Haul-out and Vacation in Guadalajara

Location:  Jocotepec, Jalisco, Mexico

Since the last blog, we have been busy.  Early July, we hauled out the boat to have the bottom painted and to do some other boat projects including repair of the main engine cooling water discharge piping, rust removal from the swim deck and installation of a new swim ladder, touch-up of the topsides paint, and installation of a rack for future solar panels.  After the boat was splashed and back snug in her slip at Paradise Village, we headed for the mountains and cooler weather.  We have a lot of pictures to share, so we'll keep the words to a minimum and let the pictures do the talking.

First, a few "nature" pictures:

On the voyage from Paradise
Village to the La Cruz shipyard
(about 1 hour) we were followed
by brown boobies.

Picture of a brown boobie
diving for fish.

After it rained, hundreds to these
tiny frogs could be found
crossing the road.

At the fish market:  50 -80 kg tuna, freshly caught.

Tiger at Paradise Village, napping in his pond.

The shipyard:  We hauled out at the La Cruz shipyard in La Cruz de Huancaxtle.

Coming up out of the water

Moving to the work area

Bottom being prepared for paint

Minor hull paint repairs in progress

Bow repair in progress

Bottom paint, almost complete

Main propeller with new prop speed

Removing rust from the swim platform.
Preparing to paint and install
new swim ladder

Swim platform complete
with new swim ladder installed

Main engine cooling water
discharge piping removed
for repair

Main engine cooling water discharge
with piping removed

Main engine cooling
water piping removed for repair

While Dave monitored the
shipyard workers, B went
to town every day to get cash.
This is the church in
Old Town Puerto Vallarta.

A statue along the melancon (walkway
along the beach), Old Town,
Puerto Vallarta.

The entrance to the apartment
we rented while the boat
was out of the water

Doofus enjoying the green space.

Puddy enjoying the green space

The small dipping pool that was oh so
refreshing after the end of a hot day
in the shipyard.

A view of the back of the apartment

The boat ready for re-launch.

Moving towards the water.

New rack for solar panels
to be installed above the poop deck

Getting ready to splash.

Solar rack, view from the stern

In order to escape the summer heat in Puerto Vallarto, we headed east up into the mountains and to Guadalajara, Mexico's 2nd largest city.  For pictures of the apartment we rented in Guadalajara, Casa Rayon, check out their website, www.casarayon.com

We have been doing lots of touristy things, including taking the double-decker Tapatio bus tour, going to the shopping towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonala - where they actually make many of the crafts found at other marketplaces, going to see the Guachimontones archaeological site near Teuchitlan, going to the theater to hear the symphony and to watch folk dancing and hiking in the forest.

Guadalajara cathedral

Entry door at Guadalajara cathedral

Inside the Guadalajara cathedral

The rotunda.  This is surrounded by
statues of famous Mexicans

Waiting to board the Tapatio bus tour

The Glorieta Minerva in Guadalajara
A huge traffic circle with a statue of
the Roman goddess Minerva in the center

Statue of horses in another traffic circle

Another cathedral

Statue of a dog on a rooftop

A park near the cathedral

Taking a break after the bus ride

Inside the Degollado Theather

Inside the Degollado Theater

Tickets and program from the
Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra
Friday night performance featuring
music of Richard Strauss

Tickets and program from the Ballet
Folklorico, Sunday morning performance 

Folk dancing

Children playing in a sidewalk
fountain, Guadalajara Centro

Ceiling murals at the Hospicio
Cabanas. It used to be an orphanage
and is now a world heritage site
displaying art by local artists.

A picture of a picture of the orphans

The courtyard

Overlooking the lake near Teuchitlan

The ball court at the Guachimontones
pyramid site

Looking down at one of the
Guachimontones pyramids

Ready for lunch after hiking around
the pyramid site

Tree down during a huge rainstorm

Another tree down

Dave ankle deep in water
as the rain runs down the street
in front of our apartment

Vegetable stand at the local market

Popsicle man with fruit popsicles

Pottery at Tonala market

Coffee mugs at Tonala market

A much needed beer break after
walking through the market

Another boat project, getting
a sheet of HDPE (poly-ethylene)
cut for a fish cutting board which
we'll mount on the stern

Every Sunday in Guadalajara, they
block off one of the main streets so
that people can bicycle, skateboard,
walk, etc. They also have outdoor
activities in the park for families, including
jumping rope, hopscotch and dancing.

Children in the park on Sunday
doing acrobatics using cloth
hung over tree branches.

We're now in Jocotepec, a small town south of Guadalajara, on the north shore of Lake Chapala.  The climate here is very pleasant.  We've rented a house with beautiful grounds within walking distance of the center of town.  More on our time here the next blog...

Summer Solstice

Location:  Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico (Paradise Village Marina)

We moved into our home for the summer, Paradise Village Marina, on Monday, May 26.  Paradise Village is a luxury hotel/resort with lots of amenities including four swimming pools, a spa with massages, hot tubs, saunas and work-out facilities, tennis courts, a golf course and a nice beach.  Check out their web site at www.paradisevillage.com.  This place is definitely at the other end of the spectrum from where we spent last summer in Panama.  We have been taking advantage of the facilities and have enjoyed a massage and we go to the beach or the pool every other day.  

Man cutting down coconuts.
At some of the resorts, they cut down the
coconuts so that they don't fall
on people's heads.

They also have a local yacht club, which we got free access to for two weeks, so we took advantage and had a few drinks and meals up there and used their free internet.  Most of the people that come here for vacation only come for a week, so they have a welcome ceremony every Sunday night, with native dancers, games, prizes and they offer discounts for spa treatments, golf and some of the adventure trips.  There are so many things to do that I can’t imagine only staying here for one week.  The only downside is that it is like living in the suburbs.  We are isolated from the Mexican culture and don’t have easy access to local restaurants or watering holes.  The good news is there are plenty of buses and taxis available if we want to do any exploring.

Pelicans following a local fisherman
in the estuary near our slip.  Guess it's
easier to get a fish from him instead
of diving for their own.

Speaking of exploring, the local buses are very easy to use and don’t cost much ($0.50 to $1.50) so we have been learning the system and riding the buses to Puerto Vallarta and to the major nearby shopping centers.  You can decipher the bus routes and stops by reading the writing on the front windshield of each bus and by checking with the driver when you first get on.  The first time we went into town, we asked the bus driver to let us off at the Marina Vallarta near the hotel district.  Apparently he forgot, so we rode the bus all the way to the bus station and then had to walk about two blocks away to get a bus going back in the other direction.  Another time, we were waiting at the bus stop to come back to our marina, but none of the buses for Nuevo Vallarta were stopping at our bus stop.  We hopped on another bus with “Wal-mart” on the windshield thinking that we could catch a transfer once we got to Wal-mart.  We ended up riding the bus through the streets of Ixtapa, a small town just north of here and then got off, transferred to another bus, went back the way we came and got off at the airport, where we knew we could cross the road and catch a bus home.  Turns out the original bus we were on does go to Wal-mart, it just happens to be the one about two stops before we got on the bus and not the one near our marina.  We learned later that the buses to our location “Nuevo Vallarta” only stop at the airport, at the other Wal-mart and then at the bus station at the other end of the line.  So now we use the airport as our transfer station to get to other places we want to go.  Needless to say, we have been able to “tour” some of the countryside and the local villages.

Tree blooming near the golf course.  This is Dave's
favorite tropical tree.  We tried to grow some in
Alabama but the winters are too cold.

We’ve been walking for an hour every morning, which is nice.  It is cool and there is usually a light breeze and there are always lots of birds and iguanas to enjoy along the way.

Iguana sunning himself in a tree.

Iguana sunning on a rock

Woodpecker atop a light pole.
He was sitting up there tapping away.

Looking north up the estuary

And of course, there are always boat chores to keep us busy.  Dave has been up north in the land of free air-conditioning, so I have been doing inventory of all the spare parts we have on the boat.  

Now that we have the new shelves in the lazarette and the shelves in the steering flat it is much easier to store and organize our stuff.  Except for a few odds and ends, everything is counted and cataloged.  We have also completed computerizing our maintenance tasks.  The next step is to tie the two together so that when it comes time to do maintenance we will have the parts available and will know where to find them; and, when we need to replenish our inventory, we will have a system that tells us what parts and how many we need to order. 

We are preparing to haul the boat to have the bottom painted next week and we have been meeting with several contractors to discuss other projects including installing sunshades over monkey island and the poop deck and installing solar panels.  Since we are here for the summer and they have good facilities and resources, we are planning to check a few projects off of our list.

Happy  Summer Solstice!  Can you believe the year is almost half over?

Sunrise