Liebling heading north to Puerto Vallarta

Liebling heading north to Puerto Vallarta. Even though we have been in Huatulco for 2 months now it is with a heavy heart that we are leaving this area and heading north. We will stop in Zihuatanejo and Barra as these anchorages have been some of our favorite places in the 5 years we have been sailing the Mexican Riviera. One of our reasons for going north is to haul Liebling out to have the bottom painted and service the prop and bow thruster. This we will do in Puerto Vallarta somewhere around the 2nd week of March. I believe that we will also have the keel stripped down and sanded so that we can repaint that portion of the haul also. One of the things that we have been doing is to take Liebling out every 2 weeks and clean the bottom ourselves. We can do this because we brought a hookah (underwater breathing device) down from the states when we came last time. We ordered it up in Seattle and had the fellow build it with two 60-foot hoses so Jim and I can be down under the boat at the same time. I love it as Jim is down there with me and he doesn’t freak out if he can’t see my bubbles. We are both able to stay underwater below the boat for over 1 ½ hours on one 12 volt car battery. We have two of these batteries as spares on top of the other 9 we use regularly for the boat. Robin and Rachel came down to see us and it was wonderful to have them here. We anchored out at several of the bays and swam with the fish. It was Rachel’s dream to swim with tropical fish and she was in the water every day and sometimes twice a day. It was wonderful to share this beautiful area with our family. We have had a few problems with Liebling such as the cooling box from the transmission and the bow thruster. We have had them repaired hope they last for a long time. Or at least until we get to Puerto Vallarta where our mechanic is. He has worked on our boat several times and is an excellent mechanic. Jim works alongside of him so he learns a lot, also. It will be fun to go north if only to see old friends and visit some of the anchorages along the way that we love. As long as we are going the 700 miles north to Puerto Vallarta we may leave the boat there during the summer hurricane months. The other options we like are to bring it back south 950 miles from PV to Chiapas where we kept it last summer or bring it up the 1200 miles north from PV to Southern California. All three options are open at this time. It sorts of depends on where we what to be next year in December when the boating season in Mexico starts again. We, not the boat, have to be out of Mexico by May 5th as we are only allowed to stay in the country for 180 days at a time and our time will be up. The boat gets to stay for 10 years as we have an import license for the boat. Jim will also leave for the May 5th deadline but will return to the boat several times during the summer as he misses seeing and taking care of her so much. Thanks to Mark his son the Jet Blue pilot he gets to fly at reduced rates even to Mexico. We have been anchored out for the last few days at two of our favorite bays. We are now in Bahia India and I think that I will start calling this bay “Jumping Ray Bay” as you would not believe how many of them are jumping at least 2-3 feet out of the water. Sometimes as many as a dozen jump at the same time. We are heading back to the marina tomorrow as there is concert on the beach with a wonderful band and great dancing music. We have met so many wonderful people here many of them are Canadians but some Americans, also. We call them our “land friends” but we have also made some friends of cruisers that are headed south to Panama, Costa Rica and points around the world. Some of the cruisers that stop are also going back north after being south for a few years. It is interesting to hear all their stories and adventures. Sometimes I hate to see them leave as we have such a great time together and our time together is too short. I always hope that we will get to see them again one day somewhere down the line. Meeting people is what makes this life so interesting as we all have a common love of cruising and adventure. I will post pictures today or tomorrow!! Thinking of you all Linda and Jim