Mexico (All prices are in pesos unless otherwise stated.)

Places to Stay, See and Do

Guadalajara

• Hotel Francis.  A nice clean hotel located n the heart of downtown, steps away from the Cathedral, theater, and the government palace.  Room rates start at about $650 (pesos)/night

Michoacán (State of)

• Tesoros  A fantastic association of bed and breakfast hotels that are independently owned and operated.  We stayed in three of them on our inland travels and can't say enough.  Price range varies.

Morelia

• Hotel De La Soledad  Convenient and downtown.  Parking was by valet.

Patzcuraro

• Hotel Los Sueños Although we didn't stay there we did eat at Pricillas Resturante and had a fabulous dinner that included one of the best Cesar salads we have had, note I have my own recipe.  The preparation was fantastic, and in the middle of winter we there was a warm glow of a fire in the fireplace to add to the experience. A Tesoros B&B
• Hotel Mansión Iturbe A 17^th century muleteer’s house that once belonged to Don Francisco de Iturbe. Great breakfast included with many traditional Michoacán dishes including Corundas and Huchepos tow unique types of tamales from the Michoacán region. A Tesoros B&B
• D’Arte-Sano A copper factory in nearby Santa Clara de Cobré.  Very interesting tour of the factory and great prices on copper goods. They even ship to the US.

San Miguel de Allende

• Alba Del Castillo B&B.  This wonderful B&B is owned and operated by Mario Ruiz Uribe, you can contact him at albadelcastillobnb@hotmail.com .  The B&B  is in the Los Frailles district which is south of the centro district.  Wonderful views of the lake, no traffic (well an occasional freight train) NO Parking Problems which is a big plus, great place to say if you have a car. Room rates start about $850
• Traditional Mexican Cooking School.  If you like cooking and want to learn how to cook Mexican food the real way you can't find a better place than this wonderful school run by María Ricaud who will not only teach you how to properly cook but gives you some history about Mexican food. See our recipes section for more info.

Taxco

• Los Arcos Hotel This was an inexpensive hotel we stayed at in Taxco.  Saved our money for the silver.  Parking was nearby which is a must in Taxco.  Rooms in the $500 night range.

Uruapan

• Hotel Mi Solar  A newly renovated B&B that was a joy, the decorations were beautiful .  A Tesoros B&B

Zitacuraro

• Rancho San Cayetano One of the nicest B&B we have had the pleasure of staying in.  They arranged our tour of the butterflies which was well worth the entire trip.  A bit pricier than many but a definite must on your stay in Zitacuraro. Another Tesoros B&B

Other useful Links

Chandlery

• Fisheries Supply
• Defender
• Sailrite  Makers of the Sailrite sewing machine and great place to stock up on canvas, sewing items and many other sailing hardware needs.  Betsy has made covers for all salon cushions, wenches, bar-be-que, chart plotter, outboard motor, and the binnacle-wheel cover and completed a riding sail. 
• West Marine What can I say

Communications

• Winlink
• Skype
• Gordon West
• Flag Etiquette and Signal Flags

• Tradewinds Sailing Great place in the San Francisco Bay are to take ASA certified sailing training.  Tell Butch we said to say hi and see what he started? 
• Mahina Expeditions John and Amanda Neal's blue water expeditions.  A must if you are thinking of going blue water sailing and really informative if you only want to go costal cruising. 

Weather

• Don Anderson Weather Schedule
• Buoy Weather
• Commanders Weather We have used Commanders and they provide an excellent routing service.
• Mexican Weather (Hurricane) Link
• Sailflow
• StormSurf  A great interactive graphical source of wind, wave and surf info.  Scroll down to the Regional and Local Weather Models section and click on the area you want. 

Yacht Builder & Outfitting

• Island Packet
• Yachtmasters Northwest
• Offshore Store
• Iverson's Design-- Jason Iverson makes some of the best looking dodgers and bimini's we have ever seen and he has them priced competitively.  See if you can find Equinox on his gallery.

Miscellaneous

• Community 1st Bank  Our local bank in Auburn, CA, but they know how to do boat financing.  Give them a call for your banking needs even if you don't live in Auburn.  Also a great place to get a bank card.  NO foreign transactions fees in Mexico!!