Pigeons and More

Both Mike and I have been sick - some sort of flu-y or cold type thing.  He had it first and just as he was getting better, I got it.  I just wanted to be well (or at least well on the mend) by New Years Eve and I think I will make it.  At least we got sick now and not just before leaving.  Of course, once we are underway we are not likely to get sick since you have to be exposed to other sick people in order to get that way yourself.

We discovered that in Mexico, Christmas Eve is a big celebration with people shooting off fireworks that cumulate at midnight.  Christmas day is quieter, but there were still lots of restaurants and shops open, especially since Christmas fell on a Saturday, which is one of the days the cruise ships dock for the day.  The Carnival cruise comes here every Wednesday and Saturday.  Those are big days for the merchants and restaurants here.  There are some other cruise ships that come less regularly, like Holland America and one other.  The sidewalk vendors are starting to recognize Mike and me and no longer try to get us to buy their stuff, they just say hello.  We are known in our favorite restaurants, and some of them now know automatically not to put cheese on any of my food.  One woman who works at our favorite breakfast place brought to our table the other morning tamales she made at home.  She had brought them for her coworkers and us.  None of the other restaurant patrons got any.  I felt really honored and special.  Mexican people have a way of making you feel special.  I think that is one of the reasons I like it here.

We are spending New Years Eve with some friends we have made down here, Margo and Tony.  They live in another marina in their Catalina 36 and we had dinner on their boat.  It is more homey than ours,  but truthfully interior design has been put on our back burner since there are plenty of more necessary things to do.   We all spent the day together on Monday, just having coffee and talking and walking around and I had a great time.  So we made plans to spend NYE together, and the first stop will be a casino.  Now, that is not our first choice by a longshot, but we are open minded and it should be fun, if for no other reason than it will be something new.  I haven't gone out and celebrated a New Year since 1999-2000. 

The work on Magda Jean is almost done, and were it not for the rain that is expected later tonight, we would be back in the water this weekend.  Oh well - I think we will be out of here and on our way south sometime this next week.  I hope so, anyway.  As much as I like it here, we need to move on.  I am tired of being cold (with apologies to anyone reading this who has snow and ice) and want to start wearing my shorts and bathing suit instead of my jeans and sweatshirts.  We are going to start preparing our charts for the trip south, and although our plan is to go straight to Bahia Tortuga (Turtle Bay) which is a three day trip, we will also set alternate routes along the coast so we could stop and anchor at night if we want to.  I also discovered two possible seasickness remedies from some other cruisers, so I plan to stock up just in case.  I usually don't get seasick, but I sure did coming down when the seas were rough.  I want to be able to pull my weight, and being seasick does nothing to further that goal.  There are so many sailing skills that I need to acquire, that I find it sort of overwhelming at times and I get scared I will not measure up.  Then all the work will fall on Mike, and that can't be sustained for any amount of time.  I am a terrible helmsman.  I can't hold the course to save my life.  I believe it will come with practice - to tell the truth, it took me a long time to learn to drive.  I even flunked the behind-the-wheel portion of drivers ed and had to take it a second time.  I think maybe I am starting to get the hang of it - famous last words! 

Anyway - that is what is happening to us these days.  I got Mike a nice hat with earflaps as his watch cap blew off his head on the way down.  This hat has ties under the chin so it won't blow away.  The number of hats, particularly  baseball-type caps that Mike has lost in the ocean is astonomical. I make fun of him about it.  A good present to get Mike will always be some sort of baseball type cap as he always needs new ones.

One very interesting thing has happened - I spotted a pigeon with pink markings on his otherwise white feathers.  I have seen many pigeons in my life, but never a pink one.  The pink is peptobismol pink, and he has a magenta racing stripe across his forehead.  I look for him every day because I know where he hangs out, and I have pictures.  If I ever learn how to post pictures on here, his will be one of the first.  I like pigeons anyway, and this one is spectacular.  Nothing like him in the States!