Category Archives: Sailing Vacation

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What a ride the last four weeks have been… In fact, I am not sure if it has been three or four weeks but then again who’s counting!?!

Finally things are getting back to normal, well as normal as it gets…LOL

Trina and I have had a lot of fun even though we had been stuck waiting for weather many times and had a few rough moments during the ride to bring the sailboat up the coast to San Diego. I guess they are right though, it’s the bumps along the way that make this an adventure.

We met some really cool people along the way up that were on other boats and we’ve buddy boated up the coast with them from about half way up the Baja. It was a pleasure to finally meet them after just radio contact, have dinner and a couple drinks. It is nice how in the boating community that even though you haven’t met face to face there is a camaraderie amongst each boat and the crews. It also makes it nice when you are in the middle of nowhere that someone is looking to see how you are doing and if you made it to the next anchorage or marina safely.

We just checked out of Mexico and are going to make our last crossing to San Diego late Friday night and will be there on Saturday morning. Then we jump on a plane and off to the farm on the East coast.

I haven’t had a chance to welcome all of you that have created your new blogs here since we have been on this trip, so welcome to the BlogDumps community πŸ™‚ I am normally always around so if you need help you can find a contact and help link on the main page of BlogDumps in the footer of the page. Since I am back on the job I will be going over the blogs and checking around to make sure the community is clean of porn or links to porn or hate type blogs. If you are surfing the site and find on of these, please report it and help me keep the site clean.

For those of you who are new to the community, make sure to stop by the discussion forum and announce your blog, there is a thread there just for that so don’t be shy – jump in there and let us all know what you are blogging about and leave a link so we can all visit πŸ™‚

The other news is there will be a Top Sites Tuesday this week, it will be “Two Thoughts On Tuesday” for those that want to have your post done ahead of time.

Also, we will be back on schedule for the Saturday Funnies and Sunday Music starting next weekend so if you would like to have a link back from BlogDumps Blog on those posts make sure to upload a funny video or a favorite song and I will use them and give you credit for it. You can upload and host your Videos, Music, and photos here, keep them in public or private albums.

I am working on an idea for a contest for the best video and best photo I am not sure on all the details yet but I thought that might be something fun and if it is something that goes over well we will do it maybe once a month.

So that’s it, everything has been working just fine, the server techs are awesome as always we have had no problems or issues… I will just keep plugging along working on improvements to help promote all of you so you gain readers and get some comments on your posts.

Have a great weekend!
Wolfbernz

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We Entered The Twilight Zone

I guess this is what they call adventure πŸ™‚

We left Bahia Santa Maria and headed North toward Turtle Bay. We made it there and got stuck in bad weather again. We had a small window so we went for it and made it to San Carlos safely.

We waited for days for the weather to break and we had a twelve hour window to make it to Bahia San Quintin so we went for that… What a crazy ride that was! We left two hours earlier than the weather window, we left at 7 that night. We were going to go between the land and Sacramento reef but it was night time so we decided to go around it on the outside.

We did ok except when we were leaving Bahia San Carlos we bent the anchor all up trying to pull it up on the boat.

We had fourteen miles to go to get to the outside of the reef when the motor started smoking, we had sails up so we let it idle and sailed all night just to go the fourteen miles to the reef. When we got three miles to the west of the reef and the wind became 30 plus miles an hour and ten to fifteen foot seas – then the mainsail had a problem, the flashlight broke, one of the front sails came unfurled on it’s own and had to be taken down, we hit a seaweed island and it was stuck to the bottom of the boat, the GPS broke and stopped working (we tried to fix it and we unhooked it from all power and the alarm was still going off!!!???) The Ipad GPS back-up stopped working (the two different GPS units said we were going in different directions!) Then all electronic equipment went out.

It was the strangest thing in the world…

So here we were in the middle of the mess when we hit a whirlpool and did 8 three sixties, lost our steering, it was like we were in the Twilight Zone.

We finally got the main sail going and we could not pass the reef due to wind and currents (and equipment failure)… we tried for three hours! We decided to go back to San Carlos. We fixed some of the mess and cleaned up the boat used the back-up for the back-up Mac computer for GPS and navigation charts and I drove us back toward were we came from by compass. We got close to where we could make a decision to go between the reef and land and head north again and not go back so I made the decision to go north between the reef and land and at least get to the next anchorage.

Trina took over navigation and gave me course and heading directions while I drove using the compass and the captain watched for kelp, crab pots, and Mexican pangas.

We made it to the next anchorage and it had big surf breaking and kelp everywhere so we decided to go for it to San Quintin where we are now. Everyone else wanted to turn back but I said I would rather get my ass kicked than quit!!!

We were all up for 36 hours straight but we made it safe and sound. All is well we are working on the boat fixing things, one of the crew is going under the boat with dive gear to check the bottom. We have another weather window on Friday at midnight but we won’t leave unless we have most things working again. The motor is fixed, we are working on the rest. We only have two hundred miles to go to get back to the good ‘ol USA and we are on our way home back to my nice soft bed. Oh Yeah πŸ™‚

Wolfbernz and Trina

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Dog Attack In Mexico On Wolfbernz!

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So here I am minding my own business having a drink and out of no where comes this growl from under the table it has me by the ankle… I panic… What do I do? I pulled back the table cloth in shear panic to see what has me and is snarling, Will I make it?

It was a rough job but I was able to free myself from this monster by taking some of my tortilla and tossing it far from where I was sitting…Wheeew I didn’t think I would make it for a moment πŸ™‚

Have a great day
Wolf
PS He did the Ninja crawl came back and stole Trina’s Flip Flop…LOL

Yelapa to La Cruz – Sunday Music

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So we took off from Mismaloya and set sail for Yelapa – it was a beautiful morning and a nice half day sail to the next stop so we didn’t get in a hurry, we just laid back and cruised.

We arrived in Yelapa, it is on the side of the Bay of Banderas that is open to the ocean swells but we hit the weather perfect to have a nice stay.

When we arrived, we just hung out for a little while on the boat and just checked out the town from the bay. There was no way into this place except by boat or a really rough ride by truck. Yelapa is a small fishing town with a small tourist area, I don’t think they had but a half dozen rooms.

This side of the bay is beautiful, the water comes down the mountains, which by the way go all the way to the ocean, the anchorage is a hundred and twenty feet deep. The rivers flow right into the ocean, the palm trees are abundant everywhere. We realized that we had left the desert behind and entered the jungle.

We took a walk around the little town, it was nice, it had a little hand made paved path with little bridges everywhere. It was done so artistically it was just cool. I don’t think they meant for it to be so artistic, it is just in their nature. So we hung out on the beach had some drinks and then we went over to a little restaurant and had dinner. It was very good, we made it just in time to get one of the last fisherman to give us a ride back to the boat (Trina, when she was told to go get in… She got in the boat) if you missed the other “Trina and the boat” story, sorry!

So we had a wonderful night it was awesome! It cooled off nicely and we had a great rest, the only watches were – if you get up, check the anchor and make sure we are still good and not getting ready to hit another boat πŸ™‚

I did manage to take some good photos this time so I will post them below.

Oh Yea Sunday Music! Well this seems to fit, somedays I don’t know what day or time it is but really nothing else matters…LOL

Mismaloy

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So we decided to take off across the bay of Puerto Vallarta From La Cruise Yacht club to a little three boat harbor that is open to to northwest swell. We are in about 180 feet of water, we are equipped to anchor in this deep of water but for a few pesos we could grab a mooring. Why Not? That’s a lot of chain!

The bay is kind of nice, the buildings are set to the landscape well and there is a river that comes out to the sea. The middle of the bay is palms and the buildings are on the side so the little town flows nicely to the bay.

I shot a quick video of the bay.

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It was a hot afternoon I floated around the bay in the dingy and tried to catch dinner LOl I had Mahi for dinner after a shore boat ride!

It was nice on the beach we had a great dinner and then had to find a ride back. We found a ponga boat and we got it into the surf I ran and jumped on so did Trina but, well, she didn’t do so hot. She didn’t make it and landed in the water… I know better I waited for her to laugh!

It was a fun ride back we hanging on the boat. It’s cool, there is open Wifi here.

We leave tomorrow for a little place called Yalapa. It’s a little further south of here. I wonder if we will get a bit of a swell we’re on that side of the bay until we round the point. It’s nice to float around and hang on the hook instead of the marina looking for some surf or whatever it just seems more adventures.

Wolfbernz

Leaving Mantenchen Bay For La Cruz

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So we had a great time at Mantenchen Bay it was a wonderful place Trina had me take her in the dingy to San Blas which was about a 30 minute dingy ride. It was funny she wanted to go while we were in the bay but once we were in the open sea going up the coast line in a five foot swell she had second thoughts. I was soaking wet in the first few minutes but we came to the San Blas Marina and road the swells into the harbor… it seems as though the marinas here in Mexico the swells break in the mouth of the harbor and you must ride a wave into them! So we went up the beach and into the river it was very cool to see the palm trees and the fisherman then there were a few wrecked boats to see, maybe storms of yester year washed them ashore. We were told we might see some wild cats and other sorts of wild life but all we saw were whales, sea turtles, some crazy flying fish with wings…LOL I thought Trina was going to scream when the porpoise that was as big as the dingy showed up a long side of us πŸ™‚

So it was getting late and we decided to head back to the sailboat which was anchored in the next bay. So out the river we go and low and behold the tide is low and the surf is breaking all the way across the mouth of the harbor- now Trina is facing back toward the beach and has no Idea what is ahead of up… we make it over the fist two waves by the skin of our you-know-what and I tried to outrun the last to the side of where it was breaking but at the last second I turned the dingy straight into the wave and Trina says out of the blue “I want to take a Photo!!!” I yelled “No” and “Hang on!” and we flew about six feet above the wave! The motor was even out of the water and all we were both two feet above the dingy! We both were very glad we made it and laughed as we were soaked from head to toe then off we went back to the boat watching the sun go down it was a lot of fun for sure.

The next morning we set sail for Punta De Mita, another surf spot that was supposed to have super waves.
This area is full of whales we had a great time watching them jump in the air and splash everywhere. Just as soon as you would try to take a photo the boat would rock and then someone would yell look at that one!

I am glad we arrived when we did it was a bit trick navigation coming into an are we had never been and the shoals extend three miles off the coast. We follow our charts and radar and found our way to the next stop without any problems we did see that the surf was pretty good so we were happy πŸ˜€

So we hung out there and then set sail for a small harbor in a town called La Cruz it is right next to Puerto Vallarta but much nicer I think it is less crowded and has a surf break right outside the marina. It’s a nice Marina hot showers a restaurant and a night club that is quiet and reserved πŸ™‚

So we have hung out here for a week took care of all our personal needs did the Cosco shop and stocked the boat. We did some surfing. It was really fun to go visit old downtown Puerto Vallarta and play on the wooden bridges and eat fish tacos from the local restaurant Check out some of the pics, they give you an idea of what it’s like.






Wolf

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Leaving Mazatlan for Mantenchen bay

We had a good time in Mazatlan but it was too much city for me. We stayed a few days and then set sail for the next stop – we had to leave early so we didn’t have to try to come into the anchorage at night… We did make it just fine πŸ™‚

We arrive in Mantenchen bay and it was a beautiful place, there was a great surf spot there – the longest ride was timed at five minutes!!! We were only going to use it as a stop over but it was so nice we stayed two days. The only bad thing was the no-see-um’s, I had no trouble I had my bug repellent clothes on, but the rest of the crew didn’t and were eaten big time.

As we head further south everything seems to be getting cheaper I had a double lobster dinner for 150 pesos, about 12 American dollars, and boy was it good πŸ™‚

So we have set sail again and it is off to Punta De Mita, another cool surf spot and place to anchor and hang out.

We bought a Mexican air card so we can have internet now since we aren’t a hundred miles off shore any more we will just be making small hops down the coast. Finally we are connected! It is weird not to have any cell phones, TV, or Internet – no communications… Well unless you want to use the Sat Phone at five bucks a minute, I’ll pass on that πŸ™‚

I haven’t re-sized any photos yet but I will soon and add them to the blog, I did however add a video of us going down the jungle river to the ocean to release baby turtles to re populate them it was an awesome ride past crocodiles and cool wild life so stop by the front page and check out the video.

Wolfbernz


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A Fun Ride Through The Jungle To The Beach

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What a fun day. We loaded up in a van and headed out for a trip down the river through the jungle past all the crocodiles and headed for the beach to let some baby turtles go! It was really neat to see all the wild life and to go through the narrows of the river. I tried to get a close up of a big crock but they were too fast. In the video I made, you will see a still shot of a baby crock on a tree branch.

It has warmed up since we have crossed over to the mainland from the Baja Peninsula and as we head South I am sure it will get warmer. We set sail from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow. From Mazatlan our first stop is the island called Isla Isabella it has a crater lake on the top of it- I can’t wait to get there it is just a short sail from here on the way down the coast. I will post some photos when we get to the next spot with internet.

Below is a video I had put together quickly to show everyone the trip to the beach and the letting go of the turtles. I hope you all enjoy it πŸ™‚

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Soon we will be home and new blog registrations will be open again so make sure to stop by often and get your free blog here on BlogDumps!

Wolfbernz


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Mazatlan

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As we make our way on this adventure we crossed the Sea of Cortez. What a ride that was – we left La Paz and set sail for Mazatlan.

The crossing from La Paz to Mazatlan is supposed to take 2 whole days but thanks to an awesome wind we made it here in 36 hours and we got to sail most of the way. The sail was awesome – anytime we get to turn the motor off and actually sail in the sailboat is amazing.

Coming into the harbor here in Mazatlan is a bit tricky. On the maps the entrance is clear and the warnings about coming in at night or on a low tide are abundant. I know why now. Looking at the entrance from the boat, it looks like you are heading right into a large stone wall. The red and green markers on either side of the entrance fade into the background easily and are hard to see until you are within 100 yards of the entrance. Then as we actually entered the harbor (at low tide because that’s how we roll – hey, it wasn’t dark πŸ˜‰ ) we all kept our eyes on the depth. We watched as it went from 10 feet under the keel to 2 feet – at which point we all held our breath and braced for impact. We were lucky after about 30 seconds in 2 feet of water under the keel the numbers started going back up. The harbor here is different than any we have sailed into, to enter the harbor you surf a wave with the boat and then wind through the canal past Gilligan’s Island… LOL

It sure is a much busier place then the Baja peninsula, it’s city life here to the max, cars rushing around taxies everywhere and what I call the mounted police trucks with men in the back with mounted machine guns! There are even military guys that roam around together with machine guns in full cammo – a nice reminder we are in a third world country.

I have found that the people here are very friendly but here in the city there are many women that have a couple of kids and are on the street begging for money… So I keep some change in my pocket and give when I can.

I think one of the best parts of Mexico is that they know how to make pastries OMG I walked into one and thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! So I bought a bagful they were great with this mornings coffee.

Well it’s off to the old downtown to check it out and see the old architecture and whatever else we may run across I will take the camera with me today and I will post them later.

Wolfbernz

PS. Thanks to all of you that are clicking your BlogDumps buttons I think we have bumped the spammers off the page. Please keep clicking them as many time as you can I appreciate the help πŸ˜€

Also Blog registrations will be re-opened when we get back from vacation


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As We Travel

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We have been in La Paz on the boat and have done a few road trips to a cool town on the lower end of Baja California called Todo Santos.

One thing I have learned on this trip is that it is an adventure. We have gone the wrong way on one way streets, then we took the wrong road and went totally the wrong way. We were pulled over by the federales and the police man took all our money but no ticket or trip to the jail… We did make it to Todo Santos and Landed in a really cool three room villa in a place called Posada Del Molino. It’s an old sugar cane mill with a couple amazing rooms and very friendly owners. Trina took lots of pictures here are some of them.


But as we have travel on this trip I have found that there are so many people that need so much. Just clean water is something to treasure and is something we take for granted at home because we have so much. The houses are not the big fancy homes and full of TVs some are made of just pallets and a palm leaf roof! – if they have electric, wow what a bonus let alone hot water. There are only a few paved roads here and the rest are dirt or dirt and rock… Makes for a bumpy ride! But here we complain at home when there is a pot-hole in the freshly paved road.

Something I have noticed is that the people are happy, polite, and the kids seem to find pleasure in the simplest things, not a video game or a TV show. These are proud people and happy with what they have and you can see the love for family everywhere you go, it is a lesson to be learned to those who have so much and think they haven’t gotten their fair share, let me tell you something, you have it – you just don’t see it.

This trip has made me realize just how good life is whether you have it all or have nothing – if you are happy life is at it’s best! So cherish the happy moments and enjoy them as they come along. If people in a third world country with so little can be happy and so thankful we should all sit up and take notice.

For those that have followed my blogging about making electric wind mills and solar energy, I see how much of a difference this could make and how much of an impact it would be for the people to have electric utilities and how this could be done for a small amount of money relative to the amount that we waste each day.

Todo Santos is a really laid back town very friendly people and the beach and surf have been wonderful – I take that back awesome is the right word to use. We were here on New Years and it was so nice we decided to return for a couple days to enjoy this wonderful town before we set sail for Mazatlan.

It was different to drive down dirt roads and look at brick and block walls and think this is a hotel? But once we were behind the walls that kept out the dusty road it opened into this magnificent beauty of palms, flowers and plants that we keep indoors that were eight feet tall. It was as if we stepped into a different time or place.

I can’t tell you enough how nice it was to sleep in a bed that doesn’t move bounce or shift like on the boat but I can say that after being on the ocean for so long I had to do a three point stance (one hand on the wall and feet spread) when I took that long hot shower… ’cause the shower was moving as if I were still on the sailboat… LOL

The surf at Todo Santos today was head high or bigger with long rolling waves we had a great time! I managed to catch a few but I stayed in the water so long I couldn’t lift myself up on the surf board any longer so I rode the last on in on my stomach with a big grin on my face Viva Todo Santos πŸ™‚

Headed out to the surf

Next stop will be Mazatlan as we will sail across the Sea of Cortez. It is a three hundred and fifty mile crossing we hope for good weather and mellow seas!

Thanks for stopping by
Wolfbernz

PS since we are traveling the spammers have tried to take over the top sites I am working on a fix for this. If you all could do me a favor and click your BlogDumps

Buttons while we travel it will bump them off the page… Thanks in advance!


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