Captains Corner

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Back to PV for the last of 2010 and the beginning of 2011!

Blog, December 29, 2010

Deb writing the blog.







It’s been a whirlwind of a time for us these last four weeks.  You know what they say the meaning of “boat” is:  Bring on another thousand.   Oh, so true.  Eleven days in the boat yard, thirteen new batteries, bow thruster repairs, gel coat on some “scratches”….(I’d like to say that we didn’t cause the scratches, but, alas, I cannot).   

Our thruster controls pulled out

Dan trying to find out what is wrong.  But as I am adding this photo he just fixed it!!!  YEA!!


Ten days back in L.A. rushing around…and now we are back in P.V.   The weather is beautiful as everyone we know, East and West, are suffering from rain, snow or blizzards.



We’ve made an executive decision to stay in P.V. until the 4th of February.  We both need to be in L.A. for a show and it’s senseless to put the boat in a new marina while we travel.  After February we have nothing until April.  Yea!!!!  So, we’ll make our way south and can take our time in each port, if we so desire.

Hope everyone we know and love has had a great holiday and we wish you all a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous 2011.
Will blog again after the New Year.

Friday, December 10, 2010

December 10, 2010 Chili Chili Bang Bang! - From Deb

December 10, 2010 
Is it any surprise to anyone who knows Jewell to know that she won the Chili Cook-off!!!   


But, let me give you a blow by blow.  
She cooked for two days.   We used our friend Ray’s kitchen.  He just happens to own many Mexican restaurants in Phoenix.  He and his buddy, Al,  kept tasting, and tasting, and tasting and wanted it hotter and hotter and hotter.  Jewell decided the only taste buds she wanted to test this chili were mine (smart woman that she is).   
 
Jewell  Doug in the center the chili host and me


Al is on the left and Ray is on the right.

We arrived at the cook-off with 6-7 gallons of Chili.  The venue provided the cups, spoons and napkins.  Jewell chopped 10 onions and crushed lots of chips to put on top of the chili if people wanted it.   

The gigantic pot was behind the table.

Remember, we’re talking “Jewell” .  She printed hundreds of small self adhering labels that said “I love Chili Chili  Bang Bang’s chili” to affix to the chest of everyone who tasted the chili and gave us a ticket.   

Vicki "sticking" someone who gave a ticket for the winning chili.

I made Lucio, our Marinaro, a “sandwich board” directing people to our booth.  Like the trooper he is, he stood in the front where the tickets were being sold, and spoke to everyone about our chili.  

Lucio is such a good sport!
  
Even Aggie got in on the action.  She had her own sign that said “Chili Chili Bang Bang Dog” and wore a very large sunflower hat.  Just look at her picture.  She’s a trooper too.  Just went along with the program!!



Vicki arrived with the song that she wrote and we “performed”.   We both sang (has anyone ever heard me sing????….it’s a sadness!!)….and I played the washboard.  It was really funny.   Microphones and all!   


Me and Vicki getting ready to sing.  Jewell chickened out.


 We all wore signs, front and back, with the name of our team.   We hustled.   People were coming back for seconds and thirds and fourths.   People were hugging Jewell.   She really outdid herself.  We did not have ONE drop of chili left.  Not a bean.  Nothing.  Nada.   We went for hamburgers at 9:30 that night.  Without Chili on it.  






The winning team.  Vicki, Larry, Me and Jewell

The boat will be out of dry-dock tomorrow, Saturday.  Our three days of painting and minor repairs turned into eleven days of torture.   We changed all our plans and will now, hopefully, leave PV on the 29th  to go to Barra de Navidad for New Year’s Eve.   Talk to you all again, soon.   D

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

From Deb - The Adventure Begins

12/6/2010    And, so the adventure begins.  Here we are, not even one week in P.V. trying to get ready to GO and we're in the boat yard to get the bottom painted.  (Do ALL bottoms need painting from time to time???)  Anyway, we have blisters.  Lots of them. (Do all bottoms get blisters as they age?)   Just painting is no longer an option.  Scraping, peeling, resins, Epoxy, primer, West System special something or other....and THEN paint.  You know what they say about boats......  












We have a room at the Westin hotel to watch the procedure, that has turned from two days out of the water to AT LEAST a week.  We are hoping, however, to leave P.V. on the 29th and spend New Years at the fabulous, gorgeous Grand Bay Marina in Barre de Navidad.

 


Last night we attended a  party at our friend Lupe's home.  It is a hotel, spa, and holistic center in Buscerias.  It is an amazing property and Lupe is an amazing woman. 








My dear friend Jewell has entered us in a Chili Cookoff on Saturday.   18 entries.  People from the towns and villages come as well as boaters and U.S. and Canadian residents.  And, our kitchen is up on supports at the boat yard.  So, I've imposed on another of our new friends and we are using his fabulous kitchen in his new home to make about 10-12 gallons of chili.  Vicki and Larry, our boat buddies, are going to join us in this.  Larry is a guitar player and song writer.  He's writing a song about chili and we're going to wear crazy wigs.  He'll play the guitar and I'll play the washboard to attract people to our booth.  The booth that collects the most "tickets" wins.  OMG.....what am I doing!!!   Do I dare post pictures of this?

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Finally Arrived in Puerto Vallarta - Mexico


8:40 a.m. Saturday 11/20 and I’m waiting for the taxi to take Aggie and me to the airport.  We take Aggie's travel bag out a couple of days before we travel so she becomes accustomed to it.  She didn’t leave the bag since it’s out and this morning she sees the luggage moving to the front door and is definitely not budging.  She figures if the luggage is going, so is she!!



We are looking forward to seeing our PV friends and our hearts are also heavy with the knowledge that we are leaving our beloved Puerto Vallarta.   We are really going to miss seeing all the many friends we’ve made during our four seasons here.  But we know we’ll be coming back after our
“big” adventure.

As I sit at the airport I’m thinking about the trip that awaits us - the excitement as well as the apprehension.  It is our biggest undertaking yet.

Sunday 11/21 Well, phase one of our trip has begun.  I have left the country and am now in Mexico.  After years of talking about this and endless hours of planning I can't believe it is here.  Yikes.  Aggie and I arrived yesterday and our boat looks the same.  The only thing missing now is our captain.  Deb will be arriving on Wednesday.  We will then begin the actual preparations to get underway to Costa Rica.

What I can never get over is how much luggage we always manage to bring.  All we wear in Mexico for the most part are shorts and sleeveless tops.  But we have pounds and pounds of clothing.  Yet there is nothing in our closets!  I just don't understand.









 
I’ll be posting pictures of Aggie in her new orange life jacket.  It is hilarious.  We will be blogging more frequently now that we are actually in the swing of busting out of Mexico.  It will be bittersweet.  But we will cross that bridge when we are closer.  Hope you had a happy turkey day.  
Here is one of the first pictures of the Marina in PV.

And Aggie - recovering from the trip here.

One more note:  Deborah has just informed me that she’ll be blogging as well.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Countdown continues.


Well now that our Costa Rica countdown is now under way, I thought I would let you know what our plans are. 
 
Since we are leaving Mexico for a few years, we want to take the time to enjoy some of the ports we have come to know and love and those that we have yet to explore. 
 
This will just outline our trip and I will name places, but as we explore them again or for the first time, I will elaborate then.
 
 
 
Chamela
Barra de Navadid
Tenacatita
Barra de Navadid – WE LOVE IT HERE
Manzanillo
Cabeza Negra
Ixtapa
Zihuatanejo
The French Baker comes to the boat in Barra.  Yummy.
Acapulco
Puerto Angel
Huatulco – Where we wait to   go through the    Tehuantepec pass
Salina Crux – Officially out of Mexico – Guatemala
Quetzal – Guatemala
Bahía de Jiquilisco – El Salvador - Probably not stopping here
 
 
 
Honduras - Deb says we can dive a coral reef there.
Puesta Del Sol - Nicaragua - Probably not stopping here either
Bahía San Juan Del Sur – COSTA RICA – the upper part
Then not sure just which way we will head.
 
So this is our tentative route.  Most places we will stay from 3-5 days but a few like Barra de Navadid we will stay one month, Ixtapa – 1 month and probably 2 weeks in Acapulco.  So that is the update for now.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Welcome to our Costa Rica Adventure

Welcome to our blog Bound for Costa Rica.  This blog will follow the travels of The Elysium Yacht and her family and friends from Puerto Vallarta to Costa Rica.  Here are the introductions:

First and foremost THE Captain – Deborah.  But you can call her Capt’n.
First Mate – Jewell – nothing short for that name.

Captain Deborah
First Mate Jewell











Marinaro – Spanish for boat boy – Lucio.
 











Official boat dog – Aggie – the one who gets mostly all the attention.
 






 


Buddy boat – Means we are going to make this voyage together - Rocinante.

Captain – Larry












First Mate - Vicki











Just a bit of history. 

We brought the boat to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PV from here out) 4 seasons ago, with the intention of spending one season.  Well, as you can tell we loved it.  So now we have decided, let’s move on and see what else there is out there.  So we chose Costa Rica.  Our friends Larry and Vicki were thinking along the same lines and we have decided to do this together.

We have loved our time in PV.  We have made lots of lifelong friendships, but we are not getting any younger so it's time to hit the trail and get adventurous again.

Jewell is due to arrive back in PV November 20th - to begin the process of getting ready and Deb will arrive on the 24th.  We will have some minor work done on the boat (bottom painting, batteries changed, provisions, new navigation system up) and a few other items.  We still need to decide about our motorcycle and whether or not to buy another one, so we don't have to ride the same one together.  Too dangerous.

Our potential shove off date is December 1, 2010.   Check back in often.  Thanks for coming with us on our wild journey!

Deb, Jewell, Aggie, Lucio and our many guests you will meet along the way. 

Don't forget to click the follow us button on the upper right and leave any comments you might like to share below.