Clever Designs

Mike just rigged up a long pole we can attach to the waterproof camera, and then the camera can be held in the water off the side of the boat for pictures of passing fish and things like that.  Very clever.  We also made some water today - and since Mike has refined the installation, it is now easier than ever.  The quality is getting better too.  I ought to write a testimonial for the guy who designs and builds them.  We do sing its praises every chance we get to other cruisers.

We are still here in Bahia Manzanillo and still enjoying it.  We have visited the little towns along the bay here, all of which are really pretty and have their own charms.  The town of Manzanillo (we are anchored off the north end of the bay, between the towns of Santiago and Manzanillo by the Las Hadas resort) itself is a working port town, so big ships are coming in and out of the bay all the time, blowing their big foghorn sounding horns.  It is also a tourist place, so during the day there are jetskis (not enough to be annoying), tour boats big and small, and of course pangas.  At night, the hotels and clubs along the beach are lit up with music and the sounds of people having fun, but it never gets bothersome because it doesn't go on all night.  And the bay itself has an almost constant swell - but not enough to be a problem, just enough to rock us gently to sleep.  We can watch the boobies and pelicans dive for fish, watch the fish ruffles (or bait boils as everyone except me calls them), and think about maybe going fishing.

Here are some pictures of our spinnaker flying.

As you can see, we don't have the other sails up when we are flying this one.  I am hoping that when we leave Manzanillo for Zihuatenejo (in about three days) we get to use it some more.  We were wondering if we would be able to handle it with only two people instead of three, but we tried it this last trip (winds were really too shifty to make it worthwhile so it did not stay up long) and after a bit of tinkering with the rigging, we figured things out. 

I haven't downloaded the pictures we took of Manzanillo yet, but I plan to do so later today and will make every effort to do another posting. 

We plan to find a bar today and watch the Saints win.  Then tomorrow we will watch Green Bay win.  That all sounds good to me.

"It is far easier to shake out a reef when one is bored than to try to tie one in when one is scared" (author unknown to me)hen one is bored, than it is to
try to tie one in when one is scared.