October 8, 2008
Well today is mother’s birthday. I hope she is enjoying it. Our day went really quick. I spend the morning in the “kitchen” and then I went over and helped Sharon put screen in the rings that Jim made for them. I came home intending to sew but by the time I got ready to start, it was too late.
There is a social every Wednesday evening up on the dock and I went alone because Jim took Cris and they were at the store. Jim arrived just about the time I was ready to come back to the boat. He had them weld a piece onto the end of the pipe that was too short. Now he can finish putting up the pushput and I can have a place to sit down in the cockpit again. Yah!
The first boat that we knew of, left to go down south today. They had a big send off. Family and friends stood on the dock and wished them well and there were tears and hugs and that kind of stuff.
Now it is evening and they just radioed in to one of the other boats here in the marina. It sounds like they are coming back. I suspect that it is hurricane Norbert that changed their minds. I wondered why they would leave this early and especially why they would leave when the weather report this morning predicted a hurricane down south. There was a little yellow boat that left with them. He didn’t come back. Hope he is ok.
Saturday Oct, 11, 2008
I have spent the last few days recovering the cock pit cushions. I really wanted to work on the mosquito netting but the one big floppy cushion in the cock pit was very inconvenient for Jim so I divided it into 3 cushions and covered them. I finished today. Jim finished wiring the solar panels up. They don’t provide enough electricity to keep the fridge running. We also have to keep the auto pilot running. I don’t know how we can do it. The wind has really been blowing today. Hurricane Norbert hit the mainland down south. All we got was some wind but we had quite a bit of that for a while. I want up to the restroom on the dock and the window there was open. The whole room was covered with sand the wind had blown in. Someone is going to be very unhappy.
Sunday Oct 12, 08
We went to bed last night because it was cold. This morning when I got up it was 53 degrees F in the cabin. We don’t have a heater. We will need to go south soon if this keeps up. The weather forecast says it will warm up now that Hurricane Norbert has gone past. The wind gusted up to 32miles per hour according to the weather man. We are very grateful for the jackets and the soft cuddly blanket that Karen gave us.
I went to church. Again Teresa sat by me and tried to teach me Spanish by pointing to the words in the songs. She has a good heart and has been a big help to me. The Relief Society is doing a service project. They will meet at 8:00 one of these mornings and go babysit for some children who have no fathers. I believe that is what they are doing. The lady who sat by me tried to explain it while she was listening to them talk. Then after church I spoke to a man who was visiting from Provo. He came down and brought his grandson with him to do a service project for an orphanage located between here and Tijuana. It is surprising to see how many people come down here from up there. One of the ladies who sat by me was from Bakersville CA. She was visiting a friend who lives here. I get really homesick when I see the children in church. Teresa asked her grandkids to give me a hug and a kiss. I almost cried because I was so lonesome for my own grandkids. They used to give me a hug and a kiss sometimes. I miss them so much, especially when I see other children. Now there are children on the boat next to us who love to play with Cheri. Kids are so precious. Sundays are the worst because I always saw my grandkids on Sundays and now I see other people’s grandkids on Sundays. I wish we could stay in SLC and see Lexie get baptized next month but I know I won’t be able to. We would have to spend 2 more weeks there and we need to spend the time working on getting the boat out of the slip space before the rent is due again.
Monday 13th
Wow! It was a cold night. Jim said he froze all night long. He asked the dog why Cheri had not sat on his feet and kept them warm. He said they were cold all night long. Myself, I was comfortable until I had to get up this morning. I had the regular blankets and the little red blanket Karen gave us on me. Today I plan on working on the Mosquito netting. Mac from “Effie” came over and offered to help me with any sewing projects. She has already finished all hers. (They are the ones that headed south earlier this week.) We will arrange to go to the upholstery fabric shop on Wednesday. Sharon (from Bright Star) and Shastene who came from Sweden (from Fraya) want to go with us. We want to know where the store is. It is hard to find things from the directions people give you because of the missing street signs and the fact that each street has more than one name.
Thursday 16th
Jim is finishing the wind propelled generator today. He has it up and is wiring it now. That is a lot of work because he has to empty out the storage compartments in the cockpit to run the wire through them. We have had a problem to solve. We plan to go back to SLC on the 22nd because Amy and Steve are expecting their baby on the 24th. We need to leave the car there so we can travel by boat. That means we would have had to travel by bus from the border to Ensenada. Problem is that the bus won’t allow dogs and we can’t leave her here. Jim ask Jan and Gary to come back with us so we can bring the dog both ways. They said they could do that. They will ride back with us and then take our car home. That way we can bring back all the things we bought on the internet too.
Thanks to Jan and Gary for solving that problem for us.
Friday 10, 17,08
I found the cutest little vegetable store today. One of the ladies here (Shastene) showed it to several of us. We walked up to it. They sell organic home grown vegetables. Of course I can’t understand anything they say but Shastene can.
I also worked on the mosquito net for the cockpit. Jim worked on getting the dingy to stay on the davits and put ropes through the cockpit. I don’t like the result because the ropes go right over the only seats in the cock pit. He changed it for me but they still are in the way. Not as bad as they were though.
Monday, Oct 20th
I tried to rebuild the dodger in the last few days. It didn’t turn out too well but it is done. I just won’t admit I did it. That should take care of the problem. It was big and heavy and hard to move around even when I wasn’t trying to sew on it. I replace two of the windows. That is all the isinglass we had so I couldn’t replace the other two. I also patched a few holes and replaced the zippers. Wow! Now I know why they charge so much to do it for you.
We will be going back to SLC on Wednesday.
TuesdayI did the washing. Jim cleaned up some resin that spilled in the bilge. Then we got ready to go to SLC. That is all we got done. Then we took a walk around to the other side of the marina and watched the seals on the sunken boat in the harbor. I wished I had my camera, but then I have wished that every time I went over there. I still haven’t sent any pictures. Maybe I can do that when I get back from SLC.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
September 29, 2008
September 29, 2008
Today I got up early and made bread. It is turning out really good now. I need to write down the recipe so I won’t forget how I did it. I wanted to give a loaf of hot bread to Ron to thank him for his help with my paint. He didn’t seem to be home.
Jim went up the mast today too. He borrowed Ron’s set up. We have bought several things to help Jim do it but since we are new at this, we make a lot of mistakes. His rope isn’t quite long enough and his climbing gear is not quite right. One of the boswain chairs we have suspends him from his middle. It wants him to lay on his back I guess. Of course if he does, he will fall out of the chair. The other chair is the one he used. It is more like a swing. He fastened to two side pieces in front of him somehow. I didn’t want him to do that. I thought he needed two ropes like a swing, but since I don’t want to climb the mast, I better let him do it his way. Now he knows just what he needs and we will get it tomorrow when we go to San Diego.
After that, we went to the store. Andrea, one of the cruising ladies here wanted a ride. We took her to the water store and to the grocery store. We got some of the things we needed but not all. I hope I get a chance to grocery shop in San Diego. You can’t buy beets in a can here. I can’t find pepperoni or Tuna Tetrizenie or Kool Aid or Fritos. Well you get the picture!
I am really looking forward to doing some sewing this week. I have material to cover the cockpit cushion and to make curtains. I am debating which to do first. I want to make new cockpit cushions but I would really like to use a thicker piece of foam rubber for the cushions. Maybe I will have a chance to get one in San Diego tomorrow. I also need mosquito netting and some snap on things and zippers for the dodger.
Our neighbor here on the dock has been having people work on his boat. He has stuff all over. We can hardly get to our boat and he is playing his music so loud that we can’t hear ours. We are trying to decide whether to complain or not. Maybe monyana .
After we came home, Jim took the bread to Ron. It was not hot by this time and I would have like to wait until I had a hot loaf of bread to give him. Oh well! Better late than never I guess.
Tuesday, Sept 20 08
We went to San Diego today. We took some passengers. There was Tim and Ruth and their two children, 8 and 9 year olds. Meya is the girl and KY is the boy. They named their boat after the kids, “Kamaya”. The kids ride unicycles everywhere they go. Cute kids! We got to know them a little better.
They went cruising before the kids were born. When she got pregnant they went home and settled down and promised themselves they would sail again when the kids were eight. Now the time has come and they went and bought a boat. They have a big beautiful boat with all the extras. They probably need it with a family on board.
We shopped for (and found) some mosquito netting to make a tent for the cockpit. We also found some zippers to repair the dodger. Then we decided to get a watermaker and a bell for the boat. The watermaker will make drinking water from sea water. The bell will make us legal for the USA. They were both expensive. But this brings our trip south much closer. Jim has a lot of work now. He also got stainless steel pipes to support the solar panels and the wind generator and 200 feet of rope to make his climbing gear long enough to reach to the top of the mast. Then he got some hardware and pullys and things. I hope we have everything we need to reach to top of the mast now. We have spent hundreds of dollars and got a LOT of stuff to make it work. It would have been a big help if we had of know what we were doing before we got here. Then we tried to go grocery shopping. But we gave up trying to find a store. I really miss my guidance system. I could have punched in my request and it would have showed us how to get there. Oh Well!
We needed a vacuum because the one Kevin left on the boat quit working. Mexican products just don’t have the quality that we are use to in the USA.
When we got back to the boat we were tired. It was a big day. But it is always fun to spend money so we had a good time.
Wednesday Oct 1, 08
It is a beautiful morning today. The sky is clear blue. The water is calm. I can hear the engine of the cruise ship “Paradise” in the distance. (But not too distant). We woke up feeling good. Jim got up before I did and made his coffee. I ask what he was going to do today. I was thinking about all the projects we had supplies for now, the life line rails, the water maker, the climbing gear etc. He just looked back at me and calmly said, “I am going to spend the next week thinking about it and trying to decide what to do first!”
Hum, I wonder if that would work for me too. Why not? We are retired, we can just think about it for a week if we want to, right? Well sure, I can do that too, as soon as I get the bread made and I want to make a treat for the social tonight and I won’t be able to really relax till the cabin is clean. Then I can start on my sewing projects. I guess my mind just doesn’t work like Jim’s does.
But wait a minute. He isn’t just thinking, he is out there putting the climbing gear together. See how much trouble he gives me?
Before the day was over he finished installing new line and new pullys and such in several places on the boat and he also began building a pushput. That means he is replacing the life line around the back of the boat with stainless steel so that he can hang things from it (like the solar panels).
Thursday,
Lets see what did we do today? We spent all morning making screens for the round port holes. Jim made circles out of plastic welding rod and I glued no-seeum net in with the hot glue gun. The first ones I did needed to be cleaned up but when I was done, I thought they looked pretty good. After that Jim worked on the pushput.
I finally got out the new sewing machine and tried sewing. I patched a spot in the cockpit skirt that had a bad rust stain on it.
Friday
Today I finally got around to starting the mosquito net tent for the cock pit. Jim installed the watermaker. Jim called the Credit Union today to see what happened to his new credit card. They said the mail man returned it to them and they destroyed it. We ended up changing our address to Wendy’s so that we can get our mail from the Credit Unions. The credit card should be there the week after next. We will be going back to SLC then to take the car back and get the credit card. This is Anna’s birthday. She sent me a note and a picture. That made my day!
Saturday 10, 04, 08
The weather is changing and we are feeling a little chill in the evenings. Our boat is straining at her ropes. Jim said she was restless to be going somewhere. The boat has sat quietly all summer but now moves and tugs on the ropes. We ask Ron why things have changed and he said that it is normal because the direction of the surge from the tide has changed. The surge is now coming more directly into the mouth of the harbor. We are in a harbor that is within a harbor so we get very little motion most the time. I hear that in the other marinas that are in this harbor, the water gets really rough in the winter. Last year Ron said the dock got torn up and he had to move his boat over here to prevent damage. Many of the other boats were damaged. At least we have a sheltered spot for a while.
Late in the evening last night, boats began to pour into the marina. Most were sail boats. We learned that this is the ending place for the race to Ensenada. After the race they wanted someplace to spend the night. There was some excitement among the crew members. We sat and watched them come in for a while. One pulled in next to us while we slept but left again before we got up this morning. Some are still here. We are trying to get conference on the radio but we have not been successful. We did get it in streaming video on the computer. It starts at 9:00 AM here, not 10:00 like it does in SLC. It is over now for a few hours.
I can’t believe it is October and you are getting ready for Halloween. We are still working on the boat. I plan on working on the tent of mosquito netting I want to put over the cockpit but I can only do one edge because the railing is not on the boat now and I want to hook into the skirt that goes on the railing. I started working on this but got side tracked and spent the day rearranging things in the boat to try to get more things put into places they could belong in.
Sunday
We listened to General Conference and we went to see Sharon and Chris. Chris has not been over for a while and we were wondering if they were all right. They are. They are just busy like we are.
Monday October 6th
We went grocery shopping today and also got the new shop vacuum which we needed. I couldn’t find shortening or several other items. I learned they use lard here. I finally did find something that they tell me is shortening. It comes in a plastic bag like so many other things here. It doesn’t look like shortening. It doesn’t say shortening on it. How was I to know?
When we got back, Jim went over and began making screens for Sharon and Chris. They have round windows like ours and are unable to buy screens for.
Then we went to an open house for the boat called “Effie” . Mac and Alan are leaving soon. They spent a lot of time fixing their boat up and now they wanted to show it off. We went for a few minutes and looked at all the nice things they have built into the boat. It is a lot like the one in our back yard would have been. After that we left because they were all drinking and we didn’t really feel like we knew them well enough to stay anyway.
We came home and planned our future. Well for a month anyway. We need to go back to SLC and take the car back and get Jim’s credit card. I really want to be there when the new baby is born. We also should be there to vote. We have a lot to do here before we can leave and go south. This is our plan. We will leave here in time to be there for the baby’s birth. We will vote as early as we can and come back here. We will try to get everything we need to get done to go south in time to leave here by November 23rd. We will plan on leaving around November 19th or 20th. Then if the weather in not favorable we will have a few days lee way. Good plan!
Monday
Got up and showered. Washed Clothes and cleaned the cabin. Made bread and washed the dog. Took another shower. Listened to the debate between presidential candidates. Big long hot day!
Jim worked on suspending the dingy. Then he got the back bar to the pushput and installed it, well he only got half of it up. He had some problems. There are always problems.
Today I got up early and made bread. It is turning out really good now. I need to write down the recipe so I won’t forget how I did it. I wanted to give a loaf of hot bread to Ron to thank him for his help with my paint. He didn’t seem to be home.
Jim went up the mast today too. He borrowed Ron’s set up. We have bought several things to help Jim do it but since we are new at this, we make a lot of mistakes. His rope isn’t quite long enough and his climbing gear is not quite right. One of the boswain chairs we have suspends him from his middle. It wants him to lay on his back I guess. Of course if he does, he will fall out of the chair. The other chair is the one he used. It is more like a swing. He fastened to two side pieces in front of him somehow. I didn’t want him to do that. I thought he needed two ropes like a swing, but since I don’t want to climb the mast, I better let him do it his way. Now he knows just what he needs and we will get it tomorrow when we go to San Diego.
After that, we went to the store. Andrea, one of the cruising ladies here wanted a ride. We took her to the water store and to the grocery store. We got some of the things we needed but not all. I hope I get a chance to grocery shop in San Diego. You can’t buy beets in a can here. I can’t find pepperoni or Tuna Tetrizenie or Kool Aid or Fritos. Well you get the picture!
I am really looking forward to doing some sewing this week. I have material to cover the cockpit cushion and to make curtains. I am debating which to do first. I want to make new cockpit cushions but I would really like to use a thicker piece of foam rubber for the cushions. Maybe I will have a chance to get one in San Diego tomorrow. I also need mosquito netting and some snap on things and zippers for the dodger.
Our neighbor here on the dock has been having people work on his boat. He has stuff all over. We can hardly get to our boat and he is playing his music so loud that we can’t hear ours. We are trying to decide whether to complain or not. Maybe monyana .
After we came home, Jim took the bread to Ron. It was not hot by this time and I would have like to wait until I had a hot loaf of bread to give him. Oh well! Better late than never I guess.
Tuesday, Sept 20 08
We went to San Diego today. We took some passengers. There was Tim and Ruth and their two children, 8 and 9 year olds. Meya is the girl and KY is the boy. They named their boat after the kids, “Kamaya”. The kids ride unicycles everywhere they go. Cute kids! We got to know them a little better.
They went cruising before the kids were born. When she got pregnant they went home and settled down and promised themselves they would sail again when the kids were eight. Now the time has come and they went and bought a boat. They have a big beautiful boat with all the extras. They probably need it with a family on board.
We shopped for (and found) some mosquito netting to make a tent for the cockpit. We also found some zippers to repair the dodger. Then we decided to get a watermaker and a bell for the boat. The watermaker will make drinking water from sea water. The bell will make us legal for the USA. They were both expensive. But this brings our trip south much closer. Jim has a lot of work now. He also got stainless steel pipes to support the solar panels and the wind generator and 200 feet of rope to make his climbing gear long enough to reach to the top of the mast. Then he got some hardware and pullys and things. I hope we have everything we need to reach to top of the mast now. We have spent hundreds of dollars and got a LOT of stuff to make it work. It would have been a big help if we had of know what we were doing before we got here. Then we tried to go grocery shopping. But we gave up trying to find a store. I really miss my guidance system. I could have punched in my request and it would have showed us how to get there. Oh Well!
We needed a vacuum because the one Kevin left on the boat quit working. Mexican products just don’t have the quality that we are use to in the USA.
When we got back to the boat we were tired. It was a big day. But it is always fun to spend money so we had a good time.
Wednesday Oct 1, 08
It is a beautiful morning today. The sky is clear blue. The water is calm. I can hear the engine of the cruise ship “Paradise” in the distance. (But not too distant). We woke up feeling good. Jim got up before I did and made his coffee. I ask what he was going to do today. I was thinking about all the projects we had supplies for now, the life line rails, the water maker, the climbing gear etc. He just looked back at me and calmly said, “I am going to spend the next week thinking about it and trying to decide what to do first!”
Hum, I wonder if that would work for me too. Why not? We are retired, we can just think about it for a week if we want to, right? Well sure, I can do that too, as soon as I get the bread made and I want to make a treat for the social tonight and I won’t be able to really relax till the cabin is clean. Then I can start on my sewing projects. I guess my mind just doesn’t work like Jim’s does.
But wait a minute. He isn’t just thinking, he is out there putting the climbing gear together. See how much trouble he gives me?
Before the day was over he finished installing new line and new pullys and such in several places on the boat and he also began building a pushput. That means he is replacing the life line around the back of the boat with stainless steel so that he can hang things from it (like the solar panels).
Thursday,
Lets see what did we do today? We spent all morning making screens for the round port holes. Jim made circles out of plastic welding rod and I glued no-seeum net in with the hot glue gun. The first ones I did needed to be cleaned up but when I was done, I thought they looked pretty good. After that Jim worked on the pushput.
I finally got out the new sewing machine and tried sewing. I patched a spot in the cockpit skirt that had a bad rust stain on it.
Friday
Today I finally got around to starting the mosquito net tent for the cock pit. Jim installed the watermaker. Jim called the Credit Union today to see what happened to his new credit card. They said the mail man returned it to them and they destroyed it. We ended up changing our address to Wendy’s so that we can get our mail from the Credit Unions. The credit card should be there the week after next. We will be going back to SLC then to take the car back and get the credit card. This is Anna’s birthday. She sent me a note and a picture. That made my day!
Saturday 10, 04, 08
The weather is changing and we are feeling a little chill in the evenings. Our boat is straining at her ropes. Jim said she was restless to be going somewhere. The boat has sat quietly all summer but now moves and tugs on the ropes. We ask Ron why things have changed and he said that it is normal because the direction of the surge from the tide has changed. The surge is now coming more directly into the mouth of the harbor. We are in a harbor that is within a harbor so we get very little motion most the time. I hear that in the other marinas that are in this harbor, the water gets really rough in the winter. Last year Ron said the dock got torn up and he had to move his boat over here to prevent damage. Many of the other boats were damaged. At least we have a sheltered spot for a while.
Late in the evening last night, boats began to pour into the marina. Most were sail boats. We learned that this is the ending place for the race to Ensenada. After the race they wanted someplace to spend the night. There was some excitement among the crew members. We sat and watched them come in for a while. One pulled in next to us while we slept but left again before we got up this morning. Some are still here. We are trying to get conference on the radio but we have not been successful. We did get it in streaming video on the computer. It starts at 9:00 AM here, not 10:00 like it does in SLC. It is over now for a few hours.
I can’t believe it is October and you are getting ready for Halloween. We are still working on the boat. I plan on working on the tent of mosquito netting I want to put over the cockpit but I can only do one edge because the railing is not on the boat now and I want to hook into the skirt that goes on the railing. I started working on this but got side tracked and spent the day rearranging things in the boat to try to get more things put into places they could belong in.
Sunday
We listened to General Conference and we went to see Sharon and Chris. Chris has not been over for a while and we were wondering if they were all right. They are. They are just busy like we are.
Monday October 6th
We went grocery shopping today and also got the new shop vacuum which we needed. I couldn’t find shortening or several other items. I learned they use lard here. I finally did find something that they tell me is shortening. It comes in a plastic bag like so many other things here. It doesn’t look like shortening. It doesn’t say shortening on it. How was I to know?
When we got back, Jim went over and began making screens for Sharon and Chris. They have round windows like ours and are unable to buy screens for.
Then we went to an open house for the boat called “Effie” . Mac and Alan are leaving soon. They spent a lot of time fixing their boat up and now they wanted to show it off. We went for a few minutes and looked at all the nice things they have built into the boat. It is a lot like the one in our back yard would have been. After that we left because they were all drinking and we didn’t really feel like we knew them well enough to stay anyway.
We came home and planned our future. Well for a month anyway. We need to go back to SLC and take the car back and get Jim’s credit card. I really want to be there when the new baby is born. We also should be there to vote. We have a lot to do here before we can leave and go south. This is our plan. We will leave here in time to be there for the baby’s birth. We will vote as early as we can and come back here. We will try to get everything we need to get done to go south in time to leave here by November 23rd. We will plan on leaving around November 19th or 20th. Then if the weather in not favorable we will have a few days lee way. Good plan!
Monday
Got up and showered. Washed Clothes and cleaned the cabin. Made bread and washed the dog. Took another shower. Listened to the debate between presidential candidates. Big long hot day!
Jim worked on suspending the dingy. Then he got the back bar to the pushput and installed it, well he only got half of it up. He had some problems. There are always problems.
Sept 14th 2008
Sept 14th 2008
We got back to Ensenada on Sept 14th. It was Sunday but it was too late for church. We spend the rest of the day Sunday and all day Monday carrying things from the car to the boat and trying to find some places to put things away. Wow! What a job!
On Tuesday we went to San Diego to get the toilet. We couldn’t fit it in the car on our way back from SLC so we had to make a special trip. While we were in San Diego we had several stops to get things that aren’t available in Ensenada. I especially wanted to get a bunch of quarters for the washing machines. Then I thought we should get some $20bills because many places are not equipped to take credit cards. We need cash if we want to go to a small business or buy from venders on the street. US money has a little more value than Pesos. The exchange is slightly more than 100 pesos for $10. It is easier to just use regular money. And people seem really pleased to get it for tips. There is always someone with their hand out for a tip. I am learning to stay on the boat unless I have change of some kind in my pocket.
We went to the bank in San Diego and used the ATM to get some cash. Next we went to West Marine looking for a few little things. While we were there, Jim realized that he had left his credit card in the ATM at the bank. I sent him back to try to get it while I finished checking out at West Marine.
When he got to the bank he found that the card was gone. He went into the bank and they told him that if the card sat in the slot for more than 2 minutes, the ATM would shred it. Trouble is, we didn’t know for sure that it sat in the slot for that long. Someone else could very easily have picked it up.
We immediately called the Credit Union to cancel the card. They told us that they would also have to cancel his pin number so he could not access the account on the internet either. Luckily he had just drawn out a couple hundred dollars because I had left my credit card in Ensenada. At least we had money to get back to the boat.
When we got to the boat we had to unpack the car again and carry everything we had bought down to the boat. Then we had to find places to put it all away. This was getting harder and harder to do.
On the trip back from San Diego, we had run out of room in the car so I ended up doing a lot of my grocery shopping in Ensenada after all that. Of course that means that we spend Wednesday unpacking the car and carrying things down to the boat again and then trying to put things away. This time it just didn’t work. I couldn’t find places to put it all away. All of the cupboards (lockers) were packed to the top. We had to live with the groceries in the living room until we could get shelves made to put them away.
When we are in the cockpit sometimes we can watch pelicans and seagulls forging for fish. There are many fish here even though the water is polluted. There is a pelican that has a baby pelican following her around. That is what I see! Jim sees a pelican with a seagull following him around. Jim said that baby seagulls are gray. He said that the seagulls follow the pelicans around to get any leftover fish they may leave. I believe what he says but he also said that baby pelicans don’t have big beaks so this may be a baby pelican. It sure doesn’t look like a seagull to me. And it follows every where the mother goes. We are watching to see if the mother pelican offers food to the baby pelican. So far, she hasn’t. There are sea lions here too. Sometimes you can see them but most often you just hear them. Cheri barks back when she hears them bark. The other day Jim saw a manta ray. This is a fish that is like a big flat disk. It uses its wings to move through the water. He actually has seen two of them but they aren’t very big. He said they were only about 12 inches long.
There are many schools of little silver fish that swarm around in the water. Jim has seen larger fish herding them around. I have only seen the little fish. This is supposed to be the best fishing country in the world. I guess that is because there are so many fish available.
On Wednesday, Jim was planning to fix the bracket that holds the main sheet traveler. That shouldn’t take much time since he had it almost done before we went to SLC. He had taken the part to SLC with us so that he could weld it. After he fixed that, he was going to put the top on the holding tank. That should be another quick job since he had it almost done before we went to SLC. Then he would have time to put up a few more shelves that I needed in order to put things away. But it didn’t work out that way. He worked hard and he worked long hours but it was Saturday before he got to the shelves. There always seems to be complications with everything we try to fix. It just takes more time than we think it will. But on Saturday he got the shelves in. Now there is only one more place that there may be room for another shelf. He has moved so many hoses from under the bathroom sink that we may be able to make one more shelf there. I will start to paint the shelves next week. Every piece of wood we have put in must be painted so that it can withstand the marine environment.
Jim has installed the toilet too. It is really nice. It has a ceramic bowl and it is full sized. These are the two things we really wanted. It was worth waiting for!
While we were in SLC last week, I got an email from Kevin. He is the one that sold the boat to us. He was very nice but wanted me to print a retraction to the statement that he took everything that he could off the boat before he sold it.
I am retracting that statement now. He really didn’t take everything off the boat. In fact he left quite a bit that has been a big help to us. I am sorry that I said that. He is a great guy and is anxious to help where he can.
Sunday Sept 21,
I went to church this morning. Later in the day the bishop and 2 helpers stopped by the see us on the boat. These people are really kind and thoughtful. I am really glad that I have had the chance to associate with them.
Monday
Well, I am taking it easy today. I tried some new recipes and made some bread. That is about all I got done. But the bread turned out really great. I guess it helps to add shortening. Jim put a handle on one of the doors in the floor and worked on getting Sharon’s computer working right. We just relaxed the rest of the day.
Tuesday I went with Sharon to get a haircut. I have been trying to grow it out but I just gave up on that idea. I am really pleased with the way my hair turned out. I thought I would come home and start getting ready to paint but I really didn’t want to, so I didn’t. It is good to have that option. Now that I don’t have to be to work every day, I can make some changes to my schedule if I feel like it.
Tomorrow we plan on taking Cris and Sharon to see the blowhole, “La Bufadora”.
Wednesday
We went to La Bufadora with Cris and Sharon. The cruise ships were here so we saw things that were not there when Jim and I went alone. When Jim and I went alone we chose a day when there would not be crowds. Today there were crowds and the venders were ready for them. There was a painted donkey. I didn’t have my camera so I didn’t get a picture. There was a man with a costume of the old time Indians in this area. It was an extensive costume. He had a head dress with peacock feathers and leggings and a breast plate and it was all covered with bright spots that looked like jewels but probably weren’t. He was covered almost completely with the costume. I wish I would have had my camera. He was getting his picture taken with the tourists and asking for tips. There were several venders that sold pharmaceuticals. These were not open when Jim and I came before. Oh, I wish I had taken my camera. Jim got a leather hat and a pair of sandals. I got a black necklace and a silver bracelet. Then Cris and Sharon took us to lunch.
On Thursday I got to the painting. Jim was a big help. We were using the epoxy paint that Jim brought from SLC. I mixed and mixed it. It turned out to be quite thick and we didn’t have any thinner. Jim thought it would thin out after I used it for a while. That is the way it acted when he used it. Well, of course, for me it got thicker. I was trying to brush on this thick glue like paint that would not spread. I had 5 shelves that needed paint. I had to paint every surface. By the time I was done, I was really tired. Then as I was finishing the last shelf our neighbor came by. He laughed at me because I was trying to paint with this gluey substance that looked like it was supposed to be paint. He did have some thinner. Jim thinned it down for me before I painted the shelves that were in the forepeak. Then Jim helped me paint the shelves and the wall that I had put the fiberglass shelf brackets on a few weeks ago. Boy! I am glad that job is done. Those shelves actually turned out to look pretty nice. Now on Friday I can put everything back away and we can have room to move around in the boat a little.
Friday, I did get everything put away. I also cleaned the house a little, and got caught up on the dishes, which simply must be washed after every meal, no matter what. I can’t fix a meal if I have dirty dishes. There isn’t any place to work or any clean dishes to use! I also cleaned the floors and such.
Saturday I just couldn’t face doing another big job. I took the washing and went to the laundry mat to get away and read a book. In the evening we put “Harry Potter “on the CD player and enjoyed listening to his adventures for a while. We stayed up late then crawled into our damp bed and went to sleep. (The bed always feels damp when we crawl in.)
Sunday we slept in. I had planned on going to church but slept in too late. We aren’t going to plan to do anything today. Our neighbor is here working on his boat. He speaks Spanish so we can’t understand what they are talking about but he sure is working close to our boat. We can hear every word they say; we just can’t understand any of it.
Jim has been trying to figure out how to make a boswains chair work. When you go up the mast, it helps to have a boswains chair to sit in. We ended up with two of them because one was shipped so late that we thought it wasn’t coming and so we bought another one. If you use the hookup system that the boswains chair comes with, you are suspended at about the level of your belly button. This would be very useful if you wanted to lie on your back while you worked. But if you want to sit up and work on the lines, you must find another way to suspend the chair. Besides that, if you were suspended by your belly button, you might fall out the top! Something is wrong with this picture!
Now he is out trying to rig the halyard to hold him up. The pulleys squeak so loud when he pulls on the rope that the neighbor offered him some grease. I guess he really can speak English if he wants to.
Ron came by to ask Jim a question and ended up lending Jim his block and tackle that he uses to climb the mast with. I hope it works!
I will close for now. I want to get this in the mail today.
Love you all,
Donna and Jim
We got back to Ensenada on Sept 14th. It was Sunday but it was too late for church. We spend the rest of the day Sunday and all day Monday carrying things from the car to the boat and trying to find some places to put things away. Wow! What a job!
On Tuesday we went to San Diego to get the toilet. We couldn’t fit it in the car on our way back from SLC so we had to make a special trip. While we were in San Diego we had several stops to get things that aren’t available in Ensenada. I especially wanted to get a bunch of quarters for the washing machines. Then I thought we should get some $20bills because many places are not equipped to take credit cards. We need cash if we want to go to a small business or buy from venders on the street. US money has a little more value than Pesos. The exchange is slightly more than 100 pesos for $10. It is easier to just use regular money. And people seem really pleased to get it for tips. There is always someone with their hand out for a tip. I am learning to stay on the boat unless I have change of some kind in my pocket.
We went to the bank in San Diego and used the ATM to get some cash. Next we went to West Marine looking for a few little things. While we were there, Jim realized that he had left his credit card in the ATM at the bank. I sent him back to try to get it while I finished checking out at West Marine.
When he got to the bank he found that the card was gone. He went into the bank and they told him that if the card sat in the slot for more than 2 minutes, the ATM would shred it. Trouble is, we didn’t know for sure that it sat in the slot for that long. Someone else could very easily have picked it up.
We immediately called the Credit Union to cancel the card. They told us that they would also have to cancel his pin number so he could not access the account on the internet either. Luckily he had just drawn out a couple hundred dollars because I had left my credit card in Ensenada. At least we had money to get back to the boat.
When we got to the boat we had to unpack the car again and carry everything we had bought down to the boat. Then we had to find places to put it all away. This was getting harder and harder to do.
On the trip back from San Diego, we had run out of room in the car so I ended up doing a lot of my grocery shopping in Ensenada after all that. Of course that means that we spend Wednesday unpacking the car and carrying things down to the boat again and then trying to put things away. This time it just didn’t work. I couldn’t find places to put it all away. All of the cupboards (lockers) were packed to the top. We had to live with the groceries in the living room until we could get shelves made to put them away.
When we are in the cockpit sometimes we can watch pelicans and seagulls forging for fish. There are many fish here even though the water is polluted. There is a pelican that has a baby pelican following her around. That is what I see! Jim sees a pelican with a seagull following him around. Jim said that baby seagulls are gray. He said that the seagulls follow the pelicans around to get any leftover fish they may leave. I believe what he says but he also said that baby pelicans don’t have big beaks so this may be a baby pelican. It sure doesn’t look like a seagull to me. And it follows every where the mother goes. We are watching to see if the mother pelican offers food to the baby pelican. So far, she hasn’t. There are sea lions here too. Sometimes you can see them but most often you just hear them. Cheri barks back when she hears them bark. The other day Jim saw a manta ray. This is a fish that is like a big flat disk. It uses its wings to move through the water. He actually has seen two of them but they aren’t very big. He said they were only about 12 inches long.
There are many schools of little silver fish that swarm around in the water. Jim has seen larger fish herding them around. I have only seen the little fish. This is supposed to be the best fishing country in the world. I guess that is because there are so many fish available.
On Wednesday, Jim was planning to fix the bracket that holds the main sheet traveler. That shouldn’t take much time since he had it almost done before we went to SLC. He had taken the part to SLC with us so that he could weld it. After he fixed that, he was going to put the top on the holding tank. That should be another quick job since he had it almost done before we went to SLC. Then he would have time to put up a few more shelves that I needed in order to put things away. But it didn’t work out that way. He worked hard and he worked long hours but it was Saturday before he got to the shelves. There always seems to be complications with everything we try to fix. It just takes more time than we think it will. But on Saturday he got the shelves in. Now there is only one more place that there may be room for another shelf. He has moved so many hoses from under the bathroom sink that we may be able to make one more shelf there. I will start to paint the shelves next week. Every piece of wood we have put in must be painted so that it can withstand the marine environment.
Jim has installed the toilet too. It is really nice. It has a ceramic bowl and it is full sized. These are the two things we really wanted. It was worth waiting for!
While we were in SLC last week, I got an email from Kevin. He is the one that sold the boat to us. He was very nice but wanted me to print a retraction to the statement that he took everything that he could off the boat before he sold it.
I am retracting that statement now. He really didn’t take everything off the boat. In fact he left quite a bit that has been a big help to us. I am sorry that I said that. He is a great guy and is anxious to help where he can.
Sunday Sept 21,
I went to church this morning. Later in the day the bishop and 2 helpers stopped by the see us on the boat. These people are really kind and thoughtful. I am really glad that I have had the chance to associate with them.
Monday
Well, I am taking it easy today. I tried some new recipes and made some bread. That is about all I got done. But the bread turned out really great. I guess it helps to add shortening. Jim put a handle on one of the doors in the floor and worked on getting Sharon’s computer working right. We just relaxed the rest of the day.
Tuesday I went with Sharon to get a haircut. I have been trying to grow it out but I just gave up on that idea. I am really pleased with the way my hair turned out. I thought I would come home and start getting ready to paint but I really didn’t want to, so I didn’t. It is good to have that option. Now that I don’t have to be to work every day, I can make some changes to my schedule if I feel like it.
Tomorrow we plan on taking Cris and Sharon to see the blowhole, “La Bufadora”.
Wednesday
We went to La Bufadora with Cris and Sharon. The cruise ships were here so we saw things that were not there when Jim and I went alone. When Jim and I went alone we chose a day when there would not be crowds. Today there were crowds and the venders were ready for them. There was a painted donkey. I didn’t have my camera so I didn’t get a picture. There was a man with a costume of the old time Indians in this area. It was an extensive costume. He had a head dress with peacock feathers and leggings and a breast plate and it was all covered with bright spots that looked like jewels but probably weren’t. He was covered almost completely with the costume. I wish I would have had my camera. He was getting his picture taken with the tourists and asking for tips. There were several venders that sold pharmaceuticals. These were not open when Jim and I came before. Oh, I wish I had taken my camera. Jim got a leather hat and a pair of sandals. I got a black necklace and a silver bracelet. Then Cris and Sharon took us to lunch.
On Thursday I got to the painting. Jim was a big help. We were using the epoxy paint that Jim brought from SLC. I mixed and mixed it. It turned out to be quite thick and we didn’t have any thinner. Jim thought it would thin out after I used it for a while. That is the way it acted when he used it. Well, of course, for me it got thicker. I was trying to brush on this thick glue like paint that would not spread. I had 5 shelves that needed paint. I had to paint every surface. By the time I was done, I was really tired. Then as I was finishing the last shelf our neighbor came by. He laughed at me because I was trying to paint with this gluey substance that looked like it was supposed to be paint. He did have some thinner. Jim thinned it down for me before I painted the shelves that were in the forepeak. Then Jim helped me paint the shelves and the wall that I had put the fiberglass shelf brackets on a few weeks ago. Boy! I am glad that job is done. Those shelves actually turned out to look pretty nice. Now on Friday I can put everything back away and we can have room to move around in the boat a little.
Friday, I did get everything put away. I also cleaned the house a little, and got caught up on the dishes, which simply must be washed after every meal, no matter what. I can’t fix a meal if I have dirty dishes. There isn’t any place to work or any clean dishes to use! I also cleaned the floors and such.
Saturday I just couldn’t face doing another big job. I took the washing and went to the laundry mat to get away and read a book. In the evening we put “Harry Potter “on the CD player and enjoyed listening to his adventures for a while. We stayed up late then crawled into our damp bed and went to sleep. (The bed always feels damp when we crawl in.)
Sunday we slept in. I had planned on going to church but slept in too late. We aren’t going to plan to do anything today. Our neighbor is here working on his boat. He speaks Spanish so we can’t understand what they are talking about but he sure is working close to our boat. We can hear every word they say; we just can’t understand any of it.
Jim has been trying to figure out how to make a boswains chair work. When you go up the mast, it helps to have a boswains chair to sit in. We ended up with two of them because one was shipped so late that we thought it wasn’t coming and so we bought another one. If you use the hookup system that the boswains chair comes with, you are suspended at about the level of your belly button. This would be very useful if you wanted to lie on your back while you worked. But if you want to sit up and work on the lines, you must find another way to suspend the chair. Besides that, if you were suspended by your belly button, you might fall out the top! Something is wrong with this picture!
Now he is out trying to rig the halyard to hold him up. The pulleys squeak so loud when he pulls on the rope that the neighbor offered him some grease. I guess he really can speak English if he wants to.
Ron came by to ask Jim a question and ended up lending Jim his block and tackle that he uses to climb the mast with. I hope it works!
I will close for now. I want to get this in the mail today.
Love you all,
Donna and Jim
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About Me
- Donna M. Colbert
- A few years ago, my husband and I bought a boat in Ensenada Mexico. We have traveled back and forth from time to time since then. We sailed down the coast of Baja Calif and into the Sea of Cortez. The boat is currantly in La Paz Mexico. A few months ago we returned to our home in Salt Lake City for a time. We intend to spend some of our time sailing and some of our time in Salt Lake with our family and friends. We have the best of both worlds now.