Mazatlan 2017

March April and May 2017 in Mazatlan, Mexico

5/25/2017

Three months without an update! I think I’ll blame it on Mazatlan, the beautiful gem of Mexico just south of the Sea of Cortez on the mainland. This is a city of 500,000 with a great location, rich history and plenty to see and do.

We sailed to Mazatlan under “favorable winds and following seas” (just as our good friend Marshall wished for us).  This is the lovely condition of the sea gently lifting you up and taking you with her as the wind co-operates by blowing gently in the same general direction.

First, we stayed in the Old Harbor where we explored old town and started learning how to get around on the bus system.  Almost all the buses travel north and south along the picturesque coast with some of the routes going to grocery stores, the mall, downtown, or outlying towns. It costs 8 or 10 pesos per person which is about $0.50 US for a ride.  What a bargain!

We had an issue with refrigerant leaks in our refrigeration system cold plates that kept recurring so we moved north to Isla Marina near Michael Wilson and his Rescue Refrigeration Company. After more recurring leaks and problems we decided to have him do two new refrigerator/ freezers for us. As he instructed us: It is a B O A T…..It stands for Break Out  Another Thousand. (Actually it would be cool if it was only a thousand.) But the good news is that the two new beautiful units are now in and operational.  They run on a fraction of the energy consumed by the old system. This is extremely important to us because we want to consume as little diesel and other fossil fuels as possible. Michael thinks that our energy consumption for the refrigeration may met by the energy collected by our solar panels!  Below are the before and after pictures.

We are enjoying the beautiful resort here at Isla Marina.  It comes complete with a swimming pool, coconut trees, and a family of friendly iguanas!

Since we were stuck waiting for the new refrigeration boxes to be built, we enlisted the fine work of Ricardo and Roberto in removing gel coat, sanding, varnishing, and re-calking several areas of the exterior. These guys are master craftsmen!  We are thrilled with Kyssen’s new look!

I had a few rounds of illness; the tests said it was salmonella typhi poisoning.  It zapped me pretty good.  We think it may have been from eating some delicious ceviche with raw shrimp. So, there definitely will be no raw fish for me in the future!  The medication prescribed by the doctor set off a series of migraine headaches and vertigo!  After two weeks of that nonsense, I started researching possible side-effects of the meds and when I found headache, dizziness and vertigo were listed as infrequent but possible side-effects, I stopped taking them.  Now I feel just fine, a little less energetic still, but fine.

We went to lunch with our new friends Mike, Melissa, Lance, and Pam at Bigotes.

6/6/2017

It’s our two year anniversary!  We celebrated by going to one of our favorite seaside restaurants in Maztatlan for a shrimp feast!  Tons of shrimp for two prepared in a variety of ways, ….all of them cooked!  This fabulous dinner cost about $30 US.

Mexican artisan selling hammock chairs on the beach shot from our table.

6/7/2017

I had a very positive experience with getting some dental work done here in Mazatlan.  Dr. Miguel Angel Estrada Garcia (speaks excellent English) replaced an old crown and did a fabulous job!  I should admit here that I am an extreme baby when it comes to dental work.  He had no “laughing gas” and he assured me that I wouldn’t need any.  I was quite skeptical. Well, he was right, I had no discomfort at all.  Three appointments later, I have a perfect crown that looks and fits as if it was there all along.  (It looks and fits much better than the old one.) The dental office and staff were clean, punctual, and professional.  The cost for the crown with a post and the appointments was $500 US, what a bargain!  I would highly recommend this dentist to anyone.