Liebling at El Cid Marina in Mazatlan.

Here it is the middle of May and we are hanging out at an exclusive marina / resort in Mazatlan, Mexico. We have been here about 2 and a half weeks and will stay for another 2 weeks until the end of May when we will head south 150 km to Puerto Vallarta. Will stay in PV for a couple of weeks and then continue south another 150 km to Barra de Navidad. It has been warm here in Mazatlan but not too bad so far. One of the things that we do though is to go to the pool everyday around 3:00 and swim for a few hours. It helps with the heat and we get a little exercise. Kathleen and Pam, Linda’s cousins came down to visit us here in Mazatlan. They stayed for a week at the El Cid Resort where we are moored. They rented a wonderful suite overlooking the marina and the ocean with a full kitchen so we cooked and carried on from sun rise to sun set. It was so great to see them and just to be together, what a treat for us as we miss everyone so much. Jim’s sister Lucy is coming down on May 27th to spend time with us here and then sail to Barra. We have decided to stay in Mexico for the hurricane season July through October. Last year we went back up to San Diego to escape the hurricane threat. The threat comes from high winds up to 150 miles per hour and spectacular lightening storms that can wipe out all the electronics on the boat. Needless to say we are a little nervous about our decision to stay on the central Mexican coast. We will keep the boat at the Grand Bay Marina in Barra. But even though Barra was hit by a damaging hurricane last year the boats in the marina were not damaged by the waves and high winds. We are not too sure if there was much damage from lightening. Supposedly the Grand Bay Marina/resort in Barra is a hurricane hole and our insurance is OK with us leaving the boat there. We will be able to use the resort facilities (pools, restaurants, showers, etc.) and we will be across a channel from the small town of Barra de Navidad. There are also close anchorages that we can sail to for swimming, snorkeling and cooling off. Jim’s daughter Robin, Tim and kids are coming down to see us at the end of June so it will be fun to show them the wonderful places near and around Barra. We know that the weather will be hot, hot, hot and there are thunder and lightning storms so I am sure we will have stories to tell come the end of October. During the months of September and October we hope to leave the boat in Barra and fly home to the Northwest. As you can imagine we are so looking forward to see you all and being with you again.