Category: 2021 – 2022 Season 3

This day started off early, we got it together and up to the street and got an UBER to the Cruise ship terminal where we met Warren and Katrin Hay. They are friends from San Onofre and Las Vegas. 

We first went to Playa de Muertos (the beach of the dead) at the south end of Puerto Vallarta where we walked out on the pier then along the paved walk until we got to the Blue Shrimp where we stopped for chips and guacamole. This was to make sure we had something in our tummy before Tequila tasting. The guacamole was very good as was the salsa that went with it. Then on to Oscar’s for the Tequila.

At Oscar’s we asked if Fransisco (our server the last time we were here) was in. We were in luck he was finishing up his lunch and then he came out and we spent the next hour and change tasting a variety of Tequila. We had a great time doing this and in the end we all bought too much Tequila. We got a recommendation for a restaurant Casa Tradicional Cocina Mexicana which was in walking distance, so we headed there for lunch. When we arrived there was a group of Mariachis playing and we enjoyed a couple of songs from them. Finally a really good lunch.

From there we had an hour of two to wander around before we had to pick up our Tequila from Oscar’s so we walked back to the beach and got some pictures then back to Oscar’s and then an Uber back to the cruise ship where we dropped Warren and Katrina off and continued back to our boat. 

Renee’ and I planned to go to the pool, but we took naps and then went to the grocery store, got showers and went to bed.

Up early, people to talk to and work to coordinate. Listened to the net, seems like our radio just needed to wake up yesterday (?) as it seems to be working fine today.

So, I have someone coming by the boat on Tuesday (assuming we are still here) to check the radio. I have been in touch with a few people about getting things fixed. The covers for the wood on deck has been adjusted. 

We have found out that there is a shortage of slips available here at Paradise Village, and as a result we have checked out our options. We will see where we will end up.

Yesterday evening we went to the beach and noted they were not letting anyone into the ocean, apparently a crocodile had been spotted. Normally they stay in the marina. Two points of interest today, we found out that there is a shortage of workers here in Mexico. While they don’t have the welfare and unemployment stuff going on that is happening in the US, what they do have is they have been given access to their retirement accounts without penalty. Next up, this place appears to be very full, it is a 5 star resort and the pool is full every time we go check it out. 

Tomorrow we are meeting Warren and Katrina Hay (friends from San Onofre, and Las Vegas) at the cruise ship terminal. They have a day here tomorrow. So, I should have some good “touristy” pictures for the blog.

Overnight, we had some rain, at least an inch, I heard the number on the morning net, but had not had my coffee yet. It was either 1.77 or maybe 4.77 inches. 

We found that one of the portholes wasn’t tight, which resulted in water coming in, we also have water coming down around the mast, all this is manageable, but it helps explain how wet the inside of the boat is.

We don’t have any food on the boat yet, so we went out for breakfast, laundry and groceries. All with in walking distance.

Back on the boat, Reneé worked on cleaning, I did some odds and ends and got our beer cooler replacement ordered. It is hard enough in the states to get a part, it is that much harder when you have to figure out how to get it into Mexico. I think Reneé got more done today than I did. 

But we talked to the company that watched the boat, the lady who made the canopy and covers, I emailed back and forth about the sails, and I ordered the new beer cooler. 

Tomorrow, we will meet with the lady who runs the company that watched the boat, get an estimate for fixing our varnish, (maybe two) and get some work done on the bright work covers. 

We went out to dinner again, then to the beach and hot tub. Finally showers and bed.

We stayed in a Drury inn in Kansas City Sunday night. Got up at 5:15 organized, had breakfast and on the way by 6:15. Some good things about this particular chain of hotels:

• Dinner is included in the price
• 3 drinks are included (the beer was lite, so I had a generic gin and tonic)
• Breakfast was included and pretty good

First stop gas for the rental car, then a short drive to the airport to drop off the car.

Our luggage is a bunch of stuff for the boat. We had 3 checked bags, the heavy one was 60 lbs, and the checked bag fee was $100, and $100 for being overweight. While that seems expensive, it would have been much more to ship this stuff. Oh, and we used airline miles to fly, so our tickets were very low ($70.64 for the two of us).  So, the price to get us and our stuff to Mexico was $270.64.

The only odd thing we encountered on our flight was a delay in boarding the flight from Dallas to Puerto Vallarta, there were several people needing assistance and at least one of the first class passengers at the head of the line, presented a boarding pass for a different flight. That took quite a bit of time to sort out. As a result we were about 20 minutes late pushing out. 

When we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, we got right through customs and immigration with no problems. Caught a cab and we were back on our boat around 5:30 or so.

One question that we had was about Sirius XM, we use this virtually all the time. We have a radio in both trucks and the boat, but given a choice, we use the app and listen to a variety of Pandora stations through the stereo as there are no commercials and not even any announcers. This did not work when we were in Mexico last year, but it does this year!! So, as long as we have internet we use this!

Issues on the boat were:

• The new canvas covers sag in a few places exposing the varnish
• The dehumidifier did not do as well as we expected, so we have some mold to deal with 
• All the stuff that has been off for 6 months has to get started back up. Somewhat different than a house or an RV, we have had high humidity and salt in the air. 
• It appears that I may have left my coffee cup in the rental car. (UPDATE, I found my cup, it was in the computer bag!)
• There will probably be more things with issues 

We got the A/C going, the boat was about 90 degrees, and humid. Then unpacked and headed out for dinner and the pool. We did not get to the pool before it closed. We headed back after dinner, had showers and slept in our own bed. (YEAH!)

This is the post I made on Facebook when we were at the airport in Kansas: