Dolce Vita: Memory Lane

Yes, I am still here. It has been since August when I posted my last blog and pressure is building to post another.

I am still in Mazatlan. My stay here has been uneventful. I returned here in September to be greeted by the hottest summer on record. Fortunately I had an air conditioner which made it bearable until I stepped outside for a walk. I enjoyed my visit home with family and friends but was happy to return to the boat where life is simpler and no one or anything is in a hurry.

Dolce Vita, who I refer to as the Lady, has enjoyed the last six months since I have been throwing a lot of money at her. She is now looking good and ready to strut herself as we sail south. She has been neglected with the exception of the mechanical stuff so her dress and gowns are worn and she has been cranky. Maybe now she will be giving me a few breaks and stop throwing problems at me.

Since I have not been traveling the seas of late there are no new adventures or grand photos to post so I going to go back in time a post some notable photos that I have taken the past 8 years. In two months I will be entering the ninth year since throwing off the dock lines in San Francisco.

Before we go back on memory lane I have some videos that my Grandson's should enjoy. There are several fish in the marina where they live to grow larger before taking off to sea. Several look like the bullheads that we fished for and enjoyed eating in Minnesota. If you watch you may see a red snapper that bullies the other fish and gets more than his share of the food thrown into the water.

There is a stray cat on our dock that has been there for at least 3 years. This cat has a good life given that it has been adopted by cruisers in slips on this dock. He is fed regularly and keeps on begging for more. For entertainment, cruisers feed him scrimp on a string so he has to work for his last meal of the day. You wonder how we entertain ourselves? Now you know.

Mazatlan reportedly has the largest scrip fleet in the world. As you can see the scrimps are plentiful and fresh. On occasion we cruisers travel downtown to see the scrimp lady. We buy an amount of scrimp that we can eat and go across the street where they cook it as we like it. Scrimp in garlic and butter, Shrimp Diablo or steamed. They cook it for you for the cost of 50 pesos for 2.2 pounds. In U.S.dollars that is about $3.00.

This is yet another example of cruisers having fun. We are waiting for them to cook our shrimp and to bring at least 3 buckets of beer....to start.

As I noted above, I think it might be a good time to go back and revisit some of the beautiful sites I have enjoyed and the people that have enjoyed it with me. Starting in 2008 and moving forward through 2015.

I am not ready to give up sailing as yet and hope to knock out a least 5 more years. Time will tell the story.