Another collage of pics from our time on the Mexican Riviera.

We had a ton of hits on the last collage of pics I posted from our time on the Pacific Coast of Mexico so I figured I could wrestle up some more pics of the hundreds that we have in order for you readers to feel some of what we got to see and do during the last 4 months.

Once again, in no particular order, here are some more pics.  Enjoy.  BTW, we just surpassed 10,000 views of the blog here in the last couple of days.  We would love to see that number grow exponentially so please feel free to share with others!

 Sunset in Chacala

 Yelapa

 Tarren and Marne in Yelapa

 A boa constrictor found along the trail in Yelapa

 Tarren under the falls in Yelapa

 Las Hadas Resort, Manzanillo

 My beautiful girl Marne and her gorgeous daughter Sydney

  Container ship in Manzanillo Bay

 Tanker put aground by hurricane Patricia last fall.

 On lighthouse hill with our good friends Chris and Liz from SV Espiritu. Mazatlan.

 Surfing the longboard in Tenacatita.

 The ruins of Tulum near Cancun.

 Tulum

 Breakfast with my sister Karla and her new husband Jeff in Cancun.

 Cenote diving with my niece and nephew in Cancun.

 More Tulum.

 Goat tongue tacos...I'd prefer them without the visual.

 Dinner in the cockpit with Mane's sister Stacey and her daughter Emma.

 Coffee with our new fisherman friends near Chacala.

 I have no idea who this is!  She looks local.

 Marne loves military men!  Getting boarded in Punta de Mita.

 Humpback near Jaltemba.

 This was taken in the marina in La Cruz, right off the stern of the Liahona.

 More surfing in Tenacatita.

 Marne's daughter Syd.

 Sushi made "a casa".

 ...good to know!

 Syd on our jungle hike near La Manzanilla.

 Snorkeling just north of Manzanillo.

 Croc reserve in La Manzanilla.

 These bird pics are from our dinghy tour up the estuary in Tenacatita.

Same estuary trip, this is no croc reserve!

Safe crossing, dolphin and a marlin!

A group of dolphin right under the bow of the Liahona

About 3 days ago a great weather window presented itself to cross back over to the Baja peninsula so ourselves and about a dozen other boats jumped on the opportunity and set sail for southern portion of Baja California Sur which lies about 200 miles west from Mazatlan.  Winds were predicted to be very light from the SW so most headed direct to La Paz or farther north.  My sister scheduled a last minute trip to Cabo so we headed to the southern tip to see her and then pick up my nephew Rawly and youngest son Tallen in Cabo on the 19th.

The winds were not light as predicted which made for a long night's sail in pretty rough seas and blustery conditions.  It wasn't bad but just not a comfortable, flat ocean motor sail that we had anticipated. The last 3 hours or so was a beat into 20-25 knots of wind right on the bow which was a rough, slow ending to the overnight crossing.

On a high note the Liahona hooked into another marlin about 15 miles off the coast of Cabo San Lucas. Under full sail and blustery winds it was lot of work to get all the sail down then continually circle around the 7' long beast before we could get him to the side of the boat.  Well over an hour later we had him next to the boat for some pics then we released him back into the beautiful blue waters of the Sea of Cortez.  What a great way to cap off a crossing!

 Trying to get him up to the boat.

 Off the stern while I wrestle him toward me.

 That is the Liahona's rudder on the right.  He went under the boat several times and we thought for sure the line would snap chafing under the boat on the rudder, keel and prop.

 Beautiful creature.

Along the way we also came across a large pod of small dolphin that sailed along with us for several minutes allowing us to get some great shots with the GoPro of them in their beautiful underwater world of the deep blue.

 Over a dozen just in the field of view.

A tight group gracefully playing in the bow wake.

 The Liahona from the marlin's point of view.

We are glad to be back in the Baja!  Ciao for now.

SV Liahona
Bret and Marne

Collage of our time in Pacific Mexico.

As we fuel up and prepare to leave the Mexican Riviera and cross back over to the Baja side in the Sea of Cortez we have a lot of great memories.  Here is a spackling of pics in no particular order from our time here on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

 The captain with a coconut rodillo.

 Sierra for dinner.

 Other cruisers helping us try to unwind our chain that was tangled up on an old anchor at the bottom of Mazatlan harbor.

 Blue footed bubi at Isla Isabel

 ...and a yellow footed bubi that was happy to hang out with the old crazy guy.

 Watching the sun go down in Mazatlan

 Marne and her "experience" with the pilot whale

 The Broesder visit. Good times!

 The captain learning the churro trade in La Cruz

 Twin head sails on the way back from Isabel.

 Renna in the hammock at Chacala

 Isla Isabel, the Galapagos of Mexico

 Isla Isabel

 The Broesders coming aboard

 Kid boats.  We love 'em!  SV Agamere

 The Broesders on Isabel

 Chacala.  One of our favorites.

 Mexicans are colorful people.

This is a serious "boat bite".  Marne poor toe.

 the very typical but never taken for granted end of a day in Mexico.

See you on the other side.

SV Liahona

Bret and Marne

New refrigeration.

It's a boat...there is always something that needs fixing.  Some projects come in smaller versions, some larger.  This one happens to be one of the larger variety.  Not in mere physical size but certainly in importance and also in cost.  They say "BOAT" is an acronym which stands for "bust out another thousand".  Even simple work on the refrigeration can live up to the BOAT acronym.  Replacing the entire system...well, let's just say it was more than a "boat buck" .  However, after dealing with the inconsistencies of a 15 year old refrigeration system onboard for most of this season, we felt that it was time to just throw out the old and install new.

 Welding in the new compressor

 Cutting holes in the cabinet door for ventilation.

 The completed install of compressor and condenser under the salon bench.

 ...and the view in the main salon of the new, vented cabinet with the MexiColder neatly tucked inside.

After two days we have a completely new, and hopefully no hassles, bullet proof refrigeration system. Time will tell but the British gentleman that installed it comes highly touted as producing the most problem free system anywhere. Another fridge guy in La Cruz told me that in the 18 years of working on refer units here in Mexico he has NEVER been called out to work on or repair a MexiColder (the unit we have).  That spoke loudly to me.  So a big thanks to Mike at MexiColder for giving us that peace of mind.

Here's to a freezer full of ice and cold drinks in the tropics of Mexico!



SV Liahona
Bret and Marne