Author: Tiff and Greg

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Still Walking on the Wild Side

Though the great indoors has its fair share of wildlife, the great out of doors in La Cruz is also not to be missed.

One of the greatest things about having your own means of water transportation (or at least the ability to hop on someone else’s) is the freedom to go whale watching! La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, the Mexican town we’ve been spending so much time in, is on the Banderas Bay (along with Puerto Vallarta). The Banderas Bay is one of the places Humpback Whales like to hang out during the late winter/early spring. It’s interesting – seeing a whale from a Coast Guard cutter elicits an entirely different response than seeing one from a sailboat. In the Coast Guard we almost hated whales, because we had to call the Captain, stop our engines and wait for them to get themselves sorted so we didn’t run them over. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to hit a whale with a 210 foot ship, but man were they frustrating – when you’re a junior officer you never want to have to call the Captain! Being on a sailboat is way less stressful and you just get to enjoy the wonder of seeing these amazing animals.

Oh, and here’s Greg first experience fishing with a net:

(I would like to point out that I have caught several fish at this point, albeit not with this particular method. Also, did anyone else catch Tiffany’s comment about no one driving the boat!? – Greg)

And just when you thought it was safe to eat calamari, think about this:

We’re still doing swimmingly out here in the wild! How’s life in civilization?

~ Tiffany

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Walking on the Wild Side

Wandering around town, sailing on the ocean, heck, even sitting in the bar or the coffee shop – all of these are great opportunities for communing with the local wildlife (and the not-so-wild also). We’ll start this off with the town segment.

When strolling through town, which of these animals do you expect to see? A – Cats, B – Dogs, C – Iguanas? Well, if you guessed Iguana, you’re right!

(Why? Because the cats are in the bars hustling drinks, of course! –Greg)

Also expected viewing while in a Mexican town of any size are chickens, pigs, horses and…children?

(Oh and now I finally understand why they started enacting those spitting in public laws back in the US. –Greg)

There was a cool restaurant/coffee shop in La Cruz that had free internet (yay!) at a decent speed (double yay!) and as a side entertainment factor they had a fountain with turtles in it – I know, not that interesting. What made it interesting was when the dog would come by and jump in the fountain with the turtles 🙂

~ Tiffany

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Acting and Tequila Tours

I should start by describing the net and go from there.

You see, in Mexico, all the sailors in each town get on the radio every morning and have an information & stuff swap meet. These little VHF gatherings (called “nets”) are typically at about 7am, which, on a complete aside…

What the HECK is wrong with these people!? Who goes on vacation for a month or six and decides that the ideal time to wake up every morning…EVERY morning on vacation… is 7:00 in the freaking morning!?

*steps off soap box and puts it away*

Ahem, anyway, needless to say this is typically a tad early for me but since Tiffany and I are working with the local cruising community, I have made the monumental effort of attending these broadcasts. Apparently my work teaching seminars down here and helping ships get prepared for offshore sailing did not go unnoticed as one of the ships contacted me during the net and told me there was a local director who was looking for actors for a sci-fi movie.

24 hours later I was walking into an audition. It was time to see how far that high school acting elective was going to get me:

Nailed it baby! I can now add the words “paid, professional Science Fiction actor” to my list of life accomplishments! Oh, and of all the places this movie is gonna be shown…the SciFi channel! (or SyFy…whatever…the freaking nerd channel alright! I’ll be sharing airwaves with reruns of Battlestar Galactica!!!!!)

And no, before you ask, I was not just an extra. The director initially had me audition for the role of the hard as nails Navy Captain but afterwards he pulled me aside and said,

“Look Greg, you don’t really strike me as the military type. You would do much better with the role of the billionaire yachtsman with the trophy wife.”

…I am not making this up…

So not only do I get dialogue, not only do I get my own ship, not only do I get a trophy wife, I get to get killed off in a Science Fiction movie!!! Oh this is so cool!

Unfortunately, I did not make the trailer. However, to give you a feel for what I’ve gotten myself into this time,

I have been told to expect it airing around October. Please, PLEASE someone check on this and tell me when it comes out! Can I get someone to please record this!? I don’t exactly have cable out here!

Oh, and what did everyone else, including Tiffany, decide to do on the only 2 days I was actually busy filming and not able to hang out? Well, go zip lining of course!

Gosh, doesn’t that sound like fun. Well, I couldn’t tell you because I was busy being eaten by a giant sharktopus at the time.

Oh, and as an extra special treat they also decided to go tequila tasting.

At least Tiffany brought back 2 bottles for me. Anyone interested in tasting some amaretto or chocolate tequila with us?

– Greg

http://www.youtube.com/v/fK2bBfuepKk?fs=1&hl=en_US

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More Life on the Docks

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle wasn’t all dodging sniper fire while weaving boats through water spouts and random floating construction equipment though. I, as always, managed to find a few quiet moments to relax an enjoy myself. The particular method of relaxation will have my old high school friends cringing and begging that I not name them here as the people I originally learned this game from.

All I have to say is, it was like riding a bike man. You never really forget.

Also, hanging out with cruisers means cruiser parties! This is when sailors get together to hang out eat, exchange information, tell sea stories and basically have fun. Sometimes events are held to prove ones prowess over one’s fellow sailors. Here is what a typical event looks like

It bears mentioning that both of these ladies were stone cold sober and not under any form of duress when they signed up for this contest. I believe the prize under contention was a free t-shirt. There is an important marketing lesson in here somewhere I’m sure…

I also found a new contender for “best language ever” in Mexico. No, not Spanish…Gaelic!

Finally, and probably most importantly, I found a Mexican car horn! As you long term followers of the blog know, Tiffany and I have been searching for a musical car horn since we entered Mexico months ago. I had come to suspect that the lyrical car horn had, much like the Mexican chicken bus, faded from existence and only lived on in popular myth. Not so! Though obviously endangered, specimens of the Mexican car horn still roam the land and can be observed by those determined enough to remain persistent in the quest.

– Greg

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Life on the Docks

As I said, Tiffany and I spent a lot of time working on the docks in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Paradise Village in Puerto Vallarta getting involved in the local cruising community and looking for ships looking for crew. The La Cruz marina was an interesting place to be. First off, the marina was still undergoing construction so that meant we had some unusual ships to maneuver around while sailing.

They also had a major boat show while we were there that the president of Mexico attended. I didn’t get any footage of the “El Presidente” mostly because I also didn’t get any pictures of the military snipers hanging out on the rooftops of all the buildings or the multiple hummers that drove around pointing their .50 cal machine guns at my head for no apparent reason. Let’s simply leave it at I didn’t want to give them any additional motivation to point their high powered weapons at me for longer than they already were. I did get some footage of how the Mexican government throws a party:

The weather over the months we were there was unusual, to put it mildly. Hurricane force winds, “weather bombs” (what the heck is that supposed to even mean!?) hot rain, freezing sunny days, tornados ripping through the bay…it keeps you on your toes.

Aside from when the weather was trying to kill by ripping your ship apart it was actually quite pleasant.

– Greg

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A Few Months in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

So like I said, La Cruz was the first place where Tiffany and I got to really spend some time, meet some people and just live a little bit outside the US, which was a major goal of this trip in the first place. My previous assessment of La Cruz as a town in transition from small village to tourist mecca was pretty accurate and I’m really glad I got here and got to know people before the transition was complete. La Cruz is still the kind of place where, as long as you engage people, you will find your name remembered, your favorite dinner served to you a few minutes after you sit down and bar tenders who remember your favorite drink. There is a strong, close knit, gringo community that comprises the owners of the bars, some musicians and a bunch of people with interesting stories. Add to this mix the cruisers we came down the coast with and you can easily see why some people end up “swallowing the hook” here and don’t ever sail out of the Banderas Bay.

Living in La Cruz did present one major challenge for me though:

Now walking on dirt roads in 3rd world countries in your sandals may sound like fun, but by avoiding the dangers of the sidewalk, I opened myself up to a different hazard

Needless to say, after two infections, the local doctor and I were on good terms and I was very grateful that Mexico has massively cheap medications.

Children’s fundraisers, British pubs (with awesome fish and chips), salsa lessons, Irish pubs…a good time with some good people is never very hard to find in La Cruz, Here is what our evenings typically looked like:

As for eating, well, with Mexican pricing on all the food and a ton of variety, we basically ate every meal out. The dining scene was almost as interesting and varied as the nightlife

And for those of you following along my church explorations, I found a very neat Catholic church near Puerto Vallarta that had a very different take on crucifix we typically see at the front of most Catholic Churches.

Seemed like the carving was more focused on the risen Jesus than the crucified Jesus. I liked it, defiantly gave a different feel to the church.

– Greg

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Back in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

Our second stay in La Cruz was one of the more special highlights of our trip so far. The reason for this is that due to a variety of circumstances it worked out that actually got to live in La Cruz for about 2 months. We rented a room, got to make some new friends, reconnected with our old sailing buddies, rode zip lines, saw whales, starred in movies and found out what happens when those of us used to navigating on the ocean attempt to find their way on land.

I also managed to find two new wines of the world for you: the first is Montevina, which was quite good and became my favorite while staying at Philo’s bar. It got to the point where I didn’t even have to ask, they just brought me a glass when I sat down. It’s good to be known 😉

And the second wine is another L.A. CETTO. This time the white. The red back in Mazatlan was much better.

While beating the bushes and dragging myself around the local bars of La Cruz for the sole purpose of the arduous task of finding local wines to report to you, I also managed to meet and make some new cruising friends. Several interesting conversations about this particular brand of travel lifestyle resulted, including some you may not have thought of. Especially since several of you all have decided to off and get yourselves hitched while I’m gone, here is a good travel trip for all the married (or soon to be married) ladies out there:

Of note, some of you may have noticed that sometimes I don’t have my wedding band on in the videos and that I don’t wear a wrist watch. No, this is not because Tiffany is currently travelling in Florida. It’s an old habit from my Coast Guard training where I was told dock lines grab rings and watches and use them as leverage to pull off your assorted limbs. This is one of the many reasons I use a pocket watch. (that and I don’t get a watch tan like Tiffany has).

Speaking of my lovely and long absent wife, after about two months separation there has been some contention among the local community whether or not she exists or is simply a convenient alibi for me to avoid having to pick up on women down in Mexico. Well, for all of those who doubted, I am happy to report that Tiffany is finally back from her travels in the Caribbean…with an unusual skin condition…

After looking around a bit, we decided to rent a room, get to know the area and possibly find a ship headed west towards the South Pacific that could use some crew. We picked a picturesque little bar / hotel and started exploring.

Keep following for the results of our explorations!

– Greg

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Tiffany and the STCW

So remember we mentioned that Tiffany was off to Fort Lauderdale for a week of training? Well, that training was for the STCW 95, a requirement for any mariner that wants to work on a boat outside of the US, or larger than 100 tons. Now, previously I was only traveling from US port to US port, but now since that has obviously changed, I needed to upgrade my USCG 100 Ton Master to include this endorsement. The STCW is basically a week long course that teaches basic first aid, CPR, firefighting and how to not die immediately on a ship that has problems. You do remember of course that Greg and I are former Coast Guard officers… Yes, we have done all of this before and are trained well beyond the basic level of this course. The challenge is that the Coast Guard didn’t give us the fancy little piece of paper that says we’re good to go. So… Here I am in Ft. Lauderdale.

With some online research, I managed to find a great school that was holding this course during a time frame that fit our schedule. The Maritime Professional Training facility and their instructors were great. Here are a few clips from my classes:

Those awesome, stylish gumby survival suits are the same things that Greg and I had to shimmy into on our first shipboard experiences – the main difference between that time and this one was on our ships they made us jump over the side while wearing the suit! Lots of fun 🙂

So, the great thing about this class was that it wasn’t all just sitting around and listening to a lecture. We got to do stuff! Cool stuff most people don’t get to do! Of course, before they throw you into a firefighting situation, they want you to test out your gear. They gave us SCBAs (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) for our training. We used these same getups on our ships, so it was nice and familiar to me.

And we got to fight real fires!

All in all it was a fun week for me.

Well, aside from the fact that Florida was freezing cold the entire time! Seriously, there was frost and everything!

~ Tiffany

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Mazatlan, MX – 3rd

Mazatlan, MX

With the help of Mary-Ann on s/v OLD MOON we found another Mexican wine.

For my last entry on Mazatlan, I’ll focus on our transportation options. Yes, I realize that the topic of transportation would not typically be notable. Here it is.

Getting around presents some interesting alternatives. There are a lot of options for taxis but all of them are a little short on the safety department.

You could take the bus but be warned, you aren’t getting anywhere quickly on the Mazatlan bus system.

You’ll be happy to know that we made it to the local English speaking church on time (they have English speaking churches here…it’s a tourist city). The other transportation option is to rent a car; however, be forewarned that mode of transportation comes with its own inherent additional risks in this town thanks to the unique layout of the curbside parking. Gotta wonder what someone was thinking when they planned this out:

How about horses? Horses are safe, reliable, even fun and in Mexico apparently they are bilingual…

Ultimately though, it is the call of the sea that eventually reaches all of us. Well, all of us that sail on boats at least. I found a ride with Jake on s/v MALOOSE on an overnight transit down to San Blas. For those of you who have been keeping up with this blog, you will know of my long standing battle with Tiffany over the existence of the “supposed” green flash. This battle came to head under a beautiful sunset leaving the port.

Naturally, Tiffany was in another country when this happened.

– Greg

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Dominique, FVI

Dominique, FVI

I got a report from Tiffany who is dealing with the many challenges of teaching a sailing class on a luxury sailing yacht in the middle of the French Caribbean.

Sailing teaching supplies are in short supply. Fortunately, Tiffany knows how to improvise.

Also, class disruptions are frequent. Some are welcome, for example, dolphins dancing and leaping around the boat in crystal clear water is always a good time.

Other distractions are well, not so welcome. Remember kids, this is a French colony we’re talking about here. (And it wasn’t the cute ones who were naked! It was the dirty old men! ~ Tiffany)

So naked men are just prancing around my wife while she gets paid to work in a tropical paradise and I’m 500 miles away. Yeah, great. Just great.

Despite the distractions, the upside is that the field trips through tropical rivers seem pretty interesting

…and the immigration procedures are, to say the least, apparently a touch more relaxed than what we Americans are accustomed to from our Customs officials.

That’s probably because the local government is attempting to rebuild after a mild natural disturbance caused a slight population decrease a few years back.

I asked Tiffany the question that was on your mind. Well, on my mind at least. “Honey, after the guy in prison survived a night of being encased in his cell by a tidal wave of molten lava…after he survived who knows how long in his cell without food and water before rescue crews made it to this remote little island, and somehow managed to find him…after all that, did they put him back in prison or was he considered ‘rehabilitated’?”

She said the brochure didn’t say. How do you not include a detail like that?

Anyway, so my wife is surrounded by naked prancing men and the land might just decide to explode and randomly kill everyone without notice. Neat place.

– Greg

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