More than a few Canadians have vacationed in Yelapa only to fall in love with it and put down roots there.

One such couple is Randy and Judy Sonstelie from Crossfield. The Sonstelies run the Mar y Sol Villa, a deluxe ocean front villa perched on a bluff overlooking the ocean and town of Yelapa.

Like many Canadians in Yelapa, (a short boat ride from Puerto Vallarta), Randy and Judy didn’t start out to run a business — it just sort of happened. The Sonstelies began vacationing in Puerto Vallarta in the early 1990s and took a side-trip to Yelapa and fell in love with it. They found Mar y Sol on the Internet and for the next several years they rented the villa.

They liked the Mar y Sol so much they discussed the possibility of building a self-contained third storey which they would use for their personal use and rent out when they weren’t using it.

A year later, Randy received a call from Sergio Garcia Lorenzo, the wealthy Mexican who owned the property. Sergio told them that his American partner who leased Mar y Sol wanted out. Would Randy and Judy be interested in taking over the lease and running the villa?

Even though they didn’t know each one another, dozens of doctors and U.S. boaters helped bring health and happiness to an underprivileged community south of the border.

Photo by: www.MexicoBoating.com
A Gift to the Hospital — Carried down from California by a pleasureboater in November, this donated ultrasound cardio evaluation device is already in use at San Blas Hospital. The machine was formally dedicated at the hospital’s special-needs Children’s Party, Jan. 18.

San Blas, a small harbor located between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, has a marina and estuary that are popular with cruising boaters and sport anglers. However, the region is among the most impoverished on the Sea of Cortez, still struggling to recover from Hurricane Kenna.

After six months of coordinated efforts here to help the community’s children, U.S. boaters and doctors were honored Jan. 14 during San Blas Hospital’s ninth annual Children’s Party.

It’s Friday so what should I do this weekend? Wineries in our area have come up with lots of innovative things to do, married with the romance of wine.

Of course, it is more fun with two or maybe even more. Get your BEST friend (in this case my wife Marty) and head out to a myriad of wine events.

For those more adventurous, try Llano Estacado’s Wine Cruise leaving at 5 p.m. on Saturday on Carnival Ecstasy on Galveston Island and returning Thursday. Cost starts at $220 per person and includes ports of call in Cozumel and Progresso, Mexico. For more information, call (832) 741-9414.

A year ago, several enthusiastic men and women golfers gathered to host a pro-am in Monterrey, Mexico.

The goal was to raise funds to benefit the Mexican players competing on the 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour. The event was a success and the organizers decided that this effort should be repeated.

So this year, 23 pros — again men and women — played in a pro-am on one of the most exclusive golf courses in Mexico, called The Churubusco, which is the third-oldest course in the nation. But this time, there was a huge difference compared to the 2009 tournament. This time, the top-ranked woman player in the world, Lorena Ochoa, played as a pro in the event.

The Governor Ney Gonzalez Sanchez informed that the Riviera Nayarit is doing well at the International Tourism Fair, “this year, Mexico has both feet very well in FITUR, the Mexico Pavilion, proudly makes us feel strong in the international competition, to bring more movement of money through the tourism industry”.

Interviewed on national TV by journalist Ricardo Rocha, the president said that being in this tourism fair, one of the largest in the world, is “to promote the generation of gainful employment.”

He mentioned that those who work in the area of Riviera Nayarit, the beach area, earn three times those working in the state capital.

“This is what we have to do, to promote the movement of money in the Riviera Nayarit and in the regions of Mexico,” he said.

Riviera Nayarit, and in particular the territory of San Blas, will host between 24 and 31 of January the Sixth International Migratory Bird Festival, date in which scholars and researchers around the world can experience close to hundreds of different species of birds, that for these months come to wetlands Nayarit fleeing the severe winter of northern Europe.

Wetlands are places of refuge for over 187 species of flora and 517 fauna species amid mangroves, water bodies, rainforest and secondary forest. And you can find along the Riviera Nayarit, where these days birds from Alaska, Canada and the United States make their appearance, especially in areas of Singaita, The Tovara and Isla Isabel, among others, to hibernate and provisioned, while out their wings to other parts of the continent.

Riviera Nayarit offers the best conditions for birds, and visitors can enjoy their sighting in areas such as San Blas, Santiago Ixcuintla Tecuala, Rosamorada, Compostela and Banderas Bay, which has become a giant shelter for birds of different varieties roost in the marshes and beaches attracted by its warm tropical climate, explains a press release issued by organizers of the event.

The 18th annual Banderas Bay Regatta starts March 16, so you have plenty of time to head down to the Puerto Vallarta area for this five-day nautical festival.

Photo by: www.MexicoBoating.com
Space Still Available — Vallarta Yacht Club is hosting the five-day Banderas Bay Regatta in March, and if you hurry, you can register for the regatta and get a good deal on a slip next door at Paradise Village Marina.

But to get a 50 percent discount on a full-service slip at Paradise Village Marina, you need to register for the Banderas Bay Regatta and then complete your slip reservation at the marina by Feb. 1.

The Banderas Bay Regatta draws hundreds of yachts to mainland Mexico each year — mostly cruising and racing sailboats, but also motoryachts and sportfishers. Seminars, dinners, boat promenades, beach parties with live music and an array of racing events fill the schedule ashore and on the water. To learn more about the Banderas Bay Regatta and to register, visit www.BanderasBayRegatta.com.