So, We have spent the last two weeks docked in Puerto Vallarta. Well, actually in a marina in Nuevo Vallarta, cradled by the beautiful tropical mountainside. It is magnificent! We have explored the local town, been to the farmers market, met folks at the Vallarta Yacht club, attended a few Spanish classes and basically kept ourselves fairly busy.

The actual city of Puerto Vallarta is an interesting 35 minute bus ride on local transit from our location. We have travelled there twice to wonder the cobblestone streets of the Zona Romanica, appreciate the beautiful statues of the Malecon, and taste the culinary delights of some local cuisine. Our first trip was on the 11th day of the Festival of Our Lady Guadeloupe. We got ourselves to the blvd across from the church to watch the procession just in time for the sky to light up with sizzling lightening and rolling thunder. Followed by 3-5 inches of rain upon our blessed heads. Unfortunately, we had left our boat completely open, including the forward hatch which is situated directly over our bed. Thankfully it only took us about 24hours to dry everything out and get our home back in order. Yet other than a few raindrops and lightening bolts, we think Puerto Vallarta is amazing. Its filled with art, lovely people, great food and rich history.

Here at the marina we are a part of the Paradise Village Resort, where we get to partake in the swimming, dining, and shows offered to those on holiday. The pool and beach are practically daily hangouts even on work days. And while dinning and shows is not typically our thing, there is one show that caught our attention. It was a tribal storytelling performance put on by a local dance troupe in the form of the Mexican natives. The staging and costumes were wonderful and it was quite delightful. This resort life gives us the sense of being on permanent vacation. Which is fun, at least for a little while.

Behind our marina is a series of canals that flow into an estuary filled with wild life. Steve and I have been on a few safaris in search of birds, iguanas , and crocodiles. We have identified birds we have never seen, photographed a book load of pictures of enormous iguanas basking in the trees and yes, we have seen one crocodile. It was just a baby and at first I was so excited. Then it hissed and I realized it was probably calling its mother. Seeing as we were in an inflatable boat, I suddenly felt very vulnerable. It was quite exciting and beautiful. The wonders of this tropical world are so tangible. To float down the canal and listen to wild tropical birds and smell the musty mangrove swamps makes one feel in rhythm with the earth.

I realize its probably hard to believe, but we don’t spend all of our time goofing off. There have been a few work days. Repairing some minor leaks, cleaning house, reorganizing lockers (read closet) that don’t quite suit our needs and removing the boom for repair. At some point in our journey, actually we think we know the exact timing, we damaged our boom, well, we bent our boom. There are a few theories as to how it happened and I really don’t care to go into all the details, lets just say we broke the boom. So we have had the pleasure of getting know the wonderful, hardworking rigger Jorge and the welder Pedro. They will fix us up and make it better than new. The lessons dealt out by the old man of the sea are harsh lessons indeed! Lets hope our future lessons will be less expensive. We are just grateful no one was hurt.

In just a few days we will be flying back to the USA to see our children and grandchildren. All of whom we miss terribly. We will get to hug our family and friends and share our stories, catch up on their lives, show off our tans, and try to get enough love to fill our hearts for the next few months of our journey. When we get back the boom should be repaired and we will set off for another location, yet to be determined. Its hard to believe that we sailed out of Moss landing almost exactly 3 months ago. So much has happened. Wow, what a life!