Victoria, BC May 4th –7th, 2013 Ship was late arriving and clearing customs after a lovely sail in the Juan de Fuca Straits B and Jess were there to meet us and walk our suitcases to our 351 St James/ corner of Rendal in James Bay, 4 blocks from the Inner Harbour. We dropped our suitcases off and walked a few more blocks to a neighbourhood bar and had dinner and a local beer. We enjoyed meeting Jess, she is all and more of B’s descriptions of her. Nice lady, bright and funny. Sunday was B’s day off work, first, he drove us to the Salt Spring ferry dock in North Victoria, where we boarded a 35 minute cruise (again) to the lovely and well known Salt Spring Island. We saw it all: scenery, bakery, wineries, ... read more

ARRIVED ON TIME DELAYED by customs met by B and Jess walked to b&b then walked to dinner with kids going out with them today see http://www.hollandamericablog.com/albert/... read more

Monday April29h Sea day I have a cold I skipped Tai Chi and Aqua fit this morning as I completed a 15 hours marathon rest in bed and drank and 2 L of orange juice I went to the Mexican fiesta and the Robinson Crusoe talks then arrived for the tail end of the yellow emerald sell talk- gave in my ballots in and lo and behold won the 1.2 carat yellow emerald worth 300$, I must need a new ring! The luck gods can’t be wrong. I am celebrating having a red wine drink from Nicaragua, 7.5% alcohol= sweet grape(maybe) juice, we had to pour the white stuff down the toilet! Terry is trying to get into a Texas holdum? Ttournament at 12:30 And I am going to travel trivia at 1 ttyl Just bragging ... read more

Manzinillo, Mexico Saturday, April 27th, 2013 Only one more Mexican port after this: Puerto Vallarta tomorrow We arrived at 8 this morning, a first: the first visit by the Statendam in Manzinillo, we witnessed a special welcome and presentation to the captain and his crew on the dock. We walked 3 hours, the temperature is getting cooler as we head north, only 25◦C today, we took our wet neckbands off and they will dry for the next 7 days. We saw sculptures up and down the waterfront, sellers booths and the Miramar, the local market for fruit, vegetables, fish and meat; also Chinese made junk. We passed a churro seller but we had no small bills, we will go back this pm to eat our desert. Port with towns within walking distance are our favorite. We ... read more

Mexico, Huatulco and La Cruccecita Thursday, April 25th, 2013 It is al most 1 pm here. We just had sandwiches in our room and we are cooling off after a hot walk this morning. We walked out of the port and up and over a cut between 2 mountains to a town called La Cruccecita ( 1 ½ km). There was a lovely open-air church, local markets and a modern shopping center where I used the baños (I did not have 3 pesos, but the attendant let me use the facilities with my own paper). We stopped at a restaurant and enjoyed 2 beers for 3 $ and some salsa and chips under an outdoor fan. We rode a taxi home = 3$. Terry bought his Tequila and smuggled it on board in his 1 L ... read more