Sailbirding

  Jen and I slipped our hands together as we walked the historic streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, marveling at the colorful holiday spirit on display around us. And also, how no car traffic harried this block. “Honey,” I remarked, feeling a Hallmark glow in my cheeks as wide-eyed Campbell soup kids pulled display items from the sidewalks and into the stores. “What do you think this line of black powder is on the street?   Perhaps it represents the ashes of ancestors? It looks remarkably like gunpowder. Note the decorative newspaper balls spaced meticulously along the powder line, like charges! I wonder why all the shopkeepers are closing up so early and in such a rush?” “Now that you mention it, the street has cleared quite quickly,” Jen noted. “Let’s hurry along, dear. Towards the firetrucks.”   Press play on the video below to see what happens next! …But wait, let me catch you up.   We had such an INCREDIBLE time in Chiapas!   We found adventures...

  Famous movie beach scenes would run a theme through our visits to Manzanillo and Zihuatanejo.      A pod of dolphins escorted Brightnest into the harbor at Manzanillo, our first new stop this season. We anchored in front of Las Hadas resort, a true fading beauty. There were only two other boats in the anchorage, and it was a short, easy dinghy ride to the small marina to tie up and go exploring. This Moorish-influenced resort is completely painted white so that it reminded us of the Mediterranean coast. Las Hadas was the filming location of the movie “Ten” with Bo Derek and Dudley Moore. It had been quite the ritzy spot back in the day.   Now, the jetsetters of the 70’s and 80’s appeared to be long gone, but a good number of families playing at the pools gave it a pleasant vibe.   View of Las Hadas resort from the bow of Brightnest, plus a swallow perched on the jib sheet. Las Hadas ("fairies"). Las Hadas. Jen and I enjoyed doing one of our favorite set...

  “No tank. Looks like pushing back another week will be a good idea. ” A typical WhatsApp text regarding our water tank project.      There are boat projects, and there are grueling, tear-the-boat-apart boat projects. Replacing a freshwater tank is one of the latter. When we flew back to Puerto Vallarta from St. Croix, eager to stand up Brightnest for our second sailing season, we promptly checked into an AirBnB because the boat was uninhabitable. The saloon sole (floor) had been taken up to remove the old freshwater tank as a part of our tank replacement project. Since the old 170 gallon aluminum tank was too big to fit through the companionway, it had been cut into pieces inside the saloon to be removed.       Not that we were doing the hard work.   We’d been managing the project from St. Croix, trying not to fret too much about one delay after another, regularly getting WhatsApp messages like "No tank. Looks like pushing back another ...

 We spent June packing up Brightnest for the hurricane season.  This involved taking down the three sails, pickling the watermaker, completing engine maintenance, treating the holding tank, clearing out and defrosting the refrigerator, draining the fresh water tank, setting up the SunTree shade, disposing of all diesel and gasoline stored in jerry cans, covering all plastic blocks (rigging parts) with aluminum foil to protect from sun damage, giving away or disposing of all food that would not survive tropic summer, wiping down all surfaces with vinegar to prevent mold, and about 13,000 other tasks.  She should be safe here at Paradise Village Marina - if a big storm does come, they will move the boats farther inland to provide more protection. View from atop the mast.  It's actually a little scary, and if you're offshore, the arc of the swinging masthead can be huge, and take you for a wild ride.  I try to avoid that. This big ol' honkin' iguana climbed onto Br...

  We recrossed the Sea of Cortez in the last week of May, coming in at one of our all-time favorite anchorages, the East side of Isla Isabel.   The birds of the island had entered a different phase of life.  When we'd last sailed here in January, Blue-footed Boobies were incubating their eggs.  Now their furry hatchlings, in various stages of maturity, abounded. A Blue-footed Booby hatchling still under the 'rents protection. And don't forget about the Magnificent Frigatebirds!  The white one in the middle is a young'un. A young Magnificent Frigatebird, looking curious about the world. This would be our last stop before heading into Banderas Bay to work on putting the boat up for the hurricane season.  We could hardly believe that our first sailing season was coming to an end.  We still had a lot of work to do, though! Yes, there are crocodiles in the marinas here - big ones.  I don't envy the guys cleaning hull bottoms. These two pics are in...