Subasta!

The big event!
I am exhausted!
The big clothing, household goods and toys bazaar!
My back hurts!
The silent and live auctions!
My feet hurt!
The bake sale!
The bake sale that was all sold out and I didn't get to buy anything!
The raffle!
I didn't win a prize!
Wow ~ what a lot of work done by a lot of people!
I have a headache!
And all proceeds for a foundation here for under-privileged children.
IT WAS GREAT!

Here is Annie of "Calliope" helping set up and also picking out some items to buy.





The clothing booth I helped set up and work (from 7:30 until about 3:30).




Loads and loads of donated items!The auctioneers working hard! I can't wait to hear the amount of money raised!

A Great Read!

"Close to the Wind" by Pete Goss


Ok, here is another Southern Ocean single hander ~ raced in the Vendee Globe in 1996 and finished!

And saved the life of another racer on Christmas Day!

Talk about goose bumps and teary eyes as I read how he found and rescued Raphael Dinelli...

Amazing.
Incredible.
And so very far away from anything I would ever want to do or could possibly do.
Too cold.
Too alone.
Too scary.
Too much knowledge, strength and nerve needed.
Too insane.
But what a man!

And the cool part?
Raphael Dinelli is racing in the Vendee Globe 2008!
Click on the post title to be taken to the Vendee website.
Go Raphael!

Acclimated At Last

Well I think we have finally acclimated to the hot La Paz summer!
Because it is pretty much now winter ~ or so we think...It's pretty sad to have to make a cappuccino when it gets to 76 degrees inside the boat...

But winter does make for incredible sunsets in Mexico!
Here is another one for you who have building blocked sunsets or no ocean to look out over.

Thanksgiving Sunset

Well someone up above wanted to brighten our day!
And I mean brighten!

I'm going to think it was my Dad and sister...
This sunset lasted over an hour!
We had beautiful music on, a $2 US bottle of Tempranillo and a great dinner.
And it was just the two of us.
Not bad for a Mexican Thankgiving!

So here are some things for me to be thankful for:
Family - Incredible Mom, wonderful supportive siblings & siblings-in-law, the best nieces and nephews and the charming, handsome, kind husband!
Jim's Family - Not that we see most of them often, but John is an amazing brother-in-law and I miss the others!
Friends - Oh wait, I have none of those... Oh yes I do! Friends in Ventura, friends spread out over Mexico, all over the USA and the traveling ones we met while cruising who are spread out all over the world.
Health - We are still kind of ok on this - could be better, but certainly could be worse!
Boat - I love this boat! "Thistle" you were great for 12 years. "Strega" you were great for those gazillion island trips, but "Meerkat" you are the best!
Radioactive Boaters - The same 5 people who chat on the vhf non-stop: "Yakker", "Yakker", this is "Non-Stop Chatter", "Talks-a-Lot", Talks-a-Lot" this is "Yakker", "Non-Stop Chatter", "Non-Stop Chatter" this is "Talks-a-Lot" - something to drive me slowly insane because I am not already insane.
Opportunity - The opportunity to try out this alternative lifestyle once again and not have to do the 8-5 grind.
Open Minds - Thanks to the people for supporting us in our attempt at this opportunity.
Barking Dogs - Gives me something to complain about.
Food and Wine - that is a given.

For "Slojolea"

Look what I found in the Slojo Solo Un Precio store today!Love that retro packaging...

So if you sell a kabizzillion of these you can have one of those...These being Wrigley's gum and those being the 156' brand new off the stands mega yacht.
For info on my new boat specs, click on my post title.

Thanksgiving Day Walk-About Town

The Club Cruceros does a LOT of wonderful things for the locals and local children.
Click on my post title above to be taken to their website.
I will be participating in Subasta this Sunday.
Another fun thing I joined in on was doing a Christmas gift bag for a child who lives in the small town of San Evaristo.
Someone in the club has a list of all the kids in the pueblo, buys gift bags and writes the child's name, gender and age on the bottom.
We each take a bag and fill it with about $100 pesos of gifts.
So, off to the dollar store I went to find things for Viviana, who is 13 years old.
Easy age!
Lipglosses, pens, pencils, notebook, nail polish, purse and M&M's ~ things like that.

On the way I noticed the Hotel Los Arcos is all boarded up, taped up and has these red and black flags hanging on the front.

The Los Arcos Cabanas and restaurant are all boarded up too.
People are sitting outside and someone has opened a hot dog cart in front of the main door.
What is going on?
This hotel has been here forever and always has a LOT of guests.
We have stayed in the Cabanas twice.

We had heard of the Federal Police "arresting" people suspected of kidnapping and holing up in hotels with them.
They will go in to the hotel, kick out all the guests and hold the suspects there and then we don't know what happens...
Something like this just happened in Cabo San Pucas Lucas.
Pretty scary...
I think I will go up and ask at the office and see if they know what the red and black flags mean.
Update: Heard the employees are on strike.

Ok back to my walk-about town...
Hit the dollar store and was successful in filling Viviana's gift bag.
Found The Bread Guy's new bakery and bought a fresh baguette for dinner.
And found a new Men's Store!

I can hear it now, "I'll take one of these. I'll take one of those".


And found Sidewalk Hazard #785,654.
Don't mind the giant shards of broken glass!
No worries!
Step around it and into the street!
The cars will yield to pedestrians!
Eventually someone will clean it up!
It's only razor sharp glass!


We have scattered clouds today, which makes it LOOK like Thankgiving.

But at 82 degrees outside the boat and 86 degrees inside the boat, it does not feel like Thanksgiving.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM SOUTH OF THE BORDER!

Now everyone get up off the couch and go for a walk!

Feliz Thanksgiving to All in The USA!

So what are you all doing today?
My guess is:
Polishing the silver
Putting bread crumbs up a turkey's behind
Cooking 27 different dishes
Setting a giant table
Smashing potatoes
Eating turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and some random green vegetable
Washing a gazillion dishes
Eating another full plate of the above
Watching football
Taking a nap on the couch
Eating pumpkin pie
Watching more football
Eating a turkey sandwich
Passing out throughly disgusted with how much you ate

We on the other hand are doing none of the above.
Well, we will be eating, but not what you are eating.
I had the choice between a giant turkey or steak.
I chose steak which you would understand if you had ever seen my oven.

So this is what we will be having later today.
And a fresh baguette from The Bread Guy.

Note the prices...
Less than $2.25 US for each steak!
Yes, I know half of you got a free turkey for spending $100 in Von's, but you have a real oven.

So back to our day.
But first the lovely evening before the day.Last night was beautiful.

This morning's sunrise was also beautiful.












I went to yoga so I can eat that steak later.
Jim went to work with John on the hamburger stand.
I walked about 2 miles in town.
So yes, we will be able to eat later.
Just not like pigs.

Another Book Off The List

Or off the boat.
As soon as we have both read them I want them off the boat!
This was another good sailing book ~ certainly not a cruising book, as she single-handed around the world and only make two stops for repairs.

Not what I would want to do, but interesting none-the-less!

"At One With The Sea" by Naomi James

Hora Feliz, Music Across the Street and Merry Early Christmas to Us!

Yesterday afternoon there was a pot-luck happy hour in the marina.
Aeron and Mera helped me make tortilla roll-ups.
Two kinds ~ with jalapenos and without jalapenos.
The without was Aeron's idea.They were all eaten, along with some other really good appetizers!
I met some new people and talked a lot with Sue and Alex of "Maitairoa", who we had briefly met in Los Gatos back in some other month.

Then we went across the street because a band was playing.
Oh, first we got Jim.
And ate some meatloaf, then we went across the street.
Oh, and we had a bottle of red wine.
Then we went across the street.


We were entertained by this little girl.

Who came prepared with her own drink.

And wouldn't give me the time of day...




And we entertained ourselves with this lovely green boa.And I am sure entertained others as well...

Today I bought ourselves a Christmas present!


The new Sea of Cortez Guidebook by Shawn Breeding and Heather Bansmer (doesn't she have a great first name?).

If you plan on sailing in the Sea, buy this book!

It is beautifully done ~ the charts, the text, the photography and the special extras, such as bits of history and recipes.

Makes me want to leave the dock RIGHT THIS MINUTE...

Wine Cooler Color, White Bird and It Pays to Wear Shoes That are Easily Recognized

Gee, I bet you are wondering what all those things have to do with each other.
Absolutely Nothing.
Jim has been enjoying some of my wine lately.
HEY ~ You don't see me enjoying his beer, now do you?
So last night he decided to drink a neon yellow Maracua Wine Cooler.



Mmmmmmm...
Mmmmmmmm.....
Mmmmmmmmm.......


Sort of reminds me of what your urine sample would look like after drinking some of that stuff they give you before some of those medical scan tests.

He lived.

This morning I had another friend hang out on the dock next to us.
He was on the lookout for a fish breakfast.He found his breakfast near our starboard transom.Do you have time for a tangent?
Well, I do and it's my blog so I can do what I want.
Jim and I were watching birds fish the other day and I said something about how boring that would be to eat raw fish for your entire life.
To which Jim replied, "Well, we would get scurvy".
Then we wanted to know why birds and fish don't get scurvy.
Anyone know?

Ok, back to life in La Paz.
The younger girls off of "Don Quixote" recognized me from under the fort in the play area by my shoes.
My Croc flip flops.
So they yelled out and we talked for a bit.
They asked if I needed help getting my appetizer ready for the happy hour pot-luck today.
Well, sure I will always take help.
So Aeron (8 years) and Mera (10 years) came down, helped out and played on the computer a bit.
Then they wanted to do more.
Jim asked them if they wanted to varnish the entire inside of the boat.
So Mera washed my dishes and Aeron made my meatloaf for our dinner!I think I will wear my Croc "clogs" instead of my flip flops to the pot-luck and see if the girls recognize me...

The Birds and The Bees and Strychnine-Laced Hamburger Balls

First the birds.



This one likes to hang out on the dock next to our boat.

Not a bad place to hang out I might add.





This one likes to hang out on top of the crane.

And apparently likes to poop up on top of the crane.

Now the bees.A nice little swarm interested in kayaking.
Yellow kayaks are called "yum-yum yellow" for a reason.
Besides sharks being attracted to yum-yum yellow kayaks, now we have learned bees are also attracted to yum-yum yellow kayaks.
We, of course have pink and blue kayaks.

And now for the strychnine-laced hamburger balls.
I am searching the boat for strychnine.
I know I have hamburger.
The plan is to take these strychnine-laced hamburger balls to a couple of boats who insist on allowing their two and three dogs to yap, bark, woof, howl and yap and bark some more.
Endlessly.
Constantly.
Every time a bird flys by.
Or a dinghy goes by.
All day long.

Ooh ~ I'm not going to give the strychnine-laced hamburger balls to the dogs, I am going to the strychnine-laced hamburger balls to the owners, who don't seem to care about controlling their dogs and / or being kind to their neighbors.

Problem solved.

Another Good Cruising Read

I am now back to going to the awesome book exchange once or twice sometimes three times a day.
With all the new boats coming in the new selection has a high turnover!
Obviously someone had cleaned out some hardbacks, cruising guides and sailing books.

YIPEE!


I had heard of this book, but never came across it until yesterday.



The author, Margo Wood and her late husband are the authors of the "Charlie's Charts" guidebooks that we all pour through and love!It gave me a whole new outlook on the guide books and how they came to be.
What an inspirational lady.

Another La Paz Sunset

This one lasted over an hour...Jim said he had heard tropical sunsets only lasted a few minutes.
But since we are slightly above the Tropic of Cancer, we get hour long sunsets.

And we enjoyed this one with some dessert wine.

Then dinner of the crockpot teriyaki chicken over rice.

Then books.

Then bed.

We are quite the exciting couple on a Saturday night...

Politically Correct Mexico

Just some random shots from Southern Baja.









Anyone remember the Frito commercial with the little Mexican guy singing, "Ey yi yi yi, I am the Frito Bandido"?

I believe Frito-Lay was asked to take that off the air.

Wonder what Frito-Lay would think of these...

What Else We Miss...

The beautiful middle child!
The one that is really starting to look a lot like my sister, except for that little teeny, tiny Carter nose.Lucky girl, got her Dad's nose instead of a Stapleton nose...
Since I finally posted this picture, maybe someone will send me some new pictures of her!

Here she is with her younger sister on Halloween!Sweet, sweet beautiful girls.

La Paz Sunset

We had a lovely evening last night, complete with a bright pink and orange sunset.We enjoyed our pot roast and freshly baked oat bread in the cockpit on our freshly varnished table.
More varnish to come...

In fact it is the next day and coat #2 has been put on.
Now I am back to enjoying that yummy, yummy smell of varnish again!
But I do have teriyaki chicken in the crockpot, so the varnish smell is fighting with the teriyaki chicken smell.
I think the teriyaki is now winning.

MMmmm, Mmmmm, The Fresh Smell of Varnish!

I have a roast in the crockpot.
I have oatbread baking in the bread machine.

And guess what I can smell?

Yep, yummy, yummy varnish!

Jim has sanded and is varnishing our table.
This table fits outside in our cockpit and also at our dinette inside.
We move it back and forth depending on weather.

It will look beautiful when he is finished, as he is awesome at varnishing.
I know because I used to help him varnish a boat way back when we were dating.
What fun.
Anyway, that is what I am smelling today ~ varnish!

Oops ~ Did a "Wayne" Today

Well that will teach me.
Should have checked.
I checked the prices on about half the stuff at CCC today.
I compared prices on different brands and of course selected the item with the lowest price, but like a complete moron trusting soul, I believed the price listed below the coffee creamer and didn't check the price.

SSSSooooooooooo...
Guess which item was less ~ the coffee creamer or the nun booze.

Using the exhange rate of the last time I pulled money from the ATM (pulled some today, but won't know the exchange rate until it shows up on our bank statement), the stupid coffee creamer was advertised at 44 pesos, approximately $3.50 US.
NOT!
In looking at the receipt it was 75.10 pesos or $5.97 US.
Now the lovely nun booze was 69.50 pesos or $5.52 US.

So which one should I be using in my morning coffee?

Mini Me's Miss Cindy's Website

Click on my post title above to read about the baby catamaran's design and travels.
I am also going to add it as a link under sailing sites, so I can follow his travels.

Split Hair Personality

Or as an alternate post title:
"Why My Hair is Always in Knots"
Ringlets.
Ringlets underneath the straighter outer hair.It's like having two different people's hair on my head.
Like split hair personality.
Better than having regular split personality...

Mini Me

A new arrival!
Meerkat had a baby!
We have a baby catamaran on our dock!It's only 15 feet long and 8 feet wide.

The guy built it, launched it in San Felipe and sailed it down the Sea of Cortez.

We kept looking at this odd little thing anchored out, trying to figure out what it was...
Then he came in to our dock and has been the center of attention since.

He is never left alone.
Even the mega yacht owners next door were talking to him last night.

Obviously he is single-handing...
But he is doing it!

CCC and CC

CCC is the local grocery store, pronounced "Say Say Say".
It is an amazing store!
We used to shop there 8, 9 and 10 years ago and it was ok.
It wasn't amazing.
It is now amazing.
It now has loads of gringo products!
Amazing loads of gringo products!
Red Hill bread products, Tabasco Chipotle Sauce, dill pickles, bleu cheese, feta, Lawry's Garlic Salt, English muffins, smoked gouda, pita bread, celery seed, dill, Skippy Super Chunk Peanut Butter, Cheese Itz, Starbucks French Roast whole bean coffee, blah, blah, blah.
Those "years ago" we would be thrilled just to find cheddar cheese.
With the mass of gringos coming here, CCC started carrying all these items we could never find before.
Every time I go I wander a couple of aisles in awe.
Awe aisles I now call them.

And yes, sometimes you pay the premium.
I learned on the peanut butter to check the price.
I thought it was a little over 40 pesos.
Turned out it was a little over 70 pesos.
Back to rationing the peanut butter.

Well, Wayne of "Capricorn Cat" (the "CC" of the post title) went down the awe aisle of wine.
And didn't check the prices...
Price checking machine was broken (which is why I did NOT buy those Starbucks coffee beans yesterday...)
So he ended up with a couple bottles of wine that were over 330 pesos!
$33 US dollars!
DOH!
So he opened one last night as we were saying our goodbyes...




They are headed across to the mainland today!


And a little inside joke for "Capricorn Cat Shit"...
Wayne, work on not saying "shit" so much.
Or I will officially change your boat name to "Cat Shit".
Bye Guys ~ safe and fun trip!

Just Another Average Mega Yacht Pulling In

Ho hum.
156' behemoth shiny, spotless and pristine yacht.
Launched in August of this year.


Oh lookie!
Now there are two at the end of our dock...
Do you think they will invite us over for cocktails?
Only if Jolea was crew...