A Fine Day By Michael

Frances rode her bike into the marina the other
day. I recovered it for her. A little WD-40 and
she is good to go.

Yesterday, nobody worked on the boat. Instead, we crewed on a friend's boat, Wondertime, for the first leg of the Banderas Bay Blast, a 3-day sailing race event sponsored by Latitude 38 and to benefit local children.

It was very, very nice.

We left the dock midday and crossed the starting line outside the La Cruz marina about 1:45. For the next few hours, we charged ahead, tacking north towards our destination: the anchorage off Punta Mita.

When we crossed the finish line at dusk, the committee boat sounded a blast and announced our finish over the VHF. We dropped the hook, whipped up some fresh guacamole, and opened some cold beers. The sunset was unreal: a huge, fusia ball on the horizon. But to our dismay, the finale was precisely obsured by an anchored power boat several hundred yards off the port side.

Today Windy and the girls bussed over to Paradise Village Marina to watch Wondertime arrive from their downwind, second leg of the race. The kids are all eager to play in the pool. Tomorrow they'll return to Paradise where Eleanor and Frances will participate in the chili cook-off as members of the La Cruz Kids Club.

Here are the Wondertime and Del Viento girls during the race. I guess this was our
foredeck crew, here managing the twin head sails.

I'm remaining here in the La Cruz to work on the boat. Our tanks arrived today, our anchor roller modifications were completed yesterday, and the four new chainplates for the lower stays will be here by Wednesday. Everything has come together and suddenly the ball is in my court; our escape from the marina hinges on my efforts. Racing on Wondertime yesterday was a good catalyst for the push to our own finish line.

--MR

Note: we first met Michael and Sara and their girls Leah (5) and Holly (3) in Olympia, Washington on our car trip from D.C. to Mexico. They arrived here in La Cruz about a week ago and Frances could not be happier to have a playmate her own age in Leah. The two get along like peanut butter and jelly.

Here is our foredeck crew post-race with a pirate. This pirate is Richard Spindler, publisher
of the sailing magazine Latitude 38. I met Windy 15 years ago through an ad she posted in
Latitude 38.

This picture I took from the Latitude 38 blog, 'Lectronic Latitude. Wondertime is a
Benford 38, a ketch with both a headsail and a staysail. The pinkish blob on deck
in this low-res pic is the girls and Windy sitting atop the cabin on the windward
side. In fact, today 'Lectronic Latitude posted this picture and a few more
featuring Eleanor and Frances and other cruising kids.