Mother's Day in Mexico

Well, it is Mother's Day here in Mexico.  It is a big deal here, maybe bigger than it is in the US.  They celebrate it on May 10th, regardless of the day of the week, so Mother's Day here is Wednesday.  But we are celebrating it today. Mike has promised that I can go where ever I want to for dinner and can order whatever I want to.  It is just a shame with all the dangling in front of me that I have little appetite in all this heat.  But I suppose that is a good thing - I need to take some of this weight off!

Over the last two days we (Mike) has been tearing things out of the engine compartment to make room for the new watermaker.  I helped some - mainly getting tools and holding  bolts on one side while Mike unscrews them on the other side.  Here is a picture of me helping out in the engine compartment.





All we have left to do is to paint the engine compartment and then we (Mike) can install the watermaker.  One good thing is the guy who designs and sells these things is right here in Mazatlan, and since he is inheriting the old heater, we may be able to get him to help us if needs be.  But I personally think Mike will be able to handle it.  I have been asking Mike to let me do the painting.  I don't really WANT to, but since I am capable of painting, I would then feel like I am doing more to pull my weight.  He says I can, but I think he will likely end up doing it himself because that is just how he is.  Good for me, bad for him!

But I have to give him credit in that he has been very sensitive to my problems with heat.  He does not share these issues.  No matter how hot it is, he just keeps going and never seems to be suffering, even when he is sopping wet with sweat.  I, however, have a hard time with it (you are all probably sick and tired of hearing me complain about my problems with heat).  In the past, he has wanted to take walks in it and hike and all sorts of things that I just can't do without a tremendous amount of discomfort.  But these days he has been great - encouraging me to take it slow, do things in steps with rests between, and most importantly, taking buses and taxis instead of walking.  I love to walk, but not in this.

We do have an air conditioner, because we bought a portable unit before we left.  But we haven't used it yet because we are trying to learn how to keep the cabin cool without it by strategically manipulating the opening and closing of hatches and windows and because we want to acclimatize ourselves as much as possible.  And so far it is working.  Mike rigged up some small fans that keep our little bedroom quite comfortable for sleeping.  During the day, the temperature in the cabin gets into the high 80s, but it is bearable.  If we get too hot, getting wet helps a lot.  Thank goodness for the shower - a fresh water washdown feels great, as does a good hosing, or - best yet - a dip in the hotel swimming pool.  While we are in the Sea of Cortez this summer, it will be hot but not so humid.  There won't be a swimming pool because we won't be at a hotel marina, but we will be able to jump off the boat into the sea to cool down.  We plan to anchor out for the vast majority of the summer, exploring islands and more remote areas without big towns.  

I will close today's post with a couple pictures of Magda Jean anchored out in Turtle Bay and Santa Maria Cove, on the Pacific Ocean side of Baja California.  These were taken from our dinghy.  My goal is to get some pictures of her under full sail, which will be a little bit trickier, as it means one of us has to sail the boat while the other one takes pictures from the dinghy.  It is possible that we might get someone else to take pictures while we sail - we will just have to explore all the options.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading this!