Sailing on Starshine

Happy New Year!

Today is the last day of 2015. Things are quiet here in Paradise Village. We’ve been here 11 days now, two more to go. On Saturday 1/2/16 we will move back to the anchorage at La Cruz.

Melodie and I have been experiencing one of the pitfalls of a travel destination. We both got sick! Upon returning from her brief trip to California I caught a cough. Now Melodie has it and she thinks it’s more like the flu. Being sick has put a dent in our activities and social life. Who wants to sit around and chat with two sick people? Plus, we just don’t have the energy to do anything.

We have gotten a few things done on the boat while we’re here. The bottom was cleaned by a diver for the first time since our newly painted bottom in Mazatlán. I changed the oil and fuel filters on the engine. We had the boat professionally washed. We’re all set for January.

Our tentative travel plans are to move to the La Cruz anchorage for most of next week. We want to head south around Cabo Corrientes by the weeks end. We have friends that are heading south too, and we hope to blend the weather and their plans into ours. We’ll stop by Chamela, that’s where Hurricane Patricia made landfall. We plan on spending a week or two in Tenicatia Bay. These were 2 of our favorite spots last season. We’ll land in Barra De Navidad a few days before my brother and his wife arrive for a visit. The question will be where we go after the guests leave. Will we continue south toward Zihuatenajo or turn back around like we did last year? Time will tell.

The photo for this blog post is our Flopper Stopper rig. We use the spinnaker/whisker pole to deploy the Magna brand flopper stopper. That’s a sailing term for the device used to keep the boat from rocking so much at anchor. There are many styles. Ours looks like a solid door hinge, but it’s 2x3 foot in size and made of polished stainless steel. Using the spinnaker pole puts it out at 90 degrees and increases the leverage against the rolling. It doesn’t stop the rolling completely, but it dampens the motion noticeably. The drawback is that after 7-10 days in the water it’s kinda slimy and has some barnacles on it. It is worth the effort though.

You can also see our wind scoop in the forward hatch. It collects air and funnels it into the boat. It makes the boat much cooler. Our air conditioner only works at the dock. We have not needed the air lately because it has been cloudy and cool. Some days it just gets into the 70’s. Melodie has to wear a fleece in the mornings as it gets around 65 at night. She has also been using blankets at night. We are just not used to this cool weather.

Christmas was quiet for us. We opened some small gifts sent to us by family. It was a nice treat as it really didn’t feel too much like Christmas. Melodie brought them back with her from the states. It would be very hard to get things sent to Mexico. We decorated with a small string of battery operated LED Christmas lights. The same for New Years, no big party, but we are going to the New Year’s Day at the Vallarta YC. They will have Bloody Marys and black-eyed peas and cabbage for brunch.

Hope 2016 is a good year for everyone.