This is our last evening on land in Mexico. Having completed our provisioning, I think we will still have enough food upon our arrival in Hiva Oa to start a small supermarket.

The credit card bills have been alarming. It seems we have been spending a couple thousand dollars per day on provisioning, and paying various bills for the marina, the welder, the rigger, etc. The good news is that there is no place to use our credit cards when we'll be in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The last spare part we got for the boat was a spare alternator. I've heard about many boats losing their alternator. If that happened to us in the middle of the Pacific, we would no longer be able to make ice cubes for our rum & cokes. Now THAT would be a crisis! So we now have a spare alternator, for the sake of our rum & cokes.

We have more spares than you can shake a stick at. Spare autopilot. Spare chartplotter. Spare rudder. Spare VHF radio. Spare antenna. Spare water pump impellers. Spare fan belts. Spare sails. Spare medicines. Spare tire (that one is on my waist).

Crossing an ocean is kind of like being is a space capsule. If there's a problem, you're on your own, and you must have everything you need to deal with any situation, as it may be weeks before external help may be available.

It was interesting visiting with the doctor. We made an appointment and asked him, "make a list of all the medicines and equipment (syringes, sutures, etc.) that would let us treat most medical problems at sea. We have quite a medical kit now, let's hope we won't need it.

Yesterday, we got our Zarpe. It is our exit visa out of Mexico. Once it is issued, we have 48 hours to leave the country. We will miss Mexico. We love to speak Spanish (we are all getting very good at it). We love the warm, generous Mexican people. We can't wait to get back to Mexico someday soon. Hasta Luego!!

(The photo above is us, celebrating our imminent departure, on board our dear friend Jack's boat, Ventanna.)