The most common question we get from friends is “what did you do to stay busy?”.. and ironically it is a hard question to answer. We filled our time easily.. and granted we were rarely “busy busy” but we had our tasks to do and we did them. But we did them on a different pace, I guess. And we mixed in more time just to visit with others who were also on a journey, exchanging stories and experiences. This in turn built friendships and all the more reason to “hang out” with other cruisers.

Re-entry was made a bit easier with all of the trees and shrubs in full bloom in Sioux Falls upon our return. Then.. just to punish us I’m sure, the weather has turned dark and dreary and cold, wet and rainy for the past week.. which now feels like eternity. Last night during a deluge I noticed that our home’s main downspout was clogged (the one that drains nearly our whole roof) So I went out into the night with a ladder and screwdriver and tried unsuccessfully to unscrew the tiny sheet metal screws to unclog the system. I gave up after getting soaking wet by having freezing water run down the insides of my sleeves. This morning it threatened rain, so I tried again.. just as the rain started sheeting again. Victory this time, but just as wet and just as cold.

While balancing on a ladder in cold rainstorm, I had to think about the comparative tasks during our time on Oblivion… hoisting one’s self up the mast, for example, to replace a bulb in the steaming light, only to have one of the parts bounce off the deck and into the water.  That incident was just as frustrating as the downspout adventure.. but given the choice between the two, I’d choose the sailboat.  It was a warm dry experience on the boat, and I came away thirsty for a Cervasa. After the downspout I came away shivering for a shower.

The second most common question asked is if we knew what we do now about four living in confined quarters, would we do it again. Answer: absolutely. We now love Mexico, it’s landscape, it’s people (who are much more friendly than in the Caribbean) the low cost of living. Granted, we drove Jeff and Nancy a bit crazy… but we trust they knew those risks when we decided to share this adventure many months ago while enjoying a cold brew at Monks….. And I believe they would agree that we left as friends.

Was it hard to get back to work? I had a warm welcome from everyone. Greg (President) and the management team got me up to speed quickly. Except for the alarm clock.. it has been easy.

What do I miss most since being home? The freedom of just being.  The amount of time Brenda and I had with each other.. talking, walking, and just being.

When will you sail again? Our boat Equilibrium (a Catalina 387 which we share with Dave and Nancy Thomas) was splashed last week into Lewis and Clark lake. I will sail her next weekend, as Amanda’s recital production is this weekend. (I’ve been a weekend sailor for a long time.. but suddenly it seems foreign to sail only on the weekends…) It will be interesting to see if sailing it makes me long for the sea… or at least to get back on a boat for an extended period of time.  I’m guessing the answer will be a resounding YES. But that will come with the next adventure. While I plan on visiting Oblivion this fall in the sea of Cortez, Brenda and I will most likely be sailing the Caribbean next winter on a Bavaria sloop purchased from friends who.. like Jeff and Nancy, also started sailing in the waters of Lewis and Clark lake.

Huh. Come to think about it, we have now met with or sailed with four couples that started at Lewis and Clark who are right now sailing somewhere in the  world. Must be a great training ground!!

Thane

“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

In 2008 when we purchased the boat, the propane stove/oven had issues. It flat out did not work. At all. So last spring I installed new a new propane regulator on the tank, a new solenoid shut-off and a new electronic panel that governs the system and monitors for gas leaks. Wa-la! The stove top and broiler worked, but the control knob for the oven was stuck and did not move at all…

Last week, Jeff went after the stuck knob and decided it would either break free or simply break (no downside to that action) and was able to enable it. So the meal was a big surprise; but the oven working was the really big surprise.  (Brenda celebrated yesterday by making a chocolate cake!)  One side effect of baking, however, is heat. And on a hot boat, adding a 350 degree oven is rather..warm.  But it is GREAT to be able to add a fire to the hole..

Some of you have asked how meal prep works with two couples… only one of which eats meat. There are so many ways we can gross out our friends (literally had Jeff running out of the boat as I fried a hamburger) that for the most part eat out together or just as couples… or fix simple meals on the boat. Sometimes we cook first and then Jeff or Nancy preps their food; or visa versa.

But there are so many places to eat in town.. and it is so cheap to do so, that frankly we eat out a lot. Tacos on the street are about 5 pesos… about 40 cents. Quesidillas with chicken, pork, or beef cost about a buck. Pacifico or Corona is about $1.25 (15 or 20 pesos)  For breakfast you can get eggs ranchero or french toast Mexico style.. for a buck or two.  Some “establishments” are nothing more than plastic chairs in the street and a small kitchen in the front of a home. Others are true restaurants with actual menus… (doesn’t help. Can’t read em anyway.)  They are more expensive, but still dirt cheap compared to Perkins.

We have lost weight, but not for the lack of food. We’ve been walking A WHOLE LOT MORE than we do in Sioux Falls.  We aren’t wasting away, but Brenda says I’ve lost my butt.

Now that the oven is working, however, we can bake all sorts of goodies… cookies, cakes, and Brenda’s famous brownies. (And of course, meatloaf) We can find those lost pounds…

Thane

We have been in the Puerto Vallarta area for coming up on two weeks in a marina known as Marina Rivera Nayarit. It is a newer marina, built in 2006 in a natural small bay.. on the shores of an small but authentic Mexican village.  The marina has a nice website that makes it look pretty swanky.. but the rent here is reasonable.. about $20 a night.. which includes our water and electricity. Split between two couples.. reasonable.  See more on the marina at  http://www.marinarivieranayarit.com They have a map on the site of the marina.. we are on Dock 3, slip A4. Under the “media” tab there are great photos of the area…

There is a racing regatta happening this week… featuring big international racing yachts.. kinda America’s cup style; and a major boat show next week.. so there has been plenty to do and see. They are paving areas and setting up huge tents for exhibitors…

We also spend time hanging out with other cruisers,  making new friends and learning “best practices” of a successful cruising lifestyle.   The yacht club has nice showers and good food from a structure that looks down over the marina. A great place for morning coffee. We’ve been doing yoga a couple times a week, and started going to a Learning Spanish class that meets twice a week.

As I mentioned, we’ve been here about two weeks. When we first pulled into the dock, Jeff secured the dockline and patted Oblivion and said “there there, girl… sorry to tie you up like this.” Nancy’s response was “Maybe she needs a rest.”

The thing about cruising is that you have a destination in mind.. ie: the next harbor down the coastline. So you end up needing to go a certain direction. Gumperson’s law states that the wind will always come from the direction you want to go (thereby requiring motoring instead of sailing.) Therefore, for the last two months and hundreds of miles we’ve traveled, we’ve only sailed for… oh, maybe 10 hours.  Back to the story: So Oblivion has been resting comfortably for a couple of weeks, until yesterday the boat told me she wanted to bust out of the marina and feel the perfect 18 kt wind in her sail. So Brenda and I took the boat out for a romp.  This is a big bay we are in.. one of the biggest in the world. It’s about 15 miles to the other side.  Since we had no destination in mind, we just set the sails for every sailboats favorite point of sail.. the close reach. That’s where the apparent wind is 60 to 70 degrees off the bow… and let her go.  We hit hull speed with just the jib flying pretty… and we had the company of 25 racing boats to slash though the waves with. A whale even breached in the distance to say hello.

Jeff and Nancy had gone to PV for some time away (we are a bit hard to live with from time to time) but they are back and tomorrow we all head out on a field trip .. to Tequila.  Might have to visit a distillery or two.. stand by for posts on that subject.. although you may have to wait awhile to read it here…

Do keep looking in the photo gallery.. many good shots show up there from time to time…

Thane

We will load some photos into the gallery on this site.. but photo’s just don’t do it justics….

T

Well, the bay we are anchored in is infested with “no-see-ums.” Those are tiny little bugs that love to bite people. So the guidebooks advised anchoring a full MILE offshore so they don’t infest the boat. No problem.  But the dinghy ride at 4mph is less fun when it is raining in your face. We beached the dinghy, had a couple of Cervezas in the shelter of the beach bar in the drifting smoke of burning coconut hulls (they keep the no-see-ums from seeing you I guess) and waited for the rain to stop. Brenda had coconut milk from a freshly whacked coconut, and Nancy dared into the extreme by purchasing a desert type item from a women that was selling here specialty (only in Mexico could a person wander through an eating establishment and sell competing food..) We all tried it and laughed… Jeff made a new rule (and he hates rules)…. We can’t all eat the same thing that any street vendor sells!

When the rain cleared, we sloshed through the muddy back lanes to the highway to find a bus to town. A women in a pick-up with Oregon plates offered to give us a ride, so Nancy and Brenda hopped in and Thane and Jeff climbed in the back for the 10 minute high speed drive into town. During it, Brenda and Nancy learned about how fantastic the Jungle Cruise was.. and which guide to use.  This boat trip goes 7 miles into the heart of a jungle, winding through mango trees.. and according to the guide book.. ”includes a lunch stop at the crystal-clear waters in the famous swimming hole at Tovara Springs.” Well that sounded like a must see, so plans were laid to stay the night during a beer break downtown. We discovered “Fluffy”… a 19 foot croc that was in the back of a bar on display. He is very alive. He gets ornery at times and bites off someone’s hand…literally. Rumor has it he’s been at the bar for 15 years..

We had a rolly night on the anchorage last night, so no one complained that we had to get up early for our 8am Jungle Tour departure. We left a beautiful sunny morning behind as we puttered to shore exclaiming how much more fun it is to motor a mile without rain. We got to the bus stop and waited..  and was asked by a man near the bus stop if we needed a ride into town. Yep, he had a pick-up truck partially loaded already.. so all four of us sat in the back this time.. and off to town we went.

The Jungle Cruise lived up to expectations and then some. We saw crocodiles galore, all kinds of exotic birds, huge turtles, and plentiful fish. We stopped at a place where they were breeding crocs.. and had several penned in.  They are trying to “restock” them in the wild.. and make an occasional purse.

We got to the Tovara Springs swimming hole (which encourages skinny dipping) and it had turned cloudy and cool. In fact, the storm clouds were boiling in. (remember that whole Pineapple thing?)

In the Caribbean, you never leave the boat hatches open since a squall comes through every day and soaks your bedding.  But here in the Pacific, we haven’t seen rain for a month ( well, sort of) so the boat had 10 open ports and hatches.. all just inviting it to rain.  So with the sky threatening, we declined the lunch stop and sped back the way we came.. thanked our guide,  hailed a cab, drove to the beach, walked to the dink and wa-la.. the rain began.  Starting slowly, building to a full pour by the time we reached the boat. We got things cleaned up and then it really started to dump.. so really we timed it out about right.  But I didn’t get to skinny dip.

We called the marina on the VHF here but they were full. The estuary has a shelf on it that makes it dangerous to cross at low tide. So we are all just sitting here in the bobbing boat while we run the engine in neutral to charge batteries. Brenda and Nancy are reading.  Jeff is snoozing.  We’ll take off tomorrow for Chacala, an anchorage 20 miles south… once the Pineapple Express moves through.

T

Johnathon also accompanied us to dinner last night (an outdoor café where there were no customers.. but a family watching TV.  It was a family operation; Mother cooked, father waited on the table, son bussed and helped in the kitchen. When the food prepared, the father took to the microphone and did some kareokee style singing for us of classic Mexican tunes.  Brenda and I even did a little dancing. But once again, Johnathan really helped us communicate. The family knew basically no English, and it’s hard to decipher when asked if we want our food grilled, fryed, spiced hot or very hot.. you get the idea. My dish of local fish had options of being in a garlic sause, mexican hot sause, and about five other options. With Johnathan’s help, I am still alive today.

And best of all, on a train. Yes, today the train did leave. We arrive the station just as the boarding process started. No ticket. No idea what to do.. just followed Johnathan as he was told by the conducter which car to board based on our destination.. Creel.  Elevation 7,500 ft. Up in the mountains. Snow! We don’t have any warm coats.. but will be fun anyway. The train cost each of us $542 pesos.. about $40 US each way. Bargain.   More about our train adventure in another post.

So today I have been laying low.. drinking clear liquids and saltine crackers. Tonight I graduated to a muffin… while my shipmates are out eating and drinking the best LaPaz has to offer.

My online research indicates that 40% of travelers to Mexico are affected at least to some degree.. and that the average duration is 3.6 days. Great. Only one more day to go.. if I’m average… which Brenda assures me I’m not. (She is just ready to have me talk about something other than my “gasto-issues.”)

Pharmacies in Mexico are kinda cool. They are stafffed with folks who can do simple diagnosis and prescribe the drugs to treat what ails you. No doctor involved. Since few to none speak English, I was able to “act out” my symptoms for the pharmacist. He smiled broadly and said “Ahhh.. dia-reee-ha!!”  So I guess my abilities at charades is still passable.

Anyway, my online research as not been able to answer my question about Montezuma, and what I ever did to deserve his attention.

I hope to get past this (and his attention) real soon.

At any rate, slowly.. ever so slowly… I’m becoming content with living in the now.. and not in the future. (Focus and future being two of my top 5 Strengthfinders strengths. Oh yeah, along with being Mr. Maximizer. Poor Jeff and Nancy. )

It’s not as easy as it sounds. At least for me…

In one week, we have not seen a cloud. Every day has started at 62 degrees, peaked at 83 degrees and cooled off in the evening enough to “need” a long sleeve shirt… one of which I am now wearing as I look over a nighttime view of Puerto Los Cabos marina.  Very tranquil.. indeed. No wind. No worries. A few bugs, but not a bad price to pay.

While our family and friends in the midwest anticipate the coming of spring.. we won’t. We can’t. There is not spring.  And I’m sure there is something to be said for weathing a hardship like a South Dakota winter to REALLY appreciate warm weather. So “waay to go” everyone back home. We are cracking a cold one to celebrate the character you you building tonight.