Pacific crossing day 3

It seems ages ago that we left Puerta Vallarta on Friday March 22, but it has only been 3 days.

I'm rocking and rolling in my berth right now, horizontal seems to be the best position if you don't want to be trashed around. We have had an adventurous day: tod really wanted to fly our spinnaker, he got it all nicely set up, we enjoyed a nice ride for a while, until it went downhill. Short version, the lazy sheet got wrapped around the propeller....no other way around than jumping in the deep blue while being tied to the boat. Not something you want to do unless you have no other choice, as we are in larger predators territory here. off course, Tod fixed our problem and we are now flying our jib with our new pole.

Tessa seems to take the rolling motion the best of the crew, and is the most happy of us 3. She is devouring audiobooks, plays and eats well. "The boat rocks, mama, its just something you have to get used too", she told me yesterday, while i cursed like a sailor. The adults aboard need just a couple more days to get in the swing of things. Ending on a positive note, we had a glorious day of sailing yesterday, almost what i imagined trades sailing will be. Something to look forward too! The night skies have been amazing, and soon Tessa will know more about galaxies than I do. And our sailboat Bliss is in her happy state, this is what she was mend to do.

Blogpost at sea are send through our SSB radio. We can read your comments, and love them, just know we have no ability to reply back.

stats; 350 miles in last 3 days.

Jolanda for Bliss crew signing off for now, at 17 degrees 52' north, 110 degrees 14' west

----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com

When you are ready but the wind is not

Waiting is part of the game, if we like it or not. After months of continuous work, we looked at what could possibly be a short weather window to get off the coast of Mexico here. Bliss carries only so much fuel, and a good portion will be used for crossing the ITCZ, the zone near the equator with fluky to zero winds (also know as the doldrums).  So, we are in a waiting pattern, fridge is fully stocked again, but we will have to stock up again next week right before departure. Knowing Tod, he will try to finish up some more less urgent projects. Stay tuned, we are hoping for late next week. Happy Spring!

another one plus full cart, dry and not so dry provisioning

Another birthday for Tod aboard

we carry paper charts too, up to New Zealand

Getting into the final stretch

This afternoon we will be part of the farewell party of the Pacific Puddle Jumpers here in Banderas Bay. Al tough there are hundreds of boats in this area, only about 14 will be sailing the 2900 NM from here to the Marquesas, French Polynesia. The far majority of these 14 boats will be leaving on Monday, the first good weather window to catch good wind to go West. Almost all boats leaving from here are boats with US crew only, and they can only stay in French Polynesia for 90 days (unless they applied in advance for a special permit).  These boats plan to sail another 5000 to 6000 NM to either Australia or New Zealand to be there for cyclone season, starting end of November.

Bliss on the other hand, is in a slightly different boat. As Europeans, Tessa and I can stay in French Polynesia for an unlimited time, and Tod gets another benefit for being married to me:-). We do have to submit paperwork once we arrive in the Marquesas, but if all goes well, Tod will get his annual Carte de Sejour, and we can bob around without going all the way down South. We plan to leave Bliss in French Polynesia during cyclone season, but as all boat plans, they are written in sand.

We plan to leave in the 3rd of 4th week of March, waiting for another good weather window. In the meantime, still boat projects, home schooling, and provisioning to do. Tod's birthday coming up next week, and we will have the chance to get one more "fancy" meal in. We hope that Tessa's birthday is no longer at sea, but celebrated in "Moana Land" (she is very excited!).

I will send out one more blog post before we leave, that will include a tracker for our Pacific Ocean crossing. Hasta luego, and thanks for following along! We love to hear from you!

Crocodiles in marina Puerta Vallarta, yikes

Catching up and having fun with our friends aboard Let it Be

Looking up from our bedroom 

Fascinated by the lobster at the fish market

This is another project added to the list, and counts as birthday gifts for both of us for the next years.
we decided to add a spinnaker pole for our downwind sailing

cruise ships in Puerta Vallarta make you feel so tiny

We can not wait to do more sailing/playing, here back to
our home base in la Cruz. Whales and dolphins on our sail home

Dona Mari, the 99 years old Mexican woman, walking every day several km,
collecting cans for money. She makes you smile.

hanging out in the cruisers lounge in La Cruz, with AC!

So much fun with La Cruz Kids Club, and Cat (on the right) makes it all happen!

I'm gonna miss dropping off our laundry for $6, getting back same day,
nicely folded. Hand washing from here on after we leave....

From de-icing to please send us some ice!

Radio silence from the Bliss Crew since Tessa and I reunited with Tod almost 3.5 weeks ago. We left the frigid cold of Shaker Heights and had to watch our plane being de-iced before takeoff,  to the tropics of La Cruz in Banderas Bay where we could really use some ice...in our fridge! Yes, friends, our trusted DC fridge decided to call it quits, and ever since we arrived, we have lived in the tropics without any fridge. Let me tell you, it gets a bit old and moldy. So every day we walk to town to get non perishable food, and explore dining options, and lucky for us, there are quite a few in town and they start to know us by name/face.

In a few weeks from now, the first sailors will leave to set sail to the Marquesas, French Polynesia. We hope to be among them. The word is hope, as we have still many projects to tackle, and yes, having a working fridge is one of them! We meet weekly with this small group of "Puddle Jumpers" (referring to the Pacific Ocean here) and you can sort of tell who is doing this "ocean jump" among the many other sailors here. We jumpers look a bit more tired and stressed. As always, the Bliss crew is doing things a bit differently. We are the only ones who launched our boat back in the water just 6 weeks ago. Tod has been working non stop to get us where we are right now. All other jumpers have sailed since last Fall, and have had more time to enjoy sailing and take a break from the non stop preparation.  Our time will come, I know, but in case you wondered what we have been up to, wonder no more! Back to work, uh sleep for now, I will add some pics of the our time here. Oh, one final thought: I already had huge admiration for teachers, but that has increased a notch since I started boat schooling. Apparently I'm in good company here with other cruising parents, we can count the "no complaints from our kids- days" on one hand. Let's file this under the categories "room for inner zen growth" (parents) and room for improvements (kids). Hasta luego!

our boat in progress while Tod worked on the engine

Tod picked a nice bright color for our engine repaint

iguanas everywhere

getting ready for overnight beach camp out without us,
with la Cruz Kids club. She had a blast! There are many
kids in the marina now, so making new friends is easy.

and while she was gone for the night, we indulged in a more fancy dinner than usual
beet salad anyone?