Carol and Lance are friends of ours from Victoria, BC and fellow Hans Christian boat owners. They have a 38′ MkII and are liveaboards, so they felt right at home staying aboard Apropos for a week at Paradise Village marina. What started out as a request for them to bring us a few boat parts turned into a suite case ++ full of boat parts, special food requests, and some mail. They even made a trip to Seattle and picked up a huge order I put in at Fisheries Supply. Being in Mexico for 4 months makes you appreciate the selection (and price) of boating supplies in the US. It will get even more difficult in the South Pacific, which is why I stocked up on more spare parts….. Karen and I sorta went crazy with our requests though–peanut butter, cans of ravioli (for Jacintha), Cheerios, Snoqualmie Falls pancake mix, sewing machine needles, brackets for the SUP, more iPhone cables, an electric pump, spreader light bulbs, caulking, zincs, filters, tools, and more.
We spent the week enjoying the resort facilities–pools, yacht club & restaurants–and also accomplished a bunch of boat projects like finishing up some deck re-caulking, some work on Ian (Fleming wind vane), replacing spreader light bulbs, fixing a few leaks, canvas work, ratlines, etc. We attended a “Paradise Village Welcoming Party” that had free food, drinks, and entertainment–part of which Carol and I were participants. Carol volunteered herself and then me in some sort of dance contest where we made complete fools of ourselves dancing to 4 short songs of different genres (including disco and the song “What Does the Fox Say”)! But we were well rewarded with the winning prizes of Para-sailing (for Carol), a bottle of Tequila (for me), and a Mexican blanket (note–the audience was the judge and we had some friends in the audience)!!
During the week Karen, Jacintha, and I also went to the South Pacific Puddle Jump kickoff party that was held at the Puerto Vallarta yacht club. Andy from Latitude 38 Magazine (organizer of the Puddle Jump) presented a slide show and talked about what we can look forward to in French Polynesia. We also participated in some fun games with other fellow “jumpers” and Jacintha won a prize for getting up in front of everybody and telling a story–something about fishing in Australia. Each boat’s crew was interviewed for the Latitude 38 Magazine and a group photo was taken. It was a fun evening spent with around 40 other cruisers, most of whom we will meet up with in French Polynesia and beyond.
