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Eleytheria Journal: January 2005

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An "E" atop the mast

While Abe was atop the mast in La Paz taking care of the new anchor light and the anemometer, he also took the time to put some reflective tape up there. We'd read at some point that having reflective tape at the top of your mast can help you find your boat after dark. Since we don't relish the idea of riding in the dinghy for hours looking for our boat in the dark (it's not yet happened to us, but there are stories one hears), it sounded like a good idea. Some people put just strips of reflective tape, others put the first letter of the boat name in Morse Code. We really like that idea but an "E" in Morse Code is one dot; that doesn't really help us.

Abe decided to make the letter "E" out of the tape on each side of the mast. He has an architecture degree, and as part of that has a great eye for seeing that lines are precise, centering items on the background. He was the man to take care of this. He'd been at the top of the mast for a couple of hours already finishing up the real projects so I'll blame the end result on that. He made an "E" on the starboard side. Then he made an "E" on the port side. I didn't realize that he'd even taken the time to do it until he got to the ground. I asked about it as we were walking down the dock to go for ice cream. Abe proudly said he'd already taken care of it, and turned around to look. But Abe, why is the E backwards? Oh NO! The starboard side is correct, but when Abe went to do the port side, he was using the same guides to line up the strips of tape. He was also checking the line up against the starboard side. The end result was an "E" on one side and an "3" on the other. Oh well. We can be sure we'll recognize Eleytheria at night as no other boat will have quite the same tape at the top of their mast!

Abe's input: I was very careful to align the reflective tape on the mast. I had done such a great job on the port side that I figured if I could follow the same guidelines on the starboard, it would be properly aligned. I just didn't think about the guidelines being on the wrong side of the E. I had been so proud of how well aligned, precise, and even with the port side that I didn't notice until I proudly showed Amy my work, backwards???? Back to the top.

 

December 31, 2004/January 1, 2005: New Year's Eve like never before

The plan for New Year's Eve this year was to celebrate Mexican style. We had no idea how they ring in the new year here in Mexico but we were all for it. It must include tequila, right? We found a couple of restaurants along the Malecon that were offering packages of dinner, drinks, dancing and a great view to the firework show. On the recommendation of a lady at Scott's time share we went to Viejo Vallarta, but could never get in touch with the manager. It seems that the SOP for New Year's Eve celebrations was to go to whichever business you chose prior to New Year's Eve, pay for the dinner package, and choose the table that you wanted. It actually worked out very well that way. But as we couldn't find the manager after 3 tries, we decided to go next door to Michael's No Name Cafe. It's a Chicago-style pizzeria/cafe. Yes, I know, not the most likely of places to have a Mexican-style celebration, but they had decent prices, we knew their food was good, they had great tables available and an open bar as part of the package. We reserved a table that overlooked the Malecon and the firework launch pad.

Dinner was wonderful, the blues band was phenomenal, the company was beyond compare - it was so much fun! Someone at the table had the idea that since this was Mexico, it was required to have a shot of tequila at midnight. Someone else had the grand idea to practice early for the big moment.

Amy practicing for New Year's Tequila Shot. Notice the sheer pleasure on that face.

I'm not sure if Scott was on a mission or not to see Abe drunk, but he certainly started out trying. (I think that Scott remembered a story that Abe told about military days and his buddies buying him 11 shots of tequila. The morning after this infamous night, Abe was proud to say that he didn't miss the PT 6-mile run. Not only did he make the run, but he felt compelled to run circles around the formation to show them that he wasn't beaten. This was in Abe's much younger time, when he was in much better shape. Scott wanted to see a repeat of that performance.) Scott started ordering shot after shot after shot of tequila getting the waiter, Carlos involved as well.

Carlos didn't know what he was getting into with us!

I think it must be a Mexican tradition that if someone offers you a shot of tequila as a male you must take it. I'm not sure Carlos liked coming back again and again to the table with shots for the patrons and himself. But it was amazing how quickly we were served. Carlos complained that he had to be at work at 7 am. But he kept coming back with more shots!

Drinking buddies

The fireworks went on for about 25 minutes right over our heads. The launch pad for the pyrotechnics was immediately in front of us. The tubes that are used to launch fireworks are huge! There were 40 boats as close as 50 yards to the launch site. We all agreed that we wouldn't want to be out there in a boat in case any of the hot ashes fell on the deck. At the beginning of the show, a firework form of a seahorse was lit on top of a 30 foot tower. It burned for a bit then launched 300 feet into the air. Quite a neat trick but when it fell to the water it was less than 10 feet from the deck of a fiberglass boat. Fiberglass is a petroleum product. It burns and burns quickly. I bet that captain had heart failure. I almost did just watching it happen!

Abe and I aren't big drinkers. Those days are far behind us, but it's nice to let loose every once in awhile. And New Year's Eve is a good excuse for that. The tequila shots for Abe and Scott continued (Pam and I had sworn it off after the midnight shot - we'll stick with the margarita, thank you very much). Abe and Scott certainly put a big enough dent in Mexico's tequila supply that I'm not sure Mexico will ever recover. But they were well behaved and a great source of laughter and it was a very fun party. Scott has since sworn off tequila forever. We'll see how long that lasts. Back to the top.

 

January 2, 2005: Happy Birthday to Abe

After the New Year's celebration, and the slow recovery of the two men (Scott was still drunk at 5 pm on January 1st, he started his hangover at 7 pm), the birthday celebration was to be a mild affair. Abe had the pleasure of choosing the dinner location, and with the help of Scott who had some local knowledge from his many trips, we had a wonderful dinner at Maximillian's. One of the challenges of being in Mexico is that some things are hard to find. We're surprised at some of the things that we can't find. Abe's presents were wrapped in plastic shopping bags - no wrapping paper to be found - even at the local Wal-Mart. I couldn't find any Reeses cups to resupply Abe's chocolate fix, so birthday consisted of brownies, a Guayabera shirt (traditional Mexican dress shirt) and M&Ms.

That face could either be blowing out candles or recovering from New Year's tequila.

Abe says that knowing that things are so hard to find makes what he did get that much more precious. Good fiends, good food - what more could you want for your birthday. Back to the top.

 

January 10, 2005: Scott's gizzard

Scott of Tournesol is a big kidder. And he eats a lot. Must be nice to have the metabolism similar to a 16 year-old male! With all the big holiday celebrations that we've been having, all of us have been eating far too much. When Scott gets full, he jokes that his gizzard hurts and maybe we should just take it out. Abe and I kid that it would be great practice for us and our Emergency Medicine training. Well, he finally lost his gizzard.

He hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days - mostly just a full feeling after eating meals that were considerably less than holiday-fare size. Some of Scott and Pam's friends had come to visit and we all went out to dinner on Sunday for Pam's birthday celebration. Scott was feeling considerably worse by Sunday night, but he was a trooper and went out anyway. After dinner Scott went back to the time share and the rest of us went dancing. When we took Pam home at 2 in the morning, Scott said he was feeling just okay. But it looked like he was worse than just okay. He was exhibiting flu-like symptoms; it's going around, perhaps that's what he had.

Pam at her first of two birthday parties. Restaurants all make a very big deal of birthdays!

I awoke the next morning worried about Scott, and looked through our manual from our Emergency Medicine at Sea course. Scott's symptoms looked suspiciously like appendicitis. Since the pain had moved from the naval to the lower right quadrant on Sunday, I wondered if he wasn't in fact having issues with his appendix. Scott's symptoms were a bit odd in that he would feel discomfort, then it would pass. He'd feel a bit worse, but then better until Sunday night when it got really bad.

We were to have met Pam and her guests around noon for a farewell breakfast for them (flying out Monday afternoon). We didn't hear any calls on the radio until Pam came on at 3 pm. Her news: Scott's appendix had burst and he'd been at the hospital since 8 that morning. The surgery to remove it had gone well, and he was recovering as well as could be expected. It was fortunate that they were near medical care when it did burst. From their telling (I'm sure at some point they'll have their own journal entry about it), the care has been phenomenal. From our perspectives as Americans it's been interesting to watch great care without all the scare of malpractice. Scott doesn't have a name bracelet; he's only hooked up to one IV (no other heart, blood pressure, etc. machines), there appear to be no visiting hours or limits on how many people can visit at a time (their friends came to visit before flying out dragging all their luggage into the room); the lack of test after test after test. It is quite refreshing. Pam, Dwayne (a friend from the States), Abe and I were all in Scott's room last night hootin' and hollerin' (Scott trying desperately to not laugh at our antics or his own jokes). Wonder if that would have been tolerated in an American hospital.

Scott before we started laughing at him trying to eat Jello.

One of the biggest questions that we friends and acquaintances asked before we started this trip was whether we were concerned about medical emergencies. Our answer was, and is, no. Part of that answer is there is only so much control we have over events. It's irrational to cancel this circumnavigation simply because of these fears. We planned extensively for contingencies (for medical and other possibilities), but at the end of the day we'll continue the trip and just take things as they come. Not to say that if any of these fears actually came true we'd be that existential about it, but at least in theory...

Most cruisers are well stocked with antibiotics for infections, one of the biggest issues we'll face. Pam and Scott have both said that they would have handled this completely differently if they'd been in the middle of a passage. Since there is no doctor on passage (other than whatever training you have taken with you), as cruisers we are very self-sufficient medically when we need to be. Appendicitis is an infection, and bursting can be delayed by taking antibiotics if caught early enough. There are some great medical books written specifically for those folks who may be days away from medical care - wilderness hikers, cruisers, etc. One of the most highly recommended was Where There Is No Doctor. I think these are used by many missionaries and other travelers to third-world countries.

We'd heard great things about Dr. Dickie Hill's Emergency Medicine at Sea class in Benicia, CA. That was our choice to prepare ourselves. The class was a week long, and had great hands-on training. At the end of class we spent a day with Dickie building an extensive medical chest. Other cruisers go to a family doctor and explain what they'll be doing, and get prescriptions and supplies that way. All in all, we think we're as well prepared as we can be. Preparedness, a little bit of luck and good timing - we should come out of this trip A-okay. Back to the top.

 

January 13, 2005: Pam's Birthday

Due to Scott's Scott still being in the hospital, the responsibility to accompany Pam for her birthday present fell to Amy (I think I would have found an excuse to follow her anyway regardless of Scott's condition). Scott had given Pam a day at the Spa as a treat for her birthday (see why I would have gone anyway?!). It was quite a nice treat to have a massage to get the kinks out of my neck. Pam also got a pedicure and manicure. The price we found when researching this is quite reasonable for all that fluff. For a 75 minute massage, manicure, pedicure and 15 minutes in the sauna it was $875 pesos (less than $87 USD). On our boating budget one can't be getting fluff all the time, but once in awhile, it's quite nice. That, plus living at the time share for a week or two will spoil the entire crew! See what I mean about being cushy?

For dinner, Pam, Abe, Pam's visiting friend Dwayne and I traipsed to PiPi's restaurant for the best guacamole and a birthday song by the entire wait staff. The song included Pam getting her nose covered with whipped cream and two shots of tequila form the bar (courtesy of the restaurant). Yes, I forgot to take the camera. Pam only forced down one tequila so the other fell to Abe. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time for those things.

Birthdays and holidays are a big deal to us. It's an opportunity to celebrate and to get dressed up (as much as you can with our very limited wardrobe). Presents aren't big or "Wow" kind of things. Knowing that things are hard to come by, that we're on a very limited budget, that we don't have room for most things on our boat makes buying gifts a challenge. But a fun kind of challenge. We gave Pam a cartridge for their label maker that they'd had a hard time finding. Not very sentimental, but very practical. And we're all about practicality here! We also gave her a special deck of cards to play Five Crowns. Cards have become a favorite pastime for the four of us, and Five Crowns is up there as one of our favorites. We needed a new deck as our deck had become very sticky from the humidity and general moisture on a boat. My niece suggested putting them into the oven would be good way to dry them out. Great idea! But Abe left them in a little too long and now they're a bit singed. Still functional, but if one has a good memory, it could be used to determine what cards your opponent has by the singe marks on the cards. Oops.

Life has been very slow and not very boating-related since we've been in Puerto Vallarta. Either we've been staying at the time share or visiting almost every day to make use of the wonderful pool and real showers. We did go SCUBA diving with Dwayne on the 14th. He'd visited PV before and found Boca Divers. He liked the business so much that he wanted to go again with them. As we haven't made it Scuba-ing as of yet, it was a great excuse for us to go. We hope to find some places that we can go without guides along our trip. But life has been so busy that we hadn't even made it in the water with gear yet. Thanks Dwayne for giving us the motivation to go!

Scott ended up being in the hospital for 8 days due to his burst appendix. There was a bit of peritonitis and that meant he had to stay in the hospital longer to get the infection under control. By day 7, he was feeling loads better, and craving "real" food. The doctor had given him permission to have said real food, but he had no way to get it. Being the kind souls that we are, we offered to get ice cream and bring it back for him. We'd found a place run by an American expatriate who knew the benefit of good ice cream. He imports Blue Bell ice cream from Texas since he'd been unable to find "good" ice cream here in Puerto Vallarta. Now that's an ice cream fanatic! We carried two big scoops and a pizza to Scott's room. You'd have thought he hadn't seen ice cream in years. After his first bite, the moans emitting from his lips made us think he might need a moment of privacy! Back to the top.

 

January 2005: Punch Bug!

I hope all of you had the opportunity as children to play "Punch Bug" or "Slug Bug" or "Punch Buggy." If not, it's a sad day. Abe and I started playing this game again sometime in San Francisco. Volkswagen Beetles seemed to be everywhere and it has always been a fun to play. Over the years, we've trained our eyes to pick them out from 6 blocks away. We can see just a fender and know. We can see a Beetle with a car cover on, and know. We don't punch each other any longer when we see them. We were getting sore arms just because there were so many of them. We don't keep score (but I'm always ahead) and I'm sure one day there will be a winner. There have been rule changes over the years and a refinement to he game. We now include "Ole' Yellers" (in honor of Jill and Dan's Volkswagen van), "Ugly Car" (the new PT Cruiser that neither of us care for), "Cute Car" (the BMW Mini), "Rental Car" (Chrysler Seabring in memory of our trip to Hawaii), and now "Thing" (the Volkswagen Thing that came out after the old Beetle).

Our friends and family that have been around us whenever we see one have learned to filter out the "Punch Bug"s that pop into the middle of a sentence. We've even been able to get some of them to participate. Our niece and nephew saw 69 Beetles in one day when they visited San Francisco in 2001. I think they could triple that record here in Puerto Vallarta. We see them everywhere! The sad part to this story (at least to me because I'm losing) is that Pam has been calling some of them before Abe or me. Pam is legally blind. How can that be that she sees them before the sighted folks? And let me tell you, Pam gets excited when she calls them. Scott's vision is a bit worse than Pam's so he has added a couple of new categories to the game. One is "Van" or "Pick Up Truck" or "Bus". My favorite happens to be "Cruise Ship." As a new one comes to port each day, Scott is running away with this category.

What is a little bit scary about this is that the taxi drivers have been getting into it. Those who understand English are perplexed with sentences that sounds like, "Let's go to "PUNCH BUG" the Salsa dancing "PUNCH BUG" lessons at JBs on Thursday "PUNCH BUG" night. "What is this word, Punch Bug??" they're thinking. Abe patiently explains to them what the craziness is about. One taxi driver started pointing them out, too. Oh my! Yes, we're a bit strange, but young at heart. We try to keep life fun and interesting.

Tournesol's take:

Hi, Scott here. Occasionally competition can turn into an all consuming obsession that controls every aspect of daily life, this is the case of the "Punch Bug" game played by Abe and Amy. Prior to our departure Pam and I had toyed with the Slug Bug game, where you playfully slug your competator when you first see a Volkswager beatle. Well, Abe and Amy have had to cease the slug or punch element of the game because they were brutally battering each other so that others may become concerned with visible bruising, and there were concerns of Amy's father taking to Abe with the shotgun for hurting his little girl. So now the two stop everything, and I mean everything and anything, to beat the other to the punch by bellowing, "Punch Bug."

While riding in the taxi every few seconds you are guaranteed to hear a Punch Bug. The game has beome a central focus in their lives and they have evolved the game to include new bugs, old yellers (old VW vans, any color), certain rental cars, and most recently cruise ships. Pam and I have had to retreat from the competition because of the Oros' merceless hawk like compulsion. We visually impaired folks just don't stand a chance, though occasionally we do slip one in that is close enough to bite you. So if you find yoursolf traveling with Abe and Amy keep your eyes peeled, tounge sharped, and practice the special officially accepted Punch Bug two finger point. Back to the top.

 

January 19, 2005: The Bull Fights

Abe here. How can you visit Mexico and never have gone to a bullfight? Ask Amy. Scott decided that we could not leave Puerto Vallarta without having visited the Plaza de Toros to experience a real live bullfight.

Creative camerawork, and the we have a Plaza named for us!

Pam and Amy decided that they could pass on the experience. My dad had taken me to a bull fight when I was very young (in fact I have a remote relative who was a famous Matador - Joselito Huerta), and so I remembered some things about it. I remember the pageantry and ceremony behind it all. Part of my interest in going was to see Scott's reaction to the events we were about to witness.

The Plaza was fairly small and it reminded me of a high school basketball game with relatively few fans. I remember the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City was large and able to hold about twenty thousand avid spectators. We were not surprised to find that about 90% of the crowd were either American or Canadian. Only a small number of spectators seemed to have attended a bullfight before. Atypical to most events in Mexico, the event started early and so we missed the parade at the beginning. We would have seen the bullfighters strut into the arena as their assistants covered their flanks (symbolic of the way they would have to do in the ring with the bull in attendance) and the picadores trailing behind. I knew that would not find the same caliber of bullfighting that we might find in Mexico City or Madrid, Spain, but I expected more. One Matador was good, two were just ok, but the fourth was downright unskilled.

We found seats right up front and next to the tunnel where the bulls enter the ring. A couple of the bulls started entertaining the crowd from the inside the tunnel. You could hear them banging around inside and you just knew that they had an intense desire to come out and perhaps win a matador's ear (there is a "judge" who decides how well the matador performed, and will award him ears and tail accordingly, nothing for a poor performance, one or two ears for a great performance or even both ears and the tail for a superb display of skills). These bulls are bred for bullfights and are tremendously spirited, they show it when they come into the ring. The matador will then face the bull with nothing but a cape - in Puerto Vallarta this phase was very condensed for reasons unknown to me. The next phase introduces the picadores to the bull. These consist of men riding horses - both well padded - with a lance to wound the animal above the shoulder blades. I am not sure if this is to just weaken the bull or to also soften the area the matador will strike the fatal blow with his sword in the last phase. The next phase consists of the assistants inserting the banderillas in the bull's shoulder. The matador that impressed us the most performed this action himself. What was most impressive was that instead of using the normal 18 inch long banderillas, he broke them on the ring fence and now had four inch long banderillas. They were just long enough for him to take a grip which meant he was going to get very close to the bull when he inserted them. This guy had guts! The last phase consisted of the bull fighter facing the bull with a shorter cape and a sword. This is where the good matador lost his chance to win an ear. On one of his passes (the bad one lost it a couple of times), the bull snagged the cape away from the matador. Imagine Tim Duncan's shorts falling off just as he goes up for a dunk, well this was worse. The matador had just lost his shield and weapon. The matador's final act is to strike with the sword just about two inches of center, away from the bone, and into the bull's heart. The good matador struck with precision and the bull was soon down. Unfortunately the bad one missed four or five times and kept on hitting the bone or did not insert the sword deep enough. They had to resort to a long dagger (about three feet long) to take the animal down. Extremely poor showing by this guy.

We, Americans, have a difficult time understanding a bullfight. We are too busy feeling sorry for the bull and do not see the bravery of a hundred and seventy pound human standing in front of a couple-thousand-pound ferocious animal with nothing but a thin cloth to protect himself. Several times during the battle, the man will turn and walk away from the beast as if to dare the animal to attack. A good matador will use his skill to direct the attacking beast past him without giving ground. Look at a poor bullfighter and you would swear that he is standing on a hot potato, not so with a great matador. This is a very bloody event and sometimes it's the man's blood that covers the dirt in the arena. You would be hard pressed to find a great matador without scars on his body. In our society, the closest event to bullfighting is boxing. Two men hitting each other, trying to inflict maximum pain with every strike, but 99.9% of the time their weight is within a couple of pounds of each other. Neither of them has any weapon similar to horns to gore open his opponent's gizzards. Attending bullfights might not be for us, but we should not condemn the event unless we understand it fully. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Scott and I were glad that Pam and Amy decided to do girlie stuff instead of going to a Bullfight (Amy was slaving away trying to finish the canvas covers for the dock cart and fuel jugs, thank you very much. And Pam was shopping at Wal-Mart. I guess both of those are kind of girlie things).

Scott came out of the ring with an appreciation of what a good bullfight might be like, an idea of the pageantry, and the skill necessary to be a good bullfighter - at least as good as you can understand from the stands. Did I mention that we had front row seats? And we were next to the tunnel where the bulls enter the ring.

One of Scott's photos of the bullfights.

My memory of the bullfight from my youth is not as bloody as what I saw in Puerto Vallarta. Then again I was about ten feet from the ring! For Scott's take on the bullfight, take a look at his journal. Back to the top.

 

January 30, 2005: Our last days in Puerto Vallarta

There isn't much going on these days. Up until yesterday we were still spending time at Scott and Pam's time share. And due to that, not doing much in terms of boat projects. Scott had been in the hospital longer than he had originally thought, and then with the recovery period, he used some more of his banked weeks to stay longer. And since they were there, it was hard to pass up the hot 2 showers a day. We've been sitting by the side of the pool, staying up late playing cards, and sleeping late in the mornings. It feels like vacation in a way that cruising does not. It feels quite cushy. I'm not sure I would have believed myself if I said this while I was still working at my job, but this last couple of weeks of doing not much of anything has left us feeling restless. We've felt the pull to get working on the boat again, to get working on planning our next leg , to start running or kayaking or something active.

We did have some excitement on the bus earlier in the week. Those of you who have read the Musings page know that the buses don't stay too long at each stop. The buses are making money only when picking up passengers. Pam, Scott, Abe and I took the bus from the time share over to the marina. The step from the bus to the curb was a long one. Abe jumped off, no problem Scott was a bit more careful. I jumped off, thinking, "did the bus just start to move?" As Pam was stepping carefully off, yes, the bus was moving. Abe grabbed her arm (he happened to be closest to her), pulled her, and caught her as the bus pulled away. Yikes! The bus almost ate Pam!

Other than that, not much excitement. We did start to do some small projects this week. We oiled our teak decks (thanks for the oil, Dwayne!), washed and waxed our dinghy to protect it from UV, and canvas work (trying to finish making covers for our deck cart, jury cans and fenders). When we moved back to the boat yesterday, it felt like we were coming home. And we were ready for it. It's been nice to have the break from a boat. But we like our lives. We have a boat that we enjoy. While living on a boat has some drawbacks (not having "real" showers, tight spaces, little storage), we enjoy so much what comes with this life. We have the ocean as our back yard. We can hop off the back deck whenever we want for a dip in the biggest swimming pool there is, we have front row seating for beautiful sunsets, and we're seeing so many incredible things that we wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity. We couldn't afford to visit the world if we had to pay for hotel rooms and airfare and all. It doesn't much feel like we're giving anything us, only that we're getting so much more.

That all having been said, we're headed out on Tuesday for a Road Trip to Guadalajara. We'll spend 3 or 4 days there with Pam and Scott, hopefully visiting a school for the blind with them. Then it's off to Zihuatanejo to meet Shelly & Brian from home!! It's so exciting to be having visitors. And the second best part is that they're bringing loads and loads of goodies with them! It's back to passage-making and getting away from marinas and back out to anchorages - our favorite! Back to the top

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