Fast Fwd.- Hauling out!

Enrique, Memo, Ronnie, and the entire crew at Marina Chiapas are great!

The morning we were scheduled to haul out, it was low tide, so we waited until 11 or so, when it was nice and windy. Remember, I haven't driven her for 5 months; not to mention backing her into a lift! Everything went smoothly, and we hauled he out.

While we're "on the hard" we're staying at Villa Veleros, a beautiful hotel on Playa Linda. Dog friendly, with a pool and nice bar/eatery.

Meanwhile; I was able to assemble Tom's African hardwood battery box, and get our #1 bank relocated above the waterline, and further aft to offset the weight of our chain in the bow.

Our prop has been on for, I don't know how long, and as a result, it did need a wheel puller to remove. Luckily, Enrique's mechanic had one, and in five minutes, it was exchanged for the new one!

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Lastly, and more importantly, we're meeting other cruisers! Fred and Judy, Garreth and Venus, Jack and Judy. The circle continues to grow!

Back on the boat!

Taking a big step back; we left Scottsdale on Monday morning, headed for Tucson, with a quick stop at the drop zone. When we got to Tucson, Lew was at his shop with an Aluminum 80 scuba tank donated " for the cause". After a nice evening with Tom and Pam, we headed out Tuesday for Nogales. The TIP for importing the car went smoothly, and we were on our way!

Once again, we went to our old faithful, Hotel Creston in San Carlos. I needed to get the tank re-certified, and Gary's dive shop was across the street!

We had to go out to the Soggy Peso...being a weekday it was very quiet,

so Jack got to pose! The next day by noon we were on our way South. Driving in Mexico, you never really know how long the drive will be. We had planned for Los Mochis, but ended up in Guamucil at the York Hotel. Dog friendly, nice restaurant, pool, 40 bucks. Jack had his time on the balcony watching cats.

We were excited to get to Guadalajara, as we recently met Alejandro and Betty at Skydive Arizona.

Unfortunately, Betty was not in town, but Alejandro showed us all of the best of his city!

Almost there!

We'll be in Tapachula tomorrow... a great trip so far, photos and stories to follow!

Too much stuff!

 How does it happen? There's always too much stuff!  Here's the picture from May, on the side of the oxxo in Nogales.

Now a look at the beginning of the new pile!

For years, we've been "downsizing",  getting rid of stuff, and then we accumulate the new stuff we need! We've been provisioning, and getting ready for the next round of projects.... installing the new Lavac toilet, the Monitor wind vane,a new prop, and relocating our #1 battery bank. Our friend Tom fabricated a beautiful African hardwood battery box that I have to assemble in the starboard lasarette.


We  decided that we need to do a change of address on our car title, and go to the Mexican consulate to double check the importation requirements for the car into Mexico, just to make sure our paperwork is in order. Not unlike our govt. offices, in Mexico, it all depends on the person you get! It could be easy, or a major pain. So far, we've been fortunate.

The Toyota is ready for the drive, and we should be entering Mexico on Tuesday. We stopped in Tucson to pick up a scuba tank from our friend Lew, and stayed with Tom and Pam overnight.
 We made it to the border, and thankfully got the Green light! (the car is packed, so it was really nice not to unload everything for a search!) The TIP for the car went smoothly, and now we're in San Carlos getting the tank hydrostated and filled. We'll be on our way to Los Mochis this afternoon. Working our way to the boat, one day at a time.