Oh my tingling tastebuds ... we have been eating well here.

On this island where colourful fishing boats are pulled up on every little patch of sand and fishermen call to each other all along the working docks, there is an abundance of fish. We've eaten at the Fishermen's Cooperative and at Bally Hoo and at Chuuk Kay's and Oscar's; we've snacked at Bahia Tortuga and the Soggy Peso and an unnamed place over in Cancun. We've eaten at home too - onboard Madcap, and on Yonder and at a magnificent feast under the thatched roof of the Milagro Marina's palapa. And all the meals have been fabulous.

We've eaten mostly fish - white fish that is sometimes grouper and sometimes something else but I don't know what. It is always perfectly grilled - tender and moist, and I usually get it with a tomato, onion, pepper sauce on top. Sometimes there are olives and its called fish Veracruz, sometimes there are chilies and it's called fish Mexicana, and Steve had a whole fish one day - with head on and the skin all crispy and scored. We've eaten shrimp fajitas and chicken fajitas. I had a seafood soup over in Cancun - a spicy tomato broth loaded with langosta (spiny lobster) camarones (shrimp), another soft fish and langostinas (crawfish). Jim and I shared a huge plate of excellent shrimp ceviche at Soggy Pesos one night, and Steve had tender calamari a couple of times at Chuuk Haa's.

At both the Fishermen's Cooperative and Bally Hoo's we ate grilled fish with rice - and sometimes veggies. It was always beautifully done - very simply and just enough to be cooked but not dry. And since both places are right along the water and an easy walk from this marina, it is easy to go there as often as we want. Prices are usually under 100 pesos.

The nachos at Bahia Tortuga were loaded up with bits of chicken and extra guacamole. Everywhere we go, the tortilla chips are fresh and tender. At the Soggy Peso, they were still warm and I could see the guy in the kitchen plucking baskets of them out of the deep fryer. They are usually served with a bowl of fresh salsa - not very spicy - along with a medium spicy sauce and a muy caliente (very hot) one.

We keep buying stacks of fresh corn tortillas at both the big new grocery store south of the marina and at the central market downtown. They come sliding off the belt of a big, loud machine and they're about 6 " diameter - soft and warm. The ladies will make a pile as big as we want - pico? mucho? They're yummy wrapped around some cheese or eggs or veggies or a piece of leftover anything. I haven't tried them with peanut butter and jam but I think that would work just fine too!

The feast here at Milagro Marina was superb - just as the regulars kept telling us. The guys served up big pans of ribs and shrimp fajitas stuffings alongside bowls of lettuce and tomatoes and pots of rice and refried beans and mashed potatoes and the requisite piles of both corn and flour tortillas. One other bowl held an onion/chili mixture that Jaime said was mucho caliente! And it was - but very tasty too. The long picnic table and several round tables were filled with boaters and land based visitors. Some have been here for several of these feasts and some of us were newbies, and I sure hope they do it again while we are here. They collected $150 per person (pesos that is) and we brought our own drinks.

Today, they were serving up glasses of something that seemed like gin and coconut water with mint leaves in there too. Rocky was ladling it out from a bucket at the palapa to all who passed by. We bought tequila (Cazadores - on the advice of a Mexican man who happened by while we were examining the wide variety of bottles), Contoy - the Mexican equivalent of Cointreau and piles of limes and have been experimenting with Margarita recipes. I bought a big bunch of heavenly smelling mint at the market today and will try my hand at mohitos later on.

For meals on board, we've been eating salads (so I know how well the produce is washed!) with lettuce, peppers, cheese, onions, tomatoes, avocado all purchased at the Chedraui (big grocery store) or the market. Breakfasts are our usual granola with yogurt and fruit - now with scrumptious mangos and pineapple and bananas. And of course there is always a tortilla to be wrapped around something for a snack.

One night we went for a walk and bought little chicken and pork filled empanadas at a roadside stand, and on another day I bought a little bag of churros - crispy shells filled with custard - and soooo good - from a lady on the street, and at the ball game (coming in another posting) we bought a bag of pepitos - freshly roasted and sprinkled with salt - and a yummy praline type sweet with chunks of dried mango in a sugary base.

Ok. Enough of this for now. Must go see what the next culinary experience will be!