Neil Scheuerlein

Jan 3, 2020. Friday, windy day

We hung out, did our morning devotions and generally had a pretty quiet day on the boat. We listened to the cruisers net in the morning, but did not hear anything we did not already know about. Still it is good to hear what is going on.

In the evening we walked to the Tailhunter restaurant for country music. There were not many people there, I think we might have hit the “offseason” the bars and restaurants all have. a lot of room, chairs and tables. Rarely have we seen even one of these full and this was no exception.

We had chips, salsa and guacamole with beer. Bohemia, a sort of darkish beer. The walk to and from the Tailhunter was about 3.3 miles round trip. So, we walked off the chips and salsa!

the Country group at the Tailhunter in La Paz

Chips, salsa, Guac and 4 beers, for 223 pesos. (Less than $12).

Jan 2, Thursday, walking!

We walked to Lopez marin parts store, (not far) then to the Propage Gas shop, (a ways to walk) then we walked to the museum (not far, but closed) then to a fast food place for lunch, (kind of on the way) good lunch, and not very expensive. Then to Ace Hardware for me and Renee’ went to the grocery store. From there we walked back to the Malecon (the road closest to the beach). We walked up to the Tailhunter restaurant (recommended by Andy Marcum) for a beer and to find out what the scheduled entertainment was for the week.

When we got there we found Josh, Cozette, Jeff and Bodie having lunch. So, we joined them for a beer and coffee. we talked about what we had done since we were last together. Then we walked back to the boat.

I think Renee’ and I walked something more than 7 miles today. Very enjoyable miles.

We have been talking about leaving Friday to go explore the island nearby. But, the weather says that it will be pretty windy. So, we elected to stay here through Monday morning. We stopped at the office and paid for the extra nights.

Jan 1, 2020 La Paz, visiting friends

We had a quiet day, started with listening to the cruisers net here in La Paz. It comes on at 8 am six days a week on channel 22. It is very informative and well organized. We have been trying to listen to this, but kept forgetting to turn the radio on. We know have a reminder set to help us remember.

We really did not do much this day. Renee’ cleaned the deck and we just hung out. then in the afternoon Doug and Esther from Spartan (another boat here in the marina) came by to invite us for dinner. We met them at the church and sat with them on New Years Eve at the cruisers club.

We checked our busy calendar and said that we would join them for dinner. We were to bring the appetizers and entertainment. Renee’ made salsa and cookies and we went over about 6 pm. Dinner was a really good meal with fresh prawns, brown rice and broccoli. Very good.

After dinner we played cards and chatted a really nice evening. Doug has been in La Paz for a couple of years, and is a bible study leader at the church. Esther lives in Seattle and comes down to visit periodically. They have known each other since high school, and only got together recently. Doug’s wife of 28 years died a couple of years ago.

Spartan is an interesting boat, a 43 foot, Cat Rigged Schooner. That means two masts, the aft mast is taller than the front mast (schooner). The masts are set forward, the front one is almost at the bow, so no traditional jib. The masts are carbon fiber, so it is an interesting looking rig with the black masts.

Dec 31, Tuesday Boat wash day and end of the year, end of the decade

Watermelon Radish, not quite as sharp as a regular Radish, and much larger. Similar consistency/texture to a regular red radish.

We walked to the farmers market for fruit and veggies, stopped at OXXO (like a 7-11) for Tecate beer. The beer is not to drink, but to make pancakes with. The beer was pretty inexpensive, 220 pesos for 24 beers ($11.65), then back to the boat.

Our next plan is to wash the boat. Renee’ will make appetizers, and a desert to share then at 4 pm we will go to the cruisers club here in La Paz for the Pot Luck. It is at 4 pm as that is midnight ZULU time (Greenwich mean time). Later there are supposed to be fireworks downtown.

We went to the potluck, which was very well attended. Ate too much, and socialized for a couple of hours. Then back to the boat by about 7:30 or so. Renee’ took a nap, (I had taken one earlier in the day). When she woke up we played cards, then watched a movie, YESTERDAY. It was pretty enjoyable. Followed by another card game.

At midnight, we heard the horns on some other boats, and Renee’ saw the fireworks in town and we went to bed.

Dec 30, Monday WORK day

Renee’ took the laundry to the laundromat, no small feat. It’s is of course all on foot. 4 loads of clothes to catch up, almost a mile round trip to get a cart to haul the laundry, then another walk to the laundromat, with a cart full of laundry (about a mile), then back as she was told it was full until about 4pm. Then she walked to the grocery store, and back.

While Renee’ was walking all over town, I was busy on the boat. I changed the oil in the generator, installed the EPIRB (radio emergency locator). It is already registered, and would work if we needed it right out of the box, but it is better to have it actually mounted on deck.

We also got the holding tank pumped out. This was really good for figuring out jus what the heck is going on with it. Our gauge showed 80%, but when pumped out into a semi clear plastic tank only had about 7 gallons in a 55 gallon tank. I filled our holding tank up with water, and then it was pumped out to the same tank. We pumped about 45 gallons out of the tank. This compares to my calculation in San Diego of about 35 gallons. So, good news! We are making progress cleaning out the crud in the bottom of the tank. Also, this apparently rinsed the inside of the tank and cleaned the sensors as when it was pumped out this time it showed that the tank was at about 10%. We are going to get some enzyme treatment for the tank, (maybe next year?) and in the meantime, every time we are in a marina, fill the tank with water before we go out so that we can pump it out when we get a couple of miles out. This is to rinse the tank.

In the afternoon, Renee’ walked back to the laundromat and got the clothes going. I went over later and helped her fold the clothes. We had a late dinner, and went to bed.