in temperate zones   march is in like a lion  out like  a lamb,,, ok  this is   edge of tropics with tropic of cancer  our claim to  tropical existence.

our summer of  canes, a true lion, is wimpering out like a  sick and tired frontal system spawned of monsoonal trough which has no  mercy  nor sleeping season.

i was going to start this with some schmaltz  describing the   starkness of winter and how  fortunately we donot experience the phenomenon.

oops a lie.  yup we have winter–itis usually 2 weeks in length, nights are cold days not bad–is t shirt weather instead of tank top weather.   and mebbe    2 or 3   days require  summer weight uggs  for toesies   instead of flip flops.  hahahahaha what you ask are summer weight uggs???    answer! the nice soft old pair with holes in em.   yup those have a  use.

now, where the hell did i put mine..

this being a la nina winter makes the   adventure more   interesting.   the   powers that think they be, aka news media  have predicted a WEAK  la nina.

i need to insert a  lot of canned laughter here.

each and every time they call for weak they get hell on frozen wheels.  be wary.   my prediction–you will burn or freeze.  keep your weather eyes open and lay in the rum for the worst part of the winter.

so we going into a la nina  winter.  cali is already in fire season, invited early  by   uninvited guests from hell, and   defying containment.  is hard  during fire season.

fla has coldness.   they actually have nights   below  the freeezing temp of water.  ouch.   uninhabitable.

my toesies are cold with ambient air temp of   68f..hahahahaha   musta got acclimated already.   whatsit been,   6 years, and a half , now?  at least they donot freeze off   down here. i am in same marina i first   visited  here in mazatlan.

okay.

so we priced  stepping masts  and having em laid on my deck.

6000 pesos for both main and mizzen.  now i also need to know does that include the   crane and the labor and all  , or  am i paying for  bits and pieces  separately…..always a concern.  what amoun tup front in cash and   yada yada details.

so my worker is  confirming this price and  finding out  what the hidden costs will be and we may do this in january.

iff the  electrical panel is moved by then. and iff engine starts with no  fol de rol.  i want first time every time service from my newly rebuilt engine.  we almost there.

and i am  again scrounging   foot pumps  for the interior   fresh water system.  seems the 5 i used to have had been    “repaired” to   be  of absolutely no use or value to anyone. the   outer plastic was   screwed overexuberantly   breaking the plastic housing, and screws were placed by same   person into a  highly corrosive  substance of  gkw origin,   ok i seek new ones to start over again.  thankfully i only need  3 of em.

i bought   waxed paper for   maintaining my waxy plastic   dinghy and kayaks..  need only a  flatiron for this  bit and ta daa.. learned this from an old salty  soul…

and slowly we progress..ever so slowly so as not to scare  the bird.  life is too good for  problems

new stove top is in making  ..stainless  and repairable  by me when necessary.   parts available everywhere in mexico easily.   once installed it will be   above the lil fridge i have, 120 v,  so i can get that out of the   cockpit, where it is currently stashed and used.

and then we can  begin to attack the   innards of this  taiwanese miracle boat.   we have already boosted up the   sagging framing for the sole…  it is easier now to   determine the boat had sat on a  breakwall for a  bit of time.  our boats each have stories to tell. tough  fat bottomed  boats with  much character, each different from the rest.

life is good.   y’all have a good   christmas season!

as the cracking of my mizzen worsens, sending some   rotten bits  down onto  coachhouse. oopsy

looks like we may have to cut the   mast to remove it  without  dropping the   rotted away bits..   would make it lighter and we can cut all we want, so might make it  less  difficult  to remove..  at least less nerve wracking. ..  meanwhile we still await parts for the electrical panel relocation mandatory before removal of mast.   gotta love  lack of foresight in the placement of the bus  bars behind panel.. bus are on mast itself.  hence the delay.

ok…….

yeah we has a plan.  we just have not  thunk nor   verbalized about that.  time for a steel umbrella…

ima slakkah.  ok sorry i havenot kept up..many reasons  most specifically our    failed quality of wifi connections of   the past   year and half.   has improved some–oxccasionally i am able to have a  few minuets of   connectivity…   has grown into many days in sequence of connectivity  and almost good, as long as i have and use my   antenna.

i also didnt have  updatable info.   oopsy.

so, what we doing~~~

we measured for  a stovetop to be made to sit   gimballed in the  stove well with my cute   fridge(120v) under it.

we have received many parts    to   use in creation of  electrical panel

we watched as cat grew from  cute lil sad kitten into  larger   happy   soft critter with 5  sharp pointy  edges, and no fear of using those   sharpnesses.  bubba still hates him but wants his  whining to stop  …  he is settling down some–bubba, not chico

chico calls  for bubba and  for me.  bubba lets me know when it is for me.

finally converting   boat shading system to  winter   mode from  summer mode.  more screen less   tarp.

the new  acrylic/polycarbonate/wtf  transparent  panels i  had  installed into my overhead hatches in  forepeak and my  masterberth are  success–more light and not need electricity or  knowledge of  braille.   historically , pitch/tar is   lighter than the   interior of my forepeak,  so this   modification is  most welcome.

finding more  disimprovements in sole framing, and    learned what is eating my  holly strips  …not pleased nor a mused, but also not surprised.

MIGHT break down and buy a  hand held vhf so i know what is  happening and if , just in case,  someone tries to get in touch with me. (i missed the first swap meet~), or in the  event i might need to   notify anyone of anything  semi important

yeah . our life rocks.   we has shrimp and dorado and sea bass   and pargo delivered to our parking lot, fresh , for purchase, and veggies and fruits, on mon and weds during high season…. bubba says itis fresh and then ate like  piggy.  good bubba.  chico loves fishies as welll..   he better, it was deelishuss.    and the shrimpies. bubba  refuses those but  chico says   i will do his rejects also momms….   sooo..   i get to fight chico for shrimpies  and dorado.   and he likes sashimi dorado as wellas cooked,   como  bubba.   monsters i have created.

birdeee…..  she is enduring as projects   continue to slowly  not only   continue but   pop up … oopsy…hahahaha is a boat.   so we just buy more of whatever we need and go for the entire  issue no bandaids.

but that is why we are here…..

and for the lulls we have binge watching of gunsmoke to do …..allll   9900000 seasons of the long running show.