November 30 2012
Passage preparation,
Dave & Sue, my brother & his wife spent a week with us last week. They arrived the 17 early afternoon, & showed up at the pizza restaurant where Caesar & I were patiently waiting, me with a cold Pacifico, he with cold water. Well that started the week. Of course it was necessary that they have something to clear the dust from their throats as well, they had been in the air all day, & then a long dry taxi ride. We spent a quiet evening deciding on the weeks plans, Caesar found it important to show them the bridge deck, his favorite spot for sunset or sunrise or just people watching. Even when I come down, he loves to stay in his favorite spot. We made a plan for the next day, don’t go too far ahead the weather may change, HA! probably not, sunny & warm. We spent time at the Mercado in downtown Mazatlan, Centro as it’s known, in old town which is really very quaint, toured the old church, had lunch at one of the many outdoor eateries. Then I took them to every bodies favorite ice cream store. There are more than 20 different choices. You can have a taste if you would like before picking which one or ones you would like to eat. I think the cost was about 15 pesos, hard not to spend the afternoon there just tasting. Then it was off for a walk to Olas Altas beach, about 7 blocks away. After walking on the beach, & letting C play in the surf we decided it was time for a Marguarita at a local famous watering hole, the Shrimp Bucket I think. We ordered a pitcher but we had him hold the salt. (small consolation), after about 15 minutes the waiter is back, no marguarita’s? You kidding right, nope they are missing an important ingredient, the sweet liquour, well back to the drawing board, we can’t just leave, so after pondering what else would work we sent him back with the new order. 10 minutes later the bartender shows up with a pitcher of marguarita’s? Evidently the missing ingredient had arrived! By this time we had determined that our bus that would take us home was running about every 10 minutes. After finishing our drinks we thought we would catch the next bus (green bus has air conditioning), we ordered the “la cuenta” but TIM(this is mexico) we would see a few buses go by before getting our bill & paying. Then off to 10 peso bus with a/c. It would be a 45 minute ride taking us back downtown again before heading to the marina. Another day we decided to go snorkeling so into the dinghy with sandwiches that Sue had made on freshly bought bread from the veggy truck, cold beer, wine & out to the closest island, about a mile offshore. Caesar got to stay home & guard the boat which of course he was happy to do(not). While they were here, actually Sat & Sun, there was a huge fishing tournament, first prize new car, 2nd a boat, it was disguised as an antique car show. This was all in the marina lot, there were many different displays & promotions, one being high end tequila sampling, we tasted this one & determined by Sue that she had to buy one for the boat. It was 300 pesos, which is very expensive here for tequila, probably would have cost 3-4 times that it the states or Canada. It was just meant for sipping & its nice. When I went for my Spanish classes on T & F, Dave & Sue had C to themselves, I was concerned that he would leave with them but he didn’t even consider it, although he did become quite attached to them. One night they took us out for pizza at a restaurant in the marina, was delicious & I must eat there again b4 we leave. Another afternoon we went out to Stone island, you take a panga ferry to get there but its not even really an island but one of the best beaches in the area. We could have gone horseback riding on bilingual horses, but when they know more than us? Not. In any case we filled all our hours & had a great time. We even got to a puppet show! Too soon they were packing up to leave, the time flew by & they were gone. It took Caesar awhile to believe it.
Now I am preparing the boat to head further South. I started the engine yesterday, and of course had a fuel leak, which I knew, but also had a second one on a fuel return line. I took the secondary filter off only to find the gasket badly crimped, no wonder it leaked. It had been installed by the same mechanico that left a gasket out of one of the others. Not bad, 4 filters, 2 installed incorrectly & I had to pay him? The other leak I think is stopped or close to it, I will monitor it, if it continues but I think I have it fixed. Tomorrow I need to wash the boat, remount a vhf radio, hook up the inverter & go & watch the 10k marathon. If I get time I will go to Sam’s Club for wine. My plan is to leave on Thursday, depending on weather. Still no crew so I must stop at Isla Isabel for some needed rest, even though I will arrive after dark, there are no other options. Then the next day on to Nuevo Vallarta. Would like to spend a day or so but C is not allowed ashore because it is a sanctuary & no pets allowed. He was pissed when he found out. I have rebuilt the bracket that they did in La Paz for the outboard, hope this works now, will be loading the dink & outboard in the next day or so.
Dave & Sue’s visit
December 3, 2012 by dicktripp
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too Dick. Just back from a quick trip to Veraderas for Christmas. Not back 3 hours and already dealing with they lost my bag (suspect it got stolen at Veraderas airport) and hit a big doe dead on at 100kph I wonder if they will write Brie’s car off. Oh my! Full moon tomorrow! now what? See you in the new year.
Les
Sounds like you’re enjoying your leasure. Hello to you, Coyes and Cesar. Miss you all. Glad to hear your brother was able to come for a visit. Safe journey. Take care, Denice
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