A few stories....

Yep, we're still here in Tenacatita. We've been here for almost three weeks now, and won't be leaving until next Saturday. Over the past week or so we've accumulated a few great stories to share - the best one being about "Commando Rich".

Last Monday was one of the boys on "Ketching Up"s birthday. For his special dinner he wanted to have a beach bonfire and BBQ. So that's exactly what he got. His Dad and brothers all gathered a bunch of wood and palm fawns and started a fire to roast hot dogs on. After it was all over, they moved to palms well away from the fire, put lots of sand on the fire and the fire was basically out. After some quick showers to get the sand off everyone we went over to "Ketching Up" for some birthday cake.

Rich had to run back to our boat to get something we forgot. On his way back, he noticed the fire was going again, and it had grown (it was now dark). Fearing the fire had now spread to the dry grass above the beach, he raced back to "Ketching Up" yelling for Noel (Mr. Ketching Up). Once Noel saw the fire going again, he grabbed a couple of buckets and jumped in the dinghy with Rich. With our 15 hp engine on, the two of them flew towards the beach. Now keep in mind that it's dark and nobody could see the waves breaking or where the beach really started. Noel says "it was great - we're flying towards the beach, I kept thinking, he's going to slow down any second - then wham - we hit the beach at full tilt! - It was AWESOME!". Rich was thrown into Noel and the engine had popped up still running full throttle. Noel said all they needed was some face paint and he would have felt like Rambo storming the beach!

The fire wasn't really as bad as it looked, but what had happened is that someone had put the palms back on the fire and got it started again then walked away. A few of buckets of water later the fire was completely out. Over the past week the story of Commando Rich has spread thru the anchorage thanks to some great story telling by Noel.

More Later -
Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

p.s. Here is a picture of the town of tenacantita, 3 mile dingy ride up a mangroved lined river. I can't wait to hear stories of that one. signed, Carolyn

Yep, Still in Tenecatita

Life is good here. We either spend the day on the beach or go up the river. We went up the river again yesterday and saw a small crocodile and lot of birds and crabs. The group that went up the river today also saw a large cat (Leopard or Jaguar). Today we spent the day on the beach with the kids from Ketching Up and Imagine. All the kids have become expert boogey boarders. Today was also the first day we have got pooped by a wave on the beach landing. Deb went over the side. I think she wasn't holding on, since the boys and myself all rode the wave out. Tomorrow there is a birthday party on the beach for two of the Ketching Up boys (Cooper and Griffin). Yes tomorrow is indeed a busy day - birthday party and then the weekly dinghy raft-up for appetizers and book/DVD exchange. Big bonus tomorrow - Ketching Up has all the makings for bushwhackers - which will be served after the cocktail party! All in all, it's really a tough life - and we're glad we're doing it!!

Still in Tenecatita

After spending a few days here, we realize why everyone has always said how much they love it here. The anchorage is very calm, and full of sea life. There are tons of fish, a dolphin couple, and a whale shark. We've been having great days at the beach after school - both boys are getting really good at catching waves on their boogey boards! Last night there was a cocktail party dinghy raft-up. Everyone brought an appetizer to share and books/DVD's to trade. The boys from "Ketching Up" came
over to out boat for their own little party. They had popcorn, cookies and juice. They all sat around eating and watching a movie while the grown-ups went to the raft-up (within in easy eyesight of the boat). The kids were set up with the VHF radio and we had a handheld, but nicely for us, no calls were made!

Oasis is in Tenecatita

We left Chamela yesterday morning with "Aurora" headed to Careyes - a "pocket" anchorage. It's a very beautiful LITTLE anchorage. There are gorgeous homes built into the side of the hill. The anchorage had 3 large boats in there and there was no room for us - so we just did a drive-thru. We went on to Tenecatita Bay. This is an absolutely beautiful bay. There are about 15 - 20 other boats here. Some are really huge (200+ feet). The anchorage is so protected that it almost feels like you're at a dock at night. We're here with "Aurora, Brandon, Monju, & Ketching Up." We plan on staying here until the end of January, when we'll head to Barra de Navidad (15 miles away). There is a river here that has become somewhat famous for the Jungle River Ride. We went with 3 other dinghy's today. It's about an hour ride up a river to the actual town of Tenecatita, where there are several palapa restaurants and a few tiendas. The kids had a great time! The next time we get some internet access, we'll post the pictures. After the river ride we visited with "Brenndon" and took dinghy tours of the huge boats anchored here. The biggest has 5-6 levels, two big cranes for pulling things aboard - they actually had two laser sailboat in the bay with their own instructor in a 20+ ft dinghy. Tomorrow we plan to blow up the kayaks and go tour around some more.
Our current position is: 19 deg 17.92'N; 104 deg 50.12W.

More about Chamela

No, not from Oasis, unfortunately. But I was unfamilar with Chamela so I looked it up. http://www.costalegre.ca/Chamela.htm was the site I liked the best. And I do believe this picture shows the beach I would enjoy spending an afternoon on. I hope team Oasis is having a wonderful time. And I hope you will enjoy the link and get to know a little bit more of Chamela like I have.

I believe from chamela Oasis will continue south to Manzanillo. Anyone meeting them down there? Carson and I spent a long time trying to find the funds and vacation hours to fly down for a few days. It is a nine hour flight!!! We just couldn't justify it. Maybe next time.

Geocaching

Have you all done this? Click on this: http://www.geocaching.com/ to get the real explanation. Mine non techie explanation is that you take your GPS unit and go looking for certain points all over the world. Like a really big scavenger hunt.

My family did it during a camping trip last spring and it was really fun and all consuming for my husband. Interesting for my oldest child, a nuisance for my younger child, and made for a really long hike for me.

My point in posting this is more of a means of communication for team Oasis. Hey, guys, wouldn't it be fun to do some Geo caching? Let me know how the locations look down in Mexico.

OASIS is in Chamela

"Hi everyone! We left La Cruz last night just before midnight. We rounded Cabo Corrientes at 4:45am and had our first sighting of the southern cross just after 5:00am.

Debbie was on watch at that time, she had to watch it for a while then play Jimmy Buffets "Southern Cross" song a few times. Then she woke me up and showed it to me before the sun came up. We have seen lots of wildlife on this trip. Lots of turtles, dolphins, and whales.

Debbie even saw a whale fling itself out of the water - the first time to see an entire breach! We pulled into Chamela around 3:45 this afternoon. It's a bit rocky so we put out the flopper stopper. We plan on sitting here for a few days. We're expecting a few of our fellow sailboats to arrive tomorrow.

Our current position is: 19 deg 35.55'N; 105 deg 06.45'W."

Now Carolyn is typing: So there's the latest update from Oasis. I thought I would snaz it up a bit with some music or a video of Jimmy Buffett playing Southern Cross (Crosby, Stills, and Nash). But I'm all out of good searching karma and couldn't get a clip of it.

What I need you to do is get out your best singing voice and your instrumentals. Here are the lyrics. Ready? All together now, one, two three....

Got out of town on a boat to the southern islands,
On a reach before a followin' sea.
We were makin' for the trades on the outside,
On the downwind run to Papeete
Off the wind on this heading by the Marquesas.
We got eighty feet of waterline
Nicely making way.
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you,
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away.
Think about how many times I have fallen.
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'.
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world,
Lookin' for that woman, girl,
Who knows love can endure,
And you know it will (and you know it will).
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,
You understand just why you came this way,
'Cause the truth you've been runnin' from is so small,
But it's as big as the promise,
the promise of a coming day.
And I'm headed all the way,
my tears are a-dyin',
And my love is an anchor tied to you,
tied with a silver chain.
I have my ship and all her flags are a-flyin'.
She is all that I have left and music is her name.
Think about how many times I have fallen.
Spirits are using me,
larger voices callin'.
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world,
Lookin' for that woman, girl,
Who knows love can endure,
And you know it will (and you know it will).
So we cheated and we lied and we tested,
And we never failed to fail,
it was the easiest thing to do.
You will survive being bested,
Somebody strong comes along make's me forget about loving you
And the Southern Cross, WOOOOO!

Adios to Puerto Vallarta

This picture is the anchorage in Chacalla. It's about 30 miles north of PV, and was our last stop before entering Banderas Bay. We've been here in PV for the past 11 days and will be heading our tomorrow morning. Our next stop will be Chamaela. We've had a great time here and met lots of wonderful people. Many of the people are also heading south, so we hope to meet up with them all again. Once we leave the marina in the morning, we'll go anchor up in La Cruz for the day before heading out to round Cabo Corientes - the last major point to round. Everyone tells us that it's best to round it just at day break, which would mean leaving La Cruz around midnight. Following that plan, we should get to Chamaela around 4 in the afternoon.

Here's the link to more pictures we took in Chacalla:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/svoasis/sets/72157603578018917/