other hand, every time she has been hauled it has been for preventive maintenance, and as much as I hate spending the money.....it beats the alternative.
So, here we are checked into our hotel in the "Romantic Zone" of Puerto Vallarta and getting excited to start exploring an area of PV that we haven't seen much of. Meanwhile our home sits high and dry in a dusty, noisy boatyard...sorry Si Bon, but it's for your own good.

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Steve
05/06/2012, El Salado estuary

Most boat owners do not particularly care for birds. The little bastards tend to poop all over our boats, this causes not only a mess, but also occasionally causes damage as well. There's no bigger piss off than scrubbing down the boat, and while admiring your nice clean boat, a large bird decides to let one go on what used to be a clean deck. People try all sorts of things to keep them away, they put rakes on the top of the mast, they string old CD's around the boat (we've gotten some good oldies this way), they put out fake snakes and owls, and still the birds shit away, often while sitting on top of a fake owl. Although not happy about their calling cards, we have come to love the many Seabirds. No matter where we are the birds are a constant source of entertainment. There was the time in Auga Verde that I was refueling the boat when 4-5 Pelicans landed right next to us and hung out just staring at us for at least an hour, and only a few feet away. There are the Boobies (we've already told all the Boobie jokes), who sail with our wind and land on the top of the mast in the middle of the night, they just sit there and keep us company on lonely night passages while we call out "hey boobie". One of my favorites is the frigatebird, the frigatebird is a seabird that cannot take off if it becomes wet. Frigatebirds look like something out of a batman movie, long sharp beaks and split tails gives them a fierce appearance. Since they are unable to get wet, frigates fly over the other seabirds waiting until one catches a fish, then the fight is on as the Frigate try to steal the other birds dinner.
Now that we are in the estuary, we not only have a constant visual show, but every morning we awake to an orchestra of birds. Sharon has a new favorite she has named "the farting bird" as they happily chirp away and then right at the end, they let out what can only be described as a loud farting noise. If we come back as another animal I would definitely want to come back as a bird, I'm just having a difficult time deciding what kind of bird I'd want to be....but whatever kind it is, you can bet I'll be taking a dump on your boat.

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Steve
05/02/2012, Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta mexico

We've been in Paradise Village marina for almost two weeks now. I know everyone is dying to know about the new neighborhood, so I thought I'd fill ya all in.
As you may recall we stopped here for a few days on our way south, mostly to check it out for consideration of summering over in Banderas Bay. Banderas bay itself is well protected from summer hurricanes, and Paradise Village Marina is even more protected as it is tucked inside an estuary and is behind many condos and hotels.
Paradise Village marina was recently voted in the top 100 marinas in the world and the best marina in Mexico. As a marina resident we are able to use all of the Paradise Village Resorts many facilities. They have several pools, many restaurants, a very beautiful beach, lined with palapas to sit under, and gentle surf where we ride our boogie-boards. The marina showers are the cleanest and nicest that I've seen since leaving San Diego. There is a mini mall that is a five minute walk from our slip. Along with McDonalds, Subway and Dominos, there are also several higher end restaurants/bars and many different shops, plus a large laundry mat. The best thing about the mall is the decent sized grocery store where just about everything you need is available. Just outside the mall is a bus stop where we can get almost anywhere we need to go. Right now the weather is almost perfect, the days are starting to warm up, but in the evenings we sit outside looking across the peaceful estuary at multi-million dollar homes and boats (pic).
Yes, life is pretty good here at Paradise Village, we are enjoying our new neighborhood and so far this seems to be a good choice for spending the 2012 hurricane season.

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Steve
05/02/2012, Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta mexico

The view from the our front door (bow). One of the upscale marina condominium developments.

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Steve
05/02/2012, Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta mexico

The wonderful, convenient neighborhood mall...a 5 minute walk from Si Bon's slip.

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Steve
04/28/2012, La Cruz

On Wednesday we had to go to one of our favorite Mexican towns, La Cruz, for a seminar on hurricane boat preparation. La Cruz is a 45 minute, two bus trip that costs about $1.00 USD per person each way. As we strolled around the town before the seminar, we quickly noticed that there was a Festival setting up in the newly redone town square. As luck would have it this was the first day of "La Cruz Days" which is the towns annual festival....and it was kicking off later that evening with a parade.
If you've never see a Mexican parade, their a hoot. As most things here, the parades are a simpler version than we have in Estados Unidos. There are no corporate sponsors, they don't block off any streets, and there is VERY little money spent on the floats. Yes, all you need to do is throw some decorations on your car or truck (or not), load up the back with screaming kids, crank up your radio, jump in the middle and start beeping your horn and waving at the people watching. The parade started off small but added to itself as the decorated cars and trucks wove through the cobblestone streets. There were young beauty queens, soccer teams, a few horses, some marching schoolgirls and even a VW surf buggy. A good time was had by all and later today, after we complete some boat jobs, we'll be heading back over to La Cruz to continue the celebrations.

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