1/19/2012 - A comment about comments

I've heard from readers occasionally that it's sometimes problematic to make comments on this blog. Most recently I heard from Dani but earlier I had heard the same thing from the Ceol Mors and even occasionally from my Mom. All of them told me that they'd had problems with other "Blogger" sites (those are the ones that have "blogspot" in their name. So, tonight I decided to see if there was anything I could do about it.

I checked with Google since Blogger is a Google product. Turns out that they know about the problem already but still haven't fixed it. In the meantime, they directed blog administrators (hey, that's me!) to switch from the embedded comments that appear at the end of the blog to either a full page or pop-up window. Supposedly, these formats don't suffer from the problem. So, tonight I switched to the pop-up comment window. I turned the word verification off briefly but got a spam right away, albeit on a blog from back in January 2011, but still. So, I turned the word verification back on.

Please let me know if you have any difficulties posting comments. I don't mean difficulties like you have nothing to say, I mean actual technical difficulties. Also, if the problems cease but you experience them on other Blogger sites, please feel free to forward this entry to them. They probably just don't know.

Thanks to everyone who comments (yes, even you, Raoul). It's fun to get feedback to know someone out there is reading this stuff. Thanks especially to Dani, Cidnie and Mom for letting me know the comments weren't always working.

1/19/2012 - You are what you eat...

...and I'm only 5'3" tall.

I think I ate more shrimp in one day yesterday than I ever have before. After not walking very far for awhile, Lulu and I decided we were ready for another long walk. We had a few minor items to take care of: get a little walking around cash at the ATM, renew the TelCel banda ancha card for another month and pick up some coffee (been enjoying Blasón Espresso and I've only found it at Wal*Mart and Ley's so far). We didn't walk the whole way but we walked most of it. For any Mazatláneros out there, we rode the bus from Marina Mazatlán to the Banamex in the Golden Zone. Then we got out and walked. Sabalo to Buelna. Turned left on Buelna and walked up to Avenida La Marina (the Home Depot corner) with a quick detour to stop at the TelCel store. Turned right on Avenida La Marina and followed it to Revelución where we took another left. Walked up Revelución to Adolfo Lopez Mateos where we turned left, walked a block or so and stopped at Wal*Mart. Got our coffee and some ramen and continued on Mateos until we hit Buelna again and turned left back towards Sabalo. When we got to Avenida La Marina again, we turned right and started working our way back to the marina while also looking for a place to stop for lunch.

We finally saw a sign for Mariscos (seafood) so we stopped. The place was called Mariscos El Chabalo and was basically a driveway with tables and chairs and a cooking area towards the back. There were two tables with two people at each one, all Mexicans. We sat down and looked around to see if there was a menu posted or anything. There didn't seem to be. Without being too nosy, we could see that the guys at one of the tables were eating what looked like ceviche out of a molcajete. The other guys had goblets with some sort of hot-looking shrimp cocktail or something in it. We waited a little longer and the proprietor served the first guys some good looking seafood soup and then came over to our table. Clearly there wasn't a menu and he spoke no English. He did, however, speak very fast Spanish. Asked what we would like and we sort of looked over at the table with the guys eating soup. He said "Sopa de mariscos." and we said that's what we'd have. In just a few minutes he returned with two big bowls of steaming seafood soup. He brought us a pint jar filled with a bright yellow sauce. Said it was habanero and obviously homemade. Then he asked us what we wanted to drink (at least I assume that's what he asked although I didn't recognize one single word. He listed the various choices. The only word either of us recognized was "Coca" so we each ordered a Coke.

The soup was great. It had lots of pulpo (octopus), camarón (shrimp), calamar (squid), almejas (clams), otiones (oysters), as well as chunks of pescado (fish). We dressed it up with some of the habanero sauce and crumbled a bunch of saltines in it. It was really good. When our bowls were about half empty, he came around and refilled them with more of the broth.

Meanwhile, the two guys at the table that had been eating soup were served a big bowl of boiled peel-and-eat shrimp. Man! I wish we'd been sitting with them. They were also enjoying micheladas. We'll very likely return and when we do, we'll take our time and try to have lots of different things. And we'll definitely have a michelada. Maybe we can get the proprietor to talk a little slower for us.

After lunch, we continued our walk back to the marina. Got back about 3:00 after a trek of just over 7.5 miles.

The plan was to join Dave and Marj for dinner at Restaurante Los 30 again. Dave was wanting some of that molcajete pretty badly. About 6:00 we jumped on the bus and headed out. When we were leaving Los 30 last time, we saw a table where this couple were eating a big platter of boiled shrimp. We decided that was a good way to start. The waiter brought us a big platter of warm boiled peel & eat shrimp. This was a big platter and these were big shrimp, but we tucked in and made short work of them. Then we ordered dinner. Lulu was pretty full so she just ordered the tostada supreme which was covered in different kinds of seafood. Dave and Marj shared a Molcajete Caliente and I ordered Camarones Cucarachas. I had no idea what "Shrimp Cockroaches" would be but I was game to find out. I was delighted to discover that Camarones Cucarachas were big shrimp deep fried until the heads, tails and shells turned a golden brown. They were served with a slightly sweet sauce. I ripped the head off the first one and tried to peel it. No way. So I figured that maybe you were just supposed to eat the whole thing, shell, legs, tail and all. Tried one that way (including the head) and it was great. The shells, legs and tails were very crispy but the meat inside was still tender. It was delicious.

Los 30 is turning into one of our favorite Mazatlán restaurants. The staff last night was first rate. There were three tables of gringos and a couple of them had 6-8 people. The lone waiter ran (literally) around keeping everyone's requests filled. He looked like he was having a really good time. The chef managed to keep up even though each dish required a fair amount of personal attention (you should have seen the beautiful coconut shrimp). A young lady who we figure was the waiter's sister (this seemed like a family operation) helped wherever she was needed. All in all, we had a really pleasant time. We're already trying to decide what we're going to order the next time we go. Between Los 30 and Mariscos El Chabalo, there's no danger that we'll run out of seafood anytime soon.

Sorry, I forgot to take my camera.

1/16/2012 - The race is on

Yesterday, Lulu and I joined Dave and Marj on Kievit for a little regatta. Turns out there were only four boats competing but, what the hey. Lulu and I have never done any racing except on Kievit, and then, only once, so we're not a hell of a lot of help. But it was just a race for the fun of it so it didn't really matter all that much.

The race started out somewhat dubiously. D & M had attended a skippers' meeting to get the course layout, etc. The diagram we received made the course look like it was just a long straight course. Around the two buoys twice and done. We headed out from the marina a little early to get the sails up and get a little feel for the course before the race started. You can see how seriously we were all taking the race as Lulu checks to see where the heck the wind is coming from and Dave readies the fishing gear.

Finally, all 4 boats were out on the course and it was getting close to starting time. Again, my experience is limited but from what I could gather from Dave, the way these things usually work is that a specific starting time is set. a horn is sounded 5 minutes before the starting time and then sounded again to start the race at the precise time previously announced. During that 5 minutes, the racers are jockeying for position. The idea is to be as close to the starting line as possible, going as fast as possible when the starting horn sounds to get a running start. The race was supposed to start at 1:00 and all communication would be on channel 69. We set the VHF to the right channel and started heading up to the starting line to be in position. Then we hear over the radio that the race would start in 10 minutes (or something like that; it was hard to understand what was being said as most of it was in Spanish). OK, we'll go around again. We pass the committee boat, where the starting official is, and ask "how long?". They come back with "three minutes". Then, a few seconds later, over the radio, we hear that it'll be four minutes. Then we hear it'll be five minutes. It was impossible to keep the starting time straight. Finally, we thought we had it right and started chugging to the starting line. It was getting closer and closer and there was no indication that the start was imminent. We sort of slowed down as best we could and hollered at the committee boat, "When?" We didn't really get an answer until we were pretty sure we were over the starting line. Then the official on the committee boat said, "OK". OK what? OK, it's time to start? Or OK, you're looking good and can continue? We had no idea so we just started racing. Of course, by now, in order to not go over the line too soon, we had slowed down and lost speed. The other three boats headed off in a NW direction and we headed on a SW course to build our speed back up. But, it turned out that Kievit can point so high that we were actually on a really good course for the first mark.

There were some tense moments several times as we neared and rounded the buoys. Our main competition was a brown-hulled Mexican Cal 29. I can't remember the name so I'll just call it "the brown boat". This guy could turn on a dime. We'd go around the mark and he'd be right beside us and between us and the mark. It was pretty cool to watch. Anyway, we all went around the first buoy and then we thought we were supposed to go to the other buoy. But the brown boat's skipper said, no, we had to go back across the starting line and then go to the other mark. Huh? That meant that the course, instead of being in a straight line like it showed on the diagram, was actually L-shaped. Geez! Could this be any more confusing?

Well, we managed to follow the course with help from the other boats. Dave made a couple of very smart calls as far as how to go before tacking and we ultimately crossed the finish line first. Of course, we were the biggest boat and, after all the handicaps were figured in, we came in 3rd on corrected time. Seems like there should also be a correction for whether or not your boat is all loaded up for cruising as Kievit is. But, whatever, we know who crossed the finish line first. If we'd been trying to be the first ones to get our goods to market, the other boats would have gone home hungry.

The weather was beautiful although a little more wind would have been nice. But, it was warm and sunny and the seas were quite calm. Only thing that would have been better would have been if we'd hooked a big ol' dorado.

Obligatory food content:

I decided I'd make dinner tonight. I love to play with my pressure cooker, y'know. I spent the afternoon putting together "BBQ" ribs, oven-roasted potatoes, and fresh steamed green beans. The ribs weren't actually ribs as near as I could tell. Oh, they probably came from somewhere in the vicinity of the rib cage I imagine. I think that, once the really nice slabs were harvested, they handed the leftovers to the bandsaw operator and said "Cut this into as many 1.5" wide strips as you can." It was pretty unrecognizable anatomically-speaking but, after pressure cooking for 13 minutes followed by a nice finish under the broiler, it tasted mighty fine. Next time I'm getting real rib slabs.

Music: Been listening to "The Loft" on the Sirius/XM radio. I'd swear these guys stole my iPod and then just added a few songs of their own. What a great station most of the time. This afternoon we've heard EmmyLou Harris, James MacMurtry, Buffalo SPringfield, Dion, The Delphonics, War, Robert Cray, The Flatlanders, Tift Merrit, Drive-By Truckers and so on. If you wonder what kind of music we like and happen to have access to Sirius/XM, tune into The Loft and find out. BTW, I found out about The Loft when I heard them playing it at The Container, the bar/restaurant that Keith (s/v Chamisa) and I frequented in San Jose Del Cabo on the way down here.

1/14/2012 - CAUTION: food content

I'm not sure why I persist in thinking of this as a cruising blog. We all know what it's really about, don't we? That's right, it's mostly about FOOD. The saying that every boater gets sick of hearing is "the definition of cruising is doing boat maintenance in exotic ports". Well, for us anyway, that's just a small part of it. We were sitting around the palapa Wednesday afternoon, shooting the breeze, drinking a beer and waiting for the music to start. A fellow cruiser there said that he never stays anywhere for more then a week. He figures that gives him plenty of time to get the boat cleaned up and see everything he needed to in each port. I was aghast! A WEEK??? We've been in Mazatlán for 3 weeks and feel like we've barely scratched the surface. We're still learning our way around. We haven't even begun to take any tours or anything. A WEEK??? If we ate out 3 times a day we wouldn't have time to sample the food offerings here in just one week. A week! Please!

I've heard some people over the years say that they don't really care about food. If they could get everything they needed for survival in a pill, they'd gladly give up eating altogether. Granted, I haven't run in to many of these folks, but a few. I can't imagine what would send someone to this sad state. The food they do eat must be so bland and unappetizing that they just assume that's what food is like. Or maybe they can't taste food due to some taste bud malfunction. That, I do understand.

Lulu had been suffering from a cold for the better part of a week and I had been sailing by unscathed. Thought I was going to get off scot free. Yeah, that's what I thought. What a putz! Just about the time her's wound down, mine kicked in. It didn't start out too bad, though, and I had high hopes for a cold of short duration in which I didn't lose my taste buds. Y'see, pretty much every time I have a cold, there is a period of at least a couple of days in which my nose is so screwed up that I have absolutely no sense of taste, what with the sense of taste and the sense of smell being so intertwined. I dread those periods. But, things seemed to be going pretty good during the first day or two of the cold. Then, on day 3, whammo!

We heard an announcement on the VHF radio that the vegetable guy was at the marina and so was the shrimp guy. The shrimp guy? Hadn't heard about him before. See what we would have missed if we'd only stayed a week? But I digress. Lulu decided we needed some shrimp so off she went to see the guy. She returned with a bag holding half a kilo of beautiful "medium" shrimp. I put medium in quotes because, in the States, these would surely have sold as "large". The large ones he had worthy of skewering and BBQing. Maybe next time. Anyway, she tried to think of what to do with them and ultimately decided that a stir fry over rice was the way to go.

I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't smell her cooking. C'mon, she's stir frying onions, garlic, ginger, peppers and shrimp and I can't smell it? Something's definitely wrong. But, I held out hope anyway. Finally, she brought it to the table.

Still full of hope, I loaded my plate and tucked in. Let me just say that I'm really glad she put some hot peppers in so I could get at least some sensation from the food. Couldn't taste a thing. What a waste!

I truly hate colds and have battled them for many many years. They don't hit me nearly as hard or as often now as they did when I was younger but they still annoy me just the same. Being a big believer in the magic of drugs, I've always sought out a sure-fire remedy. Of course, we all know there isn't one but I tried nevertheless. The best I could do was NyQuil. "The night-time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so- you-can-rest medicine." The vile-tasting concoction at least allowed me to get through the night in some degree of comfort. Well, we haven't been able to find Nyquil in Mexico. Wouldn't matter much since even the Nyquil in the States hasn't been the same since they removed the pseudoephedrine and replaced it with some innocuous crap that doesn't work. However, I've always been in inveterate reader of labels. I hate to pay $5.00 for brand name aspirin when a review of the label shows that the store brand has exactly the same formula for $3.00. So, I know what was in the old Nyquil. It had acetaminophen for pain and fever, dextromethorfan for your cough, pseudoephedrine for your runny nose and blocked-up sinuses, alcohol to help you sleep, and some sort of nasty anise-flavoring to keep you from drinking the stuff for pleasure. There was also "wild cherry" flavoring but it was only just slightly better then the original green stuff. Now, with the exception of the nasty flavoring, I have all these ingredients. So, first for Lulu's cold and later for mine, I whipped up a bit of SRYquil to see us through.

I use aspirin in stead of acetaminophen because we don't think that acetaminophen does much and it's been strongly contraindicated when used in conjunction with alcohol. For the dextromerthrorfan, I use Robitussin DM which also gives me that yummy wild cherry flavor. I used up the very last of my stash of real pseudoephedrine on this cld. Difficult to get in the States and, so far, impossible to get down here. Thanks a bunch, meth cookers! I'll have to see if I can find something that works almost as well for future batches.

Lulu had been having really miserable nights with her cold. She was the first recipient of my concoction. She declared it quite palatable and a damn sight better tasting than Nyquil. It also did its job in giving her a good night's rest. A couple of nights of it and she was pretty much over the worst of her cold. Then it was my turn. Sure enough, it didn't taste too bad. Sort of like wild cherry tequila. And, just like her, it got me through the two nights that I had to use it quite comfortably. I'm happy to say that my cold was pretty short-lived and my loss of taste only lasted one day.

Once my buds were back in shape, I was fortunate that we still had some leftover shrimp stir-fry that I actually got to taste. It tasted as good as it looked.

Last night, having eaten on the boat 2 nights in a row, I was feeling guilty about depriving the local restauranteurs of our pesos so, along with our friends Dave and Marj, off we went to spread the wealth around.

The first day we were here, we heard Mike from s/v Tortue, who we knew from our summer in Puerto Escondido, give a review of a seafood place he and Melissa had visited the night before. It was called "Los 30". He gave it a glowing review and Mike is something if a foodie so we believed him. Since it was pretty much right on the bus route, that's where we headed. I suspect the name has something to do with the number of tables since they're all numbered and there were probably about 30 of them.

When we arrived, there were people at one of the tables. While we were there, they left and another couple came in. That was it. But, that sort of bodes well. It means that they must cater mostly to Mexicans, who tend to eat later than we do. There were no other gringos there, but Carlos, our waiter, spoke excellent English.

The menu was entirely seafood with a strong leaning towards shrimp. Dave ordered filet a la Zaragozada (or something like that) which turned out to be a fried fish filet topped with lots of grilled onions and peppers. Marj, being still sort of full from lunch, just had a tostada suprema (again, "or something like that") which was covered in various seafood bits. Lulu had one of her old favorites, camarones en crema con champiñones (shrimp in a cream sauce with mushrooms). And I, I took the road less traveled. I opted for the molcajete caliente. My first experience with a dish called "molcajete" was at a Mexican restaurant in Salem, Oregon. It was a rich seafood stew served in a molcajete (the "pestle" part of a mortar and pestle, usually made of volcanic rock), covered with melted cheese and burning hot. It was so good and that one restaurant in Salem was the only place I ever found it until we got to Mexico.

This molcajete was a little bit different. Yes, it was seafood and vegetables and cheese and broth. And yes, it was served in a hot molcajete. But, instead of eating it with a spoon directly out of the molcajete, you ladled it out onto a plate and ate it that way. The molcajete kept what was left behind piping hot.

You know how the platter is sizzling when you order fajitas? Well, that's what the molcajete was doing when Carlos served it. The broth was still boiling in it and those sticks of cheese were melting down the sides. That orange puddle in the lower left hand corner? That's some broth that boiled over at the table. This stuff was HOT!!! But, man, was it good. Lots of shrimp, cheese, grilled onions and peppers, fresh tomatoes and a toothsome broth. It was delicious and festive. Dave said "That's what I'm getting next time." It was money well spent. And speaking of money, what do you suppose this meal set us back? Let's see, we had two full meals with lots of fresh shrimp and two beers each. The bill came to $259 pesos. That's a whopping $19.00 (USD), folks! For both of us! WITH drinks! And this was not a street stand, but a bonafide restaurant. You got to love it.

After all that food, we probably need to get out and do another walk on the beach.

Oh, and here's another recipe to try. Lulu made this one evening when we didn't really want a full meal and the temperature was cool enough that soup sounded really good. This is not a Lulu original recipe. It came off the net, from where I can't remember, but it was some guy's girlfriend's recipe. Something to do with a Superbowl soup competition.

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Soup

10 bacon strips, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 T olive oil
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 medium white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt. heavy whipping cream (we used evaporated milk since that's what we had on hand)
1 (14.5 oz) can of chicken broth
5 oz shredded Swiss cheese (we used Chihuahua cheese since...)
3 T cornstarch
3 T cold water
1/2 t ground black pepper
1/2 t coarse salt
2 t red pepper flakes (Lulu's own addition to the original recipe)

1. Preparation with a slight variation since the original didn't use the bacon grease:

2. Cook the bacon. Remove the bacon from the pan but keep the grease.

3. If you have less than 1 T of bacon grease, add olive oil to bring the level to 1 T.

4. Sauté together: mushrooms, onion and garlic until mushrooms begin to soften.

5. Stir in heavy whipping cream and chicken broth

6. Stir in cheese in several batches until smooth

7. Combine cornstarch, cold water, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Stir until smooth.

8. Stir cornstarch mixture into soup

9. Bring to a gentle boil. Simmer 2 minutes until thickened.

10. Serve in individual bowls, garnished with bacon bits.

¡Buen provecho!

1/7.2012 - Where (and when) are we?

Yesterday started out excellently. There's a produce guy who brings his truck down to the docks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. He's here pretty early so this is the first time I've made it over before he left.

I'd gotten up early (about 6:30) and TelCel, our internet provider, was screwing up so I didn't have much to do besides drink coffee and read "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". By 7:30 or so, I figured the vegetable guy was there and I was ready for a little stroll. So I grabbed a shopping bag and wandered over.

His name is Gumen and he has a farm somewhere around here. That's not to say that he grows everything he sells but I assume he grows some of it. I picked out some baby spuds, mushrooms, avocados, brussel sprouts, tomatoes and onions. His wife makes tamales for sale and he had some there. They get rave reviews from the cruisers. I'm not usually much of a tamale fan. I loved them as a kid but the ones we used to get in San Jose (CA) seemed like they had a little bit of cooked masa surrounding a lot of chili or something like it. I remember the insides were red and spicy and good. Most of the tamales I'd had since then tended to be way too much masa with only a token filling of some sort. This includes the ones we bought from Mexican immigrants in Silverton. However, seeing as how everyone around here seems to love them, I thought I ought to at least give them a try. I chose one of each: pollo y res (chicken and beef).

I have no idea what anything cost. Once you're done choosing stuff, Gumen looks in the big bag and apparently counts up the number of smaller bags and tamales you have, then gives you a number. All my stuff came to 180 pesos (about $13.00). Then Gumen threw in 3 oranges, gratis.

Back at the boat, while Lulu was still sleeping, I heated up one of the tamales in the steamer to eat while I listened to the morning VHF net. These things were beautiful to look at, all tied up in their cornhusk wrappers.

Once rewarmed, I was pleasantly surprised when I tucked into it. It had a fairly thin coating of masa surrounding carrots, peppers, potatoes and shredded chicken. It was quite good. I saved the beef one so Lulu could have a taste after she got up.

The plan for the day was to get together with Dave and Marj (s/v Kievit) to head down to Centro and take in the First Friday Artwalk. They have these events all over the place. We even had one in Silverton, although I don't believe we ever attended. But this seemed like a fun thing to do. The Artwalk was supposed to start at 3:00 in the afternoon and it could easily take 30-45 minutes to get from the marina to Centro, depending on traffic and how soon the bus came. So, we figured we ought to head out at about 2:00. However, before that we had something else we needed to do.

Mike on the boat next to us (s/v Narwhal, a sweet little Falmouth Cutter) had told me about a little place right here "on campus" that served a nice lunch for 55 pesos. It was originally started for the guys who worked on the hotel/marina site. But, of course, the cruisers discovered it so the clientele was about 50:50. It's called Yolanda's. Dave and I walked up there about 11:30 just to see what was cooking. Yolanda was cooking "pollo en crema" and it would be ready in about a half an hour.

We wandered back up to Yolanda's at 1:30. There was one table with 4 cruisers and another with 2 Mexicans. We were directed by Yolanda to take a seat. We placed our orders for two lunches (Lulu and Marj decided they weren't hungry enough for lunch. Now I ask you, what's hunger got to do with eating?). The beverages were either Coke, Sprite, or agua fresca. Today's agua fresca was tamarino. Tamarind fruit steeped in water, a little sugar, chilled and there you go. Dave had Coke and I had agua fresca. After a short wait, Yolanda brought us our plates. Each one had a couple of chicken thighs smothered in a lightly seasoned cream sauce. White rice with a few vegetables in it on the side. "¿Frijoles?" she asked. "Sí, por favor." I answered. She brought us each a small bowl of refried beans and a stack of corn tortillas. It was delicious. Apparently every day, lunes a viernes (Mon-Fri), Yolanda cooks something for lunch. The price is fixed at 55 pesos (about 4 bucks). Sometimes she has a choice of 2 entrees and sometimes she also offers sandwiches. Going to have to go back until I've tried everything she knows how to cook.

After lunch, we caught the Sabalo-Centro bus and headed downtown. It was standing room only for awhile but we got on well before that point so we had seats. We got off at Juarez y Constitución and headed down the street.

I love the downtown architecture and the mix of viable living spaces and decay.

The Artwalk led us from one store or studio or café to the next. We saw some very impressive work of all kinds as well as some stuff that makes you wonder what made this person decide to identify themselves as an artist. For Lulu and I, the coolest part was being able to peek behind the walls that run along the street. Some of the interiors were amazing.

Eventually, though, all this art and architecture became very thirsty work. And this is where the title of this blog comes in.

We happened on this little thirst-slaking spot:

Right in the heart of old town Mazatlán, a Polish Pub. We went inside and took 4 stools at the bar. Their imported beer selection was truly awe-inspiring. The vast majority of the beers I had never heard of. The menu had them arranged by country. We took the path of least resistance and ordered a mug of Indio draft. Turns out that a draft is a full liter unless you specifically order una cerveza chica, which we didn't. While we sat at the bar, drinking our beer, we watched the television up on the wall. There were actually two TVs but only one caught my interest. It was showing vintage early 1980's MTV rock videos. Sheena Easton, Prince, Genesis, John Mellenkamp, Pointer Sisters, Tears for Fears, Al Stewart, etc. Guys with very fancy hairdos and suits and women with jackets with big shoulders that made them look like they were from the future. I couldn't tear my eyes away. It was just like being in Lewiston, Idaho back in 1981. "Just one more video and then we'll go." It was very weird to be sitting in a dark European bar watching old American videos in and old town in Mexico. Very weird.

Eventually, though, it was time to go. We wandered back to the central Mercado, stopping only to look at some handicrafts and to buy myself a mellow brim.

When we got back to the marina, we realized we hadn't had dinner so we stopped at La Mona for a pizza. Got back to the boat in time to watch another episode of "Tales of the Gold Monkey" as well as our first episode of "Walking Dead" (we finished "The Wire" yesterday).

So, a nearly perfect day: lots to eat, lots to drink, good friends to share it with, interesting sights to see, TV shows and a new hat. What could be better?

1/5/2012 - The Lost World

We went on a little dinghy ride with our friends Dave and Marj from s/v Kievit this afternoon. Just a short ride away is a restaurant that is supposed to be first rate. We were going to check it out. But first we made a little detour. Earlier in the day Dave and Marj had done some dinghy exploring and happened a cross this rock sidehill at El Cid Marina that was covered with iguanas. They took us to see.

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them.

You have to look pretty close to see the ones in the background but the orange-striped guy in the front really stands out.

These were all taken with a digital zoom so the quality isn't the best but it's the only way to get the shot.

I know I saw these guys or their ancestors in lots of low-budget sci-fi and adventure flicks when I was a kid. Blow them up and have them chase the heroes through the jungle and you've got yourselves some Hollywood dinosaurs.

BTW, the menu at the restaurant looked good but we didn't eat there today. Stand by for the review in a subsequent edition.

1/1/2012 - New Year's Eve

These crazy Mexicans!

We watched an unprecedented third episode of The Wire last night and, consequently didn't get to bed until after midnight. Not much after but a little bit. During the evening we had been "entertained" occasionally by fairly short blasts of something vaguely resembling music coming from the big hotel across the main road from us. It was quite loud but it usually only went for 10 minutes or so before shutting down for as much as 20 minutes at a time, occasionally a wee bit longer. Little did we know that this was just the tuning-up phase of the evening's entertainment.

Just before midnight, the music started in ernest, and it was LOUD! It was also pretty crappy. Lots of thump-thumpa and not a whole lot else. Sleep did eventually overtake us but it wasn't easy. Throughout the next few hours we were treated to music that was louder by a long ways than anything we'd heard in La Paz. It was interspersed with what were, I guess, toasts and short speeches that were shouted into the microphone. Come to think of it, I suspect this was something that was coming in from a feed elsewhere as the crowd's applause was much louder than it had been during the music.

Long about 4:00 AM the speechifying stopped and we heard some strums on an electric guitar and a few beats on a drum. And then we got to listen to a really quite bad rendition of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven". But, not to worry. They made up in volume what they lacked in talent. Roll Over Beethoven: we're all so familiar with that song that anything that's off-kilter really grates. In this case, you'd be sitting there waiting for the 7th chord at the turnaround, and the guitarist would play a natural instead. Huh? Sounded so wrong. He'd get started on a guitar solo and just fall way short, seemingly ignoring the more difficult parts. And all the songs he played that I recognized were that way: Miserlou, Johnny B. Goode, Pipeline. It wasn't until he switched to some music that I was completely unfamiliar with that I was able to relax, musically at least. However, they brought a girl vocalist in at one point and I would swear that the song she was singing and the song the band was playing were completely different songs. They weren't even played at the same tempo. The band was hurtling along at 60 mph while the vocalist was singing at about 45. Very disconcerting. And the fact that this was going on between 4:00 and 5:00 AM didn't help things one bit. You cannot believe how loud it was on our boat with all hatches closed. I swear there had to be some permanent hearing damage done to the partygoers last night.

Finally, a little after 5:00, the band mercifully quit. I had just drifted off to sleep when my stupid cell phone started ringing. At five freakin' twenty in the morning. I answered it only to hear Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blasting out of the earpiece. Then a voice said "Hola" and I said "You must have the wrong number." The voice said "Esteban?" and I said, "Yes, this is Esteban, who is this?" Then I think I heard the voice say "Steve?" just before he must have put the phone up to the speakers for my listening enjoyment. I hung up and turned the phone off. I checked it this morning and it's a Mexican 395 area code. The area code in La Paz is 612 and, as far as I know, the area code in Mazatlán is 669, so I'm not sure who was calling. Guess I could call the number back today to find out but I probably won't.

Anyway, after the phone call, things were blissfully quiet the rest of the morning. So much so that I actually slept in until 8:00 instead of my usual 6:30.

We started the New Year right, though. I cooked us up a batch of spuds and eggs for breakfast. An excellent way to start the day, and the year.

HAPPY 2012 TO YOU ALL. And thanks for being such faithful readers.