Living on the Hook

So life had gotten into somewhat of a routine, despite my cold. Well at least for Steve. He has stayed busy with the projects on his list. He has made lee clothes for the pantry shelves and for the hanging locker that isnt a hanging locker any more. He has made wooden hearts for all the cabinets in the Vbirth to keep them closed while under way. He had sanded and cleaned the teak on deck. To say the least he has been a busy guy. 

He goes ashore in the dinghy for water and to take the trash out every other day. 

Im still the cook. I have managed to cook us something to eat at least once a day even with my cold. Lol. I know I need to butch up and put my big girl panties on. Lol

Lets see what else?  Oh well we met fellow cruisers or liveaboards for pizza night. That was fun.  One couple had a huge white dog named Yetti. I wish I had gotten a picture of him checking out Fairlane. 

This week has been pretty uneventful due to the weather mostly. We are hoping to venture out more this next week. 

Oh almost forgot, I did manage to make my bf a hat that she requested. The fun part will be sending it to her. Hahah

Thats all for now. Smooches!

Super Chedrui (the grocery store)

So despit my cold I really wanted to check out the "big" grocery store on the island called Chedraui. I dont have the pronunciation down yet.  So we loaded into the dinghy and headed to Oscars up the lagoon. 

We figured we would have some of Oscar' famouse pizza then I would walk to the store and Steve would wait for me with Fairlane at Oscars. Well to our disappointment Oscars doesnt sell pizza until 5pm. So we settled on bean nachos. 

After having my fill of nachos and coke I took off on foot to Chedrauis. It wasnt very far but it was a curvy road. I decided on my way there that I was catching a cab back. I was in no condition to be carrying several bags back on that road by myself. 

Found the store right in a major corner. It is a two story building. It had new scooters out front and on the ground floor of the building that were for sale. It looked as if you are to get your cart and go up a steep escalating belt with it. So I did just that. 

The second floor had registers and clothing in the front. Looked as if a deli, specialty foods and a bakery were to the  right. They had yogurts and cheese. Their meat market seemed pretty small and carried small packages of chicken. I was told to expect to find chicken and pork in Central America but they didnt have too many options. I wonder of they have local meat markets and fish stores. 

Produce department seemed fine enough, even had broccoli, but NO mangos or bananas. Boo. I did find juice and pleanty of it. 

So I finished up with my list and cashed out. Went down the belt and a little taxi appeared. Nice!  It cost me thirty peso to get a ride down the street where I found Steve and Fairlane where I left them. 

Steve loaded the dinghy with the bags and I went off to find some grass for The baby to potty. She didnt seem very intrigued by the facilities. The local dogs wanted to check her out and she wanted no part in that. Hahah. I did run across a laundry service. I need to check out her prices. 

Back to the boat and a long nap. 

Oh and here is a better pic of where we are anhored. We are the X

Summer cold in Paradise, what the heck

Well its Sunday and I have a small summer cold. That really sucks. I suppose I shouldnt complain too much I am still in a beautiul place with this cold. 

We have been pretty busy lately. I probably should slow down. We will be here for three months so there is plenty of time. 

Ive swam ashore the other day and back. Really enjoying the water and being close to shore. 

We met a couple from Kemah that are down here, Tim and Reba Weeden on Trpical Fun. They were kind enough to invite us out for taco night along with our neighbors on Syrinx, Michael and Gretchen Ogden, from Maine. Had a wonderful evening and learned a lot about the area. 

We went to the beach yesterday in the dinghy. The water is crazy blue and clear. I hope we get this type of water for all of our travels. 

Here are some pictures and a few are for Steve' old co-workers. He is suppose to take this bottle of tequila to each place we visit. It was full when we took the picture but then we opened it and each had one drink out of it. We will get it back out in Belize 

Oh fogot to tell you I made my first loaf of bread on the hook. Thanks again Pancho. 

Checking into Isla Mujeres

Someone put this on my Facebook and I felt it was something worth sharing. There is so much on the internet that makes people fear coming here to Mexico, which is rediculas. I hope it helps

When checking in at Isla Mujeres and use Julio at El Milagro marina. They charge $50 US for the agent fee, but it is worth it. You then have a "friend" in Mexico who is in bed with the govt officials. They hug each other and are good friends. You need: 1) a Zarpe - the form CBP 1300 from Homeland Security on the 5th floor of the Galveston Post office building. Fill it out and Homeland Security will help fill it out if needed, and  stamp it. You can download the form off the net in pdf form. 2.) a crew list in spanish & english (download from Noonsite.com which is a great site). 3.) boat papers (documentation - current). 4.) passports     What you don't need: 1.) fishing license - unless you are a fishing boat private or commercial. As a sailboat you never need this according to Julio. 2.) TIP (Temporary Import Permit) - it lasts 10 years, and you only need if staying more than 2 weeks. It costs about $53 US. Julio will copy all the paperwork you need to take with you on the ferry to the Port Captain in Cancun.      In my opinion checking in in Isla Mujeres using an agent is the way to go.   You can checkin easily w/o an agent, but it is $50 well spent if you ask me.       I think there is close to zero risk of getting crosswise with the govmt if using these agents at Isla Mujeres, and making sure you do your homework well on the 4 items you need to bring.    

Tidbits of our passage

Here is a funny story. In our pantry locker I have plastic (oxo) containers of things like flour, sugar and so forth. Well the sugar container fell over and sugar spilled out through the luvers in the door. Sugar was everywhere. It happens. I wasnt too upset. I swept up what I could at the time and one calm day while we were motor sailing I thought, "aww good time to vaccuum it up with the shop vac". So I went down and drug out the vac and startrd at it. Steve of course worried about the power but because we had the motor on it didnt even put a dent in it. Well I was hard at it for a long time, just about the time I thought I was done I turned around and found that I had a huge mess. I forgot that I didnt have a filter on the vac. Uggg!  So I had to put a sock on it and clean up that HUGE mess. 

Live and Learn 

Week one in Isla Mujeres

Well things are coming together just right. Check in was a breeze. Total cost I believe was $150 and that was with an agent. Oh wait we also paid $20 for Fairlane' health certificate which is way better than $100 plus in the states. We didnt even have to go anywhere, they came to us. Awesome!

El Milagro Marina and Hotel was awesome. We spent our first few days there and paid for their agent to help us with the check in, Juilio was amazing, he really knows how to get things done. Thank you. 

The marina and hotel has great accomendations.  We had hot showers, beach settings, we enjoyed their paddle boards and bikes. And their laundry service uses some type of soap that smells wonderful. They were so sweet to us, even invited us to their BBQ, even though we left that day. So enjoyed the staff treating us to their traditional food. Amazing food and company. 

We left Wednesday afternoon, found the fuel dock and our anchorage. We picked a place next to a couple who also have a Portland Pudgy. We figured they knew what they were doing and followed suit. 

Today, we dinghy into a place that we heard would let us leave our dinghy while ashore and get water if we order something. The owner is from Texas as well and burgers were on the menu so no problem we would be glad to eat there. hahah  We walked downtown to find a grocery store, wow! Isla has really gotten busy since we were last here in 2003. I think we will stick to the other side of the Island. So many tourist. 

Tomorrow, I might swim to the beach. I think I can make it. 

I might not be able to get back. Lol

This is our view of where we are anchored

These next pictures of when we traveled to the fuel dock. I especially enjoy the photo of Steve talking with the worker at the fuel dock. Neither of them undestood each other. Priceless

Food I prepared for the passage

Food I served durning the crossing 

I pressure cooked a roast before we left. It made several meals, like, roast, mashed potatoes and broccoli on the first night. Roast beef sandwiches and tacos

I bought a cooked ham. I made omelets, ham and cabbage with garlic cheese polenta, ham macaroni salad. I cooked bacon before going as well. We ate it with egg in a hole as well as in other things and just straight out of the bag. 

We snacked on nuts, oranges, fruit chews, string cheese, salami and granola bars

I froze bottles of water and gatoraid each day so we would have cold drinks. I also had via coffee packets but we found we enjoyed our regular coffee. I also made a pot of it and fixed it to our liking in a pitcher and then poured it into small empty gatoraid bottles and froze them to have cold coffee when we like. I have tried a cold press coffee way which we enjoy the trouble with it is we also put cream and sugar in our coffee. It is difficult to dissolve the sugar and cream. I think the other way is a better method for us under way. 

I found that putting a large bowl in one of my sinks to hold the dishes Im constantly using, such as; plastic bowls and silverware, very helpful. I can quickly wash them up and leave them without worrying they will go flying or get salt water splashed on them from the open seacock.  

Passage to Isla Mujeres

Ok, even though my mind is still a bit crazy I'll tell you a bit of what happen during our crossing. 

Basically, the first five days were like riding on a roller-coaster the whole time. The Gulf is much like a front loading washing machine. You experience lots of different currents at the same time. We got a bit naseua the first few days but luckily nothing came up. 

The fifth day was the worse. Choppy conditions then 35kn winds and rain. We we reefed and the wind was on our nose. The only thing bad that happened was a JIB sheet (rope) was washed overboard and got caught in the prop when we started the engine to motor sail. This meant we had to only sail. It wasnt terrible but with the wind on our nose it made our progress very slow. 

The following day brought clean skies and calm seas. Oh and no wind. This allowed Steve the chance to dive down and cut loose the line. He was our hero. Exhausted and a few barnicle cuts but the engine was available again. 

The rest of the trip was pleasant just slow. The wind stayed on our nose so we motored sailed off and on. Making sure to reserve fuel for when we arrived in port. 

We really didnt see much out there. A few birds and a butterfly. Heard voices and music off and on but Im sure it was all in out heads, or mermaids. Haha

Fairlane did great. She had a little problem peeing while underway. We put her potty pad in the cockpit. She finally figured out to get into her stance in the corner. After she would use it we would throw it overboard to rinse it off. Steve tied a rope to it which made it easy to do that. 

I had medicine for her in case she got sick while underway but she seemed to be fine. Looks she even seems to be smiling 

We understand that the AIS' websit wasnt working. Sorry about that. We really did not buy it as a tracker anyways. We wanted it to allow other boats to be able to see us and notify what type of vessel we were. It seemed to work well. Several boats contacted for different reasons. One even gave us the warning on a front on its way. We really appreciated that. 

Im sorry that we made some worry. We really were fine. I hope that my kids have found they over reacted by calling the Coast Guard it wont happen again as we contnue our travels. The AIS seemed to work when we got into the Cancun area because the Mexican Navy saw us and contacted over the radio then board us to get visible proof that we and our boat was fine. I wish they would of let me take pictures. It was priceless. Thanks Samantha

It was a very long passage and I am still moving when Im on land, even Fairlane seems to be having issues. 

We are staying El Milagro Marina and Hotel for a few days to get our land legs and check in. We are using an agent. Seems to be an easy process and worth the extra $50. 

Here are a few pics from the trip. I am also trying to upload some pretty boring videos on our youtube link. Check them out. Feel free to ask questions

Guess who crossed the Gulf

We did! Yeah!  Took forever but that ia what it costs when you play it smart and reef every night 

Tell you all about it later

Anchored in Galveston

It's 3:30 am. Current conditions are humid with an occasional roll. 

Last night, we started to have tea in the cockpit but the mosquitos decided to join us. So we went in and had diced chunk leftover ham from Perry' delicious pork chop with mozzarella cheese chunks and olives. Then a cup of herbal tea and a cookie.  Steve enjoyed a night on internet    I played solitaire and went to sleep. 

It was a bit warm and sticky but the fans made it tolerable. Oh we Love our screens for the hatches. Fairlane tossed and turned last night. Might need to give her something to help her sleep and relax today

Im up to make some coffe then pull anchor and head for Isla Mujeres. 

Ill post when we get there. 😊

Departure Day

We left and now we are anchored in Galveston. Leaving tomorrow early. Here is how to track us

http://www.vesselfinder.com/?mmsi=367609960