Español, Grifo y LEDs (Griffo=tap)

Monday 1st June 2020
Things are meant to start opening up a bit today, but nothing seems to be happening. I go for a cycle to another supermarket a good way on the eastern side of town just for the exercise, but in there I notice a man stacking a fridge with beer, behind the beer I see some alcohol free cans, which are quite nice. I ask him if I can get some and he says “no way José”, pointing a his watch. It takes a minute, then I remember alcohol sales are not allowed after 6 pm. I’m quick with my , “Pero es sin alcohol” and he relents, I’m right in there with “Quatro por favor”, and he passes 4 cans to me, I look at my watch and wonder if I should run to the checkout in case they hit me with the ‘after 6 pm rule‘ instead I go for the “perdon, quatro mas, por favor” and now I have 8 cans, I feel like I’ve just robbed a bank and got away with it, or as they might say in the future, done a Cummings! (Sorry if your not from the British Isles, but Cummings is our much hated leader, apparently, as we are only just realising).
Back on the boat I watch a video about La Paz put out by the President of the hoteliers assoc here. He mentions how La Paz has one of the top 50 beaches in the world, and the best beach in Mexico, and is moving up the most desirable destination list. They hope to have 5 new hotels completed in the coming few years but want to maintain the local feel to the place. Good luck with that mate. It would be a shame if this place ends up like Cabo San Lucas, La Paz is quite Mexican, in a Baja way, but Los Cabos, which includes both holiday destinations of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo are just full on Vegas style gringo resorts. Great for a two week piss up, but not for me.

Tuesday:
Water appears on the floor of the head, I have seen this for a few days now, at first I thought it was a splash from the shower, the next day when it reappeared I went for a splash from the sink as the culprit, as I hadn’t used the shower, today I had to accept there was a leak somewhere, probably from the sink, and that I was going to have to get on my back on the floor and crane my neck, contort my body and search for the source. Sure enough the tap was leaking.

I will check tomorrow, but I seem to have stopped it leaking by re-attaching the water hose to the copper tube that goes into the tap, however the tap is badly corroded underneath. As you can see the whole fitting is not looking it’s best, and certainly not doing justice to the marble sink top. Quite why somebody thought marble was ok for a worktop is beyond me, is the boat not heavy enough! I’m going to take this opportunity to buy a new mixer tap and replumb below. If I can’t get a suitable tap, then I might look at servicing this tap, it may be possible to get it rechromed here cheaper than buying a new one.
Later I have my Spanish lesson then pop back to Chedrui supermarket to scoop up the remaining Alcohol free beer. I read today that many of the breweries have reopened across Mexico, so I’m hopefull supplies will resume soon.
We had a little excitement tonight when a boater and his male companion where run out of town, or forced to leave the anchorage. Apparently they were naturists but were performing what some consider unatural, or at least, not for public consumption, acts on the foredeck of their boat anchored just off the entrance to the marina. I heard the boat owner is a convicted sex offender and is wanted in the state of California. Later I heard they had returned to the anchorage a little further away from us, and that the cruisers here were organising to get them arrested tomorrow! The most worrying thing to me is that he is alleged to have his 80+ year mother on board who has dementia and, allegedly, can sometimes be heard screaming for help. I would like to say, never a dull moment here, but in fact it has actually been quite dull since January.

Wednesday:
The morning radio net has an anouncement under the Emergency Help category, which is reserved for people in desperate need usually, about the flashers. They are anchored outside Marina Cortez and the plan is to get the police to move them on today.
I decide I’m going to tackle the head tap today and head of to the plumbers early in search of a tap, I find one in the second plumbers I visit that is similar to the existing one and costs about $45 or £40. It’s chrome plated and will probably only last 5 years or so, but at that price I’m happy. I also pick up the cable I wanted so I’m now able to start the Cockpit LED lighting project soon.
Of course nothing is simple, once I have pulled out the old hoses, one of them won’t be long enough to reach the new tap, it could do with changing anyway, but chasing it through the bilge I discover a load of corrosion, it never seems to stop. I have to get a grinder on the job to remove the old hose clamps they are in such a bad way. After a few hours of workout contortions the job is done. I’m very pleased. Next I’m going to varnish some of the cabinetry and get the whole room looking smart.

On the way back from the hardware store I pop into the supermarket for some fresh bread and can’t believe my eyes when I see the fridge full of cans of Hieneken Zero beer, my favorite. There’s also real beer, the drought is over. Suddenly I get a whiff of the virus pandemic being over, and life being back to normal. It’s a lovely feeling but the reality soon returns at the checkout with the 2 metre distancing and everyone in face masks in the long queues. However I do understand now how an easing of restrictions can lead to people getting carried away with their new freedoms. I’m not going to stockpile the beer, there might be others who like it, but next week I will get a few cans in as I expect the lockdown to return big time soon. Mexico is heading downhill fast.

Thursday:
I put a few more hours into my Spanish this morning in the hope I will perform better in my lesson. Yesterday, my teacher Arturo, insisted on putting all of the women in his household, and there seemed to be quite a few, on the video call with me and getting them to start a conversation. I was quite flummoxed, they were kind, but I think they were keen to get back to peeling spuds or doing the dishes, rather than try to understand my rubbish Spanish.
As it turned out we spent a lot of the lesson trying to find the english way to address teenagers, There is a word in spanish for it, Joven, but I could only come up with scouse terms like La, or ‘alright there lad’, ‘Excuse me young man’ isn’t a phrase I would normally use. I love the vagaries of language that reveal cultural differences. I was reprimanded by responding to a ‘how are you’ from one of the ladies yesterday, with a ‘Good thanks, and you?’ where I used the informal ‘you’, tu instead of usted. I think I blew my chances there!

So after my lesson I jumped on the bike and cycled around town to all the electronic shops I had identified on google. One was shut until September, the other just shut, a third didnt exist, the building that looked so promising on streetview wasnt even there, so I gave up and headed back. On the way I found a new hardware store and picked up some plastic cable trunking I plan to use to mount the LED strip lighting I’m making for the cockpit.
Back at the boat, I make my usual Guacamole, read and watched the sunset, then set about cutting up plastic and gluing LED lights together.

Friday:
Before it gets too hot I head off to find the Electronic components shop on the outskirts of town. It’s a good long cycle ride, around 12km in all, but interesting.

I don’t know if I’m cycling into a rough area or an upmarket area. I had recently read about a serious stabbing in a car park outside an Oxxo store (7-eleven) out that way, when a down and out had been refused money he had been asking a stranger for. I never worry too much about these things, you could find the same problems within a few miles of where I lived back on Merseyside, I think most big cities are the same. Nonetheless I keep a keen eye on my surroundings.

I find the shop and it has a great selection of bits and bobs I could use. Next I pop over the road to a huge Soriano supermarket in a big edge of town mall/estate. This is better than the one I visited last week as small businesses, taco stalls, bars and shops have grown up around the estate and have allowed it to blend into the area better. from there I drive down a road called Calle Puebla which is ever so pretty and runs for a few miles, lots of individual houses with lovely gardens, and very friendly people who wave and say hola as I cycle past. I could happily live in this street.
Further on and I’m back on familiar turf, near the marina and I spot a gecko on the cycle path.

I fit the LED strips under the solar panels and crudely wire them up to the cigar lighter socket in the cockpit.
Later my Spanish lesson leaves me strugling with very subtle , at least to me, pronunciations. My optimisitic self has always assumed people would work out what I meant if I just got close to the right sounds, but that’s definatley not the case. Arturo wants me to be fluent at counting to 100 by monday, I try and he tells me I have a lot to learn. In particular I’m struggling with Six, or Seis, pronounced Says, or is it Saiz, or maybe Sayis it’s probably none of those. Pondering on this I try to imagine if you can slightly change the pronunciation of six in English and still be understood. I then realise that a slight change to the sentence “I want to buy six dolls for a kids party” might get you arrested if your not very careful with the pronunciation. Tricky stuff this language thing.

Saturday:
Most mornings as I sit in the cockpit having my toast and coffee I’m joined by a little bird that flits around me, sometimes it scares the living daylights out of me by appearing right in front of my face and hovering there for a few seconds before settling on the deck next to me. It seems the cockpit crumbs aren’t good enough for it now, and the cheeky bugger is heading down into the boat most days and checking out the bread board and cooker. I don’t mind too much, it seems to know its way out ok.

After breakfast I pop to the shops for some fresh bread then I launch the dinghy. It needs an outing and I want to ensure the motor is still working ok, at least that’s going to be my defense should the authorities come for me. I’m hoping they won’t spot my swimming trunks, sun tan and beach ball 😉
So I row out of the marina then slowly motor over to the far side of the bay to the stretch of land called El Magote, and beach the dinghy.

It’s lovely walking along the shore in the water, On the way back to the marina I stop in the middle of the bay over the big sandbank that splits the bay into two channels, it’s only about 1.5 metres deep, I sling the little grapnal anchor over the side and then jump in and have a wonderful swim. It’s so refreshing and cooling I may do this every other day now.

Back at the marina I haul out the dinghy and give it a good wash, it’s not looking bad given that it’s 4 years old now. I think the covers on the sponsons have helped a lot.

Later I see a pelican has joined the fisherman in their joint quest for dinner. As the fisherman guts his catch the Pelican practically eats from his hand. While he is fishing the Pelican sits there motionless. Quite a sight.

Sunday:
A very lazy morning, then in the afternoon I run some cable for the new LED strip lights and fit a switch into the cockpit locker. I have the option of 2 or 4 strips illuminated. I’m very pleased. It works well, the LEDs are a bit too blue, but it’s only a temporary solution until I can find something more homely. I don’t know if the LEDs will survive more than a couple of seasons, I’m expecting to lose the whole shooting match of canopy/solar panels and wind gen should a hurricane come this way anyway.

This week my computers/phone were reminding me to get my flight from London Heathrow back to the boat. I should have been arriving back here a few days ago getting the boat ready for Kathy ,whose flight is due in mid July.
Kathy’s flight hasn’t been cancelled yet, it was booked a long time ago, maybe even last year, way before Covid hit the headlines, so we don’t know if it is going to be cancelled closer to the event. I expect the airlines don’t cancel until the last minute, that way they hang onto your funds, and maybe they are also being optimistic. As it stands Kathy plans to fly if the flight is still on, if it’s cancelled then we will look at all our options. It’s quite a fast moving situation, with the North West of England now with an ‘R’ value of around 1.0 and climbing, the government may bring back full lockdown to Merseyside, in which Kathy will be better off out here, however she would have to transit via Madrid, which shouldn’t be to risky, but then she arrives in Mexico City with no guarantee of an onward flight to La Paz. Regional flights get cancelled hours before take off if they don’t have enough passengers. Hotels are shut and Mexico city is a real hotbed of virus infections now and the hospitals are in a dire state. So getting stuck in the city for a few days isn’t attractive, and should Kathy pickup the virus and needs a hospital the local hospitals in La Paz are getting quite busy now. On the other hand, many are predicting the second wave in the UK has already started and could be quite a big problem there.
I have a new neighbour here in the marina, they arrived in their big catamaran on Friday, they must be based here as there has been a steady stream of visitors to them, nobody is wearing a face mask. I’m going to tell them I might have the virus so to keep a distance, should they speak to me. I think it’s true, any of us could have the virus! 😉

Cuarenta y uno, Cuarenta y dos …..

Paul Collister.