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Friday-Saturday January 29-30, 2010

Going anywhere in Paradise Village I always pass the 3 tiger cages. The three tigers are about 3 or 4 times the size and at least that much stronger than Maddy, our 100 pound rottweiler. The resort has 3 25X25 foot enclosures with 2 layers of steel fence separating you from the tigers. Most times you pass the tigers are lying down sleeping. The only time you see them moving about is just before sun up when the air is very cool. If you are lucky to pass around 1 to 2 PM you may see them moving anxiously about their space. This is the time they are fed and they look hungry. This little Mexican man comes in a golf cart piled high with 5 gallon buckets full of raw either very large whole chickens or maybe they are turkeys. The tigers start to hiss with their mouths open showing their big teeth and their whiskers rising towards the bright blue sky. There are a number of trap doors that open and close at the end of the three cages to shut off a small caged area where the tigers food and water is maintained. The little Mexican man must walk between the 2 layers of steel fence separating us from the tigers to operate the trap doors. He is short and big all the way round, so big that when his back or belly brushes the inner fence the tiger hisses and claws at him. The little man jerks like it hurts a little bit and says something to the tiger in Mexican. I think it must be don't eat me, you know I want taste very good, and I will feed you will like better. When the tigers finally reach their meal they are more concerned about me taking it; hissing at me, they walk around with whole foul hanging from their huge teeth looking for a spot to have a private lunch.

To night is Kevin and Tim's last night on the Bella Donna so they go off to the beach in town to have fun while the rest of us continue to ready Bella Donna for the passage. Later after sunset they return and we all go to Fajita Republic Tropical Grill, an outdoor bar and Mexican restaurant on the river about a quarter mile down the street. Their food and special drinks are to die for. The have a Sea Cow instead of Surf and Terf, twice grilled quesadilla or golden brown chimichangas For an appetizer there is fantastic queso fandido (baked cheese) or tortilla soup.

While we wait for dinner a live Mexican band dropped by our table and played our requests for us. John and Luci got up and provided entertainment to treat the 100 or so in the restaurant. They performed a half Latino and half custom John Smit wild fling, like on the Greek cruise last year, that interrupted momentarily the waiters making their way from the kitchen. After a peaceful dinner the kitchen staff all came out banging on pots and pans to sing the sweetest happy birthday song to Kevin. They ended with 2 flaming tequila shots which they waited for him to enjoy.

We walked from the restaurant to another bar and grill near Bella Donna which just opened; it was called The No Name Bar and Grill. The night was winding down and we all went back to get a good nights sleep, what fun we had.

Friday morning, Kevin and Tim are packing. As usual they are pushing it and leave for the airport half an hour latter than planned. I guess they made the flight as there is no text or phone call.

We quickly erase the mess we made last night and pile in the rent car for a Costco provisioning run. We drop John off to work out at Golds Gym so he can buy a workout shirt. We told him he could just buy a shirt; it would be cheaper, but he has a tradition, a John Rule, that he will not buy a shirt from a place he has not properly visited.

Tonight is Luci's last night on Bella Donna so we rush into the car destined for the restaurant we heard about from the Barcelona bar tender the other day. So we want to complete our quest for pictures from the highest point possible in Puerto Vallarta. We drive madly aiming for the little dirt road high above the city, where we got to a few days ago. We pay our 100 pesos and start up the extremely steep winding single lane sometime stone and sometimes dirt road. We come to a gate guarded by two men with 2 hand held radios. We drove to a half filled restaurant patio with a 180 degree view of the coastline. We made it our perch for the next few hours taking pictures, drinking beer and eating another remarkable Mexican meal.

To morrow we sail south.

God Bless Bella Donna

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Wednesday-Thursday January 27-28, 2010

Everyone is up and out to the beach about 10 AM. The resort provides buggy boards free of charge. We have completed all the maintenance to Bella Donna required to leave. We are getting excited about the prospect of a departure. We are one of only a few cruisers who are planning a passage south of Acapulco. A lot of the cruisers come from California; many came south with the Baja Ha Ha, a fun organized group of vessels who sail from San Diego to Cabo and party. Many cruisers sail farther south before turning around and returning to California. Some are the puddle jump across the South Pacific. A few have started a family voyage lasting a year or more.

We meet a family on a Fountaine Pajot Bahia catamaran that experienced their first passage as part of the Baja Ha Ha. They are not sure where they are headed next, maybe the puddle jump, stopping in Tahiti and returning via Hawaii. Their plan is to be gone for at least 1 year; they will home school their 2 young children, a boy about 7 and a girl about 11. We met all of them plus the wife's mother in the hot tub. The daughter asked me if they could see Bella Donna; I could not say no; Bella Donna looks pretty good so they are coming over on their way to dinner at the Tortilla Republic where we had such a good time last week. They had such a good time looking over and asking questions about Bella Donna we all almost missed dinner. It was a great experience talking to a whole family so excited about following their dream.

About 2 PM we are preparing Bella Donna for her sea trial to test our readiness. About 3 PM we leave the dock for a cruise in the bay to see what Puerto Vallarta looks like from the sea; we have already seen what it looks like up close and personal.

The Birthday party can't wait to sail on Bella Donna. The guys really have a great time. We are told there were lot of whales to be seen, but we see only one.

God Bless Bella Donna

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Monday-Tuesday January 25-26, 2010

Today marks the arrival of my son, Kevin. John and Deborah are both looking forward to having him on board again; they talk about how much fun he and his friends were in Cabo last year. Kevin and Tim are bringing new parts for the satellite dish on the fly bridge.

We get an early start before sun rise walking the quarter mile to the gym. The Mexican people can't understand why a retired person is up before sun rise to torture his body. I say look at the 2 parts of the word retired, re and tired. It is something like retread, re tread. Anyway, by working out I increase my energy and my enjoyment of life. I retread the old guy getting more mileage out of the bod. Leaving the gym with the endorphins flowing and a spring in my step the birds are singing; the air is still cool, there are smells of coffee and fresh baked bread in the air.

Kevin and friends will be with us until Saturday and we plan to get underway to Acapulco on Sunday or Monday. It is going to be hard to leave this pleasant place, but our nature and indeed our plan is to cruise and discover new places.

We are so busy getting the birthday party guests keys and ids for and showing them around the resort that I skipped my blog for Monday. We took Kevin and crew around to the nightclub just a short walk from Bella Donna. It was mid afternoon so there were no customers just a couple of managers. Kevin and Alan, HUSH's DJ Real, were given a tour of the DJ equipment. At the end of the tour the nightclub owner wanted them to come back and DJ at 10 PM. The guys did drop by that night but went on to various Puerto Vallarta clubs. I think it was a super-sized night. They had to take 2 cabs and there were stories of bribes make to encourage the two drivers to race across town at high speed. They arrived at the club with police in toe. The winning cab driver reached for his crutches and the guys realized he was driving a standard shift cab with one leg. He collects his fee and bribe and says, "I guess I will be spending the night in jail." It must have been worth it either for fun or profit. Last night their new cab driver knew all about the racing cab drivers; it was quite big talk in town.

The guys arrived back at Bella Donna about 6 AM with girls from Saskatchewan, Canada, who had to catch flights home later that same day to "get back to the snow, eh". Something tells me they did not make their flights given their condition. I was just waking up as they arrived. Bella Donna was kind of quiet until about noon. The guys spent the afternoon on the beach buggy boarding and playing volleyball.

It turns out the Barcelona Tapas restaurant that we lunched at Sunday is one of Kevin's favorite places he wanted us to go out them to eat. Since we had already been there we stayed on Bella Donna to do a quiet Costco steak dinner. John and Deborah discussed how easy, low maintenance and fun Kevin and the guys are. They showed up with gifts for the crew and did not make noise or mess when they are on the boat. I have to say Kevin and his friends are wonderful people; I am proud of them.

God Bless Bella Donna

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Sunday January 24, 2010

Last night Luci flew in from La Pas to help Deborah. Monday about noon Kevin is arriving with friends to celebrate his birthday which will be on February 1. He will return next weekend as he wants to spend his actual birthday with his kids back in Montreux. So today the boys are getting out of the way so the girls can do a good cleaning.

We first visit another marina that could not eliminate Paradise as our first choice. The Marina Vallarta is very close to downtown Puerto Vallarta. In fact a yacht leaving this marina will pass the cruise ships docked in the harbor. It is nice and unlike La Cruz there are plenty off interesting places for board yachties to go. In fact we were hassled several times to rent a boat, eat, take a tour and go fishing. There was no gym and no pool/hot tub so the Bella Donna targeted activities were limited. We did tour a very good Golds Gym nearby that for $10 a day or $35(US) a week was available.

Next we want to drive up into the foothills to a point high enough to get good pictures. At our marina we learn of a tapas restaurant on the top floor of a building several blocks up from the Malecon, a seawall walk street right on the water that we plan to visit later near sunset. The restaurant can be looked at on the internet at www,barcelonatapas.net .

The meal is fantastic and the view is great. The weather is holding, blue sky with bright sunshine. Clouds are due to come; blame it on the storms off California. The restaurant staff tell us the best view is at another restaurant even further up the mountain. The other restaurant is up a rocky dirt road protected with a gate and gate keeper. There is a 100 peso per person prepay required to pass through the gate. We decide to wait for another time when we are hungrier.

Driving south we notice surfers and very large swells. We stop to take pictures and videos. The swells are looking more and more like the 12 foot one predicted.

Our next activity is focused on getting lost in the mountainous rain forest nearby. We have seen the adds for a fun adventure where you ride a zip line across canyons and through the trees, something akin to our waterfall adventure we completed in The Dominican Republic a few years ago. It turns out the zip lines were installed to move camera crews through the trees and over canyons to film the first Predator movie starting Arnold Schwarzenegger, see www.canopyeleden.com . In the movie or not the canopy or Eden was a wonderful bar, restaurant, waterfall swim area. The zip lines are closed on Sunday so we will save it for Kevin and his friends.

On the main highway back to town we see the high surf pounding on a tranquil resort we photographed earlier in the week.

On to the Malecon for Starbucks coffee, the sunset and anything we can cram into this day. The Malecon is a delightful park like street where locals, Mexican families, and tourists meet and walk. Near Starbucks there is a park that takes up an entire block. The Malecon is dotted with statues that capture your interest and make great props for the memorable photo. On the beach side extremely talented artists construct sand statues that are 6 feet tall. Their only compensation comes via donations to their tip box. On the opposite the ocean side there are unique multistory sport bars featuring the post game NFL super bowl playoff show. I am sure these same places become dance clubs afterwords. There is a Hard Rock Cafe, a Senor Frogs and even a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Back to Bella Donna for a quiet meal.

God Bless Bella Donna

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Saturday January 23, 2010

I just realized that our small rental car is named appropriately; its a Dodge Attitude. The name is appropriate because of the way you have to drive in Puerto Vallarta. Cars come at you unexpectedly from almost any direction. Many of the intersections in Old Town do not have even a yield sign much less a stop sign. The little cobblestone streets are very narrow and the buildings make each intersection "blind" so that you must stick the nose of the car out into the intersection to see if you have anything to Dodge requiring you to have a risky Attitude.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog something about the drummers we saw on the beach; however there was a picture sent yesterday. They were quite good and very much like the ones we saw last year near in Los Angeles, actually Venice Beach on the strand. The drummers all look like Rasta Men with their dress and dreadlocks. Young ladies find they can't just listen; they reflexively dance girating in the sand. I did take a video and you can get it on youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlbLY0z9j80

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aFHORTlp3o. 

Today we are going to the La Cruz Marina for coffee and a look. John and Deborah looked at it last year, but chose Paradise Village Marina for all the amenities it offers. La Cruz is new but there is really not much to offer cruisers except a walk through a typical Mexican neighborhood. The coffee however is said to be the best in greater Puerto Vallarta. Obviously they have not had Bella Donna coffee; it is much better. The covered restaurant is on the roof top over the yacht club right in the middle of the harbor.

Our next stop is in Busarias, Mexico where we get lost in narrow cobblestone streets of another bohemian community. At first we think only locals live here, but there are a number of US and Canadian people just seeming to walk about. John is looking for Karen's Place that people in our Marina recommended. After asking for directions several times, we suddenly turn a corner and there it is. It is a quaint walled small resort right on the ocean that reminds us of similar resorts on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands or on Maru Island in the Grenadines, South Caribbean which John and I instantaneously think of at the same time. The restaurant right on the beach has a great menu and it is lunch time anyway, Ceviche here I come. After lunch we discover Karen's specialty coffee shop which serves the best frappucino I have ever had and Starbucks makes a pretty good one.

God Bless Bella Donna

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Friday January 22, 2010

Day as usual except for our exploration in el carro. We drove up the coast in the opposite direction from Puerto Vallarta to a little bohemian surf beach town known as Sayulita. You can get pictures and information at www.sayulita.com . The life there is probably like Southern California beaches 50 years ago when a beach life was possible on very little money. The trip should only take about half an hour except we got lost; we missed the turn. Sayulita is a lazy beach town where there is at least one skinny dog, perro, per block. Side note, be careful to roll your rr's when you say it because pero is your behind, butt. The beach is covered with umbrellas shading beach chairs just above the tidal high water line. Little cantinas are the most found first buildings off the beach except for the occasional surf shop. One surf shop has a canopy bed on the roof, see attached picture.

The swells are big today thanks to the storms off California in the USA. Surf boards are everywhere and there are many surfer dudes taking advantage of the big surf. Some surfer dudes are giving surf lessons to want to be surfers on the sand. It is Friday but some young school children are doing homework in front of their parents shop. There are VW vans/campers and dune buggies as well as many of the small 4 wheel drive carts being driven by people of all ages. They race up and down the cobble stone streets; the most crazy are the older retired American expat riot couples. Grandma and grandpa are racing others their own age. It looks like fun.

Next we work our way back towards Nuevo Vallarta stopping at another surfing village know as Punta de Mita. Except for the fishing village this was definitely not bohemian, but in contrast was upscale. A very nice resort with a roof top bar was being utilized by some very well dressed people. The vehicles were late model and of the high priced sporty type. There were no Vws nor carts in sight. I think the people were having just as much fun, but of a different higher priced kind. It was late and we were under dressed, so we headed back to Bella Donna, who the Mexicans pronounce as Bayah Doenah. We were given special picture ID tags that also open the electronic locked gate to the dock or muelle which we use to ID Bella Donna if misunderstood.

Deborah cooked a delicious salmon and salad dinner; we watched the movie Australia with Mexican subtitles on satellite TV and retired early.

God Bless Bella Donna

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Thursday January 21, 2010

Puerto Vallartr is almost cheating to be in the Central Time Zone. It is barely inside the western edge or just west of it depending on where you are in town. What this means first light is 7 AM in the morning; the sun sets later in the day however. We leave for the gym a little before 7 in the chilly morning air in the twilight of a sunrise.

After gym and breakfast we rent a car and ready our provisioning list for a trip to Costco. Again once inside the store you could have been in any Costco in the US except the prices are posted in Pesos. The first section near the entrance is where the electronics are displayed. How about the latest HP net book for well over 7,000 Pesos? In general the prices are a little higher when converted to US Dollars. At the wine display the same bottle of wine I buy in Reno for $12 costs almost twice as much. I don't remember the prices being so high last year in the Cabo Costco. Last year the American Dollar was worth 15 Pesos. This year it is worth only 11 to 12 Pesos. US Government spending is rapidly changing things. I have to say there is also an Obama like Value Added Tax, VAT, included in the sticker price of 16%. Thus prices being higher than in US this year is understandable. Last year our average checkout bill in a Mexico Costco was $800, but this year it is $1,200. The only good news is maybe Mexicans will not be as motivated to live in the US. The advantage of living in the US is melting,

Once through the checkout line we are starving. A Costco hot dog with all the stuff on it and an ice cream diet coke float is quick, convenient and at a bargain price. Besides we have to have a reason to get up early and go to the gym tomorrow.

We must get the frozen provisions back to Bella Donna somewhat quickly in the mid day heat. We do carry them in insulated bags and need to stop at Home Depo for parts to a 2 stage water filter system John is building for the shore water we drink and bathe in, The water on the dock is good, but we can't count on it everywhere else we are going. We tend to "wear a belt and suspenders" when it comes to safety.

Back at Bella Donna we did have plans to attend a local food fair where you could grace among the various restaurants sampling their dishes. However, we must go by car and the word we are getting is the parking is impossible. We decide to go to the resort pool where we meet newly arriving guests, sit in the hot tub, slide down the chute of death and enjoy a sun downer. After we will enjoy a healthful dinner in Bella Donna's cockpit. The evening breeze is cool, almost hypnotizing.

God Bless Bella Donna