tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76741253462613603942024-03-13T06:46:35.220-07:00Fanai ReiligThe dark of night does not come after the golden glow of the day's sun but before it.
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We are Living Out Loud... and loving our lives together.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.comBlogger518125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-81278107889599894122020-05-02T18:29:00.001-07:002020-05-02T18:29:11.369-07:00No grass yetWe haven't yet gotten the grass planted for Angus. I've no idea why, I just haven't yet gotten to it. Our days have been pleasantly full in any case. Like yesterday, we bottled a run of an oatmeal/coffee/bourbon stout, then re-racked a blonde imperial beer into a secondary carboy, then we kegged an imperial IPA. That was around checking the greenhouse, going for a bike ride and cleaning up around the house.<br />
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Today was dirt work for me. I spent 4 or 5 hours on the tractor moving old piles of rocky sand around, mostly to shine up the driveway a bit. Then I hooked up a drag behind the tractor and smoothed out the driveway. Crystal spent a good bit of the day planting and working in the greenhouse.<br />
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We think tomorrow will be brewing another 10 gallons of beer, 2 batches of 5 gallons each. One is a hoppy beer, the other is a watermelon beer (for summer days).<br />
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Now dinner is cooking and life is calm and good.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-11796715034421606212020-04-27T18:05:00.000-07:002020-04-27T18:05:14.971-07:00Working on the greenhouseWe’re working away on the greenhouse. I got all the frames built for the grow beds, then we all worked together to get the dirt moved back into there. Got 12 yards of dirt delivered one day, and two days later we had it all moved in. I was pretty happy about that. Crystal has now gotten so much planted out there that I have no idea what the heck all is in there.<br />
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We also decided to work up an outdoor grow bed by the battery building. It’s about 15’ X 25’ and I’m working on getting a fence put up around it to keep the deer out. We’re playing with the idea of putting a cover over it that’ll do a better job so our hard work doesn’t get all et up. (That’s not a typo, it’s how I say it).<br />
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Part of that was laying out some of the ground out there for a little bit of grass for Angus the pup. It’s not too big, since we’ll have to water it to get it going. If it all works out we’ll make it a little bit bigger next year. That’s if we haven’t moved to San Carlos and taken off on the boat for good.<br />
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Don’t laugh, it sometimes sounds pretty appealing.<br />
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In general, things are going well. We’re all healthy and life is going well.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-13431865691356361272020-04-19T17:12:00.000-07:002020-04-19T17:12:56.629-07:00A busy day of staying at homeToday, we managed to keep busy most of the day. We started the day with some internet, then Crystal and I went for a nice little bike ride. Then we got together on some seeds and what we might want to grow in the greenhouse.<br />
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BTW, the dirt for the greenhouse beds I built over the last week will be delivered on Wednesday. Then we get to move 13,000 pounds of dirt into the building :D.<br />
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Tonight we're making dinner and drinking.<br />
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Life is good.<br />
<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-12257573469939436312020-04-16T18:11:00.000-07:002020-04-16T18:11:14.407-07:00Moving forward an inch at a timeWell, the Pliny the Elder beer and the Kentucky Oatmeal Bourbon Coffee Stout and happily in their secondaries and getting prepped. In the meantime I've made a car trip and picked up some beer "stuff" that will make our beer drinking a bit more fun. I lucked into a batch of beer equipment. Some of it is a little better than what I had, and it included kegs. So my buddy and I have purchased a kegerator (it's still on the way) along with a few other bits and pieces that we'll end up needing as we move forward.<br />
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So we'll have draft beer for 2 kegs at at time in the house.<br />
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pray for us<br />
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Also I've been working on the greenhouse like a crazy person. At this point the grow beds are all built and I've cleaned up the construction mess along with making the space useable. The topsoil/grow dirt is ordered and will be here in less than a week. I'll take pics when we get the dirt in there. It's been fun, a little hot, and a bit more work and figuring than I originally planned. But we're pretty close to planting stuff.<br />
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I've also ordered tires for my pickup, rewired the trailer lights on almost every thing, and continued cleaning up around here.<br />
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It feels good to get some stuff done.<br />
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We're still hoping to get to go to our sailboat docking class in May. We shall see.<br />
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In the meantime I'll keep brewing beer.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-52490713827568436712020-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:002020-04-05T20:00:10.775-07:00Working our way through the quarantine We're still working away on projects and such to distract ourselves, and because they're fun.<br />
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Like today.... we started out, after tea/cacao, on re-racking a beer that we brewed about 10 days ago. It turned out pretty well, already at 7.2% alcohol. It'll be a little higher after bottle aging for a few weeks. It's a close of Pliny the Elder that Rich likes.<br />
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Yesterday Crystal and I brewed another beer, I Eat Oatmeal for Breakfast in Kentucky, from Boomchugalug.com. Man that was a crazy beer, started with lots of grains:<br />
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We've taken to brewing in the greenhouse, since it's super windy and there's nothing planted in there yet. That 6 gallons of liquid worked with all that grain, a fair amount of malt, coffee, a pound and a half of chocolate and a few hops. It came out dirty and oily and smelling like heaven. That beer is now happily bubbling away on the bar, as it will for a few days before we re-rack it and move it out to the battery building to sit in the secondary for a couple weeks. We're actively trying to collect enough bottles for bottling day.<br />
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That's the beer bubbling away</div>
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Stirring in the malt</div>
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Adding in some hops</div>
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Cooling down the wort so we can put it in the brew bucket</div>
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More cooling</div>
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Racking the beer into the brew bucket, look at that dark stuff!</div>
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The coco butter will float on top, when we re-rack we have to leave it behind</div>
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There was LOTS of trub left behind when we re-racked the Rich beer. Crystal saved it and is now making a bread starter with it. </div>
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The rest of today? Worked on a motorcycle that needed some fuel system work and fixed a bum turn signal. Then I completely rewired a trailer I use for hauling stuff. Also put new LED lights on it all around. Finished with a little ride on the motorcycle and a good dinner.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-69393623224037387472020-03-23T10:37:00.001-07:002020-03-23T10:37:30.397-07:00Social distancingWe're practicing the social distancing, oh hell.... we always did. :D<br />
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Working around the house, waiting for a good day to get in a bike ride and playing outside.<br />
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Yesterday I watered the solar batteries, and cleaned the chimney. Crystal did our taxes. We also went for a middling walk, too windy to go out for too dang long. We also drank some beer and made some food. Really? This isn't much different than our normal lives.<br />
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Today I did a bunch of research on watermakers for Contigo (our 41.5' boat) and found some web sites by folks that have the same boat. It's good to see what other people have done and how they did it with the same volume constraints. I'm working through the paperwork on getting stuff done on the boat as well as I can manage through the online method, though that would have been how I did that anyway.<br />
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Mostly just checking in a bit. We'll all see what happens next.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-86281548210240040342020-03-21T12:55:00.000-07:002020-03-21T12:55:28.724-07:00Contigo is now our boat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The closing on the boat happened on Thursday around noon and the paperwork was sent out on Friday. It hasn't gotten here yet, of course. And there are still things to finish setting up. The U.S. Coast Guard paperwork got submitted but will take at least a couple of months to process. Then we can use that to apply for our Ship Station License for all the electronic stuff on the boat. WE already got our online FCC radio license. We'll also have to register all the emergency radio buoy stuff with yet another U.S. govt organization. Then we also have to process the paperwork in Colorado for buying the boat, our home port is listed as Del Norte, Colorado...... I think we'd need a MUCH deeper river to sail the boat up to the house. :D<br />
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We still have to set up for dry storage and work on the boat while we move forward from home with no way to get there to work on it. :D So I'll contact the sales guy at the Marina so I can get properly hooked up with the folks that own the boatyard where Contigo currently sits. And we have to work with the Marina down in San Carlos for the Temporary Import Permit that lets us keep the boat in Mexico for 10 years for the whopping sum of about $75.<br />
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We have to purchase insurance for it, required by Mexico to be on the water, it's liability insurance and not too expensive each year. And we have to get started working on our Temporary Mexican Citizenship application. Yes, there is such a thing.<br />
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There are several things we want to do to the boat for cruising and comfort there in the Sea of Cortez: Air conditioning, a blizzard of choices for that. We might go with something a little more expensive that uses half the energy so we can still use it judiciously while "on the hook"; I want a bow thruster on it for better/easier parking and that'll have to be done in the boat yard; and the boat needs an antifouling "bottom job" to keep the marine growth off it while sailing. We've found a place that does a copper treatment of the hull that has reliably lasted 10 years as opposed to the usual 2 years you get from ablative paint; I have to replace the house battery bank and perhaps upgrade the solar; and we'll have to install the fancy "MacPack" sail storage system that the previous owner (Chris) bought but didn't have time to install yet.<br />
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Of course, virtually none of that can get done while we're all on "lock down". So we'll get stuff in place and prepare. I'm taking an at home navigation class, we're both working on a Spanish class and there's a docking class we're studying for in May that we'll take on the water.<br />
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So we're sitting home but not sitting still.<br />
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How Y'all?Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-4445395977800182202020-03-14T18:56:00.001-07:002020-03-14T18:56:26.384-07:00Much ado about not so muchWe're chilling at home. No big panic here. We've always joked that the phone and power go out here all the time so it's all the same. So we're not going into a big panic. I think the only thing we've gotten that's out of the ordinary is some extra Jamisons.<br />
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Our time today was spent cleaning up outside and making a dump run. We stopped at the grocery store for a few things we were out of and laughed at the empty isles where the toilet paper and paper towels and hand sanitizer should have been. At least the hand sanitizer makes sense.......<br />
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We're still working through all the stuff on the boat purchase. Yesterday I got the Radio Operator licenses for Crystal and I. Today I'm finding online options for ships logs and cruising apps. There's even a cool one that'll tell you if your drifting at anchor.<br />
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We're nearly at the end of our 6 week diet with few carbs, no alcohol, no sugar, no caffeine.... basically no food that isn't boring. :D In truth, Crystal does a great job of cooking up delicious food even given the restrictions.<br />
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So we're chilling, watching the stock market crash, watching idiots buy all the toilet paper, and glad we live a long way from all the craziness.<br />
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Hope all is well with every one else.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-50296051864586737942020-03-04T12:38:00.001-08:002020-03-04T12:38:39.009-08:00A little about buying a used boatI think it must be time to tell the tale of working to buy a boat. A used boat certainly, since we choose to not afford a new one.<br />
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I've been looking at boats for at least a year and a half now. Doing my research, checking out the ins and outs and such. Trying to figure out what we're most likely to be happy with since we're in the middle of a largish country and there aren't many blue water sail boats around here.<br />
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Everyone says to try out lots of boats before you buy one. We're not built that way. So this is how the current deal is going......<br />
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Started talking to the owner last November (It's now March) about this boat he has that looks like something that will work well for us. Understand that there is no perfect boat, each one is a compromise of features, price and location. I have good conversations with the fella, then family stuff happens on both sides and we can't get down to look at it.<br />
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Flash forward to February of 2020 and the owner emails me to let me know he's dropped the price by 17K. I think about it for about 3 seconds and write, then call the broker in Mexico to make a full price offer. Not usually what you do but when a 75K boat is now 32K you jump. 2 days later Crystal and I are headed to Mexico to look Contigo over. Oh, during that time neither the owner nor I was hearing back from the broker so the owner stepped up and pledged the boat to me even if it got him in trouble :D. Turns out that was fine with the broker.<br />
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So we've looked at the boat. No one actually asks for the 10% down they're supposed to. This is OK with everyone. Odd. I get with the broker and schedule an inspection (Survey) and set up to have a mechanic (apparently THE mechanic) look over the motor. Motors cost about 25K to replace, it's worth a bit to check them out.<br />
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The survey comes back, with a crack in the fiberglass on the keel and rudder. I freak out a little, and contact the broker, the surveyor and the owner. All say fiberglass repair is easy and relatively inexpensive. The owner notes that the Marina cracked the keel and pledged to repair it and the owner also had paid to have the rudder re-glasses. We're still waiting to see how that turns out.<br />
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The motor was supposed to get looked at yesterday. Looks like Friday is more realistic. It seems the storage yard and work yard have decided you can no longer start an engine on the hard and it'll take $250 to move the boat over and back. The owner has decided to pay for that (I already paid for the survey and the mechanic) and that's really cool since he doesn't have to. So we'll find that out on Friday.<br />
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The boat papers (crucially important) got lost in transit but then found again. It's kinda nutty.<br />
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Updates as conditions warrant.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-86954411235343210542020-03-04T12:23:00.000-08:002020-03-04T12:23:02.673-08:00Moving done, for at least a minute and a halfWe're back home, what seems like at last. Left Charleston, SC Tuesday morning a little before 10 AM and got home at around 10:15 AM on Wednesday. It was a quick trip out, a lot of work and then a quick trip back. Well worth it though, since Glen is all settled in now and we can relax at home.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-50748540499320290912020-03-01T19:07:00.000-08:002020-03-01T19:07:08.611-08:00Next......So we got home pretty late on a Tuesday night and crashed. Then we got, like, a day and a half at home before heading out to South Carolina to help Crys' dad get settled before he leaves town for a job. Poor guy, he'd just closed on the first home in his life he ever owned a week before having to leave.<br />
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Glen had put lots away and there was still an uphill battle to go. So we got in the car on a Thursday afternoon and pulled into Charleston, SC at around 6 PM on Friday evening. Glen took us to a nice Olive Garden dinner. We visited and chilled a bit and went to bed.<br />
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Saturday Glen went to work, and I woke up and started wrestling boxes. Crys got up a short time later and we got some done, then went to the bank for a little business. After that was all you can eat sushi which was great, a grocery store and ACE hardware stop and then back at it.<br />
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By Saturday evening we'd gone through all the boxes, worn ourselves out, and went to a well deserved sleep.<br />
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Sunday (today) was more of the same. A little shopping for stuff the house needed. A meeting with the house sitters, more work, then a nice dinner by Crystal and now we're chilling before sleep. Glen leaves tomorrow in the afternoon, we'll probably grab a nice dinner then sleep before figuring out our travel plan for getting home.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-23029301413972335262020-03-01T19:00:00.002-08:002020-03-01T19:00:45.912-08:00Driving home. We drove home on Tuesday. Had to. We have to get to South Carolina to help Crys' dad get settled before he leaves the country for work.<br />
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We left the room at about 5:45 AM and hit the road in the dark. Not too bad really. I'll copy in the notes I took down on the way home. That's probably the most representative way to do it.<br />
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"<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px;">Left Guaymas at 5:45 AM</span><br />
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Tolls: Hermosillo bypass 113 Pj (only one toll going back)</div>
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Military check point between Hermosillo and Nogales. Around 112 KM mile marker. Just asked if we had guns.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Free bathroom at travel plaza right before Santa Anna. Crystal says it might be gross.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Turn in visitor visa at the same office at KM21. You have to cross the highway<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Got to border in Nogales at 11:15. That town is a clusterfuck. Border check was fine, just looked through the trunk.</div>
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Got through border at 11:40</div>
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Headed out through the Arizona hinterland. Got stopped at a random border patrol check point. Funny, the Mexicans don’t want us to have guns and the Arizonans don’t want us to have Mexicans.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Home at 11:32 PM</div>
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Total miles<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>957"</div>
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IT was a pretty good drive really. Took around 18 hours and we were home. I only did one General Lee off the side of an on ramp to make the proper turn in Nogales. We were pretty wiped when we got home. </div>
Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-12170101164078925722020-03-01T18:56:00.002-08:002020-03-01T18:56:49.037-08:00Some boat pics and some catch upIt's been a few, rather busy, days and those details will shine in another post. For now, the catch up on the road back to Colorado.<br />
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First a few boat pics.<br />
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That's Contigo there in the middle. We've decided to keep the name<br />
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This is the battery bank that may or may not be shot. Shame, they were new in the last year or two. I'll try to bring them back, we'll see.<br />
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Crystal was trying on the main cabin for size, looks perfect to me.<br />
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The galley isn't the biggest one we've seen on a boat but it seems quite workable.<br />
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This is the pilothouse you walk down into from the cockpit. Lots of good room and storage in here. The wheel isn't connected to the rudder in this room, but is in the cockpit. We might change that.<br />
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Obligatory shot of the bow.<br />
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And we took a walk on the beach.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-19124362876198225312020-02-24T18:18:00.001-08:002020-02-24T18:18:16.341-08:00One toke over the line sweet MaryWe are going to go forward with the boat purchase. That means we set up for a marine survey and a check out by a mechanic. The boat is sitting on the hard, which means it’s in a boat yard on pavement. Can’t really do a sea trial on it, but it was floating last summer so it’ll probably float just fine now. The mechanic, Omar, will trial start the engine and the broker, San Carlos Yachts, will send us a video of it. The surveyor will look the boat over for structural problems and that’ll all be good to know.<br />
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I’m pretty sure all the batteries on board are shot. 4 big 6 volt house batteries for the solar and a starting battery for the motor. The wood work can use a good shine up along with the metal on the boat. There’s little stuff like a shelf I’ll have to replace. Before it goes in the water I will want to put an air conditioning unit on it. That will take another through hull fitting and a place to put the air conditioner. We’ll have to have what ever diesel is in the tanks “polished” so it’s clean for the motor as well. And at some point we’ll add in a water maker to the mix so we will have clean reliable water in that system.<br />
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Right now we’re trying to transfer the pics Crystal took to this machine so I’ll do another post with more pics and stuff later.<br />
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It’s been a good day, went to the beach, visited a scuba shop, bought a boat, got a nice dinner for next to nothing. And a shower, since I was smelly.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-78671543590552452942020-02-23T18:16:00.003-08:002020-02-23T18:16:35.178-08:00Sunday, play dayToday was a “free” day. We got here yesterday and can’t look at the boat until mid morning tomorrow. So we lazed in bed playing games, doing research and drinking decaf.<br />
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Somewhere in the middle there I managed to fall down the stairs. Way to feel like an octogenarian eh? The stairs here are very steep, made of slipper metal and have no handrail. We’ve both been careful but Crystal stumbled early upon arrival and I fell this morning. Hers was ladylike and essentially gentle. Mine was face first holding 2 empty ceramic cups right into the stairs, the floor, then the wall. :D Luckily there wasn’t too much blood.<br />
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We did finally get moving but we didn’t worry about getting going too early. The two days of driving had worn a bit on both of us. Before we left the stay, Crystal went and said hi to the tortoise.<br />
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Then we were off, just slightly after noon. :D We both managed some decent sleep even though some delightful person outside was blaring a radio until 3 AM, luckily we both know to travel with ear plugs. Tonight (Sunday) it’s some loud jack off preaching with a microphone. If only his god would take him now. It’s almost chilly in the room, so we have the windows shut, but somehow you can still hear the man and his endless, amplified, monologue.<br />
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We went driving around Guaymas for a while, saw a bunch of floats being positioned for the “Hospitality” day parade, one well guarded port location complete with spikes in the entrance and a guard on a walkway with a BIG gun. There were also piers set aside for the fishing fleets, some of which are not in good shape.<br />
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It was a fun ride through town. Then we headed toward a prominent point that overlooks the ocean in an extension of San Carlos. This is where the wealthy buy houses as well. It was pretty, and also pretty chilly with the wind coming off the water there.<br />
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Then we went and looked for the boat yard where we’ll go tomorrow to see the Cooper. Oddly I thought of that a few miles after we’d already passed the road to it and had to go back. (We don’t much like going back). Then we got a couple groceries, and filled up with gas so we could hunt down some food. I’d picked out a gastropub hoping to find something there I could eat. No dice, it was beer, pizza and some kinda fish stuff. Nothing for a veg head. Luckily I only had to circle the block a couple times to get into the entrance. It’s becoming a habit for me. In the same parking lot there was a sushi and martini joint so we went there and had a good meal. If only we weren’t on an alcohol break we’d have had an even better dinner!<br />
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Then it was back to “home”. We have the windows all shut to keep out the chill. I’m doing this, Crystal is doing her Spanish lesson and we’re having a nice, warm evening drink of decaf. It’s all the better since we got some sweetener today.<br />
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Probably early to bed tonight so we can head to San Carlos tomorrow to see Contigo and decide if it’s the boat for us.<br />
<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-24463421653762920402020-02-22T20:24:00.001-08:002020-02-22T20:30:19.308-08:00On the move againWe’re at it again. Looking at another boat in Mexico, this time in San Carlos on the sea of Cortez. This might be the one, we’ll get to look at it in a couple of days. It’s a Cooper Pilothouse 41.5’ sloop. The guy has lowered the price to $32K from $49K so we made an offer and for the first time in our lives drove down to Mexico. San Carlos is a little over 200 miles down into the country and we were a little nervous going through the border and trying to do everything right.<br />
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We started from home, then went to Durango, CO to get the oil changed in the Nissan Versa. They even got us in early so we could get on our way. That night we stayed at an AirB&B in Tucson, AZ with a couple fellas that are retired (for 20 years) and used to run a restaurant in Portland. They were very nice, even agreed to let us check in late. That was a good thing since I tried 3 other places and got turned down on all 3. The night surprise was Carl and Archie made us omelettes in the morning!<br />
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That morning it was off to Mexico after breakfast. I’d done a fair amount of research for our first trip and thought I had it all figured out. The truth is no plan survives first contact. It was a little confusing the first time. We almost missed “KM21” where you get your tourist visa and make sure all is set up for your car. Luckily we figured that out or we’d have gone a hundred miles and ended up having to come back. Everyone at the check in spot was nice to us too, and we got pesos there. </div>
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Those were the toll gates. The first one comes up well before you have a chance to swap dollars for pesos, and they only take pesos. Luckily Crystal had some in her purse and got us through there. Then there was about an hour of driving through small towns and construction. The last few hours were all on good roads and went well. No army checkpoints and smooth sailing. Then we were getting to Guaymas to find our room......</div>
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We found the room just fine (lots of potholes) :D and the friend of our host let us in and got us as set up as we could with her no-English and our crappy Spanish. OK, Crystal is pretty good. I suck. The funny part was the stray dog that let itself into both the yard and the hosts house. They finally corralled it and got it back outside the gates. The place has a big gate we park the car behind and feels pretty safe. And it all looks nice too. There are tortoises in the yard, kinda cool.</div>
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After settling in we went for a drive for some dinner and a few groceries plus a look at the marina where we’ll go to meet up with the boat broker. </div>
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Upon our return “home” we’d locked ourselves out and there was no one home. So I jumped the gate, what else would a retired lineman do? :D Now we’re settling with decaf and some quiet in a place that isn’t moving. This was the most scary thing we saw today on the drive down:</div>
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Nice tie down job don’t you think? </div>
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Tomorrow we’ll hit the beach, perhaps find a place to eat one meal and generally bum around. Updates as conditions warrant. </div>
Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-37463719534846593502019-10-27T10:18:00.001-07:002019-10-27T10:18:09.483-07:00Merida, Mexico looking at a boat
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Day one: got on a plane in Alamosa, 8 seats on the plane. Had a good flight to Denver where we had a 4 hour layover to catch our United flight to Houston. The commuter flight was good. A few bumps here and there but no big. We had a great breakfast at a Parisian Cafe at the Denver airport. Then we decided to have a beer before boarding the flight to Houston.</div>
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Flight to Houston was good. A bit over 3 hours and comfy. Then 2 hours in Houston before we headed to Merida.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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The Houston to Merida flight was good as well, helped along by the beer we had while waiting for it to board. Then we had to figure out how to get to our Air B&B. Crystal worked out all the particulars and we ended up in a cab to Casa Sandia.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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The hosts were really nice and visited a bit. Flor had 4 pages of places to go and things to do. :D. After our orientation we settled in with the tequila and Corona they’d provided and after a short dramatic episode with the bottled water we are heading to bed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Looks like there are several places to try for food and fun. Might take an Uber ride to most of ‘em.</div>
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Tomorrow, Sunday, we’ll meet Jules (71 year old woman selling the boat) and look at the boat we might buy. She’ll pick us up and we’ll find our own way back from Progreso. (Wish us luck).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Right now it’s time for brushing teeth and getting to bed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Day 2 (really day one):</div>
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This morning we were to meet our 71 year old for a tour of the boat we want to look at. Jules.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Took us a while to decide how to structure our morning. The evening before we’d touched base with Jules and agreed on meeting at 11 AM by Fiesta Americana hotel at a gas station nearby. So we found a vegetarian restaurant on Happy Cow that was close to there and caught an Uber ride to the restaurant. The place was called Marmalade. It was fabulous. Lots of veggie choices and everything cooked to order and wonderfully seasoned. I had a “California” bowl with quinoa and spinach and roasted tomatoes with an over easy egg The toast and jam was good too. Crystal had a tofu club which was also great. It was a little place with only 5 tables and a little 3 person counter. We found a seat right away (which is apparently odd) and sat next to a fellow from Michigan who retired from being a pilot and now does charter work for businesses. It was a good time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Then we met our buddy, Jules, who drove us to Alacranes Marina in Progreso, about a 20 minute ride. We spent a couple hours going over the boat, a 37’ Gulfstar from 1977, which is being offered at a good price and is in a boat yard where it’s inexpensive to keep it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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We shopped in Progreso, buying some liquor (I know you’re surprised) and a little pack of Cuban cigars. Everyone wanted to wheel and deal so we did that a bit. After that we jumped on a bus to go back close to our Air B&B. Not a bad ride, it was air conditioned. Have I mentioned that it is really somewhat sweltering here?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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On the way “home” we stopped by a Costco and got figs, and beer. A nice 24 pack of Coronaitos (small beers), and some nuts for snacking. I schlepped the beers a mile back to our AirB&B on foot. So when we got home we had beer and some passion fruit tequila in the private pool out back while I smoked a cigar and Crystal touched base with Rich. (I sure miss him while we’re on vacation). After that we took a shower and prepped for our evening of pizza and tequla/mescal/local spirit tasting a 7 mile Uber ride away.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Went to our tequila/mescal tasting. Hector and Jesse were our hosts for the evening. It was great. We tried 2 tequilas and 6 or 7 mescals along with a starter cocktail and a finishing corn based aperitif. Uber rides back and forth were easy and it was just a great time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Day 3 (Monday the 21st)</div>
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We were slug a beds for a while in the morning. Crystal found me out by the pool when she woke up. I was looking into boat repair costs, since the one we looked at the day before needs rather a lot of stuff. Part of deciding on it has much to do with choosing between saving about 5K and doing a lot of work, or spending the other 5K and getting something that doesn’t need much work. Also, not so sure about the safety of the boat yard where it’s at. The price is inexpensive, but the seller (Jules) says someone has been fucking with her boat in ways that can be very expensive. Also, since we’ll be part time for at least a year or two while we learn to sail and enjoy living at home, do we even want to own a boat yet? I know we can’t afford to buy one and keep it in Florida at the monthly storage fees there. We’ll probably look at some on the Sea of Cortez, that’s a 14 hour drive and the storage fees are not too bad there. More than in Progreso here by Mérida, but perhaps a bit more safe.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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But I digress........</div>
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We got moving, found a place downtown (20 minute Uber) to go for food and had a great experience at Organico, a vegan/veggie place. We ended up both having lunch and each got a great meal. Then we wandered around down town in the heat of the day (like the dumb asses we are. Dude, the white people melt down here in the sun! The locals are smart and don’t go out then). We went into a shop or two, and walked through a giant chapel that somehow didn’t explode, got hit up to buy lots of junk (which we didn’t) then stopped for a couple beers at a place called the Impala Cafe. It’s easy to find, there’s an old Chevy Impala on the roof of the joint. Then we wandered over to a spot Crystal wants to visit that does work with chocolate. They were still closed and no hours are posted either on the place or online.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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It was an Uber home after that. In blessed air conditioning. The driver was so kind, he asked if we needed it turned up. BTW, Uber rides are cheap in the mornings, super expensive in the heat of the day, and reasonable in the evenings. On our way through town we passed a restaurant named the Angry Angus which made us think of the little dog we live with now. Angus. As has quickly become a habit, we jumped into the pool to cool off and topped that off with some passion fruit tequila and a beer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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At around 5 PM we met with our dive master for SCUBA that happens on Wednesday. We chatted for a good while and checked equipment fitment for our Cenote dive. Sounds like we’ll start with an awesome deep wall dive below a layer of “yellow” water, due to chemicals suspended in the first 15’ of water. Should be pretty cool.</div>
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Then it was an 11 minute walk to dinner at a veggie place called Distrito Vegano. It was cool, we were the only folks in the joint. Their kitchen is a food truck pulled into the building and they make their own drink called Tepache, which is sorta like kombucha but without tea in it. Basically it’s fermented pineapple “beer” and Crystal will try making it at home. Very very low on alcohol but it was a fermented drink I actually liked. The food was great! In a delightful turn of events the chef came over to chat while we were looking at the menu and asked if we had any questions. I replied that I thought I’d just get the “chef’s favorite” from the menu since even with my crappy Spanish I could make that out. He replied that was the old chefs favorite, so I asked him what his was, so he pointed out 2 things. One had sauerkraut which automatically makes it a Crystal meal, and I got a “buffalo” burger. We both had fries. The food was simply fantastic. After which we walked home, watched a little TV and got some sleep.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Tuesday the 22nd</div>
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Today we bummed around and slept in. Had a few beers and some nuts from Costco. In the late afternoon we went to an AirB&B experience. A nice lady here who is a 3rd generation vegetarian had us visit her in her home and made us a Yucatán vegetarian dinner. It was wonderful. I’ll try to post some pictures. After that we just Ubered home and watched a bit of TV. Taking t say today so we’re all rested up for SCUBA tomorrow.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Wednesday the 23rd:</div>
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Today we went scuba diving with Luis. He picked us up and was driving us to the first Cenote when I thought to ask if the regs we had would match up with the BCD’s he had. Turns out not. So we got to see where Luis lives. It’s nice, he’s building an AirB&B there and he has a cute little dog.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Then we headed to the first Cenote. Cenote Subak Ha in Sacalum, Yucatán Mexico.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Luis loves to take advanced divers here. It’s measured depth is 123 meters with no currently known maximum depth. We went to 120’ down and spent a half hour in it exploring. The ride out there was great. Luis is working on a doctorate in Aqua Culture and does the scuba thing to keep his head in a good space. He’s from Venezuela and, as usual, is a cute little package of muscled handsomeness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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After the dive we has a banana and a doughnut and set up for the next Cenote.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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This one is called Cenote San Marcos and it’s not too far from the first one. We got lucky and Luis decided it would be great to take the two advanced open water divers to his two favorite Cenotes. The second one was down a long steep wood and concrete stair. Whew! And we thought 1,000 steps in Bonaire was a hike! On the second one we swam all around looking at bones and formations. Apparently folks used to get buried in the Cenotes, or sacrificed.... I suppose there’s a difference.....</div>
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After we finished that dive Luis took us to his favorite lunch place at a local Hacienda. The Haciendas<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>are where sisal was made in the 1800’s. Now many of them have been acquired by large businesses that do weddings and events there. This one was really nice and even though they were only wanting to do a buffet that day, Luis talked them into taking care of my vegetarian food choices.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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October 24,</div>
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Today Crystal slept in a bit. I did my little bit of setting up for tomorrow, checking in with United Airlines and stuff like that. Then we got up and decided what to do with our last real day here.</div>
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We decided to head down town and find some food, do a little shopping and drinking and just play.</div>
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We grabbed an Uber ride and headed down to the regular drop off point that we’ve picked, Fiesta Americana. It’s a big hotel and a decent land mark. That’s where we met our boat woman, Jules, the first day in town and it’s served us well since then.</div>
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I’d picked out a place to eat lunch (since we’re seldom up early enough for breakfast) and it was a decent walk during which we shopped and gawked.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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This was where our first diversion of the day occurred. We found the door open to a Cacao Hacienda that we’d been trying to visit all week. They gave us a great intro tour and we bought some cacao goods to bring home.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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After that we walked to La Cubanita, it’s a place that has a few vegetarian items on the menu and looked like it was worth a try. And it really was. We had a great lunch, and the place was super affordable as well as homey and nice. There was even a cat for Crystal to make friends with.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Following that we wandered to Hennesey’s Irish Pub where we tried Mexican microbrews and I decided that since we’d been in Mexico for the week and were in an Irish Pub that I should have the only margarita of the week. It was good. Crystal had a beer called Hydroponic Hops which was some kind of honey beer, she liked it a lot. I had a stout, then she has a Rose IPA and I had the margarita. Apparently the Mexican folks don’t dose with hops like Americans do. A good thing in my opinion.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Now we’re “Home” after an Uber ride, drinking by the pool and preparing to pack up for our 4 AM wake up call tomorrow. Should be a good ride home and it’ll be nice to see Rich and sleep in our own bed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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We visited a local quick shop after we got home and got snacks too. Nice having a local place to grab “stuff”</div>
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<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-83571282534948796952019-04-28T17:47:00.001-07:002019-04-28T17:47:53.556-07:00Last full day in BonaireToday was our last full day in Bonaire. We head home tomorrow afternoon. We got up slowly, then went for a nice long drive around the island. We visited Rincon and the flamingo lake along with another lake and an inlet along the way, plus we looked over some more diving sites as we drove around. Then we stopped down town for some ice cream. Finally we took the rental car back after a quick trip to the grocery store then did most of our packing for the trip. I tried out buying some upgraded seats for the trip from Miami to Denver so we could sit together and Crystal made a delightful dinner that we had while relaxing around the pool. Then it was shower and bed, which of course means I now can’t sleep worth a damn. :D Guess that’s just how it works some times. Tomorrow will be a bit of a slower day, full of travel and we’ll just keep on keeping on until we get home. I’ll sit out here by the pool reading and chilling for a bit longer, and see if I can get sleepy.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-36294079696955646002019-04-28T13:48:00.000-07:002019-04-28T13:48:34.574-07:00No title <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-5431123257201801042019-04-28T12:49:00.001-07:002019-04-28T12:49:43.843-07:00Things we learned in Bonaire, Dutch Nederland Caribbean IslandsThere are things we learned on this trip that we’ll apply the next time we visit, and we’re pretty sure this place is worth a second visit:<br />
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1) Rent the car from AB Dive for the second we arrive. They’ll send a taxi for us, the car pickup takes 8 minutes and you’re set from the second you arrive.<br />
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2) Rent the car until we leave. AB Dive has a key drop off at the airport and you just park, load and dump the key. (As long as you bought full coverage which we suggest)<br />
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3) Do an orientation dive or two every time you go to a new place. It’s both a good refresher and a good idea. Plus you make friends and meet the whole gang. After that, they’re happy to help with anything you do.<br />
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4) ALWAYS rent a stay-place from a small operator. Air B&B if possible, Expedia small hotel if not. This one was a small hotel and we had the whole place to ourselves for an entire week. FAB<br />
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5) Wear a shirt into the grocery store. Crystal got chased down trying to enter the supermarket. Priceless.<br />
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6) Gas station attendants in Bonaire are VERY particular concerning how you park, fuel and pay.<br />
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7) The close mini mart charges 3X the cost for beer :D<br />
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8) Show up at Mezze Greek food before dinner time<br />
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9) Almost everything is closed on Sundays, plan your travel accordingly.<br />
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10) There IS a direct flight from Miami to Denver, wait to book that.<br />
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11) Shore dives can be rocky and hard to walk over. Do the rough ones early in the day.<br />
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12) If you book orientation dives, do it with more than one person, and hold out for the hot ones. :D OK both Rory AND Iv were hot. No way to lose there.<br />
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<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-30889692791029795852019-04-28T04:40:00.000-07:002019-04-28T04:40:09.825-07:00Swimming on Saturday, 1,000 Steps and Bachelors BeachThis morning we got up and got started a little earlier than usual, mostly because someone said “breakfast” and since I LOVE breakfast, I jumped outta bed like my ass was on fire to get us going! That was met with a less than enthusiastic response, but we got going anyway.<br />
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A short time later found us at Levannzo for coffee and some breakY. They were out of decaf coffee (odd thing that) so I had a regular and Crys & Rich had americanos. Then she went for fresh fruit and the worlds freshest croissant while I had a little omelette on “brown” bread. They don’t do “white or wheat” here. Bread is listed as white or brown. <br />
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Then we trucked to the dive shop, loaded up, visited for a few minutes and got started. We chose to start with the site, 1,000 steps. It’s a bit of a euphemism being that there are only somewhere between 67 and 72 steps from the roadway down to the beach. Still quite a few when wearing a wet suit, BCD, tank, regulators, between 14 & 16 pounds of lead and various other paraphernalia. We made it though and the diving was beautiful. Rich went out in his snorkel gear, we’d picked todays beaches based on their snorkel-ability. A good time was had by all. The hike back up to the top was a bit of a marathon, but we made it, life is good.<br />
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Then it was on to Bachelors Beach for dive #2. We’ve been doing 2 a day, except for the day we did the night dive. More steps. Who knew? :D Rich went into his snorkel gear and we went out on the reef. Crystal is practicing with her camera and getting better at it all the time. The snap above is one of mine, they’re not as good but it’s hard to take selfies underwater. :D We did see a golden moray eel and I almost got a pic of it, I’ll put it in. He/she is down in that coral and you can see it if you really expand the pic. </div>
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Then we went back to the dive shop and rinsed all our gear out for the last time. Iv and Dewi gave us a hug, we got our dive logs stamped for the dives we did with the AB Dive crew and came back to our abode to hang things up so they’d dry for packing up. </div>
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It's chill here at the Caribbean Chillout. :D Late afternoon we had a nice cheese/beer/chocolate snack then went off to dinner at Captain Don’s. I had a great meal and Crys & Rich did too. </div>
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That was the last diving day. We fly out on Monday and we return the car Sunday afternoon, so we’ll go and explore the island a bit more on Sunday. I’m sitting out by the pool, typing in memories while those two sleepy heads enjoy a little more sleep. It’s nice and warm and breezy here, Bono the kitty is keeping me company and I have coffee. Speaking of which, I need more, and I have to poop. </div>
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<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-14200811246167508502019-04-27T07:47:00.000-07:002019-04-27T07:47:08.409-07:00Hilma Hooker and Salt PierWe started at Hilma Hooker since it was the deepest dive on our 2 dive list yesterday. It was pretty dang cool, and we went to 95’ deep.<br />
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It’s a cool story too. Apparently the ship was smuggling weed and got confiscated. While in the “pound” it started to leak a bit so the Bonaire government got with local scuba folks and found a good place to sink it so that there would be a wreck dive on the reef and within reach of local divers.<br />
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For that one you surface swim out to the marker buoy on one end, then dive down to the wreck and swim along it, surfacing at the buoy on the other end or exploring the reef on the way back. Our navigation is getting a little bit better. Also the buoyancy is better and air use :D It’s nice to get better at this.<br />
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On our surface break was spent driving south and then back, we looked at the kite surfing school, the slave huts and salt works. Then we headed back to the Salt Pier. That’s where Cargill refines salt to ship world wide. It’s a L O N G pier that houses a conveyor belt to load the ships and you can only dive there when there is no ship loading. The ship left the day before so we were all set. There happens to be a LOT of fish here, the scuba people call that, fauna, I’ve no idea why they don’t just call them fish :D. We saw turtles again, maybe some sharks and lots of interesting fish behavior including a whole school of fish doing the barber pole move around one of the pier pilings.<br />
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We’re still having lots of fun, and the food is good too. :D Today we’ll do our last two dives and explore the island a bit while our gear dries out so we don’t peg the luggage scale meter on the way back.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-73473081554641506622019-04-26T06:03:00.000-07:002019-04-26T06:03:15.017-07:00Alice in Wonderland & Angel City with a nod to Hilma HookerYesterday was a good day, like all of them aren’t when in vacation on Bonaire :D<br />
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We dived on a couple of sites and it was the first time we’d gone out by ourselves without a local guide. That means we read the book on the sites, and got better at planning and using our compass’. I took my little camera case along to see if it would work out. It’s kinda cool, you put your iPhone 6S in it and there are buttons on the face side you use to take pics. On the first dive I only got one pic, and unfortunately missed getting the pic of the 5’ long moray eel swimming in free water (usually you see their faces in a hole). It was gorgeous, and gave me a little chill, odd because most things don’t. I guess because I automatically feel a bit more like prey in the Bonaiwater due to my relative newness to the whole thing. </div>
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The first dive site was Alice in Wonderland. We had to do that one since Crystal is such a fan. We had to make a second trip home to get our masks because we’d loaded everything else before going to the dive shop to get tanks and our other stuff. But at least we locked the key in the room when we went back. :D The dive went well, our buoyancy is getting better which means we don’t yo-yo up and down in the water so much. That’s better for everything. </div>
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Dive site #2 was Angel City. That’s part of the double reef part of the system around Bonaire. We had a great plan and mostly followed it well swimming in a big circle and actually finding our way back to the marker. We did go a bit too far one way to start with and found ourselves 88’ deep and looking at the bow of the Hilma Hooker. That’s actually the next dive north and the one we’ll do today. I got more really bad pics on the second dive and I like a couple so they’re down below. </div>
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Then we went to the Woodstock Bar and Grill, which is run by our hosts downtown in Kralendijk. It was good, the music was fun, Eric spins tunes off two turntables in the opened up cab of an old VW Bug. On tap is “soup of the day” which is ..... Beer. No other explanation. After that we wandered to La Cantina which was recommended by our first local scuba guide from AB Dive, Rory. That was great. It’s a brew pub, and I ended up with a Quinoa burger which I liked. WE all liked the many beers we had along with the food and folks. Wandering home we got gelato from a stand, 2 scoops each and it was fab!</div>
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Today I think we’ll do the actual Hilma Hooker dive and try to do the Salt Pier dive. Hilma Hooker is a wreck dive, we won’t go in since we don’t really have the training for that. The Salt Pier is actually the real pier from which they load the salt from the local salt works. That’s also where the desalination plant is for the island, so they make money selling the salt. Pretty smart. It’s a long pier and divers can go there when a ship isn’t currently being loaded. We’ll try to do that one in the afternoon so the sun will be pretty for pictures. Crystal will take her little underwater camera I got her and we’ll see what we get. </div>
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So far, we’re having lots of fun and enjoying our time here. Mornings like this one, we sit in the sun and visit and have a cup and plan our day. It’s good. </div>
Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-17123686776939553462019-04-26T05:24:00.000-07:002019-04-26T05:24:59.450-07:00Alice in WonderlandPics and then I’ll update the blog in the morning.<br />
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<br />Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7674125346261360394.post-22117828375843417122019-04-25T06:50:00.002-07:002019-04-25T06:50:51.464-07:00ostracods and playingWe did an evening dive today. For the day we wandered and shopped and played in town. We stopped by the AB Dive shop early in the day to grab our tanks for the night dive. We had a great lunch at a place called Peanuts which has vegan meats along with lots of other delicious things. We had a fabulous coffee downtown and did a little shopping here and there. It was a fun day.<br />
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At 6:15 PM we met up at AB Dive with our dive master IVE (pronounced Eve) and her trainee Davie. They’re both Dutch, as most folks here are since it’s a Dutch island chain (duh). Her back story was working in high powered marketing in an erotic/spirituality business with her mom. Then she tried diving 3 years ago and never looked back. She says her office now has no walls :D. We followed them to the Ostracod dive site which was called The Rock and was on the south end of the west side of Bonaire. It’s out past the salt pier and along the salt works. One needs a very dark site for the Ostracods to light up. And light up they did! Several inch long strings of bio luminous “stuff” as far as the eye can see in a 360 degree circle. When they started to chill on the lighting Ive would flash her light and they’d start up again. It’s a bit of a mating dance. Following the show we did a little torch light tour of the reef there, seeing puffer fish, rays, sea urchin and anemone. It was pretty darn cool.<br />
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Then it was home, a shower and bed. My calves are KILLING me, but it’s pretty darn fun.Denmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01146679337385147725noreply@blogger.com0