Back in the US, Back In the US, Back in the US...A

Well after three long wonderful years in Mexico, we have finally arrived back in the US, sailing in to SanDiego on Friday evening and clearing customs. Why US Customs always has to be pricks, I'll never know. But it was painless enough and we are here safe and sound. Ryan Flew, my long time best friend (might as well be my brother), flew to LaPaz and helped bring our new boat Radio Flyer back north. OH, I suppose it has been months since I've up dated this thing. We'll as most our friends and family know we have a new boat. I posted some picts on Facebook, and we have been on board for about 6months. Radio Flyer, is a 50 ft New Zealand build Farro Cement cutter built in 1977. She's a completely different sailing boat then Boreas, but I think we are happy. We certainly have more room, and I'm surprised at how much easier it is to sail something larger. On the down side, we are looking at a complete over haul, which means money and work. Which leads us to returning to the US.

We have been fortunate though in that our trip up the coast wasn't too bad, and accept for a beating up around Cabo, we didn't suffer too badly. I do get tired of always sailing into the wind though. We had the opportunity this time running north to see areas of the Pacific side of Baja, that we didn't three years ago sailing South on Boreas. I'm thankful for that. Also, now that I can speak the language much better, it made the trip more enjoyable then when we came down, being able to talk with locals.

We stopped in Mag bay and anchored over night, we needed fuel and met the local authorities. The local Sheriff was the first to offer to pick up diesel for us, so I bought it from him. Later the Port Captain stopped buy and wanted to know where we got the fuel. When I told him, he was furious at the sheriff, and said that only the Port Captain has the authority to sell diesel. Weather it's true or not, I don't really care. But I certainly wasn't going to pay more then I did. After filling out the Port Captains paperwork that he wanted, we hoisted anchor and were on our way.

We re-fueled in Turtle bay and Vianne had the opportunity to play with some local kids, one named Angel. We waited a couple days and re-couped, also dried out the boat a bit. Leaving Turtle bay we had a wonderful calm day to the north end of Sedros and wound up spending several days waiting for weather. We toured the small fishing village there and traded for some fish. Our last stop was Encenada for a final re-fuel before crossing the border. We tied up late at night, near the fuel pier. In the morning, while drinking coffee in the cockpit and waiting for the fuel pier to open, Vianne spotted the only playground with in five miles, and insisted that Mom take her. She deserved it, she was a real trooper and very easy to have on board.

Now,Back in San Diego, we are getting settled in. We are very thankful for all our wonderful friends who have been helping us out and looking for work for us as well. We really don't know what is in store for the future, but that's part of the adventure????

Sailing against the wind is stupid! It seams to me at first that pushing on a rope, trying to swim up river, and most things that defy common since or the laws of physics would be natural to follow. However, spending time away from society and in nature is starting to show me just how often I have tried to brake laws of physics, simply because they are not convienient for me! We spent a good week or more beating our heads against a brick wall sailing up wind trying to make as much distance north and reach Santa Rosalia. All because I want to go there! When in reality it's much easier to simply wait, or go the other direction! Perhaps someday I'll learn?
We were trying to catch up to our friends on Moonhunter, Bill and Miriam, which I'm glad to say we have. Although, we never did reach Santa Rosalia. Early November we made radio contact with Moonhunter Near Mulije toward the mouth of the Bay of Conseption. Summer in Baja ended and the North winds had started racing down Baja. Which means we will have several days of good weather with several days of winds up to 35 knots blowing from the cold north. The frustrating part of this is that it forces the water temperature to change quickly and also makes a short, sharp wave that literally stops the boat when trying to head into it! When the winds here kick up there is nothing to do but go with it. We turned into Conseption and spent a few days waiting to the Norther to die. The water was a beautiful turquoise, however no fish.
Over the past month we have been living off the ocean spending good chunks of time in areas which are havens for seafood. We spent about a week anchored of Punto Pulpito where we lived on Yellow tail, snaper, Cabrilla and Ruster fish. So far my ruster is the biggest fish that I have shot. It's funny how a 30lb fish can drag a 160lb man through the water....skipping!
Vianne, and us all, have been enjoying Bill and Miriam, and has taken to calling to Aunty Mirium and uncle Bill. She got pretty excited when she recognized Moonhunter for the first time,and who was on board.
The water is getting colder so swimming has become more infrequent. However Vianne, Mandy and I have all jumped in. Vianne is getting better with her water wings and I'm hopping that when we get to warmer water we can persue swimming more actively. In the mean while we have been taking few shore excersions and exploring beaches and some local trails. While anchored in Juanico we hiked over to the next bay to the north. Vianne thought the small caves were neat and expressed that she could live here. Mandy made a contribution to the local sailing schrine and we tried to find the rock, which Moonhunter placed there eight years ago, no luck.
Running low on supplies we decided to make our way to Coronados and wait till the weather was calm in order to sail to Loreto for supplies. The water turned to absolute crystal clear blue. While snorkeling on the east side, there were times when the visibilaty was about 100ft. Our last day at Coronados we took Boreas around to the north east point, and we all took turns snorkeling and exploring the reefs. Bill and I were able to swim out to two ridges which were about 80ft deep and at the bottom, huge grouper and snaper would swim with in 10 ft. On one of my dives a grouper that was as big as big as I swam up, almost with in arms length. It is an unforgettable experience being in absolute quiet holding your breath at 80ft while a monster fish is looking at you, hovering. The only thing I could think of was. "Is he wondering if he can eat me or not?" At any rate a beautiful place. We restocked in Loreto by anchoring and dinging ashore, returned to Coronados for a couple more days and then made our way back to Puerto Escondito for fuel, water and e-mail.
Each day is the same, yet completely different at the same time. With out the ability to spend money, value changes and the realization that so many things are not needed. I think I'm learning to value my family more. At least I'm trying to. Some days I think I'm more trying then others.
We are continuing to get Boreas more and more ready to cross the Pacific. I have just about finished all the little projects that I wanted to get done while in the sea. However, when we return to LaPaz I have a whole new list ,which will take me several weeks to get done. Included as, adjusting the windvaine/autopilot (I want to build a longer rudder for better leverage), I want to build lockers in the laz for better storage and I'm going to have the high pressure fuel pump on the main re-built. I've been able to trouble shoot some problems and have determined that it needs to be fixed, I was hoping it was just filters. Plus there are a number of other small projects.
I think right now one thing that amazes me more then anything is how much work it is just to live! It takes so much energy now just to eat, clean play. There is no room for anything else!
After I clean the bottom of the boat, we will start making our way slowly toward LaPaz. We will try and spend some time on Monserrat Island and checkout the hot springs near Agua Verde.
Unfortunatly it's amazing how quickly time rolls by. We will be back in LaPaz before the 19th as Mandy's mom is joining us for Christmas. We are also looking forward to that.

Not wanting to test superstition and leave on a Friday, we departed LaPaz Sat Oct 24th. After over a year in LaPaz working on Boreas and saving money, we are finally away on our own adventure. It's funny, but this actually marks the first (quote) "Cruising" (unquote) that we have done as a family. Mandy and I did a bit in the San Juans, before Vianne was born. And we cruised down to Mexico. However, we always had crew aboard. This is our first time away from the docks and adventuring as a family. Scary!
It's hard! I think that many friends/ family think that we are off and away in sunny Mexico and playing all day. Yea, I wish!
OK, here is the nitty gritty of what a day for us really looks like.
First Vianne wakes us up just and the sun is barely turning the sky and she promptly announces, "look Mommy, it's not dark blue! It's light blue! Shall I have a smooothy?"
Mind you, Mandy and I would both rather be sleeping. Thankfully, I have a wonderful wife and she usually gets up to feed Vianne and start making coffee, allowing me to sleep fifteen more minutes. If we are going to transit anywhere, it means trying to come up with creative ways of entertaining Vianne and also getting the boat moving at the same time. I can say it's hard enough just to get the boat to behave and work with the wind, but try doing it when the two year old wants to play with the steering wheel right at the moment when you need to tack. Then in the nicest way you can, you have to quickly explain that the wheel turns the boat an we don't want to hit those rocks right over there! Then the joys of arguing over whose steering wheel it is....."it's mine. I bought it, I cleaned it I fixed it....it's mine. Accept for when Vianne wants to play with it. Then it's hers." Oh the joys of kids on boats! I have been trying to time our transits such that we have time to play on the beach either before we leave or after we get to our anchorage. So far we have been doing well. Mandy has been doing wonderful with Vianne and started school for her. This entails changing cloths and getting ready for school first. Which is really quite practical and will help make a distinction in the future. Mandy has been teaching Vianne about letters and teaching her what words start with A and B. So far we have had two actual days of school on board and they have been, I would say, good. Vianne has been very excited to show me what she is learning. A very good start.
I have been thankful to do a bit of spear fishing. However, not as much as I would like. I did shoot a very nice Cabrilla two days ago. It was big enough that it will feed us for several days. The bulk of my time this week has been catching up on more projects. I finally finished re-building the small 2h Suzuki outboard and it's now running good. I also services the other outboard, which I'm hoping to sell, or trade for a wind generator.
I spent one day repairing all the instruments for the main engine and installing actual gauges. We are all very excited. However, I'm just stoked to have lights on the gauges! The generator is now serviced as well, and treating us good. I'm a little disappointed at how much power the frig requires. However, I figure we are spending about two dollars a day to run the generator and have a frige. You know that's a lot less then rent and commuting to work every day, and I get cold drinks! I'm happy. I would say the hardest thing is that it's HOT! When you have a grumpy kid and small quarters, temperature makes a huge difference. We often have to douse each other with water just to cool our heads. At night when it's time to put Vianne to bed, we have our ritual arguments of brushing her teeth and going potty. Mommy always wins, (yeah Mom)! And eventually we get Vianne to bed. Every night though is hot, muggy and sticky. It's hard for any of us to get to sleep. In the late evening however, the wind will finally pick up and give a breeze through the boat making it comfortable again. Every day is different, yet they are all the same. The one thing I can say is absolutely true. It's just as easy to get too busy and not enjoy where your at here as it is there. There is a certain mind set that has to change to allow you to not only get things done, but also enjoy where you are at and who your with.

Officially over,

Norbert has passed and we are still alive.  The affects of the hurricane here is LaPaz have been pretty small.  I'm thankful that the full force of the storm has passed more to the north.  We did receive wind and rain, however every time I went out side to get a decent picture, nothing through the leans looked impressive enough to blog about.  I mean, not that I'm complaining in the least. However, if your going to go through all the trouble of securing your boat for a hurricane, you'd think that I would get one decent picture out of the deal? I'll have to check on line and see if there is photos worth showing.  At any rate I think the biggest trouble we have encountered is boredom.  I am thankful though that we don't have to worry about it any more.  

The weather forecast is better, but we are not out of the woods yet.  Norbert is supposed to pass to the north and has been downgraded to a category one.  Much better then a a category four with 150mph winds.  We have Boreas in Marina Palimra and everything is mostly secure.  Today We will be finishing up the last bit of prep.  When I transited Boreas over to the Marina, I was stopped by the Mexican Harbor patrol.  They closed the harbor and were making sure no one was leaving.  I think it was because there had been some talk on the radio by some gringos about trying to outrun the hurricane, dumb!  Now that there is not as much concern, we will be continuing to get Boreas ready to head north, hopefully next week.  I hate Hurricanes! 

Crap! It would figure that two weeks after we get back to Mexico that we get hit by a hurricane.  Well at least it looks like that is going to be the case.  Norbert has been gaining strength and is pushing catagory four.  I found a slip to secure the boat and we will be staying with our friends at Casa Buena for the duration.  We are all just praying that Norbert does not make a b-line for LaPaz.  We are stocking up on food and fuel. I will move Boreas in the morning, pull the sails and everything off the deck.  Once in the Marina I will double all lines and put chafing gear.  It's going to be a long couple days. 

 

WooHooo, the boat is finally in the water!  Ok, it's taken a whole lot of work bet we are getting there.  We still have lots left to do, but we are well on schedule to take off for the Sea in another week.  I started working on the instilation of the refrigeration, I need to install the compressor.  Mandy has been feverishly cleaning and trying to purge the boat from the infestation of cockroaches.....Yuk! 

We are almost done though.  Vianne has made her announcement that "we need to go sailing"  frankly I think we are all in agreement.  

Now I remember Why I like Mexico! Here is the three fish I shot today. Life can't be all work.  We took a couple hours this afternoon to kill some fish.  Hmmm dinner sure was good tonight!

For the first time in history, a boat project is actually getting done ahead of schedule!  We had planned on being out of the water and working on Boreas for two weeks. However, I have finished the bottom and we are getting ready to put her back in the water on Monday!  I painted to bottom in a record two days!  The nonskid is also done on the deck.  Mandy and I will get her all cleaned up and ready this weekend and we will be moving on board once we are in the water.  We should be up and running next week.

In LaPaz and getting settled in.  Mandy and I have worked out a plan for getting our boat done and back in the water.  As usual, there seems more work that we can get done.  We are staying at Casabuena with our friends Milton, Susu and their daughter Michelle.  Vianne is so happy to see her friends again.  Watching all the crisis in the US with a crashing economy and an upcoming election, I can honestly say that I'm glad not to be there! 

We have been taking every opportunity to get Vianne in the water.  She is kicking much better and she seams much more comfortable then before.  I really hope that she will be swimming with in the next year.  Every one is happy to not be stuck in the car anymore.  I think we will have to have a little family party when we finally move back on board! 

As much fun at we have had visiting all our family and friends, we are happy to be our own family again.  

So as you can see Mandy and Vianne are happy to be making our way down the Baja.  I've promised for months to show Vianne a Dr. Suess trees, which really exist! This is a Cirio cactus which grown only in northern Baja. Very Cool!  
We also stopped in San Ignacio to have breakfast, great place to see when you are driving through the desert.  Always good to see an Owasis.  Driving through the desert after the recent rains was awsom! The whole desert bloomed and looked like the tropics once was passed into souther Baja.  We couldn't believe how beautiful it is! Also it's nice to be back in warm weather! Tomorrow we are heading to the beach!!

We find another Park?

Vianne on her trusty steed, ready to vanquish the evil dragon, she has her sward in hand.  Ok, maybe a duck isn't the best steed but it's do the job when your little.  

Parks are always fun, and we seem to have an obsession with finding the best one.  On our way, driving home to our boat in Mexico, we have been on a journey to find the best parks on the West Coast.  Vianne is particularly fond of the "magic" park w/ castles and dragons. Which her friends Juliet and Sarah introduced, while driving through Or.  The 

big slide park was also a good one.  Which Mia and Ruby and their mom and dad Jake and Sarah took us while in Valejo Ca.  however, I think dad liked the slide more. 

Now Passing through San diego Vianne has been able to meet a whole new group of friends.   She has been having great

 fun with Anya and Lilly.  As a dad it's been fun to watch Anya and Vianne become such good little friends.  It's great to watch them play so well together.  Though I don't always understand their stories, they are inventive.  Cute kids! 

New Blogging for the Longlys

Ok , 

For all the Friends and family. We've moved to this Blog format for two reasons.  One this one is easier to use, and two it's cheeper! I found that with our last blogging tool, I stopped writing because it was not user friendly.  So I'm hoping that this will be easier for me to keep in touch with all of you.  It will be even easier for you all to get a Facebook account as well.  I'm planning on using that format to pictures and video.  Here is to keeping up w/ this blog!

Nice fish hey?
I shot this while free diving at 30ft! The only bummer was that it completely destroyed my spear and now I have to build a new one! The visibility was really bad, about 7 feet, and I thought this was a small Pargo. Instead, this guy had his back to me and I had only seen his fin when I pulled the trigger. The Cabrio is close to twenty pounds. Not bad for a days work!
In other news, I'm happy to report that work is finally paying off! This week we have officially payed off the last of the debt we aquired while in the yard. Now we are only adding to our sailing kitty. It's been rough trying to catch up, but it feels good. Also Mandy and I are working on our game plan, trying to focus on our goals and making our next step. While we have made no official plans as to where we will go next, we are getting a good idea as to when and in the next couple months we will see more clearly when and where we should go.
I'm finding that living this type of cruising lifestyle, we spend much more time in port then actually cruising. I suppose that working your way around the world is simply going to take much longer then I thought it would.
I wouldn't change a thing!

Nice fish hey?
I shot this while free diving at 30ft! The only bummer was that it completely destroyed my spear and now I have to build a new one! The visibility was really bad, about 7 feet, and I thought this was a small Pargo. Instead, this guy had his back to me and I had only seen his fin when I pulled the trigger. The Cabrio is close to twenty pounds. Not bad for a days work!
In other news, I'm happy to report that work is finally paying off! This week we have officially payed off the last of the debt we aquired while in the yard. Now we are only adding to our sailing kitty. It's been rough trying to catch up, but it feels good. Also Mandy and I are working on our game plan, trying to focus on our goals and making our next step. While we have made no official plans as to where we will go next, we are getting a good idea as to when and in the next couple months we will see more clearly when and where we should go.
I'm finding that living this type of cruising lifestyle, we spend much more time in port then actually cruising. I suppose that working your way around the world is simply going to take much longer then I thought it would.
I wouldn't change a thing!

Well,
LaPaz has been good to us. We continue to thrive here and are enjoying our friends and family. The summer has not been too bad, however it is hot. Mandy, Vianne and I are getting used to being cockroaches hiding from the sun.
I'm pleased to say that last Friday Mandy was able to perform her first dive since before Vianne was born. It was a beautiful day and the water was very clear for us. Unfortunately we did not see the hammerhead sharks we were looking for, but there were a lot of fish.
Vianne has discovered the power of the word THAT. Everything is THAT. It's amazing to see how fast she is growing. She isn't saying NO yet, however whenever we want her to do something that she doesn't, she shakes her head back and forth. She diffidently has her own mind. She is also getting very fast and running all over the place.
We continue to play with Vianne in the water as much as possible. She is slowly making progress in being able to swim. It will be nice when she does.
We are hoping to have the new netting for the boat this week. Vianne will be happier being able to play on deck.
Work is well. It's good to be able to provide for my family. We have no immediate plans as to when we will set sail again. We are simply trying to continue saving money and make repairs and upgrades to the boat.
The major projects include new standing rigging, Mainsail, autopilot and painting the deck with non-skid. In addition we will be getting or building a new dinghy before we set out again. Our old one did not fair well over the past several months. I'm convinced that the solution is to build a nesting dingy, however, in due time.
For the meantime, I have been continuing with minor projects, that do not cost too much and that can be finished in a weekend.
Last weekend I put new Formica in the head and Mandy is pleased to have a new looking bathroom. The new stone green looks much better then the alarm yellow that was there.
We have also been able to get the boat into condition of day sailing, which we have done a little. It's good to remember why we are here in the first place.
As always we are doing well and enjoying life here. I'm still playing music with the local English church here, when I can. It's has been good. We are very thankful for where we are and how life has been treating us.
We are very thankful that summer is almost over. Cooler weather will be nice! As well, is the prospect of seeing our friends on other cruising boats who headed north for the summer? We are also looking forward to seeing family, which will be making their way south sometime soon.

Wow has it been a while since we've made an update! Yikes. So Mandy and I have Mexican Visas to stay in the Country for another year. Following our last entry, we hauled Boreas out of the water. Ryan and a new friend Andrew were great and did a whole bunch of work. The yard stripped all the bottom pain off and put a new barrier coat on and then new bottom paint. We fixed our long time clunking rudder, changed the cutlass bearing and rebuild the shaft packing. Ryan and Andrew stripped all the deck hardware off and painted the deck along with the help of another cruising friend Adam from Estrella. We also had new Stainless steal railing welded around the boat to make a stronger life line. It's great.
We were preparing to head back to the States for work. However, We have been very fortunate. Through friends, I have accepted a job Captain of a private sailing yacht. It's a pretty good gig. I started working the same week we had scheduled to have Boreas hauled out of the water. I was very thankful to have Ryan and Andrew willing to help so much!
After splashing Boreas, Ryan and Andrew sailed with Bill on Moonhunter and headed in to the Sea for the summer...Thank you guys!
Mandy and I now living the Marina life. The summer has been hot, well at least for us. We are not used to temperatures over 100 degrees. Yes, we bought air conditioning! Mandy and Vianne have been spending time on the boat and at Casa Buena with our friends there. I have made several trips on the boat I'm working on. It's been a good set up. We are very thankful that this has afforded us the opportunity to extend our cruising and rebuild our sailing kitty. No current plans exactly, have to see how fast we can save money. Then decide where we will go to next.
Vianne is growing like a weed. She isn't talking yet, but she can really move! She has said a couple words. I'm very proud that she can say Fish! Like father like daughter.....Ok mom's a bit crazy about fish too!
In the mean while we are just hunkering down and trying to keep cool, and avoid any (shhhh hurricanes).
We are in a good place though. We are just taking one day at a time.

Well,
We've been having fun! The past weeks/months have vanished in a sunny memory. We have taken every opportunity to make for the Islands north of La Paz, Espirit Esanto, Partita and Isla San Fransisco. We have made wonderful friends here both on other boats and on land. So many exciting things have happened around us, it's hard to put it all into a short few words. Our friends on Imani, Mark and Dourine and their son Tristan set sail recently to return to California. We will miss them. They and Bill and Miriam on Moon Hunter have adopted us as family while sailing here in the Sea. Both Moon Hunter and Imani have performed extensive cruises through the Pacific and have been cruising for years. I have to give them thanks for showing us so many little tricks to cruise.
Here in LaPaz He have seen both tragedy and rebirth. Brian owner of Shelly B. a Pearson Triton watched as his boat burn to the water on night about March 20th. With in 24 hours the community of sailors pulled together and raised enough money to purchase another Pearson Triton, which happened to be, anchored not that far away from the Shelley. Ryan along with many others put in long hours getting Brian's new boat into shape and in the water. We helped raise additional funds to help replace all Brian's lost items. I am happy to report that Brian has been able to sail Phoenix, his new boat as far and Isla San Francisco with us, Moon Hunter and Imani. The whole story of Brian's boat is an amazing story of the resourcefulness and fortitude of sailors and the human spirit, whit our deep desire to be free.
In the mean while Mandy, Ryan and I have been hanging out at Cassa Buena and Crossroads, and English speaking church here in LaPaz. We've met so many wonderful people here and made such good friends. I see why LaPaz is one of those places that people get sucked into and never leave. While here we have made good friends with Milton and Susu, owners of Cassa Buena and also fellow cruisers. They sailed to LaPaz via boat years ago and returned to settle down after extended cruising through Mexico and the Caribbean, and discovering Cassa Buena, a beautiful bed and breakfast here in La Paz.
We have been enjoying our time here in La Paz, But we can feel the weather getting warmer. The big question is, what's next? As for now, we don't really know. For the immediate future we are planning on hauling our Boreas and getting the bottom done. I'm finally going to fix the rudder slop, which hasn't proven to be much of a problem, fortunately. However, we have no idea where we will be heading next, be it into the Sea, back to the States or ????????
The fortunate thing is that Mandy and I will be house sitting for a couple weeks in May and we figure that will be the perfect opportunity to haul the boat. This way we don't have to try and live on board with a baby and try to paint the bottom, along with other various projects...
Ryan will probably head north, eventually... to return to work, while Mandy and I are investigating several opportunities. Our Mexican Visas will expire in another month and a bit. I can't believe it's been almost six months!
Vianne has had her first birthday. She is growing so fast! She has started getting her molar teeth. Almost a full set. She is standing more and more on her own, and always a smile. Mandy and I are trying to introduce here more and more to salt water. However, sometime it's ok, other time she's not very excited by it. She gets around the boat well though. Everything is her size, and she is getting fast at climbing over everything. I'm glad we got the netting up when we did! Unfortunately she has learned a couple tricks that are not good. I.E. checking if things float! She seems to think it's exciting to through her diapers and cloths over the side of the boat. Ryan found one of her little skirts under the boat while at anchor about a week ago.
In other news we have been able to start washing Vianne's diapers in salt water and let them air dry with out fresh water rinsing. So far she has not developed any reaction. This is great news, in that we are no longer limited in range by our diapers! This adds to the question as to where are we going to head to next?
We'll just have to see.

The next day we anchored off Baha de San Jose del Cabo, close to the Coral Baha Resort. In the morning we returned Gean to the Resort by way of dingy and anchoring just off the resort, quite a dramatic entrance. Fortunately I didn't flip the dingy in the surf when Gean was aboard. Instead, Mandy and I flipped it on the third attempted landing. I wouldn't say the surf was too bad, at about a foot. Instead, I just have lousy timing. I think we may need to practice our surf landings. No, Vianne was not on board at the time. After taking Gean ashore we wisely decided this was not the place to take a baby ashore. The only casualty of the morning was Mandy's hat, which seems to have vanished. After properly getting beat up by the surf, I was exhausted. Mandy and I returned to Boreas, where Ryan was watching Vianne. We hoisted anchor and headed off for Baha Frailes. Which, I am glad to report is not only beautiful but completely calm! It was nice to finally get a nights sleep with out rocking! We are in rout for La Paz, so we only stayed the night. In the morning we picked the anchor again and headed out. Our second night we stayed at Biah de Muertos (bay of the Dead!). The name is scarier then the location. Actually the it's called that because of the moorings available there are called Dead Heads, thus the name. It was a nice anchorage, nothing available there accept a Giggling Marlins Restaurant. We went ashore and had Ice Cream. It's amazing how the simple pleasures in life are so rewarding.
Most vessels traveling the waters of the world are limited by resources. For example water or food. Some vessels are limited only by how much fuel they carry. We on the other hand are limited by diapers! We have approximately four days worth of cloth diapers. After that, we must resort to hanging Vianne over the side, or simply using a bucket to wash down the deck. This does not, however always work. It is true that necessity is the mother of invention. And now I officially have the duty of diaper washer. In the warm weather, we reached a point were we could no longer stand the rotting stench emanating from the aft end of Boreas. Buckets do well to hold dirty diapers, but they can only do so much. I finally broke down and washed all Vianne's diapers, using salt water. Once we reached La Paz we threw them into a lavatec (Laundromat) and rinsed out the remanding salt water. In the meanwhile we used a couple disposables, and what ever we had that could absorb.....whatever!

We spent the next three days sailing toward Cabo San Lucas. Thursday Jan 4th is marked as the most beautiful day sailing so far. It was completely perfect. We had seven knots of wind out of the northwest, with not a cloud in the sky. Flying twin head sails and the main we were making almost six and a half knots, absolutely no swell to speak of. After catching another tuna, Ryan decided it would be a good idea to go for a swim. Throwing a line in the water, he jumped overboard and hung on, diving like a fish and using the speed of the boat to jet himself away and back again to the hull. We pulled him aboard, and I took a turn. 70-degree water is incredibly refreshing! Shortly there after, we were joined again by another large pod of dolphins. Ryan and I discussed the possibility of swimming with them, but decided against it, due to the difficulty of getting back aboard. These dolphins stayed with us for much of the remaining miles to Cabo San Lucas, coming and going as they please. The wind picked up and again we were under reefed jib, all the way to Cabo. We arrived on the morning of the 6th at 0535 and dripped anchor to get a few hours sleep.
After a few hours sleep we headed into Cabo to get fuel and call Gean, Mandy's mom. While at the fuel dock Ryan had a little accident and fell overboard as we were pulling away. His lack of coordination was due to a serious lack of sleep, and in the process lost his precious Maui Jim sunglasses. After returning to anchor, we patched up his gaping chin, which I'm glad to report is healing nicely, though it's still going to be a day or two before he can safely go swimming with out worrying about it opening up again. I'm just glad we had the supplies on board to deal with it. I would be surprised to see it scar to badly. We spent that night with Gean and Margaret at their Resort in the Baha Coral, and had a lovely dinner and fresh water showers! We swam in the pool and celebrated our arrival at the swim up bar. Vianne swam with mommy and daddy. She is taking to water just like her mommy. She is going to be a great little swimmer. The next day Margaret flew out, and Gean joined us aboard Boreas for a couple days. She brought presents for Vianne and us, a belated Christmas. Vianne has been enjoying her hungry caterpillar puppet while the rest of us have been enjoying our new oil lamp! We sailed north to Chilleno Reef. While in transit we caught a nice Marcel, which we ate for dinner that night. We stayed at anchorage there, which was lumpy, and swam and snorkeled the next day. While at Chilleno Reef, yours truly seems to have forgotten how to tie line. It seems that somehow the dingy decided it wanted to have a tour of the reefs, and set about on its own merry way. Fortunately, we were anchored near a private beach, which had its own security guard. He kindly got my attention by flagging me down. It wasn't until he actually walked over to where the dingy had decided to stop for a spell, had I realized what happened. I was about to jump in and swim for it when a Girl on a wave runner drove by. She was American and we said hello, I asked her if she would be willing to run me ashore
She was kind enough to do so, though her guide whom she had rented the watercraft from, was not as excited about. When I explained to him what had happened, he understood. I made it ashore and thanked the security guard for getting our attention, and speaking no English he smiled knowingly. I pushed the dingy pack to deeper water and made my way back through the rocks and tied it up to Boreas, very tight this time. However, I guess this just goes to show, that when traveling in Mexico, it's no worry as to how well one ties up anything. If anything comes loose, some nice Mexican will surly go out of their way to always return any lost property. Ok, that one was a gimmy! Next time I doubt that we will be so lucky.