I am back in Mexico

I am almost finished circling the seven seas with my return to Mexico where it all began. My boat and I stayed at Bahia del Sol in El Salvador throughout this summer's hurricane season and set sail again as soon as possible with my new crew. Joyce joined me in El Salvador after she spent most of this year in Panama.

The sailed, or should I say motored to our first port located in the southernmost marina on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the state of Chiapas. The voyage should have taken a little more than two days but fuel problems added an extra day to our trip. We picked up dirty fuel in Bahia del Sol or junk built up in the tank after sitting for six months. The problem is now solved and the fuel here in Madero is excellent.

We sit here with four other boats waiting for a weather window before we set off to our next port two days run from here. The crossing is know to be one of the top five most dangerous waters in the world so we are not in any hurry to stick our nose out there until we are confident we can cross in calm winds and seas. In the mean time we are enjoying ourselves here at Marina Chiapas.

The following will be boring for none cruisers as I want to share this location with other cruisers that may be sailing through this area. Most cruising guides have not updated their books showing and reporting on the new marina. I promise my next blog will be more inclusive and enjoyable for all, with stories of new adventures and photos that will bring tears of joy to your eyes.

The marina is relatively new and will soon be one of the more popular places to pull up and rest or stay during the summer months. They added a lift this past January to pull boats out of the water  for dry storage or repairs. The staff here is well qualified to work on the boats as well as having access to craftsmen or mechanics in the area. To say that they are friendly would be an understatement. They drive you to the customs house to check into Mexico and call immigration when you arrive to schedule a check in on your boat. They also offer a ride and pick up into town at no cost and to the fuel docks to fill jerry cans which they will provide if needed. There is a fine restaurant on site and they do make one of the best margaritas that I find time to enjoy during the daily afternoon happy hours. The cost for the slip as I write this is 75 cents a foot for a short time stay and 45 cents for a month or more. There is also a small new store on site for drinks and snacks and a few food items. It is hoped that they will soon build a pool and bar to cool your heels on a very warm summer and/or winter day. You can get a van ride into town for 16 pesos or a cab for 150 pesos. The drive takes about thirty minutes.



Here are a few photos of the marina.

Here is my first mate connected to the internet and her music.

PEOPLE WHOM I HAVE MET CRUISING

On past blogs, I have tried to put in words the feeling I have about the many people I have met cruising the past 6 years. While I was close in describing my feeling, it still fell short of the total of how I feel. I discovered, while resting here in El Salvador, words that were put to paper by one of the cruisers who passed by here in years past. I did not meet them nor do I know that these words were from their own thoughts or copied from another author. I can however say that the below words strike exactly at what I alone have not been able to write from my own thoughts. So you can better envision one of the joys of my life these past 6 years I want to share with you these words which describes better than I could ever done alone.

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Some People

Some people came into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understandings with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints in our hearts and we are never ever the same.

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A Change of Pace

Below you will not read about my latest adventures at sea. Below you will not view photos of picturesque anchorages and sunsets. Below you will not read about the latest islands or country I have set foot on. Below you WILL read and view photos about my latest adventure ashore in the mountains east of Fresno, California at about 8,000 feet. The area is along the John Muir trail. This trail, if I remember correctly, runs the length of California and it shares the route with the Pacific Rim trail that runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border.

My son Steve, his wife Jessie and my two Grandsons, Ray and Abe went hiking and camping for 5 days.

Here my Grandson Ray and I are at the trailhead ready to start our hike. Ray's mom is taking the photo. Jessie is also taking the trek from the shore line at 8,000 feet, up to 9,000 feet and back down to the lake 4 miles down the trail. Now remember that I had been hiking in Grenada, at sea level, last summer and spring. To say that my butt was dragging after this hike would be an understatement.

My other Grandson, Abe and his Dad Steve are pushing off shore as they ready themselves to row across to the other end of the lake were we will meet up.

The hardship of the hike was forgotten as we were greeted with these wonderful views.

Finally... we made it to the other end of the lake to meet Steve who had setup camp on an island across from us. Swim across????, not a chance. Steve picked us up in the boat.

Dad and the boys in the water.

I am up, had my coffee and oatmeal and I am ready to rock and roll. Everyone else is still in bed.

But not before I row to the nearest toilet to set and read the latest newspaper.

When I return, Abe is ready to move off onto the trail.

These views again greeted us as were moved up and down the trail.

We made it to the summit.

The little guy and dad are coming up behind us. Abe will be 5 in October and Ray will be 7 in October. Both of these boys are fearless as you will see in upcoming photos.

What do you do when you resting? You engineer and arch out of stones.

We can´t forget about the Redwood trees. These are small compared to the grandest on the coast.

My son who is an adventurer like his dad loves to climb rocks and cliffs. Here he readies himself for a climb up a crack in the cliff.

Here he is repelling down after his successful climb to the top.

Next turn is Abe, with climbing gear on and taped hands he is ready to show his dad he can match his climb.

Now Ray is not going to let his younger brother show him up. It is his turn to strut his stuff.

 We now are headed back down to the valley and coast where my son and family live as we travel from 70 degree weather in the mountains, though the valley with 110 degree temps and onto the coast where it is foggy and 55 degrees and you ask why I have a cold.

My daughter and her husband are proud parents of their first baby born last November. I flew home for a surprise visit when he was a month old. At that visit he looked like a bundle of flesh with eyes, mouth, and ears. Now you should see him, all smiles and looks like a human. His name is Gavin. I have been assured that he was NOT named after the late mayor of San Francisco. If he had been, I would have called him by his middle name Alexander.

For those of you that remember me best on the water, these photos are for you.

I am now back in El Salvador enjoying the sunshine. one must remember that nothing comes free. The price you pay here for the warm sun is having to deal with the high humidity. A cold beer helps, or two, or three.....

Until next time be safe out there.

Denny

Dolce Vita

Update from Dolce Vita

I decided to take time out from my busy schedule to update you with my blog.....RIGHT.....

I am in El Salvador again where I spent the hurricane season three years ago as I headed south. How time flies. I find myself disappointed this time as I find few cruisers here. Last time there were a number of us to enjoy each others company and stories as well as many afternoons around the pool during happy hour. As I write this, there is one other boat with people on board. They are Bill and Jean who sponsor and manage the annual Rally to El Salvador. They are fun people and we are enjoying each others company around the pool during happy hour. Who said you need a large number of people to have fun? On a very sad note, we cruisers were introduced to a wonderful man three years ago who we employed to take us on tours around Central America. He spoke very good english, wonderful humor and had a wealth of knowledge about the history of El Salvador and the bordering countries. Sadly he passed away after a fatal heart attack two years ago. He touched many peoples lives, both Salvadorans and cruises from around the world that visited the country.He is and always will be missed. He leaves behind a wife and young son who I had the pleasure of meeting during my last visit here.

I already have made a few trips in San Salvador to pick up supplies, but otherwise I am catching up on a few jobs on the boat that I have put off for all too long. Then I sit and relax reading every book I can put my hands on. I am running dangerously close to running out of books and I might finally admit that I must catch up with technology and buy a Kindle when I get back to California for a visit.

My trip from Panama here with a short stop in Costa Rica was filled with boredom and fright. This is a common description given by many cruisers. On the boring side I had to motor most of the seven days to get here as there was little or no wind. One the other side of the scale I experienced by first knockdown during a thunderstorm. A knock down is when the boat is hit with a VERY strong gust of wind that can last a few seconds or a  number of minutes. What happens next is you find the boat and yourself, if you haven't been thrown overboard, on its side with the sails in the water and water spilling into the cockpit. I was down below when this happened, desperately trying to climb sideways to get topside so I could release the lines controlling the sails. This takes the pressure off of the sails and the boat then begins to right itself. This I did and as expected, the boat came back up with the keel below the boat rather than beside it. All was ok and the fact that I am writing this, the boat and I survived without any damage to either one of us. Thus is the life and adventure of sailing around the globe.

I am flying home to the States at the end of the month to make my annual pilgrimage to visit family and friends. I then return here in mid August to ready the boat for my return to Mexico where I again will enjoy the best food I have experienced on my voyage to date. I am looking for crew and invitations are open to any and all that want to enjoy the adventures ahead. Knock downs will not be experienced again....I promise.

Well that should do it for now. In the meantime be safe out there.

Denny

Chain of Life

Once again I set down to write my next blog and as in the past I apologize for having been so long since my last, but before I begin I would like to share something different. As we all do, we often have many thoughts that pass through our mind as we lay in bed waiting for sleep to take over. Last evening this was the the train of thoughts that passed by me. I have no idea where this came from.

Let me call it the ^^chain of life^^.

A chain is similar to life. It is made of links that are bound together adding length and strength.   It has a beginning and an end. Let us draw a parallel to life and suggest that elements of time are similar to links of a chain. Start with a second. As seconds are added it becomes a minute. Minutes become an hour and hours become a day. Days add up to weeks and weeks add up to a month. Months become a year and years become decades. If a chain breaks, it is because of someones elses choices in how it was manufactured. Our lives are different. Let us stop to look at ourselves at this point of our lives. As our lives have moved along this chain we all taken a path that we have chosen or has been forced on us. To our benefit  we were all given a choice. Once chosen, we can look back to ask ourselves if this choice was correct. Do we have any regrets and did we make mistakes. Any man that suggests that he does not have any regrets nor did he make any mistakes is a fool. Nothing in life is perfect nor are we. As our life moves along this chain, we are given other choices that we can choose to take or remain on the same pass and as such, life continues. As we begin to reach the end of the chain we begin to look back more at the choices we made asking ourselves, on balance, are we content with the paths that we chosen. Is the world a better place with the contributions that we made? Are our children able to make good life choices because of the values we taught them? Have we made friends along the way and have we enriched each others lives? After these and other measures we ask ourselves, on balance are we content? Unfortunately many people do not reach the point in life where they can say they are content as they continue to reach out for more, thinking it necessary.

As I look back at my own life asking these same questions I can now say without doubt that I have reached a point in my life where I am content. Yes I have regrets and yes I have made mistakes. I now work hard to correct the wrongs and ask for forgiveness on those that I can not change. What has brought on this change? It has been the last 5 plus years of cruising that has brought this about. The experiences and the people I have met that have enriched my life. The hardships of many of the people that I have met in the countries I have visited. The adventures I have experienced and yes even the dangers. Choices are still ahead of me. I know this lifestyle can not last forever but a choice to share more of myself with my grandchildren and family is a choice I have already made. Life continues.........

And now onto the regular program.

I am now back in the Pacific ocean after crossing through the Panama Canal one more time, This time I started in the Caribbean and emptied into the Pacific.  I am anchored at Playita harbor. It is a little rolly because of the ships transiting the canal but it is close to the action. It is good to be back on this side. The seas in the Caribbean were challenging to say the least. On a positive note there was always wind to sail. On a negative note it was many times from the wrong direction. Also the wind waves and swells were often from many directions at the same time. This is referred to as confused seas. Something that does not often occur in the Pacific. Wind waves and swells are marching along together in step and swells are several seconds apart from each other. On the negative side, you find yourself motoring more often because of little wind. On a positive note, with each mile I travel I am closer to San Francisco.

It is Saturday the 5th of May. Tomorrow I sail off north to Costa Rica at a port called Golfito. I will stay there a few days visiting friends that are there and then onto El Salvador where I will remain during this year's hurricane season. I am flying home for six weeks to visit friends and family and look forward to kicking my brothers butt in a game of golf.

No photos this time because they would be the same as they were when I came through here more than 2 years ago.

Well that is it for now. Take care and be safe out there.

Denny
s/v Dolce Vita