Up the Creek

With both temperature and humidity hovering about 90, activity has been limited.  Any outdoor work or exercise (other than swimming) pretty much has to be done between 7 and 10 in the morning.  Even then, staying hydrated takes some effort.  I did manage a paddle up the creek about 1.3 miles in my slow and inefficient "glass bottom" kayak.  But since I stopped and stalked wildlife along the way, speed wasn't important.  While most of what I saw and photographed I had seen before, I did get my first image of a Mexican grackle chick.  Ugly.  I've taken a few more portraits of my local acquaintances, and the photo set-up I put together works as I'd hoped.  On the boat work front, I'm making slow but steady progress on refreshing the brightwork Cetol, and I made the improvement on the stern anchor roller that was needed.

My route up the creek was 1.3 miles

each way.

The creek is still pretty wild, despite all the development.

Lots of bird life, hundreds of iguanas and the occasional

crocodile.  The jungle quickly reclaims any land that

isn't maintained.

To get decent photos I had to slowly move right into

the mangroves near the target, minimize movement

and make no noise.

Social flycatcher

Yellow-crowned night heron

Yellow-crowned heron chick in the nest

Mexican or great-tailed grackle.  The ones that poach

food around the hotel and pool are used to being near

people.  The wild ones in the creek, especially when

protecting a nest, not so much.

Grackle chick in the nest.  Ugly, and the

mohawk coif doesn't help.

Hundreds of iguanas can be seen in the trees warming

up in the morning sun.

Over time, the iguanas adapt to the encroaching civilization.

I found at least 30 of them hanging out on the lawn of

a condo development on the creek.

The birds adapt too.  Social flycatcher on a sailboat's

lifeline.

Looking up at the underside of a gecko through the

forward hatch.

Light rain falling at sunrise as a thunderstorm

clears.

A rainbow appeared as the storm cleared.

Finished renewing the Cetol on the starboard side woodwork.

Carlos, one the marina security guards.

A real caballero (gentleman).

Francisco, a panga captain.  Always

has a smile and a joke.

Israel, he does bottom cleaning and other

boat work at the marina.  A good man, he 

just became an abuelo (grandfather).

Back to Sayulita, Back Home, and Back to Work

A diverse week.  I took Carol to Sayulita on her last day here, then it was packing up and on to the airport the next day.  As soon as she was unable to protect me, my friends kidnapped me, whisked me off to the El Tigre Golf Club Sunday brunch, and forced me to eat and drink mass quantities while being subjected to violins.  By the time I had mostly recovered, we got our biggest rain yet.  Once the rain passed, I went to the beach at dawn to try to see some nesting sea turtles.  While I didn't see any adult turtles, I did see their obvious tracks and a new nest, as well as some newly-hatched babies making their way back to the sea.  A real treat! 
But the vacation was over and it was back to the boat work....  After laying a coat of Cetol on the cap rails, I got the newly-welded and polished stanchions remounted and the lifelines reconnected.  They still aren't properly tensioned because the previous owner never installed turnbuckles.  I'll be working on getting that rectified next week.  l finally closed off the open pipe in the water tank that was the source of the long-unsolved mystery of water overflowing onto the top of the tank and below the floor.  With that done and the loose baffle welded back in place, I was finally able to reseal the water tank.  I also flushed out the outboard and burned the fuel out of the carb.  Still waiting for Chava the welder to come back and finish the stern rails.  Paradise ain't for sissies!

I had promised Carol I would take her to Sayulita, so on her last full day in

Nuevo Vallarta off we went on the local bus.

This is one of the first things you see walking into town from the

bus terminal.  It's not some exotic restaurant; it's a real estate office.

One reason for Sayulita's popularity is it's promotion as a "Magic Town."

But it's also a big draw for surfers.

It's beach is always busy, even in the off season.

This mural was made by school children from colored plastic

bottle caps.  The theme:  "We're all in this together."

Lots of colorful displays of souvenirs for all the tourists.

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't convince Carol that she absolutely

HAD to have one of these skulls.

No cathedral in Sayulita, just a small church.

Chairs

Next day it was off to the airport for Carol's flight home.

The following morning I went with friends to the legendary

brunch at nearby El Tigre Golf Club.

Tony, Dan, Donna and Kenny all conspired to force me to consume

mass quantities of champagne, mimosas and food.

All the while we were serenaded.

Then the rains came, but so did a rainbow.

The rain might have driven these baby iguanas from their usual hiding places.

This little baby was perfectly content to sleep in the papoose on mom's back

while she set up her souvenir stand in Sayulita.

I hit the beach at dawn to try to see some nesting sea turtles.

These are the tracks left by the mother as she crawls up the beach.

She digs a hole in the sand, lays the eggs, covers them with sand,

and returns to the ocean.

When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched babies instinctively find their way

back to the sea.

A willet poking around for breakfast.

Sand dollars and a starfish

Vacation over:  sanded and recoated the cap rails with Cetol Gloss

before replacing the stanchions.

I got lucky and the coating had plenty of time to set before the rains came.

Got the stanchions and lifelines back up on the forward 2/3 of the boat.

That let me get the awning back up properly.

Still need to add turnbuckles to the lifelines so they can be tensioned,

and I'm still waiting for Chava to finish welding up the aft railings.

I think I have finally solved the overflow problem when filling the water tank.

Since I couldn't access the upper end of the pipe the P.O. cut off and left

unplugged, I plugged the lower end in the tank with a bolt and Sika 1A (which is

approved for contact with drinking water) while the tank was opened up

and drained to re-weld the loose baffle.

The water tank resealed and hopefully problem-free now.