Happy Valentine’s Day from Guaymas

Walking to the ladder checking out
our new bottom paint 

We are still in Guaymas after 3 months! No splash for us yet. None of the luxurious cruising perhaps you think we're doing.

Looking down from our boat we welcome
Shelley & Walt.  Our 4 companionway doors
in process - after sanding before teak oil

We're living 'on the hard' in the boatyard. Pura Vida up on stilts, we climb up and down the ladder multiple times daily to the restroom and shower, to the bus, to haul water and visit neighboring boats. We continue working on Pura Vida projects while making friends in the boatyard – everyone has interesting, colorful tales about why they’re here, where they've been and where they’re headed.

Domingo & crew painting the bottom

Mike and I enjoy exploring Guaymas, a resourceful, industrial area where you can find pretty much anything you need – well, except for some boat parts that we either do without, jury rig or plead with anyone coming down from the states!

Sunset view from the cockpit

 Boat projects continue and fall into 3 categories: upgrades, repairs and maintenance.  Progress is visible. Even with setbacks we are extremely fortunate for what we have, what we are learning daily, and of course, our flexibility to make the most of every day.

With Mel and Shelley - Mel smashing an egg filled
with confetti on my head during Carnaval parade

While we never envisioned we’d still be around for another parade in Guaymas, we joined in their multi-day celebration of Carnaval. And do they party! Extremely loud music, lengthy parades with multi-national floats and confetti filling the air. Millions of taco, candy, elote (corn) and Tostito carts hawking various renditions of Mexican fast food - some we’ve tried, others we can only guess what the concoction is. The plethora of junk food we skip - deep fried and / or sugar coated, potato chips smothered with picante sauces, corn on the cob dipped in cheese and salsa.

La Cobacha with cruising friends on V Day

Tonight, we celebrated Valentine’s Day with a group of friends from the boatyard - going out to dinner is a special treat. 

Check out our pics on Picasa -

Music festival:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100074699878222670561/AlamosSonoraMusicFestivalJan201302?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Carnaval parade:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100074699878222670561/CarnavalParadeGuaymasFeb2013?authuser=0&feat=directlink

A celebration of life: Myrna Goehler 1922-2013

Mike’s mother Myrna passed away peacefully on January 21^st, shortly after her 91^st birthday. Myrna was a wonderful, kind and gentle person with the best dry humor that kept you on your toes. She was a loving mother and Mike is fortunate to inherit her good genes.

In early January, we’d returned from Guaymas, Sonora to Portland to celebrate Myrna’s birthday on January 11^th and for Mike to work at the Portland Boat Show. He’s working now as a yacht broker for Portland-based Passion Yachts.

After a busy week in Portland, we flew to Phoenix on the 15^th and stayed with our good friends there before taking the Tufesa bus to Guaymas. On the day we planned to leave for Guaymas, Mike got the call from his sister that Myrna’s health was failing and we needed to head north. We made hasty arrangements to get our belongings to Mexico and flew to Portland for funeral preparations. The well-attended service was held on Friday, the 25th.

Meeting Myrna

I met the entire Goehler clan at a fudge making party on that fateful day in November 2001, when Mike and I first met and connected. His mom, bless her heart, came and sat between us as we started chatting. It was apparent that she approved of our connection. This photo is from our wedding reception in 2007.