Hard Water

March 27, 2012

Surfing, Alberta winter style

We finally broke down and succumbed to the call of the Sirens.  Well, it sounds a nice way to put it, actually we had a couple of weeks back home in Alberta.  And the water IS real hard there, in fact you can walk on it!  Two days after we arrived it then proceeded to snow about 4 inches,  just to remind us of what we had been missing I guess. Funny how your mind seems to remember only what it wants, -8 seemed soooo cold and with just a  slight breeze seemed to chill you to the bone. This of course brings to mind Robert Service and the Cremation of Sam McGee! 
It was a great sojourn, spending quite an amount of time with  Kirsten, Peter and the grandchildren and even managed a quick visit with Christian as he came up from Calgary.

La Cruz town square all redone

Senor Pulpo

The two weeks went by pretty quickly and soon it was time to leave to return to the boat.  Let me tell you that it was great getting off the plane in Puerto Vallarta, the warmth and humidity hits you in the face and it felt very darn good.
The last few days have been spent in another round of boat projects, a couple of meals out and a trip onto PV to the marine store to pick up a couple of bits for the boat.  It always seems that what starts out as a "won't take long, it is not a big deal, or I just have to do this little thing" drags on, sometimes for days.  Take for instance the new AIS transponder-the whole chart table had to be turned upside down or so it seemed, then both cockpit lockers had to be emptied and numerous trips in and out crawling into the bowels of the locker, boats must be built by midget contortionists.  What should have been a half day stretched into two.  But now it is done and not only can we see the other boats if they are transmitting, they can now see us on their screens.
When we arrived back it was to furious activity taking place right off the stern, it seems that there is going to be a big show for the travel agents.  We watched as five big arches, covered in canvas, were erected, a stage, numerous tent outbuildings, big lighting towers and no Mexican fiesta would be complete without a BIG speaker system, the likes of which entertained for a few nights and all day while they perfected the setup.
The other night at about 3 AM I sat bolt upright in the bunk, absolutely sure that someone was in the cocpit with a flashlight.  On timidly peeking out the hatch I was hit face on with a very bright blue light coming from light towers, aha, more testing.  They had turned on all the lights and it lit up the whole venue and a good portion of La Cruz I suspect.
Finally the big day, or should I say evening, arrived and the parking lot was crammed with cars and numerous big coaches.  We are not sure how many attended but it could be perhaps a couple of thousand. 

Great Mariachi Band

Man-bug!

Now no one can say that cruisers don't have cojones and it wasn't long before we had wiggled our way onto the grounds to take a peek.  There were lots of people, mostly dressed to the nines (dressing up to a cruiser is a clean T shirt without holes, clean shorts and your best flip flops) and could you believe it, an open bar plus waiters coming around continuosly with tidbits.  Needless to say we took advantage of what was being offered, especially the margaritas.  I am not too sure about some of the canapes, as on asking the waitress about what I was eating the reply came back "chicken tongues" or I think that is what she said.  The next day started pretty slowly I might add, don't believe that tequila does not give you a big head, 100% Agave notwithstanding.

We have finished all the "little" jobs, including getting Jose to polish the boat.  We also made our last trip to the tienda for fresh veggies and a couple of 1 liter bottles of cerveza, so nothing is holding us back. 

It is getting harder and harder to throw off the docklines.  La Cruz really does feel like "home" and we could easily live here.  It has the perfect blend of Mexicana and Gringoana for us, plus PV is just a quick bus ride away.  But leave we must....

Tomorrow, 28 March, we set sail for Chacala, just a few miles up the coast.  We stopped here on the way down and enjoyed the nice little beach town.  The following day should find us at Matanchen Bay, where if our nerve holds out, we will make a side trip into San Blas.  After that it will be an overnight trip to Mazatlan where we will get a couple of days rest while keeping an eye on the weather prior to the 2 day trip across the Gulf to La Paz.