2004 TRIP

In February 2004 we flew to Mazatlan on the Pacific Coast of Mexico to meet our friends John and Lisa Caruso on their Wauquiez Pretorian 35 sailboat. John and Lisa left Seattle in September 2003 on their sailing odyssey.

After a few enjoyable days in Mazatlan, we sailed overnight to Punta Mita at the north end of Banderas Bay. On our trip in 1998 there were only two palapa restaurants on the beach. Now there are 10 restaurants, condos and a huge hotel/resort with a golf course! We stayed the night at anchor and the next day sailed to La Cruz where we again anchored. La Cruz was undergoing massive construction and the streets were all torn up, so we didn't go ashore.

The next morning we headed into the Marina at Nuevo Vallarta. Here little had changed, it was still falling apart. There was, however, a new restaurant with 10 peso beers that overlooked the marina. We spent the next ten days socialising with the many people we knew so well when we spent over a year there.

The last five days we lived at Casa Fresca, a home that our friends Don and Pat May built in the village of Jarretaderas about a mile from the marina. They have a complete apartment for rent with two bedrooms, shared living room, kitchen and bath on the upper floor, while they occupy an identical layout on the lower floor. They charge only $30 per room per night and their hospitality is wonderful.

You can e-mail them at donpatmay@aol.com ,they would be glad to send you a brochure.

We had a wonderful time and were sorry we had to say goodbye to all our friends, we will be back. To see the photos we took CLICK HERE

2006 TRIP

The excuse for this 10 day trip was an January art show at Frederico's Cafe in Marina Nuevo Vallarta. This was organized by Frederico, our friend Sue Grover and her friend Annie to raise awareness of the destruction of the estuary environments by commercial developments in the area. All the artworks were by Frederico and local residents, including Sue, Annie and many others. Patricia's activities centered around art and photography, including art lessons and trips to observe the exotic botanical and bird sights of the area. Colin's activities centered around lying around, eating, drinking beer and socializing. We stayed in the Grover's new condo for the first few days and then on their sailboat "Second Wind" when another guest arrived.

Altogether we had a very enjoyable respite in the Mexican sunshine and a welcome escape from rainy Seattle. There are some very nice photos HERE

To contact us go to: CONTACT.