We've been off the boat for four months. We spent two of those downtown here in Puerto Vallarta, one in Portland, OR, and another in St. Paul, MN. By the end of our two months back in the States we were both Jonesing for Mexico again. Happy to be back on the boat and moving at our own pace.
The kids are happy to be back. The first day we were all sitting out on deck when Ouest, my two year-old said to the boat in all sincerity, "Me missed you boat." She actually talked about the boat the whole time we were away from it. Mainly in the form of asking if she could bring this-or-that back to the boat. New toy—bring to the boat?
Amazingly we returned from a trip to the States with not one single item for the boat. I don't know anybody else with that kind of self-discipline. I just kept telling myself that we've been fine this long without anything, there is no reason we won't be fine another year or two.
from our website, www.bumfuzzle.com,
puerto vallarta, mexico. nov 01 '12
I spent the morning aboard the boat with, who else, the refrigeration guy. Because I'll be damned if I can figure out how to fix refrigeration without his fancy tools. We got the AC system up and running again, but the engine driven is causing headaches. I really should just buy the DC system and be done with it.
While I was on the boat Ali was off with the kids. When they got back I took one look at our son and realized we'd just crossed into some alternate universe. Lowe had on Crocs. Now I'm afraid of what might happen next time she takes the kids out. Black Tevas? A minivan? What? I will admit though that these pieces of foam are the easiest thing I've ever put on his feet.
puerto vallarta, mexico. nov 02 '12
When we got back to the boat the other day one of our two turbo fans wasn't working any more. One of our DC boat fans wasn't working either. The little turbo fan was the killer though. That thing puts out enough air to feel it from one end of the boat to the other. And here comes one of those things I love about Mexico; nothing is ever really broken. We asked at the office if they knew anyone who might be able to fix it. Five minutes later one of the guys who is always hanging out around the docks stopped by and took the fan. Today, less than a day later, he came back, told me it had gotten water in it and was all corroded. He replaced a couple of bushings, cleaned up the corrosion, and it is running like new. How much? Twelve bucks.
When I say there is a ton of storage on this boat, I do mean a ton. And not like in the catamaran where all the cabinets were about four inches deep; on this boat we can keep our small children in any number of hidden compartments.
puerto vallarta, mexico. nov 03 '12
This morning we had Bum friends stop by in their '67 VW bus. We had shuttled some parts down from the States for them, which made us feel good since people have done that for us more times than we can count. Seriously, there is so much you can learn to do without while living in another country, but sometimes you just can't deny that there is no beating the United States of Convenience.
puerto vallarta, mexico. nov 04 '12
One of our Bum friends grew tired of hearing about me doing all my engine maintenance with a flashlight in my mouth, and so took it upon himself to correct the situation. Ouest and I played explorer for at least an hour today, going into her darkened room to "discover" ancient books. Now, as I type this Ouest is sleeping with the headlight by her side. Where's my flashlight, I've got a water pump to replace?
Milestone reached. Lowe is more or less sleeping through the night. Finally. Seven o'clock to six-fifteen with maybe one quick wake-up where he can't find his water bottle. This has been a few weeks in the making (thanks in part to a crapload of teeth), but the boat seems to have done the trick. Yea sleep!
Ouest's swimming is taking off. Now when we come shooting out of the crocodile slide's mouth like a torpedo she surfaces and takes off swimming the twenty feet or so to the ladder all by herself. Smiling ear to ear the whole way. She is also very proud of herself for trying to swim underwater. She dives down and kicks about four times before coming up out of breath.
Cruising
mexico