Yes it is
SO!!! That’s right, Will and I are back
in Mexico waiting for our “Ship to come in.” Our parents said “Yes” to watching
over our ‘lil Swab Nikki Longstocking. Nikki has a mind of her own, the stubbornness
of a mule, she believes she is a pit bull (without lipstick) and has her own itinerary or should I say hidden
agenda as to what she wants to do. This
is why she has not been promoted to “Mate” yet.
We just pray our parents are still speaking to us when we get back to
Florida. They arrived from their northeast home on the 21st in route
to stay at Will’s sister’s home a couple hours away from our home when we popped
the indecent proposal….”would you consider staying at our home for a few days and
watch Nikki?” They kindly said yes and
we flew out quickly not giving them a chance to change their minds… and now the
few days has turned into a couple of weeks or more. Thank you mom and dad for
your continued help with our endless adventure to relocate to the east coast.
Our ships arrival has slowly been postponed
from 1-22-13 to the most recent reported date of 2-9-13. We decided to have the
boat lifted out of the water to put a paint job on the bottom. We arrived on
Thursday 1-24-13 here in Ensenada. Will
and I took a metro train out of San Diego until we got to the San Ysidro exit
which is also known as the U.S. Border and the entrance to Mexico. We walked through security and from there
found ABC Bus lines and went to Ensenada via the bus. Perseverance was waiting for us in her slip
at Cruise Port Marina and she looked great. (Not saying she didn’t need a bath
we were more concerned with everything being intact and she was just as we left
her.)
The boat was lifted out of the water at Baja Naval
on1/28. We found out we could stay on
the boat while the boat had the work performed.
Interesting to say the least, you cannot turn on your water because of
course it will flow out onto the workers and the ground. The bathrooms were near our boat. After
walking into the worker’s bathroom (which is NOT properly marked) it has a sign
that says “Ubicacius lava…something” I thought
it meant “Drink water here” and there
was a face on the sign like a person at a water fountain. I didn’t get it. Meanwhile there was a stair case next to it
and the men and women’s bathrooms were located up there. So I found out after
entering the water fountain room it was a bathroom for the marina workers and
the water fountain sign meant “Eyewash area” in case they got spray in their
eyes from the boatyard chemicals. I ,of
course, had already walked in to see a worker standing at a urinal holding his
family jewels. I did not stay to ask any
questions.
Once again
we have met some great people (Al and Kathy) whom went in the boat yard the same day as us. They hauled out their boat “On the Double” right behind us. Their boat is a few slips down from ours in
Cruise Port Marina and we joking raced to see who could get their boat lifted
first. We had spoken with them the day
before on the dock and found out they had the same 8:00 am appointment time at
Baja Naval. They are from San Clemente
which is a city in The OC (Orange County) near our old home in Long Beach. They
told us of their recent cruise which lasted for 3 years. They went from Dana
Point, CA to Tahiti and onto
Australia. I said “Whoa, you guys have
some Big Kahonas “(intestinal fortitude) because we have no desire to be at sea
over 30 days at a time. We love meeting
new people and listening to their cruising tales, it reminds you there is a lot
bigger picture than just the map of the United States. Will was actually helping them with their
boat lines to help prepare for the travel lift when the surge knocked Kathy off
the dock ladder and she took an
unexpected exit into the water performing a perfect 10(according to Will). She
was lucky not be hurt and managed to smile after Will and the line handlers got
her out of the water. What a trooper!! I think I would have required therapy. (Haha….or just the usual…stitches...for those
that know me pretty well you understand that comment completely.)
We returned
to Cruise Port Marina yesterday and being able to wash our hands in our own
boat makes us smile. I now understand
and appreciate that old southern saying “Bye God, it’s as good as indoor
plumbing!!” There are a lot of things about boating that are just not the same
as being on a cruise ship. We go to the
store almost daily to get water to drink and make coffee with in the
mornings. We unlike a lot of boaters can
shower on board (of course not during our haul out) – love that indoor plumbing
….even if it is salty Mexican water. I
told Will if I never eat another chip and salsa again it will be okay. We are very, very spoiled in the United
States and for those of you that have never left the country just cross the
border and you will appreciate the things you take for granted and actually
probably even find religion if you forgot to thank God for your basic luxuries
such as clean water. When we finish this
Ensenada adventure I will point out a few more basic things we in the United
States take for granted. Will and I have
decided we will try one of our favorite routines. We will fire up our grill and cook some
burgers tomorrow and see if a couple of our new boat neighbors will join us. We
are planning to go into town with some other cruisers on Sunday to watch the
Superbowl maybe not considering we keep forgetting whom is playing. Will said “Uh Uh….It’s the Baltimore Ravens
and the San Francisco 49ers.” I am not
good with that considering I did not know football games are on Thursday
nights. We usually reserve Thursday
night television for any golf tournaments which get started on Thursday and end
on Sundays. We did get to watch the last
few holes on Sunday as Tiger won the Torrey Pines event. We went to the local restaurant the cruisers
go to for TV screens and after an endless search found the tournament. (Our radio and TV on board only has Hispanic channels
and I think I understand on some days and then not so much on other days.) Will and I watch endless reruns of DVD’s at
night. We have about 20 or so movies and have about learned all the lines. We forgot to bring more videos with us and
went via a cab ride to the WalMart here. There were no videos in the English
language. Interesting enough the fresh
chicken was in piles on a table and you put it in a bag they weigh it and price
it. Located next to the chicken were whole fish which still had eyeballs
staring up at me--- thank goodness their gills were not opening and closing. I might
have had to buy a styrofoam cooler and pour some of my fresh water on them and
release them in the marina. We are not
fishing enthusiasts although we do eat fish we did not catch as well as other
meats.
For those of
you reading our updates thank you for your continued interest and we will
continue to keep you posted until we get Perseverance home in her new slip on
the Florida Gulf Coast. Laters!!!
