he is not amused…

alllllright….sooo, as the great almighty and  above it all used  car errrr boat sales creep in mazatlan   is a  BULLY.  ok. so i boycott bullies.   since his wife  died, he has become more and more angry and  hate filled, spewing  noise and  anger at those who silently do their  living.  what a joik.

and so today was a swap meet… there were three    selling and few  passing thru.   i got a   seat for helm station, and i  found a   parts kit for  whale gusher  foot pumps.   score.   poifect.

for a week, there was nointertweb connectivity.   i  ran diagnostics and reconfigured  th ehell outta my computer only to learn it is  a compound  error between  over reconfiguring and   system fail, which is   denied.   it is your equipment is the  pat answer. hahahahaha   guess again.   we still have   S L O W    connectivity,  despite  4   lights on my  tplink pharos antenna.    and that is when the bully   disrupted my  reprogramming.

hahahahaha

good thing i didnt reprogram antenna as i was gonna do –it did itself. is a magical  item and most helpful in   grabbing  connectivity and failing signals..   gunsmoke  with coffee is not the same as weather with coffee.  i prefer weather.

and so i   resubmit my  logins. only fail one is   sailnet. their security is tighter than that of the queens skivvies i swear.

got new to me mast  of wood from a  once  tour boat named  romance II  which broke up on the main beach here  when engine   glitch occurred in a strong  onshore breeze. they didnt stand a chance of recovery.  is a shame.    however the  masts and engines are saved and usable, so the spirit   continues….

and then there is chico da vato.  bubbas nemesis now  hisses at bubba,l and bubba swat chico.  is this a  pawsitive move or  ..

and  chicos ears…  now he is getting some strange skin colorations he didnot  used to have. his ears used to be pale skin, now  turning brown in splotches….. wierdo cattie.  he is also   getting   white furzz on his body.  didnot used to have that.   wierdo cat.  the pale  strips onhis head  in front of his ears are also  blotching brown..   as i said…..  meximultigene kitty

so we finally have  removed mizzen for   repairing or replacement.    there  is a wood mast rebuilder here, so we  will try that. i love my thai cedar masts.. this   rebuilder has  thai cedar,  hard to find in mexico.

as for the condition of my   post patricia cane mizzen–wholly ships, mon.    the wood is as durable and solid and  hard as feathers.  oopsy.

yup i know when to remove a dangerous item from   boat….

so it now lies on my  dock finger next to my   shiplet, which popped up out of water 6 inches   astern.. was a  strange sensation to feel as it literally did pop out.  mast is 40 ft  length.

we continue the electrical panel work… and  fixing that   quadrant of boat  under old ice box, now black moldville…..

and so, yes we had a raton on our coachhouse roof.   thankfully he showed his lil self before trying to gain entry into  interior of boat. he was a cute lil  disease addled   thing with a scaly tail.   pretty coloring,  and   nosey. he tried   2 times to enter–   both times caught in the act.  he first appeared   when the field next to my boat   was   mowed and  raked. no more homes, seeking new ones,  found a plantain on my binnacle and the war began.

ok.  each of th e  3-4 days he  stayed on the roof  i washed  well  the roof and decks.   changed the screens and made sure all is well and intact.   checked the hawse cap for  tightness and weight.  washed the decks again.

my mechanic   brought  some    sticky   traps and i loaded  2 while wearing gloves and caught   the not so cute anymore critter last night and dispo’d it.

now cats are   weird.. they  each have a different reaction and response to this situation..  chico   gets excited and  runs like he was shot, and bubba lies down on top of the location   of the  intruder.   so between the 2, we deaded one rodent.   still donot trust the lil   guys, am  keeping traps ready and   watching closely and putting frisbies on my lines until i can  get rat  preventer cones.

and yeah i thought shorty was a good name for a cause of pestilence notorious world wide.

oh but they sooo cute…

~~~NOT!~~~~

oh yeah. carnaval begins tomorrow…..  week after carnaval we   de-mast this  boat.

we are seeing now a  less vague time frame for stepping masts.   my worker says we can do it without    yard crane  in  dock e slip 2, where i want my boat to  sit for the rest of my repairs.

this will be interesting, and i donot  want to see it  but i need to watch hahahahahaaa  see trainwreck …

we still waiting on one part for the electrical panel, a  bilge pump   breaker and  switch by rule.. slow  to mazatlan.  seems parts were   shipped quicker to barra de navidad.  correo  is always an adventure.

we still awaiting the  final pieces of the  fuel delivery system so i can motor my boat   to the new slip instead of begging a tow.    this is  the flustrating part of   repairing,  parts arrivals do not always match the   plans laid  out by man.  hahaha or woman.  meanwhile as the m ast   shape changes….  how much of an S curve   can  a thai cedar mast tolerate before   breaking and falling on my head..oopsy… is already raining   rot shards  from crack at spreader.  i think my next mast will have  a   hail mary  measure incorporated in in case of fail.

my worker  says   no more than 2 months to   removal of masts mebbe 2 weeks.  ok, coool. it needs done   asap, so we working on the    issues  we need to   fix as we await delivery of parts.,

hope alla yez have a wonderful sailing  season. err snowy season. err.. whatever you are seasoning.

i think  i will season some to be orange ginger   sweet picante shrimpies.    slightly candied if i can pull it off….lemme see, i have honey,  shrimpies pobalanos  serranos onions garlic,  oranges limones…..  cilantro….  and butter.

for first time since i arrived in mexico my salt has clumped and will not shake out of the shaker.    time to return to using   fresh ground salt.

we on this…

AND  we  have   dorado for humans and cats.     fresh.   yummy.  bubba is telling me to get the lead out and give him sashimi  dorado NOW. he is a sweet kitty and does this by lying next to me purring.     chico  screams until i bend then   stands for a hug before he will shut down  his  soundbox..he has many   different sounds, accompanied   by abandonment issues. he is a sweet kitty.  each time i pass him he wants  picked up for  a hug.    he  grabs me   and hugs me, only problem is he uses   CLAWS!!!  which are uncomfortable where i still have skin intact.    he is learning, albeit slowly…..

i am being advised i am  late in preparing this   dorado sashimi and best be on it faster.   purrrrrr…….

hahahahahahaha  happy  day!!!

chico is still destroying all within his power–the power of a kitten now almost  err   is  this month 1 yr old.   how time flies..from   under car cat aged 2 months  to  spoiled fat 1 yr old   rambunctious lil black streak  …   thankfully no longer  hiding in bilges, but wants to return   to that dark   place occasionally.   he still hides under toilet when wanda  arrives hahahaha..he is getting used to my workerbee… thankfully.

so we have a stainless fuel tank in place, we are prepping for    mizzen  and main mast stepping, and we are   awaiting  new stainless steel stovetop under which  i plan on placement of 120 v fridgelet.is a cute lil thing.   mint green, the classic proudly written across its   upper front.  …  worthy of understove placement secured for travel.

what else did we accomplish las year…..  we repaired toilet a few times, hahaha normal wear n tear, old equipment… and we  placed tank for fuel and we  relaxed as we  dealt with health issues and boat   integrity.  plans made for   continuing  repairs.  my helper is   finally realizing we have WORK to do ..hahahahaha

finding  the right parts in mexico without paying duty.

ok so far no problem.   found  racor   500fg in manzanillo for   reasonable  pricing–in usa i was  overwhelmed with  the new part pricing.  inm anzanillo i bought  2  racor 500fg   for the price of one racor 500 in usa.   my win.  they are   so very handy in the face of dirty and  water invaded fuel.    replaced the  O~ring at   fill mouth and rebedded..  funny how less water  comes into the  tanks when the fill  is  properly installed.

still thinking  shape size and  function of  hard dodger..i like the   fisher   shaping… not   certain how that would  work. we donot generally receive   green water over bow  as far back as   cockpit or main sheet  traveller, which is  where the  forward aspect of dodger   would sit.

we have  most of parts for electrical panel relocation.. most necessary   before   removal of mast, as  the  negative bus bars are screwed into the wood mast.. oopsy.

bubba is finally recovering   from his stress of chicos invasion.  they  still fight on touch–bubba screams at chico when chico touches   bubbas tether..is part of him  and not fair game.  i think with 2   cats i will be   changing   to boda boxes (enclosed  house like litter pans system for both  of em.  whew.  those   have   limited  steenk escape with   filtration.   will make a   difference i think. will  start with 1   as they are a tad pricey.

marina mazatlan is  upgrading much and has  improved rest rooms, working on new machines for laundry room and   has locked all gates and installed  cameras to watch all come and go.   some restaurants came then went.  the  number of boats here this high season  appears  smaller than past years.  watching this , as improvements are underway.  there is even a beach club 2.2 km distant for our   use.  that is new since  2011. seems a tomato farmer ended the land war here by  buying it alll up , so it is all his now.  there have been  many changes  effected over past year here, inclusive of   infrastructure  repairs.   (is fun  hearing a 30 yr old marina being called the new marina..hahaha)

surprisingly fewer fireworks displays this   ny eve..was  quiet save for ambient music.

now i have   satellite radio.  big improvement.  i can hear music  without wifi.   hahahaha and catties have sounds   to  keep them  feeling secure in my absence.  spoiled lil guys arent they.   they ar ealso excellent workers. they constantly watch and  listen. when   dock water  exploded open  in the slip  across from  mine,  first chico, below waterline  heard it and yowled, then  bubba  heard it pop and  bit me  on my elbow, his warning    alert.  it was repaired without any down time. a  true miracle.  yes they both got treats and fishies for that ..good work.

no resolutions. is a schedule which is a dangerous thing on a boat.

happy 2018.

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.

been working for a year or actually more  on  trying to replace my  wifi booster antenna. seems folks cannot   possibly listen or read properly without  presuming the  stuff i want is what they presume it to be and all hell breaks loose.

mayhem  after mayhem and now i am  here with a windoze 10 monster that is incompatible with everything.  so was my  chromebook, but that was understood hahahahaha this windoze not compatibilizing is waaay new and unheard of.

moroons.

so i am  searching still for a  good antenna. i might have one that might be compatible with windoze 10  at some time before i croak.  if i am  lucky.  hahahahaha

bubba is good. chico is a  mayhem maker feng shui  changer  meddlesome lil  normal   kitten.

we are

still alive despite  sketchy at best interwebzzz.

getting repairs effected–have new tank, working on fuel delivery and mobility, then branching out into electrickery and mast stepping..need to remove em both, repair under mizzen and in the termite corner, as i call it–the only place where i donot know what is happening, and in other formosa/cts is riddled with termites.
oopsy.
is a huge dark unknown hole with a defective icebox box inside. that will be removed and dispo’d for working in that hole from hell.
so for now all we have to do is wonder how mazatlan is gonna come thru this massive overhaul under way. is impressively complex and has impacted all of mazatlan and outlying areas.
oh yeah and bubba has a much disliked companion these days—was a lil tiny scared brown furry thing under a car, now is a larger pita black kitten with sharp claws and good teeth. cute lil feller…. chico is his name. oh but he is not black–he is mackerel tabby, black and smoke. no white at all. one wonky eye. eats everything. whew.. so he will eat bubbas untouched foods when bubba is not wanting to eat whatever his favorite was last week.