February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine's Day!  With Carol in LA, it's pretty much just another ordinary day for me.  But it's been an interesting week.  I spent a full day in town getting a hotel room for one night of Carnival and trekking to the Yamaha outboard dealer.  Getting on wrong buses or getting off at the wrong stop was par for the course, so I did a bit of exploring and ended up walking almost six miles.
The marina, and Circadian's dock in particular, was inundated by a video production crew for a few days, which was interesting occasionally, but more often inconvenient.  Check out El Ultimo Dragon series later and let me know if you see Circadian's bow in a scene.  
Fortunately, things have been light on the boat project side, so I started on refinishing the sole (floor) in the main cabin.  While it was almost new when I got the boat, it's now been almost nine years, so it's time.

I spent a coupe of hours walking the malecon trying to find

an inexpensive room for one night of Carnival.

Finally found this place.  Not in the ideal spot

along the malecon, but available and cheap.

All I need is a place to crash near the festivities.

Between the malecon and the Yamaaha dealer, I went through

the Historic District, with its colorful restored buildings.

You appreciate the restoration more when you see some

unrestored places.

The Immaculate Conception Cathedral and the gazebo

in La Plaza de Revolucion

At the southern end of the malecon:  Ollas Altas

(big waves)

One of several fountains along the malecon

Fishing boats are beached in a sheltered bay at the

southern end of the malecon.

As usual in Mexico, the boats are colorful.

Of course all the fishing boats attract pelicans,

and they have become accustomed to the

nearby humans.

The marina was invaded by a production company filming

an episode of El Ultimo Dragon

I was trapped right in the middle of it.

Surrounded by lights, crew and, occasionally,

hot actors

Most of the filming was at sundown or at night.

The stars doing a scene.

Touching up the makeup

The stars Sebastian Rulli and Renata Notni

 Circadian in the middle of a video production

Big sky over the marina

The tree in the middle of an empty lot at the

marina

I started on refinishing the sole in the main cabin.

This is a removable piece above the water tank.

Just the beginning.

January 12, 2019

It was a typical week in harbor:  some indolence, some photography, some fun with friends, some nice sunsets and of course the inevitable boat projects.

When my neighbors took off for a week, this guy decided

their dock was a good place to hang out for a while.

He didn't stick around long, tho.

This little dove, however, found my boat

quite attractive in the mornings.

It came to visit several times...

...and got a little braver each time.

With my dinghy outboard on the fritz, I rowed around the

marina a bit to explore, and found these American 

oystercatchers  hanging around an unused dock.

 

The oystercatchers shared the dock with some black-

necked stilts.  Easy to see how they got the name!

Feeling a bit more ambitious a few days later, I tried

rowing up the Estero Sabalo.  But there was so much

development along the estuary that my expectations

of seeing much wildlife were minimal.

I did find a more promising small side channel and

rowed a half mile to the end only to discover it was

surrounded by a golf course.

Nonetheless, I was able to find a few birds,

including this tricolored heron.

Herons are always skittish, and this one was no

exception.  He took off soon after I stalked close enough

to take the previous photo.

I saw only two yellow-crowned herons; no

sign of nest-building yet and no tree iguanas.

There were also a few American Coots, which I did not

see so much further south in Puerto Vallarta or 

Barra de Navidad.

 

 

Although the boat is not near any great beaches, there were still

some pretty nice sunsets in the marina.

This is the view from the stage at Diego's.  No wonder

Curt likes to play there!

El Aljibe de San Pedro: great cuisine, good 

drinks, and impeccable service in the unique 

setting of an unusually-decorated 19th century

cistern!

Boat Work

Restoring the brightwork around the forward

companionway that had been damaged by

the air-conditioner during two summers 

of use.

This is one of the brackets I made to hold the big cast

stainless steel Danforth anchor on the cabin top.

After a few years of good service, they had become

a bit of an eyesore, so I decided to do something.

Rather than going to all the work of stripping and

building up many coats of Cetol, I decided to paint

them and renew the caulking.

They look good, blend in with the cabin top and should

remain in good shape for at least a couple of years.

The Cetol brightwork around one of the cockpit lockers

was starting to show signs of degradation, so I sanded

and refinished it before it became a big job.

 

And finally, the troublesome dinghy outboard.

Initial indications pointed to a stuck 

carburetor float.  I freed it up by banging

on the carb and spraying in some carb

cleaner.  It ran for a while, then only

with the choke on, then not at all.

Time for a carb rebuild, which may be

pretty involved due to the inability

to get US Yamaha parts in Mexico.

Stay tuned for further developments....