Month: February 2023

Wonderful week with my terrific brother Andrew: Day 1-adventure to PV Airport and back to Barra. Day 2-sailed 40 km to private Bat Island. Paddle boarded, snorkeled and hiked to cave. Star gazing, splashing in bioluminescence and a chess game.
Day 3-snorkled for 3 hours, saw amazing urchins then surfed Chamela. Chess rematch. Day 4-Snorkeled with Dean and Gaby for 2 hours found a huge conch. Sailed to Perula, beach walk and ate coconut shrimp. Day 5-great dinghy ride to snorkle spot, saw a turtle then sailed south with hundreds of dolfins to the Acquarium. Ate fresh tuna sushi and played cards with Ave Marina. Day 6- snorkeled acqarium, saw spotted eagle ray. Tasted Raicilla and laughed with Poncho. Sailed south, caught and returned an abandoned kayak, went to Tenacatita for home made bread and beef stew. Great game of Stratego. Day 7-Breaching Humpback and her baby, snorkeled and saw giant glowing jellyfish. Paddle boarded through mangrove river. Sailed south to Barra. Stratego game and special dinner at the Art Gallery with amazing guitarist Salvador. Day 8-sunrise hike to secret beach, huge waves and fun stairway. Saw chacalaca and coatimundi. Came back for French Bakery treats. Took chicken bus to Melaque, walked new malecon and tacos on the beach. Back to Grand Isla Hotel hammocks for epic naps and hot tub with friends. Walked the amazing grounds and pools. What a week!

What a treat! Got to spend some time sailing with Heather and Glenn on Rocketeer today. Must say, we envy this boat, just a bit. Rocketeer is a 55’ Chris White Catamaran. (Glenn and Scott just haven’t agreed on a price yet) ha ha.
While Sea Bella is heading west, Rocketeer is heading south to Zihuatanejo for some more fun.
Hopefully Rocketeer will join us in Polynesia next year. She won’t have a problem catching up!!!
Goodbye for now friends!!!! 👋 Awesome boat!

What do you do when you’re waiting on a weather window?
-Finish provisioning (what’s a sailor without grog?)
-Kathy’s canning good stuff
-Saying good bye to GREAT friends on Ave Marina.
-Kathy is brushing up on her skipper skills in Tenacatita on Rest a Whiles Tiwal. Thanks Mark and Denise!
-Down load new Sat photo charts of Tuamotos
-and SV Finally , finally delivers our new Asymmetrical spinnaker today!!!!!! Finally!

Hurry up….and wait…maybe mid march.
While California continues to see a pounding of weather and shows slow signs of developing typical seasonal high pressure system offshore, we continue to wait in Mexico for enough wind to blow us to the trade winds which will deliver Sea Bella to French Polynesia.
The two weather locations are related as we continue to learn more about global weather and how we move about the globe.
We could jump now but doing so might extend our crossing time by days, even weeks if we chose unwisely. Also, the swell coming from the north (Thank you California) could make a slow passage very rolly and uncomfortable.
So, we currently sit with friends in the beautiful bay of Carrizal and wait.…….
……maybe for days or weeks.
(FYI, we hope the total passage will be less than 21 days +- 3 days)? 🙂

Sea Bella has a new non-carbon producing, eco-friendly engine, a big and beautiful asymmetrical spinnaker. Using technology that’s been around for thousands of years! Thank you to Mike at PV Sailing for completing this project.

18 months are under our belts, cruising in Mexico and its nearly coming to an end as we plan our next big westward departure in a few weeks. We have fully embraced this life and location and are grateful Mexico coast and the Sea of Cortez has been such an amazingly easy cruising experience. Only a few last minute projects, guests, and provisions while we wait for cyclone season to be over in the South Pacific. Now I nostalgically contemplate the life changes of these profound 18 months.

First and foremost are the amazing friendships created, some friends we met the first month while in Ensenada and some we met yesterday on the beach in Tenacatita. Cruisers are of a certain breed of people, our people! Always caring and fun.

All are outgoing, witty, adventurous, easy going, giving, respectful, smart, spontaneous, and all have a refreshing carefree spirit! Whats not to like. These friendly folks will just paddle or swim by, and will stop to introduce themselves to become new friends.

Next best are the new found activities and experiences that we have come across, most without any planning. The surfing was quite addictive and a new thrill for sure. Snorkeling and spearfishing were fun, and tasty hobbies. Hiking and exploring via dinghy is a great adventure. Inland travel has been a highlight, and an excellent cultural experience. Our desert adventures into the beautiful Sea of Cortez were stunning, as we saw painted walls and petroglyphs from ancient tribes dating back to 100 BC.

The beauty here, for me, is quite profound. Hours under sail gazing at our beautiful ocean, with perfect wind on the rippling seas. We live right out here in and amidst mother natures spectacular creatures, plants, views and skies. The geography is always changing whether its desert, jungle, volcanic or long white sand beaches.

This has truly been an alternative existence, as we deeply look outward and inward and appreciate life at its fullest!