La Paz to Mazatlan

Monday, December 1.
Wow!!! It’s Diciembre already. The mad dash starts for Christmas decorations and gifts. It’s hard to think of Christmas when it is 88 degrees, trade winds blowing and palm trees swaying. Well someone has to do it right? So we might as well!!



Dave and I took the 10:00am shuttle to town, and walked to the main TelCel office. Before we left home, we added a Mexican plan to Dave’s cell phone so we could make calls back home and also in Mexico. It worked great until a few days ago. We think the chip died. We made calls to AT&T, from our computer, because that is the service we have, and they said we could have it reprogrammed here in Mexico. We didn’t make that many calls with it, but it was nice to have when we needed to. So we were on a mission. We had to walk several blocks to get to the main TelCel office, but when we did, they told us they couldn’t help us. I really think they could have, but Dave didn’t think the lady understood what we wanted and because we didn’t speak Spanish it was a draw back. So we headed back to catch the shuttle and came back to the marina. Dave wasn’t sure what we were going to do now about the phone. We are paying for a service and can’t use it. He needed to call our neighbors back home and see if we could get another chip send. He tried making phone calls from the computer with Skyp and messenger, but no luck this time. The internet wasn’t cooperating. John and Sandy had offered their phone if we needed to make calls, so Dave went to their boat with all the paper work for his phone to see if he could get somewhere. While he was gone, I took a nap. About 2:30pm he was back on the boat and very frustrated. He didn’t have any success in finding out about a chip. He spent the rest of the afternoon looking at phones on the internet thinking he would have to buy a new one. Don’t quite know what we will do about the situation. Something will come along.

Tonight when it gets dark we will be able to see the planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars line up. We are lucky we have clear skies for viewing. We could only see Jupiter and Mars because Saturn was close to Jupiter. It is amazing.
Tuesday, December 2.
Dave and John were supposed to change their boats engine oil today, but that didn’t happen. Sandy hailed us on channel 22 and asked if we wanted to go to town. Of course we did, so we took the 10:00am shuttle and asked the driver to drop us off near the Cathedral. We walked around town. Sandy had some Christmas shopping to do for her grandkids, so we looked at what the vendors were selling. Once finished with that we caught a bus and went to the newly opened WalMart and Sam’s Club. When we were finished shopping, we caught the bus back to the town center, got off and started to look for somewhere to eat lunch. We found the California Chicken restaurant we had eaten at before, and liked so well. So we sat down and had an excellent lunch. We got a chance to walk off that lunch and headed toward the Malecón (boardwalk)to catch the 3:00pm shuttle back to the marina. John and Sandy invited us to come to their boat for margaritas at 5:00pm, which we did and had a lovely visit.
Wednesday, December 3.
It’s a beautiful sunny warm day. Today is a day to do some chores and boat projects. Dave changed the engine oil. I defrosted the freezer, and washed clothes. I was going to wash the boat but it got too warm. So instead I started shining the stainless steel. When you are cruising, wash and shine jobs are few and far between. So while in port you take advantage of the fresh water and time to clean the salt and dirt off. You also get a chance to open all the hatches and air the boat out.
Thursday, December 4.
Since I chose not to wash the boat yesterday, guess what I’m doing today? There are high clouds in the sky and it’s warm which makes a perfect day to wash the boat. Because of the hardness of the water, you have to make sure you wipe everything down well. The only thing I didn’t wash is the cockpit. I would like to do that tomorrow, but Dave and I need to go to the marine store in town to get some things. I did rinse the cockpit floor to get the dirt off so we wouldn't track dirt down below.
Friday, December 5.
It is overcast a little this morning and cooler. This should have been the day I washed the top side of the boat. Oh well. Dave and I took the 8:00am shuttle to the drop off point, and then walked to Lopez Marine a few blocks away. We got what we needed and were on the 10:20am shuttle back to the marina. The rest of the day is devoted to getting the cockpit cleaned. It’s a good thing I decided to wash it today, as when I moved a cushion, I found a beetle underneath. Not good to have bugs aboard. I made sure there weren’t any more hiding, and then proceeded washing the cockpit. Once that was completed, I filled the forward water tank with water, put everything away and took a shower. We are having dinner at the restaurant by the marine office, La Panga, where they are serving a special BBQ dinner. You have a choice of rib eye, T-bone steak, or some fish entrees, and it comes with a salad, baked potato, and a glass of red wine. The price is 210 Pesos per person. This is about $18.00 U.S. Another couple, which pulled in last night, joined us. We had a nice visit and the food was good. After dinner, I went off to get a picture of Lucy, the goose, while Dave went back to our boat and the other couple went to theirs. It was dark and she wasn’t near shore so I’m hoping I will get a picture of her before we leave tomorrow. We have a 7:00am appointment at the fuel dock, and then we are leaving to anchor at Los Muertos. It is an 8 hour trip. John and Sandy are also leaving tomorrow and will join us there.
Saturday, December 6.
We got up at 6:00am and started stowing things for the trip. Lucy came by our boat, but the picture I took was too dark. I’ll just have to wait until spring on our return before heading for the Sea of Cortez. While we were fueling up, we saw John and Sandy’s boat go by. By the time we left the dock they were an hour ahead of us. We eventually will pass them as we go faster. There is a northeast wind blowing making it lumpy with water over the bow. We knew it was going to be like that for part of the trip. When we turned south, we ended up putting the head sail up and motor sailed until we had to change coarse. The sea was kicking up pretty good, pushing the boat around and we ended up rolling the sail in as it was flogging. It was an ugly ride. At one point I wanted to holler at the wind and waves and say knock it off!!!! The scary part for both Dave and I were the waves breaking on our beam. It’s not a good idea to take large waves on the beam as it can push the boat over too far. Because of the course we had to steer, we couldn’t deviate from it much otherwise we would be on a shoal. The winds reached 24 knots which were not predicted. Go figure. We reached the anchorage at Los Muertos and breathed a sigh of relief. It was still blowing about 12 knots of wind, but thank goodness the anchorage is mostly protected from the North wind. John and Sandy arrived about 30 minutes behind us and found a place to drop their anchor. We both are headed for Mazatlan tomorrow. They said they are going to get some sleep and leave around 1:00am so they will get there before the dredge starts working at El Cid Marina channel. They cruise at 5 knots, course over ground, so it takes them longer to get places. We will leave about 6:00am. We’ll get to see them again before they leave to go back home for Christmas, but after that we don’t know when we will see them again. They will keep their boat at Marina Mazatlan, which is up the channel from El Cid Marina where we are staying. I have read that the mainland of Mexico is more tropical in land and weather. It is more humid than the dry desert Baja California climate. I like the dry heat so it will be interesting when we get to the mainland how I like the climate.
Sunday, December 7.
Dave didn’t sleep real well last night. He wasn’t feeling well plus there was a scraping noise he was hearing from our stateroom, at the bow of the boat, and it was troubling him. The wind was still blowing and swinging us on the anchor. He was up every two hours to check the anchor and find out what was making the sound he was hearing. What he discovered was the chain was bouncing over some pebbles as we swung on the anchor, even though we were in 20 feet of water. He figured it would be o.k. While he was checking things, he saw John and Sandy pull anchor and head out around 12:30am. I set the alarm on the travel clock so we would be sure to get up at 5:15am to have coffee and be on our way by 6:00am, but with Dave up, and I couldn’t sleep, I got out of bed before the alarm went off and made coffee. It was still blowing pretty well. Dave hailed John and Sandy and asked how it was going. They reported they were only 30 miles from Los Muertos and the wind was 20-25 knots with very rough seas. One of their wine glasses rolled out of the holder and shattered in the galley. That was a first for anything on their boat to take a flying leap. We were not anxious to get out there on the sea and be tossed around, so Dave said he would listen to the weather report and make a decision based on what he heard and get back to them. After listening to the weather we decided to stay another day. It was supposed to blow all day here in Los Muertos and halfway to Mazatlan, in the 20’s, then ease to 0-10 knots with nothing on the Mazatlan side. John and Sandy had something to look forward to. They should arrive in Mazatlan around 7:00am tomorrow. Dave hailed John, told him what the weather forecast was, and let him know we were going to stay and leave in the morning. The wind is supposed to ease later today and be 10-15 knots tomorrow. That is perfect sailing for our boat. Not many of the boats left today. The wind was out of the North and it was suppose to be rough cruising to La Paz, which is where the other boats were headed. Dave still wasn’t feeling well with a headache behind his eyes, so he took a Sudafed and lay down for a little while. I think it had to do with the barometric pressure change. Before lying down, he started the generator and was making water and charging batteries. That would take a while so I spent the time catching up on my blog. When Dave got up, we ate lunch and sat outside for a bit enjoying the scenery. We both got sleepy so we went below and took a nap. We still had the seasick patches on which make you thirsty and sleepy. We slept for an hour then went back outside in the cockpit for a while. I got tired of sitting, so I went below, put dishes away and started dinner. After dinner, when the dishes were washed and put away, it was still warm so I joined Dave in the cockpit. We ran the generator again and turned on the air conditioner to cool it down for sleeping. It is only 6:30pm but it feels a lot later. I’m really glad we didn’t leave today. We didn’t want to be bounced around again. We had the VHF radio on because you can listen to boats hail each other and you can find out how the sea and weather conditions are. We listened to a couple boats discuss their afternoon. They were anchored near us and left early in the morning for La Paz. They said it was pretty ugly. One of the captains said he wasn’t feeling well but his wife was fairing better than he was, which was unusual. There are those times when you don’t feel good and you get tired of being tossed all over the place, but unfortunately you can’t give up. You have to stick it out. When you get to your anchorage or marina, you breathe a sign of relief and rejuvenate. It’s all part of the adventure.
Monday, December 8.
For some reason I woke up at 1:00am and shortly afterwards heard the wind come up. I was afraid it was going to be another windy day and we would either have a very lumpy ride to Mazatlan or we would have to stay another day. It was an offshore breeze so it didn’t last long but I woke up every hour after that hearing the wind waves slap against the hull. I finally got up at about 5:30am. Dave had been up a while checking the anchor and then sitting outside watching the stars. He couldn’t sleep either. I made coffee and joined him to watch the sun rise. It was pretty. Not as red as yesterday mornings sky. You know the saying – Red sky at night, sailor delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor takes warning. We pulled anchor at 6:30am and left Los Muertos with only 2 knots of wind and 1 to 2 foot swells. When we cleared the point, we put our main sail up to help keep us from rolling back and forth. It really is beautiful out here and it’s warm. There are scattered clouds with some haze. We put auto helm to work while we cruised at 6.5 – 6.6 knots. According to the weather forecast we shouldn’t have any significant wind today, tonight or tomorrow. We are still hoping to get 10-15 knots of wind on our beam, later today for sailing, but that remains to be seen. We have 170 miles left to travel, a total of 29-30 cruising hours before reaching El Cid Marina in Mazatlan. As our luck would have it, the wind died so we rolled in the sail. We had a leisurely ride, cruising around 6.8-7.3 knots, course over ground. Later that afternoon we got about 7 knots of wind, but still not enough to raise a sail. We picked up a little speed and later when we had 10 knots of wind we put the head sail up. But as luck would have it, as soon as we did, the wind changed direction and in order to sail with it we would have had to go way off our course. We rolled the head sail in and kept the main up for a while until the wind couldn’t keep it filled either and motored all night. The auto helm worked perfectly and it was a beautiful night. Everything was going along just fine and being uneventful until about 12:00am. I was on watch when all of a sudden I saw some birds flying around the boat trying to land on the mast and spreaders. First there was just a couple, and then there ended up being 5 of them. These birds weren’t small mind you. Dave thinks they were boobies. They aren’t very smart. The steaming light was on along with our running lights so other boats would be able to see us better, but I figured the steaming light was attracting the birds like moths to the light. I went below and turned off the steaming light and came back up into the cockpit. I watched the birds fly around the boat, but without the light, they couldn’t see to land and then they were gone. That was very interesting. See what you guys at home are missing? I’m just glad they didn’t poop all over the boat. We had heard from other cruisers, the birds sat on their bow pulpit and made a huge mess. Thank goodness we didn’t give them a chance to land. Now you think THAT was exciting, listen to this!! About 4:00am, Dave was on watch while I was trying to get some sleep. There was a blip on the radar Dave had been watching and it was getting closer. He knew it was a big boat but didn’t know if it was a fishing boat or not. He got me up to help with tracking the boat. What unnerved him the most was the boats port light was facing us. Those of you who wouldn’t understand why that would unnerve us, let me explain. When you see a red port light from a boat facing you that means it is heading straight at you. This is not what you want to see when it is pitch black and you don’t know what their intentions are. We kept an eye on him for a long time watching to see if he would change course. I was at the helm keeping an eye on the radar while Dave looked through the binoculars to see what type of boat it was. He concluded it was a fishing boat but didn’t know if it was fishing with nets or not. I turned the steaming light back on so as to make us more visible. We were really getting nervous as the boat was on a collision course with us. I suggested to Dave we might try hailing the captain to find out what his intensions were. He did that and got no response. We drew the conclusion the auto helm had been set and no one was on watch. As the boat got closer, we decided it was time to make a move to avoid a collision. We turned quickly to starboard to get out of his way and once he passed by, we continued on that course so as to keep clear of his stern in case it was trailing nets. We heard reports of fishing boats trailing nets, and you don’t see them until it is too late and they are wrapped around your prop. We definitely didn’t want any of that to happen so the best defense was to stay clear of the boat until it was far enough from us we didn’t have to worry. Once we were comfortable that the boat was far enough away from us, we resumed our original course and breathed a sigh of relief. The boat never changed course and we figured it was on auto helm and the crew was asleep. Shortly after that we saw a Baja ferry coming behind us. He was on the same course as we were so we turned to starboard to give him a wide enough berth to pass us. Once it passed, we went back on our course. That ended all the excitement for the early morning hours. Whew!!!
Tuesday, December 9.
It’s always nice to see the sun rise after such a long night and be able to see what is around you. We are almost to Mazatlan. The last time we spoke to John on the VHF radio, they said the dredge was not working so they were able to get through the narrow channel without having to wait for them to take a break. There are three times you can get in, 9:30-10:00am, 2:00-3:00pm, and after 5:00pm. We didn’t have such luck. They were working, but we heard other boats call in and they were allowing them to come through the channel. It is around 11:00am. We called the marina to see if we could get in, otherwise we would have to wait until 2:00pm. They said we could. The only problem we had was we couldn’t see the entrance. We had to call John and Sandy and ask them. We still had a hard time seeing the entrance and had to look through the binoculars to find land marks and the red and green towers at the entrance. We were coming in on an out going tide but there still was suppose to be 12 feet of water in the channel. The men on the barge waved us to come closer to their boat. As we were maneuvering toward it the current caught the stern of our boat and pushed us over, getting the rudder stuck in the mud. Dave reversed the boat and worked his way out and drove over to the barge. It was pretty shallow and we were sweating it a little, but we made it through. We found our slip, tied up, hooked up to power, and put things away.
Then we went to the harbor master office to check in. We decided to stay until after Christmas. The longer we stay, the cheaper the rates. It is 80 cents a foot doing it that way as opposed to 1.00 a foot. They have free internet, water, and cable T.V. We didn’t have a T.V. cable with us so we will have to buy one. Your electricity is monitored so you pay for moorage and electricity before you leave the marina. You can also use all of the resort facilities. They have two swimming pools. This one has a bar at one end of the pool.



This pool has a slide and a hot tub connected.




The Hotel has a restaurant and bar and then there is a laundry room where you can either do it yourself or pay 80 pesos ($8.00) to have a lady wash, dry, and fold your clothes. The only thing she doesn’t do is deliver it back to your boat.

After getting back to the boat we called John and Sandy in Marina Mazatlan, and they invited us to dinner. They came and picked us up in their car and drove us back to their marina. We had a nice dinner and visit then they brought us back to El Cid and dropped us off. They are picking us up tomorrow to take us on a quick sightseeing tour of the city, then back to El Cid to go hot tubing and then go to dinner at the Italian restaurant up the street. They leave on Thursday for the USA to spend Christmas with family.
Wednesday, December 10.
Dave and I slept in quite late this morning. It was a first for us. We got up at 9:30-9:45am. We don’t sleep well on overnight passages, especially when you have boats that want to run you over!! John and Sandy showed up around 11:30am bearing food gifts. They had to empty their refrigerator and freezer of perishable foods, so we got eggs and all kinds of goodies. Now I don’t have to go to the market for a while. Then we were off to explore the city. They drove us along the malecón.

There are a few bronze statues along there. This I took from the window.



A lot of people walk, bicycle, skate, or jog down the malecón with a beautiful view of the beach and the 3 islands (Wolf, Deer, and Bird).


Looking south of the malecón you see condos and resorts lining the beach.


Once we were in the heart of the city, they pointed out a couple of things and then parked and took us to the shrimp lady named Carman. She greeted John and Sandy and us like we were relatives that she liked. Hugs and kisses. It was very surprising but really nice. We chose some fresh shrimp and Carman bagged them for us and we took them to a bar/restaurant just ½ a block from where we bought them and handed them the shrimp and ordered a bucket of beer. If you order the bucket of beer they boil the shrimp for free. It’s the best lunch you can have and oh so good and cheap. What is really interesting about this place is it is a restaurant with regular waitresses and patrons, but at night it’s a men’s gay bar with transvestite waitresses and everything. Not a place for women and kids. I thought it would be a hoot to go there, but no women allowed. What a bummer. After our great lunch, we got back in the car and drove through the rest of the city, telling us the different buses to get us around town and the Mercado that sells everything from pig heads and feet, fish, meat, chicken feet, plus everything else you would find in a grocery store but fresher. Then there is a huge section that sells clothes, hats, belts, shoes, purses and much, much, more. It’s a one stop shopping place. A lot more fun than WalMart I’ll tell you that!!!! After all that excitement we came back to El Cid Marina went to the hot tub and it was happy hour so we had a couple drinks. If we weren’t relaxed before, we certainly were now with the soak in the hot tub and drinks. We showered, dressed for dinner and took the hotel shuttle to the restaurant. Another couple, Sandy and John invited, join us for dinner. They walked from Marina Mazatlan to El Cid Marina to meet up with us then we took the shuttle down to the restaurant. We had such a wonderful time and the food was excellent. Everything was going just great until I broke my wine glass. I had just taken the last sip of wine out of the glass and set it down, but I must have set it down too hard and the stem broke. It was a little embarrassing, but I couldn’t hide it. Then John and Sandy’s friend made it look worse by pouring some water by the glass to make it look like I spilled my wine. I think we had too much of the grapes don’t you think? It was funny. The waiter was a good sport about it and just smiled and shook his head. We took the shuttle back to the marina and said goodbye to John and Sandy and the other couple. We went to our boat, poured a gin and tonic and lit up cigars and finished out the evening. It was a wonderful day.
Thursday, December 11.
It is another gorgeous morning. What to do today? I washed the bimini and rinsed the cockpit. Now the boat is salt free. I took our laundry to the laundry lady and she said she would have it done by 10:00am tomorrow. When I came back to the boat, I did some updating on the blog, answered emails and ate lunch. Afterwards, I went to the pool for about an hour, came back to the boat, changed clothes and Dave and I walked to the harbor master office to check on the package we are suppose to be getting that Ron sent from home with the phone chip in it. Nope. It hasn’t come yet. Back at the boat, Dave looked at the dinghy tires and one of them was flat. We have yet to put the hardware on for the dinghy tires so we have been storing them out of the sun. The tires are to help get the boat on shore without having to carry it over rocks and sharp shells. It is a brand new tire so we are curious as to how it could already have a hole in it. Dave will see about taking it to the Pemex gas station to use their air compressor to blow it up and maybe figure out where the leak is. Don’t know when he is going to do that, but soon.

There was a dock party tonight and we met some interesting cruisers. Not sure I would want to cruise with some of them. What do I mean by that? They just had some funny ideas about cruising and all. I can’t really explain it. Let’s just say you definitely meet all kinds of people.
Friday, December 12.
It’s a beautiful morning and quite warm already. I polished the stainless steel on the starboard aft end side of the boat and picked my laundry up at 10:30am. Dave stopped by the harbor master office to see if they had our package, but not yet. After taking the laundry to the boat, Dave and I took the bus to the Mega grocery store, picked up a few things along with a cable so we can watch cable T.V., and took the bus back to the marina. Once the groceries were put away, and we finished lunch, I polished the stainless steel on the aft port side of the boat. When I got all done I went to the pool to cool off. When I returned to the boat I asked Dave to join me at the hot tub during happy hour. So off we went to relax the sore muscles. All relaxed now, I took a shower and ate dinner. After the dishes were done, we watched the new Mission Impossible and had popcorn. It was a good movie. Afterwards we opened a bottle of wine, went outside to enjoy a glass of wine and a cigar. What a life eh? Tomorrow we are going to WalMart to check it out.
Saturday, December 13.
It is very humid today with high clouds. Dave and I took the bus to Home Depot to look for solar lights to put on the boat. We heard that the two battery ones last longer. The ones we saw were either one battery or they had a yellow light. We weren’t sure we wanted yellow so we skipped buying them. They are pretty expensive so we don’t want to just buy unless we really want them. Most of the cruisers have them on their boats and they use those instead of the anchor light when anchored in a bay. It saves the boat batteries. We left Home Depot and caught a bus to WalMart to see what they had. They had one of the exact lights as Home Depot did but for a fraction of the cost. However, it was a yellow light. With all the cruisers coming here for the holidays, there have been a lot of those lights sold and their stock is pretty much depleted. We’ll try again next year. Dave found a compressor to pump up the dinghy floor to the right PSI. John and Sandy have one and Dave said that was what we need. We didn’t buy that either because we needed to wait until payday. We still have food and moorage to pay for. We will have to budget for it. I was trying to find something I can put over all the screens and make a hatch screen to keep the bobos (pesky little flies), no-see-ums, and mosquitoes, out of the boat when we go into the Sea Of Cortez this summer. I couldn’t find anything. After WalMart we walked to an Auto Zone store just around the corner, to see if they had any parts for our bike pump and an extension for his oil pump to get into the small areas of the auto helm. Once we were done, we hitched a ride with our neighbors that moor across from us. They were shopping at WalMart and said we could have a ride back to the marina if we were there when they got finished shopping. Hey—for a free ride, why not!! Once we were back on the boat, I polished the stainless steel around the dodger. Dave was off doing his thing. I put up our two strands of Christmas lights in the cockpit. We had a cruising spinnaker in its bag, under the dodger, so I moved it and a cockroach came out from underneath it. After killing it I told Dave and we immediately took it out on the dock and took the sail out and shook the bag just in case more were hiding in it. All was clear. Dave took the sail and attached it to the boat and unfolded it to make sure no critters were wrapped up in it. We were lucky. There was nothing. Thank goodness. A La Paz hitch hiker no doubt. Dave made the decision to remove everything from on top of the deck under the dodger where critters can hide. Well now that is done and everything is put away it is happy hour. After dinner I worked on my blog while Dave flipped through channels on the T.V. looking to see if anything good was on. Across the marina there is land owned and operated by El Cid and all that is there is a large building, a grassy area, and a beach. They have a lot of wedding receptions and parties over there, especially this time of the year. There was a wedding reception going on and the music was pretty loud. There are no noise ordinances in Mexico, plus most parties start at 8 or 10 and continue through the night. We were lucky though, the music ended after 10:00pm.
Sunday, December 14.
Today being Sunday should be a day of rest right? So I am doing just that. No work for me today. Well at least not a lot. I emptied out E.J.s’ stateroom to see what we could stow elsewhere. We had the side curtains from the dodger, rolled up and put into their own bags, back there that was taking up a lot of space. We decided to put them under our bed. They fit perfectly. We are taking inventory of the stuff we have that we really don’t need any more. We didn’t get rid of anything, but did find another storage space. Now I am done working. I went to the pool and the hot tub this afternoon. When I came back to the boat I gathered my stuff to take a shower and the dirty clothes. I was going to put the clothes in the wash machine and go take a shower, then come back and put the clothes in the dryer. Well that didn’t happen. I got to the laundry room, put the soap in the washer and piled in the clothes. 1 load is all I needed to do. I put a quarter in and it wouldn’t go in the slot. Now what???? I went to the harbor master office but they were closed for the day. I went to the little market they have right next store and she said I had to get the tokens from the harbor master office. So now what am I going to do? I went back down to the boat and ask my neighbors if they had any extra tokens I could buy but they didn’t have any. They only get what they need since it costs $3.00 per load to wash and $3.00 per load to dry. Well I thought of leaving the clothes in the washer overnight and just get the tokens from the harbor master office in the morning when it opens. Our neighbor next to us has lived here for 3 years and said she would leave her clothes there. That is how comfortable she felt. The laundry room is suppose to get locked at night, but if it didn’t I could not have any or very few of my clothes there. There is always the chance you take. I mulled it over in my mind, talked with Dave, and decided I was going to play it safe and get the clothes and bring them back to the boat. So back to the laundry room I went, pulled the clothes out of the washer, put them into my laundry basket, and took the dirty clothes with me because after I showered I was going straight to the boat. I’ll get tokens from the office tomorrow then do my laundry. I never gave it a thought the machines here took only tokens. In La Paz it took tokens and/or quarters. Now I will assume I need tokens from now on. Another lesson learned.
Monday, December 15.
There still are high clouds but it is pretty warm already this morning. Dave made reservations for us to go to a get together at Marina Mazatlan this afternoon. There will be free margaritas and food. We were told it started at 3:00pm and ended at 5:00pm, but it actually starts at 5:00pm. That is a better time because it gives Dave and I time to walk up the street to see what is there and also look for a dive shop. We stopped at the dentist office, that was highly recommended, and made appointments for both of us to get our teeth cleaned on Saturday. Just a couple doors up from there is a small meat market that sells excellent meat and pork already frozen and vacuum sealed. Nice prices too. We were just checking it out and decided we would come back maybe Saturday. We never found a dive shop. It could be further down the street, but I will look for it when I take the bus tomorrow to Mega grocery store since the bus goes up that street. We went back to the boat, ate lunch, and then I got tokens for the washing machine and dryer to do my laundry. Once that was done, I came back to the boat and got ready for the social event at Marina Mazatlan. Our neighbors Jackie and George offered us a ride in there car. It was good food and the margaritas were strong. We were able to visit with our friends from Ensenada, Mike and Normandy from Sea Venture. We sat with them and another couple named Lynn and Debbie of Dolphin Tales, from up the dock from us at El Cid Marina. We invited all four of them to go with us on Thursday, take the bus and go downtown to see the shrimp lady. Then take the shrimp to the restaurant ½ a block up, have them cooked, and share a bucket of beer.
Tuesday, December 16.
No more cloudy skies. It’s a beautiful day and it will be a hot one. I took the bus to Mega to get some groceries and took a cab back to the marina because it was too much to carry on a bus. When I taxi cab dropped me off at the marina, the guys that work at the hotel got a cart, loaded my groceries on it and took them down to the boat for me. You tip them whatever you can afford. I tipped 50 pesos, $5.00 U.S. After I put everything away I worked some more on the blog. I’m only taking it to the end of December. Then it will need to be proofed and pictures added.
Wednesday, December 17.
My plan for today is to soak a few dirty clothes in the sink, rinse them out, hang them up to dry, wash dishes, and then attack some more of the stainless steel. We need to go to the fuel dock and fuel up, so when we finish with that, it was too hot to do any outside work so the stainless steel will have to wait. So with that, I decided to work on the blog instead then go to the pool for a couple of hours. After a shower I came back to the boat and cut up some jicama. You can buy it in the states too. You eat it raw. Some add it to salads; others cut it in cubes, spray lime juice over it, and eat it like that. That is how I chose to serve it. When the jicama is cold, it tastes really refreshing. It’s happy hour so go fix Dave and I some gin and tonic. Tough life, I know!!
Thursday, December 18.
Today Normandy, Deb, her husband Lynn, Dave and I took the bus down the malecón to the central part of town. The bus stopped just across the street from where the shrimp ladies sell not only shrimp, but octopus, and other yummy stuff. HA!! We walked up to Carman, that sold us shrimp before, and she recognized us and gave us a hug and proceeded to hug the others as well. It is so nice to be greeted in such a way by a total stranger. We ordered the shrimp which have not been cleaned. Deb (the other one) didn’t want hers to have the heads on. Something about the eyes looking at her I guess. Carmen beheaded half the shrimp and left the other half alone for the rest of us.
We took our treasure to the restaurant half a block away, handed them the shrimp and ordered the bucket of beer.

The others had never done that before so it was a real treat. The shrimp was excellent!! Afterwards we walked up the street toward the Mercado.

We gals needed to buy a gift for an orphaned boy or girl for Christmas. Then we went to the Mercado.

Normandy couldn’t bear to see the pig heads on display




so we quickly went through the meat section and ended up at the other end that sells clothes and miscellaneous stuff. Once everyone was done shopping, we caught the bus back to the marina. Once back to the boat, I put my swimsuit on and went to the pool. Dave stayed on the boat doing what he wanted to do and everyone else did their own thing. Tonight there is a Christmas Party in honor of the cruisers here at El Cid Marina. Together, the harbor master and the hotel have invited us to the bar for free drinks and appetizers. Prizes were awarded for those cruisers who decorated their boats for Christmas. We got a tin of butter cookies. It was really nice. The bar was decorated with balloons.

As we arrived we were handed a paper with 12 pictures of scenes, representing Christmas songs. You had to put the title of the song on the right picture. It was fun. Today Deb bought a lavender dress at the Mercado and it was similar to one I bought 2 years ago, in San Jose Del Cabo. She said she was going to wear it tonight and I told her I would wear mine. So we were the two Debs in purple.








And Dave had to rub the mermaids boob for good luck before he took a picture with me.

How do you like THAT!!!! Fun was had by all. The party ended at 9:00pm so Deb and Lynn invited us to go to their boat for some more drinks. We had a nice visit then left and came back to our boat and went to bed. It was a fun day.
Friday, December 19.
Not sure what I will do today. I was going to wax the port side of the boat, since we ran out of wax in Ensenada and couldn’t find the good stuff until we got to La Paz. But I need a clean boat before applying the wax, but I don’t feel like washing the boat today. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow. I have laundry to do so I will probably do that, then post pictures on the blog. I wanted to go to Marina Mazatlan today at 2:00pm to hear the orphan children sing and dance, but I just didn’t feel like walking over there plus Dave didn’t want to go. Deb said they were performing again on Monday at a trailer park close by and there were some other people that wanted to see them, so we will go then.

Dave and I went to dinner at this restaurant called the Purple Onion. Every Friday night they serve 2 for 1 drink and half off their BBQ ribs. Since it is within walking distance, we walked. I’m especially glad we walked back to the Marina, as we needed to walk off the food we ate. We have heard there are a lot of really good restaurants to eat at, from the people that have lived here for 3 plus years. Most of the restaurants are pretty inexpensive. You can almost eat out for less than you can buy the ingredients to make your dinner.
Saturday, December 20.
Now that the blog has been updated, pictures need to be inputted. I was going to wax the port side of the boat but had trouble finding the wax and when I did I saw how dirty it was and decided I would wipe the boat down in the morning while it was still wet from the dew. To tell the truth, I really didn’t want to wax the boat anyway but it needs to be done. Dave and I had dental appointments. Dave’s was at 9:00am and mine at 10:00am. It was after 8:00am so we thought we would start walking to the ATM and get some cash to pay the dentist. As we got close to the dental office, we thought we’d stop to see if she was open yet. At first we didn’t think she was and then we saw her coming to the front door. Her 8:00am patient never showed so she asked if we wanted to start early. We said yes, so I went first while Dave went to get pesos from the ATM machine up the street. I got my teeth cleaned and then I was off to walk the Malecón. Dave didn’t want to walk with me so our appointment times were perfect.

Senor Frogs stores are a big business down here. It's popular with the young.

I took pictures of the Golden Zone, and really wanted pictures of the fishing pangas, but unfortunately they were further down the malecón than I thought. The malecón is about 6 or 7 miles long and I only walked half that.


This couple either was going to have their daughter christened or was going to. They were having pictures taken on the beach.
Men are collecting oysters and shucking them on the beach.


They have a net attached from the inside of a tire and that is where they collect the oysters.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a breeze. I was really thankful for that breeze as it would have been too hot to walk.


If I get tired of walk on my way home I’ll take the bus, or walk as far as the Italian restaurant at the El Cid Grand Hotel and catch a shuttle back to the marina. I did the latter and got to ride in a pulmonía. Everyone calls them pneumonia cars as they are open air carts. On December 20th, 1965 they appeared for the first time in the city. With their peculiar characteristics, they caught everyone’s attention and now are part of Mazatlan’s traditions. You will not find any of these types of vehicles anywhere else in the world. They are fun to ride in. They also have trucks people can ride in that have wood slats on the sides and a canopy overhead. While walking along the malecón I noticed they were building a new building and thought it would be interesting to show how they do that.


When I returned to the boat, I really didn’t feel like doing any boat work and it became overcast so I didn’t want to go to the pool either. Dave and I hadn’t been on the property that is across the water from us.





El Cid owns that property and there are a lot of wedding receptions and parties held there. We wanted to see what was over there so we took the water taxi from the marina and went on a walk about.

We found a large building with a kitchen, restrooms and a huge hall used for dancing, dinners, and whatever. You have to reserve it with El Cid Hotel. There is a grassy area out front of the building and behind the building looks out to a white sandy beach with palapas and lounge chairs. Anyone can come there to play in the surf or soak up the sun. It was kind of neat.



We had seen enough so we went back to the dock and waited for the water taxi to come and get us. As we were waiting we saw an iguana on the rocks.
They were little compared to the one I saw some time ago by the hot tub. They get quite large. They are kind of cool looking. After dinner, we watched T.V. It has been really wet at night due to the humidity so we haven’t been sitting outside much. I miss that.

I spoke to the grandboys, E.J. and Eian and they are enjoying the snow. Dave got an email from his ex wife telling him the vehicle Michael was riding in was hit by a road side bomb. He is alright but shook up a little with a concussion. He won’t be out in the field for a few days. The vehicle and everyone else in it were fine. Thank God for that!!!! We have talked to him and he is doing fine. He’s serving a second term in Iraq. We called his wife and talked with her and she is doing fine knowing is he alright. Michael has a hard head so he will be just fine!!
Sunday, December 21.
After I had my coffee and I was awake enough, I went outside and wiped down the smooth parts on the port side of the boat to get the dew off. Once it dries I can wax it. Dave went out and took a look at the side of the boat facing the dock and noticed that it had hard water spots on the paint. This isn’t a good thing for painted hulls because the water etches into the paint and you can’t get it out without having a paint job done. So there is another project for us. While I was waxing, Dave started washing the starboard side with Algrip soap that is specially made for painted hulls. He washed a small portion of the hull, rinsed it and then used a shammy on it and then a dry cloth to dry it. Have to do a little at a time so the water doesn’t have a chance to dry and spot again. It was fairly cool when we started our projects but ended up pretty hot. When I had finished waxing, I went down and helped Dave. You can still feel bumps from the hard water, but it is a lot better now that it is washed and dried. Now it needs waxing. I think we will hire a couple of Mexican guys to do that. It is too hot to do more work outside on the boat so we called it quits. I hand washed some items and hung them to dry. Then I washed dishes, checked the water level in the bow thruster battery under our bed, vacuumed around the mattress and areas that don’t get cleaned very often. Then I made the bed. Dave bought some bacon from the butcher up the street so I vacuum packed it and put it in the freezer. Then it was time to finish the blog with pictures and post it. Then when that is done, I will need to start on a new posting for our time in Mazatlan. It never ends, but I really enjoy doing it. The only problem is when I haven’t posted anything for a while, we get emails saying – hey----where are you guys and when are you going to update the blog. It does take a lot of time because like I said before, we only have one computer and we use it when we are underway with charts and then email, and then Dave is usually checking the weather gribs and listening to the net when he can get it, and searches out anchorages and places to travel to. I write everyday in my journal and then when I can get on the computer, transfer what I have written onto the computer for the blog. So it is a process, but I know it is getting read and my family knows where we are.
Monday, December 22.
It was kind of cool this morning but it didn’t take long before it warmed right back up again. Our neighbors across from us, George and Jackie, offered to take us to Sam’s Club so we could get some bulk foods. It’s like Costco and you need a membership to shop. That was really nice of them. You have heard of cruisers helping other cruisers? Here is a perfect example of that. The only thing is they aren’t cruisers any more. They haven’t cruised for 4 years and intend to stay here in Mazatlan. We finished with shopping, came back to the boat, put the groceries away, then I defrosted the freezer, washed dishes, and did some more laundry. I bet you are wondering if Dave does much at all? He does his own thing. Sometimes he works on the stainless steel, and/or other projects he wants or has to do. He usually ends up helping some of the other cruisers with problems they might be having with their boats. So it works out. He does his thing, I do mine, and we sometimes do things together and with other couples. It’s all good.

This afternoon we and three other couples are taking the shuttle to the El Cid Grand Hotel because that is as far as the shuttle goes. The trailer park is just up the street from the hotel. It was a short walk. The Salvation Army orphan children are going to sing and dance to raise money for the orphanage.





They perform all month at various places to raise money. It was free except for the donation you chose to give. The kids were cute, the dances wonderful, and the costumes were colorful and beautiful. The dances they performed were parts of the Mexican heritage. It was a great show.








Even Santa Claus was there watching with his swim suit on and a beer in his hand.












After the show the kids got pizza and juice then got to open presents.

We all decided it was time to go to happy hour. So we walked to a place that serve 2 for 1 drink and sat and talked for a while. Then we caught the shuttle back to the marina and went our separate ways. After dinner Deb and Lynn took us to see the Christmas lights in a housing development near Lynn’s brothers’ house. His brother and sister-in-law are out of town for a while and left them the car. Wow!!! We couldn’t believe our eyes. It was the most beautiful display of lights I have ever seen. These houses are large and they were decorated quite extravagantly. It was such a wonderful sight!! Here are a few of the pictures I took. It was a wonderful way to end the day.





Here is a picture of the nativity without Jesus as it isn't Christmas yet. He is put in there on Christmas day.




















Tuesday, December 23.
Dave spent most of the morning trying to find information on the FM3s you can get here. A FM3 is better than a visa. You have to name a residence while you are in Mexico, which we named Mazatlan, and instead of leaving the country every 6 months to renew our visas, all we have to do is return to Mazatlan at the time the FM3 was issued and renew it. It also makes it easier to get boat parts into the country, since you don’t have to pay the duty tax. We were told all you needed was 3 months bank statements showing we have a steady income, a letter from the Marina saying we would be in Mazatlan to renew it. Then we were told we would have to have a copy of our marriage license. Well that won’t work as it is home in storage. Dave went on line to see what he could find out, but it wasn’t much. With a little more digging we found out we didn’t need the marriage license. So now we have the bank statements and the letter. We are ready to file. Dave went to the harbor master office to ask Gladys, the secretary, what days and hours the immigration office was open. She told us they won’t be open until January 7, 2009. How do you like that!!! Once you file, it takes about 2 to 3 weeks before it is approved. I guess we aren’t leaving any time soon. With a little more digging, we found out we needed 2 letters from the marina and 3 months of bank statements for each of us because we are both getting an FM3. So Dave went back to the harbor master office and asked Gladys if she would type another letter for us. She did. Now we just have to wait.

At 4:30pm we had a Christmas party on our dock. A gal from Canada organized it. We had snacks and brought our own drinks. All the cruisers on the other docks were invited as well. We met some new people. About 8:30pm everyone went home.
Wednesday, December 24.
Christmas Eve!! It just doesn’t seem like it. Tonight, we are singing Christmas carols, starting on D dock and working our way to A dock then up to the lobby of the hotel. There for about an hour we weren’t sure if we were going to get to sing as there was a confederaly helicopter circling around and around the marina and between the condos across from the marina. It didn’t look like it was a friendly little fly by. We found out later they were looking for drug dealers that were held up in the condo. I don’t know if they caught the people or not, but eventually the helicopter flew away. We have heard stories of bodies being found in certain parts of the city due to drug wars. If the big guys don’t get what they want, you end up shot and/or beheaded. Nice huh? We are perfectly safe here. It is only if you are wandering around parts of town you shouldn’t be at night that you have to worry. We were able to still do our caroling and the Kathy, the lady heading up this thing had song sheets for most of us and there were quite a few cruisers that came along. We even had some kids join us.



I had a great time and I’m pretty sure Dave did too. I haven’t done that in ages. When we got B dock, our dock, our neighbors Evelyn and Harry said we had some slinking to do before we went on, so we stopped at there boat and they poured us a little Don Pedro brandy. When we were all done slinking, we walked to the hotel lobby, passing A dock, singing as we went, then continued to the lobby. When we were all done singing, Dave and I went back to our boat and fixed dinner. We bought some large shrimp yesterday so Dave is cooking them. He is a pretty good cook. They were really good. We invited Deb and Lynn to stop by for a night cap, after they got back from the hot tub and changed. They did and we served them a shot of Almondrado, which is almond tequila. We visited for a while and then they went back to their boat.
Thursday, December 25.
Merry Christmas from Mexico!!!! We didn’t have water this morning when we got up. Dave went out on the dock to check it out and found the coupler had come off the pipe near the gate. Dave had to point it out to one of the workers as he walked by. Then some men came down and fixed it. A large boat came in to El Cid. It is a Delta built boat. That is where Jon and Ben work and Ernie use to work. The name of the boat is the Princess Mary. Beautiful 70 foot boat. They had traveled from San Jose Del Cabo. I called and told Ben and Teri about the boat being here and Ben remembered it well. It was one of his favorite boats to work on. He said if we get a chance to see the inside do so. It is beautiful. One of the guys onboard the Princess Mary used to work for Delta but quit about 3 months ago. He is the chief engineer on the boat. It is neat to see a boat that you know your family had a part in building. I called Jon and talked with the grandboys and Ernie and wished them a Merry Christmas. I told them about the boat and they even remembered Ray.

I found out that both E.J. and Eian are going to be on select soccer teams. They have to try out, but there is no doubt in my mind they will make the team. They will be busy boys.

Deb and Lynn took us with them to dinner at a friend of Lynn’s family, Ed and Linda. We met them and some of their friends when they came in a dinghy to visit Deb and Lynn and tied up to the dock in front of our boat. They were serving a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Yum!! Their friends were there too so there were 8 of us altogether. We really had a nice time. The dinner was delicious. Ed and Linda renovated the whole house after they bought it. It was in poor shape. It is a beautiful 3 bedroom house on one level. A beautiful patio and backyard over looking what looked like a small lake but was recycled gray water. The housing development uses it to water the golf course and plants around it. It was nice. It had a fountain built in it too. When we went to the knee high cement wall that stops just above the water, all kinds of turtles started coming over to where we were standing. Linda throws all her scraps to them instead of putting them down the garbage disposal. It was neat to see such a sight. There were lots of birds around there too. It is a very pretty place. We had a nice Christmas. We even got to take home leftovers. How about that!!!
Friday, December 26.
Dave needed some help in switching a couple of the boat lines. We want to have the spinnaker halyard leading aft to the cockpit so we don’t have to go on deck to adjust the line. When we were finished doing that we took the two side curtains off the dodger to let more air flow come down the main hatch into the main cabin. Then we were done and we took it easy for the rest of the day. At 5:00pm the dock was invited to the Princess Mary for happy hour. We were told to bring what we want to drink and the rest would be supplied. The owner, Matt, his wife Gayle, and their two sons, are spending a few weeks on vacation. They live on Mercer Island, Washington. Small world huh?!! He is a chef for all the Taco Time restaurants in Washington, plus he owns them and the property under them. They love to fish, hunt ducks and doves. He made and served shrimp open face tacos for the appetizer. They were really good. Gayle gave Deb and me a tour of the boat. It’s a beautiful boat. They are the second owners. From the large galley you go down spiral stairs to where there are 4 state rooms, a head, laundry room, and not far from that is the walk in engine room. Going back up the stairs into the galley and forward is Gayle and Matt’s stateroom with a head and shower. Off the galley is a large living room and stairs that lead to the fly bridge. They are hoping to get the boat brought up to where they live and tie it to the dock they want to build outside their house. We had a nice time visiting with them. They are nice people.
Saturday, December 27.
Deb showed up at our boat this morning asking if we want to go with them to old town to sight see? Linda and Ed had the van and invited them and us to go along. Of course we weren’t going to turn down an offer like that so we went. Deb invited another couple to go also so there were 6 people plus Ed and Linda. Ed did the driving and Linda told of some of the history and when some of the buildings were built. They drove us along the Malecón, up the hill for a view of the city,


and drove us past where you walk up to the lighthouse, and through town. We stopped for a beer in the oldest bar built in 1945. It was pretty neat. Then we went through the rest of town and stopped for lunch at a shrimp place. It was a place where the locals go to eat. Not many gringos go there. The food was delicious. All dishes were under 100 pesos ($10.00). They brought us back to the marina and dropped us off. When I got back to the boat I defrosted the freezer, read a little bit and took a nap. Dave was doing his thing on the computer. We had leftovers for dinner and watched T.V. The wind is blowing pretty well and it is rather cool outside. We had a fun day.
Sunday, December 28.
It’s pretty windy today but the sun is shining and it isn’t really hot. I really didn’t feel energetic today so I’m going to take it easy. I washed out some clothes and hung them to dry and read my book most of the day. I had been sitting too long and needed to stretch my legs so I took a walk around the complex and ended up at the north end of the hotel and stood and watched the surf roar in.

I watched a dead sea lion wash on shore and the people on the beach, especially the adults were keeping their kids away from it. Only one adult man went over and looked at it at close range. The sea lion looked like an inflated balloon with wings on the side, but those were its flippers. After a while I walked back to the boat fixed lunch, and then started working on the blog. Matt, the captain of the Princess Mary, invited us to come over and have some dove meat he had just grilled. He and his sons had gone dove hunting yesterday and killed about 72. He said they make good eating. I wasn’t too sure and was going to pass, and Dave called me a chicken!! Well I couldn’t have any of that so I went with him and had a dove breast wrapped in bacon. It was really good!!! It tasted like chicken. Another first for Deb!! I ate my one dove breast and went back to our boat and read my book. Dave came back and took a nap. It’s happy hour now so Dave fixed us a rum and coke. He had gone to the little store here at the marina and bought a small bottle of some dark rum. It was pretty good. We haven’t been able to find large bottles of the rum we like here so we are looking at trying something different. After dinner I walked out into the cockpit and noticed a red sky. I wanted to see the sunset so I walked over to the spot I was earlier when I saw the sea lion, and watched the sunset and the waves roll in. It was beautiful. It was windy all day but it was starting to calm down a bit. It should die tonight.
Monday, December 29.
A cloudy morning and a little cool which is perfect for washing the boat. Dave moved the dinghy and cruising spinnaker off the deck so I could wash all of the boat instead of working around those two items. I finished washing the bow of the boat and it was starting to dry when Dave walked to the bow to check the forward roller furling since it was squeaking the last time we used it. It isn’t supposed to do that and you can’t oil it. Salt and probably some dirt got inside the housing causing it to squeak. He took the hose and forced water down the fitting, turning the furler to work out the grit. Then he added vinegar turning the furler again to get the vinegar deep down inside and then added water at the end. It made it better but we will have to do it again. In the process of trying to fix that problem he inspected the housing on the roller furling rod above the furler, and found the set screw was loose causing the housing to move up the rod which in turn moves the sail up. Not suppose to happen. While all that was going on he made foot prints on my newly washed deck!!!! You can never win!!! That’s alright; we cleaned it up so it was almost good as new. Dave got his allen wrench and tightened the screw. Unfortunately, we are going to have to keep and eye on it so the screw doesn’t fall out. Once I was finished with cleaning and putting things away, I went to the hot tub for a soak. Came back, showered and read a little bit then took a short nap.

At 5:00pm we went over to A dock to celebrate two of the gal cruisers birthday. One was a mother of three kids and the other was a college student visiting her parents. We all brought a snack, our own drinks and stood around, talking, eating, and drinking, and then there was birthday cake. It was a fun time.
Tuesday, December 30.
We woke up to another cloudy day. Can’t complain, at least it isn’t really hot. I need to wax the area where the dinghy sat just outside the dodger. It hasn’t been done yet so it’s a perfect time to do it. We had to move the dinghy and spinnaker again so Dave helped me with that. I really haven’t been feeling all that well for the last couple of days so I have really had no energy. The only thing is you don’t get many days that you can work outside for a long time because it gets too hot, so when you have cooler weather, you go for it. It wasn’t a large area I had to wax so it wouldn’t take long.

I had planned on walking over to Marina Mazatlan trying to find the lady that makes lycra suits, but changed my mind.

It’s almost New Year’s Eve and nobody knows what they are doing. No one has made reservations any where. Deb came up with the idea of ordering pizza and we would have pizza on the dock and have music and dance on the dock. The only thing that was holding us back from making reservations was the cost of the meals. Christmas and New Year’s are their big dinner special days, so most of the restaurants don’t serve off the menu. If you pay for dinner you are also paying for the champagne at midnight and all the other stuff that is included. So you can’t just go to dinner and leave. That definitely would be a waste of money. So now what to do? Deb and I said it would be nice to go to dinner, but I wasn’t too keen on spending a lot of money. There are other things I would rather spend money on. So I figured Dave and I would just have a quiet dinner on the boat and have champagne at midnight. Even the restaurant here at the marina was having their dinner special that included champagne at midnight for 399 pesos, about $37.00 U.S. We will have to make our minds up for sure tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 31.
It’s New Year’s Eve!!! Feliz Año Nuevo!!! I helped Dave get the dinghy off the boat and on the dock. Dave talked with the canvas guy yesterday about making a cover for our dinghy. He has been working on the boats around here and is highly recommended. He said he would be back today to measure it which means we have to pump it up. The dinghy is totally inflatable. No hard bottom as the one we had before was a hard bottom and very heavy and hard for me to help lift. So we got the one we have now and it is so much lighter. It’s been rolled up since before we left Brownsville so we uncovered it and low and behold here crawls out a cockroach. He didn’t live long and we continued to unroll and check for more. There weren’t any, which we were very glad for that. Dave started to pump the boat up with the foot pump. It was slow going so Deb said we could use their DC little pump. The only problem was it didn’t have the right fittings for our boat and it didn’t work. It was nice of them to offer it to us. They just bought it and hadn’t used it yet. So it was back to the foot pump. It takes about 10 minutes to pump the whole boat up so it really isn’t that bad. We plan on getting a compressor that has a gauge on it so we can blow it up to the right PSI. Now that the dinghy is inflated, we have to wait for the canvas guy to show. He said he’d be here at 9:00am but that time has come and gone. We want to go to Mega grocery store and Home Depot, but can’t until he has gone. I may end up going to Mega by myself to get groceries. We’ll see. If he doesn’t come soon that is what I will do. He finally showed close to 10:00am. He measured the boat and we got an estimate. He needed ½ the payment now and the rest we pay when the job is finished. Well we didn’t have enough pesos so we gave him what we had and promised to pay him later. He said he would be back at 4:00pm this afternoon to collect the rest. So once he left, Dave and I took the bus to Mega to get a few groceries. Home Depot will have to wait for another day. We made it back to the marina around 2:30pm, put the groceries away then went to Deb and Lynn’s boat about the pizza. She really wanted to go and have a sit down dinner. Not the fancy one but just dinner and come back here to the marina and dance on the dock. I thought that would be good also. I was beginning to wonder if the pizza idea was really a good one because we really didn’t know how many people would show up. It just seemed to be more of a hassle that it was worth. I told her we would check around to see if there was a restaurant that would let us order off the menu. So Dave and I were off on our search. We stopped at a couple of places and they were only serving a New Year’s Eve dinner with champagne at midnight. It was a little pricy. We knew that Christmas and New Year’s are a big deal here and they serve big dinners, so we pretty much figured it would be that way with all the restaurants. Dave said we should stick with the pizza because if we went and paid for the dinner, we would have to stay there until midnight or we would be wasting our money. So the decision was made to have pizza. We reported back to Deb of what we found out and she called dominoes Pizza from her cell phone. She asked how much it would be for about 7 or 8 large pizzas. He quoted a price and she said she would get back to him. She told us it would be a reasonable price for each boat. So we told her to go ahead and place the orders. She couldn’t call on her cell phone again because the battery was dying and she didn’t want to get cut off in the middle of the order so she went to the lobby to use the phone up there. After a while Deb came back just fuming. The guy at the desk wanted to charge her $5.00 for using the courtesy phone. When she called Dominos back they raised the prices to where each boat would have to pay $40.00. We said no way. They were just gouging us. So we all got dressed in something other than shorts, and said we would walk up the street to Tony’s and see if we could just have dinner. We didn’t make it very far as some of the people that were going with us decided to check the bar at the marina and see if we could order food there. We could so we stayed. It was happy hour so we had the 2 for 1 drink and three couples ordered pizza and another couple ordered a club sandwich. The food was really good and we didn’t have to go very far. Once we were done there we went back to out dock to have more drinks, listening and dancing to our CDs. There is a 78 foot power boat that came in yesterday, only two slips away from us had their Mexican music cranked up so we couldn’t hear our music. We went down to their boat and started to dance on the dock right behind their boat. They didn’t like that and turned their music off. We came back to our boat and listened to music. The other boat eventually turned their music back on but not as loud. They didn’t want any gringos dancing close to their boat!! It was closing in on midnight and it was getting a little chilly so we went to John and Barb’s boat (our neighbors), for the rest of the time. I brought a bottle of champagne and at Midnight we toasted to the New Year. There were just a couple of fire works that went off but not many. It was really disappointing. We had seen more fireworks at wedding receptions than what we saw tonight. Across from us on the other side of the channel there was a big party going on. They were quiet until midnight and then the band started up. It didn’t appear any of us were going to get a lot of sleep. We went back to our boat and went to bed. At 3:00am fireworks lit up the sky and scared the daylights out of me. It went on for quite a while and then stopped but the music played on and on. It wasn’t so much the music that kept me awake it was the bass pounding loudly that did it. It was still going strong at 5:00am. I think they finally quit about 8:00am and everyone went home. Needless to say---not many of us slept well. Of course Dave slept just fine. The only time he woke up was when I sat up in bed startled and asked what the noise was. Soon after, I realized what it was and laid back down again, but didn’t sleep soundly. Dave quickly fell back asleep. I have to remind myself I’m in Mexico and the people start partying late evening with it continuing into the wee hours of the morning. You just go with the flow.