Here are a couple of little tidbits that will add color to our day to day experiences… brought to you by the letter “T.”

“T” is for Teasing Crackling noises: Every night when we go to bed we hear crackling noises.. kind of sounds like Snap, Crackle and Pop are on the deck, or below deck.. or somewhere. Sometimes we hear it during the day too. Today we all had our head in the bilge to see if we could figure out the source.  Well tonight, we may have learned the answer from friends who came over for dinner (fresh grilled shrimp, fish tacos made with fresh red snapper and fresh grilled tuna…mealtime is more fun when there is a fish market on the other side of the marina)

As for the crackles.. Google the term “Pistol Shrimp” and watch the BBC video. These little guys create a snapping heated shockwave to stun their prey (other shrimp) and then proceed to eat them.  Huh.. So what we are hearing is a feeding frenzy of sorts.  Yummy.

“T” is for Toilet Paper. We can’t flush it. And after a couple months, I finally got used to putting it in the garbage can next to the toilet (another T word.)  On the boat, the marine head doesn’t like the stuff. No surprise there. The head will clog with just about anything. But in the marina, we don’t use the boat bathroom much anyway.. but the bathrooms on shore all ask that you not flush the paper. Apparently the sewage system can’t handle it.  Carrying out the trash takes on a whole new sense of urgency.

“T” is for Tequila.  Rumor has it that Thane (another “T” word) really likes Tequila. So what better road trip than to visit Tequila Mexico, where the worlds best Tequila is made?  (Where is Brett toe-to-toe  when I need him?)

We toured  old and new distilleries …and got free samples. And of course, you can get great deals on the good stuff and the not so good stuff. Street vendors were selling 5 liter jugs ( looked like big jugs of apple juice) for $100 pesos.. about $8 bucks.  Ripley’s Believe it or Not called me… ’cause I passed up that deal. Go figure.  (but we all had a wonderful time visiting this quaint Mexican town.)

The next one is not so Trivial, but I didn’t want to change the title of the post.

“T” is for Teapot Tony. Tony is a mechanic that is helping us rebuild our starter and our alternator. Somehow (we don’t know how..yet)  about 500 gallons of  salt water got in the boat Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. That much water literally filled the bilge.. which of course contains lots of electrical wiring and our engine. That’s why TeaPot Tony is rebuilding the above listed parts. He believes that our engine will be OK (just have to change the oil and filters a bunch of times) but we’ll all feel better when it is running again.  We are replacing some wiring and connection points that got corroded in a few short hours.. And, of course, we’ll all breath easier when we know what caused it, so we can prevent it from happening again.  So far, it is a mystery.

“T” is for Today’s Boat Show News.. the Mexican Navy did a mock emergency water recovery, complete with overturned boat and three “victims” in the water. As the Rescue Boats came to the scene, frogmen jumped in as a helicopter came to lower a basket to air-evac the wounded.  It was actually a pretty cool demonstration. This all took place about 100 yards off the marina wall.. with lots of press and many Mexican dignitaries looking on. Obama was rumored to be coming.. but alas.. not.

“T” is for “That’s all folks”

Thane