12/20/2003 - 03/20/2004
Latitude 38, a U.S West Coast based sailing magazine, sponsors a party in Puerto Vallarta to celebrate the Puddle Jump as well as gather information for upcoming articles on the Puddle Jump. Here are just a few of our fellow Puddle Jumpers.
Puddle Jump Preparations and Projects
Plans to sail across the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Marquesas motivated us to hang out in Puerto Vallarta to work through lists of tasks to ensure we felt ready to "Puddle Jump". Furthermore, Puerto Vallarta is the most popular place in Mexico to depart for the Marquesas. At present, we are aware of approximately 50 boats leaving from Mexico for the Marquesas in spring 2004. Of the 50 boats, 37 are leaving from Puerto Vallarta.
In between the preparations, we played in Puerto Vallarta. Anchoring in Punta de Mita, whale watching day trips on friends boats, racing, watching movies, eating at restaurants, enjoying friends visiting, reading and boogie boarding provided welcome respites from the frantic pace of preparing for the passage.
In January, a group was established to help each other get ready for this big adventure. Somehow we became the leaders of the group. The group organized seminars, roundtables, task forces, information sharing and radio nets. In the end, this reminded us way too much of work.
The Vallarta Yacht Club donated the facilities for the Puddle Jump group meetings. In the beginning, the group took up 2 tables. By the end, the group filled the entire yacht club facility.
Provisioning for the South Pacific challenged Robin's abilities in the galley. The word on the street is that everything except bread and cheese is expensive in French Polynesia. With that in mind, we filled Whisper with provisions for at least 6 months to avoid spending a fortune on food in the South Pacific. Canned chicken was high on the list of desired items. Christy joined in on the Great Chicken Quest to find canned chicken in Mexico. Christy made a valiant effort sending out search parties in Mazatlan, PV and Guadalajara.
In the end, the delicious Sams and Costco canned chicken could no longer be found in Mexico. However, we ended up with 25 cans of canned chicken on Whisper through donations and begging. The freezer, frig, bilges, lockers, cupboards, nooks and crannies are full of food and beverage. Looks like Robin will be doing more cooking than she ever has in her life.
Haircuts are on everyone's agenda prior to departure. Once in the South Pacific, we will be on the look out for Corbie who purchased a Flo-Bee.
Rick looks a little bit like Popeye. Maybe we should stay away from the Flo-Bee.
Ronnie, aka Tealady, and Tony, aka Teapot, are Brits who setup business in PV. Tony is a fantastic marine diesel mechanic and Ronnie seems to do it all. They are a couple of the great people helping everyone get ready for the big event.
We hoisted the storm sails to ensure we are prepared for anything and everything.
Duncan noticed the AGM batteries did not seem to be holding their charge as well as in the past. Do AGM batteries needed equalizing? After discussions with the battery manufacturer and the local electrical guru Dave, the conclusion was that the batteries needed equalizing. Equalizing is the process of giving the batteries a higher voltage for a several hours to cause any sulfation to re-combine into solution. This process seemed to rejuvenate the batteries.
While working on the equalization project, Duncan worked with Dave to trace and label any unknown wires. Aaah, labels are good.
Remember the genset issues? There baa-ack with some new problems and some old problems. Duncan noticed an oil leak on the genset as well as exhaust debris on the inside of the genset case. After some initial debugging, Duncan called in the big guns - Teapot Tony. Tony discovered a crack in the base plate of the crankcase. Our old friend the exhausting exhaust elbow was again corroded after having been fixed just one year ago. These issues became the critical path for our departure.
This is the familiar side of our favorite mechanic Teapot Tony. Would this be considered ass over tea kettle? Tony worked with his local guy at the machine shop to fabricate parts while Duncan worked with Fischer Panda to get replacement parts under warranty. Tony is struggling to remove the exhaust elbow. Sparing all of the gory, frustrating details, the genset is again working. Cross your fingers that she keeps on working.
Armando and his brothers added a couple more coats of varnish to the cockpit teak to keep Whisper looking good.
While in the U.S., we picked up a new Canon i70 printer. Duncan redesigned the computer peripherals cabinet to accommodate the new printer as well as permanently mount the Peerless backup drive and the CD burner.
Inspections of all major systems revealed a potential issue. Duncan noticed salt water weeping on the outside of the rudder post casing. After sending digital pictures to lots of folks, we determined to take Whisper out of the water to figure out the source of the water. A soft spot in the fiberglass was allowing water to seep up near the rudder post. The spot was sealed both inside and out.
While out of the water, we took the opportunity to get the bottom painted and clean the propeller. Whisper loves a good spa day.
In the heat of the day, the guys working on Whisper took a break for lunch in the shade of her hull.
Nothing like climbing a ladder to get to your house. It's kind of like a tree house.
Pfriends and Pfun
The beautiful cathedral in Old Town Puerto Vallarta awaits the crowds for Christmas celebrations.
Christmas Eve was spent with friends Chris and Chris in Old Town Puerto Vallarta. A fantastic dinner at Trio set us in the holiday spirit.
While out sailing, noticed a whale, heretofore known as Nettie, with a fishing net on its back. Poor Nettie could not dive. Another whale stayed with her. Three Mexican boats protected Nettie as they figured out how to try to get the net off her back. We are not certain what happened, but we hope Nettie is net free.
Enya, a Hallberg Rassy 53, raced in one of the beer can races. We were lucky enough to be asked to crew on Enya. What fun!
Friends Greg and Susan from the Long Beach based boat Tavana came down to Banderas Bay for a couple of weeks. We enjoyed spending time with them at the beach as well as visiting restaurants in Bucerias.
While out on the bay, we observed lots of beautiful boats. This huge, gorgeous boat is called Whirlaway. There is a person sitting on the bow pulpit of the boat. Another is standing on the starboard side near the mast.
This yacht is called Floridian. We figured out why once we saw the Miami Dolphins logo on the side of the boat The helicopter flew the ladies to Guadalajara one day to go shopping.
As we passed the airport, we noticed the Miami Dolphins jet on the tarmac.
We continue to love the food in Mexico. Do you think they have chips and salsa in the South Pacific?
Fiestas, fiestas. There is always a reason for parties, fireworks or carnivals
Our great friends, Richard and Marianne, came down from California to visit us. What a treat! Marianne wanted to be certain to watch the sunset from the beach. Lounging in beach chairs, snacking on tasty treats, chatting with friends and watching the sunset....does it get any better? From left to right you are looking at Richard, Robin, Marianne, Chris & Chris. Duncan is the one behind the camera.
Here is another picture of the gang at Fajita Republic.
Robin and Chris competed to see who could hang the most forks off their faces. And this was before the margaritas.
Check out this great internet cafe.
While in the boat yard, we hung out at Desparado Marine to enjoy icy cold cervezas and ostrich burgers. Yummm. We added a few ostrich burgers to the meat stash in the freezer.
Luckily for us, Chris & Chris on Spirit Wind spent the winter in Paradise Village with us. Lots of great times were had by all. We will really miss them as they head back north and we head south.
Will the sunrises and sunsets in the South Pacific compare to those in Mexico? Let's go find out!
Cruising in Mexico proved very fulfilling. Now, we are ready to take the big jump and head to the South Pacific. As soon as we find motivation and internet cafes, we will provide more updates on our adventure. See you in the South Pacific.