Pierless Adventures - March 22 - Legal High in Mexico

This is one way to get high in Mexico without risking trouble with the authorities...  Yes, climbing the mast.  More accurately - being winched up the mast in a bosun's chair by your first mate.

We have a few projects to complete on the mast before we will be ready to set sail.  Today, I inspected the rigging and removed a navigation light that was not working well.  We have a replacement onboard which will be installed tomorrow or Wednesday.  We also need to install a couple of wind instruments and lubricate the slots the sails slide through.

It is fun (if heights don't bother you) and the views are great, but the bosun's chair makers appear to have missed the ergonomics meetings.  It is not too comfortable.  An hour and a half to two hours is my max!

Here is a shot of Scott on deck.  Note the hard hat - safety first:

We did this work in the morning before it warmed up too much.  It is a bit of a workout for both parties.  I'll  probably need to go up two more times to finish the projects on the mast.

More sorting and tossing, of course.  Then a trip to the store for provisions.  There are two or three bus routes we normally use that will get us where we want to go.  Not always in comfort or style, but we get there.  Today's bus to the store was interesting in that most of the windows were painted black.  Clearly not a bus intended for tourists.  Bus fares range from 10 to 12 pesos (about 50 cents), so pretty affordable. 

Scott on the bus with painted windows:

The two yard dogs (Chester and Simba) were not fond of the typical dog bone treats we bought earlier, so we upped the ante to make sure we stay on their good side.  We found some "fancier" dog treats while shopping.  Scott gave a few to Chester and their friendship was cemented for  life.  We'll see how Simba likes them tomorrow.

From Scott:

As Brian was dangling from the rigging like a demented spider, a flock of flamingos flew in a tight V in the pure blue sky; a dozen bright pink and one white one. There is an abundance of bird life here that I am not familiar with. Today we saw a turkey vulture, many black vultures, a Magnificent Frigatebird, a Brown Pelican and any number of Great-Tailed Grackles. I walked down by the boat ramp and came upon a Snowy Egret stalking the shallows. Yet, less than a mile from the ocean, not a single Seagull of any kind.

A great deal of search went into the procurement of yeast, levadura to the locals, and a necessity if we want fresh bread on the trip. Despite having flour, sugar, salt and all the other normal baking ingredients, no store carried yeast except Sam's Club which carried a brick of it the size of a small tissue box. Tortillas don't require yeast so yeast is a rarity. Stupidly, I knew that Mexicans ate tortillas but, like me, I assumed they only did when they ate Mexican food. Now I am better educated.

They eat them with Swedish Meatballs, too.