Just wanted to fill you in on our progress in trying to get over to La Paz and to the Sea of Cortez, which is where we plan to spend the summer, frying up like a couple of tortillas! That area can get quite hot in the summer, 90’s and above, with the Sea becoming like bath water. I’m not sure how we will survive it, although an air conditioner is in the plan as long as we are in a marina. But we really want to explore the Sea and its abundant sea life, which means being at anchor a lot. Hanging out in island coves, with no stores (tiendas), no towns, and no electricity to say the least.

We plan to leave Mazatlán this week, finally, to get over to La Paz, on the Baja peninsula. We have been dealing with boat work, including moving our kayaks on to some side racks, which makes getting them on and off the boat 90% easier than it was before. Easier means more use, more exercise! And our solar panels have never produced as they should. So they are moving off the side rails back to where the kayaks were, meaning we don’t have to adjust them daily, as we had to before, plus we purchased a new controller for them, as the original one had died. The controller turns the panels on and off when there is a need for them to charge our systems, batteries, etc. They keep the system from overcharging. So we should be able to have the power we need at anchor, regardless of whether we have enough wind for the wind generator. Between the two energy-producers we should be able to keep up with the refrigeration and other energy consumers on board. I will include some photos in the photo album so you can see what has changed.

We are also leaving behind the Semana Santa, which in English means Saints Week or Holy Week. This is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday when the majority of the population has the week off. They are closing some of the streets in Mazatlán to accommodate the crowds at the beaches, as many people inland spend the week at any beach they can find. It is a week of celebration and religious rituals. Some roads are being closed along the malecon as they expect 40,000 people to be out partying between 8:00 pm and 4:00 am. Yikes! We are not going to be among the throngs, although I would love to see some of the parades and costumes next weekend. They do the annual procession around the Stations of the Cross on Viernes Santo (Good Friday), and getting around town might be a little difficult.

An Abundant but Cheaper Lifestyle
Just wanted to tell you about how we have reduced expenses without reducing our lifestyle too drastically. I now get haircuts once every 4 months instead of every 6 weeks, as was the case. No color or “tinto, or colore.” I’m letting my hair go to its natural color for the first time in oh, ever. I probably started coloring my hair back in the early 90’s. As my hairdresser of 20 years in SF said, just “let it go. Let it be. Don’t worry about it.” Some of the best advice I could have received and that I rejected for so long. WHAT?? Let my hair go?? Let the gray come in?? But now my hair is a dirty blond, brown and gray. And short. I manage to find hairdressers wherever I am at less than a quarter of the price I paid for a haircut in the Bay Area. And I could probably go cheaper and probably will. And I cut Ron’s hair with an electric razor.

Books - We now read used books, and purchase cheap online books. When we are done with an actual book, we will usually take it to a book swap, and trade it for another.

Not Depending on a Car - Walking instead of driving. Taking buses. Taking cheaper buses (non air-conditioned). Walking, walking and more walking.

Heating Costs - We often use cold water to shower, although we can afford hot, but don’t want it due to the heat. A cool shower feels great and doesn’t use any propane.

Movie theaters - Prices in Mexico to see new American-made movies, hot off the presses, are cheap. Since I now have (some) gray hair, and Ron has some…, the young person at the movie theater the other day assumed we are both senior citizens (and they don’t check ID here – for much of anything btw), so our tickets were $7.07 for the two of us. And the movie theater we went to is like nothing you have ever seen in the US. At least we hadn’t! The seats were quite wide, leather, two side-by-side with a space between the two and the next two. The space is made by a little table between each set, with buttons so you can call your waiter! To order drinks, wine! To order individual pizzas or popcorn or other treats! Then there are buttons you maneuver to put your seat back like a barca-lounger, with your feet up and your seat reclined! Amazing! And very CLEAN! No sticky floors or seats or armrests like in the US! Amazing! Okay, obviously we were impressed….

Medical Care – I can’t remember how much medical visits were in the US since I had a good medical care plan through the University. Still, I was paying close to $400/mo (my part of our health insurance and the university paid the rest). Co-pay visits to me were only $10 when we left. We have NO medical insurance down here. We pay out of pocket, but it is relatively inexpensive and we have found great care. The most I’ve paid for a doctor’s visit is about $38 U.S. Prescriptions are fairly inexpensive as well.

Groceries – MUCH cheaper, although we can’t find the gourmet items we loved in the U.S., or even some of the other regular items we used to buy. Brands are definitely different, any type of crackers are hard to find, except Saltines. Maybe that is a good thing! Lettuces don’t keep as long and I’m not sure why, and you certainly can’t find baby romaine. Lettuce is definitely more expensive here. But different types of mangoes, bananas, limes, all kinds of peppers, other types of fruit are all cheaper and abundant. It is funny, but you can’t find any other kinds of potatoes besides round white. No red, and only one kind of sweet potato or yam that I have been able to find. Haven’t found any kale, and asparagus is usually of poor quality when you can find it. But hey, you learn how to substitute and we are adjusting bit by bit.

GENEROSITY AND KINDNESS
I have to mention AGAIN the friendliness of the locals we have met. We have heard and continue to hear incredible stories about kindness and generosity, rather than about any violence or whatever gets portrayed in the US media about Mexico. Being here is an entirely different experience. A few examples, we went to a chandlery (marine parts store) because we needed some leech line (small diameter line) that we use to attach the netting on our boat. We are replacing the whole thing, so needing about 200 feet of it. Anyway, they didn’t have any and it would take weeks to get it from the US, not to mention a lot more money. Well the manager kept asking us questions to understand exactly what we needed and why. He didn’t know what a “leech line” was and we are both talking in Spanglish the whole time. He finally showed us what the Mexican fishermen use to mend their huge fishing nets, which looked like it would work for us. He didn’t have enough in the store, but he could run out and get us some and be back later in the afternoon. We ran other errands and came back and he had a spool of it, 500 meters (1,640 feet) for approximately $23 US dollars! So we have plenty of this great and useful line for other projects. You ALWAYS need lines and twine on a boat. Then we found some sheet insulation (with lead in it) that he had ordered for some other project. It would make good insulation for our engine room doors (to cut down on the noise we hear when the engine is running). He sold us a sheet of it for his cost and then, because we were on foot and this thing was BIG, he said, “Oh, no problem. I will take you where you need to go in my car.” So we squeezed in his car with this big sheet of insulation and headed out. He refused any money for the ride.

Another example happened this week. We had to take the cats in for their rabies shots and we had to walk up to the hotel, with them in their two carriers, and a bellman got us a pulmonia (the little jeep-like open air taxi’s you find in Mazatlán). We jumped in after negotiating a price. Once we got out and started in to the “clinica de veterinario,” we realized we had left the packet with ALL of their records in this pulmonia. We freaked out as it contained everything for the past 5 years in it, and we wouldn’t be able to get them back into the US if need be without that documentation. Ron ran out the door trying to catch the guy, to no avail. I got on the phone, called the marina manager’s assistant, who said she would call the bellman for me and see if he could remember who picked us up. Well, not 10 minutes later, just as the woman at the vet’s asked for our papers, the pulmonia pulled up and the guy waved at us with the packet in hand. We were SO relieved and he was happy to have been able to help us. BTW, the vet bill was only $69 for the two cats, which included their shots and an extensive consult with the veterinarian about some other issues. We came back to the marina later and everyone asked if we got our papers back and if the cats were okay! We also heard about another cruiser that same day having an emergency with a kidney stone. The marina manager took him to the hospital in his own car and made sure he was okay. Again, story after story of generosity and kindness.

Finally, as always, see accompanying photos – images around Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán, that I forgot to post, or are newer shots – like the pulmonia ride through Mazatlán for my birthday dinner.