feliz ano nuevo everyone.  hope your new year is full of fun and happiness.  we are still in la paz and having a wonderful time.  we spent christmas eve with button and bruce on their boat, sunshine along with ed and lori (eileen may) who we met in puerto escondido last year. we had the full meal deal, turkey, dressing, etc.  we all decided to have the big meal on christmas eve so we didn´t have to work all day christmas making dinner, just relaxing.  what a great idea.  had a great time.  spent new years eve on their boat also.  had chili and beer.  watched the ball drop in times square and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  hope all of you had good holidays with family and friends.  we missed the family and friends in the states.  we have carlos working on the boat since we got back to la paz.  so far he has done all the woodwork on the outside, glassed all the dings and smoothed them out, repainted all the hatches and we still have more for him to do.  dan is working in the engine compartment...re wiring, fixing things, and getting it all squared away.  we will be having a guy come and go over the engine to see why it was acting up on our way down from puerto escondido.  he just had some eye surgery, so we are waiting for him to heal.  then, new mattresses for our bed and we will be done with the "must do" list.  we are both doing good and are healthy and happy.  hope all of you are the same.  the dogs are all good.  i think they would like it a bit warmer, but it will start to warm up again in feb.  right now it is in the low 70´s during the day and high 50´s at night.  yep, blanket weather.  ok, fine.  stay well,  enjoy each day, will write more soon.  hugs

hello everyone.   we are back in La Paz after spending 5 months in the sea.  mostly at Puerto Escondido, doing boat maintenance and waiting for parts.  it was pretty warm again this summer, but not as hot as last year.  only got on the fringe of hurricane Paul, so that wasn´t so bad, just lots of wind and rain.  we did break our mooring one day, but it was during the day and in between high winds.  we got back to our mooring ball and used some new line to tie on.  almost hit another boat, but got to it in time,  whew.  we enjoyed visiting the beautiful islands again and letting the dogs run and swim.  they enjoyed it too.  we have met lots of new people this year, but Ed from Eileen Mae was still there, and he was gracious enough to drive us around town when we needed to go.  he also spent a month at a neat little pool house in Nopolo (a little community on the way to Loreto) and we  took advantage of the swimming pool and the air conditioning and the sat. tv.  life is good.  the only problem we had was getting a part for the dighy motor.  we took the motor to a mechanic in loreto and he ordered the part 4 times and each time, got the wrong part.  we finally ordered the part ourselves and got it delivered and gave it to him to install.  this took approximately 5 weeks all together.  so we were stuck for 3 weeks without any way to get to shore, except for Ed picking us up  when we needed to go in.  finally, the mechanic loaned us a motor to use til ours was fixed.  just another lesson in patience.  in mexico, you learn patience first off, spanish second.  everything is manaña, and a mexican minute is usually 2 days.  now that we have good internet again, i will post more often and let you know what and how we are doing.  so for now, adios

hi all,

well, the work is almost done.  lots of new stuff and feeling pretty spiffy.  we have been very busy this last season and i am anxious to get going again.  we figure we will be leaving in a week or so.  just finishing up little odds and ends.  have to go provisioning next week and then finding a place to store everything.  then off we go up to the islands again for the summer.  it is hot up there, but the water is great and the snorkeling and diving is awesome.  especially since we can go diving now anytime we want.  the weather has been in the high 90´s all this week and is getting hot enough to want to be in the water all day.   i got new glasses and dan got contacts for the first time.  he is getting used to puting them in and taking them out, but really likes them.  i got a clean bill of health from my doctor, no more parasite and nothing wrong with my pancreas (whew), so i am a happy camper. 
we have been taking the dogs, one at a time, for walks along the malecon with a stop by the beach for a quick dip to cool them off a bit.  they really enjoy going on their walks.  there are a few restaurants we stop at that have outdoor seating so we can take the dogs with us.  we have a few favorites.  but i have to say, any restaurant you go to down here is good, some are a little better, some are a little closer to the marina, but all are good.  our waistlines will be getting smaller when we leave, that´s for sure.  restaurants are few and far between.  a few islands may have a tienda (little store), but hardly any have any place to eat.  we rely on what we have on the boat and hopefully fresh fish or shrimp or lobster.  last season we had lots of lobster, and hopefully that will be the same this year.   we bought fishing poles, so maybe we can catch our dinner.
if any of you can come down for a vacation and enjoy this place with us, we welcome you any time.  just let us know when and we will tell you where we are. going to try to be in mazatlan for christmas, but that is still tentative.   have a great and safe summer, take care and stay healthy.  hugs to all

oops. the pictures didn´t line up with the captions, but hopefully you can kinda figure them out. we went to a piano museum up in the hills in a tiny little town and some of the pictures got thrown in with these. don´t know who is playing the guitar, just someone in the museum. one of the pics is of the fellas that did the stainless work. good luck. hugs

just more beautiful sunsets.

getting ready to paint

dan

and

ralph

stainless

here i am again. still docked in la paz for another month or so. had lots of things done to the boat and we are almost done. i am posting pictures so you can see what has taken so long. all the stainless is almost done, just a few things he is going to fabricate, but had another boat that is leaving for australia in a few weeks that he needed to get to fast, so we are waiting. we decided to have the blue stripe repainted since it was getting pretty shabby. that is finished except for the final polishing. now we will wait for the weather and take off when all is in alignment. we are both doing well and anxious to get back out on the water. the weather is heating up daily as well as the water. we will be heading back north in the sea and hopefully will get farther up this time (if nothing breaks down). angie and ralph from naner moon will be buddy boating with us. we will take them to the islands we liked the best last year and maybe stay a little longer at each one. then on up north and check out some we didn´t get to see. should be lots of fun. we have new floaties and chairs to break in. i think the dogs are getting rambuncious to go swimming, just like us. things are going good and look forward to seeing some of you this year. so when are you coming down???? take care, stay healthy and safe. love to all. hugs

not too much going on here, we are still tied to the dock at marina de la paz. we are having stainless steel work done on the boat so it is taking a long time to finish. we removed all the old life lines and had stainless rails put on all around and since we bought a dive tank compressor, we had a stainless plate made to mount it on. also stainless dive tank holders, jerry can holders, propane tank holders, a bow plate for the anchor, gates for the stern and entry to make it easier to get on and off, and a ladder for the dinghy. all and all, it is a lot of work and time consuming. they should be done some time this week. at least we are hoping. been pretty busy rearranging the bow cabin and took out the back head and made it into storage. work and slave, work and slave.

it is carnaval week down here and the town in nothing but noise and partying. it is a really big deal for everyone. we went to it the first night (thursday) and have stayed away since. too many people in various stages of drunk!!!! but it was fun to walk through and see all the booths and rides. kinda like a small scale puyallup fair only wilder. lol. this is the last night of it (fat tuesday) and the parade has just passed our end, so it will settle down a little. really noisy.

we got our geezers cards today. gives us discounts on bus rides, air fare inside mexico, ferry ride to the mainland, pharmaceuticals, free hospital, etc. it was free and well worth the effort and time. now we have to get our fm2 cards renewed, and then we are off again to the islands for the summer. back here in october, then around the end of november, going south to puerto vallarta, mazatlan, z-town. i would like to spend christmas in z-town and then head for the panama canal. but like everything in the sailing world, this is tentative. plans are usually changeable as they need to be. lots of things to consider and reconsider before anything happens. weather is always a challenge.

our lives are full and we are doing well, healthwise, who can ask for anything more? hope you are all well, healthy, and happy. hugs to all.