Marina Chiapas
The rest of our stay in Chiapas was spent at the marina as there are few places to anchor without being exposed to the Tehuantepec winds. As stated earlier, the marina is wonderful and everyone who works here is great. The only drawback is the fact that it is 25 km from town. But there is a cheap bus service (1.50 one way) and Enrique - the marina manager goes home for two hours every day for lunch and will gladly drive us to the Walmart and pick us up on the return. The facilities include potable water on the dock, fairly good power on the dock ( though voltage is a little high sitting at around 140). The washrooms are clean and the showers are wonderful - solar powered hot water! I will get into the details of the travel lift and haul out facilities when we actually haul out.
We passed the cruise ship terminal on the way into the marina. Three ships came into port during our stay.
Chiapas will be our last stop in Mexico with the town of Tapachula being 20 km from the border. We had no intention of staying this long but UPS and customs had a different agenda. So here we sit.
You are about to sense a real negativity on these next paragraphs. Sorry about that but it is also the reality of getting things shipped to Mexico. First issue is the bank cards. It took Canada Post 7 days to get them delivered to our address in Victoria - a five minute drive from the Bank! Then David's sister brought them to UPS (thank you Kathy)to arrange delivery with UPS. After paying the delivery fee of $80.00 she was assured that we would have them in 3 business days. Yeh! Not! We were able to track them to Tuxtla Guerrez - the Capitol of Chiapas State in a timely manner. And there they sat. It seems that UPS does not provide service to Tapachula and surrounding area! So what did we pay for? So after several expensive phone calls UPS finally agreed to find a way to deliver them to us - at no extra cost. Wasn't that good of them. The only problem is that they got the zip code wrong and sent them to the wrong place. They tried to blame this on us but we're not the ones who put the zip code on the parcel as we did not know there was one. That was done by someone in Canada. So now it is going to the correct location. Only it didn't as the driver did not know where the marina was. The tracking stated that it was delivered but no one was there so they would try again the next day. Well there is someone at the marina 24/7 and all traffic by the gate is logged. No sign that it was ever delivered to the marina. So we got Enrique to talk to them in Spanish - it still took him 20 minutes to clear up the issue. We were then promised that it would be delivered within 24 hours. So now I am sitting by the office in the breezeway writing this blog and waiting for it to arrive. Nothing by 3 o'clock so David called UPS for the 8 th time. Oh no, your parcel has been delivered! Enrique took the phone and he got so frustrated with them he hung up. He told David that he thinks the parcel may have been delivered to the Naval base. So they jumped in his truck and went over there. Sure enough, that is where we finally found it. I took pictures of the envelop ( marked Extremely Urgent) and the address (which was wrong) and David's name ( spelt wrong) and the return address ( wrong postal code. I will be writing to UPS to complain.
And then there is the parts shipment. Well it seems like it made it to Mexico City in a timely fashion but due to the size and value of the order it was held up at customs. And because UPS does not deliver to Tapachula they released it to Customs and washed their hands of it. Getting it here was our problem. Again - what did we pay money for? We thought it was for delivery to the marina - no one at UPS told us otherwise when they took our money. When and if we ever get those parts I think there will be another letter to the complaints department.
So then we had to arrange a customs agent. Enrique helped us out there. We were told that they required some documents before they could do anything. This included a copy of our Temporary Import Permit, David's Passport and the parts order. Of course we got this information while we were on our road trip - difficult trying to organize it from a hotel room. When we finally got it together we were told that our agent was on a long weekend and would not be back until Tuesday. By that time we were back to the boat, got proper copies made and faxed them to him. He said everything was good and the parts should be shipped by Friday. Friday came and went. Now it is Monday and we get another email from the agent to indicate that they also needed a copy of our immigration card. Okay he now has that. Now he assures us that the parts will be here on Friday. I do not know about you but I have stopped counting the number of Friday's that we are up to now. I think it is four!
So what to do to turn this very frustrating situation into something positive? Well we started with the four day road trip which really was fantastic. Possibly because we were expecting our parts to be there when we returned. But they weren't so we had to come up with some more things to do.
It is a good thing that there are always projects on a boat so we decided to tackle some of them. I cleaned the outside of the boat and cleaned and polished the stainless. David and I did some varnishing - butterfly hatch needed another coat, along with the doors to the entryway and the durad covers. We topped up the water tanks and flushed the holding tank. David removed the nonfunctioning inverter/ charger and we took part of the roller furling gear on the stay sail apart. And I worked on the Blog - having all this time on our hands might be one of the reasons that these three Blog entries were so long! If I keep on at this rate and ever decide to publish this blog it will have many chapters and many parts! We also picked up some things for the ship's stores and David gave himself some lessons on the installation of the PACTOR modem - converts a radio signal into an email format so you will be able to track our movement across the Pacific Ocean.
And for fun? Well the Marina arranged to have the Super Bowl on at the restaurant. That was a fun evening until the last minute of the game. We were all cheering for Seattle!
Tony and Maguel were arranging an evening tour to Tuxtla Chico - an annual celebration in honor of the Virgin Mary - on February 2nd. Wayne ( from Nanaimo) and I were the only ones who took part as the others were busy with haul outs and arranging delivery of parts! 5 km of the town streets are decorated with colored sawdust. It is called the parade of carpets because that it just what they look like. Designs included everything from the Tree of Life, the Virgin, various wildlife, Mayan ruins to Whinnie the Pooh and the Beatles! Various families submit their designs to the town counsel who chooses which ones will get accepted. On the morning and throughout the day of the event, the families start building these carpets. They are beautiful as can be seen in the following pictures:
After the evening mass, the statue of the Virgin
is carried along the carpets proceeded with fireworks. You only have to look up into the skies to see where they are in the procession. In some cases the families at the end of the route are just starting to build their carpets as the procession begins.
When the statue passes, the people follow in behind walking on the carpets and basically destroying them. After the procession is over the streets are swept and it looks like nothing ever took place.
Another day was spent on a day tour with the crew from Elizabeth Jean. We began the day by taking a drive along the coffee route, heading towards the Guatemalan border and then turning up into the hills towards some of the largest coffee plantations in the state. One of the interesting features is the border of teak trees along the road.
Maguel - can your bring us to the place where we can buy some teak?The coffee plantations were actually started by German immigrants in the late 1800's and are still run by some of their descendants. Mexico is the 5th producer of coffee in the world - next to Brazil, Vietnam, Columbia and Indonesia and Chiapas is the largest coffee producing state in Mexico. Most coffee plantations are less than 12 acres in size and run by individual farmers.
So of course one of our first stops was in Union Juarez for coffee. It is the starting point for anyone wanting to hike up the Tacana Volcano. Something to note and which was missing on the previous Blog - the border between Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala runs through the middle of this volcano. We also bought a kilo of coffee here. $150 pesos or $5.00 Canadian a pound. Why I didn't buy more, I will never know. Hopefully I can pick up some more in Tapachula.
Then we stopped at Santo Domingo to visit one of Chiapas oldest coffee plantations (fincas). The main house is now a restaurant and museum.
All the plantations still produce coffee like they did in the past. The beans are picked by hand and carried out of the fields on the backs of the workers. They are then dried in the sun on large cement patios.
As you drive through the towns you can see that almost all houses have at least one of these patios and you will see the beans drying - from red (freshest) to brown ( almost done). The beans are raked a couple of times a day so that all sides are exposed to the sun. In the late afternoon they are transferred into bags and put in storage for the night to protect them from the evening dew. In the morning they are again put out to dry. All organic and all hand processed!
Our tour continued onto Tuxtla Chicos - the place with the carpets. On the night of the celebration Wayne and I were taken to one of the original Cacao producers and this day I got to go again. It was very interesting. It makes you wonder how someone figured out that inside the nut of this tree were these seeds, that when roasted turned into wonderful coco! The fruit is broken in half and inside is this mass of milky slimy goo.
If you suck on it you will find that it is quite tart. If you mix it with water you get this wonderful refreshing drink. Inside the goo are the coco nuts. The nuts are then roasted on a metal pan over an open fire until they pop and the outer casing comes free.
This is removed by hand and the coco nut is ready for grinding.
Before roasting there is no aroma. After roasting is the scent of coco. A mortar is then used to grind the coco into a fine powder. Look ma - I'm making coco!
We were invited into her home and treated to home made tamales, tortillas, fresh cheese, baking and of course, hot chocolate. It was fantastic.
We also visited some pre- Mayan ruins in Izapa. This site is not as grand as some but the age of them makes them special. It is believed to have been established around 1500 BC. The ones in Pelanque were
from 200-500 AD. The three levels represented the heavens, our world and the underground world.
There was a big celebration here in 2012. From the Mayan calendar the 21 st of June or summer solstace represented the death of the fifth sun and the birth of the sixth. It also represented the end of the Baktaun period.
Our final stop was in Tapachula to see the original city hall and museum. The museum has been closed for several months, however due to restorative work being done since the earthquake in 2005 ( I think). The town is not very exciting but it does boast a Walmart and Home Depot. They are not here for the benefit of us gringos, as you might think but rather for the Guatemalans. Tapachula is only about 20 miles from the border and when there is a big promotion, like flat screen TV's, the Guatemalans have been known to clean the shelves in minutes. Maguel has also pointed out some other places for us to pick up supplies and has graciously offered to take David and I there when we are ready to provision, including the teak mill!
Another sideline to our visit - there are two girls staying in the marina - Zoe and Keelie. They are performers working on productions that they will put on as they travel along the coast with Keelie's husband on their boat - Insousant. They were putting on their first performance at the mall and asked us to give our input. Zoe also performs with Cirque d'Soleil. They are also going to be part of a fine dining experience in the palapa at the restaurant and will be suspended from the rafters. Wonderful girls and amazing acrobats! What a treat to watch them!
David has joined the circus!
So today is Tuesday and Friday has passed! But we got word that our parcel is in Tapachula!!!
So now back to some boat maintenance while we wait. David replaced the cooling system zincs and checked the impeller. Everything looks good.
David took me for a Valentines Day dinner at the marina - no chocolates but a fantastic chocolate brownie cake for dessert!
I had to have it - to celebrate Roz's birthday!
Two more boats left today - we really wanted to be one of them. We thought of going to Guatemala for a couple of days but FedEx could not give us a definite delivery date - sure would be pissed off if the parts arrived and we were not here to receive them and they sent them back. We did not want to take any chances.
1413 17-Feb-15 I see a FedEx truck coming down the road!! Our parts have arrived. So today was like Christmas. First things first - check the parts order with our packages - just like Tuesday's and Fridays in the Blood Bank. Everything was accounted for except David's new hat .
New Weems & Platt clock installed. Thanks Mom! New barbecue installed. Thanks Mom! All interior lights changed to LED - difficult to find the ones that fit into our light fixtures. But they work and will make a huge difference on the battery drain. Inverter/charger installed and working beautifully. We can now get shore power and keep the battery bank charged - nice to see the FULL message flashing instead of LOW! New old fashioned stove top coffee percolator - took a couple of attempts to get it right. Now we have good old " camp" coffee in the morning - good as Paul's.
And the saga continues. David decided to install the roller furling system at the dock. Disassembly of the old system went well - no seized up parts. David had a bit of a problem getting the mast climber to work efficiently.
Is it one of those system's that requires practice? Or is it one of those system's that does not deliver what it promises. Time will tell.
We got the old extrusions off - these include 6 aluminum tubes that fit around the stay sail stay ( wire that runs from the mast to the deck).
Side bar for you non- sailors: our boat is called a cutter. If you look at pictures of the boat you will see two stays at the bow of the boat. One runs from the very end of the bow up to the top of the mast. This is the forestry. About two feet behind that is another stay and requires a smaller sail. This is the stay sail stay. It is the furling system on this sail that seized up and is the sail that we like to use in heavier weather to add stability to the boat.Their are slits on one side that you feed the sail on with. Then you run lines to the cockpit and you are able to roll the sail around the tubes from the cockpit instead of having to go forward and pull the sail down by hand. This is very important when you are in heavy seas and high winds and need to reduce sail! David attempted to install the extrusions only to discover that they sent the wrong ones!!! Can you believe it?
I am not sure how David kept it together. I complemented him though would not have been upset if he had lost it at that point. After a couple
Of phone calls to Defenders, emails of pictures of the parts and two days of back and forth, Defender admitted to the error on their part. Apparently the parts guy grabbed the wrong thing off the shelf and no one double checked the order before packaging it up. So the correct parts will be shipped tomorrow and will get here on Friday - yes, another Friday. How many is that now? Now this is starting to get comical!
We decided to get the boat hauled out, get the bottom sanded and paints, checked the through hulls and polish some more stainless.
All done by remote control!
On the scaffolding
But something positive did come out of all this frustration. Duo Kokikizo was putting on their show in conjunction with the restaurant. These are the two Cirque d'Soleil girls. We were so involved with their preparation that we decided to splurge and go to the show.
Oh my God! Last night was the most incredible evening ever!
Duo Zokikizo performance was like watching your own private Cirque d'Soleil.
Their four acts were performed between courses and complemented them.
One act was done from a trapeze swing,
Duo Zokikizo performance was like watching your own private Cirque d'Soleil.
Their four acts were performed between courses and complemented them.
One act was done from a trapeze swing,
So now back to some boat maintenance while we wait. David replaced the cooling system zincs and checked the impeller. Everything looks good.
David took me for a Valentines Day dinner at the marina - no chocolates but a fantastic chocolate brownie cake for dessert!
I had to have it - to celebrate Roz's birthday!
Two more boats left today - we really wanted to be one of them. We thought of going to Guatemala for a couple of days but FedEx could not give us a definite delivery date - sure would be pissed off if the parts arrived and we were not here to receive them and they sent them back. We did not want to take any chances.
1413 17-Feb-15 I see a FedEx truck coming down the road!! Our parts have arrived. So today was like Christmas. First things first - check the parts order with our packages - just like Tuesday's and Fridays in the Blood Bank. Everything was accounted for except David's new hat .
New Weems & Platt clock installed. Thanks Mom! New barbecue installed. Thanks Mom! All interior lights changed to LED - difficult to find the ones that fit into our light fixtures. But they work and will make a huge difference on the battery drain. Inverter/charger installed and working beautifully. We can now get shore power and keep the battery bank charged - nice to see the FULL message flashing instead of LOW! New old fashioned stove top coffee percolator - took a couple of attempts to get it right. Now we have good old " camp" coffee in the morning - good as Paul's.
And the saga continues.nDavid decided to install the roller furling system at the dock. Disassembly of the old system went well - no seized up parts. David had a bit of a problem getting the mast climber to work efficiently. Is it one of those system's that requires practice? Or is it one of those system's that does not deliver what it promises. Time will tell.
We got the old extrusions off - these include 6 aluminum tubes that fit around the stay ( wire that runs from the mast to the deck). Their are slits on one side of the extrusions that you feed the sail on with. Then you run lines to the cockpit and you are able to roll the sail around the tubes from the cockpit instead of having to go forward and pull the sail down by hand. This is very important when you are in heavy seas and high winds and need to reduce sail! David attempted to install the extrusions only to discover that they sent the wrong ones!!! Can you believe it?
I am not sure how David kept it together. I complemented him though would not have been upset if he had lost it at that point. After a couple
Of phone calls to Defenders, emails of pictures of the parts and two days of back and forth, Defender admitted to the error on their part. Apparently the parts guy grabbed the wrong thing off the shelf and no one double checked the order before packaging it up. So the correct parts will be shipped tomorrow and will get here on Friday - yes, another Friday. How many is that now? Now this is starting to get comical!
We decided to get the boat hauled out, get the bottom sanded and painted, checked the through hulls and polish some more stainless.
But something positive did come out of all this frustration. Duo Kokikizo was putting on their show in conjunction with the restaurant. These are the two Cirque d'Soleil girls. We were so involved with their preparation that we decided to splurge and go to the show.
Oh my God! Last night was the most incredible evening ever!
Duo Zokikizo performance was like watching your own private Cirque d'Soleil.
Their four acts were performed between courses and complemented them.
One act was done from a trapeze swing,
Duo Zokikizo performance was like watching your own private Cirque d'Soleil.
Their four acts were performed between courses and complemented them.
One act was done from a trapeze swing,
second was acrobats on the floor,
then a ring
and finally the long scarves.
These were all suspended from the rafters of the palapa and performed above our heads.
We have watched these girls practice on a makeshift trapeze but the real act was beyond anything that we saw. It was special because we actually were involved in some of the critiquing and choreographing. Zoe is from France and Keelie is from Vancouver.
And the food - well think of the judging that takes place on Iron Chef - that is what I felt like. Presentation, taste and creativity. We had 2 large prawns stuffed with some kind of cream cheese and deep fried with this incredible sauce,
We have watched these girls practice on a makeshift trapeze but the real act was beyond anything that we saw. It was special because we actually were involved in some of the critiquing and choreographing. Zoe is from France and Keelie is from Vancouver.
And the food - well think of the judging that takes place on Iron Chef - that is what I felt like. Presentation, taste and creativity. We had 2 large prawns stuffed with some kind of cream cheese and deep fried with this incredible sauce,
a mango ceviche, chicken mole, deconstructed chile and a chocolate desert inserted into a balloon, inflated that you poked at your table.
So all dishes showcased Mexican food but with a flair out of this world.
It was really one of the most special things I have ever attended. It think it helped that we knew the chefs and the girls and the managers of the restaurant and Marina.
It was really one of the most special things I have ever attended. It think it helped that we knew the chefs and the girls and the managers of the restaurant and Marina.
Now I think I will post this blog as it is starting to look like a chapter in a book.
Hopefully when you read the next installment our new part will have arrived and we will be on our way to El Salvadore!
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