Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tenacatita


Canopy covered tour, originally uploaded by seaparents.

Leaving Tenacatita

As I sit and reflect on our wonderful stay in Tenacatita I am greeted by a mother and baby humpback whale. What a fitting departure from our amazing time in this quite beautiful bay. The last few days we had heard the whales song as we swam, not knowing they were only miles away. Tenacatita was not only a pretty setting with whales, it was new friendships, soccer/volleyball games on the beach, great snorkeling with the kids, long nights of watching stars, and of course homeschool. We even had a sleep over for the kids with Mackenzie from Ohana. It was hard to leave the new friends behind. Everywhere we go I want to take everyone with us. “Come on, don’t you want to go to Costa Rica. It looks so amazing,” I cry in hopes that all will follow. (AKA Ohana:) But, it was time to head south to make sure we are out of the hurricane zone before the next season begins. I was told that Tenacatita was an incredible, but I could not imagine how great it would be until I spent two weeks there. Thank you everyone that we got to know. We will miss you lots.
OK on a less serious side. This boat life ROCKS!!!!! I am so glad that all of you non- boaters do not know how freakin’ cool this life is because then the anchorages will be packed. Selfish I know, but I don’t think that this would be as fun with thousands of people at every beach.
Minute by minute up date- We are now motor sailing into Barra de Navidad. I say motor sailing, but I should restate that with MOTORING. Anyway, the water as we enter is filled with jelly fish and snakes. Fun, I can’t wait to go swimming. I have heard Barra is not somewhere we are going to want to stay long unless we spring for the $150 a night slip at the dock. Other than that I was told lots of bugs, a nasty lagoon and now the snakes and jelly fish. Good times. We are going to try out the anchorage outside the lagoon at Melaque, so we will keep you posted. I am going to use Troy as the test dummy for jelly fish and snake since he thinks they don’t look that bad. According to Troy jelly fish are only bad if they are BIG.
Your crazy adventurer friend, Brady

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Southbound and Down, Loaded up and Sailin'!

We have been a little out of internet range, so sorry the blogging has been scarce. Much has happened since we last filled you in, but we will try to remember it all in order.

We had our friend Todd visit with a crew of 14 on top of our 5 (we actually were not sure if we would all fit, but Seaparents floated on ). Todd please delete all the photos you took of Brady’s BUM. To Joel and Jodi Green, we are so glad that we got to see you and are sorry we could not spend more time. We had a wonderful cruiser Thanksgiving with new friends, lots of food, and great live music, and thanks to Mark from Younger Girl, we had lots of laughs as wellJ). Family was definitely missed, but this was very memorable for us all.

It was all a whirlwind as we left PV for good (I think around the 3rd of Dec.). Time has lost its importance, so I wish I could give you an actual date, but we have totally lost track of the date and the days of the week. To all of our new found friends, and we don’t say this lightly, thank you all for everything. Hasta Luego Roberto & Mabel, Aloha Maluhia, and farewell for now to Younger girl. For our departure, we decided to join a regatta across the bay. If the point of a race is to make all the other boats look really fast, well then we did awesome! At the end of the day, it was so much fun and a wonderful way to start the beginning of our trip. We only went to La Cruz and spent the night for free in the new marina. The following afternoon, we left with the regatta to Punta de Mita, which is the northernmost point of Banderas Bay. We brought up the rear again, but the margin was clearly decreasing J (also, our auto pilot compass stopped working-SWEET!) After a few beers at El Dorado, we were ready to go the following day. Fortunately, the compass issue was a loose wire and we left as planned. The 39 mile trip south outside the bay to Ipala was uneventful except the waves were bigger and the wind was a bit stronger. We hit 9.5 knots (a personal best). Ipala was small but secure and we stayed for two days to work on home school. We decided to head for Chamela, which was 50ish miles South (This with no handheld GPS. Our new Garmin shot craps) I still had the boat GPS, but it showed us sailing over land, which I was pretty sure that we were not doing. We motored the first two hours until the wind came, but we averaged only 3+ knots for two hours. I soon realized that we would not make Chamela before dark if we did not motor the rest of the way. I also did not realize that we would not make it either way if the wind picked up to 27 knots on the nose and the seas built to 5-8 feet. The kids slept through it all and Brady assumed the fetal position on the outside bench as I motored for 10 hours in the dark with no good GPS position. I am convinced that Google may one day rule the world since I used the coordinates from the GPS combined with Google Earth to enter Chamela in the dark. Not the best plan, but we did not want to stay out overnight in less than stellar conditions. All in all, we made it to our anchorage safely and resolved to make no more night entrances.

After meeting new friends from Sapphire and Rockstar, we left for Careyes (12 miles South) a few days later. The guidebook said that it was a tight anchorage, but I did not know that it meant our dinghy would fit well. We passed on Careyes and headed South (15 more miles) to Tenacatita Bay. The winds built to 20 knots and we sailed along at 7.5 almost right to the anchorage.


Tenacatita is beautiful and today was a wonderful day from start to finish. We started out on a self guided jungle river tour in the dinghy. Our friends from Rockstar and Sapphire, lead the way through the mangroves. The mangroves were filled with beautiful snowy egrets, herons, and bright red crabs. The sky disappeared behind the canopy of trees. The roots of the mangroves stretched up all around us. At the exit of the river we made our way to a beach palapa restaurant for lunch. After hot cakes, fresh fruit and chilaquiles, we snorkeled in a beautiful aqua cove that is known as the aquarium. The dingy ride back was uneventful, but just as majestic. At the end of the trip we relaxed under a palapa with a nice cold cerveza. Really, this day was an educational field trip for the girls, but who said you can’t have fun in school. A dinghy from another boat, whose name I can’t remember right now, showed up this afternoon as I was cleaning the bottom of the boat. They were towing their kids around the bay on a boogie board. After our kids all took a turn on the board, it was time to sit and finally write a blog entry. We are headed across the bay tomorrow for our first grocery trip since leaving the security of Wal-Mart. We are going to stick around here to catch the kids up on school and then head South again.


P.S. I can't get the photos to load, but we will get them posted...*&%!

Ta-Ta for now,

The Medina Clan

Monday, November 30, 2009

A Word From SAM

I have had so much fun on the boat and have seen so many dolphins. It is like a whole other world on water than land. We have also seen a few whales. We are leaving wednesday on a race and skipping the last part. Then we are heading south. Living on a boat is way different than living on land. One of my favorite animals is a sea turtle. My favorite part of the boat is that I get my own bedroom. It is really cooling off. Some nights now I get under my covers. One thing I miss is friends and visiting family.
love,
Samantha.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Surprise, Charlie D and family are in PV


Troy and Charlie, originally uploaded by seaparents.

It never ceases to amaze how small the world really is. So, it is Ashley's birthday and she gets to determine the itinerary for the day. After trips to the OXXO (convenience store), the beach, and the pool, she wanted to go to Wal Mart to look at toys. Who do I run into, in Puerto Vallarta-Mexico-at Wal Mart? None other than than Mister Charlie Drennan and family (former co-worker) for those who are saying who? right now. As it turns out, they weren't staying too far away, so we motored the boat (still no sails at that point) in front of his hotel and anchored in a rather shady spot so that we could drink (which included getting busted by security for imbibing from the hotel all inclusive only stash courtesy of the law breaker Charlie!), catch up on all things job related, and watch the girls frolic for hours. They joined us again the next day for a dinghy ride to the local marina for dinner before bidding us farewell. Thanks Drennan Family for a great time and we hope to see you soon. The following day, I found some straggler business cards from old friends and sent them some e-mails. I found out that a high school friend and his family will be coming down on the 20th and staying at the next hotel over. We hope to visit with them and sing it's a small world after all :) Finally, some great news. After a month long hiatus from sailing the ocean blue, we are back in business! I scrapped the old sail track and cars for a new system after losing faith that we might ever sail again. Not cheap, but nine long hours after we started, the rigger and I toasted Pacificos to a working mainsail. The following day, we promptly headed out into the bay and sailed to La Cruz for a night on the hook. We had boat school this morning and sailed away this afternoon in 15 knots of wind. We reached a personal best boat speed of 8 knots (woo hoo!). We are off again tomorrow for a sail with our friends from Maluhia after I fix the broken toilet pump. The to do list is drawing to a close and we are still hoping to head South around the 30th. We will continue the posts when we can and hope everyone is well.

Hasta la pasta

Troy

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Oct 2009- guests

Thank you everyone for visiting. We had a blast and can't wait to see you in the future. We hope to continue having friends and family join us in our adventure/ new lifestyle. Just let us know when and we will tell you where we will be or if we get somewhere amazing we will wait for you. Miss you all, Brady

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Hello Real World

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since the last post, so I figured I better give a thorough update. We have had three sets of wonderful guests, all with their own little personalities. First, to our friend Melissa, we miss you and hope you join us again soon. Now, however, I have to tell all the rest of you that Melissa's stomach did not agree with the boat very well. We had barely cleared the breakwater when Melissa began to feel a little queasy. She was a trooper and we made it to Yelapa, but not without incident. We had no sooner reached our picturesque little hideaway, when Brady says, with a surprising amount of calmness, "why won't the sail come down?" What do I look like a seasoned sailor? The sail was stuck all the way up. This meant that Brady and her huge muscles were going to have to hoist me up the mast to see what was up (besides the waves and wind). I was going to secure us at our mooring ball and then go up when, as I turned the boat around, there was a loud bang and a shower of ball bearings. At least I didn't have to go up the mast now as the headboard car broke completely free (glass half full :) This put a major damper on our sailing as we have to replace the part that I replaced two months ago by the way. The company that sold me the part is supposed to replace everything free of charge, but three weeks later, we are still not sailing. Bad news aside, my Mom was the next guest to visit with my step dad, hereinafter known simply as Dan, in tow. (I love you Mom and we all miss you. Next time bring a stronger stomach and clothes for two weeks :) They managed to clear customs with our watermaker, which made it back from a month long, very expensive repair. We had hoped to sail them to Yelapa, but thankfully we have two engines. For you guys out there who are wondering why we only go to Yelapa, a brief explanation. It is hurricane season and we are very secure on a private dock. We have taken many day sails, but we have to be at a secure dock/anchorage/mooring ball each night. Our options are La Cruz (anchorage 1 hour North), Punta de Mita (anchorage 4-5 hours North, but with very uncooperative winds), our dock, and Yelapa (mooring balls 3-5 hours South). We usually choose Yelapa, because it is only accessible by water and has a very authentic feel along with the "cascada" (waterfall). There are many trails for walking/hiking and a great beach. Anyway, we motored with my mom, who was feeling a bit under the weather by the time we arrived. She did not want to brave the boat overnight, but found a great little ocean side palapa with a boulder in the bathroom. This was the apparent selling point for Dan. Their trip was only four days, so we motored back the following morning, with no seasickness for anyone (woohoo!) We did the touristy thing in downtown PV and bon voyage to my Mom. We expected Brady's sister Kara two days later, but good thing we checked, they arrived the following day. I am not sure what day it is now come to think of it (cool!). Kara brought the boyfriend (Seattle fireman Ron) and daughter Maia for a week long stay. Guess where we went. Motoring to Yelapa, Brady and I had a revelation. Thank god none of us get seasick (yet). For each of our visitors, there has been someone that got sick. We're not talking 12' waves and 25 knot winds here people. Imagine your local pool only larger and with no kids and you will get a feel for the sailing/motoring conditions. Now in Melissa's case, a funny sidebar. At the mooring ball on our first night, probably the worst night we have had in terms of boat motion, everyone went to bed. Brady, the kids and I have had no problems sleeping, no matter the motion of the boat. My concern always lies with the security of the boat. I will wake up several times just to check that the boat is where we put it. I did this in Yelapa that night and when I went up the stairs to the kitchen, there sat Melissa bolt upright with a bottle of wine in hand and a green look on her face. Surprised, I said "what are you doing"? She responded, "I can't sleep". I looked out the window and said, "OK then, see you in the morning". What a jerk I am. Sidebar aside, 9 year old niece, Maia, was the next seasick victim. She did a little better on Dramamine and we stayed 3 beautifully calm nights (two that Kara remembers:) in Yelapa. It was a very relaxing trip and we enjoyed having Kara, Ron and Maia as our guests. We really hope that our slew of visitors continue as the fun is only just beginning. I have since our last post had to repair the RPM sending unit on the port engine, replace the diesel tank gaskets, remove the leaky hot water heater, install a single sideband radio (spoke with someone in South Carolina yesterday), re-install the watermaker, and homeschool the kids (pretty fun and easy by the way). Today, I contacted a welder to modify our broken sail car in the hopes of having a temporary fix. I am still holding out hope that the U.S. company that sold us the prior car will come through on it's promise, but we must press on. Willson, wherever you are, I may need you to fabricate something for me, so you are on notice :) The plan is to stick around here until our friend Todd visits at the end of November (maybe my Dad too!). I might need you (Todd) to bring us some stuff, so you are on notice as well! After that, we head South. We will sail by day and be some place safe by night (for you moms). We are on the no plan plan so let us know if you want to visit and we can wait someplace cool. Sorry about the el flayko on the el bloggo, but we might try harder in the future :) Ta-ta for now landlubbers!

El Capitan (self promoted)
Troy

Thursday, September 24, 2009

It is great to be alive!


It is great to be alive, originally uploaded by seaparents.

After spending four magnificent days in Yelapa, we had to make our way back to civilization. Days in our beautiful little cove consisted of homeschool, swimming, playing in the waterfall, and watching dolphins at sunset. As you can see this was hard to leave, but we have to watch the weather this time of year. No internet in cozy Yelapa means we must head back to the connected world.
We are going to have lots of wonderful guest visiting this next month, so I think we will just have to share our little paradise with each of them. It gives us an excuse to go back:)


P.S. Check out the photo stream at the bottom of the blog


Brady

Saturday, September 5, 2009

A word from the girls

Samantha- We are in Mexico right now. We have been here for about a month and only have had one over night. Today we are siting in the canal playing with caterpillars. We saw a crocodile about two weeks ago in the marina. It was about ten feet long. It was sitting on a rock. I thought that any second it could come up and grab me. I know that they had said they are not as bad as the ones in Australia, but I was still scared. Almost every time we go out on the boat we see a dolphin or a sea turtle or both. I am so excited to leave the canal and go on a big adventure! (mom's thought- that this is part of the adventure:)

Ashley-We went to Yelapa. It was fun. We found a orange caterpillar here at the canal. We went on a lot of boat rides, it was fantastic. I love our boat!!!!!

Emily- It is very fun in Mexico. We saw one crocodile, it was cool. I loved it a lot. We see a lot of dolphins. Our boat is so cool. I love going on boat rides. It is so fun.

Monday, August 31, 2009

THE BOAT LIFE


P1010028, originally uploaded by seaparents.

When we told everyone that we were going to buy a boat and sail around the world, everyone looked at us like we were CRAZY. I kept reassuring people that we weren't going to be just bobbing around to the middle of the ocean, that it was all about the destination. Now, that we are here I not so sure, it might be about bobbing around, because that is definitely one of my favorite parts. I love watching the endless sea and letting all the worries of life just disappear into the distance. So, if life is getting you all worked up, try sailing for awhile, it might help.

WE NOW HAVE SOLAR

After hauling solar panels down on the overloaded car and not being able to live on the boat for 2 weeks while they installed the panels, we are now off the grid. The solar panels are working great. We are so green.
P1010023, originally uploaded by seaparents.

Yelapa (our first overnight)


P1010042, originally uploaded by seaparents.

We had an amazing first overnight by ourselves in Yelapa. We watched the dolphins and their young play in the bay, at sunset, while eating dinner on the boat. I know, this only happens in the movies or Troy and Brady's life:) It is hard for me to describe how majestic this experience was for us. And then reality hit us with a bilge filled with poop, that's right, Troy forgot to tell me that he disconnected our toilet. Thankfully this falls under Troy's job description, I am sure glad I am the cook. So, a couple hours later Troy crawls out from the bilge with a discusted look and a funky odor, but now we have new hoses under our sink and we are minus one nasty bathroom odor.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Boating with Papa


Boating with Papa, originally uploaded by seaparents.

Hello All,

The dream lives on! We are in the midst of some crazy boat work. First, we decided to install solar panels and I am slowly learning that in Mexico, everything gets done tomorrow. We have been here for over three weeks now and a "two week install" is nearing its end. While in the middle of a sailing lesson (yes, me actually paying attention) the sail was very hard to raise. It turns out that the headboard car (the one that attaches to the top of the sail) had begun losing ball bearings. Thankfully, we were back at the dock when it actually seized up. Four days and a sore wallet later the part came UPS and we are back in business. We have been busy tracing hoses and wires, rebedding hatches, trying to find to find the solution to a small leak, and replacing smelly toilet hoses. My dad has been with us at the boat for a week now and we have only managed one day out on the water, but hopefully, we will be heading to the south of the bay to a place called Yelapa for a couple of overnights on the anchor (our first!). We plan on leaving no later than Tuesday since my dad will be returning with our car on Friday. I hope everyone is well and we will continue with the photos and blog updates when we are able.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

THAT'S RIGHT


THAT'S RIGHT, originally uploaded by seaparents.

Sporting the Denver Station 6 Hamer Flag. THAT'S RIGHT. Thanks to all the boys back at home.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Welcome to Mexico


Checking it all out, originally uploaded by seaparents.

The New Life

Getting to Mexico went well, everything stayed on the car and we did not have any major hitches. The first day we wound up driving 18 hours, I know, Troy is a mad man behind the wheel. Also, we had a very hard time finding a hotel, we found garages that you sleep in your car, but hotels were much harder to locate. The second day was quick and easy, only 5 hours, much more manageable.
Since we have been here we have easily slipped into Mexican life. SLOW DOWN is the theme. We are learning that everything happens tomorrow, if you are a person who wants something done today you are out of luck. Thankfully we have nowhere that we have to be, so today we will sail. Speaking of sailing, we had a wonderful trip out into the bay yesterday. We were visited by a group of dolphins and I even got to see a sea turtle. I don't think one can see too many dolphins in life. They are so elegant and graceful in the water.
We did have one mishap, Ashley had to get stitches in her chin yesterday. She was jumping into a pool and hit the side with her chin. Not fun. I think she handled it like a champ, I did not do so well.
We have lots to learn and many exciting days ahead of us doing so. I am having a BLAST. -Brady

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Moving day!


Tucson Hillbillies, originally uploaded by seaparents.

Tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting for! We have been talking about this adventure to most of you for several years now, and we are finally preparing to leave. After two hot months in Tucson, we are packed and ready to go, as you can see by our (slightly over)loaded car. We hope to leave around 4:00 AM tomorrow so we can be at the Nogales border crossing by 5ish. Assuming all goes well with customs we should get more than halfway to Puerto Vallarta by tomorrow afternoon and all the way by Saturday. Boat preparations have already begun as we have purchased solar panels, batteries and related items to take with us. Visits from family will occupy most of our pre-departure time. I'm glad we are able to see all available family in the area before we leave since we are unsure of the date and frequency of future visits. My dad, Deb and sister Lindsey will be joining us in PV on the 6th. We will post updates on the blog when we can and hope to get plenty of visitors. Ta ta for now.

Troy

Friday, July 24, 2009

KIDS THOUGHTS

We go on the boat in four days. I am glad all of us are. I want to go on the boat now. The boat will be fun I know it. We go swimming a lot here. We play in the sprinkler too, we do other things too.

Emily

I can't wait to get down to Mexico or wait to see the boat. I have been waiting and waiting the whole time we have been here to leave. Every night I say to my dad why can't we leave right now. The car ride is going to be two days long and I hope I do not get bored but it is a possibility.

Samantha

Our boat is nice . We will swim everyday,we will do school everyday,we can do anything as long as we are on our beautiful boat. I love our boat. I wonder if are boat will last us the rest of are life. We have a great boat. I call the boat beautiful. We wish we were all on the water. Our boat is great. We love our boat.

Ashley.

Friday, July 10, 2009

THE BOAT


the inspection, originally uploaded by seaparents.

WE NOW ARE PROUD OWNERS OF A 38FT LAGOON, OFFICIALLY AS OF YESTERDAY!!!!!!! Our excitement has grown tremendously and so has our lack of patience. It is getting harder to be in Arizona when we have a boat waiting for us in Mexico. I am sure the next few weeks will go by in a flash but for now it seems like they are crawling very very slowly. I have to say I can't believe we are really doing this. I mean that in a good way, it is just something you dream of or talk about, but don't usually do. My life has taken a new road to a new destination and I don't know what to except from it. There is something really relaxing to not have your life mapped out, to not know what is around the next bend in the road, to be free.

Brady

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Mexico


Puerto Vallarta, originally uploaded by seaparents.

I hear Mexico calling our names. The countdown has started, only a little more then a month left. We are now trying to figure out how to get all our stuff down to the boat. Troy and I really thought we had rid ourselves of most of our stuff, but it still seems like a lot. It is definitely helping us to downsize for the boat, which actually has more space than I thought. It is very liberating to get rid of our material possessions, it makes you realize how little you actually need or use. I am so excited that our life has taken us to this place and that we have this opportunity to share this experience with our kids. I feel so blessed and thankful.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Arizona-June and July 2009

We are now in Arizona for the summer, yes that's right the summer. The days are averaging 100 degrees, which is cool for this time of year. I am loving the heat, but Troy and the girls are not embracing it . Time here is going fast, so soon we will have waves lapping at our side. Can't wait:)

Emily's thoughts- It is very hot here. we all are doing good. we are working very hard on this house, it is my Grandma's. the only reason why we came is to fix the house. I am helping a lot.

Ashley's thoughts- me, my mom, my dad and Emily and Sam are in Arizona. it is fun here.I wonder if it is fun in China or Maine? We have to fix my moms grandmas house. Anyway I love Arizona.

Sam's thoughts- I love it here in Arizona and it is really close to everything. For example we walk to the park sometimes. It is an hour earlier here which means I get to go to bed later. The other day we went to go see our great grandma. We are here because my moms mom got her house back and it was trashed and my dad and some other guys are here to fix it. In the front there is a pond and in the pond are some fish. Every morning me and my sisters feed the fish. There is this one fish and it is two feet long and it is around twenty years old and,every time we feed the fish it only comes up once or twice. It comes up slowly and rushes down really fast. I LOVE IT HERE IN ARIZONA!

Friday, June 5, 2009

The answer to PIRATES

The question on everyones mind is " What about pirates??"  Well, Troy has figured out the answer.  ARRRGGGGGG!!!!!!  No worries.

     

Friday, May 29, 2009

New Life!

Well, I am unemployed...and so begins this new chapter in our lives. We are leaving Colorado, my home for the past 32 years, my job of the last 12+, and are currently en route to Arizona for pre-boat construction job. We have stopped in Durango for a visit to Grandma Suzi (Brady's mom). We thought we would leave today, but hey it's not like we are in a hurry-maybe we will leave tomorrow :-) The boat survey went well and all seems set for the purchase. We are hoping for a closing date around July 1st. The new name of the boat will be Seaparents (Sam, Emily, Ashley Parents and the watery connection worked well too!) Some of you might be thinking a good name would be "locoparents", but we would have to change the kids names and adopt another, so too bad. We just found out that my dad and clan will be coming to visit in August sometime and we hope to see some of the fireguys later in the year. Anywho, I am off to do nothing in particular, and as soon as we get settled in Arizona, we will post more boat pics and continue with the boring "they're not on a boat yet" blog updates. Also, for those of you who are interested, please sign up for a free skype account @ www.skype.com and we can video chat across the deep blue gratis! (free for the linguistically challenged). Our skype name is seaparents - DO IT!

Troy

Sunday, May 24, 2009

KIDS THOUGHTS

I am so exited to go on the big adventure! It will be my new life. I can not wait to wake up and see the dolphins along the side of our boat and the whales underneath
. My life will be so happy and exiting and my life will be a big adventure.
Samantha Medina


Hi my name is Ashley and I'm so happy for our big adventure. I know what we are going to see, we are going to see whales and sea turtles. We are going to see Everything as a big happy family.

by Ashley

I am going to miss my class a lot. I am glad we are going on a boat. I would like to see a sea turtle and whale. It would be so cool if we see all of those things. The boat looks good. I' m glad we are going to see the class before we leave.

Emily Medina

Thursday, May 21, 2009


The boat- 38' lagoon catamaran
4 cabins and two heads
new name might be sea-u-l8er(Sam's suggestion)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

the boating adventure has began

We spent last weekend in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico surveying the boat we are buying. It was pretty amazing watching them hual the cat out of the water. Troy and I both didn't want to leave sunny Mexico. We actually thought about calling and having the kids shipped down, but we still have a few things to wrap up state side. Soon we will be watching sunsets from the tramp of the boat.