La Cruz!

we are anchored in La Cruz - 20*44.7'N 105*22.5'W for those of you spying !! (tee hee) Steve has figured out where in the boom the reefing lines chafed ! that is good
have met up with our friends from Tillicum and Dorthy Marie. Also met another boat with 2girls so Maya and Emma have made some more friends. It's a little bouncy out here, and gets windy in the afternoon. That gets the wind generator going to help the batteries and the solar panels work great. We had a heron on our dingy this morning and you should have seen the fish!! wow. tons all around the boat. We went into town and did the weekly market, not much compared to the other markets we've been to. Also went to Philos bar - did the last puddle jumpers meeting which was a slide show of the Marquesas. Looks like we will leave a little later than first thought so somewhere between 15-24. will keep you all posted.
The weather today will be a little cooler as its cloudy . all say, Maya would love her friends to comment on the blog as she misses them. Emma also wants to hear from her friends. she sends hugs!!I was given some sour dough "starter" and am making bread!! It's 1847 Oregon Trail sourdough starter...... and I read the book " a walk in the wood" by Bill Bryson ( about the Appalachian Mountain trail) so I'm going back to my ancestory roots- coool , eh mom!!!!!! ( for those who don't know I'm an Appalachia Mountain Woman and proud of it!)

Visits from more Spruce Harborites

Yeah, I got to see Bruce and Gail! they came over again and I wasn't there..... doing laundry over at the Paradise Village Mall. but they found me.... here we are all together. So that's "D" & "E" docks covered.... I wonder who's next? come on docks "A","B" and "C" it your turn!!! We are leaving tomorrow to anchor out at La Cruz just north of where we are now. will post lat and long when we get there. Lots of other cruisers we have met and ones I have been in email contact with .......so looking forward to seeing them. Just so's you know.. Nuevo Vallarta is 2 hrs ahead of you all in Greater Vancouver Area , but I believe La Cruz is only 1 hour ahead . this keeps me on my toes.
Trivia Question # 310 - If it's 4:00pm Vancouver time and 6:00pm Nuevo Vallarta time, what time is it in ZULU (aka UTC,GMT) ?

trip into Puerto Vallarta

Annette showed up and she and I went for a trip into the city. took the bus, ( cool) and walked all around. I loved all the stone roadways and all the shops/markets. lots of cool things there. Steve, kids and I will be going back to the city to complete paperwork before we head out to the big blue sea. Even got signed up for a timeshare....... but I chickened out ( and Steve didn't want to go and we have to move the boat and make water..blah blah blah) all these excuses!! The guy really wanted both of us so I just canceled it. maybe another time..... I also didn't realize the canopy tour ( the gift I would have got for all of us) was when you were strapped in a harness about 300 feet of the ground. I think it best we skip that one.
Bruce and Gail from Spruce harbour marina also popped in for a visist!! another neighbor- if we get a few more we can have a directors meeting!!! hahahahah

Visit from Ivan and Cheryl - Spruce Harbour Neighbors!! we are at Marina Nuevo Vallarta ( Bruce and Gail - come on down)

boy was it good to see them!! had a great day, Maya took them on a dingy tour to see the penned up dolphins. Had Annette and boys here all day too!! was so good to entertain family and friends from home. love it!!
we had a feast of Marlin - Ivan really loved it and he's not big on fish!! that was a compliment!

Lost in the Mayan Palace!!

me and the kids went for a tour of the area we are in.. walked the beach and found our way into the Mayan Palace Resort.. god it's beautiful...

Emma has taken to playing the guitar, Maya"s teaching herself the flute , Kyle has been playing his recorder and penny whistle lots. he wants to find a sax, cause he misses playing. we are looking , should find one in Puerto Vallarta

visit from Annette and Family

Annette, Gord and his mom, Beth in one dingy, Steve and all the kids in another going for a canal cruise looking for Crocodiles. saw none but saw lots of cool birds and homes!!! there are crocs here though, one living in the waters of the marina. have seen lots of iguanas and lizards on the rocky sea wall, kids think that´s cool

PS Baggy winkles in right , are we surprised that DAna got it first?!! LOL

remember these? trivia question from way back when

Trivia question : what is steve making?

sailing sea of cortez and the marlin

saililng down sea of cortez at 7.5knts blowing 25-28knots

wow what a time getting the marlin (striped marlin) 6.5ft long and as wide as Emma
biggest catch ever!!

in Nuevo Vallarta

hey all lat and long will be posted later for all of you who are spying on us!!! haha lol keep googling earth I feel safer!! Dad we will be leaving for Marquasas mid March and yes it is 21 days at sea............... here are a bunch of pictures of all the places we´ve been since last photos

orca III aproaching Isla Pardita
lizard hunting on Isla Pardita. family Cactus.... Dionne Isla Pardita


Maya loves to drive alone . Emma´s turn... pull Steve pull

Malachi kids and Orca kids

Isla San Fransisco

Salt Flats Ilsa San Fransisca

Re: Marlin Recipe

thanks mom Dana sent the same one!!

love you!! and we will try that one...... we all caught that one, it was one big heavy fish!!! we had to have me holding on to the fish line and steve hung over the side to grab its tail while Kyle looped a rope around the tail. have pictures - it was quite the catch!!! we had to pull it on the deck using our main halyard! you can post that to the blog!! will put pictures up when I get internet. This is the biggest fish Steve has ever in his life brought on the deck of a boat.

Update from Orca3...

we are at 23*18.7' N 108*20.6'W COG 130T sailing under genoa only 6.7kts we have travelled 153 miles in the last 24 hrs. not bad!!! Seas are about6-8 but are like the seas we get in the Straight of Georgia. short and steep
have had a wave get us on the port side and soak the cockpit - blankets, cushions and us!! looking forward to a marina so we can hose of all the salt!! that wave was a surprise , it broke right beside the boat in the only hole - between the two ss pipes holding up the arch. funny, eh?! if we keep this speed up we will be in Nuevo Vallarta ( just slightly north of Puerto Vallarta) in 35 hrs.

Its been a rocky rolly ride most of the way so far. have managed to catch 2 fish, threw one back too small, not exactly sure what it is- Kyle says its a type of tuna...

we are all not feeling 100% . but the wind/seas have backed of some since yesterday.
our fastest sail was yesterday at 7.5 knts.

love ya all
Dionne

We have been at Isla San Francisco

We have been at Isla San Francisco 24*49'N 110*34'W for the past 2 days. have had south westerly winds blowing all day yesterday around 20knts and a little this morning ( Feb 15) maybe 10 knts. Our friends Malachi have gone further north and we will not see them now until we cross the big pond to the Marquasas. The kids and I went to shore and found all kinds of shells and coral. Kyle found the biggest piece about 2ft across and so badly wanted to bring it to the boat but mom the party pooper said
no. Way to big!! The rock around here is red pumice and lava . very cool looking! photos to follow soon. The wind was blowing so hard the sand was hitting the back of our legs - hurt!! felt like pins hitting them.

Kyle and Steve did a bunch of fishing but no luck. They got live bait from the Mexican fishermen who were catching sardines with a very fine net and by taking their pangas driving them in a circle .Was very fun to watch, Emma really liked it. The yellowtail are here now, but the boys have had no bites. The last 2 days have been quite rough and bouncy - hard to fish in a dingy.
There is halibut here, so Kyle has been trying to catch one.
We are planning to leave here around 1am, ( so its not a Friday) and head south to PV. The winds look to be good - North westerly at 20-25 knots. just the right direction and good speed. We should have a great sail down.
Solar Panels are nearly hooked up- hope to have them working by the end of the day...................

orca 3 position

Good morning all,
we are at Isla Partida in Ensenada El Cardonel 248 31.99'N 110* 22.734'W cog 069T
this is a breached crater that separates 2 islands. It is a large, circular basin tghat is part of the narrow straight between the islands. There are tons of caves here and we plan to explore this morning before heading off to Isla San Fansisco. The high cliffs are all a red color, quite neat. and I will post pictures once in internet range. We had a great motoring 4 hrs and Steve got 2 off the doraid boxes in . they look great. It is very calm here right now. We plan on leaving around noon and
hope to catch some yellowtail along the way. Apparently they are really biting now. wish us luck!!! I would love some fish for dinner.

We are in the bay with quite a few of our fellow cruisers we have met, including Reflections I ( Steve's first sailboat) along with Malachi and Candine. that means kids!!! already had Chris from Candine here last night and Maya drove the dingy with Emma to Malachi to see the girls. Maya is doing very well driving the dingy all by herself... Emma next. she wants to but we are holding off yet.

have a great day and will post again tomorrow.

hugs,
Dionne and Steve and Kyle and Maya and last but not least Emma

Leaving La Paz

We are leaving this morning and heading up to Ilse Partida and then San Fansisco ( here in the Baja not california) and then head down to PV . It seems we have a few people going to be there. Ivan and Cheryl go see Ron and get our ham email so we can tee up meeting. Would love to see you!!

We had a great time here and have made lots of friends. There are a lot of us going to the Marquasas. ( especially with kids) so that will be good fun to run in to them in the South Pacific. We had a great potluck dinner on board Orca III last night with "Hanna" and " Malachi" - ( the other kid cruising boats) . Will be traveling with Malachi for a couple of days before we head down to PV

We learned a new card game called "sticks" from our friends Noni and Lee. great game. Kyle had requested to anyone - please email us new card games and the rules to we can play new one. Auntie Sandy we look forward to the rules of Dirty Dozen cause I can't remember it all.
Be ready for more trivia in the next port!!

Saturday at the dock in La Paz

The Eagles is right and Danny Lou got it!!! Like she didn’t know. We have been just tinkering away and the kids hanging out with their buddies. We will be anchoring out tomorrow so trying to get all the “dock” stuff done. Steve has all the pieces to build our solar panels, so that is next I think. Today he is off fixing our buddies generator – the parts finally came! Gotta love the Mexican way. ( they were supposed to be here Tues/Wed) They arrived around 5pm yesterday. Have many new friends here with quite a few going to the South Pacific – that is cool!!
We are off for dinner and a swim with Noni. Charles and now her daughter Lee and Peter tonight. Learned a new card game “STICKS” what a great game!! Love it. Lee gave us hers .
Our boat looks great all painted! It’s been so long since it was all one colour! I will be painting the deck with the top coat this afternoon. Our boat is looking better and more complete everyday! Even got the top coat painted on most of the deck. Need to find some more paint.
Guess what? I have just learned how to burn DVD’s so am madly doing that – I am so excited !! Thanks Joe for the DVD Decrypter ( haven’t figured out the DVD shrink yet) and still can’t seem to get that Skype working yet. The internet connection is so intermitant but I will. It may take until PV to get that going.
The wind here has finally died down, so anchoring will be okay. Oh I forgot to answer the trivia question about the La Paz Waltz. Mom was just about bang on just had to add some – it has to do with the tide and current , what happens is the boats end up always going in the same direction around their anchor so eventually have twisted the rode ( chain/rope) around so much it actually pulls the anchor up on a high tide. So every 4 days or so one has to re anchor or you end up drifting. Hence the “Waltz”

Just another day in Paradise!!

Trivia Question #500 What is the name of my (Dionne) favorite band?




this is a picture of Me and Jay and our gr 4 &5 class- we went to Cameron Elementary School together. Funny that we would me up cruising!!
Well we've been have'n some fun with Noni and Charles.( Sandra's friend) went to their hotel for a swim and dinner and then I went with them to Todos Santos for an art festival. and to see the original " Hotel California" yes the Eagles song !!
Great little town, had lots of shops and markets and cool things. It was a great day.Even found myself a viking hat!! bring on the Swedes

The kids hung around with their friends swimming and playing cards. Steve did a bunch of sanding getting ready to paint the cabin sides.
Noni and Charles have been so great at driving us to the shops to stock up on food supplies. What a treat to get a ride!! much appreciated!

One of the cruising kids had a birthday (turned 13) today so a party happened with a pinata and lots more swimming. they are having a great time. We will be on the dock here until Sunday noon, then we will anchor out or leave to see some of the cool islands in the Sea of Cortez.

Kids Kids Kids!!

well we have had a boat full of them for a few days now.It's great- they are playing a lot of "Oh Hell" - thanks for the book Ron and Ruth.Will be going to Noni's hotel for a swim and potluck dinner today at 3pm. The weather is a little cooler than yesterday but still lots of sun.

Benos Dias!!

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!
We went to a jam night for the cruisers on Wed. Steve was up there playing away, there were 2 other harmonica players as well and even had Steve and one of them playing together. that sounded neat . one of our friends ( Dorthy Marie- and the palapa bar crashers from previous post) plays the tenor sax and boy he sounds great!!
Look at the price of Burger King food!! that's why we can't afford to eat out! actually that is in pesos, but isn't it a shocker at first! makes shopping a little confusing sometimes.
Well we have been busy plugging away on our boat and the cruiser life. Everything takes longer to do ( shopping ,laundry, ect) lots of walking- good for the hips!! The kids have managed to find all kinds of other kids to hang with........ this is great!! Steve has go the watermaker working 100% so we can make 25 gallons /hr. this is also great!! I guess you could say life is great!!
We walked up to the fiesta the other night with other cruisers, and checked out the festivities. I ended up buy for $10 pesos ( that's $1.00 usd) a picture of "Ruby" Miss Carnaval 2008- don't how this happened but I got it . Steve laughed at me. anyhow it was a great time. Maya bought a lovely necklace from one of the street vendors with her own money and Emma bought a dream catcher necklace from one also. We have had lots of connections on the dock and Orca III is forever having people dropping by. I like that.Maya has managed to borrow some books from a friend and both her and Kyle are busy reading away before we have to give them back.... This is the biggest challenge - keeping ahead of Maya and Kyles reading , they are reading so fast and so much.... They have a great book swap here and I got myself some dandies. A couple I think Kyle will also like.
We had a great game of Oh Hell in the cockpit last night with the crew from Malachi. It was Marg's b'day - good fun to play again, has been a while for that game. Steve won with Jay close second and me right behind - we had a full six players! Hey Jocy, we know another Jocelyn. Malachi's oldest daughter has the same name!! cool, eh?!
We had an overcast day yesterday and today is back to gorgeous sun! I do miss some rain though, strange as that my sound.
the last trivia question, Danny Lou got right _ "the Cove of the Dead" ( Ensenada de Los Meurtos)
TRIVIA QUESTION #?
What is the "La Paz waltz"?

oops!

forgot to give the answers to the trivia questions.So mom was pretty close...........
La Paz means "the peace"
the first Spaniards 1533 and permanent settlement was 1833 as per my "Charlie's Charts"

and the King Richard Orca was seen on the beach in Los Frailes!! watch for him in the future. Especially you Kevin as you never know when he my show up at your place. Keep your eyes open, nephew!!

here's your next Trivia question;
What does Ensenada de Los Muertos mean? remember this is where we had our first restaurant meal in months and where I had my first margarita!!

still at the Marina de La Paz dock

We went to this resautrant for dinner, thanks Heather L. for letting us know about it... we had heard from a whole lot of other cruisers as well. YOu get 1 kilo of great beef and all the fixings for burrito...for only $17 for all of us..... not bad at all.

we are busy doing boat projects and Steve has managed once again to get some work....our friends on Malachi are having generator problems and Steve has been hired to fix. this is good for our cruising kitty..... yeah, we have been so lucky ! I had my laundry done for me all six loads,(cost the same as if I did it myself and they folded it oh so nice!!) smells great too!! what a treat!
Went to the market the other day... at a look at how bid the califlower was for $2.. it was huge!! there is a big fiesta tonight... crowning of the king/queen of the carnavel - we will be going to that!! should be fun