Liebling in Zihuatanejo February 17, 2013

Liebling back in Zihuatanejo. After spending the month of December and part of January in Barra de Navidad we left to head south to Zwat for Sailfest and also for Guitar Fest. All is well on the Liebling except that we fried the autopilot because our regulator was over charging the batteries and the volts went up to 30+ and the autopilot can’t handle anything more than 30 volts. Needless to say we had to hand steer for about 75 miles to get to Zwat. We are now waiting for a new auto pilot to be delivered by Robin our electrician so he and Jim can install. It was a costly mistake but one that we hopefully will catch in time if it happens again. Sailfest is a sailing/motoring and land based charity event that was set up over 5 years ago to help local children at indigenous schools. These indigenous kids do not speak Spanish so are not able to go to local schools. This event raises funds to support school to teach them Spanish and to educate them in various areas. It was a lot of fun and we participated in the pursuit race and had 8 donating guests on Liebling. The people that we had on board were not racers (neither are we). They pay $300 pesos (roughly $26 US) to come on board and spend the day. It was a lot of fun. We also participated in the Boat Parade. There were 18 vessels and 180 paying guests. We had 13 people on board for the parade. We enjoy getting to meet local visitors and tourists to Zihuatanejo. We had 3 people on board who were on Liebling last year when we were here. There were also charity fund raisers such as a benefit concert and silent actions. The events raised over $750,000 pescos (around $60,000 us dollars). The music scene around Zwat also sponsored events. If you ever have a desire to come to Mexico we highly recommend Zihuatanejo and especially recommend Sailfest that is held the first week of February every year. Check out the website: www.zihuasailfest.com You might even see a picture or two of Liebling! We are also thinking that we will be here for Guitarfest. It is a international musical event that happens the first week of March. The organizers of this event bring in musicians from all over the world. We just happened to be here last year and truly enjoyed the music and events that were sponsored. With our auto pilot being down we cannot head north (or south) until it is fixed. But believe me we are not complaining it is great to be here. Our plans are still open as to what we will do from here. We may leave the boat in Barra de Navidad for the hurricane months of July through October or we might bash back up to San Diego. You know that cruiser’s plans are written in the sand at low tide. Whatever happens will be great. Both Jim and I are feeling wonderful and it is still fun to be travelling on Liebling. We think of you all and hope that all is well with you. Much love Linda and Jim.