Things are coming together…

Since my last post, I mentioned Rick was in the process of putting in a fridge/freezer (an Alder Barbour Marine Refrigeration System). Well the next day on the 22nd of January, he completed the project! We now have a working fridge and freezer that is not engine driven. It only requires 12 volt batteries in order to work, which keep their charge through the solar panels and or the wind generator. One to check off of our list of to-do’s!

The next day, Rick was feeling very ambitious and decided to start tearing off the teak decks. What a mess this was! After Rick pulled up some of the teak from the bow area, he decided he’d better check with the Marina office to see if this was permissible, since they have very strict rules about what you can and cannot do on the docks. The office manager, gave us the OK. He told us that would be fine just as long as we did not sand, paint or weld! Rick was off and running after this bit of news. He ended up tearing the entire cock-pit area, and pretty much the rest of the boat. There are a few spots he left for when we get to the dry storage at Marina Real. I helped haul the pieces of wood by the bucket loads up to the dumpster in the parking lot. My back was killing me by the end of the day. Rick had the hardest part trying to pry apart the wood with a crowbar and hammer. But after removing the wood we noticed lots of soft spots and rotten areas, which made us feel good about our decision to remove the decks and replace them with Awlgrip. The project is pricey and will take up lots of our time…nearly a month. But we feel it is totally worth it in the long run. 

One downside about doing work on the boat is that poor Harley cannot come aboard. She has to sit on the docks right next to the boat and wait patiently for us to take a break. She seems content but a little confused as to what is going on.

Thursday, January 25th our friends Sue and Shaun Mitchell arrived in San Carlos on their way to La Cruz. Their plan is to leave their RV here at the storage facility and then drive to La Cruz, where their sailboat, Sail la Vie is. Anyway, they arrived around 5p.m., met us at our condominium and we carpooled over to our favorite spot, Sunset Bar & Grill. I was so excited to show them this place and during sunset. We made it just a few moments before the sun went down, so they got the full experience of dining at Sunset Grill! We had a great time catching up and enjoying the ambiance and delicious food. 

The next day we worked on the boat for most of the day and later had Sue and Shaun over to our condo for a taco dinner and a game of Mexican Train! Sue and Shaun were the first people to introduce us to this game when we were in Tenacatita last season, where we played every afternoon on the beach. It’s quite fun and addicting. We also played this game this summer with them when they came to visit us in South Dakota (bringing us our very own set of Mexican Train).  Anyway, we had a fun night and made plans to meet up the next day.

Saturday Sue and Shaun arrived at the Marina around noon and came aboard Solastra for their first time. I’m sorry it was all torn apart and they couldn’t see her at her best. They seemed to like her and agreed that she was going to look great when we were all through with her.  After we visited for a while on the boat, we jumped in our car and gave them a tour around San Carlos, first stopping at Las Capitanas, another of our favorite spots, for lunch. We parted ways after the tour and made plans to see them the next day.

The next day, Sunday, I suggested that we go to Delfinario Sonora, a very modern looking facility that holds demonstrations with dolphins and sea lions (sort of like a Marine World but about 1/8th the size). The location is just off a scenic road between San Carlos and Miramar, Guaymas. Rick and I had driven passed several times, and each time I said while driving by that I wanted to go there some day (hint hint). Finally that day arrived and Sue and Shaun were up for it too.  I was thrilled! We got to Delfinario a little after 2p.m. The 1st show with the Sea-lions did not start until 3:00 so we had plenty of time to check out the facility and relax out on the grounds facing the ocean. What spectacular views!

We ended up walking into the show a few minutes after it had started and sat in the front row where the seats happened to be a little wet. The guys moved way up to the back row and Sue and I stayed in the front row. We didn’t mind that the seats were a little wet, we just wanted to be close to get the best view of the show. The show was very exciting and impressive! There were two trainers. One that talked on the microphone and explained things (which we could not understand, being spoken in Spanish and at an incredibly fast rate) who stood outside of the tank, and one trainer that was in the tank area with the Sea-lion leading the demonstrations. At the end of the show, we figured out why the seats were wet…. They got all of the little boys to come forward right up next to the tank for the last demonstration where the Sea-lion jumps up out of the water then comes crashing down with so much force that the water comes barreling over the glass and onto the people standing at the edge of the tank and the people sitting in the front row! Yep…Sue and I got soaked! What a surprise. Rick and Shaun looked down at us laughing and shaking their heads later telling us ‘that was the reason we sat up here’. So there we were soaked to the bone and luckily had about 20 minutes to dry off before the Dolphin show at 4p.m.

We were front and center for the Dolphin show (no wet seats) and we really enjoyed it! At the end of the show they offered to take pictures of people with one of the Dolphin’s. I jumped up and ran down to the pools edge to get my turn! I seemed to be the only one which was even better...no waiting in line. I was so excited for the opportunity. I felt like a little kid getting a brand new bicycle on Christmas Day. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time….something that was on my bucket list. Anyway, I got my kiss from the dolphin and got to give the dolphin a kiss in return. It was so amazing to hold this huge adorable mammal in the palm of my hands and to be close enough for kisses. 

Sue took pictures with her cell phone along with a photographer that I paid 240 pesos to. I’m so glad that Sue took pictures, because I never received the pictures from the paid photographer by email as promised.

That night we had an early dinner at Tortuga’s for Taco Tuesday. And later, Mexican Train on Sue and Shaun’s RV. Again…it was a late and fun evening. 

The 29th, Rick and I did some more deck pulling and met up with Shaun and Sue at Delfine’s for dinner. After dinner we said our goodbye’s to Shaun and Sue. They were packing up their things, putting their RV in storage, and driving their truck heading for La Cruz the next morning. Not sure when we’ll see these guys again…at least this season. Maybe at the end of April when we are all putting our boats away for the summer.

Yesterday, Rick did some work on the engine. He’s stopped moving forward on the decks for now, and leaving the rest to the professionals. We’ve ordered parts for the engine to get her running at her best. Fed Ex should bring them by tomorrow or at the latest, Monday. We received good news in the afternoon. We got a call from the Marina Office at Marina Real. We can haul out tomorrow morning, February 2nd! Yay! After tomorrow we will be looking at a month at least until all the projects are done. That will give us all of March and all of April to sail…God willing!