Cruise ship barely fits in the Santa Cruz harbor! We departed Barra De Navidad over a month ago with stops along the way to Huatulco, where we now sit and wait for the elusive weather window to cross the ominous Gulf of Tehuantepec. The Gulf of Tehuantepec is infamous for Force 8 gales of N […] More
Class of 2018-2019 at Barra de Navidad Each season begins with a plan. This season Michael and I shook hands on taking the Central American route to Panama. We thought we would have made it there last season, but plans changed. This year we seem determined, albeit somewhat scared to leave what has become our […] More
Moving stuff Cruising is not going on a cruise. Cruising is definitely more work than that, and a lot of that work is about hauling the freight, schlepping your stuff, getting the groceries, and so forth. We use the fold-it aluminum cart. This has been a great help hauling 4 batteries at a time, […] More
Ok, we are cruisers, and we are supposed to be watching the clouds, catching fish, using the sup board or enjoying a sundowner. Truth is, we are bandwidth hogs. We need to order stuff, get YouTube videos about how to fix stuff, figure out the weather, follow the news, check our investments, and keep up […] More
We leave Paradise Village Marina and anchor for the night off of La Cruz. On the way out we have no power, the engines are smoking black and boat speed is limited to 3 knots. Props? I don’t swim in marinas, which can be pretty gross and may even sport the occasional crocodile; plus, being […] More
Duke We are moored in the Paradise Village Marina which is part of the Paradise Village Resort in Neuvo Vallarta. We take a walk every morning before hiding out in the Air Conditioning for the hottest part of the day. As you leave the Paradise Village Complex, You pass a sort of mini zoo. Two Bengal […] More
Michael, “In Search of Reason”, by artist Sergio Bustamante Before going cruising there are of course many questions ranging from boat parts to the weather to navigation to safety to the inevitable Why are we doing this? Once you answer the majority of the top 100, you set a date and go. Along the way […] More
I don’t think we find anything as worrisome as the idea of a man overboard. Since we often sail with just two on board, one of us is always on watch, while the other needs to try and sleep in order to stay useful. For me, the idea of waking up to find that Lisa […] More
Fujinon Techno-Stabi When you are preparing to cruise you buy a lot of things that you hope will make cruising safer and more enjoyable. On Footloose no single item has had a greater impact than the addition of these stabilized Fujinon Techno-Stabi binoculars. Being able to see where you are is obviously important for navigation, […] More
Recently we decided we should unload our boat, as we were just plain carrying too much “stuff”. You’ve all seen the George Carlin bit “Stuff” right? When you are leaving to go cruising you are not quite sure what will be important, so we spent a few hours going through every storage space in the […] More
Peaceful Jalisco We are in the state of Jalisco, which according to the news reports, should have me cautious or even in retreat from this place of crime–danger. Yet, all we experience are peaceful friendly people living their lives. When I hear reports of the homicides (which is rare, since I’m somewhat tuned out to […] More