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February2nd This morning is the second of February. Yesterday we boarded a bus and traveled to Colima. Our bus trip required taking a bus to Manzanillo and switching buses for Colima. There are at least three types of bus services. In the town of Barra there were red buses or local service that stop at almost every house. Then there was a purple or green bus that stopped at each bus stop with the exception when someone gave a wave. Our bus to Colima resembled a Greyhound service. Mercedes Benz makes nearly all of the buses. There is also an upper level of service called Premiera Plus. Their buses are maybe faster, but I can’t see how, because speed bumps are speed bumps. Maybe they offer better movies and these are 10 to 20 percent more costly. Mexico’s travel backbone is their bus system. At each bus exchange there is always food being sold. Some vendors just come on to the bus. Some just shove the offering through the windows. Our trip was uneventful as we keep ourselves busy reaching our guidebooks. Richard on Magic Mist was very generous and loaned us a copy of Mexico’s Lonely Planet and National Geographic’s guidebook. The Lonely Planet was very helpful with many maps of the cities and suggestions on hotels and restaurants. The only hitch in our trip was I leaving my wallet on the Colima bus. After taking a taxi to Colima and then back to the bus terminal to search the bus we were lucky. It was a miracle that the bus was sill there. I had nearly given up when Liz came on board and I researched the seat and found the wallet. It was hidden between the armrest and the seat. We found a hotel (again from Lonely Planet) and went exploring and found a dinner spot. Dinner was great and both Liz and I had the mole’ Chicken. (Even though I ordered pork). The sauces were fantastic. We were impressed with Colima as this town reminds us of Spain. Colima is quiet clean with many parks Today we’ll find several museums and maybe head to Comala (about 10 kilometers) north). This town is noted fore their furniture and artwork. See the pictures. Last night on TV there was a major story on the electricity system in Mexico. They were requesting conservation on water and electricity. Presidente Fox (he used to be a executive for Coke) made a passionate speech on changing electricity habits. There were pictures of the cities with overhead wiring that would of made David Michaelson (See pictures) go into conniption fits. I don’t believe there a “wiring system”, it is based on where another wire can be attached. A Mexican economic system is where there is demand there is always supply. There is no system based on the physics of electricity. This system is also in place when talking about their fuel (diesel and gasoline) distribution system. Or perhaps a “brother-in-law” had the contract to build fuel stations. These stations are huge and it seems never used. “If you build it, they will come,” seems to be the motto. The church in Colima was first built in 1527. Colima is strapped with earthquakes and two volcanoes, which are about 30 miles away. Fugo, the volcano, erupted or steamed yesterday and made the national news. So, anyway the town including the church has been rebuilt several times during the past 100 years. 3rd Today is the 3rd of February. Liz and I accomplished the beer run. We owed a case of Pacifico to Wet Bar for filling my scuba tanks. The big direction for the day was the Super Bowl. Liz and I swam in the pool to cool off and prepared for futbol (as they say in Mexico, which is really soccer.) Nearly 25 of us cruisers met at Margarita’s and enjoyed ourselves. I recouped my gambling’s by wining one quarter of the squares betting. After a chicken burger, seven beers, four margaritas, and two waters with gas our bill was $25 USD. After managing our dinghy and a flashlight we made to home. Life is great, just bring the sports, beer, friends and where is the masseuse. I was listening to our cruisers friends. They were describing our old life where things were easier. She wondered if things would be out of kilter if she just drove to a store and just bought just what she needed. We take many things for granted, don’t we? Tomorrow we hope to check out of Barra through the port captain and call a Honda distributor for a generator. We are here, wishing you a great week. Hugs Allan and Liz. 4th Today, Allan and I check us out of Barra. First we went to the captain to start the paperwork. Then I took an invoice from the port captain to Melaque, where there is a bank to get a receipt for $148 pesos paid to the Banamex. This is approximately $15-16 US dollars. This is to cover our check out process. After taking the bus to Melaque, waiting 1 hour in the line to pay the pesos, I return and found Allan so that we can complete our last class of Spanish from a Canadian named Bonnie who has taught us to conjugate verbs; the building blocks for speaking Spanish. She also is a jazz singer and we bought her CD, which is very good. She is a combination of Peggy Lee and Sarah Vaughn. We decide to stop at the Sands Hotel, where the cruisers can use the pool if they buy something from the bar. Then back to the boat to listen to the southbound net on the single side band to hear the weather for our trek to Z town. Feb. 5th In preparation for the 2-½ day trip, we shop for vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese and tortillas. After spending half a day provisioning, we stop at the Sands Hotel, where Lana is the bar tender and talk to her and her husband Chris off of Courageous 2, a Canadian boat. They have offered to transport a kayak we purchased as well as one Starform purchased from Tundra Spirit to Z town. They are happy to transport the kayaks and we will see them in Z town when they arrive in 2-3 weeks. Later, we went out to dinner with Tundra Spirit to meet their son Brian and girl friend Sarah. Since it was a farewell of sorts, Lil Gem and Bambolera joined us for a dinner at a great restaurant in Barra called Veleros. Pronouced Baleros in Spanish and means sailboat. We say our goodbyes after dinner and head back to the boat to get ready for the early departure in the morning. Feb 6th and 7th Allan and I awake at sunrise (approximately 6:30 am) and head to the fuel dock for water and fuel. We also give the fuel attendant a Spanish book on learning English for Manuel who has helped us at the fuel dock in the past and is learning English. We compared notes on our Spanish progress and talked to him in English. I am afraid his English is better than our Spanish. About 9:00 am we head out into the Pacific, take a left and continue south. We have lovely wind that builds from the north and northwest to about 25 knots. Before sundown, we make a nice dinner, eat and about 7:30 pm take a large funny wave into the cockpit from the stern. Both of us had to change our wet clothes. The evening continues uneventfully and we talk during the night to other cruisers, Terazed, Gemini, Good Medicine who are also on their way south to Zihautanejo. They other cruisers decide to stop at an overnight anchorage, but we continue so as to catch up with Pete Hudelson on Friday. The next day we catch a Bonita, but throw it back, only to find out later that it probably would have been really good eating. We continue to learn about the best fish in the ocean out here. We spend another night out and arrive about 4 miles offshore at 3:00 am and wait for light to come on into Bahia Zihautanejo. Feb 8th The sunrise is beautiful and we are heading in as we listen and check into the morning net on the single sideband. Starform, our friends who are already in Z town hear us and give us directions on where to come in and to anchor next to them. As we approach, Terry, is in his dinghy helping us set our stern anchor to prevent us from swinging in the area, as there are many boats moored close by. We set the anchor, put up the awnings for shade, put the dinghy in the water and take a nap. About 2:00 pm we hear a knock on the hull and it is Pete Hudelson who has rented a jet ski to find us in the harbor. We enjoy re-connecting and we arrange to meet in shore for dinner with he and his friend Brian. Allan and I know Brian, as he has worked for Boeing in Seattle and Portland. The four of us pick a very authentic restaurant and meet friends of Brian for dinner. I have tortilla soup, which is a rich chicken or fish broth with tortillas and cheese. Allan has brochetta of beef (shish kabobs). Since Allan and I have been up for better of 2 days we head back to the boat for a well deserved rest. Feb 9th As with most mornings, we check into the morning nets to hear weather and to find out progress of other cruisers to find out that our friend Chris off of Courageous 2 has fallen off a balcony in Barra the day before and was rushed to Guadalajara for surgery to try to relieve swelling and pressure on his brain. The report is that he also has a punctured lung, and possibly a broken pelvis. Both Allan and I are very taken back as we think we know where he fell. It was an apartment of a friend that they used to have cocktails at after Lana was done with her shift at the Sands Hotel each evening. The balcony is at least 20 feet from the ground and the ground is a cement courtyard below in the town square by the church. Lana has been a real special treat at the Sands, tells us where to go and people to meet. Chris and Lana were to bring our kayak down to Zihautanejo. They have been around Barra for 10 years and are now going south. We really hope Chris is going to be ok. We meet Pete and Brian in town to see their apartment they rented, to have cerveza and to swim at the beach. We have appetizers at their place and then find a lovely beachfront restaurant for dinner. Feb 10h We decide to let Pete and Brian do their own thing today while we join some other cruisers for volleyball on the beach. We then meet Pete and Brian in town for the evening’s activities. On Sundays, the town square is alive with music, street vendors and food carts. It is grazing at its best. We introduce Pete and Brian to other cruisers; all of us have a bevy of eats and then beer at the local deposito. Pete and Brian are in search of attractive Spanish ladies and we head back to the boat for sleep. Feb 11th We have set it up with Pete and Brian to meet late in the
day on our boat for dinner, a sleep over and then fishing the next day.
Allan and I spent the day doing chores, the port captain and get the boat
ready for guests. All goes pretty well with check in until they loose our
papers, while Allan is waiting in line for us at the Bank. It takes 2 hours for the office staff to locate our papers,
then off to the bank and back to the port captain to complete the process.
I meet Pete at the dinghy beach, while Allan finishes email and we take
Pete and Brian’s things to the boat.
Terry on Starform, heads into the beach to get Allan and Brian as he
tells us we are dinghy challenged and it might be midnight before we get settled
for dinner. Feb. 13th Today, we take Pete fishing and snorkeling over at Isla Grande. Brian decided to have a day of peace and quite after our adventure the previous day. We have excellent weather and great snorkeling, but no fish. We were fortunate to see many sea turtles floating and swimming in the calm seas. At 6 pm we arrive back and take Pete to shore. Allan and I are just settling in with our books and cold drinks, when I hear the boat behind us with their dinghy approach their boat and I hear 2 distinct splashes. Then I hear… “I won’t let you drown, but I need you to help me.” I realize that the 2 occupants of the dinghy have fallen overboard while trying to board their boat. Allan heads over to help and finds a man in his 60’s with his mother in her 80’s both in the water and he thinks very very drunk. He pulls them both into their dinghy and helps them back onto their boat. We are glad we were at the boat as there was no other boats close by with occupants that would have seen or heard what happened. A little later we are invited over to another boat, Gemini for coffee and boat stories. Les and Diane asked what would be our next boat. Allan paused and described not a particular vessel but capabilities of a vessel . Allan believes he could really help others plan their cruising adventure from our experiences. What he thinks that would work if somebody is really ready to buy their cruising boat, we will get them attached with a cruising boat and they will see first hand how cruisers live with their vessels. The folks coming down will bring boat parts and services with them. Welcome to a symbiotic relationship. Who’s up for it? Feb. 14th I awoke this morning, not remembering that it is Valentines Day. I receive a card from my husband designed by Louise on Lil Gem that he has purchased some time ago. We head to town to meet Pete and Brian for a day of shopping and sightseeing. Then we headed back to the boat to get pictures and this log ready to send home to Tom Perham to update our website. We went into shore for cocktails, sunset and a farewell dinner with Pete and Brian. The night was wonderful and our dinner was cheap and very, very varied. Dinner for four, beer and rice drinks was $10 usd. We will meet the Boys and give them this log and pictures. “Lately, cruising has described life pleasures and pain. The pain is loosing special friends and showing us how fragile life is. Cruising is intense and relationships are built quickly and we imagine will stay strong. The pleasures are growing our relationships, our knowledge and allowing life to take on many different shades that we will see forever.” Allan on 2-14-2002. February 16, 2002 Saturday in Zihuatanejo We motored into Zihuatanejo in the morning to meet the cruisers at a swap meet. This is where we try to exchange items in each of our boats that we don’t want and return to our boats with those treasures that we’ll exchange at the next swap meet. We purchased an inflatable kayak to replace the kayak we purchased from Tundra Spirit but their son broke before we even got it. We hooked up with Greg and Meg from Wet Bar and had a great lunch with them. The four of us had lunch and I am amazed at how easy it is to restart relationships. It is as if we have known them twenty years. We spent the rest of the day relaxing with other cruisers. Tomorrow Liz and I have chores to accomplish before volleyball and Sunday’s Grazing fest. February 17, 2002 Sunday What a day~! We moved the Single Side Band tuner and then I headed to La Roppa beach to La Perla restaurant to play volleyball with the boys. Liz stayed on board and did our finances. Unfortunately I knew as soon as I came back that I had the worst of chores scheduled. Just as I took off for the beach the head (the toilet, the shitter, the bathroom, the banjos, etc) broke. So after having fun on the beach, Liz and I spent three hours fixing the mechanism the removes the stuff in the bowl. We were lucky to find the spare parts and then install them correctly, at least after the third try. I take back all of those “cracks” about plumbers. After that experience we slipped (not literally) into the dinghy and headed for the Grazing opportunities. We were late but the fantastic hamburger man and the cheap beer place were enough to make the day. And it was great to know that the head works. February 18, 2002 Monday At 2:00 pm I located the fisherman, Ed Stultz (actually he specializes in fly fishing for sailfish) and we agreed to meet him at his house at 6 pm and see his dinghy. We are look to replace our hard bottom dinghy with a more stable opportunity. We arrived after an interesting taxis ride and Ed and I unloaded the dinghy from the back of his truck. The three of us began cleaning and looking for leaks. We found two leaks and decided I would patch them tomorrow. Before dinner Ed was very gracious and revealed some fishing secrets. Not only did he explain the methods of finding and exciting the sailfish, he showed me his special flies. We took Ed out to dinner and he picked the spot and also showed us his other favorites eating out spots. We were impressed at his choice and we eat very well and learned a bunch of new spots. February 19, 2002 Tuesday I woke early and we listened to the local cruiser’s net on channel 22. After the net I headed to the beach where Ed parks his vehicle. I removed the West Marine dinghy and began to patch the holes. There were two patches required and the aft patch will be problem. The hole in the fabric is the size of a dime. After patching and placing clamps on the patches I reloaded the dinghy back into Ed’s Chevy. I also remove his engine and clamped it to our little dinghy and tried to start the bugger. It will require a bunch of work. February 20, 2002 Wednesday Wednesday morning I left to find Ed and see if the patches held. I couldn’t find Ed’s truck. Les on Gemini came over to chat about the possibilities on the SSB. Liz and I did a little reading and planned the next projects. Unfortunately I must accomplish fixing the SSB problem first. The problem is when I transmit sometimes I am heard and other times I am not. We think this is a problem with the ground. February 21, 2002 Thursday Today was radio or SBB day. I tried to change the ground to the radio so we can transmit better. It was a long day. Nothing much accomplish successfully. February 22, 2002 Friday Cruising is not sitting around and drinking Margarita’s and diving and fishing. On the contrary, we work every day and anything that is accomplished takes no less than 4 times longer than a task would take in Seattle. Today we were trying to locate the fisherman that has a dinghy we want to purchase it and we were also looking for a wire to connect our SSB (single side band) radio to our antenna (which is our insulated back stay). After looking for the fisherman (Ed Stultz, who lived in Boardman, WA and his specialist is fly fishing for sailfish) and leaving a note at his home, Liz and I walked back to town to leave another note for Ed to call us from Rick’s Bar (a cruiser’s bar that the owner is a friend of Ed). We were lucky cuz Ed past a message from Rick’s bar to call him tomorrow. We hope to complete the purchase including the engine that will complement this dinghy. Tonight as with many nights we listen to a SSB net. This is where many cruisers check in whether they are under sail or are moored in an anchorage. This allows us keep in touch with friends met and those we’ve said goodbye too. There are a lot of folks that are just there to help with the spreading of information and helping others to keep in contact. This really creates a community. Tonight, if you know Liz, she has voted for our last 1994 Pinot Noir. Since wine in Mexico can be scarce and expensive (especially for those without a income), we have been careful when we are serving our last few wines. Tonight the Pinot will be accompanied with pasta. Tomorrow we hope to get the dinghy from Ed and then purchase an engine and get the SSB working. It should be a big day. Please keep your fingers crossed. February 23, 2002 Saturday We began work on our SSB. We had both Les from Gemini and Dewy on Great Escape offer tools, material (Coax and connectors) and great suggestions. We found two problems; the first was a loose wire inside the antenna tuner. We had to open the tuner and test the connections. The next problem was a broken wire in the coax that is the main transmission conduit. Later in the evening we were able to send several messages on the South Bound net. Later we went to Rick’s Bar (which is where the cruisers meet) to call Ed on the dinghy. He dropped the dinghy by later and Liz and I inflated it and towed it to Slainte. There was one problem. Liz was in the “new” dinghy as I pulled her in our hard dinghy. Liz said there was water in the boat, and then she reported even more water, then Liz said “I am sinking.” A bit of an overstatement, or at least I thought. She had a great Gin and Tonic after landing back on Slainte. February 24, 2002 Sunday Today day we began to work on the “new” dinghy. The sinking was a result of the floor of the dinghy separating from the tubes. We used a whole tube of 5200 Fast Cure chalk/glue and went off to volleyball at about 2pm. At volleyball most of the Canadians were in the bar watching the USA vs. Canada for the Gold medal in Hockey at the Olympics. Later in the evening Liz and I “drove” in to down for Grazing. The food was great and Liz had to give me Aleve for my volleyball aches. Probably the best news of the day is that the SSB is working and Allan talked to New York, Mississippi, New Mexico and California and was heard clearly. February 25, 2002 Monday Today we admitted defeat on the dinghy. The separation in the floor was more than we could patch successfully. We shopped for dinner at the outdoor market for meat, vegetables, fruit, fresh bakery goods and other sundries. We had Mike on Uhuru and Randy and Lisa from Elskan over for a wonderful dinner of Cero Mackerel. Cero is a white, lovely tasting fish that we barbequed on the back deck. February 26, 2002 Tuesday Randy and Lisa took us to meet their Spanish teacher and we decided to take more lessons twice a week for an hour and a half. Progress on the Spanish is slow. We also asked the Spanish teacher for a reasonable and good dentist. I visited him and he gave me a quote of $2600 pesos for a root canal, building a screw for the crown and the crown. This is about $285 USD. We also got the dinghy back to Ed. February 27, 2002 Wednesday Today, I walked with the walking group at 7AM. We walked
stairs, hills and half way to Ixtapa. Good exercise. When I returned to the
boat, Allan had just returned from consulting with another boat on how to put
our energy monitoring system in correctly. He found that he did not have all
the parts needed so while I was in town in the afternoon for a seminar on how to
prevent Malaria from a public health/travel nurse, he tried to figure out how to
make what we have work. Later that evening we are invited over to Bill and
Patty’s boat, Good Medicine from Montana, for a beautiful stir fry and lemon
bars. The evening was all very wonderful. February 28, 2002 Thursday We head into town early for Spanish lessons, emailing, then off to the bus to a local Pozole restaurant, then to Ixtapa for two-for-one double feature movies with several other cruisers. We had a lovely day and arrived back to the boat about 9PM to read before bed. We decide that we will do the morning walk, some grocery shopping and then pull anchor to go to Isla Grande for the weekend, where the water is cooler (84 degrees), cleaner and we can scrub the barnacles off the bottom of the boat.
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