We've been here a
month now. Enjoying being able to relax a little now that some of
the priorities are done. We came with essentially NO Spanish skills
so all tasks take longer. Lol We are trying to learn and the folks her
appreciate the efforts and help us (lots)! Thankfully, most speak
some English and many of them are fluent!
We have working and
affordable phones. Doug sorted through this and got Telcel sim cards
with Mexican numbers and then arranged with Sonatel to forward all
calls to our American numbers, the ones you all have. Sonatel was an
especially cool find because it is seamless for all customers,
tenants, family and friends. The icing on the cake is the service
only costs $1 per phone per month and we pay 5 cents per minute.
Texts are still not working and we are not sure why....
We have data package
that works from the boat, almost consistently. Lol Slow but ok.
Faster than going to the internet office and getting sidetracked
visiting. hahaha And best of all it adds up to significantly less
than Verizon was!
We have booked our
haul out for early April to get new bottom paint and cutlass
bearing. Will be an interesting time cause they let us live on the
boat while it is supported on high tech fancy stilts essentially.
This is cool however cause hotels for and with cats is awkward!
Bottom line is we will clearly be here until at least the middle of
April. The best part of cruising is not having much of a schedule.
Hurricane season
technically begin June 15th but is low likelihood until
several months later and ends November 1st. We are outside of the
zone here if we decide to stay put. We love to anchor out and here
it is marina life only! We may decide to gunkhole our way down the
coast as there are many places along the way that are quite safe to
anchor out or tie to a dock for a while if any danger comes.
Hurricanes are well forcasted and the boating community watches out
for weather and each other extremely well. For those worriers out
there. : )
The most
entertaining project to date is I made a bimini cover to shield the
sun from the cockpit. The finished product was over 6X10' and made
from Sunbrella, a very stiff canvas and was constructed in the cabin
on a 2X3 table. With cat help of course. Maui laid on it and
Squishy glared and left. Guilt trip!
Doug is getting
pretty good at shopping for groceries and exploring local flavors. I
have tagged along a couple of times just to read labels. We have
found that organic is available but not as common. Apples taste like
apples not pesticides and not waxy. Of course all is washed with
vinegar. To wash off germs, pesticides and herbicides. Frosted Flakes
have 5 ingredients in them here much like Europe. Not that I can
read them but... Look at a box in America. Whether this is because
they don't have to tell us ingredients here or they just don't add
all that crap.... idk and of course was just for perspective to help
with other interpretations.
GMO is not grown
here but we have not yet fully figured out import issues. Pretty sure
beef and chickens are free range with no GMO feed. We feel safe with
local tortillas as they are made fresh with local maize and ooooh so
good no reason to ever eat anything else!
The main street
through town is known as 'Gringo Gulch' and sidewalks are painted
red. Cruise ships come in just on the other side of the breakwater
and we find humor in their regular announcements to not leave the red
street because Ensenada is so dangerous. I feel perfectly safe here
and will say I have stumbled into many more intimidating places in
broad daylight in Portland than I have here.
Of course best
values (and less English) are found a few blocks away which is where
we now explore. Again for the worriers, we go in pairs, not for
safety but so we don't feel so stupid and can help each other with
directions or language as needed. We went with another couple, Eric
and Patty the other day to a bunch of small specialty shops and had a
blast. Small heath food store and specialties of each queso/cheese,
pescaderia/fresh fish, panaderia/bakery. We find lots of fresh,
local foods here and NO concerns over added phosphates that make Doug
so sick. We are exploring foods in general but also to see if they
affect my allergies and arthritis like American foods do. So far so
good but we'll see if accumulation affects me!
Back to those cruise
ships, come visit us. Seriously if you take a cruise that stops in
Ensenada, we'll be neighbors so let us know you are coming.
As Doug shared on fb
we had a couple of days of serious rain. Based on the level in the
dink, 4” in two days! Otherwise nice, mostly warm, sunny days and
cool nights. Quite the trip watching the manhole cover bob in the
street as water burbled out. Lol
On that note I'll
say Manana! Love to all!
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