Christmas in Mexico

Merry Christmas from Marina Vallarta!

Most festive boat on M dock

Philo’s, a local cruiser’s hangout in a little town a 45 minute bus or boat ride up the road from PV, had a potluck on Christmas Eve. I caught a ride there in Mai‘s car. She‘s the owner of a 54’ catamaran across the dock from me, and also has one of the fancy houses with a ramp to the dock from her backyard. She and her sweetie, Dave, also happen to be residents of the North Bay (Belvedere).

There was an amazing turnout of 140 people crowded into the front palapa patio and spilling out into the street. The pool table was covered with salads, vegetable casseroles, the odd platter of sushi rolls, and probably 50 pounds of potato dishes that folks had prepared. The turkeys, provided by Philo, were tender and juicy, the gravy was perfect. Eating the variety of delicious homemade American food, I realized that I haven’t had such traditional food in a while… I’ve been gone about a month now. It was nice to share the holiday with the largest gathering of cheerful gringos that I’d seen since I’ve been here.
The spread at Philo´s

I ran into people that I had met in anchorages further up the coast, and it was good to see them again. I also got to meet some new people, including Pat Henry, who I found to be quite interesting and inspirational. She’s circumnavigated the world. Solo. And is running a sailing school for women in PV right now (www.comingabout.com) She’s on the right in this picture. Vicky, who’s been making a good life for herself sailing is also an inspiration. I met her through the owner of the next boat I’ll be on. She gave Floyd high marks, and said if she didn’t have work on her own boat to, she’d sail with him from La Paz to Florida (which is what I’m planning to do, starting at the end of January).

Cool sailing ladies: Vicky, me and Pat

After dinner and dessert, the darkest skinned Santa I’d ever seen stopped by. He sat on the stage and handed out presents one at a time to at least 350 local kids, who were absolutely adorable. Some cried, some gave him a big hug, some had important matters to discuss with him before receiving present. Then Philo and the band played some rock and roll until most of the sleepy cruisers went back to their boats.

Los niños and Santa

The band, from left to right: Dave, some guy and Philo

Back on the boat in the marina, the music at the nearby restaurants continued until after 3 am… which wasn’t nearly as bad as the alarm on a nearby boat that started around that time and went on until someone disabled it around 9 this morning. Their solution was better than mine, which included cutting it loose and towing it somewhere else… like the middle of the bay.

I spent Christmas day with Mai and Dave, in town going to mass, shopping and checking out the beach. The church was decorated with more bright colors than was typical for American churches. I was amused by the flashing icicle lights and shiny ornaments decorating the manger scene. Also interesting were the garden gazing balls on the altar.

In town, I found Pat Henry’s book about her solo circumnavigation at the English language bookstore. Am looking forward to reading that when I get done with the book I’m reading, “Evolution’s Captain.” Its about the captain of the ship the Beagle, on which Darwin sailed around the world (being sea sick most of the time) collecting creatures everywhere he stopped, which eventually led to his development of the “survival of the fittest” theory to which the Kansas school board has lately raised such vehement objections.

Mai invited me to her house for dinner that night. She made a fabulous lobster stir fry in a Vietnamese style, with side of eggplant (YUM!), and a banana blossom salad with a delicious dressing (DOUBLE YUM!!) Not a traditional Christmas dinner, but I wasn’t complaining. Then we walked to the light house to have a drink at the top and watch the fireworks. Lovely.