Back in Barra and it feels like coming home. We felt like celebrities as we came into the marina and then at the pool. All the employees and the people in town seemed genuinely happy to see us again. It was wonderful!
Dave from Pacifico was back in the marina and waiting for Merissa to arrive from Oceanside. Poncho drove him to the airport to pick her up and when they returned he offered us some fresh dorado (Mahi Mahi). So we pooled our resources together and had a wonderful dinner to celebrate our return.
We met up with Armon on Saturday. Armon has a vehicle - which will be a huge asset when it comes time to provision for the big crossing. But for now we just went into Melaque (7 km away) and picked up some fresh vegetables, fruit and money from the bank machine. The bank machine in Barra and the one in the hotel were out of money - a common occurrence on a weekend. I must say that I did a good job on the last provisioning out of La Cruz. Very little waste. And when we pulled into port we were down to our last tomato and onion. All other fresh food had been consumed!
Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday. The marina was offering a special cut rate on moorage for the weekend. They have a large screen television in the lounge and put on an "American" type menu for the game. Things like hamburgers, chicken wings and nachos. The place was full and a good time was had by all. There was only one Panther fan so most people went home happy as the Denver Bronco's won the big prize.
On Monday Armon was kind enough to drive me into Manzanillo (1 hour drive) so I could order new glasses. I got two pairs - even managed to talk myself into a deal with my little Spanish and even less English on their part. They gave me a $150 Canadian discount on each pair. They will be ready in a week.
While we went into town David met with Louis - the mechanic - so he could assess our motor issues. He felt pretty confident that he could do the job on the boat - should take about 4 days. He said to give him a call when our parts arrived. So we e- transferred the money to Beryl and made arrangements for the new motor mounts to be delivered to her. So what to do til then? No sense sitting at the dock at $42 per day - how about some more cruising.
We joined up with Tim and Constance for the last day of Carnival in Barra - reminds me of the old days when the fair would come to town. Only difference is that all of the rides are set up for little kids. We enjoyed pina coladas at the Sunset Bar,
Zooming in on the sunset!
ate churros (deep fried twisty donuts that taste like mom's donuts with the cinnamon and sugar) and enjoyed a late dinner.
Next morning we headed north again. We were just going to go to the next bay but the winds were resulting in a bit of a surge in the anchorage so we decided to go back to Tenacatita.
David varnished the cockpit grates
and I went swimming. Tim and Constance showed up on Sunday with friends from Salt Spring. Talked to my brother and it was -25C in the Sault - he was not interested in the fact that the water temperature was +25C and the air temperature was +30C.
I am vertical in the water and if you look close you can actually see the color of the nail polish on my toes!
More time on the beach at our favorite Palapa.
Dave and Tim enjoying a cold one!
Me and David also enjoying the shade.
Got an email from the insurance company and they have agreed to pay most of the cost of the radar but for some reason nothing for shipping or duty. So David wrote another email. We will see what they say! Sometimes you have to write more than one letter.
16-Jan-2016 Pulled up anchor and motored over to the "Aquarium" next bay over. People do not usually anchor overnight at this location as it can be a bit rolly. But the seas were calm so we ended up staying there for 3 nights.
We met another couple from Canada - Comox on Vancouver Island - on Ka'sala. Lady Midnight also followed us over there. There is a reef at this location so I put on my Go-Pro to see if I can capture any of the fish. Again - nothing like Belize but still a fair number of fish.
Lynette also shared a recipe with me - Ziplock Bread - which I can't wait to try. You put all the ingredients for the bread, including the water and yeast, into a ziplock bag. Seal the bag and mix and knead. Let it rise. Punch it down and roll it into the loaf tin. Let it rise again and bake. No mess! The best is you can pre- measure for several loaves and them store them. When you are sailing and want a loaf of fresh made bread you just mix the warm water and yeast, mix, knead,raise and bake. Or you could make cinnamon buns or pizza or whatever. I will let you know how it turns out and if it as good as it sounds I will include the recipe in the provisioning section of a future blog!
And another one of those spectacular sunsets.
19-Feb-2016 0938 Anchor up and the main sail already set. We have received word that our parts are in! We motor sailed to Barra, contacted Armon and made arrangements to pick up the parts and my new glasses on Saturday.
Louis will be on the boat on Thursday morning to do the repairs on the engine. I spent a couple of days cleaning the boat ( again)' polishing the stainless ( again) and swimming in the pool. David was like a kid at Christmas opening up all of his packages, filling water tanks and making room in the lazarette for the mechanic.
So no new blog for a week or so until we get the outcome of the engine. Then we will have a better idea about when and if we ar still doing the big jump across the pond. So stay tuned!
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