Working hard in Zihua

Hola,
We are still in Zihua getting ready to push off. Our new target departure is next Monday, one week away. There are two reasons for that date. One, we need a new watermaker part before I can reassemble the pile of parts on the workbench. It would work for a while if I just put in the new seals that were delivered by John on S/V Oz last week but they would wear out fast because the pump piston shaft is rough and would score the new seals quickly and it would leak. Two, there is a slight chance for actual wind next week per another boat's professional weather forecast (they paid for it). Right now there are light and variable winds for the first 500 nm (nautical miles). Any chance for wind is worth waiting for as we burn a gallon of diesel for every 4 nm, so that would be 125 gals if we motored 500 nm. We only carry 200 gals which is huge compared to other boats here, but then we would have to replace the fuel in the South Pacific at huge prices and we might have to do it all with jerry jugs.

This week we got fuel and water delivered in jugs to our boat by panga. The diesel was in 50 liter (11 gal) jugs and the water was in 5 gal jugs. All of it had to be siphoned in to our tanks, jug by jug. The diesel jugs were very heavy but we only had five of them. We had 20 water jugs so it takes quite a while to deal with them. We also hired a local to clean the bottom of Maggie Drum to get rid of the barnacles and grass that grows so fast here. He dove on the boat using Scuba and with a helper for the waterline cleaning, spent 90 minutes to do it. We will have to clean the bottom of the dinghy on the beach before we haul it up the last time to get off its barnacles. Last year we used¨"Underpants Man" to clean the bottom here. He is a stocky and dark local who swims out to the boats with a little empty water bottle for a float in his BVD's. He will spend 3 hours to do the same job and he does not use Scuba so he must have excellent lungs.

Some bad things happened this weekend. Ney, the guy who helps land and launch dinghies from the dinghy beach everyday, was sleeping in a dink on the beach on Thursday night. He was robbed by two thugs at 4:00 AM. The took his wedding ring, watch, flashlight, VHF radio and all his earnings for the day (about $150). He wasn't hurt and he managed to catch one of them and the police caught the other one. They have the option of giving back the goods or spend 5 years in jail. Ney was shook up and went out and got drunk so he missed a couple of days at the beach. I saw him at Rick's Bar just now and he still is not looking great but is OK. All the cruisers are going to kick in something extra for his tip jar.

The other thing that happened was an accident between one of the parasail boats at La Ropa beach and another sailboat. The parasailors are these high-powered ski boats who tow a customer off the beach with a parachute and a long line. They take a loop or two around the harbor through and around the sailboats. We have always been waiting for them to hook the rigging on one of the boats and it finally happened to S/V Last Resort (Steve & Susan). It broke a spreader off and damaged the transom and other rigging. Evidently the guy being towed just fell in the water and was OK. The outfit running the boat said they would pay but who knows. Last Resort was bound for Central America. This will screw up their schedule at the least. More adventures in Paradise.

Just so every one understands, it is very safe for all of us here. These are two isolated incidents and based on our experiences are no more likely here than in the US. Robbers are not lurking around every corner here and we don´t even pay much attention to that just because it doesn't happen any more here than in Buffalo and may be much less.

Cindy is off to the Commercial - the local big supermarket - kind of like a Wal-Mart in the states. She is getting more odds and ends. Later in the week she will stock up on meats but can't today because we have to help another cruiser and can't get the meats to our freezer quick enough. Cindy is also continuing to deal with the Identity Theft she suffered by a nogoodnik in Denver who opened credit cards and DSL accounts in her name. I just downloaded the updated police report for her. What a hassle, and expensive for the banks and credit card companies, but they deserve it for being too easy in issuing cards. A huge hassle for us too. There should be stricter laws on all this, with jail time for every son of a gun of does it.

More and more of our friends are leaving. The anchorage is getting quiet and empty as one or two boats leave every other day or so. And there will be a mass exodus when all the boats going west to the South Pacific leave. Every day we check in with the HF radio nets to track the whereabouts and condition of the 4 boats we know have left. They are now in the trade winds and really moving after motoring out.

We are psyched up to go and can't wait to get out there. One more week!!