Make Me Laugh Again

(posted 02/19/24)
Up at 5:30 to get to the boat by 7 AM. This is to get the bottom paint to the guys painting it.
Today, I got rid of the old batteries, and the bottom got painted. Reneé made a trip to the store and I worked on the Blog.

This is some questions a friend asked:
Forgot to ask……about future plans.  At least the one question I asked awhile back when you e-mailed about changes.  Your current info. isn’t clear.
The dual question is your intentions on keeping the boat you have now…AND…whether your longterm goal is still to take it through the Panama Canal (considering how much you’ve spent maintaining and upgrading/replacing systems–like sails).  You already have a slip, I believe, near your new home in Tennessee.  Would you sell the boat you have (and buy a different one–maybe smaller?) for doing the Great Loop?  I can’t imagine you doing the PP routine every year…and never getting beyond PV.

So, our plans look something like this (Remember life is what happens when you make plans, and GOD is always in control):
We have decided that we will keep Make Me Laugh Again in Banderas Bay (Puerto Vallarta area) for the next 5 years. We have looked at going south to Panama and then across to Florida and exploring the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. As we looked at this the cost of slips in Florida have gone up in price, and we really like the Puerto Vallarta area.
In 2023, we restructured our finances, sold our house in Florida and bought a house in Tennessee. This significantly reduced our tax bill,(property tax as neither Florida or Tennessee have state income tax).
We chose Tennessee based on wanting to do the Great Loop (a boating trip around the eastern part of the US) and no state income tax, it is also a very beautiful state. The area we picked is near the Tennessee river (5 blocks) which is part of the Great Loop. To do the Great Loop our boat doesn’t fit the bill well. Because it is on the inland waterways, draft is important our boat has a 5 foot draft, which is the upper limit on recommendations. But shallower is better, our boat has a 65 foot mast, the shortest bridge is 19’6” and if you get around that, there are some in the 20 foot range etc. So a different boat is necessary for that trip.
We are on the waiting list for a slip on Pickwick Lake (near our place in Tennessee, but it is supposed to be about 5 years).
What does this all mean for the Panama Canal? We probably won’t go there. However, when it comes to selling Make Me Laugh Again, we will have to decide the best place to keep her while selling. Choices will be to keep her in Mexico, take her up to San Diego, or through the Canal and up to Texas, or Florida. That decision is still 5 years away though, so we will table it until we get closer in time.

(posted 02/13/24)
Up at 6 AM. Had breakfast and hit the road. We had a planned stop at West Marine to pick something up for someone at the boat yard.
I thought they opened at 9. So we got there at about 8:55. When they didn’t open by 9:05, I knocked on the door. The lady inside opened it up and said that they didn’t open until 10, and she was waiting for a trainee. She said she was confused about the day, and since it was Saturday she was wrong and she would get right on it. Eventually, I pointed out that it was Monday, but she had already opened the store and I had gotten what I came for. BTW, the posted hours are 10 AM to open Tuesday through Friday 9 AM on Saturday, and CLOSED on Sunday and Monday.
Then return the rental car, get an Uber to the Shuttle and then back to Puerto Peñasco. A cab ride to the boat (to drop off stuff) and a walk back to our room. Another long day.

(posted 02/13/24)
Breakfast and chatting, hors d’oeuvres. We played a game of Mexican train (dominos).
At 4:30, another couple Walt and Shelly SV DUNE came over.

At one point someone asked what time the game was, we had to look it up. While I was looking it up, I found out who was playing.
At the appropriate time, we spent about 2 minutes looking for the game on TV, realized they didn’t have network TV, so we gave up.
Of the 6 of us there, only Reneé was disappointed that she couldn’t watch the commercials or half time show.
We had a great time, ate pizza, drank beer and other adult beverages, and swapped stories about SAILING.
The next morning, I found out who won, when reading an unrelated post on Facebook that someone commented on it. Oh well.

(posted 02/13/24)
We ran around doing shopping for a couple of hours. Then finally drove up to Steve and Denny’s place near Sedona. We chatted for a while, then went to Montezuma’s well. It started snowing (hail?) so, we didn’t stay long. More chatting.
Every so often Steve would check the hot tub temperature. It eventually got to almost 100 degrees and we got in. A crystal clear night, lots of stars.

Then bed.

 

(posted 02/13/24)
Today is a travel day. We were up at 0630, had breakfast and out the door so we could walk to the shuttle. 4 passengers and a driver in a 7 passenger van. Then off to the border. At the border, we paid for our ride, $55 each, then walked across the border. Got into a bigger van 15 passengers, now 5 of us and continued on our way. At the drop off spot we got an Uber to get our rental car. This is a shuttle ride that takes about an hour and a half for the part up to the border in a van, then a walk across the border and get into another van and then about a 2 and a half hour ride to Phoenix.
We did some shopping then went to the hotel checked in. Out for dinner then bed by 9. A long day of travel.