Getting propane and Soriana
14 January 2018 | Marina Chahue, Huatulco, Mexico
Bill/sunny and warming up!
We sort of slept in this morning(Friday), not getting up till 0830. Unheard of! After a quick breakfast, I tried to call the cab driver that took us to the Capitania de Puerto to give me a ride to Gas de Oaxaca. We needed one of our two propane tanks filled. It had run out when we were in Shelter Bay in Panama. We weren't in El Salvador long enough nor did we have a "gas permit" to allow us to have our tank filled so now it was time to get it taken care of. The cab driver didn't answer his phone so I went to the office and had them call a driver. Cost=$30 pesos each way=Total of $3.00US for the trip. The driver came right to the marina and off we went after first confirming the cost(always do that before you ever leave where you get in). It appears that $30 pesos is the standard fare as long as you stay in town and it doesn't matter how far you go. It was $30 from the marina to the Capitania de Puerto and the same for a trip only half as far on the way back.
My driver zipped right along and we were at the converted gasoline station getting the tank filled in next to no time. It's located on the far north side of town, far away from any homes(boom!). Cost?==$137 pesos or just $7.12, the cheapest we've had our tanks filled for years. I though the $10 I paid in Curacao many months ago. With a nice filled tank, we returned to the marina.
Earlier in the day, as I was taking our trash up to the trash cubicle, I was approached by one of the security guards. He wanted to inspect what I was taking up. They have rules about what they will and won't take. They will take used oil but no filters. What you do with them is a quandary.
Once back at Zephyr, I found Tracy out on deck finally giving Zephyr a much deserved shower. She had salt caked all over the place from spray and bad waves and was in desperate need of attention. Even the forestaysail got a washing. Spray it with water, pull it up some, spray more, over and over till it was all the way up and then let it dry in the breeze. All lines got a good washing down as did the dodger and bimini. She's looking much better and there is no longer a crust all over her.
It's time for lunch and it looks like we are going to have tortillas filled with Chilorio, a seasoned pork meat that we have had on board for years having traded for it with another cruiser as we crossed the Pacific. They had bought the wrong stuff and the husband didn't like it so it was an easy trade. We've slowly gone through it as the years passed and we are down to the last can(expired in January 2015 but who cares). We found it again at the market yesterday and it now comes in sealed pouches, no longer in cans. Chili preserves just about everything and heck there isn't any rust on the can. Yumm!
This afternoon, a quick shower at the outdoor cold water shower stall up at the marina(no hot water is available).
It's now Sunday morning and we are up getting ready for our cooking class. As I wrote in earlier posts, it's cold here in the morning and Tracy has long pants, a sweatshirt and socks on and is still cold. We're sitting in the cockpit in the Sun to get warmed up. It's 70 degrees!!! Even the kitties are out here trying to warm up. They both spent a good bit of the night trying to snuggle in with us last night. Everyones blood has thinned out over the last 8 years or so. At least the chill of the night leaves quickly here and it will be in the mid 80s in just a short time.
Yesterday morning, we grabbed a cab and headed for Soriana, another of the big box stores that sell just about everything. Another 30 pesos($1.50US and we were there. As you enter, they check your bags and put special tags on them that they were inspected. My inspection entailed simply turning my back toward the guard as he put a slip of paper through the straps of my back pack. Did he look inside the bag--no. Not sure what good the inspection does but everyone seems fine with it. Do they check on the way out when I might have snitched something--again no. We browsed around the aisles looking to see what this place had that SuperChe didn't and the biggest thing was lettuce. Here they had Romaine lettuce which Super Che didn't. Other than that, they were pretty much the same. As the fare to get to each is the same, I guess which we go to depends on wether we need lettuce of not. Cabs are plentiful here so finding one is never a problem.
I'll let you know how the cooking class is when we get back. They will be teaching us about different Moles as well as Tomales so it should be fun.