So for anyone out there who's actually still reading this.......I'm apologize for the missing months! It started out with missing days, missing weeks, then missing months. We are not missing, but my blog is. I have so many stories I want to share and will be posting them little by little. But I've decided that I will start from right here, and then go back and add a few pieces. Because by trying to go back only I will be totally missing out on the now. And there are so many things to share..... We will be leaving El Salvador on Tues., morning the 19th of March, we've been herer for a month and ahalf, and finaly have a weather window!!! I will be posting in the next week to catch you all up. Thanks for your patience!!!

Nuevo Vallarta....Paradise Village Marina

12-27-12 Paradise Village, Nuevo, Vallarta

Friday we got things off the dock and ready to take off. We motored across Banderas Bay to the Marina Paradise Village. The kids were done with La Cruz, (Darrell and I enjoyed the quiet nothingness of it)!

As we pulled in through the two jetties, the hotels and lush palm trees were everywhere! I love watching how excited the kids get as we come into a new port and the new things to see. It was absolutely beautiful. We worked our way into the tight marina and were directed by the Harbor Master to our slip. It's tucked right up against a brick wall with beautiful flowers cascading all down the walls. You could hear the music pumping and the kids couldn't wait to get off the boat.....

After getting the lines secured and electricity up and checked into the Marina, Darrell and I took a walk. You have to go through a big hotel that resembles ancient Mayan architecture. When you come out the other side, there is a huge slide with enormous Alligators that are water slides that land you right in the middle of 2 blue swimming pools. Just past all this, you land on the beaches. The sand reminds me of the soft Florida sand and there are Palapas everywhere with lounge chairs right down to the beach. There are also little beach restaurants, (so overpriced we only bought a soda)! There are vendors walking up and down the beaches selling their jewelery, clothes, hair items, and wooden bowls. Don't ask me why, but I WANT a wooden bowl. They are so beautifully hand painted. We'll see if I get out of here with one.....LOL

We spent the rest of the day just lounging on the beach. The next couple of days the kids have left the boat after breakfast and not come back until dusk. We've been setting up appointments for a new Bimini to be made, (the last one was shredded in Turtle Bay storm). Our generator isn't working now, so waiting on a mechanic to check on it.....it's always something.

The surge here is pretty strong so even through we're tucked in, we rock quite a bit. I love it when it's time to sleep.......

La Cruz......Christmas Eve

12-24-12 Christmas Eve.......

We left Cabo with camera's ready, taking pictures of the beautiful place we were leaving, and taking pictures of our buddy boat in front of us. Thrilled to be leaving with another boat and nice that Debra was taking pictures of our boat. This was the first time someone was doing the picture taking of us!!!

The waters were choppy but the wind was good and after about an hour of motoring, both boats popped sails and killed the engines. The first night was pretty rough and being knocked around is definitely NOT my favorite thing to do...... we did still had good wind and were able to sail. Darrell and Whitney took the first shift and seemed to have a good time. I on the other hand was tossed like a rag doll down below. Once again, tried to sleep sideways on the bed to get even a few min., of sleep here and there. Jordan and Jamin have been taking the shifts during the night hours after Darrell and Whitney, then Darrell and Jake have been taking the early morning hours. Not much sleeping time for Captain D.! I've only done a few shifts here and there with Jake. It's amazing how much safer it feels up on deck during the rough waters. One, you can't hear all the creaking and popping the boat makes, while in the pitch dark, (totally safe though)....and two, your not tossed around while doing things. Believe me, cooking while on a passage, is NOT for the faint of heart!!! Sleep seems to be impossible for me during a rough passage. So if one wants to sleep, it's easier to lay on a bench in the cockpit!

Throughout the day, we see dolphins here and there and sometimes a whale in the distance.

The second night the waters were a bit calmer and as we got close to land the excitement grew, and coming into Banderas bay, we were greeted by whales and dolphins. A huge whale came up right between Murar's Dream and our boat. Love seeing them, just not when their close enough to do damage to our boat! I don't think it will ever get old being greeted by these giants and puppies of the sea!

As the land got closer I was amazed to see the huge bowl of green lush mountains as far as you could see and all slopping into Banderas Bay.....

We pulled into La Cruz, a small village with a nice Marina. We were all exhausted but excited to be there. Got checked in, the boat hunkered down and immediately took of into the village. What an amazing little place. It looked like it came right out of the movies, little shops, and cobblestone streets going everywhere. Since is was Christmas Eve not many people out and about.

We found a small restaurant opened and went in to have our Christmas Dinner! It was wonderful just being there together and sitting as a family, (minus our Justin, Sara & Caleb)....though they are always in our thoughts, conversations and prayers! We ordered cold coke a cola's (always available in Mexico), and our meals.

The place was nestled in the trees with tarps for protection from the many colorful, chirping birds. Painted murals on the walls, with flowers everywhere, it was hot, but muggy and we all LOVED IT! Our food came on big platters and was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! The people we've met so far have treated us all like Kings. (disclaimer, with the exception of the scary event in Cabo with the Windom group, run, run, run....)

They say hello as we walk their streets and smile and help with directions when asked. We all went back to the boat with full stomachs and ready to sleep.

We broke tradition here in Mexico. Darrell's work schedule through out the years, always made it so we opened our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. But we decided that since we weren't getting presents, to have our Christmas Eve a family meal, (wonderful), and rest and have a good breakfast the next morning as our Christmas. Darrell had purchased an MP3 player for each of them, (Jamin already had one so got an adapter to hook to his computer that makes it possible to watch movies on the TV) while not hooked up to a Marina. They were surprised to even get 1 present. I love that our kids have an appreciation for the things that are important in life and are not caught up with the material. We all had a great breakfast and headed to the beach. The beach at La Cruz was not quite what we'd hoped for. It was dirty and there were dead blow fish up on the sand everywhere. I almost stepped on 3! So as we walked further down the beach the boys spotted a huge infinity pool......not associated with our Marina, and jumped in, Darrell joined them. Whitney and I had been sitting on the beach and they hollered for us to join. I have to say, it was beautiful and so nice to just lay in a clean pool! We'd played and relaxed for about 2 hrs., then Whit and boys left. They were just out of site when Darrell and I started getting our things and I see a security guard heading toward us. I knew we'd been busted! So I turned where I was standing and started taking pictures like I was a tourist staying there. He looked at us and just kept walking. I knew he was looking for my bearded bunch though!!! We quietly walked down to the beach and back to our Marina. I felt bad, but not that bad........LOL

We spent the next couple of days just walking through the city and taking a bus closer into Puerto Vallarta for some boat parts, with Rich, from Murar's Dream. We walked through a big resort and checked out the shops and saw the beautiful landscape and boats all nestled together.

Usually in marina's there are signs like “No Swimming” and “No Fishing”, but here, there were signs everywhere that said, “Beware of Crocodiles”........ Yes Crocodiles live in that Marina!!!

We got back to our La Cruz Marina, and the kids took off to another beach across the jetty, and we just relaxed.....

So nice to be resting!!!

Left Cabo sailing to Puerto Vallarta

12-23-12

Sunday

Spent the last 24 hrs., sailing in some pretty rough conditions. For the past hour it's been a little better. We've jibbed and will be sailing in a different direction for an hour then jibbing again to get back on course. There are some Islands outside of Puerto Vallarta that have prisons on them and if your not at least 20 miles from them, the Policia will come after you. So we are maneuvering around the Islands.

The sink faucet has gone down to a dribble. Darrell spent an hour working on it, but it's looking like we need a new faucet. Does it everrrrrr end?

We will be in P tomorrow around 12:00 noon! We can't wait..... Passages are NOT fun!!!

The kids do a lot better with bad waters than I do. The fact that we are in the middle of the ocean, nothing in site, doesn't bother me. It's the big waves and choppy water. The winds OK, because we can pop the sails, it's just the bad water.....

More baby squid jumped on the boat. This morning one jumped right out of the water, hit Darrell in the chest and landed on deck. They threw it back in. I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like the choppy water..............

The sun went down about 20 min., ago and we are hunkered down for another night at sea. When the stars pop out, it's the most amazing thing. The entire sky is pitch black with brilliant twinkling lights. Because the city lights drown out the stars, we forget just how big, bright and beautiful they really are! AMAZING.....

We are charging batteries so I've got everything plugged in to charge. My nook, my mp3 player and computer. We hope we can find out where Rick and Darci and Diann are tomorrow. We haven't heard from them in several days. The weather from Guaymas has been really bad (that's North E. of La Paz) and based on the weather we've been in, I can't imagine. Right this min., the water is not to bad.....Ohhhhh to have it like this all night! One can only dream........

We got out Spotcheck connected in Cabo, and put in about 30 e-mails to family and friends. When we hit the Spotcheck button they get an e-mail that gives the exact location of where we are. They can click on that site and it will show them where we are on the water. We kind of got excited about using it and was sending one out every hr., but will only be posting about every 7 to 10 hrs..... Since a boat doesn't go much faster than 6 to 7 kts., per hr., that's A LOT of Spotchecks to get for such a little amount of change over the water........................

Can't wait to get the passage over with and into Port tomorrow!

Zzzzzzzzz...........NOT!

What a difference a day makes.......

2-191-12 Thursday

The next day the kids spent the entire day, walking the beaches and diving, having a blast. Darrell and I went to Wal-Mart for provisions, and ran errands around town for boat parts. The mechanic came back with his helper and worked on the boat for another 3 hrs. They fixed it and charged us $180.00 dollars!!! We were so grateful we could have cried.

Darrell and I went out for a walk to check things out and were snagged by a salesman at one of the restaurant's right there on the strip. He was quite the smooth talker and by the time we got done, (I'm praying it's because we'd had no sleep for days, and not that we're getting old).....he convinced us to come listen to a time share special!!! I know, I know, I hear all the gasps......... He gave us a certificate for breakfast and a tour for six of us to take the glass bottom boat, and snorkel at the Arch & Lover's Cove. We knew the kids would love it......

We come back thinking we'd done something great.... They all flipped! They'd found a way to climb and walk to those places, all four felt like we were being scammed. So the next morning we went to the hotel. They tell us the man who made the arrangement (tour guide), was waiting for us at the resort. The new guy tells us to tell the resort people we are staying at “The Marde Cortez”, hotel room #107. He made me say it over and over. Don't tell them your on a boat! (RED FLAG, RED FLAG). They tell us that breakfast is at the New Windom Resort/Golf Course, across town, in the middle of (didn't tell us this part) NO WHERE!!! They have a taxi waiting, and we all pile in. Jamin was FURIOUS! All the kids were talking back and forth to each other, trying to talk us out of this. Darrell and I both felt it was no big deal. We got to the resort, and we were supposed to go right into breakfast.....but they had us all sit in a big waiting area by the pool. As the min., ticked by, the kids got more and more upset. I was starting to feel like we needed to get out of there too. It was so weird, the behavior of the sales people, and the people we had to sit by. They didn't say one word or say hello, and were glued to their typewriters. We're thinking they were typing what we were talking about to the sales people upstairs. The sales people would come back and forth and go on and on about how great it was going to be. Jordan got on his phone and did a Google search and found out that we were about to be taken on a HUGE scam. One that would put horrible pressure and take back the certificate of the tours if we didn't sign something. The kids decided they were going to throw a fit and demand a taxi back to the Marina. It would have been NICE if someone told MEEEEEE!!! We went outside by the valet and told them to order a taxi and all the sales people came running out trying to convince us to come back in. Whitney went off...... She let this guy totally have it! I was so shocked by her behavior, and she started to walk away by herself. I ran after her trying to calm her down while Darrell was getting the taxi. While Whitney and I were in the middle of our thing, the boys saw a couple come storming out of the court yard, cross the road lift up a barbed wire fence and walk through an open field and hail a taxi. While I'm trying to get Whitney to be civil, she says to me, (this isn't real), I of course say, “The Hell it isn't)!!! She needed to be a little more clear, like (I'm acting, Ma)! So another guy walks up and tells Whitney he'll take her back to the hotel. All hell broke loose! So to just get the entire family out and stop causing a scene, they brought the big hotel taxi and took us back. Oh my heck, what a relief. We were all starving and had asked the driver to drop us off just outside of the marina so we could find a place to eat. We asked a man on the street where the best place to get breakfast was......(cue the music), da, da, da.....he says “The Marde Cortez”.......LOLOLOLOL.......

We had a great breakfast, had lots of laughs, and all felt like it might have been a good thing. It brought everyone's awareness to paying closer attention, in a foreign country.....It took me several hours to get over the (FAKE,) argument we'd had.....

We spent the day climbing and walking to those beautiful beaches. What a blast! The kids dove off the rocks and snorkeled. Such a beautiful place....

Everything got fixed, the batteries, the engine, the oil problem the fridge and we checked out and left the Marina the night of the 20^th..... We got about 5 miles out when Darrell noticed the oil pressure wasn't reading. He immediately turned around and headed back to the barn.....

To try to find another mechanic in Mazatlan, then have them work on somebody's work, we thought was a bad idea. He was so exhausted that when we pulled into the Marina, he had Jake explain to security what had happened. I think he once again felt like he was being kicked!

I got on the computer and low and behold, some friends of ours who are heading to Peurto Viartlla were on G dock in the Marina. We had hoped we could connect with them but didn't know how to find them. Yesterday morning we went to their dock made arrangements to both leave together (so much smarter), and buddy boat to Peurta Viartlla, and by pass Mazatlan because of the weather.

The mechanic showed up, worked on the ending for about l5 min., (he'd forgotten to ground a wire), and we were able to take off. But now take off with a buddy boat, and a full nights sleep. So what looked like a kick in the pants, was really a Tender Mercy.......

And tender mercy it was! Leaving Cabo was beautiful and I thought this is going to be AMAZING! Boy it was AMAZING alright! Last night was one of the worst nights of my life, (short of being in labor 5 times)...... I was 100% sure we were going down! We've had very strong winds, and the water is very choppy with high swells and waves. It's been like this for over 13 hrs., and our friends said it will be like this for maybe another 24! One time I go to check on the guys and see Darrell telling Jake (who is up on the bow) hanging on for dear life, trying to untangle some lines to the mast! My heart almost stopped, while he worked his way back into the cockpit.

As you know from my posts, my knees are red from praying and now add a handful of mean bruises from being bashed around the cabin! I thought when the sun came up it would change the conditions. NOTTTTTTTTT!!! I just hope Darci and Rick are OK. We have no idea where they are and were supposed to meet in Mazatlan. That's not happening! Mother Nature is in charge here.......

We put all the fun pictures and experiences up on FB and my blog, but I'm telling you, this is beyond one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life. This is not for the faint of heart. And for those friends who know my life, (need I say more)......I know you get it!

So I'm glued to the bed, laying sideways, (which is the best way to try to sleep, if that's even possible), with my feet pressed against the cabinets so I won't go flying! The rest of them are on couches, recovering from their night shifts, and up in the cockpit...... Jordan and Jamin took over after Darrell's shift last night and THEY ROCKED IT!!!! Great Job!

The waves have tossed our boat like a toy and not one of us has got sick. Even Whitney......

We are in the middle of the Sea of Cortez, WE ARE SAILORS...ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!