The
day before we left Tucson, October 28th, we had an appointment with
Stewart Title Company at 10:00 a.m. where we signed documents for the closing
of our new home in South Dakota.
After
that was done, we drove over to an indoor shooting range nearby where we rented
a Glock 17 and a Sig Sauer P238 and shot for a couple of hours.
Next
we drove to a much nicer part of town in Tucson and had lunch at Firebirds
Wood-Fired Grill. We wanted to get into North’s, recommended by Lisa VG, but it
was way too busy.
This lunch was to celebrate a belated wedding anniversary,
which was on the 14th. We had intended to eat out before we left
Sacramento but never found the time. Anyway, the meal was very good. We sort of
splurged, looking at it as our last American meal for the next 6 months.
After
lunch it was on to Trader Joe’s to stock up on my usual favorites. Then our
last stop was to a big box store for all other provisions.
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| I might need another cart... |
The
next day had finally arrived! The day we drive to Mexico! I had been feeling a
little anxious because I had been reading so much negative information about
crossing the border in an RV and how dangerous it is, booby traps to look out
for etc. I was excited and scared at the same time.
We
made calls to friends and family to say our goodbye’s and I love you’s. Because
you just never know what Neptune has in store.
Just
as we were driving down the road after a fuel stop, I realized, while looking
at the Internet, that we never got Mexican Car Insurance! Fine time to figure
that out! I guess I was just counting on our current insurance with Progressive
to cover any problems. But this is not the case! So we had to quickly make some
calls and find an insurance company to cover us. That was the easy part, the
labor intensive part was to go find a UPS store to print, fill out and sign some
paperwork then scan and email it all back. It was quite the production and it postponed our “early”
take off for Mexico. But we can now
rest knowing we are insured! Apparently if you are in a car accident in Mexico
and you do not have car insurance, you go to jail until the damage is paid for.
The
drive to the border, Nogales, was not too far from where we were. It only took
us a little over an hour to get there. Once crossing the border, we had to make
a pit stop at KM 21, the Mexican customs checkpoint, where we obtained our
Visa’s allowing us 180 day’s in Mexico.
We thought this was going to be a painful process and that they would be
asking for driver’s license’s, proof of auto insurance, registration, dog
vaccination records, etc…. but they never did! The only thing they asked for
was our Passport’s and which form of transportation we arrived by…. land,
vessel or plane. We paid a small fee and off we went. Huge exhale! I’d been
holding my breath for the last 21 kilometers (that’s how far it is from the
border crossing to the customs checkpoint).
We
drove on, heading towards San Carlos for the next 5 hours or so. The roads were bumpy most of the time
and quite narrow. It wasn’t a particularly fun drive for Rick! Mostly nerve
wracking! Our in-dash air-conditioning wasn’t working as usual (when you really
need it) and it was 99 degrees most of the way. When we arrived to the Marina
in San Carlos, and parked our RV, Rick had to pry his fingers out of the
steering wheel and carefully lift his legs from the driver’s seat where they
had been stuck most of the drive.
We
were so happy to have arrived safely and to be back at the Marina. We took a
quick stroll around looking for boats that we knew. There was a nice cool soothing
ocean breeze blowing and the sun was going down. A nice moment after a long
day.
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| Harley can't wait to get back to the boat. |
After
our walk we drove over to Marina Seca (the dry storage across the street) where
Notre Isle was. We had been so curious to see what shape she was in since
Hurricane Newton! It was late and the office was closed, but there was a
security guard at the gate who let us inside to take a quick peak at our boat.
To our surprise, we only found one problem that occurred due to the hurricane. The wire-stay (Gobline) swag that holds
the boom-kin down, broke.
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All of this has to be put back on the deck once the outside of the boat is clean
(sails, dodger, spare water and gas jugs and so on) |
That
evening we parked the RV on a side road that leads to the boat yard.
Unfortunately that evening was also a Saturday, which happens to be the night
they have wedding receptions right across the street from us right on the
beach. The problem was not the reception, but the extremely loud music until
4:30 a.m. the next morning. It’s apparently a really big celebration when
someone gets married in Mexico. They want the entire town to know! Along with
the loud music were big searchlights that lit up the sky! AND…later they had a
huge fireworks display! That part
was actually fun to see.
The
next morning after having no sleep whatsoever, we drug ourselves up and out
into the heat and walked straight to the office at Marina Seca and asked for a
pass to get inside to see Notre Isle. We wanted to do a little more
investigating and figure out all that we have to do in the next couple of weeks
to get her put into the water. We also looked at our friends, Chris and
Shelley’s boat, to take pictures and to show them what shape their boat was in.
Besides a little crispy varnish from the heat of the sun, everything on their
boat looked just fine!
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| Harley out swimming biting bubbles |
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| Enjoying the beach from Palapa Griega |
Since
we could not get our boat moved to the work yard until the next day, we decided
to walk Harley across the street to the beach to finally let her do what she
loves to do best…to swim in the ocean! Once we got close enough to the beach,
we let her off her leash and she made a mad dash for the water. But just before she went in, she looked
back at us as if to get permission. As soon as we told her to “go on”, she jumped right in and began swimming around
in circles chomping her jaws together, trying to catch bubbles. It was so fun
to watch her swim again.
After
Harley swam and played fetch in the water for a while, we walked further down
the beach to La Palapa Griega, a restaurant where we sat down outside and
stared out onto the beach and the ocean, drinking Limonadas. We both felt like we might as well
relax for a moment before the work ahead…. getting the boat put back together.
We
had a much quieter night sleep that night! It was still hot, but quiet. Then
finally a calm cool breeze blew in through our window screens, which made for a
much more comfortable sleep.
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| Dia de Los Muertos Altar just off the side of the road near the Marina |
October
31st, Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos, we made an appointment to have
the boat moved over to the work yard. It was not scheduled until 3p.m. So, we
thought since we had a little time, we’d go back to the beach for a bit. But
this time, Rick and I put on our swimwear so that we could enjoy a swim too.
When
we first got into the water, we just floated around, enjoying the coolness and
the weightlessness. Then we swam
around, dunking our heads into the water, then doing a few freestyle strokes
and breaststrokes here and there. It felt really great! So refreshing! As I was
swimming, all of a sudden I felt my arm stinging. I pulled my arm out to take a
look at it and realized I’d just been stung by a Jellyfish! My arm was red with
a rash from my wrist to my elbow. It was not too painful; it was just a
constant prickly stinging sensation. I quickly swam to get out of the water. A
few welts started appearing along with some swelling. I rinsed my arm in the salt water but figured we better get
back just incase there was some other weird reaction I might have. Fortunately, nothing more happened and
the swelling and redness went away within the half hour. All that was left were
a few tiny welts.
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| Half an hour later after my first Jellyfish sting of the season. Hoping it's my last. |
After
returning from our swim and changing into work clothes, we went to make our
3p.m. appointment to watch the boat move to the work yard. And promptly at 3p.m, maybe a few
minutes prior, the boat was being placed into it’s new home in the yard.
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| Notre Isle moving into her spot for the next couple weeks in the work yard. |
As
soon as the transfer was done and the tractor that was pulling Notre Isle drove
away, we got a ladder and climbed up into the cockpit and went inside the boat.
We got busy hosing down and scrubbing away the dirt and debris on the deck and
inside the cockpit. The inside of
the boat was filled with all the things that belong on the deck, but we cannot
take any of it out until the topsides are clean and all wood has been sanded
and brushed with 3 coats of Cetol (Cetol is a translucent water-repellant wood
finish). Then we can start unloading the inside of the boat! We did some other
fiddling on the boat, but that was enough for one day.
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Before
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| After |
The
next day, November 1st, we got started early on sanding all the
exposed wood on the boat. That was my job along with washing off and the taping
around the sanded wood. Rick went up to the top of the mast to pull the lines
through for the sails. I had to help hoist him up in the Bosun’s chair, which
is always a little scary for me! Way too much responsibility!
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| Rick at the top of the mast. |
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| Rick sanding. |
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| More sanding... |
After
another long day working on the boat, we cooled off in the public showers and
got cleaned up for dinner out. We walked over to Tortuga’s to meet our friends
Kirk and Heidi Hackler that we met a year ago last season in Santa Cruz, CA, as
we were both on our way sailing to Mexico. And, we had not seen them since last
April. So we were so happy to see them!
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| Dinner at Tortuga's with Kirk and Heidi |
Tortuga’s
was a really cute restaurant with a big menu. Lots to chose from. But we were
dying for Taco’s Pescado since it had been a long time since we had them. So we
all had 3 Taco’s each. We also had a nice time catching up and talking about
our plans for the season.
The
morning of November 2nd, I woke up to a bout of Vertigo. Rick
said good morning and as I lifted my head up to reply, I felt like I was on a
Merry Go Round! I quickly put my head back down on the
pillow. My head was still spinning.
Rick immediately walked straight over to the boat and got me my pills
for dizziness, Meclizine. They’d
been sitting in the heat of the boat for almost a year and I wasn’t sure how
they would work, but took one anyway. Well, it was hours before they took
effect. I stayed lying on my side,
eyes closed and didn’t move for hours. I couldn’t. I felt like I was going to
fall every time I lifted my head up. It wasn’t until about 3 p.m. that I could
open my eyes without feeling awful. But hallelujah I said to myself when the
spinning stopped!
Rick came back
around lunchtime complaining that he was feeling ill. So he took a nap on the
couch while I laid spinning in our bed. Once I started to feel better, I was
able to help him, and get him water and fix him some soup. The rest of the night he was under the
weather and I was wide-awake from sleeping all day.
Today
I felt 100% back to normal but unfortunately Rick did not. He took it easy most
of the morning until it was time to take Harley to Alberto, the dog groomer at
10 a.m. After that we did a few errands while we were in the RV.
Now
we are parked in an RV park for the night to make use of the electric, water
& septic. Oh…and to run the air-conditioning, which is always a treat!
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| Nice pool at the RV park we never made it to. |
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| Harley getting a trim by Alberto the Dog Groomer. |
So,
the “Pay to Play” title on this post has to do with all of the work and
preparations that one has to do after you return from putting your boat “on the
hard” for the summer. It’s not like you just arrive and jump on your boat and sail
off into the sunset! There
are plenty of breathtaking sunsets to see once you are on the water, but there
is work to be done first.
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| After sanding and taping…next for the Cetol |
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| Lines are amuck while Rick is up the mast sorting them out. |
For
us, besides the cleaning and sanding all of the brite work we have already done
on the topsides, we have to sand and paint the bottom of the boat (toxic paint
at that). Then we have to piece together all of the things we took apart and put
down below, like all of the lines, sails, dinghy, dinghy motor, surf boards, SUP
board, Dodger, stack pack, flags, barbeque, spare water & fuel cans,
fenders and so on. Rick has to check the teak decks and replace any bungholes,
and go around and tighten every little screw that needs tightening. We have to put
the Jacklines back on (for safety when the seas are rough), take off the brite
work around the cabin top, sand and put new caulking in and put the wood piece
back on. There are a list of little gadgets and doodads that need to be looked
over as well.
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| The rudder after scraping the rest of the barnacles off |
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| Where the new Zincs will go |
Then
we need to find a home for everything we brought with us, once the inside of
the boat is cleaned out….like clothes, food, books, spare boat parts etc. Then
we need to fill our water tanks, check oil, and change filters. You get the
idea. It’s a lot of work.
We
plan on getting everything done if there are no surprises, within a week or two
at the latest.
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| One of my favorite stores in San Carlos that Cyndi from SV Rebecca took me too last year. Unfortunately it was Sunday at it was closed. |
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| Harley taking a break from a long walk in the heat. |
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| Random door I saw on our walk. I love the Doors/Doorways in Mexico! |
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| Blooming flower from a prickly little Cactus. |
