Sampling Mexican Health Care

The rains brought by tropical storm Pilar and my continued intestinal issues limited my adventures this week to  trying out the Mexican health care system.  The folks in the marina office referred me to a doctor in Puerto Vallarta.  I was able to make a same-day appointment and took the bus into town yesterday to Medica Vallarta, a clinic associated with the neighboring hospital.  A single receptionist is there for a large group of doctors and related professionals.  Patients wait in a common area, with small doctor's offices surrounding it.  My doctor's office consisted of an outer office with a desk and an examining room behind.  Both neat, tidy and professional.  The receptionist and doctor both spoke fluent English.  The doctor got a basic medical history from me, discussed my problem, palpated my abdominal area and gave me an EKG (he was a heart specialist).  After the exam, he wrote out orders for an ultrasound and blood, urine and stool tests.  They called the radiologist in the same building and I was able to get the ultrasound done about 30 minutes later.  The basic layout of the radiologist's office was the same, but rather than a neat desk, the center of the first room had a table covered in clutter.  The ultrasound exam used the same computerized technology I've experienced in the states.  Although the radiologist's English was more limited, she was able to let me know my appendix (which I was concerned about) and other organs were fine.  I then went downstairs to the lab for the blood test, which turned out to be a little weird.  It was two rooms in a corner of the underground parking garage and there was a piece of the concrete floor damaged and left unrepaired next to the chair used by the patient when drawing blood.  The lab tech spoke almost no English, but we had no problems communicating.  She used hand sanitizer before putting on the usual disposable gloves, and other than having some trouble finding a good vein, drew blood just as I've always had it done in the U.S.  I left a urine sample before leaving for the day.  I had to return again this morning to deliver the stool sample.  I expect to hear back from them with results as early as tomorrow.  Because I have no Mexican medical insurance, I had to pay for the services myself, which means cash. (Only the lab took a credit card).  Here's how it broke down:
   Exam and EKG:  2,587 pesos
   Radiologist:            900 pesos
   Lab work:            1,100 pesos
   TOTAL:              4,587 pesos or $253 at the current exchange rate.
Pending  a good final outcome, a pretty good experience overall.

With the almost continuous threat of rain all week, my desire to get a second coat of Cetol onto the starboard rub rail was frustrated.  So, I worked on refinishing some interior locker doors and cleaned and lubed one of the main genoa winches.  One day when the cabin fever got to be too much and it wasn't raining for a while, I managed a walk on the beach.  I'm hoping by next week I'll have found the answer to my health problem and can make some real progress on "the list."  Who knows, I might even find a way to have some fun!

Tropical storm Pilar passed just outside Banderas Bay this week.

Although NOAA issued warnings of the possibility of winds up to 39 mph,

we had only light winds, but some heavy rain.

The area got 7 to 10 inches of rain in one 24-hour period.

No problem in a boat, of course.

Nice sunrise after the storm passed

I took the bus into town to see a doctor on Wednesday.

While they often talk on the phone, this was the first time

I've seen a driver texting.  Scary, but there were no problems.

Medica Vallarta, where I saw a doctor and got lab work done.

Inside, you are greeted by a friendly receptionist who speaks

fluent English with no accent.  Doctors' offices are behind each

of the doors, with a shared waiting area in the center.

The lab was tucked into a corner of the underground parking garage!

Judging by the cars, doctors do pretty well in Mexico,

despite much lower costs for care than in the U.S.

A little project I could do in the rain:  Lubing the pressure

regulator for the propane bbq.

Refurbishing one of the genoa winches began with

removing the center section on top that holds it all together.

With that removed, I could pull off the drum.

The shaft and gears were pretty dirty and covered with

caked on, contaminated old grease.

 

Removing the shaft from the base. 

(I quickly switched to a socket wrench

on a ratchet, which worked much better.)

Yucky shaft, gear and base

Reduction gears revealed.

Ratchet pawls

Pulling off the last gear

Gear teeth got cleaned like human teeth:  picks

and toothbrush.  But humans shouldn't use

paint thinner.

Everything down to the individual pawls got a thorough cleaning.

Everything cleaned and the drum polished.

Everything reassembled with fresh silicone grease.

(Except the pawls, which got lubed with Boeshield 9

because grease would gum them up.)

One down, one to go!

Sanding a locker door prior to refinishing. 

A little at a time does it.

Executing the rainy day plan:  coffee while reading the printed

version of previous years' blogs.

The heavy rains cause some pretty big logs to get washed

down the rivers and into the bay. (note the sandals for scale.)

Gotta be very careful if you're out there in a boat!

Willet

I almost tripped over this guy walking down the dock to my boat!

Locals and Boat Projects

Hung around Nuevo Vallarta this week to keep an eye on the weather and get some projects done.  I did get a few nice photos of local fauna and it was good to get the boat closer to sea-going condition again.  Rain is expected for the next few days and there is a greater than 60% chance that in the next couple of days a tropical cyclone will form off the coast a couple of hundred miles south of here.  But Jorge is supposed to finish the lifelines by tomorrow regardless.  We'll see..... Cruising season is coming!

This map shows the path and strength of every major storm in

Pacific Mexico since the 1950s.  I am in the middle of the grey-

shaded circle.

A closer view showing my location (red arrow) deep in

Banderas Bay.  It is surrounded by mountains that usually

keep the storms away.

The only significant storm to come right into the bay was

an unnamed tropical storm in 1958.  No hurricanes.  

It's about as safe as you can find on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

The only effect from Hurricane Norma when it passed

offshore of Banderas Bay this week was hazardous surf

at the beach.  It remained calm in the harbor.

I don't think this pelican was too thrilled with the

rough surf in it's fishing hole next to the harbor jetty.

In fact, most of the other jetty residents were crabby.

One of the half-dozen iguanas that hang out near the hotel bbq

waiting for a handout.

I finally got lucky and this young black-bellied whistling duck

let me get close enough for a phone pic as I walked along the dock.

Same thing happened with this green night heron roosting

on my friend Denny's dock line.

I remounted my fish table using new stainless fittings attached

to the new stern rails.  Much sturdier now with no wiggling

around like it did when on the lifelines.

Both bbq's remounted as well as the horseshoe buoy.

I remounted the holder for the propane canisters after

drilling a hole in the bottom to let water drain out.

The Life Sling was remounted after the case was repainted

with vinyl spraypaint.

I mounted a small stainless plate I had onto the stern cap rail

where the anchor had rubbed and damaged the finish.

I got one coat of Cetol gloss on the starboard rub rail after

sanding and masking it.  One more to do.

Stormy sunset at the harbor jetty

Time lapse of the sunset

Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Hurricanes! Oh My!

The advisory from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that tsunami waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) were possible in some areas along the west coast of Mexico.  It was one a.m,, and I was half asleep, but I had to decide what to do.  The estimated time of arrival in this area was 6 a.m.  Should I try to leave?  Wake my friends?  I decided to wait until 5 am to wake people up, if necessary, pending further developments.  I gathered together important papers, some water and some cash and stuck it all in my backpack in case I had to abandon ship and head for the upper floors of the hotel.  In the next couple of hours, they had some actual measurements of waves from the quake:  1/2 to 1 1/2 feet.  Big difference!  By 4:30 am, I had read over the advisories several times and FINALLY found the note explaining that the times listed for expected tsunami waves were UTC!  That meant that any waves would have already hit here about midnight.  I had slept through both the earthquake and any small tsunami effects here!  Doohh!!  At least I hadn't woken up my friends and made a complete ass of myself!  I just lost a night's sleep.
But I made up for it the next day, and had a pretty good week doing some exploring (from the upper floors of the hotel to the remote village of Yelapa) and handling some of the inevitable boatwork.  The story is in the pictures.
Now all I need to worry about is the four storms offshore....

Last Friday an 8.2 earthquake hit Chiapas, resulting in tsunami

warnings for the Mexican coast.  I learned of it at 1 am, and

checked the advisories and warnings.  In my grogginess, I failed

to notice the times given were UTC, so I thought the "up to 3 meter"

waves would arrive about 6 am.  Not until about 5 am did I realize

my mistake.  I had already slept through both the quake and any small

waves that made it up here from the quake.

Now there are no fewer than 4 storms in the Pacific off Mexico!

Norma is heading toward Cabo.

However, there is a 20-30 percent chance it could bring winds

up to 39 mph to this area.  Max is predicted to head east

(inland) so it shouldn't bring anything up this way.  It's still

too soon to know what might happen with the tropical

depression further off shore.

This is a view of the area behind my boat from the 6th floor of the hotel.

The green trees at the bottom are the mangroves right behind me.

Looking over one of the pools across Banderas Bay toward Punta Mita

Looking southwest past the harbor entrance toward Yelapa.

Night comes to the harbor.

Shooting a time lapse video at dusk,

 Dusk 100 times faster than reality.

There were still boat projects to do:

I cleaned out all the food lockers, trashed out-of-date stores and

rearranged things.

I changed out the turnbuckles and T-fittings for the

upper shrouds on both sides.

I was able to borrow a gauge from my friend Denny

to get the shrouds properly tensioned and check the

other wires.

Once the mast was centered and straight, and the

shrouds brought to the right tension, I secured the

new turnbuckles with cotter rings.

With the new stern rails finally done, I was able to start putting

gear back where it belonged and clear off the aft deck. 

There's still more to do, of course.

But there was still time to do some exploring

My friend Tony and I went into Puerto Vallarta to A Place in the Sun

to have brunch, and I traded in some used books for some I hadn't read.

This is on the malecon near the Romantic Zone.

The bridge over the River Cuale.

The river is high and muddy from all the recent rains.

It runs into Banderas Bay at the malecon, causing waves to break

at the mouth and creating a brown patch that extends a couple of miles

into the bay.

For these guys, the swollen river is a food conveyor belt.

As we walked through the back streets, we often saw locals

watching the world go by outside their door.

Sights like this aren't unusual either.  Maybe that's

why in Mexico sometimes things work,

and sometimes they don't.

It's always great to stumble upon interesting street art.

On Wednesday a group of us hired a high-speed panga, captain,

and guide to take us to Yelapa.

 Yeeeehaaaaa!!!!

Tony checks out the bay as we arrive in Yelapa.

The bay is filled with moorings, which have proved

to be untrustworthy for heavy cruising boats.

Many of them are occupied by pangas.

The top of the landing dock in Yelapa

Our group walking up the path to the waterfall.

It's a struggle to make a living in the remote village,

so everyone is selling something.  But all are friendly,

and it's done in good humor.

Oh the stress of living in Yelapa!

Some wall art.

Denny and his wife taking a picture of Bruce and Jeanie

in front of the waterfall.

It is a delightful spot...muy tranquilo.

If you look carefully, you can also find some

small delights.

Yelapa beach

Want to rent a deck chair?

Franny's restaurant, where we ate lunch and met several

locals selling handmade items.  All claimed to have parents and

grandparents in the village.

This little boy was fascinated by a little piece of string.

There's not much entertainment in a small village wedged

between the jungle and the sea.

After lunch we decided to take a long scenic tour around the bay

on our way back.

Sorry, too much tequila!

About half way back, we came to Los Arcos de Mismaloya.

Near an underwater national park, they are a spectacular

group of islands with caves and tunnels.

Swimming in the tunnels.

I failed to bring a bathing suit, but I had fun anyway.

This "pirate ship" puts on shows for tourists.

This was just outside the restaurant at the Paradise Village Hotel.