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.

The Magic Portal, Sept 16 2014

It's time to Go!  We've been softend by land lubber life too long.  When you take a break from skydiving the worst part is the mind game you play with yourself in the plane.  You start worrying if you'll remember emergency procedures, you worry about remembering how to fly, all sorts of things go through your head, then you poke your head out the door and there is that amazing world that you know so well.  The magic portal is what I call it.  All is good out there, it welcomes you back and it feels so comfortable and special.

Not a very good pic for what I'm trying to describe but it will have to do. 

Anyway we are on the countdown to get back to the boat.  Somehow I have brought organized, planner Joe to the dark side where my motto is " The best thing about waiting until the last minute to do anything is, that it only takes one minute".  

We had decided to drive the Toyota 4 runner to Chiapas,  since we have alot of add ons such as a new lavac toilet and other goodies, and just parking it at Marina Chiapas until we could come get it and have it in Costa Rica and Panama for inland travel like we did in Baja.  Travelling with Jack is difficult. He can't always ride buses and rental cars are expensive,.  

Then we realized some other options for flying with Jack, Thanks to some suggestions from airline friends......

and hey! why not just buy a beater car and drive it down and then we don't have to worry about our beloved Toyota and it will be at home waiting for us like the last two seasons.  

What if we don't come home at all and just keep going!                                                                                                                                                         

Indecision may or may not be our problem.                                                                                                

We both know we are ready to get back to the boat and a deadline of Oct. 7 has been set.

Magic Portal here we come!!!

                                                                              

                                                                                         

August 5

Joe and I just watched one of the best documentaries ever!!! It's called Maidentrip.  It's about a 14 year old girl who sails around the world.  It's on Netflix
As we sat watching it we both had tears in our eyes.  We really miss Flyin Sideways and life on the water. It kind of shocked us how much living on the ocean has changed us and how everytime we return to the real world it is harder to adjust. We hope to be like Laura someday and just keep going!!

July 15th, 2014: Update on the 6.9 Earthquake in Tapachula

We had a fun 4th of July weekend with our drop zone friends. We woke up Monday morning, and I turned on the news. The first story was a 7.0 earthquake in Tapachula!!! Karin was already at work, and I was on my way. All I could hope for, was that being in the water may have helped save the boat.

 Thinking about all the boats in the yard, on stands; oh no! Fortunately, Karin sent an e-mail to Enrique, and he responded quickly, saying everything was fine at the marina. Whew! I don't know how much damage the town suffered, but we heard from Arturo of  McCaw Tours, and they were fine as well.

We are still sorting out what we need to bring with us when we head back to the boat. Karin is back in the research mode; checking forums and blogs to find useful information for us. Otherwise, we're looking forward to Flyin Sideways again!

On a whim, and with the help of our friend George, we flew stand by to N.J. for my birthday! The reason for the trip was to see my brother, Rich, and his family; Patti, Ryan and Kristen.

All you can eat sushi for the birthday dinner!

 I also got to explore my old neighborhoods with Karin. I think she enjoyed hearing some of my childhood adventures, and seeing where I grew up.

The Asbury Park boardwalk.

The famous Stone Pony, where Bruce Springstein got his start.

It was a great trip! Now, it's back to work, and getting ready to go!