More Holding Pattern

It is Sunday.  The passports came yesterday.  We cleaned the bottom of both the boat and the dinghy, got our laundry done, cleaned the inside of the boat, and filled all the tanks with their required fluids.  Today we are going to the grocery store for the last provisioning trip.  Then - we wait for a weather window.  We had planned to leave Monday afternoon, but the weather looks dicey, according to Mike.  So we might have to wait.  I really don't want to wait, but no one, especially me, really enjoys sailing  in crappy weather.  Oh - I also have to buy a new coffee grinder because mine is dying.  One of these days it will not work at all.  I am hoping to find a hand grinder if it does not take up too much space.   I also want a perculator like the kind used for camping - that way we can have brewed coffee when we are anchored because the coffee maker uses up a tremendous amount of power.  It is worse than the microwave because the microwave, while it does use a lot of power, uses it only for a couple of minutes.  The coffee maker takes longer and then stays on with the heating pad.   Oh - one more thing I have to do before we leave - defrost the refrigerator.  A very easy chore that involves putting the frozen stuff in a cooler, the other stuff on the counter, turn off the refrigerator, then run a hose through the hatch and melt all the frost that has formed.  After that is accomplished, we wipe the inside down with a bleach solution and then turn it back on and put all the stuff back in.  It takes about 20 minutes total, so it is not a hard chore.   

I am having mixed feelings about leaving Mazatlan - I would really consider living here someday if I decided to stay in one place.  It really does have everything I want or need, and the people are very friendly.  The lady that does our laundry actually teared up when I told her we were leaving.  I felt the same way.  Everyone here is really good to us.  And if I stayed, I would be living at a resort.

But there are more places to see before I could make that sort of decision.  I am really eager to see the Pacific coast of Mexico - and Central America.  I want to see what kind of fish we will catch.  I am interested in what new birds and animals we will come across - Central America is jungle-ly with monkeys and toucans.  I can't imagine how amazing it will be to see these creatures in real life, not in a zoo.  (My mother forever ruined zoos for me, but that is another story.)   I have heard that the howler monkeys will throw poop at you and steal your stuff if you leave it laying around.  A friend who has been there saw a monkey running down the beach carrying hotel keys with a man chasing him.  I am sure that guy never saw those keys again.  I don't want poop thrown on me, but I am looking forward to hearing them howl.  Animal sounds at night never keep me awake, but I like to wake up and just listen. 

There are a ton of iguana lizards around here.  They are actually very pretty if you spend a little time looking at them - they have markings on their faces that look like the intricatly painted designs the Indians here in Mexico do.  Perhaps that is where they got their design inspiration.  They are vegetarian, but a bit aggressive when they come up to the pool area here and decide they want what you are eating.  They will rear up and put their iguana feet right up on the table.  It is really funny.  Some people scream and run away and get pool area staff to chase them away.  Other people just casually shoo them off.  There are some other lizards that look a lot like the iguanas, but aren't, and they do bite if you bother them and give them no way out.  Iguanas also change color like chameleons or geckos do - maybe not quite as dramatically, but they do change and you can watch it happen if you get lucky.  The juveniles are a really bright green, and the older ones are darker green with orange highlights. 

Also, the other day when we were on a dinghy expedition, we saw and osprey swoop down into the water and catch a fish, then fly away with it.  It doesn't sound like a big deal except for the fact we were close enought to see the whole operation in detail, including flying away holding the fish in his feet.  It was one of those moments when you first think how lucky you are and then think "Damn! Where is my camera?" 

Well, that is all for today - I want to get this show on the road and start getting my chores done for today.   I am looking forward to spending Christmas in a brand new place.  I hope everyone in cold snowy weather is staying warm but enjoying it as well.  If my Christmas is white, it will be due to coral sand!