07/13/2012, The story of Manana
First the anchor chain was scheduled to arrive back in La Paz last Wednesday, but it was found to be in Ensenada. Then it was going to be here today, nada. The new story is that it will arrive late in the day on Saturday and since the trucking company is closed on Sunday, we will be able to pick up my newly galvanized anchor chain Monday morning. That's gets us out of La Paz perhaps Monday afternoon but more likely Tuesday morning. We are not really in a "hurry" but the truth is that it's hot, we are tired and it's time to seek out the cool temperatures to be found on the Pacific Baja coast.
There is some good to come out of the chain delay. Of course there is the extra food we are getting to eat in La Paz, but we are also getting to spend some extra time with friends and our good friends on Hotspur are rumored to be heading this way from Puerto Vallarta, so getting to see them one more time will be nice.
| 4th Yr. 2012 Cruising Season |
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Comments [4]
07/11/2012
Provisioning, today is the day to go get all of the groceries that we will have for about the next month for 5 and a half people (Jason equals 2 and a half people). I know that we will be able to pick up a few things in Man O War Cove in Magdalena Bay and also Turtle Bay but those will be small stores and those supplies more limited and probably a little more expensive. I will be able to get eggs and other essentials like dish soap but I am not sure about some of the finer things of life like pancake syrup. In the past I had made our own syrup from brown sugar, water, butter, and some vanilla flavoring but it is just not the same. Some of the other things on my list are:
Canned meat--Chata Chilorio El Autentico canned pork. It is a little spicy. All you have to do it heat it up, put it on top of a piece of bread or whatever food you are making and call it good.
Cheese--Cheese is sold by the Kilo so we will have about 2 and a half kilos (around 5 libs) of Gouda or Manchego
Saladitas--Soda crackers. They are good for soups, stews, and nausea. I like to keep them on hand.
Salsa--Herdez salsa Casera. It is a chunky not too hot salsa that goes on pretty much anything. I like to use it on eggs as Rich complains if they are too dry then I put the salsa on them and he never knows.
Milk--We like Lala Light. Jason could drink a whole liter box in one sitting. If you get the boxes they need no refrigeration so they can be stuffed just about anywhere.
Mayonaisa con Limon--Mayonnaise with a little lime juice. In general we do not use a lot of mayonnaise but I have 12 cans of tuna for quick sandwiches so we have found the mayo with the lime just adds a little extra flavor.
Cat litter--Who would ever have a cat inside the house anyway? If you do not get the litter in big towns the people look at you funny and then point to the dirt. Cortez has never missed his box so I am fully prepared to get him his good clumping letter so he will have his usual digging material.
Media Crema--This is the stuff dreams are made or, at least for Rich and Jason. It is a heavy cream that does not need to be refrigerated. It goes on anything from hot dogs, Pablano cream sauce, soups.... I have not found a substitute that does not need to be refrigerated in the states.
Veges--Potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage. These things last a long time. I will also be buying some apples, bananas, mangos, and other yummy goodies.
Other things on the list are: hot dogs, toilet paper, bacon, tortilla chips, rice, Nutella, boxed juice, cookies (for 2 am snacks), oatmeal...
Lynda and Jim on Gael Force just brought us 2 Jars of peanut butter back from California hopefully that will get us up to Ensanada.
Bill on Wandering Puffin has a car here in La Paz and he has offered to give Barbara on sv Hurrah and I a ride to the grocery store today which makes life a lot easier. Thanks Bill
| 4th Yr. 2012 Cruising Season |
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07/08/2012, Regarding the Cost of Cruising!
Close to four years ago we started posting what we spend on a monthly basis to keep this floating cruising circus going out on the water. I get emails all the time gently or sometimes not so gently telling me that we are not really cruising, but just living on a boat in Mexico. Call it Cruising or Living on a boat in Mexico because it doesn't really matter. I talk about our experiences along with what it costs to have them and people are free to take that for what's it worth, but of course if something is free to read on the internet is it really worth anything to start with the way we measure worth in a monetary sense these days anyway? Ducking that philosophical debate, it's time to post our Cost of Cruising numbers for April-June 2012. April is right on track, with May being increased by some yearly medical procedures and then June being increased by some last minute boat projects as we prepare for our return to California. April was $809, May came in at $1,727 and we finished our cruise for June at $1,628.
As always, you can check out the full number details here at this link.
If all goes as planned, we will leave La Paz sometime this week for our roughly 1500nm trip back to Port San Luis, where it all started back on Sept 28, 2008. We will post our costs for the month of July just to be complete, but come August the Cruise is over and so are the Cost of Cruising numbers.
For those that enjoy killing a little time at work by finding out what we are up to and just how little we can comfortable get by on, I have some good news. While, for those that are sick and tired of hearing about the crew of THIRD DAY and come only to the blog to see the train wreck, you may be saddened to hear that the blog, the cost of cruising numbers, and my general outlook on the world around us as chronicled on the blog won't be going away with our return to Port San Luis, Ca. The Cost of Cruising will start anew as the "Cost of Living" and the blog will transform from a Cruising blog into Living Board blog detailing the transitioning back States. Living aboard with one foot in the chaos and one foot safely out will give an interesting perspective, or at least it will to me.
The internet is full of blogs talking about the cruise preparation process and some will even actually make it, but what about the other side of the coin? The side that every cruiser will have to deal with one day. Unless you die quietly on your boat while out cruising (something we have seen happen a few times out here) the vast majority of cruisers end their cruise, but how many talk about it and the process of "coming back"? It's like all the fun was getting ready to go cruising with the end and transition back being treated like a funeral. So why not chronicle the "coming back experience"?
My entire goal when I started posting our Cost of Cruising numbers was to show people that you don't have to be wealthy to cruise and that an average Bozo like myself can do it. Certainly there are people spending far more and even less than it costs us to live pretty comfortably here in Mexico. What will be very interesting is so compare our Cost of Cruising numbers for the last few years to our yet to be determined "Cost of Living" numbers for the first year back in the States, I'm sure it will be more....the question is how much more?
2X?
3X?
Well to find out you will just have to follow along and find out with us. But first we have to survive the trip north known affectionately as the Baja Bash.
| 4th Yr. 2012 Cruising Season |
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