Zihuatanejo: Hard to Say~ Easy to Love

When we first arrived in Zihua we thought we'd stay a couple of days and push on to Acapulco for Christmas. The more we read about Acapulco in December, the less likely we felt that we would enjoy ourselves there. On the other hand, it was easy to anchor and go ashore in Zihua. Alice was able to attend church services on Christmas Sunday. We made one BIG provisioning trip to Mega Commercial, a huge supermarket/ variety store not unlike a Super Walmart, but affiliated with Costco! We walked the old downtown streets over and over and had a couple of delightful lunches at beach cafes. Bill's brother Barry warned us that the food would change the farther south we go, and we have experienced that already. What we think we're ordering from the menu and what is served has been two different things... We met nice people on two different sailboats and shared our HOMEMADE vanilla ice cream (Bill did that) and brownies (Alice did those) with Chris and Tamara from Camarillo one day and on Christmas Day with the McConnells- mom, dad and two children who just returned from Ecuador- we picked their brains. The days went by and we actually pulled out on our eleventh day there! Above photos: Grey Wolf all by herself at Caleta de Campos, just prior to Zihua, and the lovely buildings that line the east shore of the harbor in Zihua.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!

Merry Christmas from Bill and Alice Johnson on the motor vessel "Grey Wolf"

At the time of this writing we are anchored in the harbor at Zihuatanejo. Some call it Z-what and others call it Z-town. When you look at the spelling you understand why I just call it Z-town.

Every day we are so thankful that we are able to travel south and see the beauty of God's creation. As I looked out the window this morning I saw banana trees and coconut trees with a variety of shades that surround this bay. We are taking some pictures but they will not do this place justice as there is always a bit of haze. (The common way to get rid of trash in Mexico is just BURN it.)

But even with these great gifts that God has given we are now coming to the time when we celebrate the greatest gift of all: the birth of Christ and His coming into the world to provide our Salvation.

When you have time, read Phillipians 2- the whole chapter, but concentrate on verses 6 through 8. This gives us insight into the great love that God has for us. We think of the wise men who came and brought gifts to the Savior, and it is still the wise man or woman that sees Christmas as a time to bring our thanks to Him.

We truly hope that you will take time and Praise Him and Thank Him that we have Christmas! And, remember that as we share our gifts, we have received the greatest gift ever. BNJ

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Scarier than a Disneyland Ride!

The idyllic scene above, complete with an egret in flight, in NO WAY shows you the beginning or the end of our Jungle River Trip in Tenacatita! Alice had read about this little adventure in our Mexico Travel Guide, and did note that the 'best time' to enter the mouth of this little river is when the tide is coming in and the river is rising. However, by the time we got up, had breakfast, took the dinghy down, and drove to the Boca del Rio Iguana the tide had turned and was going out... We thought we might have to pull the dinghy over the entrance bar, but did not count on: 1) getting drenched by a rogue wave that filled the dinghy with several inches of sea water and got both camera cases wet, 2) that the entrance was so shallow that the motor was useless, 3) that Bill could NOT pull the dinghy past the mouth because of the tide going against him, 4) that Alice would have to relinquish the already wet camera cases and get out and help push and pull until we finally found the channel!
Once we succeeded in getting into the channel the ride became enjoyable, in spite of our both being soaking wet and hoping the cameras were okay (which they were as wintessed by the accompanying photos). We saw/heard numerous water fowl, spotted one lazy iguana sunning on a mangrove branch, and were amazed at the overgrowth of the huge mangrove trees which shot new roots downward above our heads! Eventually we arrived at the lagoon which marks the source of the 2 mile river where we rested, enjoyed drinks we'd packed, and actually succeeded in bailing out most of the water using... Alice's Croc shoes, even though they are very holey! The trip back out was quicker, except for the point when Alice decided to shift side on her perch in the bow of the dinghy, blocking Bill's view and sending us sliding into a snarl of mangrove roots. We both worried about what would greet us at the mouth of the little river, and it surely looked shallow. Bill raised the motor when it hit sand and we sat in the surf for a minute or two and then a pretty good wave just carried us out into the edge of the bay where we could again employ our trusty motor. Needless to say, a hot shower and a load of laundry were our first two items of business once back on Grey Wolf! Should we still be doing this stuff? Of course!

Our day trip to La Noria

Before we left Mazatlan we made a day tour with a group of ten to the small town of La Noria, an hour into the foothills east of the city. There were several interesting points of note for the day, not to mention a pleasant ride, a delicious lunch and a well-mannered young guide who was very fluent in English. Our first stop was at the blue agave plantation and distillery of Los Osuna, which has been in business for over 100 years. In the above photo you can see Alice standing by a blue agave that is still not ready for harvest. When ready for harvest, the plant is at least seven years old and the core, called the pineapple, weighs about 300 lbs. That is chopped up and then cooked and pressed to begin the fermentation process. You will see the vat of agave juice with yeast in it in the photo column to the right of this article. Between the sweet juice of the agave and the bountiful bouganvillas, the plantation was alive with butterflies. We both took tons of photos! Then we drove on to La Noria itself where we toured a leather factory where men were making everything from belts and purses to shoes and saddles, the old fashioned way! We also saw the barn where they were tanning cowhide, the old-fashioned way... the stench was almost more than one could handle! The above photos show one of the huge old sewing machines and also a table covered with white-tailed deer legs, waiting to be made into whip handles! Hopefully, we can do more shore excursions as interesting as this one.

We Came, We Saw, We Left~

Last year there were too many boats on anchor for us to tuck in and go ashore at Isla Isabela, the frigate bird observatory and rookery. After traveling all night, we arrived to find only two sailboats anchored, but in the very best spots... Bill cogitated a while and then decided to chance anchoring outside of them in 40+ feet of water. We ate breakfast and watched the waves break on a rock outcropping some 200 feet away, then decided to make a quick run to the island! There is a small fishing village there, but we did not see families- only men and boys, so it is probably a seasonal camp. We anchored the dinghy and walked over to the area where a grove of trees stood and hundreds of birds were either courting, resting, nesting, or flying about. These are NOT small birds: their wingspan is 6-7 feet! They seemed amazingly oblivious to us as we nosed around and took photos. The males have a bright red 'waddle' they can inflate, apparently to impress the females! Some were building nests, fighting over available material, while others sat on nests already formed at 5-6 feet above ground in the lush green trees. Frigate birds are often seen flying high above the water, but they rarely come down to rest on the water or on the boat, so this was a real treat, looking eyeball to eyeball with these gorgeous creatures!! AFTER the battery died we saw two small iguanas. Unfortunately, we were unaware that the blue-footed booby lives on the other side of the island... in too much of a hurry.

What a Beautiful Sunset!

This sunset was caught by Alice from the top of our boat in Marina Mazatlan. The colors kept changing and this was the final result! One for the calendar she hopes to print and share someday...

On Our Way South At Last!

As the sun began to rise in the east, Grey Wolf was gliding over smooth seas as she navigated the southern crossing of the Sea of Cortez on November 22, 2008. The sky had been a bit brighter before the sun actually came peeking over the horizon, marking the end of Alice's watch and the beginning of another turn at the helm for Bill. It took a total of 32 hours to travel from La Paz, BCS to Mazatlan, Sinaloa, some 240 miles. Later in the morning some small sea birds decided to hitch a ride with us! Bill was not too thrilled with that, since they leave less than fond memories behind... so once I had snapped the above photo, I wrapped a black length of line around the railing and, voila~ no more bird landings! They flew over, but never touched down again... did they think it was a snake? Hmm We plan to be in Mazatlan for about a week and take in Thanksgiving while we are here.

Kaeli is Two Years Old Now!

On November 2 Kaeli Goodson turned two years old. Her grandparents Jerry and Theresa gave her a lovely "Dora" party which was well attended by members of Arlene's family as well as Bill and Alice. She got so many gifts that she was overwhelmed. She just wanted to stop and play with her new toys, but the gifts just kept coming. Her parents had to rearrange her bedroom to make room for a new wooden child's kitchen she was given. She is set for quite a while now!

We made a fast trip to Phoenix!

It was time to make our annual trip to Arizona to visit with Bill's daughters and their families. Until this year, three of the four girls lived in Mesa and Gilbert. The fourth has joined them so now they are enjoying a new closeness~ We saw all the girls, two sons-in-law, 6 grandchildren, and 3 of the great grandchildren! What a great weekend~

A Very Early Christmas~

We have been determined to leave for Mexico for over a week now and it has not happened yet. However, we did have a fun evening a few days ago when we celebrated an early Christmas with Justin, Melinda, and Eric and his family. These are Alice's three youngest children. We had dinner and then opened gifts. It was a little hard to imagine that we were celebrating Christmas, since the weather was still in the nineties in Indio!

Alice Visits Ohio and Kentucky

When Alice found out that her daughter Margaret and her family were planning on attending the annual Martin Family Reunion in Western Kentucky she decided to fly back and join them! She arrived in time to help celebrate Jeff's birthday, shown above with wife Margaret and son Andrew. Alice's father's family continue to live and prosper in KY. The photo above shows Alice and daughter Margaret with sister Ann and her daughter Paula from Tennessee. It was great to see and catch up with the one living aunt and many of the cousins from around the area. The leaves were turning color and the weather was warm, so the reunion was very enjoyable.

Alaska, At Lasta!!

Alice has always wanted to go to Alaska and was disappointed when Bill said that they would probably never take their boat that far north. True, it IS far north and at the rate of 10 miles an hour it would take a long time to get there! When she saw an ad for a cruise up the Inside Passage of Alaska Alice approached Bill about making the trip in 2008, since they were already planning on being in Washington State. August 3 found us cruising out of Vancouver B.C. on the Zaandam, one of the smaller Holland America Line vessels. The weather was glorious as we headed north. Our first stop was Ketchikan, where it rains 12 FEET a year. It was a bright, sunny day for us as we took in a Logger Show and toured a Totem park. Then it was on to Juneau, the capital, where one must either fly in or float in: no roads in or out! We enjoyed a day of snooping around the town and seeing the capitol. By the time we reached Skagway the weather was gray, though not cold. We took the famous Yukon and White Pass Railway ride to the border of Canada and back, returning disappointed since the cloud cover ruined good photo opps. Bill's favorite part of the entire trip was Glacier Bay! It was a beautiful day and since our ship was 'small' the captain was able to get quite close to Margerie Glacier, which dwarfed us at 250' tall- as in photo above. The other picture above shows how dirty glaciers actually are since they carve out their pathways through the rock and dirt of the mountainsides. We can't even count all the glaciers we saw, but it was both amazing and saddening to see them gradually melting away. Our cruise ended in Seward where we toured the Sealife Center and then rode a bus to Anchorage. As we passed Turnagin Arm we spotted an entire pod of Beluga whales, now endangered! We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Anchorage and checked out the city for three days- one misty day and two more beautiful ones to top off the trip north~ and what we saw of the great state of Alaska was well worth seeing!

Visiting Friends and Family Everywhere!

As we traveled the Pacific Northwest we were able to see so many old friends and some family members, too. There is a problem entering some of our photos, since the blog program is turning them sideways. The above photo shows Bill with his aunt, Ruth Johnson, who lives in Sequim, WA. It was a gorgeous day on the Olympic Peninsula, with the lavendar fields in full bloom. As we returned to her home from dinner out, deer were grazing in her neighbors' yards! We also visited Bill's cousin Mildred and her family in Lynnwood, WA, where they have retired. We stayed with our son-in-law Owen's parents Owen and Janet Walker in Bellingham, WA. It was special getting to know them better! In Portland, OR we saw Alice's daughter Stephanie. We had lunch with Alice's foster son, Chris Woody, in Medford, OR.

Friends ranged from Pat and Rod in Lake Tahoe, whom we met on their sailboat in La Paz to friends from when Alice and her family lived in Eureka, CA in the 1970's. Several are pictured on the right of this page. Others were our boating friends Ted and Carolyn in Moscow, ID who were proud to show us their new 52' trawler in Tacoma, WA, their daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Mike and their family in Burien, WA. It was fun to 'catch up' with Jan and Larry in Wilder, ID, friends from the desert who have retired to a cooler clime. Alice's high school friend Shirley and her husband Warren have retired from Chula Vista to Central Point, OR where her mother lives. We enjoyed seeing all three of them.

Our last visit was with Jim and Marilyn, teacher friends in Eureka. It was interesting to see the changes around the town Alice called home from 1970-77. The first night was misty but the following morning cleared to a beautiful sunny sky and a great photo opportunity around town. Bill enjoyed driving through the beautiful redwoods where he remembers vacationing years ago. Then it was on to Sacramento where we spent a weekend getting acquainted with our lovely state capital.

Alice's daughter and son-in-law, Alison and Rod, put us up both leaving and returning. It was great to visit with them and their nine children and say goodbye to grandson James, who was packing to leave for BYU as we headed home- whew! We'll talk about Alaska another time!!!

Summer 2008

Summer 2008 found us putting 5000 road miles on our little Prius~ what a gem she is, at 47 mpg!! Alice has been slaving over a large sized scrap/album for the entire eight weeks, while Bill was collecting supplies and parts for Grey Wolf. He left on Friday, Sept. 12 for Santa Rosalia and some very intense days of work. Alice has managed to sign up for Medicare, begin some dental work, get her battery of doctor appointments booked, and has touched base with quite a few friends. She has been procrastinating on doing this blog, as she doesn't know where to begin! She has saved some photos to the laptop hooked to the printer, but that one does not have internet, so now she will have to regroup and access those photos. Suffice it to say that the summer was great and the opportunity to see old friends and make new ones was priceless, even though our Mastercard DID pay for it!! Don't give up on us; there is more to come- MUCH more.

Alice's #One Grandson Graduates

Alice was on hand for her oldest granchild's high school graduation in early June in Clovis, California. James Michael Kellogg graduated with honors as a President's Academic Excellence recipient, member of the National Honor Society, and a Life Member of the California Scholarship Federation. He will attend Brigham Young University this coming fall.
Alice found herself VERY busy the two weeks she was with Alison and Rod and their 9 busy children, since everyone had 'an agenda' with the closing of the school year. She did laundry, cooked, babysat, and ran errands... no wonder Alison is so slim and trim. She hardly has time to EAT!

What a Work Horse, That Bill~

When we drove home in May Bill had a job awaiting him back on the boat. He picked up a new water maker, along with several other 'boaty' items and then headed south again. Alice stayed home to prepare for her trip to Clovis, CA and her oldest grandson's high school graduation. The Magic Man, aka Bill Johnson, installed the lovely new water maker system and then decided to hie himself and Grey Wolf across the Sea of Cortez to the bustling harbor at Guaymas, Sonora so he could have the boat pulled out, surveyed for new insurance, and then repainted. Being a frugal guy, he decided to do the painting all by himself!! A three day estimate turned into a two week project... First, he waited three days to be pulled out, then found so many barnacles that it took him three days to scrape them all off. Upon getting a good look at the bottom he found numerous paint blisters, which he then scraped off, filled, and sanded. He also sanded the entire bottom, and in his words "You have no idea how big this boat is until you work on the bottom (50 ft. long, 17 ft. wide...)" Trekking back and forth to the city for supplies was a challenge with no vehicle. No black paint was to be had, so Bill settled for blue. The propeller was damaged in the pullout, so he hired a man to repair it. A through hole was leaking, so he had to re-fiberglass it. Since he was "on the hard"- in a boatyard- the A/C did not work, as it is water-cooled. He could hardly sleep at night and drank a gallon or more of water every day to keep himself hydrated! Once the job was done and he was back in the water he had to travel to an anchorage and wait out the wind before crossing back over. He was able to catch up with brother Barry and his friend Cindy before finally crossing back over, and two good dinners with them began his recovery from the ordeal. The icing on the cake was catching a 51" dorado on his way back to Santa Rosalia!! Two days later Alice returned via bus: all's well that ends well, in the words of the Bard!

Her maiden voyage...

While we were anchored at Balandra on Isla Carmen Barry offered to take their kayaks to shore so we could try there since we have been talking about buying our own. By the time we got around to doing it, though, a pretty strong breeze had come up. Alice was determined to do it anyway, so Barry gave her a brief lesson in paddling and away she went. As long as she was going with the wind all was well. When she decided to turn around and get back to the group on shore the wind kept pushing her back. SO, she decided to dip the paddle a little deeper with a little more energy~ and that was all it took~ into the drink she went, overturning the kayak in the process! The life jacket did its job while she clung to the overturned kayak. Bill and Barry jumped in the dinghy and came out to rescue her. Barry got the kayak turned right again but Alice could not get back in, so she got to get towed all the way back to the shallows! What a show for the bay to watch... She has to try it at least once more to see if she can do it right... her maiden voyage and SHE is the one who got christened!!! (Notice our boats in the bay...)

And A Good Time Was Had By ALL!!

The Loreto Fest has drawn to a close. A good time was had by all. There were about 100 boats in the harbor plus various land people- those who live here and those who just came to visit! Alice's chili did not take the prize but did receive a lot of good comments. She made five quarts and all that was left was on the serving spoon! Barry and Cindy did not win the horseshoe tournament but gave it a good shot. We had the chance to visit with a couple who just returned from four years in Australia-too bad we can't make it that far... Alice donated two sets of jewelry for the silent auction, proceeds going to local schools. One sold for $12 and one for $30! Now it is time for Cindy to fly home and for us to take Ted to a few anchorages and let him get a real taste of handling a boat this size.

Happy Birthday, Bill!

The evening of April 30 found us on brother Barry's boat, along with his girlfriend Cindy, our friend Ted from Idaho, and another couple we made friends with in La Paz. Cindy fixed a MARVELOUS turkey dinner as "The Feast before the Fest". Chocolate cake and ice cream from Grey Wolf topped off the evening and wished Bill well on his upcoming 42nd anniversary of his 29th birthday!!! Today is the beginning of a four day event called Loreto Fest, planned by and for cruisers here in the Sea of Cortez. There will be seminars, craft classes, food, games, contests, food, dancing, a swap meet, food, a silent auction, a chili cook-off, and more food. We look forward to seeing those we've met before and making new friends as well. Alice hopes that her pumpkin-chicken chili will be a winner at the cook-off. She also hopes she can stay on her new eating plan which does seem to be helping her drop some inches... no scales on board and that is just as well.

It Only Took 21 Years...

Alice has made her home in Indio for the last 21 years, but had never visited Joshua Tree National Park, just a short drive east of there. Since it is Springtime and the flowers should be blooming Bill decided to take her there last weekend while we were home. It was a gorgeous day and we found a multitude of photo opps, from rocks, to trees, to wildflowers and some cactus. Unfortunately, we were early for the cholla blooms and late for the Joshua trees, but nonetheless it was a great little one day jaunt into familiar territory for Bill who was BORN in Indio and an eyeopener for Alice, shown standing near a cholla- That is all you want to do, as these cacti are also called jumping cactus, which embed their barbed thorns in flesh that even just brushes them briefly! Bill was dwarfed by one of the rock formations...

Grumpy Arrives~

Tuesday, April 8 marked two arrivals: we returned to Grey Wolf from California and Barry and Cindy crossed over the Sea of Cortez and arrived at the Santa Rosalia Marina in time to get situated before dark- see above photo. They had smooth water at the beginning and end of the 75+ mile trip, but got rocked and socked out in the middle with 20 knot winds and seas of 3-6 feet! Now that is nothing compared to what one could encounter, but was definitely not to Cindy's liking... she being used to being out on sailboats on lakes! It sure will be neat to have their company for the next four weeks. Once we have provisioned and have calm weather we will head down to Bahia Concepcion and enjoy the anchoring out lifestyle for a while.

A Fast Trip to Fresno

We took Grey Wolf back to the Santa Rosalia marina the end of March and made a very fast one week turnaround to San Diego, Indio, Fresno, Indio, and San Diego again! We bought boat supplies, saw family, Alice went to the doctor for her aching joints, and the main purpose was to get Bill to the dentist to start an implant since he had lost a crown in February. Our son-in-law Rod began the implant procedure with a marvelously painless first procedure. Coincidentally, the night before was our grandson Blake's Eagle Court of Honor, shown above. We enjoyed a too short visit with Rod and Alison's family and we look forward to seeing them again this summer.On the San Diego front, Eric and Arlene will move this June to Indio where she hopes to get a position with Juvenile Hall so Eric can work on finishing his degree. Owen and Melinda have rented a cute little home not far from the apts. she has been managing so she can concentrate on her career as a hair stylist. Lots of changes this year!

Sealife and Other Interesting Sights

We spent a wonderful month on anchor in Bahia Concepcion. Some days were clear and windy, others were overcast and calm, and the last week was cranking up to 90 degrees every day with LOW humidity- a miracle by Baja standards. Alice decided it was time to work on her tan and managed to get burned instead... when will she ever learn? We have gone out in our dinghy a few times and have drooled over the many kayaks we saw crisscrossing the bay. We are getting closer to deciding to buy one- a two seater, we think, instead of two singles! That way when Alice gets tired Bill can just bring her on home~ HA. There are numerous areas for snorkeling or diving and that is next on our agenda, once the water warms up! Barry and Cindy are due to join us next week and go anchorage hopping for about a month. Shown above is a small ray Alice shot in shallow water. Also shown above is a bottom cleaner... well, Capt. Bill as he was cleaning the bottom of Grey Wolf one day!

A Close Call for Bill's Brother

Bill's brother Barry lives on his boat in San Carlos- a few hours south of the Arizona border. A few weeks ago he had a restless night, and later wrote Bill that he felt a 'heaviness in his chest'. Bill advised him to go to a local doctor right away. That doctor indicated that he needed to lose weight, eat right, stop depending on Zantac, etc. Wisely, he decided to go to California for a thorough check-up with his regular doctor. A week ago he saw the doctor who told him he was having a heart attack RIGHT THEN... needless to say, they hospitalized him and wound up installing three stents to solve the problem! He is now back on his boat and is looking at some drastic changes in his lifestyle in order to reverse the heart problem. Fortunately, he did not have any permanent damage to the heart itself. It is scary to think of what would have happened if he had not gone to his doctor, living alone like he does. Well, Ace is there, but I don't think his dog training lessons included CPR! Photo shows Barry with girlfriend Cindy on his boat.

Oh Boy, Not Again!

I am sitting at the breakfast table in Indio! Wednesday morning Bill turned on our water maker on the boat since we were on anchor and needed to replenish our tank. About three hours later he raised the hatch door to turn it off and was greeted with water squirting everywhere! After emptying out all the soggy items we had stored nearby he had me turn it back on- briefly- while he watched for the source of the leak. It turned out that the salt water under pressure had pitted the brass head of the pump and finally a pin point hole had broken through. We returned to Santa Rosalia on Thursday, regrouped, packed a few things and headed north in our truck, carting the broken water maker pump. We arrived in San Diego early Friday morning and took our sick baby in for inspection, only to be told that it was a goner. Fortunately, the store had a used pump in excellent condition for half the money of a new one! We came on home to rest and check on the house and the mail. Now we are getting ready to head south yet again. We should be back on anchor by the end of this coming week, right where I took the photo of a neighbor's sailboat, shown above.

And Away We Go Again!

After four round trips from Santa Rosalia to California we are ready to leave again- this time to spend Spring on the Sea of Cortez! One of the pieces of new equipment Bill added is featured above (self-portrait of Bill...) - it is a combination of radar, GPS, fish finder and depth finder. He also installed a new auto pilot, so now we have back-ups for all of our electronics. With new deck paint in place we are ready to hang out in all the remote anchorages we love so much. Our first stop will be Bahia Concepcion where there are numerous anchorages. We hope that Bill's brother, Barry, will catch up with us there in about a month. It has been almost a year since we were together. By the time summer arrives we should be well-rested and tanned! Then we will head home to escape the intense heat of summer down here ~

...And a Giant Step Back...

After waiting and waiting for the depth sounder to be shipped we decided to return to Baja California and head back to San Diego and Indio to regroup. Bill had plenty of time to evaluate our equipment and the potential for major problems as we traveled further south. SO, we retraced our steps all the way to Santa Rosalia in Baja California South. We had some good weather and some irritating weather, but still nothing like the "Ugly Trip"... We stopped in La Paz for three days and anchored out the rest of the time, in spite of the fact that anchoring without the depth sounder was hectic and nerve-wracking. Fortunately, everywhere we anchored we had been at least once before so we had some idea of what to expect. We pulled back into the Singlar Marina and were surprised to find that there were only three boats there including us! A couple of days later we boarded a bus and rode the 15 hour trip to Tijuana. Thanks to Melinda and Arlene we were picked up and then brought to our very doorstep in Indio. Months of mail awaited us and there were bills to pay and tax data to organize, not to mention obtaining the supplies Bill needed to begin our reorganization of the equipment on Grey Wolf. Alice has been home two weeks and poor Bill has made a round trip plus another trip south to the boat where he is now working. It looks like Central America will be on our agenda for the fall of this year, not this spring.

La Paz- Our Home Port?

We just keep coming back to Marina Costa Baja in La Paz, shown above. When we did not receive the depth sounder in a timely manner, we decided it would be better to return to the Baja and do some other refits as well before taking on the major venture of traveling to Central America. So after 12 days in Manzanillo we turned Grey Wolf north again and retraced our steps to Banderas Bay, then 45 hours across the ocean to Los Frailles and Los Muertos. We arrived in La Paz on January 17 and plan to be here three days before taking about a week to move north to Santa Rosalia where we will leave the boat. We will do our taxes and purchase needed supplies and equipment before returning. Bill's brother, Barry, has decided to pull out of San Carlos on his boat this February and hopes to meet up with us for a while in the Sea of Cortez. We have not seen him for the better part of a year now, so that will be fun.

On Hold In Manzanillo

This seems to be our time to have problems with our equipment! When we arrived in Puerto Vallarta our depth sounder was acting up. Now it will only stay on for five minutes and then it cuts out. SO, arriving here in Manzanillo we were forced to anchor deep- turned out to be in 41 feet of water. We like 25 feet but did not dare move in toward shore without a working depth sounder. Bill has ordered a new one through a dealer in San Diego and it will arrive some time after January 8, we hope! We have been hanging out on the boat~ watching TV, working on the computer, sewing, and reading. This bay is popular and feels like a mini-Cabo. There are jet skiers, wakeboarders, banana boaters, kayakers, etc. aplenty every afternoon. Of course, this is still vacation time down here, so by next week it will probably quiet down! The above photo shows Playa Miramar- our view from the boat when pointing west... The top photo is Marina Las Hadas and the surrounding community where we went to land our dinghy and catch a bus into town~ so white and so pretty! Note boats in the lower right-hand corner behind the seawall.