Steve
08/14/2012, Guadalajara

I decided to take another boat break and do a road trip. I left the marina this morning before 7:00, boarded an autobus, and 4.5 hours later I am in Guadalajara. The drive was beautiful, first we wound our way through a dense rain forrest and then into lush green valleys, which were full of agricultural fields (pic). As soon as I finish writing this blog I'll begin exploring "el centro historic" of which my hotel is in the middle and also a part of. I'll continue exploring Guadalajara tonight and tomorrow and on Thursday I will be off to San Miguel de Allende by bus, to visit my long time friend Sharon Milligan.
Well time to start exploring Guadalajara.

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Steve
08/09/2012, most boats

Most non-boaters that go onto another persons boat notice that the boat doesn't quite smell like their land based home. Whenever someone has the audacity to make a comment about it, most of us shrug it off and say "hey it's a boat".
When i first moved onto Si Bon 2 years ago I noticed that my clothes started getting a certain funny smell to them. It wasn't really a stinky smell like a fart..but more like a musty, leathery, salty smell (good luck imagining that, but trust me it's better than a fart). I tried spraying fabreeze, putting soap and cedar planks in my drawers, spraying lysol around, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually the smell went away...or so I thought.
One of the first things I noticed when I returned to the states was that smell that I had long ago forgotten. Yes, upon arriving at Kim and Paul's house I noticed that my suitcase, my shaving kit and yes even my clothes had "the smell". After being away from Si Bon for two weeks and doing a load of laundry at Paul and Kim's, everything was smelling like roses.
I made my way back to Banderas Bay today, Si Bon looked a little dirty, but other than that she was doing good...till I opened up the companionway and went below....what is that smell?
The good news is that I took the soap and cedar planks out of my drawers and it is much more comfortable without them.

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Steve
08/06/2012, So cal

Yesterday I met up with my youngest daughter Ashley. Ashley is getting ready to start her second year of law school at Pepperdine University School of Law. Ashley spent most of the summer working within the legal system in Uganda....it was her third trip to Africa. Ashley and I ran some errands in San Diego then headed up to Los Angeles....The City of Angels. As we made our way through "Stop and go traffic", I had to remind myself several times that even the "stop" part at 20-25 MPH, was still faster than Si Bon goes. Today I met Ashley at Pepperdine for lunch, what a beautiful campus (pic) over looking the amazing Pacific Ocean. What a difference a few years makes....not only is Ashley now almost as tall as I am (hey, she's wearing heals), but now it's Ashley in a suit and I'm wearing shorts....HA HA, love it.
All in all it's been a great, but whirlwind trip. I was able to spend a good amount of time with both Amber and Ashley. I was able to spend some quality time with my good friends Paul & Kim (hope I didn't wear out my welcome), and I have visited with numerous other friends. The bad news is that there are MANY friends that I either haven't seen....or haven't seen much of. So I'll be returning to the states the first of September for a 3-4 week visit.
So I'll be heading back to San Diego tomorrow, I'll have breakfast with Ashley before I leave and Dinner with Amber when I get back, and Thursday morning I'll be on a plane to Puerto Vallarta....as much as I've enjoyed my time here in So cal....I'm anxious to get back to my home....Si Bon.

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Steve
07/31/2012, Bahia de San Diego

Yesterday I took my oldest daughter Amber and her "little" brother Ben, and a group of Amber's friends sailing. We rented a 27 foot Catalina and headed out for a four hour tour of San Diego Bay. It was a beautiful San Diego day with the sunny skies and light winds making it perfect for a relaxing sail. It was the first time sailing for 4 out of our group of 7, so the light winds gave them a nice mellow look at the world of sailing. In keeping with the "never a dull moment" theme of sailing, as we were coming back in the boats engine wouldn't start. The rental company had to jump start it before we left and now it was dead again. We called the company and told them to get ready to catch us, as we were going to be sailing into the slip. Sailing into a slip is not the most favorite thing on most skippers lists....no matter what the size of boat. So after one failed attempt at the end tie, I told the guy I was just going to take it into the slip and in we went without much fanfare.
All in all it was a wonderful day of sailing and it made me realize how much I love San Diego.

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Steve
07/28/2012, San Diego

After a slight immigration problem leaving Mexico, which caused me to miss my flight, I am back in the "good old US of A". I don't think of myself as a dumb man, I've actually traveled to several foreign countries and never had any kind of immigration issues. Now don't get me wrong, as long as you board a plane in the US or Canada, fly to Mexico for your one week of overindulging in sun, food and alcohol, then board your plane and go home, Mexico immigration is spot on. However if you throw in anything different, like taking a bus or car to Mexico, or sailing a boat one way then taking a plane or bus back for a visit, they just don't seem to be very efficient. I mean really, how the hell do you get a boarding pass, pass through security, proceed to your gate and then as you are walking onto the plane are told by a flight attendant that you need a stamp from immigration?

In keeping with the "when in Rome" theory, I have rented a car bought a cell phone, visited West Marine and have quickly adjusted to driving an automobile on the Southern California freeways. And that was all on day one of my return. I am staying with my good friends Kim & Paul, who last night put together a very nice welcome home party. All of my close friends were there and so was my oldest daughter Amber. I think if you ask any cruiser what they miss most about life in the "good old US of A", they will tell you it is their friends and families. I would also add to that list Kim's cooking.

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Steve
07/25/2012, Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta mexico

Tomorrow I will be returning to San Diego for the first time in 10 months. I am REALLY excited to be seeing my kids and all of my friends that I haven't seen for so long. I've been extremely busy here getting Si Bon prepared to weather it alone for a couple of weeks and also set up for the rest of the hot summer and the upcoming cruising season.
Yesterday I equalized my house battery bank. Equalizing is basically frying the batteries by over charging them over an 8 hour period. In doing this you clean off the lead plates inside the batteries. The owners manuel says to equalize every 30 days, most cruisers I know (including myself until yesterday) never do it. Now I know this is some exciting stuff but please bear with me.....since equalizing can produce some disastrous events you must constantly monitor the process. Basically that meant I had to sit on the boat all day yesterday looking at batteries that were making gurgling noises (pic).
So the batteries have been equalized, the headsail has been taken off, repaired and is now safely stored inside. The dingy motor has been repaired and both it and the dinghy are secured for the summer. The varnish has been done, the boat and all of her stainless steel have been waxed and polished. Later today I will run both the main engine and the generator for an hour each. I'll add a few more dock lines and then I'll be ready to head home.....and yes San Diego will always be home.

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