Ahh...it's good to be back in the U.S. 3.22.10

Yeah! We're back! The trip up from Mazatlan was beautiful. Rolling hills, beautiful blooming trees & flowers, and clear sailing through the border. The entire trip was great, the traffic was light, the temperature perfect, and no vehicle troubles.



We breezed through most of the checkpoints - being stopped at only one for a secondary check. One Military checkpoint was especially fun. We were pulled over for the secondary inspection and the guard asked if we spoke Spanish and one thing I've learned over the years of traveling Mexico, my Spanish is horrible when it comes to understanding mainland Mexico Spanish. We've been stopped at several checkpoints where we have a hard time understanding what we're being asked! They seem to talk at warp speed and don't enunciate clearly enough for me to understand what they're asking. Anyway, the soldier asked if we understood Spanish, we said we spoke a little. What helps me a lot is when a question is being asked, I translate it into English and say it out loud - it helps Michael too. So they guy kept asking us questions in Spanish and I would translate them into English. We got out of the vehicle while the soldier inspected the vehicle, looking for drugs & guns. While I was standing outside, two other guards came over and began asking me if I understood Spanish. They told me they were learning English and would I help them translate some phrases into English. Sure, why not! Haha... They would give me a phrase in Spanish, I would translate into English. Simple things like "Open the trunk", "Where are you going", "Where have you been", and even "I'm looking for drugs and guns". There were about 15 phrases they wanted translated. One of the guys even pulled out a piece of paper and I wrote down the phrases in English, then he practiced it in English, then he wrote it down phonetically below the english translation. What a riot! Standing in a military checkpoint while my vehicle was being gone through, trying to help non-english speakers say words correctly. The Spanish language doesn't have the same sounds as the English language, especially the W's and Y's so we tried and tried to get the correct pronunciation of 'you' (would come out 'ju'), 'work' (not guerke), 'what' (not ghwat), and 'where' (not guere). I was working with the two soldiers while Michael was following the guy who was searching the vehicle. At one point I was so cold I was shivering so the guy let me back inside the vehicle and let me use my blanket to warm up. The one searching the vehicle found our English/Spanish dictionary & workbooks we take with us everywhere we go and seemed entranced with one book in particular that had a lot of everyday phrases listed in both English and Spanish. After he was finished searching the vehicle, I gave him the book as a gift, hopefully it'll help him and his buddies! He was thrilled but a little hesitant - maybe they aren't supposed to take gifts. The whole ordeal was positive - they were very respectful, cordial, & kind. They were young guys just doing their job and trying their best to make it easier to communicate with us.

We made it to Hermosillo and found a very cool hotel in the downtown part of town that we stayed for the night. The hotel was first built in 1861 and was fascinating. It was built in a U type shape, with the open area of the U hosting a garden & lobby. Two large trees were growing up through the glass roof and up taller than the 3 flights of rooms. The hallways wound up & around the entire building with crazy staircases & passageways everywhere. They had pictures of the original building (with little buds of trees growing in the exact same spot they still were), copies of the building receipts, and old relics from the early 1900's displayed all around the lobby & along the walls of the hotel. It was a great place to stay and the best part (I thought) was those trees were home to some beautiful songbirds so in the evening and early morning, the birds were singing away just outside our door. When we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed a cage on wheels with two tigers inside!



We asked the security guard & found out that there was a performer that just finished up his shows of what I think translates into a show like Siegfried & Roy - magic & tigers. They were beautiful cats and the security guard even got close enough to touch one of them.



We were up early Sunday morning and headed for the border in Nogales. There were many cars ahead of us and we spent about an hour in line at the U.S. Border. We made it through the border around noon or so and stopped for lunch in Tucson - Arby's! Oh....I do miss Arby's. haha!! We zoomed on through Arizona, stopping in Yuma for the night.

Ahh....it's good to be back!

Rene

Leaving Mexico 3.20.10

How is it possible our time here went so fast?! Five and a half months just seemed to scream by! It always happens this way but it still doesn't make it any easier no matter how many years we've been doing it. Watching friends leave is always a bummer and when it's your time to leave it's even more of a bummer! I don't want to go!! The weather is perfect, Mexico is so beautiful, and there's still so much to do and see. We have the 'I don't wanna go' conversations often - let's just stay here! But well, that little guy on our shoulder reminds us we made a promise to work this summer in Alaska and, well, we're kinda looking forward to it too. Too bad we're not millionaires and could just stop working for good! haha... Maybe one day!

So we've been super busy putting the boat away for summer - cleaning, polishing, organizing, packing, washing, inventorying. Whew! It's a lot of work, work, work! But the boat was happy when we left her, clean & shiny with new polish, fans working away inside, & ready for us to return in 6 months.

I made things a little interesting the last week we were here by spraining my ankle getting off of a bus the Saturday before we left. It was a doosey. I don't know exactly what happened, whether the bus wasn't fully stopped, the bus lurched a little, I stepped on an uneven spot, or I just stepped wrong! All I know is I stepped off, it popped, and I went down! Of course my first thoughts were GET AWAY FROM THE BUS! So I moved away quickly so it could drive off and immediately sat down. Luckily, another passenger got off of the front of the bus and came over to help me. It was incredibly painful and the guy who was helping me spoke no english but we managed to communicate enough. I now know more spanish words - ankle and sprained - those words weren't in my repertoire before. He helped me with my shoe, cradled my foot while the pain was intense, and moved it around to make sure it wasn't broken. Once I felt it was good enough, he helped me to my feet and then walked me across the busy street. He had asked me where I lived and if I wanted him to find help, told me where I could find him if I needed anything, and left to go to work. How lucky I was to have him around, it made the whole ordeal less frightening. A few hours later, my ankle was swollen like a balloon and ice, rest, or elevation didn't seem to help. Doh! I spent the past week either walking gingerly on it, using crutches, or being the lady of leisure I was born to be! haha... Seriously, I tried to take it easy and walk as little as possible but it's difficult not walking when you're trying to get the boat cleaned, packed, & put away! While the swelling has gone down a little, I'm hoping the three day trip back to the States will be just what the Dr ordered. We'll see!

We slept in the van up in the parking lot of the marina beginning on Wednesday night, which made it a ton easier to pack the rest of the boat up. We visited with friends, had dock parties, ate at the best spots in town, made Dr visits, went for a beach day, and had a ton of fun. I miss everyone already and can't wait to get back for next season!

We leave bright and early Saturday morning, driving up to the border crossing in Nogales, stopping in Hermosillo for the night. We should be in the U.S. on Sunday afternoon or so. Woohoo!

More to follow...
Rene

End of season blues… 3.12.10

That’s what it feels like! We arrived in Mazatlan, back in our old familiar slip on dock 6 and immediately got to work tearing the boat apart and prepping it for the summer. Well, after spending an entire day being lazy after the long passage!

During our last passage, I made a comment on how much the backstays attached to the dinghy davit were flexing. When we arrived at the dock, we were shocked to find the Mizzen middle shrouds tight as a fiddle, while the upper & lower shrouds were loosey goosey! It didn’t make sense…..until we looked closer at the dinghy davit system and found the 2” stainless steel tubing that makes up the dinghy davit was ripped! Thank goodness the mizzen shrouds were holding it up! It would have been a HUGE bummer to hear a SNAP and find our dinghy davit, dinghy, & solar panels being towed behind the boat – with the mizzen mast dangling with it! It was a weird tear. Luckily, we can fix it – just a little welding.





After consulting with the welder & Rick (one of the repair guys here in Mazatlan) we welded in some gussets – a long piece of stainless steel, that looks like a boomerang to me, that will fix the problem. Solid #($%& gold, I think that’s what Michael called them after seeing the repair bill. Ouch! But they’re pretty and functional! And we shouldn’t see this problem again! (let’s hope!)



Luckily, we didn’t find any other major issues from our time out this season. Whew! We had the normal wear & tear and issues like normal….but nothing major.

And a bit of sad news – we found gumby, our resident gecko, dead a day or so after we arrived at the dock. It was a huge bummer as we’ve really enjoyed having our little friend on board….but that’s life. We gave him a quick burial at sea…or at the dock…and said some nice words. We’ll miss seeing the little guy but are relieved not to have to worry about how he’ll survive this summer on the boat.

Tilly (our VW van) was in good shape in the parking lot, a little buried in mud from the winter rains, but sitting pretty. We reconnected the battery and tried to fire her up and she didn’t want to start. Hmmm…. After a little while diagnosing the problem, Michael deduced it was bad gasoline. It smelled bad, like varnish, and though she was turning over, it just wasn’t starting. We dumped a few jerry jugs of gasoline we had left over on the boat into her and after a shot or two of starting fluid….she hummed away! The oxygen sensor light was still on in the dash from our road trip down so I began looking for a repair shop here in Mazatlan. Since Mazatlan is the pulmonia (a golf cart-looking thing that runs on a VW engine) capital of the world I figured I would have no problem finding a qualified technician on a VW engine. I consulted the VW Vanagon website that I follow faithfully and they recommended a technician by the name of Victor Lamarque. We called him up and scheduled an appointment. Long story short, after leaving the van there for a day, 5 phone calls, and a bit of frustration….we got the van back purring like a kitten. We need a new part to make it ‘right’ but it’s impossible to find this particular part in Mexico (they never made Westfalia’s here) and we would have to have it shipped down from the U.S. So they ‘tweaked’ the air flow sensor until it was better, changed the spark plugs, & cleaned the injectors – with 3 hours of labor and a specialist called in from another shop. Guess the total bill? 936 pesos….or about $78. Incredible!

Every waking moment since we’ve arrived we’ve been work, work, working!! Or should I say cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!! You know how you go on vacation somewhere and how much cleaning you have to do when you get ready to leave? Yep, that’s what I’m talking about. Though on a sailboat the cleaning seems to go on forever!!

Sails – scrubbed, rinsed, dried, removed, folded & stowed, Sheets, lines, & halyards (all of the ‘ropes’ on a boat) – cleaned, rinsed, rinsed, rinsed until the water comes out clean – then dried & stowed, Anchor, chain & rode, dinghy scrubbed & flipped upside down on the deck of the boat, tarped, & lashed down for the season. Everything on deck cleaned & de-salted & stowed – liferaft, fishing gear, kayaks, scuba & snorkel gear….



We hired some of Rick’s guys to wash & polish the boat for the summer (we do it 2x a year – once before we take off so it will repel the salt and once before we leave for the summer so it will repel the sun!) and it looks GREAT!

Then there’s the inside – scrub-a-dub-dub!! Walls, ceilings, cupboards, doors, floors, oven, microwave, rugs, you name it! Scrub it down with windex and then place a repellant for mold & mildew on every surface. Whew! It takes a while to get it all done. And don’t forget to inventory everything! Because we NEVER seem to remember what we left on the boat - food, toiletries, medicines, spare parts, etc. That way we don’t end up with 2, 3 or 4 of the same item we weren’t sure we had on board. You know how it goes – Do we have this on board? Um….I think so but I’m not sure. Well, we better take one down, just in case! Haha…

We’ve done a fantastic job of using everything on the boat this season. We still managed to have some cans we will give away and we’re down to the last of certain things but it’s amazing to have used so much this season!

We’re planning to leave here in a very short 8 days so we’ve been super busy not only with putting the boat to bed but with appointments – dr’s appointments for our yearly check-ups, hair appointments, meeting with the bottom cleaner (Ruben), the guy who will look after the boat during the summer (Tony), and scheduling anything else we need to get done over the summer. This year we’ve been plagued with bad bellies so we’re having additional Dr’s appointments for tests to make sure we don’t have any bugs. Hopefully not!

We’ve also been packing for our trip up to California and ultimately, up to Alaska. We always manage to pack way too much so we’re trying all our might to pack light this season. It’s definitely interesting! Luckily none of the clothes seem to overlap except for a couple items from Mexico to California so it’s been easy to pull out all of our cold weather clothes – jeans, jackets, scarves, long sleeved shirts, sweats!

So are you feeling sorry for us yet? C’mon….a little sympathy, please?! Just think of poor us, working our tails off, hands stuffed inside yellow rubber gloves scrubbing away, vacuuming, washing, repairing…. Not even a LITTLE sympathy?!

Fine – don’t. haha!! Because once we arrived back on the dock, it took only one night off before our nightly ‘Dock 6 party’ started up again. It’s always great to get together with everyone – every night at 4pm – appetizers, cold drinks, and lots of conversation!



And then, of course, we’re still having a great time here in Mazatlan. Lots of catching up with long lost friends, dinners out (we’ve got to try the new hot restaurants and don’t forget our favorite other ones), listening to great music, and preparing for our other friends to leave whether going back to the U.S. or taking off on their boat! We had a wonderful dinner with Jerry & Sally from S/V Aquarius who were showing off their new condo (that is amazing),



were lucky enough to spend a couple hours with Chris from S/V Kinship as he passed through town for a day before heading back up to San Francisco, and had an amazing time at Dunia’s for shrimp lunch with 15 other cruisers! We’ve already lost the Slackers – Mike & Julie headed back home a couple days ago. And Niels left yesterday. This is the time that I hate – saying goodbye to everyone! Some for just 6 months, but others you’re never sure you’ll ever cross paths with again. I hope we will though! It’s been a ton of fun to meet such wonderful friends this year – like always!!

Then there’s yoga twice a week, morning walks with the girls, shopping, and beach days. The weather has been a bit cold lately – there are two weather fronts in the area which have kept the temps into the mid 70’s during the day, and cloudy & windy. That’s no weather to spend at the beach! Saturday the weather is supposed to improve, we hear, and we’ll plan for a beach day when it will actually be warm & sunshiny!

We even put up our security system on the boat… :-)



And you want to hear another ‘such a small world’ story? While chatting away at our dock party, Ron from S/V Palio and I realized we were both from Wichita, Kansas. He began asking me things about my dad – where he went to school & when he graduated. It turns out….they graduated from the same high school only one year apart! I’ve known Ron for 3 years and never knew he was born & raised in Wichita….until one night at the dock party! Crazy!

Until later…
Rene

Photos updated too! 3.1.10

Enjoy...

Click here to see our new photos...

Videos!! 3.1.10

Finally some bandwidth to upload some videos! :-) Enjoy...

Here's some underwater snorkeling videos in Tenacatita Bay...






A Sunset video....



A Sunrise video when leaving La Cruz....




And some videos of us! Taken by Anne from Outrider - it's always so exciting to get videos and photos of your own boat!!