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.

dear lady i knew  so little–we both   valued our own time  away from others.

you were there when i needed someone to watch over my  boat and cat for a  week while i spent time with my momma after  donnys death.

you were there to help with  boats  during the strongest  huricane in epac basin, our dear patricia,  when   lines broke  during that brisk weather event you   saved  other boats from certain   damages.

you were a sweet and lovely gracious lady.  you and russ took the pix of  birdee   being properly towed into the marina during my extensive engine rebuild.

please rest in peace.   you are in  many memories  many  people cherish.

is nearly completed.   it is  to hold only 250 liters fuel, but that is  better than 176, or 44 gallons. it is   stainless so it is heavy, much needed in my  tries to be a tad rolly with  no fuel in  tank boat…i will not be able to  remove it myself as i was able to do with the nasty plastic one.

hopefully the pix of it under construction  will  post here..hahahahaha  my tech literacy is  minimal, at best.

has been a while since i posted last–has been a  bout of  infections inside and outside my   aging  body.  is tiresome and tiring at best.   so far i am still winning, but, damn.

bird is coming along–after tank we  begin the relocation and or   confinement of the electrics–panel has bus  bars affixed to mizzenmast.  hard to step the thing with all the     grounds on there—oops…  so we   do that, then i   repair little things and eat rice n beans    so i can step  the mast(s)–whether singly or  both at same time– i am leaning towards  singly with the other done after some much needed interior repairs,  at  time of restepping mizzen, which  will turn into an aluminum tree mast.

i will save as much of  my  thai cedar   mizzenmast wood, as that particular   tree is unavailable here  in mexico.

much of my woodwork will be done in  huanacaxtle/perota/ipe, here–is inexpensive and resistent to  bugs rot and  beautiful. is a rival to teak, and the trees grow rapidly. the use is   restricted and license must be had to work with it….doesnt seem to  bother the carpinteros.  the tree is  the  canopy tree of mexico, so it must be harvested properly so as not to   destroy the   ecosystems involved.

i am sooo looking forward to the day birdee will fly again.

managed to find 2  mor esails –one  headsail and one mainsail from cabo rico 38.  i figger the  headsail is a good  inner headsail for bird, and the  main is 14 ft at the    foot–excellent for the mizzen sail.   thankyou,   rhiannon V paul.

i also was presented with a  red white and blue spinnaker.  thankyou bruce!!!  for this i  will  create a sock–prolly at the hands of guadalupe, the  ullman  sails  rep in  puerto vallarta– yes, there is an alternative to mikey!!!  p v sails(mike) has proven his  fail in repairs  of   my genoa, as he created an essential   zipper  in a location not needing  repair.. oops.  first time it caught some wind, about  6 kts, it blew out at the stitching he   had placed along the   green sacrificial.  now i   had taken to understanding that sacrificial does not mean sacrifice the sail– but the green sunbrella protector  they   made sure was well  affixed to the sail itself.  ok. nothing like a lot of overstitching to rip out  a sail.  i am not impressed.

i have received many other requests for  alternative   rebuilding and creation of new sails in banderas bay, and thankfully , we have a good   alternative.

bubba is doing well..is a little bit old which makes me nervous–i  am not ready to lose him, so he best be a long gened  cat.   he is only 12, but….  age is age.(dont i know that one!!!).  he is such a goood   boy and awesome guard and friend.  he  speaks to me   when i call momma on fone–he  doesnot understand that i am speaking to someone unseen.   poor cat.  he is also good at showing me what needs   attention on this boat, and  watches over momms and   guards from intruders.   have not met another quite like him, my perfect kitty.  he has found  excitement in watching a “younger  lady” –a 2 yr old female  kitty across dock. she is a sweetie and looks for bubba when she is out…  seems bubba looks for her–but they never meet, as  both are restricted to boats.  safer that way.

this  winter has been a lil foggy–  socked in this am when i awoke, until  11 am.  we are finally getting some sun on my fog panels and life rocks!

oh yeah i   acquired some lighter weight  panels  for temp installation atop my  screens  i use to shade cockpit  in winter— and   yes!!!   we on this charging thing!!!

just need to either acquire new   wind gens or  repair the ones i have–  the chinese knockoff was killed by a combo of    bad  installation and  hurricane patricia– the   gasket  meant to keep out water was  mangled when the   clown installed it  (burn em up chuk)  so that is  gone… at least it was fairly inexpensive  for experimental work.  now for the   real deals.  i think  2   air X  would  suit me  perfectly.   i will NOT be installing one on my masthead. nope.  btdt–is why i need a new  mizzen mast. very poor choice of   installation locations on a ketch with  wood masts…

vd day coming up— hahahahaha have fun and red hearts to all.

PS!!!  cat is not bubba, it is neighbor callie cat of windsong….  she meouws with brit accent.

as in stainless steel tank for fuel.   we will also change out all hoses and check the O  ring for   fuel fill at deck fitting.

then we will   make proper electrical panel  that functions   reliably.  that  will be quite a change–hope boat can handle it. ha ha h a

hanging out in mazatlan for now…..i hope  everyone had a  wonderful christmas..happy channukkah… and happy all the rest of em i cannot count any more–too old for that. i celebrate everything.

and in case i forget–please all have a very happy new year

be safe and stay healthy

what a wonderful morning!!!!!!
lollygagged until mechanic appeared, then we went thru this boat — immediate needs involving engine, filters, fuel tank which is fi now and so full of dirty water, which it wasnt until recently.. wow it is bad. no wonder my engine stopped.
ok
so we fixing all.~~ emptying tank and ridding boat if kaka diesel and kaka in da diesel… changing fill hose and making current garbage fuel tank finally go away. gonna build new tanks.placing automaticity for bilge pumps so i donot have to keep manually operating those, and changing out bad nonfunctional pumps and perfectiing the engine and fuel system, then onward to electrics and prepping for mast stepping.. whoot–neeed to step mizzen in winter so no rain into boat. will be a huge hole. will be fixing everything under the forward cockpit deck and the dinette and galley counter. ha ha ha ha adding 2 battery boxes for these 6 v golf cart batteries int he hold, none each side, and creating much needed storage space instead of interior battery boxes taking the space. removing fridge and repairing and strengthening the beam under mizzen and making a step for under mizzen so no one has to do this again, and repairing all this stuff i neeed to fix. and ernesto said he can do it all… whooooot. i love independents with a can and did do attitude. i said–ok so you agree to be my boats “slave” after work for 4 yrs? he sed YES.. wow coool.
i wanna know how is bilge water getting into my crappy fuel tank????? that will be fixed with the dispo-ing of that craap tank..but i bet i will find a leakage somewhere allowing in bilge water, as that is what this crap in my fuel looks like.
we will empty allmy diesel in tank into the 50-60 liter garafones i have carried with me for a while, and recycle it to the fuel station. yuk it is foogly.
so, tuesday, we have mechanic in bringing new fuel pump again and whatever is needed to start this work, and begin fuel readjustment so we can use machina… whoot we gonna fly again..and not bandaid surgery, but fix it right. finally.
rebuilding water pumps–yes i have 3..all 3 not working…
i donated to the what you can use from my boat that i cannot pile 2 racor filters in various bits, some unusable on my boat fuel filters, and some fittings for other style 108 and 107 fuel filters… they donot fit my engine, so , bye bye. mechanix have other engines with issues so parts donot hurt
i am glad i am finally getting with those i need to contact fo r fixing this –i am jazzed we starting this misadventure.

dodged another bullet with a name on it— patricia got me n bubba a lil anticipatory of these… anyway– hardly a sailing breeze, i think it was kept under 40 kts, here, and, in general, thank the sea and weather and all the gods it was a nonevent for mazatlan, except for the flooding.
baja on the other hand~~got slammed.
all baja sur , both sides of the peninsula. i have yet to hear anything. i hope the folks in la paz and area were appropriately prepared this time.
between bubba n me, and this boat, we have experienced a month of maladies. bubba seems mostly cured, just needs more advantage multi for his having been gifted fleas by a dock cat with indoor cat status envy who chose to sleep and pee on our home in protest of our arrival on dock 6.
oops.
and i am improving .. was bad for a moment.
ok so i am on dock 7 for cane newton. we dodged that bullet, and i hope i can convince em to allow me this slip until they allow me onto dock e, where i belong. i need repairs , not social life.
this life is awesome.