I really don’t have a lot to say lately. I’ve been going out to the boat most mornings at six, Ali holds down the fort, and I return most afternoons around the time Ouest gets home from school. Exciting stuff. Lots of work going on around the boat at the moment, but nothing really completed which is why there is no pics. There will be soon.
So what’s going on? Well let me start by saying that around here there are a whole bunch of gringo businesses charging gringo prices. Mostly Canadians setting up shop down here for one reason or another. Anyway, we have a bunch of small/medium sized jobs around the boat that just haven’t gotten done, either because we don’t have time, we don’t have the tools, or we don’t have the skills. So I got a couple of quotes to do some of these things from the gringos—and then I passed out. Basic handyman type jobs apparently garner forty or fifty bucks an hour with these guys. And yet they’re booked solid.
So after those quotes I asked our local friends (the tailors) if they knew a handyman they could recommend. Of course. This is Mexico after all.
Long story short, Juan Carlos charges fifty dollars a day and has all the skills that these other guys have. The reason he can’t charge fifty bucks an hour is that he doesn’t speak a lick of English.
So in a day and a half he has sanded and painted the pilothouse roof, sanded and painted the kitchen sink, finished the bathroom countertops and begun staining the trim, started fitting new wood on the bowsprit where four pieces were blown out during that storm a few months back, and removed a cockpit locker that he is repairing some wood on. The gringo quotes on these jobs was in the thousands. No joke. Oh, and we did all the shopping together yesterday morning so I don’t even get to be overcharged for supplies.
In addition to his work I’ve painted the engine compartment and bilge. A job that I’ve wanted to do since the day we moved aboard. It just happens to be a lot easier when half the engine is missing. And man does it look nice in there now. Yesterday I grabbed Subway, brought it back to the boat, and crawled underneath the engine to eat.
What else? Oh, the welder finally showed last night, about twelve days later than he said he would. He installed two bars for me to attach the solar panels to. I will finish that job up in the next day or two.
Grammy is here for a few days. The bedroom we had for her didn’t have any window coverings, so this is what she got instead.
I love watching Ouest eat at this taco stand. She is such a little local. When she gets the taquito, which is a little hard shelled taco, it comes with lettuce, onions, and sauce poured over it. She takes a bite, then grabs her spoon and scoops more sauce onto the taco before taking another bite. Doesn’t sound like much, but if you watch the locals eat them they do it just like her. I guess it just makes me proud that she is so in her element here despite the fact that she has gringo parents and blonde hair.
13 Comments on “All work and no play”
THE ENGINE, THE ENGINE I need an update…!!!! leak found? still looking, gave up…WHAT!!! ;>)
Just waiting on the shop. The head checked out just fine, and now they are coming out to check the top of the block. Consensus right now seems to be that it was simply a bad installation. I’ll talk more about it in a couple days.
Thanks..It’s like a soap opera can’t wait for the next installment.:)
In all my travels I have never encountered a more open, friendly, embracing peoples than in Real Mexico.
Couldn’t agree more.
god i miss taco stands! got one here in long beach that is pretty authentic. $3.75 for 3 tacos.
departure date back to mexico is coming up.
Nice Baron, looking forward to hearing about more adventures. And honestly, I don’t know how I would live without taco stands. Someone asked me the other day if I’d given up on pizza, and the truth is I pretty much have, out of necessity of course. Pizza here is terrible, but thank goodness for those tacos.
Your mother is so beautiful. I think that every time you feature her on your blog and have neglected to comment until now. She exudes an aura of happiness and represents everything I want to be (and look like) when I’m her age. I love that she is natural (no plastic surgery) and yet still looks great. I need to keep her face in mind when I obsess over every wrinkle and sag in my 52-year old face. Tell “Grammy” she’s got a fan out here in readerdom, and I am sure I’m not the only one!
I love seeing pictures of your mom, too. She is so beautiful & has a grace about her as well as radiating so much love for those precious kids of yours. You are blessed 🙂
Thanks guys. She is pretty great, and I know she loves hearing that as well.
Hey Pat, sounds like the leak is at the headgasket area again, before I suggested that you replace the headbolts if you could, they can stretch, I forgot to mention to chase the bolt holes, that is, run a tap of the thread down the holes to clean out any debris so that when the bolt is re-installed it dos not bottom out before it is actually tight on the head, old rust etc, can accumulate underneath which does not let the head seat properly. All I can think of at the moment, good luck and hope your sailing soon……..aloha Ron
My day was just made happier by seeing that Faboluous Taco stand at the Central Market in Mazatlan….Thanks.
So where are the pictures of the engine room? I gotta get mine cleaned up, let’s see a example of it!