Back in Baltimore!

Sunrise from my room in PV

Russ arrived in Baltimore a week earlier than I did (around Apr 6), as I spent that time in Puerto Vallarta with a friend. 

PV was a great visit. We mainly stayed at the Vidanta Resort, which is a time-share only place. Her dad owns 4 units or so there, buying a new one every time they opened a new building. The condos were amazing -- as far as I could tell all of them have their own kitchens so you aren't required to go onto the grounds and eat at the 30 or so restaurants available.

Our suite. I had a room on the left, Jennifer had
the one on the right. The place was bigger than our
condo in SF.

Vidanta has a number of locations throughout Mexico. But the PV location is also trying to become a Disneyland for the area, complete with rides, food, and entertainment like a Cirque Du Soleil show. It's still under construction, but you can take a skytram ride to view it. Part of it should be open in the next year.

We did venture into town for a day, which was walking and shopping along the beach and river walks, all the while nibbling on chips or guac or tacos. The area has a large US expat population. The city is one of the safest in Mexico. With the exception of enthusiastic vendors peddling goods we were never harassed or panhandled.

Me and Jennifer, at one of many places to dine.

This is the entry way into The Grand Mayan. 
The pic doesn't do it justice. But there are 8 huge 
Mayan statues in a darkened entryway that tower over you.

Built in the jungle most of the walkways are wooden paths
built above the floor. And illuminated well at night.

Huge frickin' geckos everywhere. That one's about 3 feet long.

Near the beach in the town of PV. In the far distance is Vidanta.

We had dinner at a restaurant in town on a hill.
This was the view at sunset.

From PV I flew to BWI and joined Russ on the boat. By that time he had it mostly de-winterized, so we have heat and water. That was crucial for the first 2 weeks, as we had some nippy temps.

Looking across to Highwind, which we usually
don't see do to other boats in the slips.
Clearly it isn't "the season" yet.

About a week ago we had an appointment to get new installed. The engines started right up but the left one ran pretty rough. Within minutes it sputtered and died, starved for fuel. We called to cancel the appointment. Within a couple hours Russ had unclogged the fuel line and cleaned out the filters. It started right up and ran for 30 minutes without an issue before we shut it off. But by then we'd missed our opportunity.

Fast forward to 2 days ago when we got another shot. It was our first voyage of the season, even though it was only a 20 minute ride to the Clinton Boat Yard. inQuest was hauled, sprayed clean (totally unnecessary since she came out of the water just shiny!) and new props were put on.

Shiny new props!

Russ has done a number of projects already, like installing a new icemaker and a new freezer. Next will be changing out the alternator, which is proving to be a bother. Apparently, while alternators are attached to engines, no mechanic knows diddly about them. And alternators are part of the electrical system, but no electrician wants to deal with them. So this is all falling on Russ. With David's help, of course.