well, here i am again. we ordered or dive gear, tanks, regulators, bcd´s, etc. and they should be arriving soon. we have a cruisers net here and it has a really good video of rescuing a humpback baby whale. if you are interested, go to www.club cruceros. org and scroll down the left hand side, yellow, and click on humpback whale rescue. it shows just how large the sea of cortez is and the amazing rescue these people did. we are just about ready to head up that direction. soon as the dive gear gets here and our boat buddies next door-mel and sandy on big wonderful, are ready. they had to recommision their auto pilot yesterday, so they are just about done with their projects. mike and dianna on defiant will be joining us as soon as they get their fm3 cards. (mexican residency). we are getting so excited. we have wanted dive gear for years and finally decided that since mel is a master diver and has the equipment to fill our tanks, that now is the time to do some serious diving. further up the sea, we will be able to dive with manta rays, whale sharks, sea lions and of course, dolphins. mel will give us a quick refresher course on the equipment and then off we go into the deep. wish you all were here and could join us. it is such an awesome adventure to swim with the fishes. there are so many different kinds of fish, so many different kinds and colors of coral, it is truly amazing. can you tell i am really looking forward to this. plus we have been sitting at the dock for way too long again. anchoring out will be good. love the rock and roll of the boat at night when we are anchored. soothing and puts me to sleep. also when it gets too hot we can just take a swim to cool off. the water temp right how is in the high 70´s and will get even warmer as the summer comes on. we bought a couple of floating chairs with cup holders, so we can even have a beer while in the water!!! i am anxious to let the dogs off the boat and let them swim and run on the beach. if we let them off while docked, they seem to think it´s ok to get off any time they want, so we have to leave them on the boat. they haven´t had a good run for a long time and they will really enjoy that freedom again. i will try to update this as often as i can and hopefully post some good pictures while we are sailing. hope this finds everyone well and healthy. take care of yourselves and remember, we are only a plane ride away or a long drive for a great vacation. hugs

hello everyone, just an update. we have finally got our new water tanks installed, the old one had a leak and was too old to repair. the guy that made the new one, had to cut the old one out. seems like they built the interior around the water tank, who knew! he made two so they would fit in the same space and we can shut one off to keep it fresh in case the other one gets fouled somehow. then the water maker went tits up and we have been a month trying to figure out what it´s problem was. replaced every part that is replaceable and finally had a new pump sent from the factory and now we have fresh water again. the marina here has good water, but we need to be able to make our own, when out to sea. we also had an onboard air conditioner installed. the weather has been in the high 90´s -100´s every day and doesn´t cool down until about 7 p.m. since we are planning on leaving la paz the end of june, and going north up the sea of cortez, where it gets in the 120´s, we needed to have the a/c put in. it will only work if we are in a marina, but we have a portable one that we can use with the generator when we are at anchor. at anchor we can also just jump in the water to cool off if necessary. we are planning on taking our time and island hopping all the way. the islands are suppose to be amazing; white sandy beaches and crystal clear water to about 50 feet. we ordered our dive gear and it should be here next week, so we can do some reef diving while we are gone. the sea is full of beautiful coral and different kinds of fish. also can swim with the whale sharks, sea turtles, dolphins and rays. it sounds so exciting, i can hardly wait. we have been at the dock way too long again, but things had to be fixed. someone defined cruising as repairing your boat in exotic ports. guess he knew what he was talking about. every cruiser we have met so far has been working on one project or another. the acronym for b.o.a.t. is¨ break out another thousand.¨ only too true. oh well, we could be buying new lawn mowers!!!! tomorrow our neighbors Mel and Sandy on ¨Big Wonderful¨ and us are driving down to Cabo San Lucas to go shopping at Costco and provisioning for our departure. they are buddy boating with us up the islands. he is renting a car tonight and we are leaving around 8 a.m. it takes about 2-3 hours to drive there and we will be tourists on the way. lots of quaint little mexican villages to peruse. should be lots of fun and i can stock up on raspberry chipotle and other stuff at costco. we have a sam´s club here, but i don´t like it so much, just doesn´t seem to have the good stuff that costco does. well, i guess that about does it for this time. take care of you, stay healthy love u all. rain and capt dano

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

sailing to La Paz, Mexico

i´m back. we left Ensenada on jan 29 and have been harbor hopping for 2 weeks. right now we are in bahia santa maria. about 10 miles north of magdelina bay, where we will go tomorrow or the next day for fuel and provisions. this bay is so sweet, nobody really wants to leave. nice calm anchorage and very little wind. the temp right now is about 78 degrees and kinda overcast, but has been absolutely beautiful for the two days we´ve been here. our next jaunt is an overnighter around the tip of baja sur and past cabo san lucas. we probably won´t stop for long there, since the moorage and anchorage fees are so pricey. we have been in all kinds of weather so far and stopped in some really cool places and a few that we don´t need to go back to. our first stop was bahia san jose and it was nice, but a little choppy for sleeping. our next stop was at colonet. not too bad. saw my first whale today. when we left, it looked like it was going to rain so we made a mad dash to get underway. have had dolphins with us most of the way down, so far. they are so lovely and friendly. good luck, too, i think. got into colonet early afternoon with just a smidgen of rain so we were happy campers. this bay was horrible. we rocked and rolled all night long, got very little sleep and were glad to get underway again..next stop san quinten (keen teen). one of the best anchorages we were in so far. got a great nights sleep, even the dogs rested well. the winds picked up in the afternoon, but settled right down at sunset. and the stars, omg, the stars are so bright and feel so close like you could reach up and pick one out. awesome. from here we had an overnighter to turtle bay. it started out with a beautiful day sail and a perfectly wonderful night until about 4:30 am. the winds came up and the seas turned ugly. we had confused seas and almost gale force winds, not cool, but manageable. none of got much rest even when it wasn´t our turn on watch. when the sun came up and we finally got to the entrance of turtle bay, we had to head into the wind and have water coming over the bow and washing the decks all the way to the stern. we all got plenty wet. it took us almost two hours to get into anchorage fighting all the way. we had to hand steer most of the way, the waves kept turning the auto pilot and it couldn´t keep up. finally got anchored and went down below to relax. Pioniero was here and noticed that we were drifting a bit, so we had to go up on deck and re-anchor. what a chore, but got it solid and stayed below as much as possible. we had 40+ winds for 4 days. got in on wednesday and didn´t leave the boat until sunday. then went into town and had lunch and a tour of this little community. what a great town and the people are so nice. everyone greets you with a smile and a hola. (hello). we stayed in bahia tortugas til tuesday and headed to ascension bay. just spent the night there and headed to bahia abreojos. battery on this is too low, so i´ll continue as soon as i can. hugs

here we go again. we are leaving our beautiful marina in about a week, if everything goes well. we were suppose to leave on the 15th but we decided to put in a new alternator, as the one that was in was old and not too powerful. (men, more power). shouldn´t take too long. ha ha. after a couple of days of struggling we got the old one off. another couple of days to put the new one on. what a pain. then we had to wait for ralph, on naner moon, to get back from texas to wire it on. got that done, but had a short some where and darn near burned the boat up. started just a small electrical fire. lots of smoke, no damage. luckily. now we have that all fixed and running smoothly but need to go to san diego and get a new raw water pump as the old one is leaking.....does it ever end? it´s like peeling and onion, just layer after layer. lol so now our departure date is around the 28th or so (mom´s 92nd birthday, happy birthday, mom). keep your fingers crossed, we actually may get to la paz after all.
we are off to our favorite restaurant tonight for prime rib and lobster. jerry tries to keep us happy and fat. he likes to put on private parties for us so he comes up with favorite foods, and everybody comes. it´s cool, he makes money, we eat good. win, win. also he has made a craps table in the back room and is teaching some of his local friends how to play, so before long jerry´s casino will be up and running, under cover of night of course. no money exchange, just for fun.
we will really miss it here, but are planning on coming back up in may to spend the summer and ride out the hurricane season. it gets really hot in la paz and further south in the summer so we figured we´d come back this year. in november or so we will head south again and bypass la paz and the sea of cortez and go down to mazatlan and puerto vallarta and get to zewantenero(however its spelled). then to panama for a few months before going thru the canal. so that´s the agenda for now, of course it is subject to change daily. ha. hope this finds all of you healthy and happy. stay warm. hugs and kisses, rain and dan

hi all, just an update on what is happening in ensenada. we are still securely tied to the dock at cruiseport village marina. we are having a great time here. we started the Crusty Cruisers Coffee Club and meet up at the bbq/palapa every morning, cept sunday, for coffee and goodies. just about all the liveaboards here come up and exchange ideas, trivia, etc. it is a great way to meet fellow cruisers here. we were up on the hard (out of the water) for 19 days and stayed in a hotel just up the street and we could watch the coffee club from our patio. we had the bottom cleaned and painted, fixed the cracks in the keel, had a line cutter installed, painted a new water line, and cleaned and polished the sides. looks good.
we lost our thursday night cruisers happy hour, the lady that owned it, katrina, sold it and they closed it for remodeling. we have been hanging out at a restaurant called the cafe orleans and got to know the owner, jerry, really well and he offered his place for our happy hour. he doesn´t have a liquor license, but gets a private party license and we can bring our own bottle. we buy our mixer from him and he cooks for us. he made up a bar menu for us and we all meet there on thursday at 5 or so. we named ourselves the ensenada cruisers yacht club. nothing official, just for fun. we started out with about 8 members and in 3 weeks, have about 48 members. i'm sure you can imagine how much fun it is. dan, suzanne, rick and i went across the river and watched the baja 1000 leave ensenada last thursday. this year they went to la paz, last year they did a loop and came back to ensenada. it isn't as exciting when they don't come back, but alot of the sponsors are still here and the town is still partying. hope you all have a great thanksgiving, i will miss all the family, but we will be having turkey and all the fixings and will be thinking of all of you. hope this catches you all well and happy, as we are. will update again soon, take care. hugs and kisses to all.