Not as pretty as before, but stronger

Well, it took 3 days of searching for lag bolts, epoxy, borrowing drill bits from two different people, scrounging rebar to use as a tightening agent for the clamp/line.  All said, the actual repair took less than an hour, is probably stonger than before, but looks like it was cobbled together.  Such is life.

Eventually I'll get around to a little sanding and several more coats of varnish to hide the "blemish"

Thank you Mexican Navy

This is a mini rant posting

The Mexican Navy buzzed the marina this morning in a grey patrol boat......they were not in pursuit of anyone, they went straight to their dock....they were moving at or near full throttle.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

A boat tied to an immovable dock when assaulted by a 4 foot wake has to give somewhere.  I would have preferred a snapped dock line.

Bienvenidos-Estamos in Paraiso!

Paraiso Marina, Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
1215  We completed our "clearing in" process yesterday.  It took about 7 hours, 2 of those hours were spent waiting outside the Sanitation Department for the lady who does the paperwork. Today is Beef's first official day.  El Departamento de Agricultura has approved of his precense in the country- even if our vet didn't say he was free of external parasites, they saw the frontline and flea shampoo and decided to let him stay:)  I would like to thank Jose Pacheco aka "Chepo", the dockmaster, for his assistance in our clearing in process.  Chepo, you're the best!!!  Muchisimas Gracias!!  Today is our first day to not have any obligations, so we are sitting at a table under the palms at the marina.  We will be here a week, the shade is up on the boat, the sails are stowed and next we clean house a little and see if the dinghy will stay inflated.  But first, we wanted to update y'all on our journey!

Most importantly, we are all safe, we still like each other and the boat is still afloat.  I will try not to ramble, but... the next several paragraphs will recount a few special days on our journey and there will, of course, be more to come later.  Our boat is small, but it's amazing and built for the sea!  Now, if I can just get over my fear of light wind at night!!!

How to pick a marina:
We looked at websites of the marinas before we left Venice and there were 2 realistic options for us-- Milagro and Paraiso.  What do I mean by realistic?  Well, there's a marina to the South of us that is beautiful and popular, but we are paying $200 for the week here, there it is $200 a day!  We read up on both of our options in the cruising guide and they both had wi-fi, showers, laundry, apartments, fresh water, etc.  But, Paraiso had a pool--SOLD!  For any of you have vacationed with me, you know where I spend most my time-- the pool!  Well, I took a photo of the pool so you could see for yourself...

The great thing is, we're in Mexico and the water is amazing!  EVEN in the Marina, we just jump of the boat and into the crystal clear COOL sea!  Salt water is better for you anyhow!

THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW!
Oh, the question?  How long did Beef hold it before he finally went potty? 

Well, for number 1, it was 30 hours.  When a dog has been told his whole life that he's not supposed to go inside, the concept of going to the bathroom in the middle of the ocean has got to confuse the crap out of him.  Oops, no pun intended:) 
Before I get to number 2, did I mention the tupperware container of "Beef Dirt".  Some of y'all at Marina del Sol saw me filling this tupperware with dirt from one of the palm trees.  What were we thinking?  Well, the train of thought was based on an incident that happened in Wyoming...  One time when James and his family were watching Beef, the kids forgot to let the dogs out for a whole day.  Beef went upstairs, found a large potted plant, pulled it over, mounded the dirt into a pile and did his business on that pile of dirt.  Now you get it, right?  If Beef gets desperate on the boat, we'll pull the lid off the container labeled "Beef Dirt" and he'll proceed to make his own bathroom.  Humans don't think like dogs.  It's amazing we can live together at all!
Here's what Beef did after 60 hours of no number 2...

Ok, 60 hours!  Are you serious, poor puppy:(  Did he cry?  Did he bark?  Did he explode?  What DID he do?  Well....

Appearently, when dogs are put in these situations they go into a form of-- let's call it: hibernation.  And- it wasn't 60 hours, that's just what he did after 65 hours, 70 hours...  He finally went at 80 hours, while Matt slept and I was on watch!


Stingaree!
Such a small world!  We got in Wednesday afternoon, tied up and wanted an ice cold beer and a shower and to sleep a whole night through. As we walked around looking for the beer cooler, we saw a Fisher motorsailer/ketch on the other dock with the name Stingaree.  We stayed at Stingaree Marina on our first night on the ICW.  Jim is the owner of Stingaree in Bolivar and when we where there his son Brad mentioned to Matt that his father was going to be in Isla Mujeres in a couple weeks!  And there he was!  So we went to the Soggy Peso and met Jim and his crew for a couple beers.  His crew was his other son Thomas, and two friends, Carl and Frank.  We got to know each other and tell stories and we have made some new friends.  As fate would have it, Matt and Thomas went to college together!  Again, small world.  We spent most of the next day with them after we got done with our customs and immigrations clearing in.  Jim has been to Isla Mujeres 13 times, yes, that's 26 times crossing the Gulf of Mexico.  On the same boat everytime! Once again, that night we went back to the Soggy Peso for a couple last drinks with our fellow Texans, they were heading back to Texas the next morning. I hope they get to see this-- Thomas I will send copies to your email.

The Stingaree leaving Marina Paraiso

Fair Winds Gentlemen

On that note, I say farewell for now!  Here's a couple photos of our current home!

Hasta Luego, Amigos!

Glad to be in Venice, Louisiana

Change of plans twice today!

0745   We were going to get out to the Gulf of Mexico via the South Pass, until this marine safety bulletin "As a result of the severe shoaling the Aids to Navigation in the South Pass have become unreliable and may not be marking safe water.  Depths as low as 2 ft have been reported at center channel"  After reviewing the charts we decided on the Southwest Pass and all is well.

1037  We start the engine to warm up the transmission before we refuel.  In gear......nothing......

1234.................................................

 By 9:00 Tuesday morning we'll have a new transmission and damper plate from Foley marine in Massachusetts......oh joy.

Next Stop MEXICO!

All things staying fair, we leave Venice, Louisiana first thing Monday morning.  Thanks everyone:)  We'll see you where the water is clear.
... and, yessssssssssss, the little grey mass is still alive and well!!!