In mid-January we arrived in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle after an uneventlful passage down from Mazatlan, with one overnight at sea and one overnight stop at anchor behind Isla la Pena in Bahia Jaltemba. Since arriving in La Cruz we have very busy with boat projects (including installing an arch for solar panels), attending seminars, and myriad other tasks involved in getting ready for the "Pacific Puddle Jump" in April. After a quick trip home in late March for a family wedding, our plan is leave Banderas Bay on or about April 1, 2012 (weather permitting) for the 2,800 nm crossing to the Marquesas in French Polynesia. To say we are getting excited about this upcoming new chapter in our Grand Advnture would be an understatement! And the excitement is everywhere on the docks here in La Cruz and elsewhere around the Bay, where dozens of other cruisers are also preparing for "the Jump." There are weekly seminars at the Vallarta Yacht Club in Nuevo Vallarta, and here here in La Cruz, designed to prepare us for the crossing and what to expect as we all move on to explore the South Pacific Islands. In our case, we plan to work our way through French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, before heading down to New Zealand in late October or early November, to summer-over in NZ during the hurricane season, and then head back up into the islands (probably first to Fiji) the following year. We had hoped to do more cruising here in Mexico before leaving for the South Pacific, but getting ready to go is beginning to look a full-time endeavor from here on out! We'll just have to wait and see if there is more of Mexico in our cruising future! In the meantime, it's back to the "To Do List" that never seems to get any smaller!
UPDATE - APRIL 7, 2012
Well, as predicted, the work did continue almost fulltime until now (with a week "off" for a quick trip back home for a family wedding and some last minute boat shopping). But, with just a few more provisions to stow, and some last minute checks and preparations, we are finally ready (and the weather should be cooperative) for the "Jump" to the South Pacific! We will take off from Banderas Bay on Monday, April 9 or Tuesday, April 10, bound for Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas island group of French Polynesia. While we are "out there" with little internet access to post updates to our website, keep track of our plans on our Sailblogs site at www.sailblogs.com/member/sailbrightangel/ .