Moto Rally 3.31.08

Mazatlan was host to the 16th annual International motorcycle week this past week. They have a fantastic site with lots of pictures... http://www.motoclubmazatlan.com/english/motorcycle_week_event.htm


It ended today, yesterday being the big 'parade'. All week there have been events - races, acrobatics, judging for custom bikes, etc. There were an estimated 5,000 bikes in the parade all different - Harley's, Custom, Racing bikes, etc.










And what would a parade be if some of the riders were not dressed up?! The outfits ranged from the traditional leather clad, interesting hats, full on costumes, etc. There were whole families on bikes, scantily clad riders, and lots of pride in their bikes.










The artwork on many of the bikes was phenomenal.






They were even doing it on-site...





I was admiring a bike the previous day in front of a hotel with some big, burly biker dudes watching me closely to ensure I didn't get too close! The biggest, baddest one came over to me and motioned for me to get on! I asked in extremely broken spanish if he was kidding, I could get on?! Yep, he even helped me get on and pose for a picture.




Most riders were without helmets, even though there is a helmet law in Mexico and it's an amazing site to see a family of 4 on a motorcycle! (Which is not an uncommon sight....)





This little guy was zooming around during the pre-parade...and had a great lift during the parade.






The word got out among the boaters in the marina that this was going on and that some people were meeting at a restaurant along the route called "Las Bruchetas" (which translates to kabobs) which is also where we were planning to go as well. We went early & toured the grounds before they were all lined up in the streets, then went over to the start of the parade - it was a madhouse! Bikes everywhere, big & small, loud, really really loud, & quiet, a single rider & many more. The sun was just going down & we snapped as many photos & video as we could. Once the parade began, we walked over to Las Bruchetas for dinner where we found the place packed - including about 40 boaters! The owner was not ready for this big of a crowd & the service was extremely delayed but we had a wonderful time chatting with everyone. We had about 12 people at our table and ate in spurts - one or two would receive thier food at a time. It was fantastic. Of course there were some party poopers who made a big deal that the service was so delayed, but all in all, everyone enjoyed the evening. It's amazing to see the 'ugly American' side come out of people...a little humorous...and disappointing at the same time. It was night when the parade passed us again - about 7pm. After the parade they had bands playing & a huge party.







Next week we'll continue to work down our Hurricane summering list & getting ready for Michael's surgery. I'm sure it'll be an action packed week!

More to follow... Enjoy these additional photos - I guess you know which bikes I liked the best.









Rene

Summering List 3.30.08

As promised...here's our summer securing list.


Ahea Kali summer securing list


- Remove & dispose of all food not in bags - pack food for storage in the plastic tub
- Pump holding tank - partially fill with fresh water & enzyme treatment
- Clean dodger, bimini, & MOB rings
- Arrangements for work to be done while gone
- Fabrication or Repair
- Maintenance
- Procurement List
- Two small fans for below
- Foil window coverings
- Fabric Softener (for laying up lines)
- Any drug/rodent stuff required – bay leaves, two gallons of bleach
- Take procurement list home for return parts
- Have originals & copies of key documents for parts reentry: Boat documentation & Import permit, rubber stamp for invoices, “Repair parts for vessel in transit”
- Roll out sails, fresh water wash, prep for removal & storage
- Secure both chain pipes for water-tightness
- Secure stern anchor chain pipe for water tightness
- Remove all items from topside
- Speakers
- Seal hatch in main salon for leaks
- Put sweaters, etc. into freezer ziplock bags
- Remove running rigging, label & stow below
- Put on winch covers & tie down
- Put on helm cover & tie down
- Take batteries out of everything – flashlights, MOB lights, hand held radios, handheld GPS, night binocs
- Install extra fenders
- Chaffing gear on all mooring lines
- Clean primary bilge pump filter
- Clean water maker filter
- Pickle watermaker
- Remove all aerosol cans & lighters
- Remove lead for SSB antenna
- Close all overboards – put instructions by main engine thru hull & generator start switch
- Grease water & diesel cap
- Clean heads
- Remove & Stow Dive Tanks
- Have info available for ….
- All contact info
- Instructions for main engine, generator
- Have duplicate instructions on the boat with a sign-in log
- All keys & combinations
- Log for engine starts, cleanings, etc.
- Spare storm lines
- Get info from …. On how payments are made
- Get marina contact info – address, fax, phone, & e-mail

- Fill Fuel Tanks & add treatment
- Clean out refrigerator & freezer - prop doors securely open
- Clean & cover dinghy
- Stow dodger, bimini, & MOB rings
- Put out bug & rodent protection: bay leaves, cockroach cookies, bleach buckets, mousetrap
- Remove dorades & install dorade covers
- Shut off propane at tanks & secure locker
- Block blower outlet
- Pack personal items – stage at Hotel
- Clothing
- Computers, chargers, cables
- Camera’s, chargers, cables, books
- Jewelry
- Prescription Meds
- Checkbooks, other financial stuff
- Passports, shot records, visas, TIP’s
- Address books
- Cell phones & chargers
- Return-to-boat procurement list
- Sunglasses
- MP3
- Copy of boat documentation, Original boat import permit.

- Lock lazarettes – have keys labeled & available
- Check dogs on all hatches & windows
- Open cabinet doors, drawers, etc. for air flow
- All panel circuits off (A/C feed to fans & dehumidifiers from separate line)
- Install reflective (aluminum foil) window shields up on all outside ports/long windows
- Prop up cushions on bunks for good air flow
- Remove lead for VHF antenna
- Unplug TV & DVD Player, computer, etc.
- Have extra storm lines available below
- Have all spare zincs on galley counter
- Line up & start dehumidifier & fans
- Disconnect & stow 50 amp & 30 amp power cables
- Drain shower sump
- Clean bilge
- Remove, clean & stow surfboards, fishing gear, etc from dinghy davit
- Have dinghy engine serviced

MRI Results 3.29.08

Michael returned from the states – sick. He picked up some killer cold while travelling and is still trying to kick it. While he was in California, however, his knee was feeling so much better, he was ready to forget about surgery. We decided to have an MRI done to better ‘see’ what was going on. He had the MRI on Thursday. We went back to the same place we had the x-rays done and laughed as we were moved into a different waiting room – one with leather couches, water, etc. – must have been the high-roller suite. The center has the new ‘open’ MRI and it took about 30 minutes to complete. Cost? $3250 pesos, so with the exchange rate averaging about 10.50, it was a little over $300. The next morning we went to pick up the slides & results and headed off to visit Dr. Olmeda again. The results confirm a torn meniscus. See the picture below. There is a yellow circle where the tear is located. The picture should show all black in that area, but there’s a definite white line, indicating a tear. Michael & I talked to Dr. Olmeda again about surgery and Michael was explaining that it was now about 85% better….until the Dr. manipulated it again. After the visit, he was right back in pain again. So Michael will do have a blood test done on Tuesday, take the results to the Dr. on Wednesday and have the surgery on Thursday, the 2nd. Whew!

In the meantime, we are scheduled to return to the states on April 15th. We have to get the boat packed & ready for hurricane season and there are a lot of tasks that must be completed in the next couple weeks. We have a 5 page checklist that was given to us by another boater that helps and we’ve added/removed items to make it our own. I’ll put some of it here…

We’re also losing friends right and left. Lots of boats are heading North into the Sea of Cortez for the summer, some are heading home, & some are making the ‘puddle jump’ across to the South Pacific. In the last couple days we’ve lost Dennis & Janet from Shilling of Hamble, Anne & Jeff on Outrider, Mike & the crew on Esprit, Richard & Janet on Chessie, John & Linda on Seabird, and many more. If you want to follow Shilling, go to http://www.shiptrack.org/ and type in MHZR3. They are currently in Cabo waiting for a weather window to make the jump. Esprit is right behind them and I didn’t manage to get their info before they left so I’m waiting to hear from them via e-mail.

The only good offset to losing friends, is those that are stopping in Mazatlan for a few days before heading North. A sister boat to ours – another 45’ Fuji, Pat & Barry on Pacific Voyager – that we met in Channel Islands just before we left pulled into the old harbor and we hooked up with them for an evening at the Best Western & potatoes along with Tony Morelli on Sweetie, Anne, Jeff & Tom (a friend from Ventura), & Lee & Nancy (10 of us!). We had a wonderful time visiting & watching the wonderful sunset & incredible potatoes.















While we were at the potato stand, we had some funny ‘local run-in’s happen. I had gotten up to take a photo of the stand & workers when a man got up from the table and in perfect English said he would gladly take my picture. I wasn’t expecting to hear English and had to translate it in my head (haha) and then explained to him that I was going to take a photo of the stand. He had a couple of young daughters sitting with him, 8 years old or so, and said to me “My daughter just asked me if any North Americans came & ate at these stands and then we see you!” So in my best Spanish, I tell her that we all really like the potatoes here & enjoy much food in Mazatlan. She reeled and said ‘You speak Spanish too!’…it was really comical. Then, while we were eating, we had a very young boy, maybe 4 or 5, come running around the corner & stopped beside Tom. Now this happens a bit when you’re in the tourist areas & the young kids are usually attempting to sell candy or gum. So Tom simply looked at him & said No, Thank you. The kid lingered a minute or so (Tom was in deep conversation) and then ran back over to his family. I caught the eye of the mother and smiled and the kid came running back over to us and yelled “A B C D E F G!” in almost perfect English. We all laughed as we realized he was trying to communicate with us! So Tom attempted to sing the ABC’s with him while the Mom just beamed across the street. We were a little ashamed that we just jumped to conclusion that the kid was trying to sell us something when all he really wanted was to talk to us! In any event, we had a wonderful time with the group, enjoyed everyone’s company.





More to follow...
Rene

Happy Easter! 3.23.08

Michael flew back to California on Wednesday morning to meet with the buyer of the Electric Boat business & get some items in order for our return to the States. Michael's trip hasn't been too good so far. On his way out there, he realized he left the Jeep key on the boat. He already knew he didn't have a key to storage as we lost that in Catalina, and he had an appointment with the new buyer at 9:30. He contacted Jeep and they said they could make him a key with the VIN number. So he started out about 7am by going to storage and asking if they could cut the lock to the unit. The owner was out and they were not able to until he returned. But he could drill it out hisself. So he walked over to the boatyard & borrowed a drill, walked back to storage. While drilling it out, the battery died. So he walked back to the boat & plugged it in....waiting. He calls the person he's going to meet and tels them he won't make it and if there was any way they could come pick him up, he'd be happy to meet them! At the same time, the owner of storage calls and says he is there and could cut off the lock (for $45!) so he walks over there for that. He gets inside storage, copies down the VIN# and by this time, someone was there to pick him up. Thinking it would take just a little time, he asks to go to the Jeep dealership first. He gives the VIN# to Jeep and asks for a replacement key....and they tell him the Jeep must be brought to the dealership for them to make it! Of course he can't get inside the Jeep to move it - it's a viscious cycle...haha. Finally they make him a valet key that will at least allow him to get inside the Jeep. He calls AAA and they come to storage & tow the Jeep to the dealership so they can make him a key. Several hours and $100 later...he has a Jeep key - whew!! During the middle of this all, he stole away and met the buyer. What a first day back!!

I just talked to him and he said he picked up a pretty awful cold and has been battling it for the last 2 days. Poor guy!!

On the other hand, I've enjoyed hanging out with friends & doing my 'normal routine' since he left. I have been amazingly busy - and enjoying the people watching this week. It's Semana Santa here in Mazatlan, or 'Holy Week' and the place is hopping with tourists - but from other parts of Mexico! It's quite a change and it's amazing how many people can pack onto the beach for the festivities. Starting on Thursday, several bandstands were erected on the beach and have bands playing there all hours of the day & night. Most businesses & government offices are closed from Thursday through Sunday and many people take the entire two weeks off since it also coincides with Spring Break.

Let's see...today I went for my Malecon walk with Anne & Lena (the Swedish gal on the Boat Esprit), got my hair cut & a pedicure - an experience in itself - came back to the boat for a couple hours & then met Anne & Jeff, and Lee & Nancy from Buena Vista (a boat originally from Ventura that is in their second cruising season) and we went to Playa Bruja for happy hour, sunset, music, & dancing. Yesterday I went back to the lending library to return the book I borrowed and decided to walk the Malecon to see what was going on. The beach was packed and there is a wonderfully festive atmosphere. All the families are out & enjoying. Unfortunately, Michael took the camera with him and I didn't take the 'big' camera out with me today....so no pictures. I walked the entire Malecon and then ventured off onto the beach in the Golden Zone as there were more people & bandstands there. I kicked off my shoes & was walking around the beach, zigzagging through the people, umbrellas, & towels with hundreds of people. I walked until I could barely get through the hordes of people and suddenly felt out of my element. There were so many people & I had a backpack that kept getting snagged on umbrellas - I had to get out of there. The hotels along the beach have guards that keep watch on the place & keeping everyone out except for guests. Well, I just walked right up to the guard and said hello as I flew past him to get out of the hordes of people. After I was in the shade of the palapa on the beach, I ordered a beer and settled down & watched the show from the comfy hotel pool area! I made my way back to the boat around 5pm and needed to ask Anne & Lena to meet me early for our walk so I went over to dock 3 to see them. I chatted with the people on Esprit for a while, instructing them on using Airmail & receiving weatherfaxes and spent the rest of the evening on Anne & Jeff's boat - including a wonderful pasta dinner!

Thursday, Anne & I went for our Malecon walk & instead of walking the usual route once we got to Olas Altas, we decided to tour the old town area & take lots of pictures. We had such a wonderful walk! We found lots of cute, quaint shops with wonderful artwork. One such place is called NidArt. http://www.nidart.com/ They make have several items in the shop - clay & leather figurines, sculptures, but the most impressive item they make & sell is leather masks & sculptures. They use different colored & textured leather & mold it around resin molds - faces, nudes, sailboats, horses, etc - then mold additional leather around that to make a beautiful item. They are so difficult to describe and pictures just don't do them justice. There is a gallery on the website that shows different designs. We spoke to the owners - Rak & Loa - and they took us into the back room where the kids were making the items. We were shown the different leathers & skins they used - and were able to watch them as they worked. It is a family that makes all of the items they sell in the store. They make their own molds over the summer (as business is slower), then make the items as often as they can during the rest of the year. The leathers were beautiful colors & the skills of the kids were magnificent. Loa told us that each of her kids had a different skill set and they were all given tasks that used their special skills - one was good with larger pieces, one specialized in molding the leathers, one was good in the 'details', one was good with the nudes, etc. It was great spending the time to talk with them & get to know their family. If ever you're in Mazatlan, make this a 'must see' on your visit.

If you know me, you know I really like to take photos - I don't take them as well as I could, but I try. Every once in a while I end up with a good one. This one below I took on one of our trips into town & I think it's a good one!! It was an abandoned building that they were beginning to clean out & remodel. By the way - to get this photo, I ended up with like 10 mosquito bites - something I've managed to miss until then!

We finally made it back around 1pm and I quickly changed & took a trip into town to see about getting a hair cut & pick up some groceries. I ended up back on the boat around 6pm and made a wonderful dinner & read.

Wednesday Michael left in the morning and I had some surprise visitors - Tony & Shannon Morelli from Sweetie came over & visited with me for most of the afternoon.

Definately sounds like I'm having much more fun than Michael, huh?! :-) He'll be back on Tuesday. I don't have much planned for tomorrow - Anne wanted to come over for a bit in the morning & Lena needed some computer help, but other than that, I'm just going to hang on the boat unless I get a more tempting offer! I'm thinking I may go up to the pool at El Cid in the next day or so, but who knows...

And I forgot to post this picture of our outing to Thai food recently. We had a wonderful time & found a cute statue to post in front of.... Ahh....Mexico.... ;-)

I hope all is well with you all and may your Easter and the days ahead be filled with little miracles that warm your heart! Have a Wonderful Holiday and a Beautiful Spring.

More to follow...
Rene

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 3.17.2008

I hope this finds you all well & you’ve all found your pot of gold today (or at the very least, a pint of grog)!! We are enjoying another laid back day. Since Michael is heading out of town we went up to Henderson’s, the local meat market, & purchased some chicken & a steak and are preparing for the St. Patty’s Day celebration tonight. The cruisers are getting together for dinner tonight with the theme “101 ways with potatoes” or “Anything green goes”. Michael has a favorite potato recipe that he’s going to make and I’m trying my best to make a batch of wasabi peas. Sure, it sounds easy enough to just go to the store & buy them…but not here in Mexico. I found a recipe online that sounds easy enough….except for the fact you start with dried peas. I couldn’t find any dried peas, so I figured, heck, it can’t be that difficult to dry peas! So we purchased frozen peas & I tried drying them. No such luck…they turned into unrecognizable shriveled up little specs that do not look appetizing in the least bit. Not to be thwarted, I scoured my stores on board and found a bag of split peas. They were doing real well in the oven drying out out after soaking & cooking them this morning...but then Michael needed to turn up the oven for his potatoes and my peas ended up being hard as a rock again. Bummer!! O-well, I guess Michael will have to pick me up some when he returns to the states...haha.

The party was a lot of fun. There were around 80-100 people there, with lots of wonderful food. We were asked to help out another cruising couple who had cooked about 2 lbs of corned beef & cabbage but had fallen sick and could not attend the party. There were tons of dishes - everything was fantastic. I had the pleasure of sitting with a 92 year old woman, Mike, who was down from the States visiting her granddaughter, who is out cruising on a boat called Eros. She was a lovely woman & had gone cruising with her husband when she was in her 50's. She was down visiting for one month and even went parasailing earlier this week!





I ended the evening sitting & chatting away with Anne, Danni & Chris, and Janet & Dennis after everyone else left, having a wonderful conversation. The bad thing about meeting all these cruisers is no one stays put for very long. Anne & Jeff are planning to leave in 2 weeks and Dennis & Janet are making the 'puddle jump' across the Pacific Ocean to the South Pacific in the next 10 days or so. I'll miss them all but look forward to meeting many more as they come in & out of the harbor.

I hope this finds everyone well! More to follow...

Rene

Good news, bad news 3.15.08

OK, the bad news first... Michael went for his follow-up appointment with the Ortho on Friday and was given bad news - he has a torn miniscus and requires surgery to fix it. As you can recall, he injured in when we just arrived in Mazatlan and has been in pain since, limping around & not doing much other than rest trying to getting it healed. After our last Dr. appointment though, it's certain, he needs surgery to repair it. Luckily it is an orthoscopic surgery and he won't be put under general anesthesia, but a bummer any way. It has been painful for him since we arrived and is just not getting any better. We are going to visit another Dr. for a second opinion and when Michael is in the states, he'll talk to a good friend about it as well.

On the brighter side, we have a signed contract on the Electric Boat business & will be opening escrow in the next few days. Woohoo!! Michael is flying back to the states on Wednesday and will stay until the following Tuesday getting the documents & info together to open up escrow. A dear friend is letting him stay on their boat & he'll have the Jeep there that is in storage for transportation. He's taking a bunch of stuff back to the states with him - many clothes I brought along that I just don't need and am not using. Plus, an added bonus - he'll be able to pick up some of those 'goodies' that I haven't been able to find here. The most important being Coffee Mate! I guess the Mexicans just don't like flavored coffee as much as I do as they only have plain powdered creamer. So he'll be bringing coffeemate, some parchment paper as I can't find any here, some small parts we can't find here, etc. Of course there's several other items that we can't find here but since we'll only be on board until around the middle of May, there's no use in bringing a lot of it back now.

More to follow...Rene

Hotel Freeman 3.15.08

I had been told about a wonderful place to go & watch the sunsets called the Hotel Freeman and talked Anne & Jeff into joining us on Saturday. After all of the manipulation the previous day, Michael’s knee really hurt him so we walked as little as possible. There is a hotel down in Olas Altas called the Best Western Hotel Freeman that has a pool & observation deck on the 11th floor that has a wonderful 360 degree view of the city. We made it just in time for the sunset

& a few photos. The hotel was beautiful & the view, spectacular.

We enjoyed a drink while watching the sunset & listened to a musician that was playing

downstairs in the bar area.

After we tired of the view & atmosphere, we walked downtown to a street vendor that serves baked potatoes. Michael & I had been there before, during Carnaval, but Anne & Jeff had never been. They take baked potatoes, open them up & remove the insides, mash the potato with butter, sour cream & cheese and put it back inside, then top it with carne asada. There is cucumbers & radishes on the table and four types of salsa to try as well. Each potato is $3 and they’re wonderful!! After dinner, we went down to the Golden Zone to an outdoor bar/restaurant called Gus Gus (pronounced goose goose) where a live band was playing. The Spring Breaker’s are in town and Mazatlan is beginning to get busy so we enjoyed the show & the band, finally taking a taxi back to the boat. It was a wonderful, fun, laid back evening…

More to follow…Rene

Cruiser get-togethers 3.12.08

We've had a good time lately just playing around town and meeting other cruisers who make their way to Mazatlan. Every Friday evening there is a 'dinghy raft-up' where you meet at a specific spot (usually the end of a certain dock) in your dinghy, then everyone putts around the harbor to another meeting spot, where all of the dinghies lash themselves together - sometime in a graceful circle, other times in a big cluster. Once everyone is secured, the goodies come out and everyone passes around a dish they've brought to share. The dishes range from simple crackers & cheese to bbq'd chicken wings, to olives, to cookies - whatever you wish to bring. The dishes are passed round and round until they're all empty. Of course during this time everyone is chatting with everyone else - and then the 'leader' asks everyone to introduce themselves & tell everyone a little bit about themselves. It's a fun way to meet other cruisers in the harbor and eat some fantastic food as well! We participated in last Friday's raft-up with about 10 other boats and had a wonderful time.



Another tradition here is called 'Pizza Tuesday'. Dock 3 in Marina Mazatlan has a pizza dock party every Tuesday night. You let the main guy - Pat on Perpetua - know you want to participate and he takes a count of everyone who will attend. Then at 4pm, his wife, Susan, orders pizza from Dominoes, who deliver it directly to the dock. Perpetua has a website - www.geocities.com/svperpetua Check it out! We have friends on Dock 3 and asked to join in this Tuesday. It was a ton of fun! There were so many people we met that we had seen in the area, but had never talked to. One boat in particular is owned by a guy named Mike who is from Australia. He recently purchased the boat and is preparing it to be sailed down to Australia. He hired 4 crew which is an interesting group - one from Canada, one from Sweden, one from England, & one from Germany. They were a fascinating group, no one knowing each other, but will be on a 39' boat sailing over to Australia soon!

We've spotted another boat from Channel Islands, Blythe Spirit, with Ian & Katie on board and have been chatting with them. Ian is a wonderful photographer and also has a website - www.ianhlnd.smugmug.com check it out as well! Tonight we're heading to the famous Thai restaurant with Anne & Jeff and Danni & Chris. We have been taking it easy, doing lots of boat projects, beginning to get the boat put away for hurricane season. We had plans to go to La Paz over Semana Santa (two weeks called the Holy week that is celebrated in Mexico), but neglected to realize that it was a holiday for everyone and can't find a hotel to stay in while we're there!! So we will probably postpone for a week or so. We'll see...our plans are still fluid.

I hope this finds everyone well!
More to follow...
Rene

El Faro (The Lighthouse) 3.8.08

This lighthouse sits atop Cerro Creston, Mazatlan's highest hill. There is a dirt path and then 300 plus steps. The El Faro Lighthouse in Mazatlan is considered the second highest natural lighthouse in the world, after Gibraltar, although it is no longer in use.

We started near the sport fishing fleets in the old harbor, Boats anchor in the old harbor at no charge, and pay 30 pesos ($3) to land at the dinghy dock, which also includes shower facility.

Unfortunately you begin the hike at the site of the water treatment plant in Mazatlan, giving off a very unpleasant odor. Luckily though, you only endure the foul smell for a couple minutes as the ascent is quite quick. The incredible view of the entire Mazatlan area is well worth the challenging hike up the hill, which is 515 feet above sea level. Mazatlán's lighthouse (El Faro) began to shine by mid-1879. The lamp had been handcrafted in Paris, containing a big oil lamp with mirrors and a Fresnel lens to enhance the light. Since the light was static, in the distance it was often mistaken as a star. By 1905 this lamp was converted to a revolving lamp. Today, the 1000 watt bulb can be seen from 30 nautical miles (60 km).
During the hike, we saw some kittens, unusual trees in the mountain,

& even an iguana.

There were only a few other people on the trail and many were using it as their exercise for the day, running up the stairs. Once at the top, we gazed at the spectacular view and chatted with the guard inside. Here are a couple pics of the view...

We had rested up and were ready to leave when the guard hollered at us “Amigos!! Mira!” Mira means ‘to look’… and he was pointing up to the top of the lighthouse. We were allowed to go INSIDE the lighthouse!! It was incredibly cool – there were some rickety stairs & a spiral staircase we had to traverse, ducking the entire time to get inside & once inside, there was barely room to move. The light was out as it’s only lit at night and the guy had stopped the radars that surround the lighthouse (thankfully!). The lens was magnificent and I tried to get pictures to show the detail & how thick they are. It was so impressive. We gave him a granola bar & chatted as much as we could when we came back down & then headed back down the hill.

Here's a picture of Anne & Jeff over looking the old harbor...

More to follow!

Rene