Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 11.27.08

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And there's no better time like the present to let you know that I'm so thankful to have you in my life. Thank you for checking in on us & I hope your day is beautiful, wherever you are.

We had an action packed day! As I told you before, Michael is in charge of the Thanksgiving Dinner for the cruisers. He has been working with Elvira, the Marina office manager, and Ray, the owner of Mazatlan Yachts who has helped put this event together for years. He also organized a core group of cruisers who helped with the entire event - setup, decoration, entertainment, clean-up, lighting, promotion, etc. The event is entirely cruiser run - there is no monetary help from the marina at all - so it will keep the costs low. Last year, the dinner was about $30/person. This year, because of Elvira's help and the labor of the cruisers...it is 175 pesos, or about $14/person. They had to put a cap on tickets at 180 as they could not fit any more tables & chairs outside in the lounge.

The first hurdle of the morning was when the tables & chairs were delivered. Pacifico (the local beer distributor) loans out tables & chairs for events. But when they arrived...they were FILTHY! No problem - the setup committee with about 20 volunteers got busy with buckets & rags and had them all cleaned up spic & span in about an hour! It was amazing to see so many people jump to work and knock it out! The food was excellent - turkey and all of the fixings. The evening went off with only a few little issues but everyone loved it.

In the morning, Father Horatio held mass and then jumped into the panga to provide a 'Blessing of the Fleet'. He had some palm fronds and holy water and went from boat to boat, throwing water & praying.

I stood on the bow of the boat and accepted the blessing as we can use all of it we can get! It was a wonderful detail of the day that Ray & Jeanette from Mazatlan Yachts organized.

Michael spent most of the evening helping with all of the details of the night and I mingled with several of the cruisers. Once the entertainment started, Michael was able to eat his dinner and enjoy the evening as well. The night ended around midnight and we crashed! Tomorrow starts the countdown - only 4 more days until we leave!

Rene