On the hook in La Cruz

We've had a great couple of days anchored outside of the La Cruz marina. We've had generally light breezes to keep us cool, but not too much chop to make it uncomfortable. Fish, rays, and dolphins swim by every day, and the water glows with phosphorescence at night. Here are Adam and Cindi enjoying happy hour aboard Bravo.

A short dinghy ride and a few blocks' walk takes us to pretty much everything we need in the way of food, beverages, and entertainment. Yesterday we topped off our tanks with 2 5-gallon jugs of purified water (we used 9 gallons in 5 days, which includes sun showers). Today we went to the local fish market, just steps away from the dinghy dock, and bought a half-kilo of this beautiful yellowfin tuna for tonight's sushi.

We also sampled empanadas, atole, and tamales from local vendors. These delicious homemade tamales, which we had for lunch back on the boat, were less than $1 apiece.

What we couldn't find at the open market was readily available 3 blocks away at one of the small tiendas. We also picked up some hot tortillas from the local tortilleria. Tortillerias are easy to find down here, you just listen for the squeak and creak of the tortilla machine!

Finally, we successfully renewed our 3G Internet service for another month. This is a somewhat mysterious process which can be quite costly if not done properly. As tourists, we cannot sign up for recurring service, we have to buy it in monthly increments. We do this by first paying money into our account at the local OXXO convenience store, using our 10-digit telephone number. Then, on the day our service expires, we have to wait until we get a message telling us its OK to renew. Then we send a text message requesting renewal, and wait for a confirmation message that it has been renewed. Last month I didn't get the confirmation, and found that instead of a monthly rate, I was being billed by the megabyte. I burned through 500 pesos, the cost of my monthly contract, in a period of 2 hours! Here is Adam using our laptop to phone Seattle one Skype, while Vicki stands by to take notes if needed.

One of the cruisers, Katrina, has been organizing shoreside events and coming around to all of the boats with flyers so we know what is coming up. Two nights ago we went to an open mic session at a British pub. Tonight there's happy hour and a free showing of the ultimate sailing film, "Captain Ron." Tomorrow there's a potluck, etc. But we will probably raise the anchor in another day or so, as we have finished our chores and are eager to do some surfing at nearby Punta Mita.