24 December 2006Marina Seca, San Carlos, MX
We are home again in Mexico after our month long road trip to Seattle and back. We departed San Carlos November 19 and returned to Nakia in Marina Real December 19. We drove over 5,000 miles (including miles covered doing errands in various stops) with overnight stays in nine cities. Most of our time was spent on Bainbridge Island waiting to finalize the business of buying our condo. We were in a hurry to get north for that and then in a hurry to return south to the boat, which resulted in our not getting to see everyone we would have liked to visit. The rainy, cold, and sometimes snowy weather wasn't conducive to adding more miles to an already long trip.
On our way north we made a brief stop in the Bay Area to retrieve some winter clothing out of storage, and another stop in the Portland area for some day-after-Thanksgiving-sales tax free shopping. For the return trip south we had to make stops to pick up a new mattress and anchor chain for the boat. Needless to say the old truck was loaded down and not happy to be in the cold weather, but it was a trouper and got us everywhere safely. Crossing back into Mexico we paid duty on some of our items at Customs, got a red light, and only a cursory look in the back of the truck before being waved on. Feliz Navidad!
Two days after our return we bashed Nakia around the corner from Marina Real to Marina San Carlos for our haul out at Marina Seca. It has been windy out of the north so there was some swell which we weren't prepared for after sitting in a marina for so long. Now we are up on the hard, but enjoying the comforts of home with Stan and MJ in their 2Bed/2Bath San Carlos rental. We go to the yard after breakfast and John does the dirty work, while I fetch and carry for him. This is our first haul out since we left the States in 2004, but it's still just the usual projects of replacing through hulls and putting new paint on the bottom. We're actually paying the yard do the latter for the first time in 15 years of boat ownership.
It's wonderful to be back in shorts and T-shirts again. The nights are cool (below 60), but the sun is warm and bright most days. We hope everyone is enjoying this time of year with friends and family no matter where you are or what you're doing!
Linda and John
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