Tapachula Thanksgiving

Celebrating Thanksgiving is a challenge on the boat, or in the marina; so we decided to go non traditional this year. Also, most of the cruisers we've met are Canadian, so......our friend Arturo from McCaw Tours, organised a "cantina tour". We put the word out and got 4 other couples to join us, Thansgiving day at noon, we piled into the van for the drive to Tapachula. Arturo explained some of the history and traditions of the cantina. 1st is that your beer is never empty, and as long as your drinking, they bring you food!

Arturo.

This cantina was from 1952.

Tapachula is a city of about 600,000; a mostly agriculture based economy, with many good food choices.

I'm always surprised when I see dogs on rooftops!

After two cantina stops, everyone needed a break, Arturo drove us about 15 minutes out of town, to a small Mayan ruin called Izapa, it dates to about 3,500 years ago, making one of the oldest known Mayan sites.

We learned the history of the site, but more importantly, the cultural influence that made them build it. I think everyone enjoyed the tour, and we were back at the Marina by 5!

The last few days we have focused mainly on cleaning, and finding everything we need to get underway. 

Back on the boat!

Well,... it has been a long time since we've updated the blog! Where to begin?
Our time at home was productive, and fun! Many improvements to the house; interior and exterior paint, a new roof, some new plants, and  tree trimming. We also had to do some repairs to the Toyota; new u joints, and rebuild the rear differential.
 We did have fun too!  While we were in Scottsdale we did get to visit  Karin's family. We had alot of fun playing domino's with her brother Kevin and his partner Ron, and had lunch together on Ron's Birthday.

Then a complete surprise; I won a three day trip to Portland, Oregon at a company party, so we were able to see Ron and Judy from Cetacean,

and Brandon and Virginia on their Columbia 43' Oceanus! Then on an absolute whim, we decided to go on The Price is Right!

What fun!... we didn't get on stage, but it was was great to be in the studio, and see how they do everything.
As someone said..."quit fooling around and get back on the boat!"

We hit the road about a week before Halloween, and we were on our way. We made the transition through the border with no problems, then continued the 2400 mile trek to Tapachula. The highways were pretty good, except for all of the construction. It's great that we saw so much improvement, but it really slowed us down.. it took six days to get here!

When we finally arrived at the marina, our hearts were filled with anticipation of what condition the boat would be in. To our absolute amazement, everything was just as we had left it! No mold, no bugs.

There are many stories from the drive,  the hotel we stayed at, and  the people we met along the way, but the most important thing was getting the boat back in the water. That said, we've been at the slip for a while now, cleaning, organizing, and ...watching Netflix! It is just too hot in the middle of the day, and our 7000 BTU LG air conditioner has been fantastic. When it's 95 outside, we can keep the cabin at 86 until sunset, then it will cool down to the 70's overnight!

Of course we had a few issues once we started "bringing her back to life". When we filled the water tank, a hose came undone and leaked 20 gallons of water into the bilge; which turned out to be a blessing, because we found out our bilge pump was not working! Once the water was removed from the bilge, I could see that the pump had stated to disintegrate. Oh no, where am I going to find a new bilge pump here? and we're not leaving without it! Luckily, Enrique and the staff here at Marina Chiapas keep some parts around, and in less than an hour, we had a new case on the pump, and it works. Nothing is easy.... the switch for the pump isn't working! I elected to bypass the switch and go straight to the breaker, now it works... but wait! now the main engine room bilge pump isn't working...... just a bad connection..whew!

Now, all we need to do is inspect the fuel tank, change the oil, inspect the sails, take out our anchor chain, and install our Helmsman 3000 autopilot. It's a belt drive unit designed for use in calm sailing or motoring conditions.... I think that's it. If all goes well , we should be on our way in the next two weeks.