Monthly Archives: September 2018

A Moment in Paradise Village

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Bengal Tiger

Duke

We are moored in the Paradise Village Marina which is part of the Paradise Village Resort in Neuvo Vallarta.  We take a walk every morning before hiding out in the Air Conditioning for the hottest part of the day.  As you leave the Paradise Village Complex, You pass a sort of mini zoo.  Two Bengal tigers Daisy and Duke live in large cages that include his and hers water features where they often lie to cool off.  You might not care for the idea of caged tigers, but if you can get past that, it is a rare opportunity to stand next to a mature tiger.  In the morning Duke takes a walk along the front wall of the cage.  Say his name and he will often respond with a kind of deep purring sound.  He seems very interested in our metal dock cart which we often roll by on our way to the market. I don’t know much else about the tigers although there is a book available here.  They seem to be in great health, lean and sleek with clean teeth, and paws the size of salad plates.  Did you know that male tigers have a white spot on the back of their black ears?  Sometimes they sleep on their backs inviting you to rub their belly.

Paradise village

Carolina – Parrot Caretaker

There are also several cages full of parrots. I would guess at least 15.   Today I met their primary care taker, Carolina.   Carolina gets the birds out of their cages to sit on perches, creating a great opportunity for some parrot portraiture. In my broken Spanish she answered a few of my questions.  She was hand feeding them pieces of whole wheat bread.  I asked about fruit and she said they get fruit every evening.  She also gave each bird some water out of a hose, she thought the birds might drink as much as a quarter liter of water every day.  I asked her where the birds come from and she told me that many are rescues.  A parrot can live for as much as 60 years, and if an owner dies they sometimes come to the resort where they are carefully cared for.  Some of the Parrots are hatched there. Currently there are several youngsters in the population.

Thirsty

 

We like Paradise village, but we are ready to return to the “real” Mexico.

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Summer 18: What to do in the Off-Season?

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Michael, “In Search of Reason”, by artist Sergio Bustamante

Before going cruising there are of course many questions ranging from boat parts to the weather to navigation to safety to the inevitable Why are we doing this? Once you answer the majority of the top 100, you set a date and go. Along the way you find answers to some deferred questions or ponder new ones regarding challenges you didn’t even know existed.  One thing I gave little a care to was what we would do during the hurricane season. I knew for insurance purposes where we needed to be, which was basically parked somewhere in a safe designated hurricane hole and wait it out May to November. Wait a minute, that’s half the year, not trivial.

Camping, Heron Lake State Park, NM

Some cruisers stay with the boat for the long haul (perhaps simpler & cheaper). Others, with brick & mortar houses, spend their off-season back home on land. But we don’t have that place any more. Last year, we did a lot of road trips and “couch-surfed” at the homes of willing friends & family. Living out of a suitcase is tough for that length of time (5 months). This year we decided to shrink the time away from the boat down to 10 weeks. We stayed in Airbnbs in California and New Mexico and took our first camping trip with our new (1985) Winnebago, we named “Winston”. It was all pleasant enough – still, there were the suitcases. And then there was the expense, which turned out to be way more than anticipated. The Airbnbs were reasonable enough compared to hotels, plus we saved some money by cooking in. There were, however, some unexpected vehicle repairs leading to additional flights and hotels, plus the fact that everything really does cost more in the states, from haircuts to groceries to dining out.  Turns out 10-weeks was not quite enough time back home for everything and everyone we wanted to squeeze in, but it was a tad too much time for our credit cards.  c’est la vie!

Coffee at Dawn on Footloose

It has been a good summer and continues to be back on Footloose. Feels good to be home on our boat with all our stuff and our suitcases stored away. It is hot and humid with frequent thunderstorms usually after dark. We enjoy walks in the early mornings and swims in the late afternoons. We are puttering about on the boat and getting ready for the season which officially starts Nov 1. We’ve started to plan our itinerary, Mexico to Central America. If all goes according to plan, we should be in Panama by May. No hurricane risk there, but man does it pour in the wet season. Can’t even begin to think about what to do next summer. No rush.

At last, here are some photos from our spring-summer! It’s been awhile since we shared. (Remember to click on photo in gallery to open up slideshow for better viewing, hit esc to exit and resume with post.)

May-June 2018: Before departing for the states, we had some fun in between working at putting the boat to bed for the off-season.

Cowboys & their horses along the beach near La Cruz

La Cruz de Huanacastle: We attended an amazing festival in May. This annual festival celebrates the Patron Saint of La Cruz and features a sight to behold, the run of the horses from Bucerías into La Cruz!

Over 100 horses run along the beach from Bucerías into La Cruz for this festival.
Here they come…
Deena & James (Nellie Jo) watching the show from their Dinghy.
Modern Cowboy
Family Tradition
Multi-tasking
Princess of the Festival
Festival of the Patron Saint
Flamenco
Festival continued into the wee hours of the morning, so we’re told.

Fun around Puerto Vallarta

View from our Dock, Muelle B
Iguana con limon?
Duke Chillin
Optimist Dinghies lined up, ready for Optimist North American Championships
El Tigre Brunch, so many choices!
Better choice?
Delicious Dinner with friends, Red Cabbage Cafe
Red Cabbage Cafe
Maureen with our Valet
Bartenders? Donna & Cindy
Happy Birthday Dinner
Special Guests, Tod & Donna
Beach time near downtown
Art Along the Malecón
Great Sculptures!
What happens in PV, stays in PV

New Mexico and California

We flew to New Mexico on June 22 and had a great time seeing our family and friends in the states. Although-  we did get an overdose of politics!  LOL- Wish more of you could visit us aboard Footloose sometime, hint, hint.

Visiting family in Farmington, NM – Michael, Mason, & Christopher
Maegan, chef & hostess extraordinaire, with her delicious & pretty fruit trifle
Michael working on the orchard project
Turtle spotted along our walk at Mom & Dad’s Ranch, escaped from the pond?
Celebrating our 4th Anniversary at Ken & Sue’s, Durango- love this town.
First Campsite with “Winston”, Heron Lake State Park, NM
A Buoy Out of Water, evidence of the draught in NM
Beautiful Morning Hike
Visit with Tod & Donna in Grass Valley, CA (note the smoke from the wildfires)
California Rich with Gold
We are standing in a cube, which represents the total volume of all gold mined here during its operation (100 years worth!)
Mining Relics
Amazing Full Scale Model of the Mine
The Bourn Cottage, looks serene, until you consider that the mine operated 364 days of the year, closed only on Christmas. Imagine the noise!
The Bourn Estate, Beautiful home & gardens right next to the mine.
Pool Party with Tod & Donna’s Family!
Tod’s Toy and Their Joy!
Laura, our friend & tour guide, sharing the hotspots in her hometown:) True Junk Treasures!
Quite a place to treasure hunt, no room on the boat!
Laura having fun at the Rosie the Riveter Museum, great tribute.
Michael is back on Park Street! A reunion with true friends
Gourmet Alley in the Ferry Building
Ferry Ride, San Francisco City Front, never gets old

September, Paradise Village Marina, Nuevo Vallarta

This is how it starts… Kids learning to sail Optimist Dinghies in our backyard.

We plan to haul out in mid October for new bottom paint and sail drive seals….(they keep the water out of the boat.)  In the meantime, we are waiting for the weather to cool off and doing indoor projects, programming the Single Side Band Radio, fixing some small bits and pieces that while not critical, make life better…We have lists.  A biggy is our recent install of a new anchor, a stainless steel Rocna “Vulcan”, which fits perfectly in our bow roller, and will help Michael sleep at night while anchored.  We have no idea why it comes with such a high polish since every anchor spends its life getting dragged through sand and rocks.. Must be for the Marina Queens!

Anchor project, our chain on deck for marking & installing new anchor
Michael cutting webbing for marking the anchor.
Fitted protective cover
Keeping the anchor polished 😉
Shiny Vulcan Anchor!

Wishing you all peace & some adventures of your own-

Lisa (& Michael)
S/V Footloose
Paradise Village Marina (aka lovely hurricane hole)
Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

Recommendation – Ocean Signal MOB1

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I don’t think we find anything as worrisome as the idea of a man overboard.  Since we often sail with just two on board, one of us is always on watch, while the other needs to try and sleep in order to stay useful. For me, the idea of waking up to find that Lisa had disappeared in the last few hours is truly horrifying.  So, we take measures to keep that from happening.  We wear life jackets underway. We use a harness at night staying physically attached to the boat even in the lightest conditions.  We agree to wake the off watch before doing anything on the foredeck.  We do our utmost to contain this risk.

The icing on our cake of man overboard protection is the Ocean Signal MOB1 device.  This compact unit is installed on our life jackets and is automatically triggered when a life jacket is deployed.

DSC (Digital Selective Calling) is an alarm system that lets a radio user  “ring” a specific radio using the radio’s MMSI number.  Like a telephone number, the MMSI number allows another user to contact a specific vessel in the area.  The MOB1 uses this system to “ring” ALL the radios in the area, so that not only our boat, but every other boat in the area gets an alarm that says MOB. This happens seconds after the person hits the water. On Footloose, our ICOM M506 marine VHF rings loudly enough to wake the off watch.

AIS is another electronic system that is normally used to identify other vessels by showing them on your chart plotter.  In about one minute after entering the water the MOB locates itself using GPS and begins to send an AIS signal to all chart plotters in the vicinity that are equipped with AIS.  This places a return on the chart that says Man Overboard, and marks the exact position of the device/person on the chart.

Our average cruising speed is about 7 knots which translates to 12 feet per second, so in only one minute our boat has moved about 700 feet.  While the standard procedure for man overboard is for the crew to keep one set of eyes on the person in the water, for a couple cruising there is no way that can happen as the person on the boat needs to get the boat stopped and turned around. The MOB1 acts as the additional watch stander, allowing the driver, even when they can’t see their partner in the water, to maneuver the boat to the position marked on the chart by the MOB1. When they are close enough (GPS accuracy is well under 100 feet),  they should be able to see the person or the flashing beacon on the MOB1 if it is night time.

On Footloose, we carry six inflatable life jackets with harnesses and installed MOB1 devices, which we test once every 6 months.

Here is a video we prepared for crew training that demonstrates how the MOB1 works, and yes, it was made before we changed to the ICOM.

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Recommendation – Fujinon Techno-Stabi

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Fujinon Techno-Stabi

When you are preparing to cruise you buy a lot of things that you hope will make cruising safer and more enjoyable.  On Footloose no single item has had a greater impact than the addition of these stabilized Fujinon Techno-Stabi binoculars. Being able to see where you are is obviously important for navigation, but good binoculars also help with identifying other boats, exploring shore features, and watching the wildlife and birds that abound in the cruising life. Using binoculars from the deck of a moving sailboat can be challenging; the stabilizing feature of these binoculars makes it much easier.

Binoculars usually carry a marking with 7 x 50 being a common boating pair of binoculars. The first number refers to the power of the lenses, and most agree that the 7 or 8 power is as much as anyone can hand-hold on a small boat. The power refers to the degree of magnification.  8 power means that the object seems to be 8 times larger or at 1/8th the distance when compared to your bare eyes. The second number, usually between about 15 and 50, refers to the size of the objective (front) lens of the binocular. The bigger the number the better the low light performance (light gathering) ability of the unit.  While larger objective lenses are available they make the binoculars too heavy to hand hold for any period of time.Binoculars with larger objectives are usually tripod mounted for bird watching or astronomy.

The Techno-Stabi binoculars add the feature of stabilization, which is a big deal.  All of a sudden you can hand hold the binoculars with much higher magnification.  Our Techno-Stabi’s are 14 x 40.  After using 7 x 50 binoculars the change is nothing short of remarkable.  Guests and crew are fascinated by the magnification.  What color is that birds eye anyway?  If you are an optical geek, you might notice that because of the additional optical elements needed for stabilization, these binoculars may not be quite as bright or quite as sharp as say a high-end pair of Steiner Commanders, but the stable image takes you from seeing a dot with your bare eye or a buoy with the Steiners to seeing the sleeping sea lion on the buoy with the Techno-Stabi’s.

After 2 years of almost continuous use, we cannot recommend this product highly enough.  An amazing help entering the harbor or avoiding traffic, plus lots of fun for looking at wild life.  Push a button to power on, again to stabilize. Another to turn off.  They are robustly constructed, armored, and use four AA batteries about once every 6 months. 

Eye cups fold for use over eyewear
Controls

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