Friday, November 28, 2014

Turkey Day on the Island

So turkey day was nice. Always love some turkey and all the fixings. We were invited to gather with the other live aboards at Bahia Tortuga, owned by Danny. He was great, provided the turkey and dressing. As well as a fabulous location. 




 But, I am really turned off by all the American traditions. We all know what was really done to the natives and since I myself am part Cherokee I don't really care to participate.  But I did and we had a lovely time. Food and company was good and interesting. 

Today, Steve went to get a bike from a fellow live aboard. He said it will need some work, but Steve was eager to have a project. Im looking forward to being more mobile. The island is five miles long and most of the time we either walk north to downtown or south. When walking south we make it about to the middle of the island and then walk back. So probably anywhere from 2 1/2 miles to 5, that is including the round trip. 

Now, I can load Fairlane up and take off. I will be exploring and trying to befriend the locals. I want to learn more about their society. I want to learn about the different groups and hear about how they feel regarding the massive and rapid growth they have went through. They island has changed drastically just since We were here in 2003. 

We only have a month or so left before we sail to Belize. I need to get busy. Time flies. Hard to believe we have been here almost two months. Crazy. 


Oh forgot to mention. Temperatures have dropped a little, upper 70s. So here is Steve. Lol  I think we have gotten used to the climate without central air. Lol




Monday, November 24, 2014

The bitter sweet parts of a Traveler' life

Im finding life as a traveler bitter sweet. You can meet people your soul speaks to but then you have to say goodbye or rather "see ya later". I suppose this happens in everyone' life but I still dont enjoy it one bit. 

We fell head over heels with an awesome couple from Maine. They had cruised for five years early in their marriage and were back out doing it again. They will forever be our Momma and Pappa Syrinx.  

We anchored next to them because we felt they must know what they are doing since we saw they owned a Pudgy dinghy and their boat had beautiful lines despite being made of steel. Hahah just joking. Sure enough they were full of wisdom and were fellow Pardey followers as well. 

Well we had to say goodbye to them on Saturday. They sailed away for their next adventure. I only hope our paths cross again, soon. 

Since becoming so involved with other liked minded cruisers or ones that are preparing to set sail we have found we keep meeting people that just fit with us but then we have to say goodbye. Thank goodness for internet but I still miss them all terribly. We still reminisce of old friends and wish some how we could see them more. Yet it seems like it isn't possible when you are a traveler. Boo

So besides saying goodbye to good people we continue to get to know others here better.  One gentleman is an Italian that sailed here from Cuba. He is on a large ketch sailboat anchored close by.  Evidently, it was badly damaged on the passage here. But it is full of tressures. We have bought a few things from him that he was willing to part with. We bought a stainless swim 
ladder and a garmin antenna for our AIS. 

He told us that he use to be in Panama and found tressures on abandoned boats along the coast. He has been selling items so he could afford to fly back to Cuba to see his family. I believe he has finally saved enough and might be home by Christmas. So glad we could help. 

The cruisers that will be here for Thursday' American Thanksgiving holiday are gathering to have our own Thanksgiving here in Mexico. I volunteered to bring the mashed potatoes. Danny the owner of Bahia Tortuga is our host and he graciously offered to supply the turkey and dressing. He is always so giving especially to the cruisers. 

We have asked our landlubbers Canadians to join us. I believe the other cruising Canadians will also be there. Maybe even the British cruising couple. I love all the different nationalities at one table. It should be lots of fun. 

Today, David and Tina (Canadian Landlubbers) picked us up in a golfcart and we went to have lunch at Marias Kan Kin. A place I spoted on the Southwest side of the island by dinghy. Lunch was great and their beach and pool was fabulous. 



Weather had been great lately but we are expecting another front on Wednesday. So very windy and possible rain. I believe another one is forecasted for next week as well. At least it isnt cold. Can't complain here in Paradise. 

Snooches until next week



Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Rude people everywhere. UGGG

I thought I would quickly share what I posted on Facebook. 

It was a crazy night. We have been anchored here in Isla Mujeres a little over a month now. 
In preparation of the expected front we set out a second anchor. Our Rocna 55 being our main and a danforth as our second. Several boats have come in because of the expected front. Most of them dragged and all but one went back to the Lagoon. One catamaran managed to wedge himself between us and another boat. Right across our second anchor line. We manage to get the guy on the radio and he was sure he wouldn't be a problem. He dragged soon after telling me that. If course in the middle of the night our friends anchor ended up dragging on top of them. Maybe that will teach him not to anchor right on top of people. Ridiculous! 

Today we will have to retrieve our second anchor from across the channel. All part of the experience of living on the hook. Uggg


We all had a sleepless night. Even Fairlane is exhausted 


On a good note. Here are a few shots of the seawall that we walk to go downtown. We went a few days ago to prepare for staying aboard for a couple of days. High winds make for a unwanted wet dinghy ride to shore. 





Saturday, November 15, 2014

Never a dull moment in Mexico

Getting more into a routine. Everyday we would set off to find something just to get off the boat and get even more familiar with the town. I am also trying to get condition for our new life style of living without vehicles. We are truly enjoying getting back to the simple things in life. 

Monday we set off to find a hose to make our hand pump into a salt water pump. We originally had it set up as a back up fresh water pump in case the pressure pump broke.  We decided our back up filtered water foot pump could work for that and we could really utilize a salt water pump. 

During our quest I played tour guide to some folks at Mango' where we stop for breakfast. One of the couples have plans to stay on the island for several weeks so I gave them our contact information and forged on. 

We were unsuccessful in the morning but did manage to get our grocery shopping done. Steve went back out and eventually found it. 

He is much like a dog with a bone. He needs to complete his project in one day or it drives him nuts which in turn drives me nuts. I was more than happy to stay behind and put away groceries. Im so relieved he was able to complete the project and we now have salt water to rinse things off so we save our fresh water. 

Tuesday was a lovely day. We spend it scrubbing the water line and propeller. I also tortured Fairlane some by getting putting her on her float and taking her to shore. I know one day when it is hot she will appreciate that float. 



We of course joined the other cruisers for Taco Tuesday. It always nice to get with others and get different perspective on what we are doing. Yet I did find that when middle aged couples get together around a table it is difficult for the women to discuss things we deal with, such as cleaning and cooking. So I asked the ladies if they would be interested in meeting for coffee on Wednesdays. You know me and coffee dates. I just love them. So that is what we did and it was perfect. We we able to discuss things other than engine and boat system issues. I look forward to more of them. 

Thursday is laundry day so we walked downtown to drop it off and tried yet another delicious restaurant, Ruben's. 

Oh and Steve scored a GPS antenna that a fellow cruiser announced over the VHF radio during the mornings Cruisers' Net, that he was interested in passing along to someone else. That was pretty funny because he raced to beat someone else. He heard someone try to call the fellow on the radio after the broadcast so he jumped into the dinghy and caught the owner of it before the other guy. He was hilarious. Funny what entertains us when we have less responsibilities. 

We ended Thursday celebrating a fellow cruiser's Birthday at Tortuga. Fun fun fun 



Friday was a day filled with stories we will tell forever. We stayed in touch with the couple we met at Mango on Monday. We met them for lunch. Actually we met them then took them on our dinghy to a little Cuban place on the Lagoon, Vandutch El Varadero. We love our dinghy. She is small but mighty. So we arrive and ask if we can tie up to their dock and they said yes but that they dont open until 1:30. At least that is what we thought they said. So we asked if we could walk around before then and they said yes. So we venturing out of the small compound when a jeep stopped us and asked if we speak Spanish. He proceeded in asking if we found the restaurant and we said yes but it doesn't open until 1:30. He seemed upset and told us to come back.  So we followed him back in and had a great lunch with new friends. 

While we were eating a huge boat filled with beautiful latin women came up and demanded the dock so we moved our small little Putz Sea to accommodate the very beautiful ladies. Hahah. When we finished we loaded back in and headed back to the boat. 

On our way back we encounter one of the many party catamaran filled with people waving and laughing at us in poor little PutzSea. The crew waved us over to give us drinks that they made for us. Can you believe that, they made us four pink drinks that were definitely filled with liquor. Steve of course announced how he really loves Mexico. Hahah. Unbelievable! We really ended up entertaining our new friends.  I wish I got a picture of all this but we were in other people' photos. People took our picture from the Catamaran, so we were their entertainment as well.  


This is a picture of a guy/gal gretting us as we walked back to town to get our laundry.  




Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Reveal the spending



This is a snapshot of our spending. We are keeping a hand written journal of our spending on every item. We started the day we left, which was October 1st. We are dividing up between the three months we will be here our check in fees and the few days we stayed at the marina while checking in. We have it under Misc. 

Im planning on posting it once a month. Hopefully it will help us spend less 😊. I know Im going to hear from our very frugal fellow cruisers. We love hearing any suggestions. We know we eat out way too much but it is easy to do here. So many places plus it gets us off the boat. Please send us your wisdom. 

Oh keep in mind this is all we are spending. We have no bills back in the states except for yearly boat registration, yearly taxes, and yearly life insurance. That all, so it all on food and boat up keep. 


Sunday, November 9, 2014

Exploring the Island

We are really starting to get oriented with the island, not that it is very big. The Island is only around five miles long, the width varies but we are guessing maybe a mile wide. 

Steve has picked a place he loves to get enchiladas verdes, which is right outside the Marcado that we love to pick up most of our produce. It is also right down from the place we have our laundry washed and folded. Haha. Yes we pay someone to wash and fold our clothes. Its hard work being a cruiser. Hahah. The life of a Boat Diva. 

We did have to hunt down the boat store. Steve couldn't find it on his own but with my assistance and a get picture from a friend we found it with no problem. 


We were in luck because he had what we were looking for. A bit pricey but it's expected since the owner has to go to Cancun weekly to replenish his inventory. 

One day we went snorkeling. From where we are anchored we can see a reaf where all the commercial tour boats take visitors. We went to check it out, it was great. It was the best snorkeling Ive done. I have only snorkeled twice, once in Cancun and once in the Caymans. I saw way more fish this time. I posted a video on YouTube in case anyone wants to check it out. 

We took the dinghy down to the south end of the island. What a pretty place we are staying. Just Gorgeous! 




So that little dinghy ride made me really want to check out the south end. I got the nerve to ask Danny, who owns Bahia Tortuga, nicest guy around, if we could rent his golf cart for a few hours. Being the great guy he is, he said we could take it as long as we wanted. We asked our fellow cruisers/anchor neighbors if they would like to join us. We love hanging out with them because they have a lot of experience cruising and we are learning a ton. 

So yesterday we took off and checked out the south end. So lovely. 


Top of Tortuga 

Iguanas coming to check out their "god". Hahah just kidding 



An Iguana Statue (their "god")


All of these photos are from the park at the south end of the Island





Here Im trying to get my picture with an iguana but he was camera shy

I think Michael was looking for Cay Pans (? Spelling) to make chowder with. 







Expensive drinks after our hike. The only way to get Michael in the picture. Hahah. Love it. 


Possible Ruins on the way back. 


Had a great weeK. Now Steve is planning our trip to Belize in January. We are both excited to see what it hold for us. We hear the snorkeling is amazing there. 

We are also looking forward to the holidays here on the Island and getting more acquainted with the locals and learning about their history.  























Saturday, November 1, 2014

All is good living aboard in Isla

Well we finished our first month here as cruisers in Isla Mujeres. Funny someone told us yesterday that we dont look like "cruisers". Haha. We laughed and asked if it was because we had on shirts and shoes, he didnt explain but we found it interesting. What do cruisers look like?  

In any case we are finding our way around the Island and Im trying to walk as much as possible. I'm sure I need to really condition myself for this cruising life.   



We found the few hardware stores and Steve has been busy fixing things here and there. He has his list. He had to remake a step for us to get on the boat with, the one he made before was washed overboard on our passage here. I think he did a great job with the limited materials available. 


We have been trying to retake a photo that we took the last time we were here in 2003. This time with OUR boat anchored behind us   




Have to work on the photo, the lighting just isn't right hahah

We had a good time with fellow cruisers at Bahai Tortuga' for their Halloween party. I wish I could of gotten some better pictures. I was able to post some videos on my Facebook. 




Here are a few other pictures we took of Fairlane being her cute self. 





Until next time my friends