Cabo San Lucas - November 6, 2009

We have arrived in Cabo. We have traveled approximately 750 miles by sea from San Diego. We began with weather at 48 degrees in the morning to currently low 70's, with daytime temperature in the 70's to currently in the 80-90's, to water temperature of 63 degrees to currently 82 degrees.

Friday, October 30 we left Ensenada with a beautiful sunrise. The seas were 3-4 feet with wind about 10 knots. We arrived at our anchorage, Cabo Colonet, 65 miles SE of Ensenada at 3:30 p.m. The anchorage is noted by its sheer cliffs(300-400 feet) and flat plateaus. We enjoyed the evening by sitting on the deck, gourmet bar-b-q, and an evening of Mexican Train.

Saturday, October 31, we left Cabo Colonet at 5:15 a.m., heading towards Punta Baja. In the afternnoon it was decided that the anchorage was going to be to rolly and we needed to head to Turtle Bay. This made our first overnight. It is so much easier doing an overnight with 4 people to share watch as opposed to 2 people. Seas were 2-3 feet and winds 5-9 knots. The seas have become progressively calmer and the weather warmer.


We arrived at Turtle Bay on Sunday at 3:30 p.m., 225 miles south of Colonet. Turtle Bay is half way along the Baja Peninsula. It is the best all weather bay between Ensenada and Magdalena Bay. The village has less that 1000 people. They are primarily fishermen.

The coastline has been very desolate, desert like, with colors of different browns set against the blue ocean. While we did come down the coast last year on our own boat we were further off shore and did not see much of the coastline.

We left Turtle Bay Monday for Bahia Asuncion, 50 miles SE of Turtle Bay, another small village. It was a very calm anchorage. On Tuesday we left Asuncion at sunrise heading to Magdalena Bay, 204 miles south. The seas were 1-2 feet and 7-8 knots of wind. We anchored at Belcher's Point inside Mag Bay. The anchorage had strong currents. We noticed many old buildings along Belcher's Point, an old phosphorus plant, and an old whaling station. The coastline has been greener due to the recent Hurricane Rick.



We have fished along the way catching Yellow Fin Tuna and Dorado. I have learned that it is more humane to use vodka killing fish as opposed to using a bat.

We left Belcher's Point on Thursday morning heading to Cabo San Lucas, 160 miles, arriving Friday morning. Cabo is a prime tourist attraction. We went ashore for the first time in a week having lunch ashore. We will leave for Mazatlan in the morning and arrive sometime Sunday afternoon.


We have had beautiful full moon rises, sun rises, and sunsets. We have had great weather. We have had a wonderful time sharing this experience with John and Rosie. We have enjoyed great food, good fun with games, and lots of laughter. We have enjoyed the peace that the sea and the sun provides. We value the freedom of being on our own schedules.

I believe I am a convert to the "Dark Side", Wally is still pending........

Ensenada, Baja California

Stuck in Ensenada. The Port Captain has closed the harbor due to high winds(45 knots) and high seas(17-19 feet). We arrived in Ensenada Sunday night and have been waiting to leave since Tuesday. We are glad we are not out at sea. We will likely leave on Friday morning.

Ensenada (actual name Ensenada De Todos Santos) is the third largest city in the Mexico State of Baja California. Ensenada has a population of 460,075. Ensenada is locally referred as La Bella Cenicenta del Pacific (the Cinderella of the Pacific).


We are currently at the Hotel Coral Marina. We have access to all the amenities of the hotel which includes the pool, hot tub, gym and restaurant. We have been using all the services (FYI-the men are avoiding the gym).

We had a beautiful ride from San Diego to Ensenada which is about 60 miles. We left in fog which cleared out to a beautiful sunny day. We saw our first sea life, dolphins, which swam with us.


SerenaRay, John and Rosie's 47' Nordhavn, is a beautiful boat. We are enjoying all the luxuries and comforts of their new home. We have had great meals due to John's culinary skills. We have been reading, keeping up with our friends adventures on the Baja HaHa, playing games and taking naps.



Yesterday we took a ride to see "La Bufadora", the second largest of the major marine geysers in the world. (We are wondering what is #1?) We were surprised to see the agriculture in the outlaying areas of Ensenada.

We have 900 miles by water to go to Mazatlan. Our next stop, weather permitting, Cabo Colonet, San Quintin, and then Turtle Bay. Rosie and I are trying to avoid an overnight as long as possible.

San Diego - October 23, 2009

We are off for Cruising Season 2! We are excited to be returning to our cruising lifestyle.

There are so many things we are looking forward to:
1)Seeing old friends and meeting new friends.
2)Exploring new places.
3)Eating at some of our favorite places: Fat Fish, Tacos in the Street, Filos.
4)Listening to local music as well as cruisers music jams.
5)Riding our new "cruising" bikes.
6)Swimming, snorkeling, kayaking.
7)Noodle parties.
8)Playing Mexican Train.
9)Warm weather, especially warm evenings.

We are joining our friends, John and Rosie, on their boat, Serena Ray, pictured above. We are departing from San Diego to Ensenada where we will obtain our visas and check into the country of Mexico. From there we will explore the Baja coast cruising towards Mazatlan where our boat, Andanzas, has been for the summer.

We leave you with this thought as you follow our adventure. "If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good." Dr. Seuss

Ventura, CA - September 28, 2009

We have continued to enjoy our time at home visiting and playing with family and friends. I have managed to work in between my play time and Wally has done some boat deliveries and boating lessons.

Wally, and Ed from Windsong, took a road trip to Mazatlan to deliver our new dingy and other items both boats felt necessary for our next cruising season. They drove down the Baja side and took the ferry from LaPaz to Mazatlan. Their return trip they drove up the Mexico mainland. They enjoyed seeing some of the anchorages and bays in the Sea of Cortez. We look forward to exploring the Sea of Cortez on Andanzas.

We have vacationed with my family at Balboa Island and enjoyed a week at the beach. I have spent time at Nacimento Lake with my brothers, sister and parents doing one of our favorite water sport, wave running. My latest trip was to New York to visit Niagra Falls with my family.

We are excited about finishing our summer and heading back to Mazatlan to pick up our boat. Our tentative departure is around October 18. We have the opportunity to join our friends, John and Rosie, on their boat Serena Ray, in San Diego and go by sea back to Mazatlan.

Ventura, California - June 16, 2009

Home....We find that our hearts are here at home with family and friends, but our adventurous spirit remains with Andanzas in Mazatlan. We had a cultural adjustment returning to the States. We returned to English as opposed to Spanglish, dollars as opposed to pesos, casual lifestyle to a fast pace lifestyle, inexpensive living to expensive living.

We returned to Ventura with our first purpose was to set up our other home on DreamCatcher. DreamCatcher did not sell while we were gone, however, it has given us a place to live during these summer months. Unfortunately, we had emptied and sold everything on the boat before we left for Mexico so we have been busy resupplying DreamCatcher.

We have been visiting family in Paso Robles, San Francisco and Orange County. It has been great to see all of our family. In addition we have seen our cruising friends Scott and Linda from Samantha. They are currently in Marina Del Rey heading north to San Francisco soon. We had Scott and Sue from Suebee with their boat in Channel Islands for a week. Wally went with them from Channel Islands to San Francisco. They have completed their cruising adventure. We have visited with Ed and Annette from Windsong and Frank and Stephanie from Endless Summer who are also home for the summer months.

I have returned to work for the summer. Work seems to interfere with our playing time, however, we are making the best of it. We spent the past week-end in Mammouth Lakes area. The mountain tops were covered with snow. The pine trees smelled so good. We had rain showers, cold and hot weather. We spent the days hiking. The good news is this is the first time in 2 years that Wally has been able to hike. The surgery he had in Mexico continues to be a success.









We have many activities planned for the summer. We will spend next week with my family at Balboa Island. I will be seeing my newest grandchild for the first time. Wally will be taking a trip in July to Mazatlan to supply Andanzas for next cruising season. In addition we will
continue to visit family and friends.

Mazatlan-May 4, 2009

We have been working on new boat projects the past weeks. We have had our teak stripped of varnish to its bare wood and our other outside wood varnished. It looks brand new. We also have added a top stainless steel rail on the side of our cockpit to make it safer. One of our friends went overboard at sea due to a broken life line so we thought we would improve our safety features. We also had additional canvas work done. We have had a tarp made to put over the top of the boat to create an air pocket between the sun and the top of the boat.

Finally, we have sold our dingy. That was one of our purchases that did not work out well for us. It was way too heavy for the two of us to beach. We have purchased a new dingy that weighs half of what we had.

I have been a student the past week. I was enrolled in an immersion Spanish course. While a goal of mine is to speak conversational Spanish I had no idea it would be so much work. They even taught the class in Spanish! and thought I would know what they said?

We are soon homeward bound. We have learned that cruising plans change all the time. We have decided not to spend the summer cruising due to the high temperatures. We will leave our boat, Andanzas, in Mazatalan for the summer. We will be returning to Ventura to spend the summer on my boat, DreamCatcher. I will return to work June 1 and work until November 1. Wally will be available again for sailing instructions and already has a boat delivery scheduled to San Francisco. We will be returning to Mexico in November to continue our cruising adventures. I am fortunate to have people who are willing to job share.

There is much to do when leaving a boat in Mexico during hurricane season. Mazatlan has not been hit by a hurricane in a number of years. We have to take all the canvas off, take sails down, secure lines, have all the food off the boat due to possible cockroaches, clean all the inside of the boat to prevent mildew. The lists goes on and on.

Wally and I have been reflecting back over our first season of cruising as it draws to an end. It is hard to convey all of our experiences. We have benefited from our experience. We have found that we can live 24/7 together and have handled many challenges over the past 8 months.

Our favorite city: Mazatlan
Our least favorite city: Puerto Vallarta
Our favorite anchorage: Las Hadas
Our least favorite anchorage: Chamala
Our favorite marina: Barra de Navidad
Our favorite village: La Cruz

What we enjoyed most: 1)meeting new friends, 2)having time, 3)freedom to do what we wanted at any time, 4)not having so many rules and laws to live by that the States has, 5.)being responsible for ourselves.

What we learned: 1)how to live and adapt to a new country, 2.)that Mexico has great medical, dental, and veterinary care, 3.)that one has to be aware of tides in Mexico, 3)radio frequencies, 4.)must use bug spray, 5.)how friendly the country is, 5.)must be watchful of fishing long lines which can be 2-3 miles long, 6.)how inexpensive it is to live in Mexico.

What we will miss while we are gone: 1)our cruising friends, 2) the weather, 3.) inexpensive living, 3) casual lifestyle

What we are looking forward to: 1) seeing family, 2)seeing friends, 3)our cars (we have not driven a car in 8 months), 4)grain sweetened chocolate covered raisins and fruit sweetened chocolate cake(Linda), 5) In-Out Burger, KFC(Wally), 6)Sharp yellow cheddar cheese, 7)Dad's biscuits and gravy(Wally), 8)cooler weather(Wally), and 9) local travel.

Angel will also be traveling home with us on the plane. She is now a trained registered Hearing Impaired Service Dog for Wally. (I can vouch for that!) Angel will sit with us on the plane. The airlines are very accommodating to service dogs.

The pictures above are of the surrounding Marina Mazatlan area.

Mazatlan-April 25, 2009

We have spent the past week enjoying our friends, Tom and Leslie, from Lancaster. They stayed in the El Cid Resort next to our marina, Marina Mazatlan. We spent time sight seeing, lounging around the pool and eating out at night. It was a vacation for us also.

One day we hired a tour guide to take us to the local historical colonial towns. One of our first stops was a local brick factory. The bricks are hand made. The workers make 1000 bricks in 12 hours for $300 pesos per day($22.70American).


We stopped in a small town, Melpeka, which had the best bakery items that we have tasted. The bakery was in a family home. The parents start baking at 2 a.m. and work until 12 noon. The aroma was smelled throughout the streets. Each item cost 5 pesos.

Another visit was the local tile maker. Each tile was handmade. The tile maker makes 200 tiles per day. They would be beautiful layed as flooring.

The town, Concordia, is known for its crafting in woodwork. 40% of its economy is in furniture and 60% is in agriculture. We watched as beautiful tables and chairs were made. If we did not all live on boats it would have been a great addition to a home.




Copala was founded in 1565 as a mining town. The town has narrow cobblestone streets. As usual with these small towns there is a Catholic Church and plaza. One of the interesting items we learned in visiting the old churches is that the crucifix was on the side wall of the church while the patron saint who the church was named after was above the alter.

One of our adventures was our new tatoos. Unforntunately Wally was allergic to the dye and had a huge reaction.









In an effort to expand our cultural experiences we attended a performance of the Festival Internacional de Danza. We wondered why it said for adults only, now we know. It was modern dancing in the nude!