September 25, 2016-Round up all those Doggies

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New Magma BBQ Looks Good, But...

We’ve got a round-up going, of sorts. That is, we’ve got a lot of stuff roaming around up in the USA and we’re trying to get it down here in Mexico. Problem is the shipping companies and the Mexican Customs just don’t work. If you send something via UPS or Fed Ex, it winds up in a Mexican Customs prison in Guadalajara and you will never see it again. So we are trying some alternate methods. We’ve pulled out all the stops to try to get all of our missing cows (stuff) to come into the coral (here on Wings) from out on the range (in the USA).

First of all, there is the new (used) spinnaker sold to us by Curt. “Just about new.” he said, so I sent him the money. Fine, money gone, spinnaker: nowhere. Then I arranged a drop. Son Ken met Curt at midnight near an abandoned railway station in Lynnwood, and after exchanging secret signals, Curt gave the kite to Ken. Then Ken met John, another midnight rendezvous, and John got the kite. John was supposed to bring it to Mexico, but somehow John missed his flight, for the last two months he missed his flight. Still no spinnaker.

Oh, did I say? John also has our mail package, which by now, is no longer the latest; there is another one looking for a courier to Mexico. (Hint: If you want your mail in a timely fashion, don’t try John.) Latest news: John will be coming in a few weeks. Right.

Then there is the new Genoa. Now this is a sad tale; the Genoa cost $5000. The factory delayed it for three weeks because they didn’t have the right color of cloth for the bag. See, I ordered light grey, which their up-to-date high end technical system said was, “In Stock.” Only it wasn’t. It was, “Out of stock”. OK I changed to dark grey, also, “In Stock”, only that wasn’t either. “Out of Stock”. But they had “RED”. I don’t want red! Oh alright, make the bloody bag in red, just send it already!

So the genoa and red bag got sent to San Diego, where Juan (not that John, another Juan) was going to pick it up and bring it to La Cruz. And since he was coming this way anyhow, please bring my new red bag, and my spare sail repair material too, OK?

“Sure” says Juan, and we did all the paper work, for Juan is totally legal. Great! But, you see, Juan’s truck is broken. But it will be fixed tomorrow. He will definitely head north with his truck and all of my papers tomorrow and bring all my stuff back straight away. “Tomorrow”. For two weeks, “Tomorrow.”

As of this day I have no idea where is Juan, or my paperwork, or my stuff.

Oh, also, the new Magna BBQ. Kelly agreed to bring that down. So I ordered it from West Marine with a delivery to Kelly’s neighbor. Yeah, I know, sounds dodgy, but Kelly, well, Kelly is pretty reliable. He DID bring me the new BBQ.

Thank You Kelly.

So how did that turn out? The BBQ is fine, except that none of the inside parts fit the outside. When I put it together it said, “Merry Christmas, our parts don’t fit.”

AND I BURNED MY FINGER trying to get all that ill fitting stuff properly aligned! DAMN!

Plastic Ice Cubes help burned fingers

So here I sit, no Spinnaker, no Genoa, no damned red bag, no mail, no repair material, but I DO have my BBQ and a burned finger.

Fortunately I also have some wine.

Welcome to the down side of Mexico, you cannot get stuff shipped here.

DOCK CARTS

Don’t let anybody tell you the marina security guards don’t have a sense of humor.

Normally it is a big pain to find a dock cart. Let’s say you come home from the super market with a trunk full of groceries and you need a dock cart to get those groceries down to the boat. There are never any dock carts to be found. You can walk up and down all the marina fingers looking for a dock cart. You might as well be looking for baby Jesus; you never find one.

But they do exist.

Last week, one morning, as I walked to the bathroom, I saw this sight.

Dock Carts Galore

10 Dock Carts!

Now where have these 10 dock carts been hiding?

And who, with a twisted sense of humor, thought it would be fun to put them all together on dock 7?

It must have been the marina guards; they did it as a joke.

But later, when we came home with groceries, no carts!

I asked the marina guard. “I Dunno”, he said.

Sure.

Fred & Judy, La Cruz, Huancaxtle, Mexico

September 10, 2016-My Malecon

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Community Activity on the Malecon

On the top of the breakwater around our marina there is a promenade called the Malecon.

It is a place that is enjoyed by families of this community out for a walk in the evening, a run, to do some exercise, or just to view the Bay and the mountains beyond.

The Malecon is part of the scene where we live. It goes with the small town of La Cruz, the blue ocean, the mountains in the distance, the birds, sea life and the quiet docks where our boat is moored.

From the deck of Wings I can watch the activity on the Malecon. On some evenings, and there are many of them, I go on deck to use the BBQ and I watch the Malecon.

Three Girls on the Malecon

I take a glass of scotch, put on some music, and while my steaks cook I watch the chicas jogging with their ponytails flying and the kids zooming along on their skateboards, or the parents pushing a stroller and the fitness students straining their muscles while their kids play nearby.

There is something about watching the Malecon which I love.

Malecon

I can see the palm trees gently waving, the birds circling, the tall mountains in the distance and all the people living out a rich part of their lives.

There is peace in this place.

Runner

Click here for the full photo essay.

Fred & Judy, La Cruz Huanacaxtle

September 4, 2016-Boat Work (Rigging-Hydraulics-Rudder)

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Rigging Jewelry

We've completed a few more boat work projects this summer. We've just now finished some rigging work, solved a hydraulics puzzle, and got a beautiful new rudder bearing.

Since this story is all about the pictures, we'll just send you to the wingssail images post.

Enjoy,

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, La Cruz Huancaxtle