We flew to the Bahamas for the wedding in February. It was very small, but very nice. The venue was real romantic and Helene looked great. She has lost about 40 lbs or more since we last saw her and looked beautiful in her dress. The rest of the trip to the Bahamas was okay, but we had rain a couple of days. Also everything there is really expensive so we couldn't wait to get back to Mexico where the shrimp and avocados are practically free. We did get to play tourist for a few days and even swam in the Atlantic (which was warmer than the Pacific had been for a couple of months).

After we flew back to Mazatlan, we spent a couple of days getting the boat ready and started sailing south. We spent a week in San Blas which is a small Mexican village (Henry Longfellow's poem "The Bells of San Blas" was inspired by this quaint town). We took a jungle river tour in which they take you on a panga up the river to see the birds and crocodiles. It was a beautiful trip through a real jungle setting. For those of you who read Latitude 38, we did spend some time with Norm Goldie and his wife. He is quite the character and has an opinion on everything. We were able to get past that and found him quite helpful in finding our way around San Blas. After San Blas, we sailed to Chacala which is a resort where the Mexicans go on vacation. The beach is lined with palapa restaurants where you can sit and socialize and drink $1.50 beers all afternoon.

Some friends we met in Mazatlan met us in Chacala and we buddy boated (they supposedly knew the way) to La Cruz which is in Bandaras BAy. We are anchored in La Cruz now, but our friends left Thursday to sail back to Mazatlan because they needed to leave to go to a wedding. We have also caught up with Steven and Pam Lannen from Tahoe. They are in the marina in La Cruz. Puerta Vallarta is about a 45 minute bus ride away and we have visited a couple of times already and plan to go back next week to look for a few things we need. Puerta Vallarta is an interesting mix on old Mexican architecture and a modern resort. They have a beautiful Malacon with excellent sculptures and lots of shops and restaurants. Mexicans all go on family vacations for Easter, so this week things have become crowded and will continue so through next week. It is their biggest time of year (much more than Christmas and New Years)

Next week we plan to leave to go further south to Barre Navidad before we need to come north for the hurricane season. We are trying to figure out if we can swing a quick trip home this summer since we need to review our visas. If not, we have to go through a bunch of official paperwork (FM3) to be able to stay in the country after August.