It’s New Year’s Day in Mazatlan!! Yes!! We are still here and will be for a while. It is pretty quiet today. Not many people moving about. Deb, Lynn, Dave and I went to brunch at the Marina Hotel restaurant. The lady that served us was not a happy person. She probably had the day off and someone called in with a hangover and she had to fill in. Dave and I hadn’t eaten there yet so we thought we would use our 20% discount card. I thought it would be fun to go to breakfast on the first day of the year. Well---it wasn’t that great. Oh well. You just never know.
Dave and I didn’t do much as we were up most of the night listening to the party music across the channel. I decided I would spend the afternoon lying in the sun at the point where I can hear the surf roll in and see boats come and go and maybe do a little reading. It is nice to get away from the pool scene where there is always the same music, bingo, and kids. Don’t get me wrong, I like to watch the kids and people in and around the pool, but there are those times when you just want to get away where it is quiet.
Dave was preparing the aft end of the dinghy for the dinghy wheel hardware. I helped him after I got back from the shower. Next we will be able to put the wheels on and put the dink in the water.
Friday, January 2.
It’s going to be a warm day today. Dave and I decided to walk toward Marina Maztlán and crossed the bridge looking to find a stainless steel business called Rosete. They make stainless steel items for boats and other things. We walked all the way to the marina and didn’t find it. We went into the harbor master office to ask where it was located and we were told he had moved to the other end of town. Oh bummer. We aren’t going there today. It was a nice walk and we discovered a neat shop that had excellent wines, liquor and some grocery items. We just looked around and priced stuff. Then we walked back to the boat and spent the afternoon catching up the blog and drilling holes in the aft end of the dinghy, on the wood part, to attach the wheel hardware.
Saturday, January 3.
Our neighbors, George and Jackie, of Aimee Sean, gave us a ride to Marina Maztlán for a swap meet. I brought 4 pillow shams and 2 small blue pillows to hopefully sell. Don’t need them on board and hopefully someone can get some use out of them. I finally sold the blue pillows to Jackie, but I ended up putting the pillow shams by the dumpster for someone else to pick up. That is what we did at Brownsville Marina to help out other people. The shams disappeared in a heartbeat. At least I don’t have them any more taking up precious space. After we got back to the boat, I worked on the blog and Dave worked on the dinghy. I took too long working on the blog so I didn’t get a chance to relax by the pool and soak up some sun. There is always tomorrow.
Sunday, January 4.
We took a trip to Home Depot this morning to look for 3 solar lights for the boat. We want to hang one in the cockpit, one at the stern and the other at the bow. After Home Depot we stopped at Sorianas, grocery and department store. We hadn’t been there yet and wanted to check it out. Since it was across the street from Home Depot we didn’t have to go very far. It was o.k. but I think I will continue to shop at Mega. We caught the bus back to the marina and got there around 3:00pm. I went right to cleaning up the boat, washing dishes, defrosting the freezer, vacuumed and made salsa. It’s clouding up and it suppose to rain tomorrow. Well 20%. I bet we won’t see any. Plus even if it does rain, it’s warm outside so it will disappear quickly. Sure beats the cold and snow back home!!!
Yippee!!!! Dave finally got his package with the cell phone chip. It only took about a month!! He called the phone company and had it activated so now we can receive phone calls from home. We have been using Yahoo Messenger on the computer which works really well and is far cheaper than the cell phone.
Dave is excited. He is going fishing tomorrow morning with Nick who keeps his boat here. Hope he catches something!!!!
Monday, January 5.
We thought it was going to rain last night but it didn’t. It’s still cloudy but that means it will be a comfortable day. Dave got up at 7:00am and put more flour and water into the sour dough starter before leaving to go fishing. Before Sandy and John left to go back home, she gave us her starter. When Dave returns from fishing, he will make bread. He is the bread maker in the family. HA!!! Both kinds of dough!!! Anyway, we are having two couples over for dinner tonight, Barb and John from Naida, and Lynn and Deb from Dolphin Tales. Dave is making his favorite dish, carbanara. It’s bacon, eggs, milk, Romano cheese and spaghetti. If any of you have had it you know this isn’t a low fat meal and it is absolutely delicious. So while he is fishing I will clean up the boat and put things away. When he returned from fishing he was empty handed. That’s the way it goes sometimes. They were going to go outside the marina and fish on the ocean, but the waves were breaking so high into the opening it was dangerous. So they went up the channel toward the other marina, Marina Mazatlan.
Our company arrived between 5:30 and 6:00pm. I served freshly made guacamole, chips, along with cocktails, while visiting for a little bit before dinner. After a bit Dave went downstairs and started preparing the meal. He had made the bread earlier so we had the carbanara, with cooked garlic shrimp on the side and sour dough bread. For dessert we served pear halves soaked overnight in crème de menthe. It was an excellent meal. Afterwards we sat around and talked for a bit and then everyone went home. I decided I would do dishes in the morning. Dave makes an excellent meal but a huge mess in the galley. That’s o.k. It was worth it. It was nice to have a dinner party. I went all out and had cloth napkins, and crystal wine glasses. It was fun.
Tuesday, January 6.
It is a beautiful sunny day with a little breeze. That is good because it will cool us down a little. After I finished my coffee I washed all the dishes and cleaned the galley. You know I told Dave we are going to have to fire the maid. She just didn’t do her job last night. (Joke between us). After the galley had been taken care of I went outside and started to shine the stainless steel on the starboard side of the boat with some metal polish. Dave said it works better than the magic cloth I was using. So I thought I would try it. It never ends guys especially if you want the boat to look nice and be protected. But it gives Dave and me something to do. We don’t like to sit around and do nothing all day. What I like to do is start working on the boat outside, while it is still cool in the morning, and then after I’m finished, go to the pool, or hot tub, go for a walk, or read my book. That’s my reward. Dave was looking at waxing the boat again, but it needs to be rinsed first. The last time it was waxed was in Ensenada, except for where the dinghy had been setting which I did just recently. It really needs another coat. We’ll wait on that for now. Dave helped wipe off the stainless steel after I applied the polish. It sure is nice when we work together. I was going to soak up some sun but the wind started to blow and it got cool. Not today. I worked on the 2008 blog instead. I should be finished with writing it by the end of the week. Then I have to proof it and add pictures. I’m getting there.
Tomorrow Dave and I are going into town with George and Jackie from Aimee Sean to file for our FM3’s. George was going to do his taxes and Jackie was the interpreter.
Wednesday, January 7.
Dave and I got up at 8:00am and left with George and Jackie a little after 9:00am. They offered to show us where we should go to file for the FM3 and then where to get copies made and the closest bank to pay and get receipts. Then they dropped us off at the immigration office and went to do their thing. When we got inside, Dave was looking at the number that he was going to be and the number they were calling and we would be there all day. We knew it would take a while but we didn’t want to be there all day long. We thought about it and wondered if we should come back tomorrow. We know where the bus drops you off and where to catch it back to the marina, so maybe we will just do it tomorrow. The office had been closed since December 21, and opened today so they were packed. There were people even outside waiting. So we left and walked over to where George and Jackie said they would be which was only about a block away. We were looking for their car and couldn’t find it. They said they would give us a ride back to the marina if we met them. I happened to see Jackie walking toward the car so when she drove down the street I waved at her and she stopped and said she had to go back to the marina to get Georges FM3. The tax person wouldn’t take a copy, they wanted the original. So we asked if we could ride with her and she said yes. We told her it just was not the right day to do the FM3 and we would go back tomorrow. She tried to tell George it wasn’t a good day to have taxes done either, but he wanted to get it out of the way. Before we left to go file for the FM3, Lynn came to the boat and invited Dave to go with the guys to beans and beers. He was leaving at 10:30am, but if he went to the El Cid Granada Hotel, they would pick him up. Dave told him that if we got back in time he’d like to go. When we got back Lynn had already left, but Dave asked Jackie if he could hitch a ride and drop him at the El Cid Granada? She said sure and off they went. What did I do while he was gone? You just won’t believe it! Why I polished the stainless steel!!!! The port side hasn’t been done with the metal polish. When that job was done I worked on the blog. Soon after I had started working on the blog, Dave came home. I continued with it while he cleaned and polished the anchor wench. When I had had enough of blogging, I walked to the harbor master office to get tokens to do laundry later. When I came back to the boat I changed into my swim suit and went to my favorite spot to soak up some sun. About an hour and a half the wind came up and it got a little chilly so I went back to the boat, got our laundry and walked to the laundry room. While the clothes were washing I went next door and took a shower. After my shower I went back, put the clothes in the dryer and waited. After the clothes were dried and folded I went back to the boat, put them away and fixed mimosas for Dave and me and relaxed. Then it was time for dinner so I went below to cook it. After dinner we finished off the champagne with another mimosa and a cigar then we had to go inside because it got cold. So we went below and Dave played his submarine game on the computer and listened to CD’s and I read.
Thursday, January 8.
We are going to try this FM3 thing again today. We got up early and caught the bus around 7:30am and went downtown. It dropped us about a couple of blocks from the immigration building so we walked the rest of the way. We were number 14 this morning as apposed to number 31 yesterday. So Dave signed in and got our number and waited. It went pretty quickly. When it was our turn, they looked at all the paperwork and asked us if we had the receipt for when we came into Mexico for our visas. We said we had it but it was on the boat. We thought we would have to go home and come back with it tomorrow before we would be approved, but he approved us anyway. We just have to make a copy of the receipt and include it in the paperwork when we turn it in. Once that was done we needed to go up the street to a little tienda (store) to have them fill out the forms by hand, and only one form got typed on a typewriter. Then we had our pictures taken. Next we had to go to the bank and pay them for the immigration fees and get receipts. Then it was back to the tienda to get copies made of the paperwork. Once that was completed and we paid the fee (420 pesos, which is less than $40 U.S. dollars) we left and caught the bus back to the marina. The immigration office closes at 2:00pm so we didn’t have time to go back to the boat, get the receipt, have it copied, and then go back to the immigration office. We’ll go tomorrow morning. All we have to do tomorrow is walk into the immigration office and put the folder containing all our paperwork on the desk, and wait for it to be approved. Once back to the boat Dave and I had lunch then I went and soaked up some sun, went to the hot tub, then took a shower and got dressed for dinner. We are going to a restaurant we heard was really good, Los Zarapes, so we thought we would try it. We invited Lynn and Deb to come along and they invited Lynn’s brother and wife to join us. Before we go to dinner we are attending an impromptu happy hour dock party at 5:00pm on our dock. The party was still going on when we left. We walked since the restaurant wasn’t far. When we arrived at the restaurant, Ken and Paulette weren’t there yet so we got seated and ordered our drinks. Paulette showed up without Ken. She said he went golfing with the guys this afternoon, and had his beers and food so he wasn’t hungry and wanted to sleep. So she came by herself. We had a great time and I got a crazy hat made out of balloons. I’ll try to explain how it looked because I don’t have pictures. The guy took a long balloon, blew it up and fitted it to my head. Then he added a long skinny balloon to that so it stuck straight out. At the end of the long balloon he put a small round balloon. Waalaa!!! My hat was formed. It was great because I could dip it down to touch Deb’s drink and whap Dave in the head with it. He was sitting beside me and Deb was across the table from me. I don’t understand--they got a little annoyed with me so I quit. I had fun!!! The food was excellent and we got to see some entertainment too. Once we paid the bill, Paulette said goodbye and Deb, Lynn, Dave and I walked back to the marina. Great evening!!
Thursday, January 9.
We took the bus downtown to the immigration office and turned in our paper work. They stamped their approval and we come back on February 3 to pick it up. The book is green and it is the size of a passport. We found out that you have to renew it no later than the date you applied, not the date you picked it up. So we applied on January 9th so next year before that date we have to renew. Once we get our FM3s we will leave and head south to Puerto Vallarta. The day we leave will determine what the weather and sea conditions are like. We have until March 9th to be in P.V. (Puerto Vallarta).
While we were walking to the immigration office we saw a funeral procession walking to the graveyard. A lot of the people were walking behind the hearse and behind the hearse was a truck carrying a large wreath for the gravesite. A few cars followed behind that. No music, very solemn, but after we walked out of the immigration office we could hear music coming from the direction they had gone.
We took the bus back to the marina and I worked on the blog while Dave did his thing. It got cloudy and the wind came up so no sunning for me today. I shined some of the stainless steel. But there is still more to do.
Saturday, January 10.
A little cloudy today with a breeze so I decided to shine the stainless steel under the bimini. Dave helped me. It looks nice. After that I went and soaked in the hot tub. After the hot tub I took a shower and went back to the boat, fixed dinner and didn’t do much for the rest of the night. We couldn’t go outside because it was damp from the humidity.
Sunday, January 11.
Today is a resting day. No physical labor. I made breakfast, washed the dishes then worked on the blog. Today I straightened out the pictures I had saved in the picture file and then started to insert some of the pictures into the blog. It’s pretty quiet. Sundays are like that here. No parties, nothing going on. Another damp night so we watched a movie.
Monday, January 12.
I tossed and turned all night. I couldn’t sleep. Dave said he didn’t sleep much either. I had fixed popcorn for the movie and we both had a coke to go with it. I think the coke with the caffeine might have had something to do with it, but I am also feeling like a head cold is coming on. There are shrimp in the water under our boat and you can hear them through the hull day and night. It sounds like a lot of bubbles popping, kind of like popping bubble wrap. Sometimes it is quite loud and because I couldn’t sleep it seemed they were very loud. Fish also bump into the hull. When it happens you think someone is on the boat or next to the boat which startles you until you realize what it is. Because it was a full moon last night, the fish were quite active and thumping under the boat all night. Yeehaw!! I took the day off yesterday and look what happens. I get a head cold!!!! Bummer.
I had an appointment with lycra lady, Laura, to be fitted for a lycra suit. Actually the material is polyester instead of real lycra, but all you want is to be covered so you don’t get stung by jelly fish or whatever is in the Sea of Cortez. Laura makes the full body suit along with socks and a hood. I chose the color periwinkle for the main body and the stripe on the sides of the arms and legs and collar are black with a periwinkle color design. It is only 600 pesos, about $55.00 U.S. She said she would be back tomorrow with the finished product so I can try it on to see how it fits. After being fitted, I came back to the boat and finished shining the stainless steel under the dodger. Now I am done with that until the next time. Tomorrow is boat washing day and wipe down. Oh boy!!!!
Dave has started the process for making sour dough bread and when he gets done with that we will walk down to the Henderson meat store while it rises. They have vacuum packed and frozen steaks, port chops, ribs, hamburger meat and more. They sell bacon, sausage, turkey breast and ham for lunches. We bought some steaks, pork chops, hamburger, and lunch meat. My freezer is full now. When we returned to the boat I made us a sandwich from the deli meat and it was excellent and fresh. After that I read a little and then took a nap. It is a low keyed afternoon and evening. I went to bed early. I want to get rid of this cold.
Tuesday, January 13.
Lycra Laura came this morning with my suit and I trid it on. It fits perfectly. She didn’t have to make any adjustments. It looks nice and it is comfortable. After Laura left, I really didn’t feel like washing the boat plus it was getting pretty warm for that job. So I asked Dave if we could do it tomorrow and I would walk down to the book store to check out what they have and see if they are selling the Mexican cookbook. They had tons of books but didn’t have the cookbook. So I walked down the street a short distance away to the Pacific Pearl magazine shop. They publish an English magazine for the locals and guests with all kinds of information in it. They were selling the cookbooks too, so I bought one. When I left there, I walked back to the marina but did some window shopping, looking for gifts for birthdays back home. I didn’t buy anything. Just looked and priced certain things. Once back on the boat I worked on the blog for a while. George and Jackie invited us to go with them to a place called Dessert Storm. They sell baked potatoes stuffed with whatever you want, or you can choose soft tacos with lots of meat and cheese, or tostados. It was really good and inexpensive. When we got home, I finished the blog and posted it. That is finally done. I’ll start making a new posting for 2009.
Wednesday, January 14.
We woke up to high clouds and cool today. Perfect for boat washing!! Dave did the scrubbing and I went behind him with a chamois and wiped everything down so it wouldn’t dry with spots. When we were done with that I rinsed under the dodger, then the bimini, and then the cockpit, cushions and all. Then it was wiped down to dry. It sure feels good when you know your boat is clean. I quit working on the boat and went down below to work on the new posting for the blog, which is a small history of Mazatlán.
The canvas man, Ramon, was supposed to stop by this afternoon. At 5:30pm we got a note from the secretary at the harbor master office, Gladys, that his truck broke down and he would not make it today, but will be out tomorrow around 12:00pm. At least he let us know. We then BBQd chicken breasts and I fixed rice and a vegetable to go with it.
Thursday, January 15.
It’s almost 1:00pm and no Ramon yet. I am really beginning to think that canvas guys are alike no matter where you go in this world. They don’t always show up when they say and the work may not be done exactly when you want it. I consider these guys to be artists and not business men. That’s alright, as long as you understand that that is the way they are, you just relax and go with the flow.
I washed clothes again and hung them to dry. I really don’t mind doing this. I’m not spending any money and the clothes are clean and smell good. I’m really not feeling all that great today due to the head cold. It is almost over, but I just don’t have the get up and go I usually do.
Jackie and George of Aimee Sean are coming over for a spaghetti dinner tonight. I made the sauce in the pressure cooker this morning. Dave has enough energy for both of us. He waxed the cockpit and pedestal. It really looks nice and shiny. He called the stainless steel guy to make an appointment to come out and give us an estimate on making support poles for the dodger so we can put solar panels on top. He told Dave he would be out tomorrow and then this afternoon he showed up. Dave gave him a sketch of what he wants and the man gave us an estimate of $80 U.S. for each piece. He would not negotiate in pesos. He’s the first one to do that. He said he would be back on Monday or Tuesday if he could get the parts. After that I baked brownies for dessert, vacuumed, straightened up the boat and got it presentable for company. Jackie and George came over for dinner and we had a very nice visit. It was a thank you for helping us find things in town and also taking us places. They have taken on the job of revamping the cruisers guide to Mazatlán that Marina Mazatlán started a long time ago. The man that started it was not a full time resident and so was not able to make sure the money got to the two orphanages it was suppose to. Marina Mazatlan was coming up with excuses of why either the money didn’t make it or very little made it to the orphanages. So George and Jackie said they would take it on and have it come out of El Cid Marina and they would collect the money after the bills were paid to make sure the orphanages got the money.
Dave started waxing the back of the boat by where you step off and because it was so warm, he didn’t finish. That becomes tomorrows project.
Friday, January 16.
It is going to be a hot one today. Well since I am feeling a lot better and energetic, I decided to take over the wax job. When I finished with the back I took a break. Then, wanting to do more, I started waxing the smooth parts of the deck. Dave came behind me and wiped off the wax and shined it. All that is left now are the side rails.
Dave asked one of the Mexican guys which happens to work in a paint store, about matching the grey paint on the nonskid of the back sides, seats and floor of the cockpit. He had a sample chart to show us the grey colors and found a match that is really close to what was originally put on the boat from the factory. We realize that color has faded, but he has that color. He will have to have it mixed to match it and then have a catalyst to add to it to harden quickly. Now all we have to do is buy paint tape, rollers, a paint pan, and thinner. We started taping off the areas where we will paint. That is what takes so much time is the taping. My plan is to finish waxing the edges of the boat and then I will help with the taping and painting.
Saturday, January 17.
Today is grocery day. I took the bus to Mega, bought groceries and took a cab back to the marina. While I was putting the groceries away, a sailboat was coming into the dock next to us so I went out and helped Dave bring her in. The name of the boat is Warren Peace. The captain is John and his wife’s name is Sharon. We visited for a few minutes and then I went back to putting the groceries away. I had planned to make hamburgers tonight for dinner, but that changed when the captain of a big power boat named Tourbillion, gave us some snook fish. It is a white fish. So we BBQd the fish and Dave made a non cooked fish sauce which was really good. After dinner it was dish washing time and then time for relaxing.
Sunday, January 18.
It’s a cloudy day today so far. The sun is trying to peek out of the clouds but not having much success. I waxed the edges where I hadn’t done before. Now that job is finished. Carlos, the paint guy delivered the paint yesterday. So we went to Home Depot this morning to get the paint pan, and rollers. They didn’t have the painter tape though. We came back to the boat and started taping. That was an all day job. We weren’t going to tape the floor of the cockpit because we have a mat that covers it, but the more I thought about it the more I thought it should be done. So I will tape that tomorrow.
We had the hamburgers we were suppose to have yesterday, tonight for dinner. We relaxed the rest of the evening. The wind picked up and the skies got a little darker with clouds, looking like it might give us some moisture.
Monday, January 19.
We woke to another day of clouds. No rain yet. We have another opportunity to work on the boat without getting hot and sunburned. I swept the cockpit floor and taped around the old painted areas. Dave started to sand the areas already taped off just to rough the surface a little so the new paint would adhere. After sanding and wiping off the dust with a damp rag, Dave noticed we didn’t have any thinner to clean the surface before painting. So he went to the Comex paint store close by and got more tape and the thinner. While he was gone I sanded down the rest of the painted areas. When he got back we both wiped down the sanded areas and let them dry. Now it is painting time. I will mix the paint while Dave rolls it on. It dries quickly so you can’t make too much at one time. When we were finished, we stood back and looked at the color. It was really close to the factory color on the deck. It looked good. We want to put a second coat, but will have to sand it again lightly before we can do that. It is still tacky. Dave went down the dock to where on of the Mexican guys was working and asked him if we could add another coat now. He said if it was still tacky, yes. So back we went and rolled on another coat. The only areas that didn’t get a second coat were the floor and the seats because those will be covered. It’s a good thing we decided to do that because we would have run out of paint otherwise. We let the paint dry while we went to the pool to have a hamburger for lunch. When we got back we started pealing the tape off. Wow!!! It really looks nice and new. We got a lot of compliments on it as people walked by. It felt really good to have finished that job. After things were cleaned up and put away, I went to the hot tub for a soak then took a shower and went back to the boat. We were sitting in the cockpit when our new neighbors, John and Sharon invited us over for a glass of wine. So we went over there and had a nice visit. When we returned to our boat I fixed dinner. John and Sharon are leaving tomorrow afternoon to go south. Nice couple. They have two homes. One house is in the states and the other one is in San Carlos, Mexico.
We talked to John and Sandy today over the radio and they said they got back here on Saturday. They invited us to come to their marina, Marina Mazatlán to watch the inauguration and have breakfast. We said yes. It will be good to see them again.
Tuesday, January 20.
Today is the inauguration to swear in our new President, Barack Obama. Dave and I took the bus to Marina Mazatlan to meet John and Sandy at Gus Gus restaurant to have breakfast and watch the inauguration on big screen T.V. What an event!!! It was a little emotional for some people including Dave and I. We are really anxious to see the changes he is going to make in the years ahead. When we got back to the boat, we put the rubber mat back on the floor in the cockpit, and then I did a little blogging. After I had enough at the computer I soaked up some sun for the rest of the afternoon.
As I was fixing dinner, Ramon, the canvas guy, showed up with out dinghy and new cover. It looks nice. It is blue and grey. Dave forgot to tell him that if he rolls the dinghy up the black on the bottom will rub off on whatever it touches. Ramon felt bad when he pumped the dinghy up and found the black marks. He had a helper with him that scrubbed it until it was clean. We apologized for not telling him and we finished the job. Before Ramon left, I asked him if he had screening to put around the boat to keep bugs and add shade. He said he did and he would bring samples out tomorrow. We really need to get the cockpit enclosed with screen before we go to the Sea of Cortez, and even south. San Blas I hear has bugs and with the screen up we will be more comfortable. We’ll see what Ramon has and what price he will charge.
Wednesday, January 21.
It is cloudy today but still warm and no wind. I’m going to do some more laundry and hang them to dry. I figure that if I can wash our dirty clothes everyday, I keep a handle on it and the pile doesn’t get so big. I probably won’t get everything dry today because of the clouds and humidity, but at least they will drip the water out of them before I take them below to finish drying. I vacuumed out all the cabinets in our stateroom as we are getting flies or something that is eating on our shirts. After that I made ice, read a little then walked around the grounds here at the hotel to try and find the large iguana so I could take a picture of him. As it turned out I did find him but he was too far away for a good picture. So I watched the crabs crawl on the rocks and took a picture of one that was closest to me.
They are dark. Not like our crabs at home. I went back to the boat and Dave and I had happy hour. I brought in the clothes and they didn’t dry as I suspected. That’s o.k. I’ll just hang them up below and if they aren’t dry in the morning I’ll hang them out again. It’s time to fix dinner. After dinner Dave pumped the floor and keel of the dinghy with air, put it in the water and secured it to the dock.
The stainless steel guy was suppose to come today but didn’t. I worked some more on the blog and then relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Thursday, January 22.
The skies are a little hazy but the sun is shining. I did my daily washing and hung them out as well as the shirts that didn’t dry yesterday. They will dry today that is for sure. I conditioned the leather seats in the main salon. Didn’t realize how dirty they were. Looks like new now. Ramon stopped by with the screen samples. We chose one that was 90% sun and bug block. We wanted an estimate so Ramon measured the cockpit. We told him we had side curtains and he could use those as a guide. His estimate was 13,741 pesos. That would be around $985 U.S. The screen is very high quality and the zippers are very expensive. We need a lot of those. We told him we would discuss it and see if we could afford it and get back to him tomorrow. We also need to get our hull washed and waxed and pay the stainless steel guy. We are getting a little low on cash flow. We’ll take a look at our accounts and see what we can do. The stainless steel guy didn’t show up again but we suspect he is waiting for parts.
I spent the afternoon at the pool and even did some swimming for exercise. The water was very comfortable because it is heated. The other one by the hot tub is not heated and it is really cold. Dave putts around on the boat and visits with other boaters while I do my thing. When I was done having fun in the sun, I changed clothes and started fixing dinner. The rest of the night was just relaxing.
Friday, January 23.
It’s a beautiful day. Deb, her husband Lynn, Dave and I are taking the bus downtown to visit Ramon, the canvas guys shop. Deb and Lynn want to show him what they want as a support for the seat he is making for their helm station. We want to talk to him about making the screens for the cockpit. Ramon said he could have the screens done in about 10 days. We agreed to have him do the work and made arrangements with him to pick up the side panels we now have to use as a pattern. He is supposed to come to the marina tonight to measure Deb and Lynn’s steering wheel for a cover. Deb and Lynn finished with Ramon and off we went to see the shrimp lady, Carmen, to get shrimp and have them for lunch. After lunch Deb needed to find a place that sells support stockings. One of her friends got a blood clot in her leg and doctor said she needed to wear a support stocking to keep the clot from moving. We went to a couple of places and they didn’t have any and then she found a shop that sells walkers and all that kind of therapeutic stuff and found one. So Deb’s mission was complete. We caught the bus back to the marina.
John and Sandy came over later that afternoon to use the hot tub and relax after their day of working on their boat. Dave didn’t join us because it was around the time that Ramon was coming to the marina to pick up our panels and measure Lynn’s wheel. So I visited with John and Sandy in the hot tub and talked about what they have been doing on the boat and what is left to do before they can go south. After about 30 minutes we rinsed off, got dressed and had a cocktail. Dave took care of Ramon so now he could visit. We have to go to his shop tomorrow and pay him the down payment. John, Sandy, Dave and I decided to go to dinner at Los Zarapes. That is the restaurant I had the balloon hat made and Deb, Lynn and his sister-in-law joined us. We walked there and got seated at our table. Remember through the rest of this story, it is a Friday night. We all know what happens at bars and restaurants on Friday night right? Well now to continue. The waiter came over to our table and took our orders for a pitcher of margaritas. Then freshly made salsa was done right there at our table. We told the waiter not to make it too hot, kind of medium heat. After it was mixed and set on the table we ate some. It was good but had a little bite to it. With one taste Sandy couldn’t eat it. It was too hot for her. So it was up to the rest of us to finish it off. Darn!!!!! We also had chips and bean dip to eat. Yumm!!! Close to our table there was a small T.V. that had singers and some bands from the 60’s playing. Then it switched over to the funniest home videos. About that time the entertainment started in the restaurant. A male singer came out and sang a couple of songs. Sandy covered her ears because she thought it was so loud. Of course it didn’t help that we were right underneath one of the speakers. She complained to the waiter and even one of the guys sitting near the room where they control the volume, but they didn’t lower it. The waiter told her to take a napkin, tear it in half and put each piece in each ear. So she did. I never laughed so hard in a long time!!!! She looked like shrek!!! Sandy has really sensitive ears so she really didn’t appreciate the music because it was still too loud. John said we could move to another table but she said no. So we sat there and finished our dinner and watched a couple dance a couple of dances and then the staff of the restaurant played a song to get people into a conga line. Then they did the Macarena dance. It was great to watch. I didn’t join in because it had been a long time since I did the Macarena and didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Obviously I hadn’t had enough to drink yet. HA!!! I had fun none the less just watching. The table Dave and I and Lynn and Deb sat at was full of people and everyone had a balloon hat. What fun. There was a drum set up on the stage and we knew we had better get out of there before they started to play. So we asked for the check, paid our bill and left. Sandy said they would not come back but when we walked outside she said it would be a place she would sit if she came next time. It was far enough away from the speakers. We walked back to the boat and John and Sandy invited us to go with them tomorrow to the shrimp ladies downtown and go have lunch. We said that would be fun. We like shrimp. It is really fresh!! So it is a date. We decided on around 11:00am. They got in their dinghy and went back to their boat in Marina Mazatlan and we called it a night. I would have liked to have stayed to hear the band but that is the way it is. We told Sandy that if they come on another day other than Friday it is better.
Saturday, January 24.
It is going to be another hot day. John and Sandy hailed us on the VHF and asked if we would be ready to go downtown around 11:00am. I said yes. They would come by dinghy and tie up to our dock again. In the meantime I washed out some clothes and hung them to dry, defrosted the freezer and fixed breakfast. When John and Sandy arrived we caught the bus downtown. We walked to Ramon’s canvas shop and talked to him about the screen we had chosen. He said it was 90% protection from sun and bugs, but when we talked to John and Sandy they said there wouldn’t be a lot of air flow and we will want that in the Sea of Cortez. So we switched the 90% for 70%. We gave Ramon the down payment and then we were off. We weren’t hungry yet so we walked around downtown going into some stores and ended up at the Mercado. I bought some cilantro and Sandy bought a couple of items. Then we walked to the shrimp lady and bought our shrimp from Carmen. They were big shrimp!! We took them to the restaurant and asked them to boil them and bring a bucket of beer. When the shrimp came to the table cooked and steaming, we looked at it and they didn’t look like the shrimp we had picked out. They were small. We ate a couple and they were chewy. They had been over cooked. Sandy questioned the waitress about whether that was our shrimp. Of course the waitress didn’t know she was just delivering the food. Sandy asked for the manager and a man came over to our table. Sandy tried to explain that our shrimp was larger and she didn’t think the shrimp that was served us were ours. He took the plate to the kitchen and came back and said they were ours. We told him they were over cooked too. Sandy said we wouldn’t be back. Dave thinks they switched the shrimp out by using their old shrimp and keeping our fresh ones. Well we ate the shrimp. Sandy asked for a small bowl of garlic butter to dip them in because the other sauce was too hot for her. Well we learned that if you confront a Mexican, they don’t talk to you and service goes down. We had to try to get the waitress’ attention several times to find out where the garlic butter was. We finally got it, but it took a long time. So that wasn’t a good experience. Sandy wrapped up a couple of the cooked shrimp to take back to Carmen and ask her about it. We paid the bill and left and went to see Carmen. Sandy gave her the two cooked shrimp and she said they were good. Hmmm!!! We explained they had been over cooked and shrunk a lot. Carmen explained that they were river shrimp and they will shrink. So now we find out. Oh well. But we ended up getting about ½ a kilo free. Without knowing it, Carmen bagged some large shrimp and handed the bag to Sandy. Sandy didn’t realize she had ordered the shrimp so she asked how much she owed and Carmen said nothing. That was nice. So all in all it was an experience. Another thing learned. We caught the bus back to the marina and John and Sandy said they were going back to their boat to do some more work. We said goodbye. Dave went down to talk to Lynn and Deb on their boat and I went to our boat to open the hatch for air flow and put my bag away. Then I walked down to where Dave was and started to talk to Deb and Lynn. Next thing I knew we had been invited to dinner on their boat. They were having steak, veggies and salad. We said sure and would see them around 6-6:30pm. Another couple from Quebec, Canada, Andre and Marteen, are coming over to their boat after dinner to visit.
We had a good dinner and conversation. After we had just finished dinner the other couple came aboard. We visited for a while and found out it was his birthday. They had brought some birthday cake over but didn’t have enough pieces for all of us so Andre went back to their boat and got a couple more pieces and came back. They both have a French accent. It’s neat to listen to them talk. After a while we decided it was time to leave so we all went back to our own boats and called it a night. It was a great time.
Sunday, January 25.
We didn’t do much today. I worked on the blog and put some things away on the boat, washed clothes and hung them to dry. No pool time for me today. I got a little pink the last time I laid out so I am taking a break from the sun. Tonight we are BBQing pork ribs. Yumm!! There isn’t much else going on.
Monday, January 26.
The morning started out cloudy and then the sun came out and it got warm. Dave and I had to defrost the refrigerator. We have never had to do that before!!! It must be because of all the humidity here. Dave defrosted and I cleaned. We wondered why things were not as cold as we thought they should be and why the milk was spoiling so quickly. The beer wasn’t getting cold which is really the last straw you know?!! When that job was done, I washed out sheets, pillow cases, shirts and towels and hung them to dry. I washed the edge of the top comforter of our travasak bed system because it was soiled. I washed rugs, vacuumed down below and mopped the floor. I changed the sheets and made the bed. After my chores were finished, Dave and I took a dinghy ride to Marina Mazatlan to see if we could find John and Sandy. We did. Sandy was varnishing and John was trying to fix a wood piece that goes around one of his front windows. They invited us to come aboard and John served us beer while Sandy continued to finish her job. Then she joined us. We visited for a little while then said goodbye. We went back to our boat and I brought in all the clothes and had to hang some of them up below since they didn’t dry completely. I fixed dinner and while it was cooking, Dave went outside to find out what was making so much splashing noise. I joined him and Harry, our neighbor and Dave got their fishing poles and started catching fish. Harry got a bucket filled with sea water to put the fish in after catching them. They caught several corvina and 1 snook. They were pretty good size. The guys decided to give the fish to the night guard to take home. I couldn’t believe the water. It was looked like boiling water. It was so awesome to see. The big fish were chasing the little fish. It lasted for about 30 minutes and then it all stopped. Evelyn, Harry’s wife went and got the guard and he came down and took the fish. He was pleased. Dave thinks the little fish were sardines. Anyway that was pretty cool!! After all the excitement died down, Dave and I went inside and had dinner. After dinner and dishes, I took a quick shower onboard the boat and then relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday, January 27.
I don’t have much to do today. I was going to clean the BBQ but Dave said he would do that. So then I said I would dust, clean the counter tops in the heads, and put some simple green in the toilets and flush it and also put some down the drains to make them smell better. I worked on the blog for a little while and rinsed out the clothes in the laundry basket. The freezer needed defrosting again so I did that. I can’t believe how well the refrigerator is keeping things cold. Now we have cold milk and beer. Woohoo!!
Wednesday, January 28.
We have clouds this morning and it is quite breezy. The stainless steel guy, Rosete, is supposed to be here today but we don’t know when. Even if they give you a time it doesn’t mean they will be here then. Dave finally called the shop and talked with the secretary who didn’t speak much English and she told him Rosete was out of the office and would be back tomorrow. We thought it might mean he left the office to make his customer visits. Because of the conversation with the secretary he didn’t feel comfortable with it so he called again. He didn’t find out anything different. So he went to Gladys at the harbor masters office and asked if she could make the call and talk in Spanish to find out where he is and if he will be out to the boat today. As it turned out, Rosete was not only out of the office but out of Mazatlan. He would be back tomorrow. He will come to our boat tomorrow. Now we don’t have to wait around for him to show. Lynn off Dolphin Tales, came to our boat earlier and invited Dave to go with him and the guys to their weekly beans and beer. So Dave was able to do that. I was able to catch up on the blog. When Dave got back from the lunch with the guys, we had a mission to go down to a place called Kelly’s bicycle shop, to see about getting the inner tube to the dinghy tire fixed or replaced. We walked down to where the buses wait and got on board a bus. The driver was reading a book. I looked closer and it was a bible. Dave started to hand him the bus fare and the driver waved him off to leave him alone. So we sat on the bus for a few minutes until the schedule guy interrupted the driver and told him his break was over. The driver wrapped his bible in a small blanket and put it away then he took the bus fare from Dave. That was pretty interesting. We rode the bus to where we were instructed to go then got off and started looking for the bicycle shop. It didn’t take us long to find it on the other side of the street. We went across the street and asked the guy if he could fix the inner tube or replace it and he told us no. He directed us to a bicycle shop in downtown. That was the only place we could get a replacement. We would need to take the bus down the malecón and get off at the Fisherman’s Monument, cross the street and walk up a few blocks, and it would be on the right hand side of the street. We’ll have to do that tomorrow after the stainless steel guy leaves. It was too late to do it today. As we were walking back to the Marina the circus parade came by. A police car, with his sirens blaring and lights flashing, was leading the procession. Behind him were separate cages housing tigers, a panther, a leopard, two humped camels, a buffalo, and zebras. The buffalo had one horn that faced down and the other up. It looked just like what I do to the Viking horned hat I wear during Viking Fest, with one horn up and the other down. We had seen the same animals yesterday when we were with John and Sandy downtown. Dave and I continued to walk toward the marina and stopped to check out a cigar shop. Unfortunately it was closed. We walked to the Granada El Cid hotel and caught the free shuttle back to the Marina. At least we got some exercise.
Thursday, January 29.
It’s a beautiful sunny day. The stainless steel man is supposed to come today with our parts. We waited and waited. In the meantime I washed out a shirt and hung it to dry. I read quite a bit in my book but I needed to do something physical. Dave and I couldn’t leave the boat in case Rosete showed up. So after a while I grabbed the camera and took the water taxi across the channel to the other side. I walked on the beach and out on the point and took some pictures.
There were a couple of guys that followed behind me, and I could hear the guard trying to get our attention. We weren’t supposed to be out there. So I told the guys we couldn’t be there and we headed back. I was on a search for the big iguana, which I have named, “Mr. Ig.” No such luck. Since I haven’t been able to find him on the marina side I though he might be on this side. All I was able to find were a couple of smaller ones.
Here is a picture of the building that all the parties are in or around.
I took the water taxi back to the marina and then went looking to see if I could see “Mr. Ig” on our side. The wind had picked up quite a bit and was blowing sand so it made it hard to take pictures let alone see. So I walked back to the boat, put my camera away and picked up my book and started reading some more. Then it was dinner time. It’s a pretty quiet evening. I took a picture of the Marina restaurant and lobby from how we see it.
Friday, January 30.
It’s another beautiful warm day. I hope not too warm as I want to walk part of the malecón, then downtown to take pictures. We received a call over the VHF radio from John and Sandy asking if we would be around today. They got all their repairs done and were going to leave tomorrow and head south. They wanted to check the opening of the channel to make sure there were no obstructions or anything to worry about tomorrow morning when they head out. After that they would stop buy our boat for a few minutes. I did laundry again this morning and hung them out, had something to eat and got ready to head downtown. I’m going to take the inner tube with me so I can show them what I need and get a new one. I rode the bus to the Fisherman’s Monument and got off. I took pictures of the monument and then of the pangas lined up on the beach.
The fishermen come in with their morning catches and sell the fish. I continued walking south on the Malecón and was going to go to the place where they dive off the platform, but realized the tide wasn’t far enough in and it was still early. So I turned around and headed back toward the monument and turned right and walked up the street a few blocks until I was in the historical part of town. I took pictures of the Cathedral and the narrow streets and walked through the Mercado.
Across the street from the cathedral there is a town square that has a gazebo and they had some costumes set up in front of one of the building and a sign advertising Carnival. Carnival is like Mardi Gras and is held the Thursday through Tuesday before lent. It's the biggest carnival in Latin America.
Here is a picture of a pulmania up close.
I was trying to find the oldest bar we had visited with Lynn, Deb, and Lynn’s brothers’ friends, but couldn’t find it. So I turned around and walked back into the historical district and headed for the malecón.
I passed by a day care for toddlers. Some of them were lined up behind this gate waving to buses, people, and cars that went by. It was cute.
I also saw a cable car bus that is used for tours. It was interesting so I took the picture.
As I was heading through town to get to the Fisherman's Monument, I saw the circus parade go by advertising the circus was in town. Here are a few pictures.
I kept walking toward the water where I would come to the Fisherman’s Monument. Once there I would turn right and walk the several blocks to the bicycle shop. I found the shop and got a new inner tube. Mission is complete. As I was walking back toward the malecón I was looking for hardware stores to see if I could find a chamois mop for the boat. No such luck. I didn’t want to get on the bus yet as I was looking for the liquor store to check out what they had. So I walked and walked. It was pretty warm but not hot so I was O.K. I finally came to the liquor store and found the rum in the large container we have been searching all over to find. It was only 218 pesos. Not a bad price. Dave and I will have to come back. I didn’t have a lot of money with me and the container was glass which would be heavy in my backpack. So I decided I didn’t want to carry it around. Now I was ready to catch a bus. Was there one that would pass the marina? Nope. So I walked some more. At one of the intersections with a stop light, there were young men and women promoting Carnival. One guy was on stilts with a whistle, the women held the sign, and there were men playing drums. They walked out in front of the cars performing then went back to the sidewalk just before the light changed from red to green.
I finally had walked enough and stopped at a bus stop until the right bus came along. It felt good to sit down finally. Once back at the marina and the boat, I told Dave about my adventure and he said Deb from Dolphin Tales wanted to talk to me. I walked down to her boat and she wanted to know if we wanted to go to the circus tonight. I told her I thought it would be fun. Dave and I were planning on going to Munchkins to have all you can eat ribs so I asked what time they wanted to go. She said she would have to find out the time it starts and get back to me. When Deb found out she said there were two showings. One showing is at 6:15pm and the other at 8:30pm. Deb wanted to go to the first showing as she was afraid there wouldn’t be a bus running to bring us back home. Dave and I decided we would have a sandwich for dinner on the boat and then go to the early show. Once we, Lynn and Deb had finished dinner, we headed out and got on the bus and went to the circus. It cost 90 pesos each to get in. When we walked in there were these booths selling candy, popcorn, soda and other stuff.
There was only one ring.
Not like our 3 ring circus. We had pretty good seats. It was fun and we enjoyed it. It was all in Spanish, but it didn’t matter. We were still able to understand what was going on. There weren’t any elephants, just tigers, one and two hump camels, the buffalo with the crazy horns, zebras, horses, and giraffes.
They had a trapeze act, a juggler, clowns, and ninja performers.
There was Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse in costume going behind the seats getting pictures taken of them with people. They came behind us and we had our picture taken but we knew what they were going to do with them. Before the show was over, they came to everyone they took pictures of and asked if you wanted to buy them. We told them no. Clowns were selling hats that had a tube connected and when you blew in the tube it was connected to a party roll out whistle, but it didn't whistle. Here is what it looked like.
When the circus was over we left and caught the bus and got off at the Munchkins restaurant to have a drink and an appetizer. Afterwards we walked back to the marina and said goodnight. It was a fun evening.
John and Sandy did stop by our boat while I was gone today and visited with Dave.
Saturday, January 31.
Dave, Lynn, and I got in our dinghy and headed up the channel to Marina Mazatlan for a swap meet. On our way we stopped and talked to John and Sandy. They brought their boat to the fuel dock and after getting fuel would head south. We wished them well and said we’d see them back at El Cid in April.
None of us bought anything. Dave wanted to buy a fishing rod, but the lady wanted 1,000 pesos which is $100 U.S. No way. He wasn’t going to pay that much. So we went home empty handed. Lynn didn’t see anything he could live without either.
We came back to boat. Lynn went back to his boat and I got onboard our boat and washed a few items out and hung them to dry. My shins are hurting pretty good!! I over walked yesterday. Oh well. I will take it easy.
Dave and I walked over to the meat market to buy some pork chops, steaks, chicken, smoked and regular turkey breast for sandwiches, and hamburger. Need to have enough food when we leave here. With 2 pork chops, 4 steaks, chicken thighs and legs (2), 1kilo (2.2 lbs) each of smoked and regular turkey breast, and 2 lbs hamburger for 431 pesos. That is about $35 U.S. You cannot buy that much meat in the U.S. for that. All the meat is high quality and is very good.
One of the stainless steel workers, from Rosete’s shop, came to the boat with the rods to measure and check the fit. They weren’t finished yet. They said they would be back on Monday to give us the final product.
All we need for the boat now are the solar panels.
I went up to the pool and only stayed an hour. The ultra violet rays are getting stronger so I can’t be out in the sun as long as I could before. When I came back to the boat I changed my clothes and took a nap. For some reason I was really tired today.
Now it is happy hour so I fixed Dave and me a rum and coke. We finally finished the rum we thought was good but wasn’t. Now we can buy the rum we know is good. I fixed dinner and then after the dishes were washed, Dave and I went outside in the cockpit and had a scotch and cigar. After that we went down below, listened to music and I read my book while Dave played solitaire or his submarine game.
I have found Mazatlán to be a friendly place with lots of things to do and places to eat. There are impromptu parades. We saw one the night we went to dinner with George and Jackie to Dessert Storm. All these sirens and lights flashing and fire trucks going by and at first you think there is a huge fire somewhere, but the men were not dressed in firefighting equipment. They were in their uniforms. They didn’t wave but stood at attention. It was very interesting.
There is always music. The workers here at Marina El Cid sing as they work on their boats or have the radio going. Then there are those parties that happen across the channel that last all night and in the wee hours of the morning. I read an article in a newspaper not long ago that said if you don’t like the noise, you will have to choose a different place to stay. Sometimes the noise is loud, but knowing it isn’t going to last forever, you just go with the flow. You really do have to let go of stress and some hang-ups here and join in. It really is a fun place.
The bus system is fantastic and will take you wherever you want to go as long as you know what bus to catch. That is where the Mazatlan guide comes in that Jackie and George are promoting. Each bus driver decorates his busand some are decorated more than others.
They hang things in the buses that they like and have been given to them and most of them have rosaries and pictures of Jesus, Mary, and a saint or two. They are very religious. Some have decorated the dashboards and the stick shift in leather and fringe. Most have their name and their children’s names on the mirror above them. When you board the bus the driver takes your money and gives you a ticket. You need to keep that with you because sometimes an inspector comes onboard to check and see if we all have them. It’s to make sure the driver isn’t pocketing money. Very interesting. Each bus I have been on has a different sounding alert system to let him know you want off. It might be like a whistle or something louder. The pulmonias have different whistles also to get your attention to see if you want a ride.
The Mexican people are not ecology sensitive. At the marina, if they drop a plastic bottle, bag, or aluminum can in the water they don’t pick it out and throw it away. They leave it. Some of the fishing boats spill diesel in the water and nothing is done about it. I object to that because it really stinks and sometimes it is really strong. They love styrofoam and use it everywhere, especially by the pools. The bathrooms are cleaned several times a day and I have never worried about sanitation problems. You still can't flush toilet paper. This is a resort so of course they are going to keep it up more than somewhere else, I suspect, but for the most part things are clean. Here at the resort/marina you see these people cleaning all the time and they are very hard workers and do a wonderful complete job from start to finish. If you need work on your boat, you can be sure it will be done well. No women do that work, only men. I'm sure it is strange to them to see women like me work on the boat as much as a man does. I wouldn’t trust them with electrical though, but washing, waxing,cleaning hulls,changing zincs;shining bright work and the like they do well. Laundry is done by women and the men mostly do the lifting. Here it would be hard to climb the corporate ladder as a woman. Women usually have the secretarial jobs and cleaning, cooking, and the men have the labor jobs, however here at the resort I have seen women driving the golf carts and doing ground maintenance. No heavy exhurtion jobs though. It is definately a different life style.
The police go around town in their cars with lights flashing. That doesn’t mean anything here. I really don’t know why they do it but I was told it doesn’t mean anything until the siren is turned on and then you have to get out of the way.
There are cars with huge speakers on top that drive around the city advertising whatever. Of course I don’t know what they are saying because it’s in Spanish.
The tiendas (stores/markets) on the streets usually don’t have lights. They have a cement room they use to set up shop and then everything gets covered and closed up at night. You will find that on the outer edges of the downtown area.
It is an interesting fun place to visit. While you are here you have to think like them. Time doesn't mean anything to them. They usually complete a job close to the time you want it. Sometimes you have to add a little pressure depending on the job, and for us boaters, we usually want to move on so don't want to be held up too long. I wouldn't want to live here but I’ve had fun visiting. We are looking forward to moving on.
