Beer, now there’s a subject for cruising Mexico. Since we left San Diego we have sampled many types of the available cervesas!! It has been hot enough of late that a cold beer or two from the fridge is just what is called for. We haven’t had much opportunity to trade beer for something but that’s a minor issue. The fact is that toting a few beer-i to a nearby boat is a great ice breaker. Since we have been in marinas more than I anticipated this has been even easier than a dinghy ride. Between distributing excess fish and a few beers we have met and made lots of friends. One great thing about the Ha-Ha is that you get a book of the profiles for the fleet… since these are the same people you tend to see in the anchorages and marinas later you have enough information to start a conversation anyway but grease it with a gift and you start on a better foundation.
A little bit of change has been the check-in/out drill had gone to a simpler format but now seems to be edging back to the complicated in small increments. We have checked-in in person in La Cruz and find that we will have to do the check-out in person as well. Some places have been by radio so that’s just one of those things that changes from port to port. Overall I would have to add that the procedural side of this isn’t nearly as difficult/bad as it used to be. Everyone is still professional but any little thing seems to upset the sensibilities of these first timers so it can amplify any misperceptions quickly on the morning net. Being laid back seems to be a hard thing for some people no matter where they are!!
Time zones are a small oddity that has confused my internal clock more this time than usual. This is a small thing but it has meant changing three zones and the difference between the long summer days of the Northwest and the flash and down sunshine here is making it hard to readjust. It is probably easier for me than my shipmates because they are used to the Portland time that we left and since it’s warm here they are thinking they are on summer time… sunset is WHEN? Well, that’s okay; they had to listen to my sense of amazement at 10:00 p.m. sunsets in Portland to no end.
Ahem, boat projects, which as we all know are actually endless have, surprise, surprise, been endless. The dripless shaft seal that broke underway, the inverter that wouldn’t drive the coffee pot, the windlass that packed it in somewhere before Turtle Bay, the water system that lost pressure, the discovery that the system for hauling the dinghy outboard to the rail sucks and sooo many more items that have hit the list in the last thousand or so miles are no news here but it leaves little time for fun if you are the one expected to fix the stuff. I was so drained the other day I actually got a little cranky. That is something that rarely happens… really. I am so happy to be doing this that a little bit of work doesn’t sow me down much or for very long. Currently there are about 16 known issues on the boat and I am working through them knowing that the list will get still longer before I get to the end of the list!!! It’s just like homeownership; the work never really stops. Prioritizing is probably the biggest issue here because I might set a different cast on the problems than someone else onboard. As they are used to me saying at this point, “It’s all good!!” We are here doing something we want to do as opposed to digging ditches or some such. As the water guy said to me today while we were schlepping water to the boat, “You guys have it so easy.” Of course this, from his point of view is so totally correct that words fail me. He earns about US$18 per day and really works to get it. I rode with him to the plant and got him cleared into the marina to earn a bunch extra because I had flagged him down. He said it in Spanish, naturally, but we chatted politics and such as we collected the water needed to run the boat for the next month. We now have nearly 30, five gallon, jugs of water in the tanks. He couldn’t believe I was helping him bring the bottles to the boat either. The buyer usually lets him deliver and here that can sometimes mean quite a hike carrying two of these really heavy jugs at a time. That’s right he doesn’t use a cart!!
E-ticket rides are numerous here too. I will let others in the connected blogs tell you about this from their perspectives but I will say that between panga rides, taxis and bus rides makes even an atheist feel like crossing him/herself anytime you have to go somewhere. Between the crashing gears and the quick dodging moves complete with blaring horn you would think that the passengers would be white knuckled and crazed but no one even flinches. Like I say I will let others tell the story but this is the preview of these tangential thoughts.
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