had a wonderful stay! the staff was very friendly and the hotel itself was beautiful. the beachside restaurant Cilantro's was my favorite part because it was really nice and i got to look at the gorgeous view while i enjoyed my food.

Hola! Happy Father's Day!!!

We got back from the road-trip on Friday and Scott came down with a cough. It's not bad during the day, but it keeps him up at night. We went for a sail on Sunday the 8th and then on Monday the 9th we began experiencing a fun little something called Montezuma's Revenge. (Bri's done her research online and it looks like it was amoebic dysentery.) It hasn't been pretty. Not sure if we've gone into great detail about the layout of our apartment, but it's a studio (about 350 square feet) and there is a window going from the bathroom to the kitchen that can't be shut. So whenever it was time to go to the restroom (which has been often) we say "Ok turn on the AC and turn up the TV". Needless to say, we're closer than ever.

Cramps aside, it's been a relaxing week. It's been quite cloudy and cool. We haven't left the apartment too much except for a few walks downtown and along the malecon. We did a photo shoot with Micky... Scott bought a cool roof tile with a print of Don Quixote on it. Christina Hiatt is coming to visit and she gets here on the 17th. Exciting. Good thing she doesn't mind sleeping on our floor on a borrowed air mattress.

Went on a sail today (Sunday the 15th) with a few people. We met a gentleman who wants to pay Scott to do some interpreting for him, which is great. The boys swung off the boat on a the jib halyard, which was really fun. No jellyfish sightings.

More to come. We miss PooPoo.

Wow, we really gotta stop procrastinating.  After a day here, there is just too much to write, let alone after more than a week.  Last Saturday, the 31st we had a surprise charter with a few huge families fresh in from New Orleans.  They were all here for a week in a time share that consisted of two presidential suites with three rooms and three balconies each.  They were a whole lot of fun.  They brought almost an entire liquor store of booze with them includin a huge jug of Carlos Rossi and a bottle of bubbly.  Needless to say, we the crew did not have to do much entertaining.  They were all so proud of their southern roots and party skills that they entertained us.  We dropped anchor for a few minutes to cool down after 2 hours of sailing and everyone was jumping off of every level of ladder they could.  One girl was stung by a jellyfish, another lost her lunch. We even got one kid to jump off the top rung of the ratlins (about 50ft.) which of course is just a small rope ladder that is attached to and angled in toward the mast so much that he is virtually right above the deck.  This meant that he had to jump out off of a loose rope, dodging another steel line while the boat is rocking back and forth and stay vertical enough not to belly flop or land on his back.  Well, he succeeded.  In the past, Brad had jumped off the spreaders once and nearly died as he belly flopped from 65 feet, so this other kid jumping was a bit of a nail-biter for the old crew.  They tipped well and we got home before dinner.  That night we packed and went to bed early since we had to wake up before 6am in order to eat breakfast and get to Brad's so we could leave by 7am for our trip to Puerto Vallarta. 

Sunday the 1st:  Up right on time.  Breakfast downed.  On the way to Brad's when he texted to get him a piping hot Burger King combo #1 to pamper his hangover from the night before because it was the Brenster's last night of playing at the Purple Onion and it was Kat's in-town birthday celebration.  We got the food and got loaded in the back of Brad's truck (pads and all) and were out of town by 7:30.  About an hour later we pull into a tiny town called Mesillas where Brad apparently had to pay one of his furniture builders.  Having not told us that we were taking a detour Bri and I were a little thown off but pleasently surprised by the little community of furniture builders.  It seemed like that was all they did in that little town.  I mean the town is called "little tables."  What else would they do there?  Right across from Brad's guy they had a little farm with goats and chickens and a big ol pig running around.  Dinner for the locals I'm sure.  We got back on track and Brad let us drive.  By this time the sun was getting higher and hotter.  We got onto the toll road and got to fly at 110km/hr with literally nobody else on the road.  We would see about 2 cars per 10 minutes because nobody wants to pay the $4-$16 tolls.  The AC sure was nice for the next 100 km when we pulled into Santiago de Ixcuintlan.  This got us back on the free road and here we had a little lunch of shrimp empanadas and a round of Cokes.  Brad took over the driving again to get to another little town off of the free road called San Blas.  San Blas was a really cute little surfing town set right between the outlets of two big rivers.  The water was super brackish and it was like a foam party on the beach.  All the little kids were loving the huge deposits of sick-nasty foam that washed up from the mixing of the water and just the general filth of the marina that was close by and of course human comsumption and waste.  That's not to say that it wasn't a pretty beach, just not water I would want to swim in.  But that didn't stop many people from enjoying it.  Brad and Kat got some food here and we left.  By this time the sun was almost unbearable.  Especially while driving in traffic through town.  I must have used at least a quarter of the huge bottle of sunscreen we had.  We stayed on the free road for the rest of the drive to PV.  The free road is just a small two lane highway that winds through the hills with very few places to pass all the semis and beat up trucks.  But the scenery is great since the flora and fauna come right up to the edge of the road.  The trees gave some great shade and some pretty nauseating tunnel vision from the back of the truck.  So much so that Brad, a person that has been working on a boat for the last 5 years and that grew up on smaller boats and in the ocean of Seattle and San Diego got so car sick that we had to pull over to let him barf up his lunch. 

Knew we were close to PV because the small towns that the free road go through now had stop lights, "topes" and "vibradores" (rows of short speed bumps that progressively get closer together to try to get people to slow down).  Finally we popped out of the trees and just like that were in civilization again.  Coming into the north end of town we had to cross the border of the state of Nayarit into Jalisco, then pass through Nuevo Vallarta, then into the PV going by all the new develpments of man-made islands and 40+ story hotels and condos.  We passed by the marina there and saw our good buddy with the huuuuge private yacht with it's own helicopter and 80ft day cruiser that we saw in Maz just a week earlier.  Then over a bridge and into the centro with all cobblestone roads and older more traditional architecture.  We were on the hunt for a cheap hotel with air conditioning close to the beach.  We went in and talked to about 4 different places and decided on one where they ended up giving us 40% off the cheapest room's rate and gave us the nicest, most expensive rooms with AC and refridgerators and a great view of the ocean and sunset to boot.  We took up our stuff, showered and rested our behinds for a little while til the sunset and time for dinner.  The time happens to change an hour right when you cross the state border, so we lost an hour of the time we didn't even know to begin with, so we didn't end up eating til like 10pm.  It seemed like the sun never moved in PV since we were just that much closer to the equator or something, so we were all thrown off for the next few days.  We had a really good dinner (boneless buffalo wings and all) and went back to the hotel for some much deserved sleep after being in the back of that truck for over 8 hours. 

Monday the 2nd:  Happy Birthday Kat!!  Massages all around.  Well, at least for Kat and Brad.  That's how they spent their morning.  Bri and Scott decided that they needed to go to the store to buy Bri's special contact solution so that she didn't go blind.  Of course we ended up buying some fried chicken with beans and rice while at Mega and of course there is no better place to eat it than right in front of the supermarket with plastic utensils and the fresh bottle of hot sauce that had just been opened.  That's right when Brad texted Scott and when Scott realized that he was all out of minutes on his phone when he responded to Brad's text asking a question and got no answer.  So we hopped back on the bus and met up with the newly relaxed kids enjoying some vodka sodas and cigarettes at the local beach bar.  We all decided that we wanted to go to a little beach way out of town to get some sun and salt water.  We got to a really small beach where tourists go to catch little pangas (water taxis) out to the little islands and further beaches that are not accessible by car.  We grabbed some seats and watched the tide come in.  Nothing too spectacular, but relaxation was the theme of the day.  We all went back into town and took a short nap, got showered and dressed and went out to a really fancy and expensive dinner: It was Kat's birthday you know.  Scott ordered a steak (naughty), Bri got the seafood pasta special, Kat got the filet and Brad got a stuffed chicken breast.  While waiting for the check, Scott, without the knowledge of anyone else, got up and asked for a little birthday song from the waiters.  They were quite accomadating and brought out a little chocolate lava cake and sang two songs.  And that was the incredible birthday celebration in which we could partake.  Relaxing, no?  Went back to the hotel and went to bed. 

Tuesday the 3rd:  This day we tried to locate some dolphins to swim with since Kat was really wanting to do that.  We found the water park and learned that it was like $140 to swim with the encaged mammals for just a few minutes, so they decided that it was not worth it.  So we went to find a guy that Brad knew about that builds wood sail boats in PV.  Brad basically just wanted to swap info and be able to communicate with the guy.  We went first to the PV marina and finally found parking spot after driving around this entire city center they called a marina.  While walking to the docks, not even out of the parking lot yet, we heard a really nice CRUUUUNCH!!  This poor girl ran directly into the back fender of a truck that was parked badly.  Not a scratch on her car, but the truck's fender was completely concave.  So, we proceeded on to the docks looking for the wood boats.  Everyone we asked about them seemed not to know anything about the boats, but they did know where the marina office was, so we went and asked them what's up and they sent us up to the Nuevo Vallarta marina.  AAAaaaah of course.  And sure enough that's where the guy was.  We found the owner of many wood boats right away and learned quickly that he really doesn't have too much going on there.  He had one really nice boat on which he does charters so we checked it out, but the crew was really busy so we didn't ask any questions and just took off.  We went back to the beach bar and sat out for a few hours having a few beers watching all the street vendors walk by with their arrays of goods.  At first it was a little annoying, but progressively got funnier and funnier.  We even ended up buying a little beer coozie.  Brad got some silly bat on a wire thingie and a paddle with chickens on top with strings running down to a wooden ball, which when rotated makes the chickens pluck the paddle.  You know what I'm talking about, right?  After like 4 hours on the beach we went back to the hotel.  Scott took a nap then we left for dinner.   Just us two went to a little taco stand out on the street.  Goooooood food, yet a little fly-ie.  $7 later both of us were stuffed.  While we were walking to meet up with Brad and Kat where they were eating we got pulled into a small tequila store for some tasting.  The guy working there started asking a bunch of questions and serving us thimbles of tequilas of all flavors.  He wanted to sell us a time-share, but after learning that we are living in Maz, he quickly realized that there wasn't much chance of selling us anything (he did offer $250 just for hearing his schpeil).  We were leaving the next day anyway, so there really was no time.  After the thimbles of tequila, we got to where Brad and Kat were eating and got there just in time to watch the pirate ship that does tours in PV shoot off its fireworks.  It sets off the show at 9:00pm sharp every night.  We watched the fireworks, they finished up their dinner and we went back to the hotel for bed. 

Wednesday the 4th:  We got up super early today to tackle another 8 hours in the back of the truck.  With luck it was good and cloudy this morning and because of the landscape it was still dark as night at 7:00am.  Crossing the small mountain range right off the coast, we found ourselves in some really thick fog.  Literally in the clouds- the visibility was little to none and we thought it was raining, but it was really just the condensation on all the trees that we were directly under.  Thank goodness it was not raining with us two in the back.  We made it all the way to the first toll before the sun was hardly up and that's where we traded drivers.  Bri and I got in to drive and to really enjoy some good AC.  The drive east was really nice.  Lakes out on the horizon, much greener and more agave fields since we were in the state Jalisco.  "Tequila" cannot be made anywhere else in the world but Jalisco, Mexico.  Kind of like champagne.  So therefore, lots of agave.  When liquor is made with agave elsewhere, it is called something different like mezcal or raicilla. Taking the toll road the whole road to Guadalajara made the trip pretty quick, much less than 8 hours at least.  We went through some good sized foot hills, then dropped back into a valley where Guadalajara came into the view.  Greg had taken a night bus into Guad the night before and was there early this morning waiting for us to show up.  He made his way all around the main square with the big cathedral and many other monuments.  He also ended up finding a nice hotel for us to stay in. It was 420 pesos a night, 130 years old, and the toilets didn't really work but it was charming. We had seen on Sigur Ros' website that they were playing in Guadalajara on the night of the 5th, so we went on a hunt for the venue. After a long, hot search around centro for tickets, we decided to go back to our hotel and try to find info on the internet. Just then- Scott saw Jonis (the lead singer) getting his freakin shoes shined in the plaza!!!!!! The whole band walked up but no one seemed to know where the show was the next night. We got a photo of their schedule and of Jonis. That evening we drank some tequila and squirt, hit a few bars, and tried the sandwich that Guadalajara is known for: torta ahogada (drowned sandwich). It's basically pork on a baguette covered in a tomato sauce. It was really delicious and they seemed to cost 25 pesos no matter where we were.

So it's only been a week from the last entry.  who's keeping track anyways?  what have we even done for the last 7 days?  I don't know; gone to the beach, eaten some seafood, drunk a beer or two.  What else do you do in Mexico? 

Well according to the pictures, we got ourselves a really nice and tasteless watermelon.  It sure was watery though.  That night we were invited to eat dinner at Cap'n's house with Brad, Kat and Jeanie.  We all got together before the sun went down.  We had a drink and some appetizers and then watched the sunset.  It goes so fast once it's on the horizon.  Jeanie cooked up some really good peanut pork (oops) with rice and a salad.  We didn't hang out too much that night.  Everyone was just super tired and not ready to rally.  We got up kinda early on Tues. the 20th and went to the beach that is just 4 blocks away.  Very good conditions.  It's one of those beaches that is still just chest deep 100 yards out.  While enjoying the surf Scott met some kids from Cali.  They were out for a week visiting a friend that has lived here for the past 5 months.  They invited us to some sort of sweat tent that night out on Stone Island.  Apparently they sit a bunch of people in a big tent, heat a load of volcanic rock with the coals of a fire and pour water all over it after they have covered you with herbs and stuff.  As you sit in the tent the heat gets so intolerable that "you have to let your soul out of your body to endure the pain."  Then after an hour or so of sitting in there and experiencing a spiritual travel you get out and run into the ocean.  Needless to say that night we went to Brad's for pizza night.  Two for Tuesdays.  Lots of people showed up.  It was kind of a house warming party/going away party for a friend.  Greg ate his weight in supreme pizza and I (Scott) was a pretty close runner up with 5 slices of hawiian (more pig, damn!).  While driving home this night Scott decided that it would be fun to get us lost in the wrong part of town.  Took us and hour to get home with countless U-turns and one step closer to a heart attack.  You know it's bad when you're supposed to be going down town and the city slowly disappears.  We came home to a rather larger cockroach scampering about in our apartment.  This was not a small beetle crawling slowly through the tile grout, it was a full grown, winged roach ready to eat our food stuffs.  It did not however make it much further than the bottom of my shoe.  Along with the cockroach we occasionally have the small sunflower seed shaped shelled worm bug things that navigate very slowly through the bathroom.  They are not gross or scary by any means, but it's just not all that nice sharing your space with weird unknown creatures.  That was the last night of having real sheets, pillows and towels because our really hospitible "landlord" decided to enforce his removal of all things his from the room.  There is not a single other soul in the building and he can't find it in him to leave us with sheets and towels.  We did get sheets off the boat, but that's beside the fact that we are paying to occupy a furnished room and we get those essentials taken from us.  Lame. 

Wednesday: Stone Island day.  And by Stone Island I mean a beach on the other side of the cruise port that just has a bunch of palapa hut restaurants and tons of vendors.  We did a quick lap and landed at Lety's, a restaurant recommened to us by Brad, and for good reason.  The food was excellent.  Great view of a bird poop stained rock out in the middle of the bay and a constant stream of people trying to get us to buy their huka necklaces and platos baratos (cheap plates).  After a few hours there we returned home to do just about nothing. 

Thursday: Got up early again today to go hand out Patricia Belle flyers.  We started in the hotel zone or the "zona dorada" and walked at least 1 mile north talking to every single tour desk and kiosk along the way.  Our job was to inform everyone that the boat is back in business and to tell them the new deals for the low season.  The beauty of talking to the people that we did is that they are the ones that will literally step in front of you while you are walking down the sidewalk to stop you and try to sell you tours or timeshares.  Hopefully the word gets out so that we can get some reservations and go on some charters to make a little grocery money.  We saw Brad on the drive home and paid for the sweltering hike we had just taken.  Right as we were parking on our street we noticed a good plume of steam rising out of the hood of Leaf's car.  We decided it might be a good time to stop driving the car all together.  We would take it to the marina in the morning, and leave it there and wait for Leaf to get back to deal with it.  Again we just hung out for the night.  Watched "Alien: Resurection" and went to bed.

Friday:  Went to the marina this morning bright and early with a rather smokey car again.  Scott had filled the radiator up with water before leaving the house, but Bri noticed that all the water was just leaking out onto the ground.  We drove very cautiously not to get lost this time and got to the marina without any crises.  We raised the dinghy out of the water so that we could give a nice overhaul.  The spring on the pull cord of the motor had broken last Sunday on our charter so we were taking the dinghy out of comission anyways, so we decided that sanding and re-painting the whole thing would be a great idea too.  We got it on the deck and just let it sit for the next couple of hours because everything was wet.  We followed Brad to his local mechanic and left the car there to get fixed in the next couple of days.  Now carless and wanting to work on the dinghy more a little later, we tagged along with Brad back to his house and got a little snack of cordon bleu balls and some internet action.  Greg showed up a shortly after our arrival with his car that he had finally gotten out of impound.  We hung out a little bit, Brad took off to pick up Kat and we caught a ride with Greg to get another little snack at our favorite place "Juanitas".  Back to the boat and the sanding commenced.  Power disk sanders and two scrapers made easy work of the 40 layers of paint on "tinkerbell".  We still had a lot to do to it, but it was getting towards dinner time already and we had a warm bus ride home to down town to survive.  Home, dinner, bed.  Good enough for Scott at least.

Saturday: 8:30am on the bus and going back to the marina.  More and more sanding, inside and out.  Scott turned green due to all the dust.  And there ain't nothing quite like a nice hose shower after sanding the hull of a boat.  Mmm.  With three of us working on that thing we finally got it to a point where it could be painted, but we still had to wait for it to dry out a little bit.  We took the bus home and let Brad take care of the painting that evening.  Brad called later telling Scott that he had talked to the mechanic and that the car was done.  $943 pesos would be damage.  Not just a hose and belt like we were hoping for.  It would be picked up tomorrow at some point and Leaf would have to be informed of a little expense he incurred while out of the country. 

Sunday: Yeah.  12:00pm sail to promote the Patricia Belle during the "International Regatta" in Mazatlan.  We had been invited by the harbor master himself to go out and show off the sails to all the beach crowds that would be there to watch the races.  We didn't take part in the race of course because we would have just worked everyone else because we have twice the amount of sail.  But we made it out there for a good 5 hours of some pretty intense wind and surf.  Perfect day for sailing, not to mention a race.  There were only 18 people total on the boat today, which made it a little easier for manipulating them to move out of the way of the sails while tacking and jibing, but still enough to have to keep an eye out for sickies and old ladies overboard.  We got back to dock with no lunches lost and nobody wet, so all in all it was a good day.  We got paid and went to get the car from the shop.  $943 pesos later we have a functional automobile again.  We have been needing food for days now, so we stopped at Soriana (one of the local megamarts) on the way home.  Got enough food to last us another month hopefully.  Showered, ate dinner, and early to bed. 

Monday: Today.  Painting the dinghy  Talking to the cap'n.  Eating frozen fish.  Listening to gooooood music.  Reading.  Beer.  AC.  Cat butt worms.  And more AC.  It's been a good day.  Chau

Saturday, May 17
Day off! We decided to give Leif's car a rest, so we stayed downtown all day long. Slept in, walked around this Oaxaca festival that's going on right now in one of the plazas down here. There are a lot of vendors with... Oaxacan things. Honey- tons of things made with honey... homeopathic remedies... blankets... jewelry... food and dulces... We didn't purchase anything, but it was fun to look. We found a hot topic-like shop and Scott bought 2 Mago de Oz shirts. Went to the crazy market and bought 3 avocados (we're eating so many here) and then headed home for lunch and siesta. Once the sun went down and the temperature cooled, we headed back out to see a free show. We couldn't understand the band's name, but they were pretty good. We're living very close to a bar where lots of young people hang out, so we'll have to check that out soon. The plaza by our place is adorable and always hopping with people once the sun goes down.

Sunday, May 18
Support your local schooner day! We went on our first charter (though it was donation only). There were almost 30 of us aboard, including crew. There were friends, family and strangers from all over- there was even a gentleman from France. We finally got our own Patricia Belle shirts, so we rocked those. We sailed around bird island and anchored near deer island. Some people swam ashore and others were given a trip in Tinker Belle (all of Captain Pat's boats are Belles... even the dingy). After a couple of hours swimming and eating lunch, we rounded up the troops and sailed back to the marina. It was about a 5 hour trip and we made a few dollars to buy ourselves dinner! Now we're home eating fish, beans, and rice and enjoying our AC. We both got a little sun, but nothing painful this time. Even if we don't get booked for any charters during the week, we'll be out doing the same thing next Sunday with more people. Aahhhh what a hard life...

Helllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thursday, May 15th
Got up, went to the boat. Helped put everything back together. Met Greg, part of the crew who travels between here and San Francisco. He has a Mexican girlfriend here and a job in San Fran, so that's how it goes. Went to lunch at Juanita's (we ate pork... naughty!) and then back to Colin's to pack up our belongings. We moved into our own apt in the afternoon! It's the one mentioned previously, above the restaurant downtown. The owners have the tiniest chihuahua named Micky. He's the smallest dog we've ever seen! They also have a big parrot, 2 cats, and 2 other chihuahuas (Rosie and Ricky) who had babies at 2am. 2 girls and a boy and they are so little, they look like baby mice. Pretty cute. We unpacked and sat in the AC for awhile. Back to the boat at 5pm. Hung out for awhile, helped fix some lines that were hooked up backwards. Went grocery shopping at Mega and then home to our tiny abode. Sleeping was difficult because of the heat.

Friday, May 16th
Our first sail on the Patricia Belle!!!!!!!!!  Well, not until after Brad called me saying he ran his truck's tank dry.  We went to the closest gas station and filled up a gallon water jug with some gas and took to him.  Yep a water jug (see pic).  The gas attendant didn't even question it.  We then got to the boat and went out at 1pm. Scott jumped right in and helped put up the sails. We sailed to the islands, the wind was great, and stopped to do a little swim in the ocean. Scott bought a margarita in a can (there's also rum&coke in a can) which was interesting.  We both burnt our retinas being out on the water for that long and Scott's farmer's tan just keeps getting better and better.  We came home after the sail, showered and lounged til we decided to go join the crew at the Cebolla Morada for some drinks.  Leif's car is giving us more problems now than we signed up for.  It started steaming by the time we made it from the centro to the Purple Onion, so we may just park it til Leif gets back and leave it at that.  It sure has been fun driving with no rules though.  Turn signal, red lights, pedestrians, what are those again???    

And the mast is done.  We got all the rigging replaced and the 80ft mast is finally back vertical.  We got an early start today to try to beat the heat, but even by 9am it was at least 80 and it just got worse.  There was absolutely no breeze to even help us fake being cooler than it really was. 
We spent a good 4.5 hours in the morning getting all the lines and sheets untangled and hooked back up to the mast.  Placing the collars back where they needed to be proved nearly impossible due to the repairs.  The mast is now just a little thicker in places because it is all wood again, so we employed many clamps and a sledge hammer to get everything back in place.  We took a little break for lunch and a siesta and got back to work around 5pm in order to ready everything for the crane.  The same crane driver came back with a new helper and got the job done in just less than 30 minutes again and charged us for 2 hours (gotta pay travel too apparently). 
Just one more day of getting the rest of the lines in place and the Belle will be ready to go.  Brad says he already has 10 people signed up for a charter on Sunday.  We will head out around 1pm and sail til 5 or 6, whenever people are ready to go back in.  I think we will have a greater appreciation for how everything works on the boat now that we have seen how she is held together.  The real test will be to see how we do under pressure with 15 knot winds blowing and half the deck submerged because we're keeled over so much.  
Scott got in contact with Martha today to talk about getting set up to do translations.  He gave his email and she said she would be in contact, but nothing has come yet.  Some income would feel pretty good about now, but not stressing out too much.  We will get to do some real charters soon also which will be a little financial kick, enough to buy dinner that night at least.  Bri finished her book protestingly because it was so good she didn't want it to end.  "Water for Elefants" is the title if you are interested and/or haven't read it yet.  Now she is reading the 4th Harry Potter that Captain's wife (who is back in town from San Diego) gave her.  That ought to keep her busy for a while. 
We will probably be moving into our new "bedroom" tomorrow at the Loro de Oro (Parrot of Gold).  We need some AC all to ourselves. 

Sunday May 11th- Hung out at home (Colin's) during the day. Went to the boat to meet the captain and 1st mate. Scott and Brad painted the mast while the captain shaved down the last of the new wood. We drank too many pacificos and got a ride into town w/ Brad. Went to a place called Chili's Pepper for dinner. Had fish and a mexican plate and big margaritas. The rest of the night is a blur... Bri bawled about missing the dog and got a bad case of the hiccups.

Monday May 12th- Bri woke up with a killer hangover. Went to the boat and captain Pat was there. We put another coat of paint on the mast and then Brad came to get us to go to lunch. We took a walk down the beach and then met a sailor from BC named Leif to take him to the airport. Leif said we could use his car while he is away! It's SO nice to have our own transportation (at least for the time being). The journey to the airport was... interesting. Leif has a schooner larger than the Patricia Belle. It's been down in Mazatlan for quite some time and while he was away a couple weeks ago it was robbed and many valuable metal parts were taken. So on our way to the airport, Leif tried to find a shipyard he had heard about. We ended up driving through some strange industrial areas and eventually found a used parts warehouse, but it was closed. Leif was looking for his missing parts and was armed with a police report ready to demand that they be given back to him. We were sorry that he had no luck but relieved to avoid any confrontation. At least when he gets back he knows where to go. When we got back to town we went to the store... got 6 small loaves of bread (still warm) for 6.6 pesos (66 cents)... Had salads and jalapeno pizza for dinner. Didn't help Bri's rotten stomach situation : )

Tuesday May 13th- Woke up and headed to the boat. Scott put the last of the paint on the spreaders (yes we're trying to learn boat lingo) while Bri painted the collars black. We were out in the sun for 3 hot hours and got a little pink. After the boat we came home for a quick lunch and then headed downtown to find out what was up with that studio apartment that we liked. Tony said we could have it for 400/month and even if we don't choose to live there we can use the pool any time we please. He also gave Scott the contact information for a woman here in Mazatlan who does a lot of interpretation and who also heads some nature conservatory somethingorother. She'll hopefully be a great resource. We're pretty set on taking the apartment. We got Tony's info so we can call him to tell him to save the space for us. After downtown, we headed to a pool of one of the hotels on the beach. We've heard that all of the hotels' pools are open to the public and it seems to be true... Came home for dinner (sandwiches and salads). We'll probably sit in front of the fan for the rest of the night. People keep saying "Yeah just wait til it gets hot here next month..." Wait until it GETS hot!? It IS hot!!!! They say that next month is when the rainy season starts and that when it hits it hits hard (mostly at night). Maybe we'll be kayaking down the streets when that happens. More to come. Miss you!!

So for some reason this TravBuddy site thinks we're in Estado de Guerrero, but we're not. We're in Sinaloa. It gets annoying to change it every time we blog, so please disregard that. You know where we are by now. We're in the Mazatlan on the western coast north or Puerto Vallarta and across from the Baja tip.

Saturday... Mexican Mother's Day... Got up, went downtown to talk to Tony, the owner of the hostel-like place we think we want. Told him we were interested and he said he'd talk it over w/ his wife and call us but we've yet to hear anything.

Came back to the house, did laundry in Colin's cute little washer (that you use the hose to fill up) and took a nap. Bri's got some strange kind of heat rash goin on and it's itchy and making her miserable. Had tuna for lunch and Juanita's (AGAIN) for dinner. Watched Scrubs and went to bed. Not such an eventful day. We'll keep you posted on the place-hunt though.

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Happy birthday mama Hilst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got up this am, had yogurt and coffee... Found out that Mago de Oz cancelled their Culiacan stop on their Mexico tour (boo)... headed downtown...
Met some real estate ladies. They showed us a house downtown right in the thick of it. Only a block or two away from the market... which was buzzing today! Crazy sights and smells... there were pigs' heads, salsas, dulces, pet food, fake Rolexes, etc. There was no AC in the house but the Canadian owner said if we bought one she'd take it out of our rent. It was Bri's favorite place so far. Very bright and open with lots of space, but the location might not be so great...
After we walked through the market we were STARVING so we stopped at Te Amo Lucy's for some lunch (chili relleno and a chorrea). Lucy's husband, Tony, waited on us and he ended up showing us the suites he rents out above the restaurant. It's a hard deal to beat. They're studios, and it's kind of like a hostel, but we'd be the only people living up there right now. And we'd have access to a private pool, a cleaning service once a week, and we'd be right by the plaza downtown where a lot of cool stuff goes down. We might go back tomorrow to start negotiations w/ Tony.
After that we had some beers and a marg at a place called Puerto Viejo and then walked up the malecón (boardwalk) along the ocean. Took some pics. There were some high school girls running for student gov't or something riding on cars... basically a parade for them. It looked like too much effort for high school...
Took a pulmonia (a taxi- but basically a glorified golf cart) back to Colin's. Doing laundry, drinking some pacifico...
More to come tomorrow.
Bri misses Dakota (aka PooPoo, Louise, Princess, Peanut, Kisser) terribly and talks in her dog voice every time she sees a pup.

Woke up early. Bri finished her book. Sandwiches for breakfast. We set off to find places to live. Our first stop was the Fiesta Apartments. They were tucked back at the end of a street behind lots of foliage. The apartments were adorable, small, with lots of stuff (blender, toaster, microwave, etc) and decorated nicely. We could rent a one bedroom w/ a king-size bed and AC for 5,000 pesos. It wasn't bad but there were a lot of old people and the lady giving us the tour lectured us on not having friends over or leaving lights or AC on for too long. We didn't want to move into an old folks' home just yet...
The next stop was on the same block. Really nice condos... They had a ground level unit that had 2 bedrooms (to sleep 4 couples) and the unit included it's own private pool (30,000 pesos)! The unit we liked had 2 big beds, a kitchenette, and a large bathroom. But it rented for 7,000 pesos and felt a little much like a hotel. Maybe we can talk them down to 6,000...
The third stop was a bright orange and yellow building. The units look like motel rooms. It was cute and the right size (and cheap: 4,500 pesos) but there was no AC. (Though they do have maid service 5 days a week.)
We breaked for lunch at Juanita's. 2 quesadillas de pollo for 28 pesos (mmmm.... so good) and 20some pesos for 2 burritos de pollo. While we ate, we overheard the young man at the table behind us mention that he just moved here from Portland! We had to stop and say hello. He drove down here with his pitbull and rents an apartment really close by. He was really kind and invited us over for meatloaf and potatoes for dinner. (We didn't get the chance to go- still looking at places).
This evening we saw a house. 2 stories, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room, 3 AC units and a kitchenette upstairs (it used to be apartments). It's partially furnished because the previous tenants stole the beds! We like the place and it's 6,000 for the whole house so we're going to try to convince the owners to let us buy a bed and take it out of our first months' rent. It's teal on the outside with lots of potted plants and a car port. We'll see what happens.
We're still interested in looking at places downtown. Right now we're sticking near the golden zone, which is pretty central. The marina is north of town. The hotel zone is fairly central but spans down the coast. Downtown is south of here and has a more authentic feel to it. We loved it instantly, but it might not be the most economical place to live as we'd have to take a bus up north to the marina. The buses are 5 pesos (about 50 cents... I'm sure you get the math by now) so they're cheap, just not convenient. They're not on a schedule and there are no stops- you just stand on the side of the road and signal them to pull over.
Juanita's again for dinner (still good the 2nd time around). Then back to Colin's house to shower and hang out for the evening. Goodnight!

Today started out nice and breezy. We took a walk along the beach in the morning and took pictures of crabs. Scott took Colin's motorcycle up to the marina to check on the mast and take some photos of the progress. We returned home to blog and eat lunch (we've been consuming a lot of sandwiches). Then in the late afternoon, we went with Colin to rent cuatros (ATV's). We got them for 2 hours (150 pesos per hour= about $15 USD). Now- I (Bri) had never been on one before, so in the beginning I was going a bit slow and yes there was some crying in my helmet. Scary! But after a while, I got the hang of it and it was a blast! We rode up north (not quite out of town) and to the beach and rode around in the sand. There were SO many dead puffer fish washed up on the shore, they were everywhere! Colin and Scott got crazy trying to find the biggest jumps they could and it was all I could do to not get stuck in the sand. It was really fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
We enjoyed some leftover chicken, potatoes, and frijoles for dinner and then had some cocktails.

Sooooooo, a week and a day in.  We've already done so much it feels like, but then again we really haven't done anything.  I think that's due to the heat.  One hour feels like three when your skin cant breathe because it's so humid.  The first day here we got a nice tour of the city, met Colin's fam and went to bed super early.  The next couple days were all about meeting the first-mate and captain of the Patricia Belle and all of their cohorts.  We were hoping to get some sailing in right away, but it was not that easy.  The 10 year old boat has seen a lot in its short life and as a result of the salty seas, suffers from a case of mast-rot.  We've pulled the fore mast out, removed all lines, sanded the entire thing, planed out most of the rot, killed whatever rot was left with antifreeze, put a mixture of very fine sawdust and bondo in all the cracks and crevasses that could not be planed, and glued a few planks of pine on top in order to get back the wood that was removed.  Those planks will then be shaved down to create a round mast once again.  This process must be done for three spots on the one mast.  Let's hope she holds together. 

In the meantime, we have managed to go shore fishing, surfing on a deserted beach, touring the marina in the dingie, eating and drinking many pacificos on the beach, house-hunting, ghetto-bangin, babysitting, negotiating with the federales after being pulled over for driving too fast on a dirt road, "mega" shopping and sushi snarfing.  Today we will be renting ATVs and getting them stuck in the sandy beaches.  Jet-skis are on the schedule too, but first things first. 


We make daily trips to the marina to see the process of the mast and to make sure they don't need our "city folk" expertise.  Bri is more than half way through her 700 page book, where as I have but 15 pages left in mine and cant seem to even pick it up.  Too much to do, too many mexicans to stare back at, too many undrunk beers.  Wish we could drink the tap water, but deep rock will suffice.  I have talked to the local hospital and dropped off a resume.  They of course have no interpreter posts at the hospital, but will call if they need the gringo touch.  We may have found an apartment right on the beach with a balcony that and big bay window straight towards the sunset.  A little expensive and would have to buy an AC unit, but totally worth it in my opinion.  Or Colin and Lucy have offered to let us stay in their home and split the rent.  If we did that we would be paying $140 a person per month with a $4 water bill and $10 electric bill per month divided by 4.  Just a little tempting, but no oceanic backyard.  Decisions, decisions.......

With Ernie & Alexa to town - out the road

Cows in  the road

Orphans Performance

German on the beach

Lunch & Ceviche

Up to Old Mazatlan Inn

Mega, Leys, & Wal-Mart

Mazatlan is a rather industrialized city considering it's regarded as a major tourist destination.  The beaches here are mediocre, and the cruise ship dock is located in the same area as the cargo containers in addition to being three to four miles from town.  I do not recommend any travel here from the states when options such as Cabo exist.