Return to Tenacatita -an Admiralty Beach sequel

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - The drive from Puerto Vallarta to La Manzanilla was uneventful, except for the normal sorts of things that happen when you pack four adults, luggage, snorkel gear and groceries into a car that was built for young midgets.

The car we rented is a called a Tsuru, probably the most commonly used vehicle for taxis in this part of Mexico.


Mighty Tsuru
If you ever wondered what the Singer Sewing Machine Company does with used sewing machine motors, look under the hood of a Tsuru. There were a lot of strange noises coming out from under the hood whenever it downshifted, and the high-pitched whine of the engine would probably drive a dog to distraction. We just talked louder.

Still the little Hoover got us here pretty quickly and now we are safely ensconsed at Santana's for the week with snorkeling on tap for today at a place called the Aquarium, a reef out in Tenacatita - about 250 yards across the road from our property there.

We did find time late in the day of our arrival to practice a little music in anticipation of 'open microphone' night across the street at Palapa Joe's Restaurant. We're not sure if we are ready for a public debut yet, but after hearing that Jane Gorby - who handles the rentals here - is going to do a comedy routine, we're screwing up our courage to do a couple of songs.



The Admiral does her daily journaling

Touching down in Mexico in time for Regatta

PUERTO VALLARTA, Nayarit, Mexico - We landed in Mexico just in time for the pre-race festivities at the Vallarta Yacht Club where Captain Sanders Lamont finally got to meet the famous Cherie Sogsti, world traveler and bon vivant who has landed a gig with ABC to do travel news.


Sanders and Cherie on the deck of the VYC

The Admiral and I have known Cherie from even before she got famous through her website, Where's Cherie, which has had more than 1.6 million hits. Makes From Where I Sit's palty 25,000 hits seem pretty tame. If it wasn't for one photo of people doing yoga in the nude, well, cut out 5,000 from that total.

Where's Cherie?

It was also a reunion of a lot of folks from early days, including Tom LaFleur, captain of Mistress and son Dustin's first maritime boss, when Dustin captained Tom's 53-foot Swan sailboat for a season. We also saw Dustin and Camelia and Captain Rennie Waxlax, whose 65-foot Swan Cassieopea is at Paradise Village Marina.


Tom LaFleur & Admiral Fox


Rennie Waxlax, center


Sanders, Dustin & Camelia

After a long session of telling tales about how each boat would win the Banderas Bay Regatta that began today, we went up the highway a mile to the Fajita Republic, where we took over the restaurant - well, at least one full table - and careened home later before heading down to La Manzanilla today for a weeklong stay and adventures at Admiralty Beach.


Occupying the Fajita Republic

St. Patrick's Day is when everyone wants to be Irish

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - By all accounts, the San Francisco St. Patrick's Day festivities were grand. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a great spread on the downtown parade, featuring photos of a happy crowd and even a dog dyed green for the day.


Even the dogs were in the spirit.

It was a quiet St. Pat's around my house, where a week's worth of work has to be done in just a few days so I can leave guilt free for Mexico and Tenacatita Bay on spring break from the University. Of course, even if there's a little residual guilt, I'm going anyway.

We have University Trustees coming to campus, a general faculty meeting about a budget deficit that threatens classes and a strike vote all this coming week. No sweat.

Just a year ago, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day in San Francisco while taking a cruise around the bay aboard Sabbatical with Ruth Bills from Hector, N.Y. aboard as crew. We docked at South Beach Harbor and spent the day in the city, going out for St. Pat's in the evening.

I believe we were back aboard the ship by what's known as 'cruisers' midnight' - 9 p.m.

Ruth gave me a great T-shirt to wear last year, which I will wear proudly for many years to come every St. Pat's.


Irish Yoga T-Shirt

The 'to-do' list calls if I am going to catch that flight to Mexico at the end of the week.

Admiralty Beach, I am on my way.


Admiralty Beach

Stories to write, papers to grade and Mexico ahead

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - We took a day 'off' Saturday to visit Sabbatical, washing the ship and making sure she doesn't feel too neglected as we rush about, pell-mell with lives that are about 150 percent of normal.


In San Francisco Bay, aboard Sabbatical

But what is normal anyway?

I looked at my TODO list this morning which is littered with stories to write, papers to review for my magazine writing class and all I really can think about is our impending trip to Mexico where we will visit our Admiralty Beach property and - we hope - sign the final papers so I can call myself Don Miguel de Tenacatita and start planning on building a casita.

A colleague who teaches about Spanish culture told me that the title Don is the lowest of nobility rank and is generally believed to have come into use during Moor's occupation of Spain (nearly 800 years). The native Spaniards needed lots of knights for their armies and so they started handing out the title Don to anyone who would pick up a sword.

Unfortunately, in today's vernacular, it's generally reserved for people who are, well, old, and not really swashbucklers. I'll do what I can to fight that image.


Don Quixote, the famous Don of Cervantes

In the meantime, earlier this week I created a sister blog to From Where I Sit - yet another a way of avoiding the stories and papers and long list of chores I need to do: The Tenacatita Bay Bugle.

Tenacatita Bay Bugle

Look to it for our adventures posted there (and here) starting a week from Friday when we will be in La Manzanilla with the Lamonts and Sabbatical Chief Engineer Scott Noble and his attorney (and spouse) Jennifer.