hey, hey, hey....another quick note. we joined club cruceros and can have mail sent to us directly without going thru our florida address, so i thought i would give it to all of you, just in case you would like to send us a letter or money. it is:
dan or rainy eastman
s/v raindancer
Club Cruceros de La Paz AC
APDO Postal #366
La Paz, B.C.S, Mexico C.P. 23000

We are doing great and enjoying the warm weather. it has been in the 80´s or better every day that we have been here. it´s going to get hotter as the months go by, so we bought a small air conditioner. should keep us comfortable enough. we think of our washington friends quite often and how cold you all must be. we are only a 7 hour plane ride away, come on down and visit any time. love to all

well, here i am again. we have been in La Paz for a week or so. met up with terry and pat from Sunnyside and gave them their groceries we brought down for them. terry was happy to get his red licorice, almost went thru withdrawls. they are taking off tuesday to sail the islands up to Loreto and San Carlos and then put the boat up on the hard for the summer. it gets pretty hot here and they are also from washington so they aren´t ready for 100+ heat. we bought an air conditioner today at home depot that works really good in the salon, which is probably where we will spend a lot of time this summer. it is already in the high 80´s almost every day. for those of you who were worried about us and the tsunami, we never felt a thing. we are in the sea of cortez, on the other side of the pacific coast of mexico, so only the slightest surge was felt here. whew. it was such an awful thing to see on tv, just made me want to cry, such devastation. ok on to a cheerier subject. our trip down the coast was exciting to say the least. we tried to anchor at night as much as possible. some anchorages were pretty good, some not so hot. when we got to Turtle bay (bahia tortugas) which everyone says is a calm bay, we were in 20´seas and gale force winds. it took us about 2 & 1/2 hours to get from the entrance and get anchored. we had waves over the bow and washing back across the deck. we got soaked and so did the dogs. we didn´t get off the boat for 4 days, couldn´t put the dinghy in the water. finally on sunday we got to go to town and do the tourist thing. not much to see, but they did have a laundry. monday, suzanne and i took all of dirty clothes in and they washed, dried and folded them for us. i´m getting out of the habit of doing housework and cooking, and i like it!!!! we got back out to the big blue and sailed to Man o war cove at Magdelina bay. wasn´t too bad, just a long trip. while we were there, every morning the pangas would come by and offer us fresh lobster. the first time, we gave them 6 AA batteries and a bag of candy for 2 big ones. the second day, we gave them a pair of sunglasses and cookies for 3 med. ones. don´t you just love it. we had the port captain take us to san carlos the next day in his panga and when we got there, and he put the pedal to the metal all the way, they loaded us onto a trailer pulled by a pickup truck to get us out of the water (didn´t want to get our feet wet) and then drove us to town still in the panga. it was so much fun. only in mexico. needless to say, we are really enjoying ourselves. from mag bay we sailed all day and all night and all the next day to get around the cape at cabo san lucas. there are no anchorages on the way. the cape is pretty narly, the currents and wind really keep you on your toes. we didn´t stop at cabo san lucas, it costs $120 a night to dock, so we went on to san jose del cabo. really nice marina there for $40 a night. we stayed there for 5 days. suzanne, rick and i walked into town for some groceries. we were told it was about 5 miles, but found out it was more like 10 miles. finally got to the market, got our goodies, and took a cab back to the marina. we were exhausted, sunburned and thirsty. but it was interesting. while we were at a dock, we had rick go up the mast and try to fasten the headsail back on its track, as it came apart. we worked on that sucker for hours before we finally got it reattached top and bottom. what a hassle. but it had to be done before we could get back in the wind. from there we sailed to frailes and waited there for 3 or 4 days for the winds to die down. here there were lots of trailers and campers and the locals called them the tree people. it was a beautiful bay with white sandy beaches. it also had one of only three natural living reefs in north america, so we had to be extra careful and not throw anything harmful over board. next stop was muertos (bay of the dead), aka bay of dreams which all the residents prefer. there was a restaurant called 1535 and dan and i had the best rib steak we have ever had there. perfectly cooked and seasoned. wow, we both said we´d go back there again. we stayed there for about 4 days, as the winds were coming from the north/northwest and we had to go north. no sense beating into the wind if we don´t have to. from there to La Paz. we are in marina de la paz and it´s close to town. we got here just before carnivale and we went in one night to watch the parade, it went on for 5 days and boy was it noisy, lots of bands playing on the malacon and school bands in the parades. but it was fun and it is a big deal in mexico. we were in ensenada last year during carnivale, but didn´t go to town. we have a good restaurant here in the marina, called the dock cafe and we eat there alot. also joined club cruceros which is a cruisers club with activities of all kinds. it´s a great way to meet fellow sailors and trade horror stories. we rented a car this morning and drove out to the wal mart, sam´s club and home depot. then we went to a new store called chadraui. it will be my main shopping store from now on. time for bed, keep in touch, love to all, ...hugs...rainy and capt dano