Category: 2021-12 (December)

Sunday – we were up early so I could go back to the boat in the shipyard for two bags of clothes we want to donate to a children’s ministry at church.  We caught a van to Bucerias for church.  We did not join the after church group at Rhythm and Blues because we had a lot to talk about.  We may seem carefree in Mexico but there are concerns in the states that require our attention and much prayer.

It was a lazy afternoon.  I took a dip in the pool here at the La Cruz Inn and we got naps.  We had an early dinner then took a walk to the boat.

We discovered Amazon.Mex!  We can order from it, use our Amazon Prime acct and have it delivered to the marina (no one day shipping).  It’s really cool!  We get tracking, emails on the progress and everything!

 

Up at 6:30. Breakfast and Bible reading, then finish prepping the boat for haul out.

Our neighbors helped move the boat. We stopped at the pump out dock, to pump out and get the survey guy on board. He was bringing his boat over to La Cruz, but ran out of fuel, sailing but no wind. So, he didn’t get to check the engine at operating temperature.

We arrived at the pump out dock between 0830 & 0900, got our holding tank pumped out, then lined up on the lift. We got to the first strap at 0930, right on schedule, right in the middle of the lift, no issues, no need for language Spanish or spare fenders. Better to be ready and not need it….

The survey guy (John) arrived after we were out, and checked the hull, and saw the damage, then the fiberglass guy ground out the fiberglass that needed to get fixed and the water started draining. I am guessing 5 gallons or more of water came out. This may delay our getting back in the water next week.

In the meantime, we are staying at the La Cruz Inn, Avery nice quaint hotel and restaurant. This is the restaurant that has dancing horses Friday nights.

We had high expectations for today. We were supposed to get the old sails off, get the in the water survey done, get our freezer repaired (again), and finally run the water maker.

Well, the sails didn’t get down, the survey didn’t get done, our freezer got worked on, but not fixed. We did run the water maker.

All in all, a rather frustrating day.

We did some prep work for the haul out. Moving the paddle boards to the dock, and clearing other things off the rails.

We helped another boat S/V Serenity a big catamaran get ready for the yard and haul out. I went over with them, and experienced how with the best of plans, things can go bad. There were three of us on board, Karen (her boat), Jim (a friend) and me. First, when we approached the haul out location we saw a large boat at the fuel dock, blocking access to the lift. So that caused a delay. Then when it was clear, we headed in, just as she got to the first strap, the stbd engine died. This meant loss of control, we were not going very fast, but when fiberglass and concrete come into contact, the fiberglass loses. We backed out, got the engine started and moved to the fuel dock, the yard workers got us in with dock lines. What I learned for our haul out, was someone on deck who speaks Spanish, as none of the yard workers speak English. The other is a couple of spare fenders handy on deck just in case. Finally, extra hands are a good idea.

 

We woke up a few minutes before the alarm went off at 7 am. Then breakfast and the net. After the net there was a request to help a catamaran go to the yard. So, I volunteered and Reneé and I went over and helped Karen on S/V Serenity get prepped and over to the yard. Just as she was getting into the sling, her stbd engine died and she drifted into the wall. We got off and only a few minor scratches ($$$) got the engine started and then over to a dock and the boat yard guys pulled us into the sling. Finally up and out on the hard. I left and headed back to our boat. About 3 hours from start to finish.

Today we are expecting delivery of two new standup paddle boards. (SUP) they are being delivered from Sams. Cost was 9500 pesos each plus 500 pesos for delivery. So, 19,500 pesos at about 20 pesos to the dollar, about $930 USD for the two of them. When they get here we will see if they fit where our single kayak was. We sold that at the swap meet a couple of weeks ago.

The kayaks arrived, and Reneé took one out and made sure it worked a her. I will try another day. Charlie (Carlos) was down and recharged the freezer, but… it is worse now than before. Temp is at 23 and rising, it was getting down to 14 before. So, we have contacted him about a return visit. We took a trip to the pool, this is a very small pool, about 10 ft wide and 15 feet long (maybe a bit bigger than that, but still pretty small). It was good to cool off. The AC is running on the boat again, I turned it off to air the boat out for a bit earlier today.

We opted to miss the Bible study at the church in Bucerias (mostly because we couldn’t confirm it was taking place…no reply to our text).  We walked through the town’s Wednesday market and then went to Mar Y Sol Market where we had a bill to pay.  They’d let us take some salad dressing home yesterday without paying for it because it wasn’t priced yet.  The cashier just said “Come back tomorrow when we know the price.”  We hitched a ride with Doug (Lola – Panama Posse) to Sam’s first and bought two paddle boards (~$1000).  Then to Zaragoza to buy a new fender (Doug bought anchor chain and ordered a new anchor).  Then to Chedraui to buy good beer (a brown ale – Cucapa).  After dinner we watched Max Lucado’s “The Christ Child”.