Summer Adventures in Vallarta + 2 Trips North

Puerto Vallarta Malecon in the rain.

Land ho! This summer we’ve embarked on another house-sitting gig in a brand-new house, just a mile upstream from Playa Holi Beach, in Puerto Vallarta. While we’ve loved our years of condo-sitting for our friends Judy & Paul at their beautiful ocean-front Grand Venetian condo at Playa Holi, new adventures await us as we explore…

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Lāhainā Strong – Maui Strong

As we write this blog post, Hurricane Hilary passed by Banderas Bay a couple of hundred miles to the west, leaving only some rain in Vallarta. Thanks to everyone who reached out with concern for our safety. We were glad to see this once category 4 hurricane was downgraded to a category 1 before making…

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Pueblo Magico: Ajijic (“Ah-he-heek”)

Ajijic paleta store

What is a Pueblos Magico? And where is Ajijic? A Pueblo Magico is a small town recognized by the Mexican government for its “magical qualities”, whether that be its astonishing beauty, rich history, or extraordinary legends. The designation of “Pueblo Magico” is a mark of excellence and an indication that the town is well worth…

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Friends Soaking Up the Sun in PV

One of the things we love about being in Puerto Vallarta is how many friends and family happen to come here to soak up the sun on their vacations. And while they may not be coming specifically to see us, we love the opportunity to meet up with them, share a meal, go whale watching,…

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Feliz Año Nuevo 2023!

What an amazing night we had last night! We got turned away from the beach where we had originally planned to watch the fireworks, (closed for a private party). A bit disappointed, we punted and blended in with a group of revelers who were headed into an adjacent hotel beach. With so many people, the…

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Family Adventures in the US

It’s been a minute (or four months!) since we last updated our Blog. Where does the time go? In this case, we’ve been busy traveling back to the US for a few different adventures.  Due West in Hurricane-prep mode. Everything strapped down, or down below, double lines to docks. After arriving in Puerto Vallarta in…

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Cruising Costalegre

Costalegre translates as the “Cheerful Coast” and is a series of beaches, capes, and bays of various sizes sprinkled along the Pacific coast of Mexico, between Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, and Manzanillo in the state of Colima. On our way south to Barra we had only explored Tenicatita. This time, heading north,…

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Happy 40th Birthday Due West!

In early June, we celebrated Due West’s 40th birthday! We purchased her when she was 10 years old, and are forever grateful to our friend Kate-Kate who put us in touch with the former owner Frank, and for the way that everything in the universe aligned to bring Due West into our lives six months…

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Audios Amigo: Barra in the Rearview

Adios Barra… it’s been real! Has it really been 2+ years?! My, how the pandemic made time fly! If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you know we had a visit to Barra de Navidad in our sights well before we left Seattle in 2015. So many of our cruising friends had been…

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Whirlwind: 6 Airports and 2 Countries in 3 Weeks

While Kirk stayed home aboard Due West in Barra, working on boat projects, holding down the fort, and feeding and playing with Tosh & Tikka… Heidi trekked to the US, first for a functional medicine conference and then to visit family. Packing for potential weather extremes ranging from 95° in Texas to freezing temperatures and…

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The Flamingo Regatta

Due West sailing in the Barra de Navidad Flamingo Regatta

A BIG HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who donated money to our Barra De Navidad Cruise-in-Week Flamingo Regatta FUNdraising race for the local schools, which we participated in, in February. The event was a huge success thanks to many of you! First a little background on the regatta and how we’ve been involved the…

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Costalegre Sur With Friends 

Costalegre ocean and beach

Our dear friends Laura & Will joined us again for more adventures in Mexico. We had hoped to take them out sailing, but Due West was preoccupied getting ready for the Flamingo Regatta, and not quite sail-ready for their visit. Laura and Heidi worked together many moons ago (30+!) We’ve all been fast friends since,…

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Feliz Año 2022

Happy New Year from Barra de Navidad! Our recent post Feliz Navidad de Barra de Navidad brought you up to speed on the pre-Christmas festivities in this town named Christmas. But we must have been really good last year cuz Santa brought us a treat! Christmas morning, rather than snow, we woke up to this……

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Panama Posse & Adventure Scientists

For the last several years we have joined the Panama Posse Rally. The Panama Posse is a cruising rally for sailors traveling the waters of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.  Even though we have yet to leave Mexico, by being members of the Panama Posse each year, we get significant discounts on moorage and…

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Feliz Navidad de Barra de Navidad

Since before we left Seattle we had always planned to spend Christmas in Barra de Navidad, translated: “ Christmas Bar” (bar meaning a river delta sandbar not a watering hole!) We had heard wonderful things about Barra and their Christmas decorations and celebrations from cruising friends for many years. And Christmas is Kirk’s favorite holiday.…

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RIP Dad—The World Lost A Great River Man…

Verne Huser sailing on Due West

The world lost a great river man when Heidi’s Dad, Verne Carl Huser, left this planet on the night of the Beaver Full Moon, Nov. 18, 2021. Verne passed away peacefully in the presence of family in Salt Lake City, Utah, a few months shy of his 91st birthday. He was a longtime river runner,…

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PVR to SLC and Adios to Albuquerque

©stephanie-klepacki-unsplash, Rio Grande Bosque, Albuquerque

If you’ve ever been to Albuquerque (ABQ), New Mexico, you know it’s one of those places that’s hard to get to from anywhere… especially from Mexico! Heidi’s dad Verne and his wife Willa had lived on a ranchette along the Bosque of the Rio Grande (above photo). But Verne had to move into assisted living…

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A Day in the Life of a Hurricane Named Nora

As much as we love tropical Mexico, you’re always taking your chances living in the tropics during hurricane season— which used to run June through October. But due to evolving climate change affecting seawater temperatures and weather patterns, it now extends from May through November, more than half the year. Yikes! Historically, Pacific Coast Mexico has…

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Eye-Eye Cappy!

Heidi & Kirk at Barra de Navidad Cruise-In Week 2021

Apologies for the recent radio silence. Somehow life has gotten in the way of blogging, including both of us having unexpected eye surgeries in the past few months. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet… when we last wrote, we were getting ready to participate in Barra’s Cruise-In week including fundraising, school and library…

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Barra de Navidad Cruise-In

Barra de Navidad

It’s been a minute since our last post… So what have we and Due West been up to lately? For starters, we’re getting ready to FUNd RACE in the Barra de Navidad Cruise-In Sailboat Regatta on February 26, and we’d like your help! While Heidi’s spent the past two months studying night and day for…

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