February 1, 2014. Well this post covers a good chunk of time. It's amazing how the time flies by when you seem to be busy every day. Yes, it's possible to be retired and living on your boat in Mexico and still be very busy. There are boat repairs, boat maintenance, grocery shopping, beach days, playing music with friends, going to town, parties, live music, and of course, napping. So here is the catch up report.
A couple days before Christmas we had an unusual visitor to
our dock. We saw him swimming behind our
boat, and then later warming up on the shore next to the gate to our dock. He is about seven feet long and very
fast. We watched as he almost ate a bird
that landed next to him!
We had a nice dinner at the local German restaurant on
Christmas Eve with our friends John and Mitzi on L’ange. It of course rained that night, but we had a
nice table under the awning. For an
after dinner drink, we toasted with Jaegermeister (not everyone was as excited
about it as Rich was). We slept in on
Christmas day and Rich made his famous chiliquilles.
Yum!
For those unfamiliar with this delicacy (at
least Rich’s version), it is made with stale corn tortillas that are fried and
then covered with salsa in the pan to soak up the juice and soften. In another
pan you sautee onions and pre-grilled poblano peppers that are combined with
refried beans. To serve it, you put the
soggy salsa chips on the bottom, then a layer of the bean mix, then some grated
cheese, then an over easy egg, with avocado and hot sauce on the side. Combine with local grown coffee, and yum is
all you can say!
After recovering from breakfast, we walked into town to the
little tienda (market) to get some potatoes and leeks for our Christmas potluck
dish. Dock 4 was hosting a party for
cruisers that promised to have some great food.
Big paddle boards make great tables
Potluck in full swing
We didn’t do much between Christmas and New Years as Rich
came down with the flu. Fever for three
days, the whole works. It rained almost
the entire time anyway, so we didn't really miss much. Cathy has been going to the free yoga class
three days a week. She is getting much
better at it, and is not nearly as sore the next day as when she started. Rich tried it a few times, but prefers
sleeping to torture in the morning.
Last week we decided to take a bus ride to nearby Punta de
Mita. It’s a nice little beach community
that is very surfer oriented. Bill Gates
reportedly just bought the Four Seasons resort there, so it will be interesting
to see how things change. We plan to
come back here in a couple of weeks to rent stand up paddle boards and play
around in the small surf.
One of the many beaches at Punta de Mita
One of the many palapas on the beach. Can't beat the view.
In the meantime, we are enjoying the nice weather, the live
music, and the beaches. A lot of our
friends here are getting ready to cross the Pacific during the next two
months. You can feel the tension level
slowly rising as everyone tries to get all their boat projects and repairs done
in time to leave with the fleet. We are
happy to hang around here and enjoy the laid back Mexican life style. There is no rush for us to finish our
maintenance projects. As the song says,
no shoes, no shirt, no problems.
This week we went with a few friends to Sayulita. This is another nearby beach town that is really popular with surfers, and anyone who enjoys big Pacific waves.
Lots of colorful buildings in town
The beach gang. From Tortuga, Gray Max, Elan, Cassidy, and Bella Brisa
Too hot to be in the sun. Besides, the sand will burn your feet!
Yes, there are sometimes clouds in Mexico
