Our last Days in Barra

It is Good Friday. We took the water taxi over to Barra to buy our 8 dozen eggs. Who buys eight dozen eggs at a time? But if you do the math - eggs twice a week, two eggs per person, three people - that is a dozen a week. And then there is baking and pancakes and egg salad sandwiches and potato salad.

The process from church was beginning just as we got to town. Most Mexicans are Catholic so this time of year is very special for them. They re-enacted the Crucifixion. Some people were dressed as Romans riding horses as they led the process of Jesus being taken from the jail, his condemnation to death and the crucifixion. It was very solemn and taken very seriously. The town was very crowded. Sorry - no pictures as the ones from The phone were out of focus.

We brought the last load of laundry into Maguel. Now I have to do it by hand! But this tells you just how honest the people are. Armon picked up the last load of laundry and the cost was 160 pesos. When he handed the money to Maguel he was told it was only 60 pesos. When they were checking the pockets they found a 100 peso note in David's shorts! Even I would have pocketed it - which I used to do any time I found loose change in his jeans. (I did own up to it but always considered it my fee for doing his laundry')

Back home to find a place for the eggs - something accessible so they can be turned every three days to keep them fresh!

On Saturday I cleaned the sail cover, dried it and stowed it away as we will not need it for the next month. Then I cleaned the awning and the windows on the Bimini. Arturo came and cleaned the bottom of the boat. We do not want any barnacles to slow us down this time! Then we spent some time on the computer, updating contact lists and sending out emails.

Sunday Armon and I drove over to Melaque to get the bulk of our fresh fruit and vegetables. We decided that we would rather support the local businesses as much as possible rather than Walmart and the other big box stores. In a lot of ways the food is fresher and cheaper anyway. Then back to the boat to wash everything in a 10% bleach solution, air dry and stow. It was great having Armon to help. He got the job of wrapping all the citrus, apples and tomatoes in aluminum foil. So our baskets are full and everything has a home.

Armon left to finish up a few things around his house and I headed to the pool. David had already cleaned half of the deck and cabin house so we were ahead of schedule. I swam a kilometer and then sent some more emails.

In case you did not make the list - here is another way to track our crossing. Go to www.mmsn.org .  Click on ShipTrak. Enter in our call sign in the box in the left upper corner. VE0DM - remember the 0 is the number zero. Hit View.

A map of the world will appear. Move the mouse or slide your finger across the screen until you come to the west coast of Mexico and the South Pacific. You should see a sailboat on the cost of Mexico. That is Barra and that is where we are. As we get closer to French Polynesia you can play with the screen to get more detail.

Every time we call the marine mobile radio they will post our location on the map and you will be able to track our progress. How cool is that!!

And if you want to check out the weather go onto www.windyty.org

You will get a map of the world. Adjust your screen to the area you are interested in and you will see the direction and strength of the wind.

After a relaxing couple of hours at the pool and no sign of David, I returned to the boat. Another speed bump! He tried running the motor again and it started to cut out. So he took the lift pump apart and found that one of the screws was stripped and the gasket was worn!

So we decided to go to the hotel for dinner and then he would tackle this issue.

As our luck goes - the pump needed a new gasket - which we had! But the banjo bolt housing was stripped. Our now good friend, the mechanic.( Johnco) brought it to the mechanist - the same guy who manufactured our special tool for the shaft. He was able to rebore and rethread the casing. But of course this made for another delay! So while we waited David and Armon changed out the hose in the head.

All in the attitude. Better that these things happen in port where you can do something about it. And our friends on Elizabeth G showed up (we kept missing them) and we were able to share a lovely dinner in town. We got word that the counsel approved our application and we are able to rent the condo to David's niece and had time to update the insurance for that.

We got the pump on Tuesday and David installed it. The motor ran well and it looked like we were finally ready to go. While this was going on I finished cleaning the rest of the boat. 

Next day we drove into Manzanillo to clear Customs and Immigration. Immigration was almost seamless. When you enter Mexico any other way EXCEPT by air - you receive a visitor's Visa - which you pay 390   Pesos for. That is about $30. You get your Visa along with a receipt. We came in the last time by air - no problem. Armon drove into Mexico. He had his Visa which they tell you to carry with you at all times with your Passport but he did not have the receipt. . They do not say anything about the receipt. Well when you check out they want both. But you do not get your Visa stamped unless you pay. Does not matter! They want that receipt! So Armon had to pay again.

Then we were sent to Customs. Now Manzanillo is a huge port and a big city. Customs is on the other side of the harbour ( think of Vancouver).  So back in the car  we went. We went to the Customs office, stood in line to get a ticket, told them what we wanted to do and waited. 20 minutes later our number was called only to be told that we were in the wrong Customs building. We needed to go across the highway to the other one. Now we are beginning to feel like we are in a Seinfeld sitcom.

And the fun does not stop there. We get a new girl who wanted us to bring our boat into the parking lot so they could inspect it! There was a customer who spoke English and she tried to help us with the translation. It is a yacht" we cannot drive it into the parking lot! And it is in Barra - 100 km away. She walks away frustrated as she does not know what is required.

This lovely customer then goes over to another agent and tries to explain what we are trying to do. He tells us that we need to go to the Port Captain and get some paper signed and stamped. But we told him the Port Captain in Barra told us that we needed to go to Customs first. No - go to the Port Captain in Manzanillo. He will give us the paper, we bring it back to Customs and then we go to the Port Captain in Barra. Are you following all of this?

So back in the car and drive back to where we were in the beginning. The Port Captain tells us that he has nothing for us and we should just go to the Port Captain in Barra. We give up!

So we got the rest of our provisions and headed back to Barra. But the Port Captain goes home at 1400 hours so we are into Thursday.

David and Armon head off to the Port Captain. They return with papers in hand and the rest of the frozen food from Armon's. We top up the water tank, again, and I pay the marina, again!

And this last Blog entry for a while was going to be a short one! Sorry for the babble and no pictures. Just this last one which is the most important one!

Betty-Ann, Captain Dave and our Amigo, Armon. On board and ready to cast off.

Finally.