Another beautiful day had us arriving with a gaggle of rally boats into Bahia de Tortuga two days after our departure from Ensenada. The trip so far had been very calm and windless but we were still looking forward to anchoring for a few days, getting off the boat and topping up water and fuel. Arriving to Bahia Tortugas Our first order of business upon anchoring was the fuel, which of course everyone else was doing too. We had two options – schlep jerry cans to the beach via

After our lovely few days at Avalon it was time for us to start making our way south again towards Ensenada. We had an uneventful but pleasant trip to Oceanside where we were stopping for the night to top up water and batteries. Navigating our way through the channel was no problem but we couldn't find the dock. Well, we could find plenty of docks but not the one we were supposed to be at. We called in to the port and found we'd passed it already, so we turned around and came

After the drama of the previous week and the horrific morning with the pump-out, we were looking forward to a few quiet days for a change - you know, the type of days we were expecting when we went cruising - morning coffee on deck, sunny days, gently rocking at anchor, taking in the sights.... Fortunately, the next few weeks were just like that! We explored the tourist spots - choked on the cost of a (plastic) glass of chardonnay and sangria at the Hotel Del Coronado, about

Complete and utter shock - best description by far of the look on his face when a bunch of people came up behind him and screamed "Happy Birthday!!" I love it when a plan comes together, and with the help of our friends, this one worked out way better than I thought it would. All the pieces just fell into place and there we were, in Thailand with our besties. So fabulous! Of course, there was much excited chatter over breakfast about the where's and what for's and how every

No friends, not every day is sleeping in, cocktails on the Lido deck and sunshine. I think only sailors understand that sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach one feels when the head (or toilet for our non-boaty friends) isn't working properly. In an effort to avert the inevitable, lots of frantic googling is done for things like "head won't flush" "blocked marine head" and "how to unblock head", which results in a veritable slew of remedies like running vinegar/bleach/si

Despite his request for a quiet, inexpensive birthday this year, I couldn't let Daz's big 50th pass without something a little special even though living on our boat in Mexico is certainly that every day! We had a little dock party with our cruising friends on the actual day, but the big stuff was yet to come! It all started months ago. I was thinking about places that were different from anywhere else we'd been and wracking my brain to come up with a location he has mentio

We love it when people want to come visit us on our little floating home, so when our dear neighbour from Maple Valley asked if she could head down for a long weekend, we couldn't wait for her to get here! We had a lovely weekend of being tourists in Ensenada - we jump at any chance to go to the magical Valle de Guadelupe for some delicious food (if Merlot the Las Nubes winery dog didn't sneak it off your table first) and wine tastings, took a drive out to La Bufadora, atte

It's been a year since we sold the house and moved aboard. That year went really quickly! People often ask us about the transition from house to boat:- how we cope with sharing close quarters without killing each other, and life in general bereft of luxury things like a washing machine or our lovely snuggly deep plush sofa. While there are times I do miss aspects of life on land, the pros overwhelmingly outweigh the cons thus far. I think too, that when people hear we're li

We've come to understand this very well. The last month has been filled with taking trips to the US, conjugating spanish verbs, researching solar panels and anchors, being social on the dock, hosting the morning cruisers net on the radio, having the boat hauled out for maintenance work, canvas repairs, cleaning, sail repairs, happy hours, playing tourist for a day and for Daz, lots of development work. After much hand-wringing and anguish regarding the pro's and con's of sola

The last month has flown by! We’ve both been busy with our various work commitments, travelling, family visits and visiting and also got to spend a long weekend together in Ensenada! Since my last update, Darrin has been to Texas for a week to do some on site work, went back to the boat and I met him there for a 4 day weekend, went to Columbus Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with his daughter Lauren and her husband Griffin, met his Mom and Dad in San Diego so they could all trave