The Vortex Voyage: January 2012

Monday, January 16, 2012

Hi from Mazatlan

We're running a little behind in our blog...
We have arrived in Mazatlan. The marina here is nice, connected to a big resort. Will post some video later. Some video's have arrived:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk8yDqsQ3_0&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPoDoFdA4bA&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb9J7yx7G50&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zj60vaAxQE&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lwG4CLPg1U&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAqaabo9cG8&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M0dmmVa6rk&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUgCQgxaL9g&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOlVXZ2eqOs&feature=youtube_gdata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wEpGv2oUH0&feature=youtube_gdata

Life here in Mazatlan is exciting with water volleyball at 1pm, bingo at 2pm, blackjack at 3pm, darts at 4pm and poker at 6pm. There's very little time for eating..haha
The trip here was exciting - crossing the Sea of Cortez. We got some winds and waves. We actually sailed most of the way. We hit a top speed of 10 knots. That was with a double-reefed main and a small jib. We had a crew member from France - Flo. Nice guy, quite smart, helped us a lot. He was only 23, but worldly, spoke several languages. He and his buddy went across Canada by hitch hiking, then on to California where someone gave them bikes. They biked to La Paz then crewed across the Sea of Cortez, on their way to South America. The other guy went on our friend/mechanic's boat Foley Douce.
We think we'll spend a bit of time here..
Oh, poor Archie fell into the water the other day. We had been working on the sail and left the boom off to the side with no cover. He must have gotten on it, then slipped off into the water. Luckily Neil heard something that made him get up and check. We found him swimming around the boat at around 6:30. Sharon got down on the dock and was able to pull him out by the scruff of his neck. Poor thing was traumatized. He's fine now, though. No worse for wear.
Anyway, we have lot's of work to do. Our lazy jacks broke on the way over so we have to fx them.
Here is a video of the last marina we were in - Costa BaJa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblPOmX_tp8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Last Post of 2011

We also thought we had posted this earlier, so it is late. Better late than never, right?

Hi all,
We've been busy again. Still lots to do on the boat.
We did some sightseeing, so have lots of videos for you.
We went out to the desert on Christmas day, with some friends, and dropped off car loads of gifts and clothing for the poorer folks out there. It felt really good to do that and we enjoyed it a lot. It was heart warming to place a new doll into the arms of a 3 year old girl, who was too shy to say a word!
We moved into a new marina yesterday, Costa Baja. We actually won a free week here at one of the BaJa HaHa parties, so its not costing us anything. Its a brand new, very classy place here. There are swimming pools, beaches, hotels and even a golf course. Next blog, we hope to include some video.
We've decided to head over to the mainland sooner rather than later. We're thinking of perhaps spending the hurricane season in Costa Rica. So the plan is to leave here in about a week. After we finish getting our new solar panels installed and our new anchor chain.
Here are the latest videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiW9ZCfiwoU

Our Trip From La Paz to Bellandra