September, 2010
This log picks up on September 10, back home on NEOS, busy unpacking and cleaning the boat up from our 3 week absence. Many cruisers told us that we were really lucky this summer, as the weather has not been unbearably hot. A couple of times we almost made the decision to purchase a room air conditioner, but then the weather would get less humid and we would be fine. Our daily routine settled in with chores in the morning, then a short rest after lunch followed by a trip to the lap pool for exercise and an hour or so of reading. Then it was over to the air conditioned shopping mall for a couple of games of “64”. Sometimes we treated ourselves to ice cream or Starbucks’ ice coffee. After this, it was usually cool enough to head back to NEOS for our evening treat: a movie and a smoothie. With the small Caframo fans aimed at us, we are able to function and get a good night’s rest. And these folks haven’t seen humidity! Not too many of them have been further south to Panama or Costa Rica where I had to wipe down the walls and ceilings on a weekly basis to keep mold from growing. Even the dodger has avoided the green growth I was used to. So Mexico may be hot and humid, but it is livable.
Jim Nordstrum was back in Paradise Village getting his documentation updated, so we had his company for most of September. Jim was able to use Dick and Gina’s apartment while he was here, since they were vacationing in CA and the Philippines, so we had a nice air conditioned spot to play cards after our pool-time. We helped Jim do some more spray painting of Toothpick. She looks pretty spiffy now. Jim gave us basket weaving lessons and Rog has made two pretty nice looking baskets. I made one, but I did it about four times! Actually not too difficult and we are anxious to try to make more on our own.
Our first major September project was to get the mast lights functional. Jim helped us connect with Pedro/Peter who climbed the mast, took the light down and helped us problem solve it. He reinstalled it and it was working when he finished. We shall see if it is functional again once we leave at the end of October.
We took the opportunity to get our passports renewed since the consulate is in the shopping mall right here. Our passports expire in February and this was just too doggone convenient! Hopefully there will be no snags and we will be able to pick up our new passports at the end of October before we leave here.
My personal project of the month was a major repair job of the soft bimini: the canvas “roof” over the back of the boat. It is four years old and most of the thread was rotten so the poor thing was starting to fall apart. We had tried to fix it by hand, but that was not turning out very well, so we made the decision to remove the bimini and redo all of the seams. It actually was fairly easy to remove. I cleaned it well, then resewed all of the seams. I also replaced a broken zipper, all of the Isinglass panels and the Velcro flaps. It took me about 3 days of hard work, but I think we will get a few more years out of the bimini now. Rog spent a couple of hours reattaching the canvas to the stainless steel frame which he had polished while I sewed.
At the end of September, George and Kathie Remaley came for a three week stay at the Mayan Luxxe. They listed us as guests and we were able to join them for cards, pool-time and some great meals at their place. The Mayan is about ten minutes from Paradise Village, and then it takes just as long to get from the entrance of the Mayan complex to the Luxxe. The place is impressive. The entrance to their main facility, the Mayan Grand, is awesome. You walk into a dark lobby about 40 feet high and are surrounded by giant Mayan statues. There is soft, mystic music playing in the background and it is eerily quiet and spiritual. From there, you enter the main lobby that is well lit, but I could have relaxed in the dark area for hours.
We toured the water park with slide and lazy river, walked through the spa and then headed into the Luxxe. Their suite is three bedrooms with a full living room, dining area and kitchen. They have a huge balcony that overlooks Puerto Vallarta and the mountains beyond. When we went down to the pool area at the Luxxe, we were greeted by Marcos who handed us ice cold hand towels to refresh ourselves. After some time in the infinity pool, we relaxed on the lounge chairs and had delicious hibiscus popsicles that Marcos brought around for the patrons. I felt downright decadent.
Between our visits to the Mayan and George and Kathie’s frequent trips to the Yacht Club here at Paradise, we were able to get in quite a few games of “64”.
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