Crossing our T's and Dotting our I's... reposting because it went before I was ready... sorry!

Hola Everyone,

We are having a fabulous time in La Cruz.  I just love this town.  It will be sad when we have to leave to discover the our new favorite place.  We are taking advantage of all of the professional services here in La Cruz.  I can't begin to express how impressed we are with everyone that works here and how professional they all are.  We had the boat hauled out at the La Cruz Shipyard here in La Cruz.

Thank you to Peter Vargas and all his guys for raising the water line of our boat and all your fabulous glass work.  They were completely on time and so great to work with.   It is always a little unnerving to see your home of 20 tons lifted out of the water and propped up on little pallets with braces in the back... but the guys took good care of her and extra special love to make sure her weight was evenly distributed.  I highly recommend if any work needs to be done, La Cruz is fantastic! 

We have been constantly struggling with fixing our freezer.  I guess every boat has there headache and fortunately ours is just our freezer.  We have had a number of people out to try and fix this blankety blank thing... to no avail it works perfectly for some time and then decides it doesn't feel like working any longer.  Don with Fresco Refrigeration has been amazing and so great with attempting to make a permanent fix.  We have been in contact with the manufacturer and Don has been going back and forth with them.  Yes!  it is fixed as of right now and has been working for a miraculous 3 hours... knock on wood.  It would be such a pleasure to take off from Mexico loaded down with meat to fix and ice cubes... also a way to keep all of our fish we will be catching!  Luxuries I am discovering and to have an (yes I said ONE) ice cube in my sunset drink is such a treasured added bonus!

One of our discoveries in trying to fix the freezer is that these wonderful little barnacle critters love to climb all the way up through the the sea intake valves, through all our hoses, through the filters, into our hoses that go to our freezer compressor and then back again.  God!  I can't tell you how bad they smell when you clean them out, Small Wire Brushes are a MUST in order to scrub the inside of the hoses.  So after cleaning out what we could take off, disassemble and get brushes through... HERE comes the Muratic acid flush!  They don't like that so much... sorry little guys but you are not wanted inside our boat.  What a headache and to try and keep on top of them I can already see is going to be a challenge.

Okay.. I tried to do my own laundry!  This is the before picture.  This fun little contraption came with the boat so I thought I would try it.  It is suppose to be a French laundry system... Just so you know it is now donated to anyone who wants it in La Cruz and I have ordered the 

"The Laundry Alternative Wonderwash Portable Compact Mini Washing Machine" from Amazon.  A lot of the cruisers rave about them, Thank you Oma for packing it in your carry on to Zihuatanejo.... I am so looking forward to having my little washing machine on board.

I want to give a shout out to Huana, our organic ice cream guy!  We love his ice cream and it is always a pleasure for us when it isn't a good surfing day because he will be OPEN!  Otherwise we need to wait till he gets home to open... believe me it is worth the wait!  Also, thanks to Casa Jemi for the fabulous time we had at his rental property here in town while our boat was out of the water.  Jimmy the house is fantastic and so much fun.  Just like the other towns we have been in, La Cruz is really easy to fall in love with.  The local town people from the security detail, to the fisherman, to the store owners, to the marina personnel, I could go on and on... everyone is so nice and wonderful.  

The all the kids attended a science class today on Dock 9 and had fun making flubber, crystals, and learning where coconut oil comes from... didn't know it was a special tiny little coconut that is pressed to make the oil, just a tad bigger than an almond or Brazilian nut.   Then Amaia was called out on the VHF radio the Gecko Rojo restaurant owner to help her make a wedding dress for her dog for a charity event.  They are trying to raise money to help spay and neuter the animals in La Cruz.  We had dinner there the other night and of course Amaia is now BFF's with half the town.

What is next... we will be leaving here tomorrow to start making our way down to the coast to Zihuatenjo.  We will try to be there by 2/1 but have a few recommended stops along the way.  If we leave here tomorrow at 4pm our first stop is 110 miles away at Bahia Tenacatita, then off to Bahia de Navidad, then Bahis de Santiago and Bahia de Manzanilla.  Then we will head for Z town, total distance 330 miles... it seem so short.  We are looking forward to being on the hook and making new discoveries and getting out of the madness of being in town.  You always feel so much more rushed.. even in sleepy little towns.  There is always something to check on, fix, organize, catch up on etc.... time really escapes you.  It is amazing.  

I feel that we are ready to make the Puddle Jump.  We have registered and are getting all the information that we need to have in order to arrive into french polynesia... 3 month visa, medical insurance, bonds, charts, food information, etc... We will make a final provisioning in Ixtapa/Ztown and then will be waiting for the go ahead from the weather people to head across.  This should take us between 20 and 30 days.  Lets hope for good winds (not to strong) small seas, and a fast tank!  I would love to make it in 20 and I am crossing my fingers... 3 weeks without land is a really long time and you can bet when we make it I will be kissing the sand and getting my new authentic tattoo!

Hugs to all!

Heath