April 3 -- We departed Paradise Village Marina and went all of 10 miles to La Cruz where we dropped anchor and stayed for several days.

April 4 -- While anchored in La Cruz, we dinghied into town every day, stopped in at Philos, Fox's, and a few stores. The highlight, however, was being picked up on our first day there by Mai and Dave from Dolce Vita and driving out to Chuyet's Farm. Chyuet is Vietnamese, and grows exotic fruits, vegetables and herbs, especially a wide variety of basils. Afterwards we stopped at an outdoor restaurant for a delicious meal, then over to Mai's house to cut into the huge Jack Fruit that she shared with us, and divvy up all the other wonderful treats. Here's a photo of Mai and Dave at the farm.

April 5 -- Back on Jellybean for a few days, we socialized with Susan and Rob from Joyeux, Linda and Kim on Endeavour and Mary and John on Java, and later, Dan and Emily from Che Bella.

April 8 -- Once again, underway from La Cruz to Punta de Mita. After spending a quiet day aboard Jellybean, doing chores, we dinghied into shore to have dinner at a palapa with John and Linda from Nakia, and Bob and Pam from Air Power. John came down to shore to help land the dinghy and said, "you must lead charmed lives." Apparently we had stopped the dinghy to lower the wheels just at the breakwater line, and luckily, the water didn't break while we were there. During dinner, we observed rather large waves breaking just at that very spot.

April 9 -- Wind seemed to be in our favor, so in the morning, we departed Punta de Mita with our destination being Chacala, a nice day's sail up the Mexican mainland coast. Upon arrival we received an invitation for happy hour on Migration, a beautiful trimaran that we had admired in Paradise Village as it was being painted a bright cherry red with a white deck -- stunning. Bruce and his friend Alene were gracious hosts, and although all the attendees brought eats and drinks, more and more kept appearing out of Migration's galley. Also in attendance were Linda and Don from Iron Rose, Alex and Susan from Mai Tai Roa and James and Lois from White Star. We stayed for several hours.

April 10 -- In the morning we dinghied into town to check in and to browse through the many tiendas set up in back of the beach. Come evening, once again, Bruce and Alene entertained us and Linda and Don with a movie aboard Migration. They hoist a sun shade up with a halyard, and with a projector connected to a computer and a good sound system, we had an outdoor, big screen movie with superb sound. Thank you, Bruce and Alene -- it was wonderful.

April 11 -- Once again, wind was in our favor to continue our journey north to Mazatlan, so we took off in the morning only to find out that the wind had quieted down so we motor sailed for a few hours. However around 1 pm the wind picked up, the motor was turned off and for the next 3 hours we had a spectacular sail. We arrived at Mantenchen Bay just before 4 pm and were joined shortly after by Migration. Bruce and Alene joined us on Jellybean for dinner and we sat out in the cockpit well into the night enjoying lively conversation. We had avoided going into San Blas because it is known to be thick with mosquitos and noseeums. Friends had assured us that Mantenchen was safe from those critters. Well, we didn't see mosquitos, however, I had over 100 noseeums bites all over me the next day, requiring aggressive medical attention to ensure that I wouldn't seriously infect myself (or go crazy!).

April 12 -- We left around 9:30 a.m. under motor, expecting to arrive in Mazatlan the following morning. At 2 p.m. we were finally under sail with no motor. Roy made coffee cake and I made Challah bread, getting ready for our overnight, trying valiantly to not scratch. Around 5 p.m. we saw several fish "boils," millions of anchovies and/or other small bait fish traveling so close together that it looks like a big black ball in the sea. They attract frigate birds, pelicans, and all sort of larger fish -- incredible visual feast. Around 7 p.m. the wind died, so we reluctantly turned on the motor (no anchorages available, and it's a lee shore), expecting to hear the hum of the motor all night, rather than the gentle swoosh of the wind on our sails.

April 13 -- 2 a.m., a loud bump in the night! I was on watch, and just as I started looking every which way, Roy emerged from down below. We had run across fishing lines, one of which was attached to an anchor 50 feet below, and others attached to floats which kept palm fronds on top of the water. Fishermen use this to attract dorado who prefer shaded areas. We cut 2 lines and one float, and after we were free, we noticed that our prop vibrated at our usual cruising rpms, so we slowed down to 1500 giving us 4 kts, instead of the usual 6-7. We also noticed that we had only a limited steering range. At 5 a.m. we raised sail, at 7, we were visited by a large school of dolphins, and also radioed to friends in Mazatlan to let them know our predicament, that we'd be coming in late, and to please stand by in case we needed help in getting into our slip. At 4 p.m. John from Java came out in his dinghy to lead us in, Kim and Linda on Endeavour, Geno and Patty on Chalet Mer had dinghies ready if need be. Dan on Che Bella had already called Reuben, the diver, for us. He retrieved 2 more palm fronds, several feet of line, plus another float that were wrapped around our bow, keel and rudder. Reuben called it a "Dorado Cabana." We were lucky it wasn't anything more than that -- but it sure was exciting and the topic of conversation at that evening's dinner aboard Che Bella.

April 14 -- We decided to head into town for an evening out -- lots of others had the same idea. Teal and Linh recommended a restaurant that was on the beach, and after spending about 45 minutes going only about 5 miles we took their suggestion and got off. The rest of the crowd continued down into town for tacos. After dinner we walked several blocks toward town looking for ice cream. Fully sated, we tried hailing cabs -- all full. Buses had stopped running because the traffic was so thick. Lo and behold, the crowd of cruisers from the marina appeared. Now as a group of 10, Linda hailed a panel truck with 2 benches in the back. He gave us a ride all the way back to the Marina for only 100 pesos ($10).

We departed Mazatlan early Sunday morning so I could run the Amigo Net -- there's a lot of interference on SSB radio when you're in marinas. Since we were out at sea, we continued on to La Paz, on the Baja Peninsula. The crossing took about 36 hours and was uneventful. So uneventful that we just motor sailed the entire way. We stayed only one full day, refueled, and took off to explore the Sea of Cortez in greater depth than on our previous journeys. This time we'd have no schedules; we hadn't even made plane reservations to return to California yet (although we knew we'd want to be there in early July)

We had a goal of arriving at Puerto Escondito in time for Loreto Fest, May 4-7. We anchored in numerous coves, both on the Baja peninsula and on the many beautiful islands that make the Sea such an attractive cruising ground. Along the way we met up with lots of old cruising friends and made new ones as well, many who had come down to Mexico on the 2005 Baja HaHa. Potlucks, game playing, beach parties, shelling, walks into the few towns -- we hardly had time to do the never ending boat projects. We, like many cruisers, found Agua Verde to be very seductive. We hiked and partied with folks from many many boats. Among them were Freezing Rain, Seamonship, Endeavour, Che Bella, Scarlett, Nellie Juan, Liberty Call II, Linda, Dreamweaver and many more. We stayed so long that three waves of cruisers arrived and left before we wei ghed anchor and headed north. Here's a shot of Russ and Jane from Scarlett (also '04 HaHa) and one of us, so happy to have purchased fish from a local. Photo of us taken by Dottie (Dreamweaver "05 HaHa).

After stopping in Perico Cove on Isla Carmen for two nights, we sailed to Puerto Escondito on May 1, with plenty of time to spare before Loreto Fest started. Loreto Fest raises money for local charities and also arranges for a massive bay cleanup. There are many shared meals, lots of games, but best of all are the music performances in the evenings. The performers are local expats, cruisers, and a few natives. They rehearse for several days beforehand, and even sew costumes for special numbers.

The photos below were all taken at Loreto Fest -- obviously everyone had a good time! In Row one, you see Pat and Geno from Chalet Mer, Linda and Rob from Cat'n About, Roy, Ken and Dottie from Dreamweaver and John for Maestra. Row two has a shot of some of the musicians plus Mai and Dave dancing. Row three has a shot of Tracey and Julie from Eagle Dancer ('03 HaHa) plus us, happy as proverbial clams.

One night Bruce and Alene hosted another movie -- Good Night and Good Luck -- everyone really liked having a relatively new film, especially one that got us all talking. Another night several friends came by in dinghies until we had quite a crowd on Jellybean and we all pitched in and had potluck. Well, after 11 days in Puerto Escondito, we were ready to continue on. After a mosquito swatting night at Ballandra Cove on Isla Carmen we moved over to Isla Coronados. We partied on Dolce Vita and in the morning we dinghied up along the northwest side of the island which is very rocky, actually huge boulders under water, creating havens for an incredible number of gorgeous tropical fish. Upon return to the anchorage, the smell from the dying squid (annual event -- they die after they lay their eggs and try to swim to shore as they are dying) was so bad that we went over to the roadstead at Loreto and spent a few nights. We had a clogged sink drain -- uh oh. Well Bruce dove down and cleaned out lots of anchovies we picked up as we powered through a fish boil on our way over to Loreto. Later, on board Jellybean we had a scrumptious dinner with Bruce and Alene, raw clams and grilled squid that Mai had given us. Here's a shot of clams on the half-shell, doused in lime juice, and seasoned with a dab of hot sauce. Declicious! Life doesn't get any better than this.

May 20 -- Destination San Juanico. We arrived around 5 p.m. Betsy and Richard from Qayaq were there along with Bruce and Alene from Migration. Bruce suggested a progressive dinner which was quite a lot of fun, dinghying to different boats for different courses. In the morning, Roy and I thought we'd try to get into Bahia Conception by nightfall, so left early. Opposing winds and seas would have required 8-9 hours of motoring. We looked at each other, shook our heads "no." After all, we're cruisers without a schedule -- why not retreat until winds and seas are in our favor! So, we returned to San Juanico -- this time the north anchorage -- and stayed until May 25! While there we hiked, shelled, socialized (of course) with even more cruising boats that entered the anchorage. Bruce and Alene hosted a great pizza potluck party. They made all the dough, everyone brought toppings. Every pizza was different, we all tasted all of them, and we all had a great time.

With winds in our favor, we headed north in the morning, May 25, sailing the entire way. We arrived at Punta Santa Rosa around 5:15 p.m. and were joined by Bruce and Alene. The guys set out to catch a fish while Alene and I hunted shells on the beach. We enjoyed grilled Triggerfish for dinner! We woke up in the morning, completely blanketed in fog. Migration, which was anchored fairly close to us was invisible. We waited until the fog lifted, around 11:30 a.m., before heading out with Migration, planning to reunite with Qayaq at Santispac anchorage in Bahia Conception.

May 26 -- We sailed most of the way, arriving late afternoon. We stayed in Bahia Conception for several days and had a great time. We snorkeled, dove for clams, hitched rides into Mulege for laundry, lunch and groceries. We had a wonderful outdoor dinner at Rays to celebrate Betsy and Richard's anniversary. We visited with Gary, Weatherguy, at El Burro and spent one night anchored right in front of his floating reception room.

May 31 -- Migration and Jellybean headed out of Bahia Conception and sailed north to Punta Chivato, where the shelling is reputedly excellent. After a quiet evening, the four of us took off on Migration and headed out for the islands east of Punta Chivato/Punta Ines. After snorkeling for a few hours, we headed back to the anchorage, but sailed past Jellybean to the far end of the beach where we hoped to find large shell specimens. That evening's dinner was poignant, since we were going to part ways with Bruce and Alene. They were headed up into the northern reaches of the Sea of Cortez, and Roy and I needed to start our journey south. All too soon our first full season in the Sea of Cortez was coming to an end -- or so we thought.

Here are shots of Bruce and Alene and Roy and me onboard Migration.

As we headed south we contacted our old friends, Linda and John on Nakia. They were heading north, we south, so we decided to spend a few days with them at Medano Blanco. The snorkeling was fantastic, the company, as usual, excellent. The wind picks up in the middle of the night in that anchorage. Both boats had lights on between 2 and 3 a.m. with gusts of wind so great that John and Linda decided to re-anchor further away from Jellybean to ensure everyone's safety. After two nights, it was time to move on. Great for Nakia, with strong southerly winds. For Jellybean heading south, not so great. We stuck our nose out early in the morning, retreated, then finally in the early afternoon, we made a run for it and motorsailed all the way to San Juanico's southern anchorage, arriving at 7 p.m. We were hailed by Doug and Kathy of Spirit Quest to join the entire anchorage at a potluck on their boat, which was a wonderful wa y to be welcomed, especially after a day of battling wind on the nose. A few more days at San Juanico, spending time with old and new friends. More beach partying, more shelling, more good times.

On June 7 we weighed anchor, sailed to Loreto roadstead to get provisions, and then continued on to Marquar, where we had the anchorage to ourselves for the first night. The next morning, we were awakened by the noise of something brushing up against our hull. Dolphins! I rushed up to the cockpit to witness the most spectacular sight of hundreds of dolphins jumping all around our boat. In the time it took me to run below and grab a camera, they had moved over to the unoccupied side of the anchorage, about a half of a mile away. Later that day Linda arrived at the anchorage, along with a few other boats. We joined Steve and Linda on their boat for dinner, then on June 9, we sailed over to Yellowstone anchorage on Isla Montserrat. Bees and more bees, so we stayed only for one night and took off for Agua Verde in the morning.

June 10 -- Up til now we had visited off and on with Rob and Linda on Cat'n About (also on the '04 HaHa), casually and at group events. When we arrived at Agua Verde, they were the only other boat in the southern anchorage. They invited us over for dinner -- they are excellent chefs -- and were only too happy to oblige when I asked if they would teach us how to play Baja Rummy (Rob was the Baja Rummy Champion at Loreto Fest). Addiction set in very rapidly. We stayed in Agua Verde with Cat'n About, enjoying days in town, hiking, beach walking, snorkeling, fishing and nights sharing dinners and Baja Rummy. Rob had written an essay on how addicting Baja Rummy can be -- he's right! After several days all four of us were thinking it was time to head south toward La Paz. For us it would be our final destination for the season. Enroute, we spent two more nights at anchor, enjoying dinners and Baja Rummy with Linda and Rob, one night at the Hook on Isla San Francisco, the other at Partida Cove.

Here are a few shots from Agua Verde. On the left is a typical "road" in the village, and on the left is an amazing sight, an oasis right in the desert! To get to it, we hiked up a hill, then down the other side, through a cemetery, and followed a trail toward the water. We had been promised a surprise, and it really was!

June 15 -- Roy's birthday! We sailed into La Paz and arrived at Costa Baja Marina around 12:30 p.m. After getting the boat tied up, rinsed off, taking laundry in to the laundromat, and talking with dock neighbors, Roy and I had a quiet dinner at one of the restaurants at the hotel/marina complex. We were just too tired to venture into town to go to our favorite place, Rancho Vieja, for one of our favorite meals: arrecherra marinada.

The following evening there was a huge dock party to celebrate both Roy's and Dottie's birthday (Dreamweaver). John and Gaye on Maestra supplied the BBQ, all the rest of us brought potluck. Following that was a wonderful Father's Day dinner at Gula, one of the premier Costa Baja restaurants with 10 of us enjoying a gourmet feast.

The shot on the left is of Roy and Dottie cutting their birthday cake; the shot on the right is John and Gaye at the Father's Day dinner.

The next several days saw us working on our boats, sharing meals, burgers and beer at the dock hangout, seeking refuge in the air conditioned captains' lounge, and, of course, playing Baja Rummy. Getting the boat put away for hurricane season requires us to take down all sails (and washing them), all canvas, remove all food that cannot hold up over extreme summer heat, sanitiizing the head, galley, washing down the entire inside, engine maintenance, washing and folding up the dinghy -- and that's only the big jobs. Runs into town to pick up bug bait, heat deflectors for hatches and ports (and while there, dining with friends). It took us up until our departure day to finish everything.

June 29, 7:30 a.m. -- our dear friends, Rob and Linda, arrived at Jellybean to help load up their rented car with luggage, boxes and us to drive us to the Cabo airport, 2 hours away -- now, if that isn't the height of friendship. It was so hard to leave; we have made so many wonderful friends and have had so many wonderful adventures -- we can hardly wait to return.

Upon our return to California, we spent time with family in LA, then spent a few days with cruising friends Norma and Len (also on the '04 HaHa) in Oxnard. They drove us over to visit with Don Anderson, the wonderful man who gets up every morning around 3 a.m. to collect and analyze weather data and then in the morning, joins us on the Amigo Net in Mexico to tell us what he has learned about the current day's weather and what the forecast holds in store. His information is greatly appreciated by all the cruisers in Mexico. He broadcasts twice daily -- and he is strictly a volunteer. Also throughout the day he listens in on other channels to see if any cruisers out in the oceans need any assistance. He's helped several boaters over the years -- contacting rescue authorities, contacting families, nearby boaters, etc. Off to the right is a photo of me with Don, standing in front of the huge antenna tower in his backyard.

Roy has spent the summer working as a hospitalist in Oroville, California. I've been the hunter-gatherer, the record keeper, bill payer, etc., and also have spent hours and hours at the local gym.

Today is September 30; I spent many hours over the past two months, plowing through handwritten notes, our ship's log, and photos to update the website. Since so much of our time on Jellybean is without access to the web, I have set up a bLog which I will use starting Fall, 2006. http://svjellybean.blogspot.com. Text entries will be made via e-mail over radio waves. Future updates to this website are "on hold" until "sometime later."