S V Oasis Goes South

Back in Point Loma!!!!

2008-07-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Point Loma on Thursday afternoon. It was about a 10 hour trip up from Ensenada - with finally some wind out of the south! After clearing customs we headed over to our guest spot at SWYC. As we were docking a bunch of our friends magically appeared and welcomed us home - it was wonderful!! The boys are happy to be back and hanging with their friends again. Rich and I have begun the transition back to a "normal" life. We now both have cell phones and one car.

This picture is of Point Loma as we approached it on Thursday - a nice sight to see!!

Here's what is left of our second Mexican courtesy flag. Guess they don't stand up too well to high 20ish knot winds for very long!!!

Ensenada

2008-07-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Ensenada this morning right around 7am. Eleven hours, not too shabby!!! We had to wait for the marina office to open to get a slip, so we tied up to an open dock for two hours. We're all settled in here now, and the marina is processing our exit paperwork from Mexico. We'll be staying at the guest dock at the yacht club until the end of July when our regular slip at the Bay Club opens up. So sometime late Thursday afternoon, we'll be arriving at guest dock #3. We're having drinks and dinner tonight with Manana, whom we've travelled up the coast with since Bahia Santa Maria.

One More Overnight!

2008-07-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

We're sitting in Cabo Colonet waiting for it to be 8pm. At that time we're leaving here for Ensenada. We can't leave too early, or we'll get there before the marina opens! We came up 30 miles this morning from Isla San Martin. The weather was cool, and the marine layer was pretty high making for pretty good viability most of the time. We're all looking forward to getting to Ensenada. A nice long shower and dinner out! We'll leave early Thursday morning for SD, so we'll be home for our anniversary
on Friday!

Our current position is: 30 degrees 57.69'N; 116 degrees 17.39'W.

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Isla San Martin

2008-07-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

We are currently anchored in Hasslers Cove on Isla San Martin. We didn't leave Isla San Geronimo until daylight this morning. The winds didn't really calm down over night, so it would've been a rocky/rolly trip. We will leave here tomorrow morning at 7 (we get to sleep in) and head 30 miles to Punta Colonett. We'll hang out there for the day and then leave at 7PM for Ensenada - that will be about a 13-14 hour trip. We'll arrive in Ensenada early Tuesday morning and pending getting all the paperwork
done, we'll depart early Thursday morning for San Diego. They boys can't wait to get to Ensenada - they are getting anxious to get off the boat. In the past 10 day, they've only been off for a few hours while we were in Turtle Bay (Carson - I made it down the dock without falling in a hole this time!). They've separated all they peso's from their dollars and are ready to hit the town to spend their loot!

Our Current Position Is: 30 degrees 29.16'N; 116 degrees 06.12'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

200 Miles to Go

2008-07-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

We left Cedros Island last evening around 8pm and arrived Isla San Jeronimo this afternoon around 12:30. The overnight part of the trip had calm winds and calm seas making for some good time. We were originally headed to San Carlos, but about 5 miles out we (us, Manana, & Brendon) decided to make good use of the flat seas and head on up here to San Jeronimo. The part of the passage that got interesting was the last part. We had to pass inside the "dreaded Sacramento Reef", in fog, with pangas
running all around - we had about 1/4 viability. Good thing for radar and the fancy function called "trail". Brendon was in the lead since one of their crew had run this route before. We were able to follow their trail right into the anchorage. The anchorage at Cedros was very pretty, but very noisy. That part of the shoreline is home to MANY sea lion, seals, and elephant seals. It was really neat to see an elephant seal in the wild - they are really huge!!!

Our current plan puts us in Ensenada on Monday afternoon and back to SD on Thursday. We plan to hit the customs dock around 3-4pm.

Our current position is: 29 degrees 47'N; 115 degrees 47'W.

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Turtle Bay

2008-07-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

We are currently anchored in Turtle Bay along with Manana and Brendan. We took on fuel today and went ashore to give the kids some running time! We're heading out again tomorrow morning at 4am heading for the north end of Cedros Island. From their we'll either cross to San Carlos or San Quintien - depending on how the winds are. If all goes well, we SHOULD be back in Ensenada by mid next week. On our way to Turtle today we found ourselves in the biggest school of dolphin yet - they're were hundreds
of them!

Our current position is: 27 degrees 41'N; 114 degrees 53.3'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

PS - If you reply to this, please delete the original message and do not include any attachment. They get deleted anyway and it takes a long time for the message to come across...

Bahhia Asuncion

2008-07-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well we left Bahia Santa Maria yesterday morning just after 9 am. We just dropped our hook here in Bahia Asuncion just around 5:30 pm today. We had every variety of wind you can think of during our trip. We had sustained 22 knots late in the afternoon and dying down to 8 knots in the early morning. We decided (along with Manana) to come in here instead of Turtle Bay since we could arrive here during with daylight and Turtle Bay would be after midnight. Apparently there are alot of lobster pots
near the entrance to Turtle Bay - and you sure can't see them at night! We'll leave here tomorrow morning around 4 am and head the remaining 48 miles up to Turtle Bay. The weather continues to look very favorable for continuing north, so we'll most likely depart Turtle Bay on Friday morning heading for Cedros and then on to San Carlos on Saturday.

Our current position is: 27 degrees 08'N; 114 degrees 17.13'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

PS - If you reply, please delete the original message and do not send any attachments - the attachments don't come through and it takes too long to come across the airwaves...

Bahia Santa Maria

2008-06-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

We left Mag Bay early this morning for the quick trip up to Bahia Santa Maria. This is a better location to start our next passage from. We are currently the only boat in this big bay! Way different from when we were here on our way down!!!! The winds in the anchorage this afternoon have been a consistent 20ish with gusts up to 27! We're expecting another boat in later tonight, some friends who are heading back to Orcas Island then up to Alaska. After checking with all our weather sources,
we are currently THINKING of leaving here tomorrow evening (once the wind dies down) and heading straight to Turtle Bay. We should have southerlies thru the night and then westerly to NW during the day - time to make tracks while the weather is good! Stay tuned to see what we really do!!!

Our current position is: 24 degrees 46.4'N; 112 degrees 15.4'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Anchored in Magdalena Bay

2008-06-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

We arrived here in Mag bay almost exactly 36 hours after leaving Los Cabos yesterday morning. We rounded Cabo Falso with about 30 knots on our nose for about 1.5 hours. After that we had 15-18 knots and choppy seas for the remainder of the day making for slow progress. Overnight the chop died down a bit and we were able to make time. Today we again had 15-18 knots out of the NW but better seas. We were able to hold a good tack right on into Mag Bay. Not more than 5 minutes after we dropped
anchor, a guy was here offering to sell us diesel. You got to love the panga drivers!! We THINK we'll leave here on Sunday and head up to Bahia Santa Maria in preparation for heading farther up the coast.

Our current position is: 24 degrees 38'N; 112 degrees 08'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Update to Departure

2008-06-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

After checking with all our weather sources, we've decided to leave early tomorrow morning for Magdalena Bay. We should arrive there sometime around dinner time on Friday. It's about 180 miles from here to the anchorage in Mag Bay.

New Friends

2008-06-24T17:36:00.001-07:00

This is Kent and Maria. We met them at the pool in La Paz a few weeks ago. They live here in Cabo and we've been lucky enough to be able to meet up with them and spend some time with them while we're here. They also have two sons - Mark and Christopher. All the boys have a great time together, as do the adults!

Below are Kyle and Mark - two great buddies!!
Now that we're back on the boat we're getting ready for the "bash" north. As of now, it looks like the best time to leave here is on Friday or Saturday - stay tuned!! We've made the Costco run and the grocery store run. Everything is mostly put away, but there are always more things to do to get ready to leave.

Horseback Ride

2008-06-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

During our 5 days of R&R at the Royal Solaris - we took a horseback trip. Kyle has been wanting to go for a while now, and I was able to convince Rich to get back on a horse again....

Misc Pictures

2008-06-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

These first three are of "The Hook" on Isla San Francisco. We met up with our friend on "A Cappella" there for a few days and shared some great dinners!

This one is aboard "Maitairoa" in Perico on Isla Carmen. Sue and Alex are sure great people!!
These two boats are who we shared the anchorage in Balandra with when we left La Paz. "Utopia" is well over 200 feet and "Atessa" is not quite as big, but she does carry a helicopter!

Oasis is in Los Cabos

2008-06-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made to Los Cabos yesterday. We left Frailes around 7:30 and the wind was pretty calm - about an hour later somebody turned on the wind switch. As we finally approached Los Cabos, we had 20-25 on the nose again. It took us 8.5 hours to go about 30 miles!! I guess that was practice for the bash North from here... We will be here until around the 25th of the month. We're getting off the boat on Monday for a few days of R&R at an all inclusive place in the area. We're cleaning up and drying up from yesterday today, so I'll add some more pictures tomorrow...

Stuck in Los Frailes

2008-06-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well we've heard of people being stuck in Los Frailes waiting for a norther to blow through, but we're stuck waiting for the south winds to ease up. We left Balandra Monday morning and headed for Los Muertos. Our night in Balandra was anything but quiet! This was the first night we had to do an anchor watch. We had winds gusting 25-35; so we kept checking ourselves to make sure we didn't move anywhere. Monday night was a quiet night in Muertos. Yesterday we had southerlies on our nose gusting
20-25, so we ducked into the northern anchorage in Los Frailes. We tried to head to Cabo this morning but again we had 25+ knots on the nose and were making little headway. We turned around and came back to Frailes - we'll try again tomorrow...

Our current position is: 23 degrees 24.67'N; 109 degrees 25.37'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Out of La Paz - Finally

2008-06-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

We finally got out of La Paz today. We are currently anchored in Balandra Cove, just outside of La Paz. We got all our exhaust hose repairs done the other day and set out yesterday for Los Muertos. Just about 5 minutes out, Rich checked on all the repairs and told me to turn around. Apparently the muffler thingy also needed to be fixed. We contacted the mechanic on the way back in and also got a hold of Marina Costa Baja. The marina set us up in a slip that we could have had for over a week
and the mechanic (Dan) went and got some epoxy to fix the crack in the muffler attach point. After setting for the night, Rich re-installed it today and all was good so we got the heck out of La Paz. We will got to Los Muertos tomorrow (in time for dinner at the Giggling Marlin), to Frailes on Tuesday and into San Jose del Cabo on Wednesday. We're actually getting anxious for the "bash" north. We've been meeting a bunch of boats that are doing the bash at the same time, so it will be interesting
to see how the weather all plays out for all of us. We are also lamenting the fact that we are heading north. We all agree that we will definitely do this again sometime later. It just really seems that you need to have resources available to do 1,3 or more years of cruising - 2 years doesn't get you much further than we've already been. We can't say enough about the folks that run Marina Costa Baja. Both times we've been there, they have been more than accommodating with getting us hooked up
with anything we've needed. We will surely re-visit them in the future! We're guessing we should be back in SD around the middle of July. Any of you on your boats, we'll be checking in on the local nets as we head up the coast. Our anticipated date of departure from Cabo is around 6/25. We'll send more messages out once we have a good internet connection in Cabo.

Our Current Position Is: 24 degrees 19.28'N; 110 degrees 19.84'W.

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

PS - Carolyn - the boys are having an alien making day today!!!

Pictures from Los Gatos

2008-06-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

These are some of the pictures we took during our stay in Los Gatos. As always, double click on the pictures to see them better. Oasis at anchor.
Ah, fresh lobster!!
Looking North from the beach.
Looking south from the beach..
Overlooking the beach and anchorage from up on a hill..

Cruisers Tree in San Juanico

2008-06-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the cruisers tree/shrine in San Juanico. Rich worked hard to sescure our item in the tree so that it makes in thru any upcoming hurricaines...

We are currently in La Paz. We'll be here until Friday or Thursday getting some exhuast hoses replaced. Boy is it HOT here - 103 in the shade!!!

2nd Grader

2008-05-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

We've spent the past two nights in Agua Verde. Yesterday, Kyle successfully completed his last test for 1st grade - making him an official second grader!!! We're going to make brownies tomorrow night to share with some friends to celebrate the end of school. Today we sailed from Agua Verde to Isla San Francisco (about 55 miles). We're meeting up with our friends from A Cappella here. After this we'll work our way back to La Paz where we need to replace a few exhaust hoses before heading towards
Cabo.

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Perico South - Isla Carmen

2008-05-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

Oasis has started heading south again - towards Cabo. We are now anchored at Perico, South on Isla Carmen. We had a beam swell leaving San Juanico and crossing the north tip of Isla Carmen, but after we rounded the tip and headed more southerly things smoothed out. We are anchored here with our friends from Maitairoa. We'll be joining them tonight for cocktails along with another boat here by the name of "Brandy Wine". While crossing the tip of Isla Carmen we hooked a BIG dorado. Only problem
was is that he didn't want to stay caught and shook himself free just as we were about to pull him in. We were tasting dorado taco's..... we'll keep trying tomorrow...

Our current position is:
25 degrees 58.21'N; 111 degrees 04.43'W

Leaving San Jaunico Tomorrow

2008-05-27T16:21:00.001-07:00

Early tomorrow morning we plan on pulling up the anchor and heading to either the SE side of Isla Carmen or to Isla Monserrat. We'll slowing be starting our southing back to San Jose del Cabo by 6/11. We've had a great time here in San Jaunico - it would sure be easy to keep heading north, but we don't think we could stand how hot it would get in the summer!!

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan

Caleta de San Juanico

2008-05-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

We left Puerto Escondido this morning and traveled 36 miles north to Caleta de San Juanico. This is yet another beautiful anchorage. There is a cruisers shrine (bush) ashore where all the cruisers who pass thru leave something behind to let everyone know who has been here and when. We have to figure out what we're going to leave behind. This is the farthest north we're going to go in the Sea. After this we'll start heading back south, arriving in the Cabo area around 6/11. Our anticipated
departure date from Cabo is around 6/25 (weather permitting). We're going to hang out here for a few days and explore the beaches and do a little swimming....

Our current position is: 26 degrees 21.98'N; 111 degrees 25.86'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Pictures from Agua Verde

2008-05-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

We're still in Puerto Escondido (letting the gale blow thru...). We plan to leave tomorrow to either Honeymoon Cove or San Jaunico. We found an internet access point at the mooring office, so thought we'd post a couple of pictures of Agua Verde - double click on them to see better.

Puerto Escondido/Loreto

2008-05-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

We traveled from Agua Verde up to Puerto Escondido on Monday. Puerto Escondido is also known as the hidden port. Coming into the inner bay - you realize why. You have to do a zig-zag turn past a couple of breakwaters - it looks very intimidating. Once inside, it opens up to a huge bay with over 120 moorings. We picked up a mooring and are sitting here until Friday or so. There is currently a gale blowing on the outside of the Baja, and some of it's going to flop over the mountains into the
sea. Since this is a very protected bay, we thought we stay here and let things settle down. It's been very hot here - averaging around 95 or so every day (85 degrees by 8:30 in the morning!)and the humidity about 12%. Monday we walked about 1/2 mile up the street to the Tripui trailer park. They have a restaurant and a small tienda. The folks at the tienda felt bad that we had to walk back with several bags, so they gave us a ride. Yesterday was chore day - laundry etc. Today we had a taxi
take us the 13 miles into Loreto to do some shopping. We did some shopping, had lunch and went to the grocery store. We SHOULD now have enough food to get us back to the Cabo area by the 11th of June (but don't bet on it!). Sure wish there was a way to show you all some of pictures of this area, it's really pretty!

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Agua Verde

2008-05-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Oasis and her crew arrived in Agua Verde yesterday afternoon, just in time for lunch. The water really is green here - just like in all the pictures!! As soon as we were set, Alex from "Maitairoa" came over to welcome us. After lunch we went into town to find the tienda. There really isn't much to the "town", but it has the basics of what most people need. Last evening Maitairoa (Alex and Sue) came over and shared a few cocktails with us. They gave us some ideas of other anchorages to check
out also. Today was a beach day, sand castles and boche ball. We're going to keep heading north until about the end of next week when we'll start heading back towards the Cabo area.

Our current position is: 25 degrees 31.35'N; 111 degrees 04.43'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Los Gatos

2008-05-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

We arrived here in Los Gatos yesterday afternoon. It's yet again another beautiful anchorage. There are red rocks all around us. Rich keeps saying that the Sea reminds him of Arizona with an ocean, this place is like the Grand Canyon with an ocean! True to the rumor, Manuel came along side us yesterday afternoon. We asked him for some lobster - and he took off. Around 7:00 last night he came back. He had 3 medium size lobster and several small tails just for "los ninos". We gave him some
money and a beer, he gave us the lobster and took our trash with him. Can you guess what is for dinner tonight?? Today, Manuel came back with a shell for the boys. We gave him another beer and he asked if he could buy some tequila from us for his hombres. We don't have any extra tequila, but we do have extra vodka. We gave him a water bottle full of vodka, he offered to pay for it but we said no. You can tell he has a pretty hard life. I wouldn't be surprised if he shows back up again tonight
with something else to give us! We're leaving here tomorrow for Agua Verde - the water is supposed to be completely turquoise in color!!!

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Bahia San Evaristo

2008-05-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

We made the long 7 mile trek today from Isla San Francisco to Bahia San Evaristo. There's a very small town here - even a tienda (but it's closed on Monday's). There are only three other boats here. We've had a nice quiet day just hanging on the boat. The boys are playing games, Rich got in some swimming and I am getting some reading done. Tomorrow we think we're going to head up to Los Gatos. We hear from others that there is a guy there that sells fresh lobster and scallops - stay tuned!!!

Our current position is: 24 degrees 54.62'N; 110 degress 42.34'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Isla San Francisco

2008-05-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

We left Caleta Partida this morning around 8:45 and headed a long 20 miles up to Isla San Francisco. Along the way we caught dinner - so it's fresh fish tacos tonight!!! We arrived here around 12:15. After some lunch we went ashore to explore. It's a beautiful crescent shaped beach with shells all over the place. The boys have become great shell hunters!! We did some swimming and sand castle building too. It looks like we'll probably stay here for a couple of days and explore some of the other
nearby beaches in search of some more good snorkeling.

Our current position is: 24 degrees 49.19'N; 100 degrees 34.07'W.

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Oasis in Calita Partida

2008-05-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

We left this morning from La Paz and came up to Partida Cove which is between Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo. Partida Cove is the breached crater that separates the two islands. Just after we anchored we saw another boat entering the cove. As it got closer we realized it was our friends on Vinmar (Scott & Janet). We haven't seen them since the end of January while we were in Tenecatita. We're going to get together with them tomorrow and catch up on where they've been. We're going to stay
here a few days before heading on up to Isla San Francisco.

Our Current Position Is: 24 degrees 31.92'N; 110 degrees 22.66'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Wine Tasting & Chill'n in La Paz

2008-05-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's a tough life we've been living the past few days!!! Here are all the boys relaxing in the sun at the pool!!! We're leaving here tomorrow, so for the next month or so, there maybe no pictures - text only. It doesn't sound like there is much in the way of Internet connections up further in the sea - but - we should have some great ones to post once we get back to the Cabo area in June. We are planning to go to the new marina in Los Cabos to get ready to head home. Last night "Panchita"organized a wine tasting get together at the cruisers lounge here in Costa Baja. There were about a dozen people and we all had a great time. The winner of the wine tastings was a home made red made by a couple from Mammoth...

Bahia Ballandra

2008-05-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

On our way to La Paz we stopped for one night at Bahia Ballandra. It's yet another beautiful bay in the Sea of Cortez. We stopped there so we could have an earlier arrival into La Paz the next day. They say that it is one of the most photographed bays in the La Paz area do to the unique rock formation they call mushroom rock (last picture). We're leaving here in a few days to go explore lots more beautiful bays farther up the sea....

Double click on this picture to see a better picture of mushroom rock.

Boys are both a year older!

2008-05-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Both boys have recently celebrated their birthdays! Ryan is 5, and Kyle is now 7. They both got to pretty much do whatever they wanted on their respective days and they got to pick our their meals for the day. Ryan wanted pancakes and hot dogs, Kyle wanted raspberry pancakes and pizza! The following are some pictures from their birthdays---

Jungle Tour in San Blas (Mantanchen Bay)

2008-04-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

These are some of the pictures from our Jungle Tour trip we took in San Blas. It was about a mile walk from where we were anchored in Mantanchen Bay... The boys loved the panga ride. The driver putted up the river, but flew back down - generating the smiles on the boys faces!!

One of the stops was at an alligator preserve. This was one of the bigger guys!! The boys were very impressed with all the alligators there. They had hundreds of tiny ones and 12-14 big ones...
Our driver. He didn't speak much english and we don't speak much spanish, but we were able to get we were able to understand each other pretty well....

Marina Costa Baja - NICE!!!!

2008-04-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

How can anyone argue with this place!!! We pulled in this morning, tied up to the fuel dock and filled up then moved over to a slip (which will be home for the next week). We went out for lunch then wandered over to the pool. They have lounge chairs in the pool, an infinity pool, kids pools, etc.... That's all we've seen so far, except for.... Our old boat. Yep, our Endeavour is parked about two docks down!!! The owners are coming over for cocktails tonight. They are the same folks we saw when we saw the boat in San Diego a couple of years ago. Since then, they sailed it back to Portland, up to Skagway, back to Portland, and back down here. Wow - the old girl still gets around!!!

Carolyn/Carson - this is one of the marinas for the Moorings boats - we're going to check it out.... a spring break down here would be great!!!!

Anchored in Los Muertos

2008-04-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

We made it across the sea and are anchored in Los Muertos. Our passage took just over 34 hours - our second longest yet... After school this morning we spent the day at the beach (what else??) and are now getting ready to head ashore for dinner at some swanky resort Rich walked down to earlier. Our crossing was very uneventfull. We saw pods of whales, dolphins, a few turtles (with the obligatory bird on them) and a bunch of jumping bat rays. The water on this side of the sea is so blue... we can't wait to go up north more and see how it continues to change colors.

Crossing the Sea of Cortez

2008-04-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

We left Mazatlan Harbor this morning with anchor up at 8:25 am and are now heading West across the Sea of Cortez. We have just over 140 more miles to go, we are heading to Bahia de Los Muertos on the Baja side. The winds are actually out of the south at around 10 knots, so it's a great beam reach sail. We should arrive there in time to hit the Giggling Marlin restaurant for dinner tomorrow night.

Monday was Ryan's 5th birthday! We had a party of him on shore with some of the other cruisers anchored in Mazatlan. He had such a great time!!! As we were blowing up balloons etc, he couldn't wait for his party to start... He got a Hot Wheels car, a poster of dinosaurs and $100 pesos.... I'll post some pictures of the party when we get to Muertos.

Our current position is: 23 degrees; 23.10' N; 107 degrees; 20.2'W

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

PS - If you reply please delete the original e-mail first.

Mazatlan Harbor

2008-04-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well we started off on Thursday morning for an approx. 8 hour trip to Isla Isabella where we would spend the night and then leave early the next morning for Mazatlan. We had a very nice sail out to Isla Isabella. When we got there, there were already 3 powerboats there and the fishermen where setting nets everywhere. We dropped the anchor and it wouldn't hook - it just kept skimming over the rocks/coral. We pulled it back up and decided to just head to Mazatlan. If we had hooked, it would have
been really hard to get out the next morning in the dark with all the nets around. The trip to Mazatlan was a little bumpy. We had 15-18 knots pretty much on the nose the entire night. The boys slept back in our room (as they do anytime we do an overnight), and they slept great. The wind started to die down just as we approached the Mazatlan harbor. When we pulled in we were happily surprised to see our friends Dick & Jan on Zephrus from SWYC already anchored there. After resting for a little
bit, we took the bus up to a great pizza place for lunch then another bus to the grocery store - we are ALWAYS running out of food!!! We've been invited up to the pool at El Cid today by "A Cappella" - so we are definitely going to do that... Kyle can't wait (he remembers the pool from when we were there in December). It doesn't look like we have access to the internet from here, so pictures and regular email will have to wait until we make it to the Baja side late next week.

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

PS - If you reply, please delete the original message first.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2008-04-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

"Blog" <svoasisgoessouth.goingtosd@blogger.com>Today is my Mom's birthday!!!! We sent her some flowers and gave her a call on the sat. phone. She'd probably kill me if I told you how old she is - so I won't!!! We left Chacala this morning and came up a whopping 20 miles to Mantanchen Bay. There is only one other boat in this huge bay!!! One of the special things about this area is the great homemade banana and pineapple bread. You can get a fresh loaf for $2.00 each - and boy are they fantastic!!
Tomorrow we are going to take the Jungle River trip - apparently you go up a river in a panga for about an hour, look for crocodiles, then you arrive at a safe secluded swimming hole - then back down the river. We'll let you know how it all goes. We'll leave here on Thursday afternoon and head to Mazatlan. It should take us about 20 hours. We will anchor in the old harbor there when we arrive.

Our current position is: 21 degrees 31.07'N; 105 degrees 14.45' W

Happy Birthday Mom - Love You!!!

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

PS - If you reply, please delete the original message and don't send any attachments (they don't come thru anyway..)

Beach Day in Chacala!

2008-04-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Here's Kyle with his boogie board with Oasis anchored in the background...
Ryan loves the beach, and brings lots of it home with him each day!!
Kyle like to showoff. He met a couple of Mexican girls on the beach today and was giving them rides in on his back...

Chacala - Internet Access!!

2008-04-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Ahhh - sunset in Chacala. We arrived here yesterday after leaving La Cruz about 8 hours earlier. We even got to sail a good portion of it!!! One thing that is new since we were here in December is getting internet access from the boat - what a bonus!
We've been hanging out with Tequila Rose and Rosita the past few days. Jerry from Rosita bought the boys ice cream today at the beach - he sure didn't have to ask them to go get the sand of their hands twice!!
What a way to spend your day - life's tough on the beach!!!

One of the boys favorite places... Philo's

2008-04-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Philo's is a bar here in La Cruz that is really enjoyed by ALL the cruisers - no matter what age! When you ask Kyle what he likes best about La Cruz - he'll tell you Philo's. They love to take their allowance and go play a game or two of pool then watch cartoons. Philo has food, a small pool, a pool table, Internet access, and a shower if you really need one...
Today is our last whole day here so you can guess where we'll be going for dinner tonight! It's open mike night also, so maybe we can stick around for some music too....
We may not have much in the way of Internet access after today, so we'll post items via our SSB radio. We're leaving for Chacala tomorrow morning - more surfing for the boys!!!

Music Everywhere

2008-04-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

One thing we've noticed since we've been in Mexico is that we've probably listened to more diverse and live music in the past 6 months than we have in the past 6 years. There are so many great musicians that are just hanging out down here and are looking for a place to play. In La Cruz alone, you can go somewhere every night to listen to live music. The picture above is of a couple that plays Latin gypsy music, called Latcho and Andrea - http://www.latchoandrea.com/. They play every Friday night at a restaurant called the Black Forest. The Black Forest is a german restaurant with incredible food!http://www.blackforestpv.com/

These are some of our friends who also were enjoying the music and food at the Black Forest last Friday night. On the left are Steve & Jamie from Reba and on the right are Jim and Sheilagh from Aurora (I'm not real sure who the guy in the middle is).

Some Wheels in PV!!

2008-04-08T09:50:00.001-07:00

We rented a car here in PV for a few days. It sure makes hitting Costco and the grocery store much easier. We also took some time and did a little sightseeing...
This is Chico's Paradise. It's on the main road out of PV about 30 miles southeast. Some of the local kids were diving off the huge boulders into the river below. A mini version of cliff diving. It was all very exciting to watch, especially when the oldest blindfolded himself before taking a running start and doing a flip into the water below..
The boys enjoyed their lunch at Chico's.
We did some walking around on the boulders after lunch - no diving for us!!!

Traveling Pictures

2008-04-05T07:34:00.001-07:00

As we've traveled along the Mexican Riviera - we've seen so many turtles. They look like floating coconuts! At first we tried to count how many, then we tried to count how many had birds on them - then we tried to get a picture of a bird on a turtle. Rich finally succeeded with the picture. Double click on the picture above to see it better.

This is approaching Cabo Corrientes from the South. Our next "major cape" to round will be Cabo Falso just after leaving Cabo San Lucas in a few months. As we approached Corrientes, the sun was setting and the winds were building. When we finally rounded it we said goodbye (for now) to the southern cross and had about 20 knots of wind right on our nose. Five hours later we were safely anchored in La Cruz and promptly dropped into bed.

Back above 20 degrees North

2008-04-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

This is the entrance to the Zihuat yacht club. It's actually really only a restaurant - but it has great food and a fantastic view of the bay! We are now currently in La Cruz in Banderas Bay (near Puerto Vallarta). We left Tenacatita on Tuesday morning at 5:30am and arrived here 19.5 hours later. We will be here until mid next week - cleaning the boat, getting some school days in, etc. Then we will head up the Chacala to let the boys do some more surfing, etc... We will be making our way north and cross the sea of cortez from Mazatlan to Las Frailes towards the middle to the end of the month.
Look who we found when we entered Santiago Bay in Manzanillo!!! You can see our boat anchored in the background. We're really glad we got to catch up with John & Renee before they headed out to cross the pacific. They came over one evening for cocktails, etc - it was great to see them again!! We just got an e-mail from them and they are now South of the equator making their way to the Marqueses!!

Test

2008-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is a test to see if I can post directly from our SSB to our blog...

Bye Ketching Up!!! We´ll Miss You....

2008-03-20T12:35:00.001-07:00

This morning we had to say good-bye and fair winds to our cruising buddies on Ketching Up! They left this morning for Acapulco and points south. We wish them a very uneventfull trip and will really miss them!!! As for us, we´re leaving Zihaut on Saturday morning and working our way back up to reach Manzanillo on Monday...

Joel - we checked, sorry no 17 year old flip flops at the basketball court!!

We LOVE this place...

2008-03-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

Zihaut has turned out to be everything we had heard about and more! If anyone ever gets a chance to come down this way - do it!! We took a dinghy ride over to a nice beach the other day, called Los Gatos... Great water for the kids to swim and play in, and palapas for us to hang out in... The shopping here is also wonderful - I´m filling the bathtub up with all kinds of goodies to bring home!!! We plan to leave here sometime this weekend and take three days to get back to Manzanillo (stopping for the nights a few different places). We´ll re-provision there and then head up to Tenacatita for some more surfing for the boys....

Oasis is in Zihaut

2008-03-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Zihaut this past Wednesday afternoon. We left Las Hadas, Manzanillo on Tuesday morning (anchor up at 7:15 am) and arrived here 31 hours later... not bad for a 184 mile passage. The trip was very uneventfull, except for the boobie bird that decided to tag along with us. He first landed on Ketching Up, then when he tired of them, he came to hang with us for a while. When we get better intenet connections, I´ll post a picture or two of him! We´ll be here for about a week prior to turning around and heading North.

Our current position is: 17 degrees, 37.44 N; 101 degrees 35.07W

Getting Ready To Leave Barra -

2008-02-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

It's hard, but it's time to leave Barra and head south a bit more. We're leaving on Saturday for Manzanillo (Las Hadas) then onto to Zihaut.... We've had an incredible time here and met a lot of other great cruisers - everyone has been great, but it's time to move on.... I went to Barra today on the water taxi to get provisions for the next few days (see the picture above)... There is absolutely no way I could have carried much more!! Rich and Noel (from Ketching Up) went to the port Captain to "Check Out", the boys all went to the FREE Kids Club at the hotel and I went shopping.... We had to soak the onion and potatoes for 30 minutes in and iodine/water mixture first before bringing it aboard... All part of provisioning in Mexico!!! We're really anxious to get going again tomorrow, but don't know exactly when we'll have Internet access again, so stay tuned...

Pot Luck

2008-02-28T07:08:00.000-08:00

" A Cappella" organized a great pot luck last night up at the pool here in Barra. There was spaghetti, pasta salad, two types of chili, artichoke dip, fruit bowl, brownies, cinnamon bread, and two key lime pies!! A feast was had by all!!

Tonight, Thursday, is the hosted reception for the marina tenants at the hotel - I'll try to remember to take some pictures this time!!

Pictures from Tenacatita - Finally

2008-02-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to our pictures we took in Tenacatita - there are alot since we were there so long.... It's a beautifull place....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/svoasis/sets/72157603996488474/

We'll be leaving here this Saturday or Sunday and heading to the Las Hadas anchorage in Manzanillo. If you're old enough - remember the movie "10" with Bo Derek running down the beach - that's the Las Hadas beach....

Having Fun With Friends

2008-02-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

The other day the boys from Ketching Up came and spent the night with us while their parents had a long needed date night. We went swimming, watched surfers and ate nachos, went to watch the movie "Ghost Busters", had a big spaghetti dinner (with garlic bread made from a baguette we got from the French Baker) - then played computer games until bedtime. The next morning, we got 5 chocolate croissants from the French Baker. Twenty-four pancakes later, they were all full!! We had lots of fun with all the boys!!!

Last night we went over to a bar called Pipers. It's pretty much a cruisers hangout. We went so that the boys could play pool - can't argue with free pool and 25 pesos for two beers!! Piper even made the boys a plate of sliced pineapple and marachino cherrys! After pool we went for some pizza.

Cool Name

2008-02-15T09:22:00.001-08:00

Now we couldn't resist this place!!! It's actually the name of the swim-up bar here at the Grand Bay Hotel in Barra.

Boat Maintenance in Paradise...

2008-02-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

Yep, even in paradise the boat still needs the varnish done every 6 months!!!! This time there were a few places that I had to take the varnish back down to bare wood since we're using the boarding ladder a lot more than we have in the past....

Parents night Out!!!

2008-02-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, Ketching Up took the boys for the night and we got to go out on a date night!! We went to Isadora's for dinner in Barra, then to Piper Lovers for some live music and dancing.
The guy playing the guitar at Piper's made Rich and I feel like we were back at Doc Maynards in Seattle - then we found out why... The guy used to play in a band called the Jr. Cadillacs, which if you're from Seattle, you'll know that they played at Doc's all the time about 20 years ago!!
This is the view from the lobby of the Grand Bay Hotel here in Barra. You can obviously see the marina, and the lagoon is in the back...

Homes of Careyes - BIG BUCKS!!

2008-02-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Just look at these places! The pictures don't do them justice - they are absolutely incredible!!! This is where we where going to anchor on the way toTenacatita, but the "pocket" (really tiny) anchorage was full with three big boats so we just did a drive thru!!!! You have to click on the pictures and make them bigger to really see the "houses"!!!

Chamela

2008-02-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

Chamela was the first stop after we left Banderas Bay. We left La Cruz at midnight and rounded Cabo Corrientes around 5am. Shortly after that is when we first saw the southern cross. We spent about 4 nights in Chamela before heading to Tenacatia, via a drive thru in Careyes...

Here's a picture of Rich at the deposito in Chamela - same one Chuck??

This is how the boys all spent the days - on the beach with their boogey boards. The three on the left are the Ketching Up boys and the Oasis boys are on the right...

The French Baker

2008-02-06T10:39:00.001-08:00

As with any place we've gone - there are always things we've heard about before we get there. In Barra, it was the French Baker! He comes to the marina and lagoon each morning and you are able to buy fresh croissants (chocolate, plain, ham/cheese, almond) baquettes, fresh bread and lot of other really yummy things! The boys have no problem getting up and dressed in the morning if they know they get to go see the French Baker. He announces himself on the radio as he is entering both the marina and lagoon, and will gladly take orders for future dates...

Oasis is in Barra de Navidad

2008-02-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

The boys surfing in Tenacatita...

We arrived here in Barra on Saturday after a short motor trip down the coast. We had a great 3+ weeks in Tenacatita, but it was time to move on. We'll be here in Barra, in the marina, until the end of February. Tonight there is a carnival in town to celebrate "Fat Tuesday" so a bunch of us are taking a water taxi to town to go see the festivities...

A few stories....

2008-01-28T18:44:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-12T15:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-10T07:34:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-08T15:05:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

"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

2008-01-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

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/

Pictures from Mantanchen Bay

2007-12-30T07:47:00.001-08:00

This is one of Rich's favorite pictures! We were the only people ashore in Mantanchen Bay. It's a huge bay and there were only 4 boats anchored with us at this point.

Here are more pictures from Mantanchen Bay (just south of San Blas).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/svoasis/sets/72157603581761945/

Pictures from Isla Isabella

2007-12-29T08:35:00.000-08:00

Finally, here's a picture of the infamous blue footed boobie! Click on the following link to see all the pictures we took at Isla Isabella.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/svoasis/sets/72157603560863398/

Christmas Dinner

2007-12-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from dinner last night. As I mentioned earlier, we went up to La Cruz to a place called Philo's. There were 146 people and 164 lbs of turkey. Everyone brought a side dish to share. Dinner started at 6:00, then at 7:00 all the local kids came and each one had a chance to talk to Santa and receive a present. There were over 400 kids, and no one went home without a gift!

This is the man from "Cirque" - he is apparently a professional juggler. He entertained the kids and us while the kids waited for their turn to visit santa.

Merry Christmas from Oasis!!

2007-12-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Oasis to all our family and friends!!! We were awoken this morning around 7:15 after the boys discovered that Santa had paid them a visit!! We are currently in Paradise Village Marina in Puerto Vallarta. We arrived here on the 23rd after spending a week anchored in La Cruz - just 5 miles from here. We'll be here thru the 3rd of January.
Merry Christmas!!!

I'm impatient

2007-12-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

I'm impatient that I haven't heard from the Farmers in a few days. Maybe it is because it is almost Christmas and I have a thousand things to worry about and this seems like the easiest worry and the one I can do the least amount to fix. Maybe it is because I have that new fangled www.skype.com thingy I want to try out. And maybe ::sob:: I just miss them. Anyways, they should log in within the next 3 days. I can't wait to hear about their Christmas plans.

Hmm, a title for this one?

2007-12-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

I have a penchant towards embarrassing photos, actually the first post in this blog was a series of embarrassing photos. But when it too far? I’m sure I have my limits. I’m certain that my limits are clearly defined and would be considered prudish by many many public figures. Posting this picture made me question where my limit was. Apparently I shoved my limit over a little and allowed this photo to be published.

But what about Kyle’s Kindergarten teacher and coach? I think they read here. How about Grandma and Grandpa? What will they think? It isn’t bad enough that Deb and Rich are taking their children out of the country, but NOW, serving them Mexico’s finest?

Truth be told, it looks like heaven to me and to probably many other readers here. Thanks to Tom and Dawn for inocently emailing this to Deb.

Product Plugs

2007-12-21T04:59:00.000-08:00

Last week Debbie mentioned that she was going to be out of range for a few days. My flippant response was "no worries, I'll blog for you". Never thinking of the 324567889 other things I have to get done right before the holidays. And, no, I'm not ready yet, there is a perfectly good weekend standing between me and the holidays, there is plenty of time, thank you very much. So this is my long winded apology for not blogging daily, as I had hoped. And there is another little tidbit. I really don't have too much to say. So when all else fails talk about the latest gadgets, right?

The first is a camera that my husband used when he was crew on the San Diego to Cabo leg. It is the Olympus Stylus 770SW 7.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver) . What makes this camera so perfect for cruising is that it is WATERPROOF down to 33 feet! It is thin and lightweight. My husband hung it around his neck (I'm embarrassed to say, he called it his bling), had it with him all the time, and was able to take amazing shots with it. Oh, what's that? you want to see pictures? Okay: Carson took this picture leaning way over the railings of the boat. These are dolphins racing along the side of the sailboat. Really a fun thing to see and hard to get a picture of.

Deb and Rich has a concern about their prop. Carson free dove down and took a few photos of it.

This is a picture from a ponga (deep hard bottom boats the locals use to fish) taxi service. The swells were big and there was lots of saltwater spray. Oh and Carson was balancing Ryan on his lap too. All that would be enough for me to leave my camera in a sealed waterproof bag, but no worries with this camera. Actually the next few shots Carson took have water spray all over the len. He was trying hard to show us how big the swells really were.

This is a picture Carson took after climbing the mast. Day 3 of there trip was windy and rocky, one of their lazy jack lines wore through. Carson climbed up to repair it. It's hard to see, but Deb and Rich are on the bow smiling up at the camera.

Here is the stern side of Oasis from the same vantage point.

Alright, that is enough of showing off pictures. The second gadget that I want to talk about today is a combination of a webcam and super easy software that allows you to video/talk with people all over the world (with an internet connection) for FREEEEEEEE.

This is the video web cam thingy I just received from Amazon yesterday. I'm not endorsing this one particularly, I really don't know one from another, there are lots of them, I just found one that said it was skype compatible and had the microphone attached so I didn't have to wear funky headphones. Oh, and the installation on this baby was painless, just a USB plug thingy and a CD for the camera driver. Then I simply downloaded this: http://skype.com/download/skype/windows/ and I looked up Oasis on the contact tab and voila, I can talk to my friends (just as soon as they get some internetz). Isn't this a wonderful idea! Deb hooked her mom up with one of these so the grandkids can chat with grandma and grandpa.

UPDATE: Oasis in Chacala

2007-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

We left Mantanchen Bay Wednesday morning and had a rolly trip to Chacala - about 20 miles away. Just as we were pulling into the bay, we saw a whale about 100 yards off the boat. We've seen several whales so far, but that was the closest so far...
Now we're in Chacala Bay. It's a beautiful little anchorage. Everyone bow and stearn anchors to 1) give people more room, and 2) keep your bow into the swells as they come in. Chacala is not a big town by any means, but it's a nice mix of remoteness and luxury. We can sit on the beach under a palapa and have a bucket of beer, lunch, or dinner. There are a few small tienda's here - you can get about 80% of anything you might need. We went to a women's house for dinner last night. On Thursday nights, she makes a special home made Mexican dinner for the first 20 people that sign up - she charges $5/plate. We went with "Ketching Up" and "Monju". We're going to spend one more day here before heading off to Punta Mita or La Cruz tomorrow. At that point we'll be in Banderas Bay and will be changing time zones again to Central time.
We have LIMITED internet access here so we've been able to read our e-mail, but not post any pictures to our blog - so you'll just have to wait a bit longer to see our pictures of the blue footed boobies!!!
Our current location is: 21 deg 09.79'N; 105 deg 13.60'W
Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Ship Trak

2007-12-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

So there's a cool way to check out the current location for Oasis. Deb and Rich use their single side band radio and check in with ShipTrak and they in turn put a little red dot on Google Earth program and let us see where they are. I really like viewing it with the satallite view. Their call sign is KI6MBA, that's all you need to know to watch them sail south.

I've spent most of my morning trying to get a picture of the map for this entry and darn this was the best image I'm going to get.

The link to Ship Trak is on the right column of this blog.

Sneezing

2007-12-12T17:39:00.000-08:00

I started sneezing today, uncontrollably. When I was done with my little fit, I looked around to see if Deb was rolling her eyes at me. For those of you who haven't experience this little exchange between Deb and Rich it is really funny. It goes something like this:

Rich: ::sneeze:: ::sneeze::
Deb: Oh God ::eye roll:: Here it comes
Rich: ::sneeze:: ::sneeze:: ::sneeze:: ::sneeze::
Deb: Rich go outside
Rich: ::sneeze:: ::sneeze:: chuckle ::sneeze:: ::sniffle:: ::sneeze::
Deb: You know when we go cruising you are going out to the dingy until you are finished.

So I wonder, how are Deb and Rich handling such close quarters and extended time with one another. I wonder if Rich has gotten banished to the dingy trailing behind the boat. And last time I noticed Kyle was sneezing in 2's. I bet it is just a matter of time before he is following in his dad's footsteps.

Oasis in Mantanchen Bay

2007-12-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

We left Isla Isabella yesterday morning and headed for Mantanchen Bay, 4 miles SE of San Blas. It's a huge open bay. We're about in the middle of it anchored in 13ft of water. When we arrived yesterday, there was only one other boat here. He has since left, but two others arrived. We're just getting ready to drop the dinghy in and go exploring. We've heard one of the restaurants ashore will give you a ride over to the town of San Blas. The town apparently has several stores and mercados.
San Blas is in the state of Nayarit, and the natives are the Huichol people who create the trendy bead-covered animals and geometric shapes. If you've been aboard Oasis, you'll know we have a blue beaded gecko hanging in the galley. These animals and shapes are very popular in the US and European art galleries. San Blas is also well known for the final poem of Longfellow called "The Bells of San Blas."

Our current position is: 21 degrees, 30.95'N; 105 degrees 14.04'W

We'll probably spend a few days here before we head down the way to Chacala.

Adios for now -

Rich, Deb, Kyle & Ryan
S/V Oasis

Update -- At Isla Isabella

2007-12-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

We left Mazatlan last night around 6:00pm. We left with "Ketching Up" and "Monju". We arrived at Isla Isabella this morning around 7:00am after an uneventful overnight trip. After a little nap, we headed for shore. We saw all kinds of different and unique birds - Kyle had me take pictures of all of them. We did see the infamous blue footed boobie!! Cocktail hour was aboard "Oasis" tonight. Everyone is now back aboard their boats getting ready to head out tomorrow. We'll be heading to Matanchen Bay (near San Blas). Depending on how bad the bugs really are, we'll head to Chacala after that. For now, we're at 21 Degrees 50.70' N; 105 degrees 52.73' W. Still having a fantastic time!!!

Last Day in Mazatlan!

2007-12-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

The above is a picture of the central market here in Mazatlan. We took the bus to town and bought fresh fruit, veggies, and meat for the next few weeks. The boys thought it was great - except for the whole pigs head which was just at Ryans eye level...

This is the beach area of El Cid - can you tell Rich is having a tough life these days...

This is one of the many decorative cactus that line the walkway here at El Cid. They have shapes an faces in the cacti..
These are our great neighbors here at El Cid - Tom and Dawn from "Warm Rain" - originally from Seattle. They are planning on doing the Puddle Jump to the South Pacific this spring - good for them!!! They have been a great source of local knowledge to us here in Mazatlan. We had tequila and chasers with them this evening.... more on that later....

We should be at Isla Isabella sometime on Saturday afternoon, and after a few days there will work our way down the coast to Puerto Vallarta for Christmas. We plan to stop in San Blas, Chacala, Punta Mita and La Cruz on the way. Stay tuned for what actually happens....

From a Friend

2007-12-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

The following is a comment we got from one of our friends - it's so classic we had to post it!!

"Can't believe how similar my week has been to yours. I left my house at 5am and took on some fuel before "sailing" down the 15 fwy to my office where I dropped my "ass anchor" at my desk for 10 hours and bathed in the glow of fluorescent lights. I then pulled anchor and cruised north back home. Who needs natural light when you have fluorescent bulbs? So much fun...think I will do it again tomorrow. Miss reality yet?"

Our answer - Not a Bit!!

All I Want For Christmas....

2007-12-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Yep, look what Kyle lost - his two front teeth. One day after the other, the tooth fairy came to visit Oasis - she brings pesos down here!!
If you open this picture, you'll see the boys from "ketching up" and "Oasis" all getting ready to jump! Yep, even Ryan... It's about a 10 foot jump!!

LeAnne - dinghy chaps are canvas covers that go on the top side of the dinghy. They not only save the dinghy from the sun (and extend it's life), but they also are a lot nicer to sit on that hot rubber!!!

Sun Bathers..

2007-11-30T10:58:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of pictures of the local iguanas that live near the pool here at the El Cid. They just seems to watch all of us and the rest of the word just go by...
Well as cruising plans usually go, we've changed ours a bit. We found a guy here that will make great dinghy chaps for a really good price - so we're staying now until next Friday...

Just a relaxing Day...

2007-11-27T18:07:00.000-08:00

Today was just spent being a tourist after school was finished. We took a taxi to the "golden zone" (alias - tourist zone) and wondered around for a while. We didn't really buy anything, but looked at lots of stuff. After that we took the bus pack to the marina. The picture below is of the boys at the pool just after sunset. This is the little playground at the hotel here. This is some sort of contraption that you sit in and spin around in.... made me dizzy just watching them!!!
LDP - thanks for the birthday wishes!!! You guys should come to PV for christmas!!!

Mazatlan

2007-11-26T17:31:00.001-08:00

This is the famous cathedral in the historic portion of downtown Mazatlan. We made it to Mazatlan on Friday, arriving just after 9 am. We have a beautifull slip at the gorgeous El Cid resort, and the kids are loving the pool action. Friday was a day to catch up on some sleep after the night crossing and the let the kids wear off some steam at the pool. Saturday seems to have just happened... Yesterday (Sunday) we set off to take a bus to the historic part of town, but we got on the wrong bus. Knowing this, we got off fairly quickly and walked for a while. Then we took a "Pulmanaria" (Opean Air Cab) to the historic portion and wandered around for a while. We had lunch at a really nice place, wandered some more then took the correct bus to the local supermarket "Gigante" - and a taxi home.
This evening (Monday) we dinghied over to the other marina here and met up with our friends Dan & Loraine Olsen of "Zephrus" - they say to tell everyone in San Diego and at SWYC hello for them. We're having dinner with them on Friday aboard Oasis, and then they too will be heading south later in the month, so we will most likely run into them again.

Kyle and Ryan eating chips aboard Zephrus....

Here's a picture of Rich's first yellow fin tuna! He made fresh ahi poke for dinner that night! (eat your heart out Ron & Mia!). He's really starting to get into this fishing thing! You can see how flat the sea was during our crossing. We motored across and had to slow the boat up in the middle of the night so as to not arrive here too early.... The office to the marina opens at 9am, and we radioed them at 9:03 - how's that for timing!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes Carolyn and LeAnne!!!!!

Hey Good Looking -- Happy Birthday!

2007-11-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

While our friends sail to Mazatlan, celebrating Debbie's 43rd birthday. I thought it would be fun to leave them messages; your fondest memory of Debbie, her birthday, or some other crazy time you know I want to know about. While you are thinking about some juicy details, here's some Buffet,

Fish Everywhere..

2007-11-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Kyle, hung upside down like a Marlin! He's been waiting to do this... Ryan got hooked up, but wouldn't let Dad reel him in....
Rich has been fishing off the boat. His favorite fish appears to be about a 5 inch puffer fish... And so ends another beautiful day in Los Muertos....

Hookah in Action

2007-11-20T09:58:00.001-08:00

Rich hooked up the hookah line yesterday to play with it.
He check out the bottom of the boat. We were missing a nut on one of our zincs, so he just dove on down there and fixed it - pretty handy!!!
Kyle's at it again - jumping off the boat! He calls this dive his flying cannon ball...
Yep, he's loving this!!!

Oasis In Los Muertos

2007-11-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

We're spending a few quiet days here in Los Muertos. Our current position is: 23 degrees 59.2'N/109 degrees 49.7' W. Click on the above picture to see it better. There is nothing here except for a great beach, some old mining ruins, and the above pictured Giggling Marlin.

Here's a picture of the bay from the beach. Notice the stink pots?? There was a rally that visited here last night which was comprised of about 30-40 stink pots! They're all gone now, on their way to La Paz. We have the bay back now with only 4 other boats anchored here.
This is looking west from the beach - another pretty nice one huh!!! This is as far north as we're going. Our current thinking is to head over to Mazatlan later this week, possibly leaving here on Thursday morning, which would put us in Friday afternoon.

Pictures from Los Frailes

2007-11-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

Once ashore, the boys and Rich climbed a little sand burm to find a lake.
Our own private beach. This is a picture of the bay of Los Frailes - pretty nice huh???

The last night we were there, there was a pot-luck on the beach. The boys from Oasis and Ketching Up climbed a nearby hill and took control of it. They look like survivors...
This is the pot-luck. It started at 4:00 so everyone could get back to their boats before dark. After "Survivor Santa Maria", everyone thinks getting back before dark is a great idea.

Well now we're in Los Muertos - which is another 45 mile NW from Los Frailes. We plan to be here for 4-5 days before heading across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan.

Baja Ha-Ha Wrapup

2007-11-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a really great summary of the race. Makes me want to stop writing my own and just link to them.

Recap on Cabo

2007-11-15T04:55:00.000-08:00

Remember when I was talking about how I hoped this 2 week little trip my husband was taking to Cabo San Lucas would get the cruising bug out of his system? Well, as I am 90 percent of the time, I was wrong. Carson had the time of his life helping Debbie and Ryan take Oasis down from San Diego to Cabo. I’m afraid he was boat shopping while cruising with 150 other boats and has a “3 year plan” for doing the Ha-ha again. And really who can blame him for dreaming?

The rally/race was very well organized. They kept track of all of the boats (wow!) with a daily roll call, had organized events at each stopping point, had tons of giveaways, and had a wealth of knowledge and friendliness to share with everyone. If you haven't already found it, check out the electronic version of Latitude 38. This is the magazine that sponsored the rally. And the many of the magazine staffers were in the race too.

And the people!! Deb and Rich are sailing with some really terrific people. Very friendly, very willing to help with information or skills they have. I was really impressed with the caliber of people I met while down in Cabo. While walking around downtown Cabo, you could recognize many many HaHa people by their bright pink or blue shirts. Even when we were in Costco (provisioning for the next leg), we met fellow cruisers, and gave them a ride back to the marina.

But my review of Cabo San Lucas isn't quite so shiny. I was warned before I left that I might not like Cabo. I was told that it was really Americanized and catered to a different crowd than I was used to. Boy, were they right!!! I couldn't find a popcicle storefront anywhere, nor a panderia. I wasn't particularly happy with the food either. But life isn't always just about food, right? I liked our hotel. It was about a 5 min drive from the marina and friendly helpful staff. But enough of the review, let's see some pictures.

Here are my two boys at "Lover's Beach". We took a water taxi to get out to this beautiful place. It is just around the corner from Cabo's famous Arch. And the beach has two sides, both the bay and the ocean are accessible. We had a fantastic afternoon swimming and snorkeling.

Kyle and Carson had a great time towing each other around on the boogie board at Mango Deck.Aren't these kids cute. And so patiently waiting to go to the beach. There were a few times last weekend where I would have all four of the kids. People would look really hard at us and try to figure out if they were all brothers. Can you imagine??? The 3 oldest are only nine months apart with Ryan holding up the end at 14 months younger than Robert.

Update -- Los Frailes

2007-11-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

We left Cabo Monday morning around 10:30, after fueling up. We had a nice trip up to Las Frailes, which is about 45 miles NE of Cabo. We were anchored around 5:30 that evening. Yesterday (Tuesday) we started school again - both kids were ready to get back to it. After school we packed our lunch and headed to the beach. The crew of "Merry Roe's" joined us for the afternoon. The kids had fun playing on their boogey boards and playing in the sand. That evening, "Merry Roe's" and "Vinmar" left Los Frailes. "Vinmar" headed for Mazatlan and "Merry Roe's" headed up towards Loreto. After dinner last night, we joined some other folks aboard "Paradise Bound", a Vagabond 47. They had blended ice cold peaches and cream drinks and appetizers. He had his spreader lights on lighting up the water around him. The light drew a feeding frenzy of Mackerel. There were hundreds, and it lasted for well over an hour - the boys were sufficiently impressed.

Today, Wednesday, we tried out a different beach landing. We had over a mile of beach to ourselves - what a life!! Our friends from "Ketchin Up" arrived just a bit ago. Kyle called their youngest son on the radio and made a beach play date for tomorrow. We're planning on staying here until Saturday when we'll go another 45 miles up to Los Muertos.
Our current position is: 23 degrees 22.80' N; 109 degrees 25.28W.
We have really enjoyed reading all the comments on our blog when we get hooked up to the internet - keep it up!!!
Rich, Deb, Kyle, & Ryan
S/V OASIS

Ha-Ha Awards Party

2007-11-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of us getting our award for 3rd place in our division (jalapneo division). Now realize, there was one first, one second, and lots of thirds - no one got worst than third place. It was a great time watching all the people we've met the past two weeks getting their awards. Everyone overcame something to get where we're all at now - pretty incredible!!

This is the crew of Ketchin Up. They're from Asotria, OR. We've hung out with them a fair amount the past few weeks. Our plan is to leave tomorrow morning to head up to La Fralies for a week or two. We're just going to drop the hook and sit there and let this all sink in for a while. We're meeting Ketchin Up and Merry Rose up there...

A Few Picturese From Legs 1 - Turtle Bay

2007-11-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Here's what our spinnaker looks like. We popped it just after the start back in San Diego.

We're in CABO!!!

2007-11-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of the famous Arch in Cabo. We rounded this cape yesterday morning around 9:30am. We had a great trip down from Bahia Santa Maria! Beautiful weather, two yellow fin tunas (one became Poke for appetizers). We're in the marina in Cabo side tied to the pier with two other Ha-Ha boats rafted to us. Now we can clean up the boat, fill up with food, water, etc. There was a beach party today that we went to - which was really fun. Ask Carolyn about the "Here to Eternity" kiss on the beach contest!!!
This is a picture another boat took of us just as we rounded Cedros Island before going into Turtle Bay. Rich loves this picture.... note the swell...
Here's the sunrise on our last day prior to getting to Cabo..
Yellow Fin! Carson had a great time fishing off the boat. We got one Dorado (mahi mahi) and three yellow fins!! We're stocked with tuna for a bit.

Well that's enough for tonight. We're having a nice quiet dinner with Carolyn and the boys... more later...

Leaving on a Jet Plane.

2007-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

I’m really not the traveling type. It is so much more of a hassle to get ready for vacation and then to clean up after vacation, than just to relax at home. It is the morning of our plane trip and I think I have everything under control. ::Cough cough::

In a few short hours I will be relaxing on a beautiful sandy beach sipping a tropical drink and frantically uploading pictures from the last two weeks. Look for more updates with new and improved pictures.

Update

2007-11-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

After spending two glorious days in Bahia Santa Maria, we hauled up the anchor this morning at 5:30 with our next landfall being Cabo San Lucas. We should get there tomorrow afternoon sometime. We're sailing in about 80 degree weather with beautiful sunny skies, following the coast to the cape.

Santa Maria was a really nice stop. We got in around 11:00pm this past Sunday. There is no town, just beaches. The surf can be pretty bad for dinghy landings, and it was really breaking while we where there. Out of 170 boats, probably only a dozen took their dinghy's in, everyone else took a panga. Monday was just a casual day. They were selling beer on shore and a band was playing. Kyle & Ryan hooked up with another set of siblings their ages. They found a little natural pool to play in while the tide was low. When the tide started to come in, it became a great surf ride for them.... Yesterday was the official beach party. It was scheduled to start at 1pm. The surf was so high that even the panga drivers wouldn't go out, so the party was postponed an hour. We finally got a ride around 3:15. We got in line to go back to the boat around 4:45, since it was suggested that everyone be off the beach before dark. We got back, put the dinghy up, etc and had dinner around 6:30.

Just out of habit we turned on the radio during dinner. Apparently not everyone had gotten off the beach before dark. Richard (the Grand Poo Bah) was telling everyone that they should plan on sleeping on the beach, since he thought it was too dangerous to come out thru the surf in the dark. The issue became mute once the Panga drivers said - No Mas!!! Richard took a roll call of those on the beach, and everyone was accounted for... When we left this morning, the pangas where just getting ready to get the 70 or so people back out thru the surf. It was a situation that could have been bad, but thanks to the Grand Poo Bah and the panga drivers, everything worked out great!!!!

We're currently about 600 miles south of San Diego with only 140 miles to go.... this is GREAT!
FYI - We're at: 24 deg 21' N; 111 deg 52' W

Speaking of phones

2007-11-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

The emergency satellite phone is working. Just as I finished posting "If the phone doesn't ring, it's me" my phone rang and Carson was on the other line. Now, I never understood semantic of some words very well, so tell me, was that irony? I thought is was funny none the less.

They are having a wonderful time. Carson was trying to describe the blue of the sky and the crystal clear blue water and the 80 degree weather. They are seeing whales.

I was certainly surprised to hear from Oasis. I assume they are just testing out the phone. They have a plan that only allows for so many minutes per month and it not exactly the 700 minute plan. If my memory is right it is more like 20 mins/month.

I'm flying down to Cabo San Lucas to bring them a few things, have a little vacation, and most importantly take my husband back to the states. I have this funny feeling he is having the time of his life and isn't really wanting to come back to the dredges of real life.