The Saga of the Vessel Circadian: Barra birds

Jim made his early return to the States after enjoying a couple of more days in Barra de Navidad this week. I helped celebrate Vicky's birthday with her husband Mike (Ventura friends on the fast tri "Bonzo") and new friend Lenny at Sambuco's. I spent one morning circumnavigating the lagoon to get some more bird and sunset photos and went to the weekly public market on Thursday. On the maintenance side, I finally found and fixed an annoying fresh water leak that was in a well-hidden spot. Very satisfying. On the down side, someone got onto my boat while I was at the pool, found my wallet and stole a credit card (leaving two other cards and a small amount of cash). Nothing else seems disturbed or missing. In fact, the only reason I noticed was that they had left the wallet sitting on the galley counter, something I did not and would not do. Odd, but disturbing and disappointing. Guess I'll need to keep the boat locked whenever I leave now.

Jim getting ready to order dinner at Isadora's Restaurant.

We were treated to great view of a spectacular moonrise.

Lenny, Vicky and Mike on Circadian for happy hour.

Lenny, me and Mike at Sambuco's for Vicky's birthday

dinner. (Vicky is taking the photo.)

Ahhh....the life!

Jim is an occasional cigar-smoker, so we stopped at a

cigar shop and watched Hector hand-rolling a cigar.

Hector hand-rolling a cigar. According to

those who would know, he makes a very

good cigar.

The weekly public market

Lots of clothing and household items as well as the more

common crafts, food and tourist items.

Among the less common items: blender parts

Snowy egret at his usual evening perch at

the entrance to the marina.

Great blue heron at the far end of the lagoon

Snowy egret

A flock of black skimmers takes flight

Great blue heron

Curlew

White ibis

Pulling in the net at dawn.

Sunrise over the lagoon

Maintenance

One source of an annoying fresh water leak was the aft

head sink faucet.. I had replacement O-rings for two

of three. Fortunately they were enough to fix it.

A second leak was under the sink behind a panel at the

connection to the faucet plumbing. It was a small leak,

but the corroded hose clamp was a dead give-away.

Replacing the clamp and tightening everything

cured the drip. System holds pressure indefinitely now.

Surprise! A flower to reward those who got

past the maintenance photos.

It's my last week in Barra de Navidad, so I've been squeezing in a lot. Besides doing the projects and chores I need to do to leave on Saturday, I've shot some more bird photos in the lagoon, had dinner several times with friends old and new, and taken an excursion to Colima, Nogueras, Comala and the Colima volcano. The last owner of the hacienda in Nogueras was an artist, gardener, anthropologist, and more in addition to being a plantation owner and maker of sugar and booze. The old hacienda is now a fascinating museum. Unfortunately, I couldn't photograph the many ancient and beautiful artifacts that were actually dug up on the property. The Colima volcano is one of the most active in the world. The most recent eruption was last February. That's why we couldn't get too close! If you look closely, you might be able to see the wisp of steam or smoke emerging. The rest is in the photos; again, in sections.

THE BARRA LAGOON AND ITS BIRDS