Last week, when we ran a few photos of happy, barefoot cruisers celebrating Thanksgiving in the sunny latitudes of Mexico, we invited readers to send in snapshots of other on- or near-the-water Turkey Day celebrations.

We didn’t get much response — perhaps because those sunny, al fresco dining shots were tough to beat. But former Bay Area sailor Chris Maher put the issue in a different perspective with this Thanksgiving Day shot of his wife Sheila aboard the couple’s Rough Water 37 Rough & Ready. Several months ago — long before the snow started falling — Sheila agreed to move to Seattle with Chris. 

While the photo pretty much tells the story, we’d like to invite readers to give us a caption for it. For example, what do you suppose Sheila was thinking when this shot was taken? Send responses here. 

Quickline USA has issued a total recall of all UFS8 Ultra Flip anchor swivels for 1/4" and 5/16" chain. "Simply put, the UFS8 swivels do not meet Quickline’s high quality standards and strength requirements,” said Quickline USA President Randy Boelsems. The swivels, manufactured by Boyut Marine between June 2009 and October 2010, are easy to identify by the eagle molded into the side. No other size of Ultra Flip swivel, and older versions of UFS8 — ones lacking the molded eagle — are not included in the recall.

If you have one of the recalled swivels in your anchoring set-up, stop using it immediately and contact Quickline at (714) 843-6964 to arrange for a replacement swivel. They ask that the defective units be returned via the pre-paid FexEx label they’ll include with the replacement.

When it comes to cruiser fundraisers in Mexico, the Banderas Bay Blast / Pirates for Pupils is a modest one, in part because it’s so early in the season that a lot of boats still haven’t arrived. Nonetheless, Ronnie ‘Tea Lady’ reports that just under $2,000 was raised for educational materials for local children in last week’s event. By the way, $500 of it was in the name of participants in November’s Baja Ha-Ha, who will also contribute another $500 to the Spring Pirates for Pupils fundraiser.

While this year’s Blast fleet wasn’t as big as in years past, the sailing was terrific and the smaller group meant just about everybody got to know one another. As for Banderas Bay, it again proved itself to be one of the most delightful — and beautiful — sailing venues in the world. Check out the photos for proof.

With the holidays fast approaching, about half of the participating boats will be staying in the Banderas Bay area, while the other half are starting, or about to start, making their way down the Gold Coast to Tenacatita Bay, Barra, and Zihuatanejo for the SailFest there at the end of January. The sun is out, the air temp is in the mid-80s, the water temp is in the high 70s, the people of Mexico couldn’t be nicer, and the 25,000 or so Americans in the Vallarta coast area couldn’t feel safer. So if this part of Mexico is in your future cruising plans, you’ve got something great to look forward to.