m/v NOETA

New Boat Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 21:34:00 +0000

New Boat Update!

I'm apologizing up front for the length of this blog. There is a LOT to share! It's been a few months since I've done a blog update, with the craziness of getting the new Nordhavn 57 from Homer, Alaska to Anacortes, WA, updating and repairing its issues, getting it down the entire coast of the US, checking into Mexico and cruising down the Mexican Baja to Banderas Bay has kept us busy!

But that's what we did! Most of our updates have been on YouTube the past few months, so I'll insert them here in case you want to watch, or better yet, subscribe!

Selling Noeta 50

So the stars all aligned, our 50 Nordhavn never actually went on the market, as James Knight had a buyer in mind for ours. They came down to Mexico, fell in love, and made an offer! (Read more about that HERE). So within weeks we had to get our personal items off of the boat and into a small storage shed, pack the car, and clean Noeta (now called Solana) up for her new owners.

They kept most of the home-type things, dishes, blankets, pots, pans, towels etc, and most of the 'extra' things like e-bikes, paddle boards, kayaks, etc. So we didn't have to move everything off, which was nice. Then we loaded the car with Gilligan the Fat Boat Cat, and all of the items we would need to cruise the coast again on our new boat, and drove north.

This episode explains how the 2500 mile drive went!

https://youtu.be/Jucuq0FhNIw

Meeting our new Boat

Our broker and friend, James Knight, ended up bringing the boat down to Washington from Homer. His crew included his best friend, who is also a skilled captain, his wife and his sister in law. They had a nice cruise, saw the sites and even cleaned up and fixed a few things on the boat. It was the best sea trial ever!

This episode shows how their journey went - they got great footage!

https://youtu.be/eQaQFM_Qokw

Friends of ours, Greg and Kari, took us up to Friday Harbor, an island not far from Anacortes, on their Nordhavn 47, so that we could meet them and our new boat when they checked into the country from Canada. It was super exciting watching it round the corner of the bay and come straight at us!

Boat Projects!

From there we jumped on board and took it back to Anacortes where she underwent months of projects including:

New ceiling panel headliners
New toilets
New engine mounts
Lots of new hose clamps and hoses
New LED light bulbs - 72 of them!!
New Bottom paint
New stabilizer seals
New life raft
All new hydraulic hoses
New cable for the davit
New line cutter
New air conditioner raw water distribution manifold
New dinghy
Stocked up on spare everything
Water maker maintenance
New stacked inverter system
All new electronics, auto pilot, follow up levers, monitors etc. in the pilot house

And I'm likely leaving out a dozen projects.

We lived in the boat on the hard, which is tricky because you can't shower or run water out of the thru hulls while on the hard. So we used a marina shower and used the boat's bathroom only as needed (we do have a giant holding tank). But it started to get cold as we entered October and we were eager to get back to Mexico.

These episodes show all of the boat yard projects!

Episode 13

https://youtu.be/1mdcdzZfc_k

Episode 14

https://youtu.be/z-_-PCObJQ0

Episode 15

https://youtu.be/BAxEpwPh_rQ

The Shaft Saga

We were so happy to drop back in the water, only to discover that our shaft now had a 'wobble'! We had to haul out AGAIN. So after having a renaming ceremony and putting the new 'Noeta' name on her, we went to haul out again. We have a 17.5 foot long, 3 inch shaft, and it's important that it is straight and aligns perfectly with the engine. It wasn't perfectly straight and the coupling that attaches the shaft to the engine was not perfectly aligned. So we spent a number of weeks having the shaft analyzed, fixed, then re-fixed, then installed again.

These episodes explain why we had to haul out again, and then re-send our shaft in to be worked on.

Episode 16

https://youtu.be/p71aYBiDsrQ

Episode 17

https://youtu.be/doS9MypWATQ

So once we fixed the shaft issue, it was time for a few final projects while analyzing the weather to head south. Our goal was always to return to Mexico, where we spent the past 6 years, but it was getting late in the season to head south. It was now early October, which means the Pacific Northwest starts getting weather systems that one does not want to cruise through. So finding the weather window was critical. For the first time, we did enlist the help of a weather router, 'Omni Bob', with OMNI - Ocean Marine Nav Inc. It was nice to have a third set of eyes on the weather as he advised us.

This episode shows our final projects before leaving.

Episode 18

https://youtu.be/3AIFHqxTvT8

Finally Cruising South

Anacortes to San Francisco

Once we and Omni Bob agreed on a weather window, we took off! October 8th, we entered the Straights of Juan de Fuca, then took the BLT (Big Left Turn) into the Pacific Ocean. While the straights were calm and lovely, the ocean was not. It was a washing machine of confused seas. The weather was fine, but the sea state was 9-10 foot seas from all directions. I, who had gotten cocky in the straights and hadn't taken my sea sick meds, got sea sick. It lasted for around 24 hours. The first night we could only run 1 hour sleep shifts, since I was sick and weak.

Unfortunately the sea state continued that way the next 24 hours, so we decided to head into Crescent City, California, a marina we stopped in last time we came down this coast 6 years ago. So October 10th we got to sleep at a dock, rest, recover and regroup to head back out.

Did I mention that we didn't have any helm chairs? Yeah, we had ordered some new comfy Stidd chairs, but they were delayed in delivering them by 4 weeks. So instead we had tall director's-type chairs. They were mostly worthless for this uncomfortable passage. Leaving Crescent City, October 11th, the seas now were on the bow, and had developed wind waves. So it turned into a bashing, crashing cruise. However I was no longer sea sick, my meds were working, so things were a bit better.

The next day we entered San Francisco Bay at the exact same time that the Blue Angels Air Show was being cancelled due to low visibility. So we dodged hundreds of small boats as we made our way back to Berkeley Marina where we stayed for a few days.

We saw lots of friends, hung out with our daughter Mikayla and my sister Anneliese, brought the car down from Anacortes, installed new Stidd chairs!, and continued a few more boat projects for about 3 weeks. T

Here's a short video of our new chairs!

https://youtu.be/kCvlhwEGt4k

Import Paperwork Nightmare

Before we could head south though, we had some serious paperwork to take care of with Mexico. It turns out, the boat we bought had existing import paperwork for Mexico from 2006, but didn't have any record of exiting Mexico. In addition, the import paper, called a TIP, had expired a number of years earlier. Since July, I had had a 'fixer' working to get the TIP cancelled, so that we could get a new one, as it's illegal to have 2 TIPs on a vessel. The 'fixer' finally notified me that he had tried in numerous places and failed to get it cancelled. So I had him FedEx my paperwork back to me so I could find another route. I spoke to a number of other agents, some said it couldn't be cancelled, some said they could do it but would be 7 months, and another said he could help me do it, but I would need to bring the boat to Mexico, claim it was abandoned and then clear the title....ummm...nope.

But just as I was giving up hope, I read, on social media, about a woman who had herself gone to Ensenada with papers and letters and was able to get it cancelled by herself. So I reached out to her, and followed her exact steps just a couple days later. I flew to San Diego, got an exit form at the airport for our boat, taxied to the Tijuana border, walked across, got on a bus to go 1.5 hours south to Ensenada, met with Banjercito (the federal bank), and somehow...by some magic....was able to get the document cancelled! Not only that, they issued me a new TIP for Noeta so we were cleared to bring her into the country! That was a huge hurdle!

This episode shows my journey!

https://youtu.be/Dw9OUcfUgUs

So NOW it was time to head south again in the next weather window.

San Francisco, CA to Long Beach, CA

The window appeared November 7th. This passage was quite pleasant. We saw dolphins in bioluminescence, some whales and very little boat traffic. There were stunning sunsets and beautiful sunrises. We finally remembered why we love cruising!

November 9th we arrived in Long Beach, to have our lines caught by some of our best friends, John and Molly, former owners of catamaran Ruby Vi. While in Long Beach, we got about 600 gallons of fuel, hung out with friends, made new friends, brought the car down from San Francisco, and provisioned to leave for Mexico! We spent about 10 days here.

This is our SFO to Long Beach video episode

https://youtu.be/dKjY-K5Z2As

Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico

On November 19th, just before sunset, we set off for the 15 hour cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. The seas were calm, the weather was warm. We had more friends catching our lines - after they kicked the sea lions off our dock - as we pulled in to Cruiseport Marina. The staff at the marina were efficient as they walked us to the immigration offices to check into the country and check in with the Port Captain. This was the same office that I had visited just a few weeks ago to cancel our TIP! And since I already had the TIP, we didn't need to meet with Banjercito, the federal bank.

We had dinner with Jelle, another cruising friend, then took off the next morning for a 5 day passage to Banderas Bay.

Episode 22 - Noeta Goes to Mexico

https://youtu.be/jdZBy38Nosw

Ensenada, Mexico to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

This was the final push! We anticipated excellent weather, good sea states and 5 non-stop days of cruising nearly 980 nautical miles. This was one of our our longest non-stop passage and while we were excited, we were apprehensive about how our bodies would handle the fatigue, how the boat would handle being under way, and how the sea state might change. It turned out that our bodies, boat and the sea were all excellent. We rotated sleep shifts at night. We each slept 3 hours and stood watch 3 hours. Then during the day, we rested as needed. By the 2nd day we were both feeling fine. And by day 3, we were in a groove. We felt like we could have kept going easily beyond 5 days.

We saw hundreds of dolphins, a couple whales, some sea lions and occasionally a boat or 2. After rounding the point of the Baja at Cabo San Lucas, we were on the home stretch! Just a day and a half left! We entered Banderas Bay around 10 pm and arrived at our marina just before midnight. Even though we know the marina really well, entering at night is a unique experience.

Episode 23 - Ensenada to La Cruz - Part 1

https://youtu.be/rKMQIEUOdrY

Episode 23 - Ensenada to la Cruz - Part 2

https://youtu.be/IiVn2TVMOCs

So now we've had a few days to rest. There have been many nights where we have woken up and said 'Why aren't we moving?!' or 'Where are we?' But it feels great to be back, where we spent the past 6 years cruising. We feel like we've accomplished a lot in the last few months. We plan to cruise in and around this area for awhile, while we continue to fix and work on our new-to-us boat.

I will try to do better at making more, shorter updates, but I'm also (obviously) vlogging now too. So be sure to subscribe to the MV Noeta channel, so that you get updates when I post a new video.

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com

Watch more videos at https://www.youtube.com/@mvnoeta

Insta/Facebook/Youtube: MVnoeta

Nordhavn 57 Survey in Alaska

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 22:30:00 +0000

Survey in Alaska

Today, July 17th, 2024, it's official! We own a Nordhavn 57!

A couple of weeks ago, we headed up to Homer, Alaska to survey and sea trial Ice Dancer II (N5728), our new-to-us Nordhavn 57.

Click here to see the YouTube video on how it went!

In the end of June, eager to get on Ice Dancer for the second time, Pat and I made our way up to Alaska.

We landed in Anchorage where we first got to meet with one of my old students, Jessica Reisinger, for coffee. Since I was her 4th grade, 5th grade and some of middle school teacher, I was excited to see her, because since I saw her last, she not only got into Medical school, she also was selected as Miss Alaska! It was fun to get caught up with her.

Jessica Reisinger, Miss Alaska 2022

Then we made the 4 hour drive to Homer, our first time there. What a beautiful area! When we got to Homer, the owners, Dick and Gail, graciously let us come to the boat where he told us about how he brought it from Honolulu to Homer the previous week....BY HIMSELF!! At any age this 12+ day passage would have been an impressive feat...but Dick is over 80 and the sea state was not ideal. He clearly knows his vessel and handled it like a pro.

Just kinda super excited to be there!

Ice Dancer II, looking good on Homer's big ship dock

Shortly after that, James Knight and Jay Flaherty with Yacht Tech arrived, and we prepared for a sea trial and haul out. This haul out would be a first for all of us, since it was scheduled for 2:00 am....yep, IN THE MORNING!

In Homer, that week, there was a 22 foot tide swing and the only high tide that would accommodate this boat being hauled out of the water, was at 2 am. The afternoon high tide was not going to have enough water under the keel.

Our haul out slip at low tide.

Super steep ramp to the boat with the extreme low tide.

So, we left the dock just after midnight. It was a beautiful twilight sky, and never got completely dark the entire time we were out. It was also the summer solstice so we had a giant Strawberry Moon to add more light. Underway, on the 1 hour passage to the shipyard, we tested all of the systems and had Dick explain how he does things on this vessel he has had for almost 20 years. We pulled into the shipyard's sling right at 2 am. The yard was lit up and active, as it had other boats to haul out after us. They do things a little different up there in Alaska.

It was a Strawberry moon for summer solstice!

Looking down on Ice Dancer as she was being hauled out.

Ice Dancer on the hard

We kept the boat in the slings for an hour while we checked out everything under the waterline. We had a local surveyor with us, but with James', Jay's, and Dick's knowledge of the boat, we felt like we were getting a master class full of information. All looked good, so we dropped her back in the water by 3 am and headed back to the marina.

We took oil samples to check the condition of the engines and generators.

We all got some much needed sleep and then met back up on the boat the next day to continue testing systems on the boat. We found that, overall, the important items on the boat (ie engines, generators, etc) were all in good working condition. However, there were a number of things we found during the survey that would need some fixing and updating. Some of the items that would need to be done, included:

Bottom paint
New stabilizer seals
New or re-certify the life raft
All new hydraulic hoses
Check the engine mounts - may need replaced
New cable for the davit
New line cutter
New hoses and clamps throughout the engine room
We thought a new water maker pump, but James found a spare and replaced it.
New air conditioner raw water distribution manifold
Replace or rebuild a steering ram. There are two to actuate the rudder.
Consider a new dinghy, which we just purchased
And a list of other small things.....

In addition, and we knew these things before the survey and making the offer, we need to update all of the pilot house electronics, fix all of the ceiling headliners, and update the upholstery throughout the boat.

So....we have a lot of work ahead of us. But the list didn't scare us off, we have rebuilt 2 Nordhavns (N46 and N50) and we can do it again. So, here we go!

With the owners Dick and Gail Barnes.

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com

Noeta Survey Day

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 22:28:00 +0000

Noeta Survey Day

If you need to get caught up on the fact that we SOLD OUR BOAT....read the last blog entry here.

Usually, with the buying and selling of boats like these, the buyer chooses to have a survey of the boat done. This often includes a sea trial where all of the systems are checked under way, and a haul out, where everything below the water line is assessed.

So the buyers flew back into Mexico in mid June, along with James Knight, our broker with Yacht Tech, for a sea trial across Banderas Bay over to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle to haul out of the water.

Pat, Alexa & James Knight

To prep, we cleaned the boat inside and out, had the bottom of the boat scrubbed, and 'staged' the boat a bit, so it wasn't so cluttered and 'busy'. In another 'stars aligned' moment, a month or so ago, our friends Adam and Jessica on SV Volare called to ask if we wanted to take over their storage unit. They were taking their things out, but it was paid for 9 more months and they hated for it to go to waste. Well....yes, yes we do! So we have a space near the marina to put our personal items and things we were transferring to the next boat.

Thanks Adam and Jess - Just what we needed!

Multiple trips to the car.

And more trips

And more trips

Fortunately, our friend Bella was staying with us - so she helped me clean, shine things and move stuff off the boat!

There were a few things that would need to be taken care of before the survey. Things like:

The fire system and fire extinguishers were due to be re certified.
Zincs needed to be replaced on the hull.
Distilled water needed to added to some batteries to top them off.
Engine room & thru hull valves needed to be cleaned.

A company takes and re-certifies and recharges the engine room fire system and fire extinguishers

Ironically, our start batteries had died just 2 weeks prior, so we installed brand new batteries. Their fluid level was low, so we added some before the survey.

The day of the survey, everyone got to the boat early in the morning so we could arrive on time for our 9 am haul out. On board we had the buyers, ourselves (Gilligan the boat cat of course), Elizabeth Shanahan- Marine Surveyor and 1600 ton USCG Master, Gray Capo (training to be a surveyor, but also very knowledgeable resource here in Banderas Bay). James would be meeting us later in the survey as his flight was delayed by a day due to weather.

On the way to the haul out, Elizabeth had us run all of the systems to check for any problem areas. We special ordered a convoy of dolphins to escort us across the bay, so the buyers (and us of course) were thrilled with that extra surprise.

We hauled out of the water and stayed in the slings while everyone examined the general condition of the hull, the paint, the prop, the keel coolers, zincs, shaft, and of course the happy face on the bulbous bow.

The buyers, Dmitry & Nadya.

I had time to take Nadya, the buyer, around a little bit of La Cruz and to our favorite coffee/breakfast spot, Shule'l. They made us some sandwiches to take back to the crew and off we headed, back to the marina.

After we returned to the Paradise Village Marina, Elizabeth, James, and the buyers continued to assess and analyze every corner of the boat. Every hatch was opened, every light bulb was checked and every valve was moved. We were asked hundreds of questions and likely overwhelmed the buyers with a ton of new information.

Having a survey of your vessel is very much as if you are personally getting assessed. What is this? Why did you set it up this way? Does this work? Where is x? So it is stressful as a seller to have your years of work taken into question.

In the end, everyone was happy and Noeta performed beautifully. Take aways from the survey were that the life raft needed re-certified (that was on our plan of things to do this summer....because we weren't planning on selling our boat!), some courtesy lights needed new bulbs, we needed to replace a couple of hose clamps, and the dinghy bottom needed cleaning (we left it in the water too long - it had some growth on it). So overall, it was a success. That means, we're moving forward! Next, on the ever-growing to-do list....survey the Nordhavn 57 that we hope to buy!

Why is there a picture of ducks?....well this story this goes back to last November.

Duckie Prank

My entire family was in town visiting and thought it would be a funny prank to a hide ONE HUNDRED little plastic ducks all over Noeta one day while we were out cruising. Some were easy to find....others popped up over the following months in pockets, rum bottles, and ice cubes. However, there were about 17 that we never found. Fortunately for us....the surveyor found two ducks when opening hatches that we hadn't opened in awhile. Turns out the new owner will only get about 15 ducks to find. Good luck!!

Check out how the haul out went (and playful dolphins) in this week's YouTube episode.

Watch our last YouTube video about selling Noeta here!

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com

We Sold our Boat!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 22:59:00 +0000

We Sold our Boat!

We've done it again! We have made a major pivot. We went and sold our boat!

You can read about what's happening below, and/or watch it on the latest YouTube Episode!

Let me back up a bit. Because even WE didn't see this coming. 3 months ago, on April 8th we had just cruised into the Sea of Cortez with friends to watch the solar Eclipse. We ended up having some electrical issues on our return trip that led us to contacting James Knight the founder of YachtTech. James, Nordhavn expert and broker, has been our go-to 'phone a friend' for the past 6 years, anytime we have a boat problem or question. He just knows the right questions to ask and can diagnose almost any issue in just a short conversation.

Another thing that James, and his associate Jay Flaherty, have done for the past 6 years is to occasionally, like monthly, send Patrick pictures and listings of newer and bigger Nordhavns. It's been a running joke. We look at them, laugh and move on. I rarely even take a 2nd look at the pictures. We don't need a bigger boat. We love Noeta, our 50 foot Nordhavn. We spent the last 6 years making her an excellent long range cruising boat.

But 3 months ago, James mentioned that he may have a 57 foot Nordhavn with canted windows (the windshield that angles backwards) coming to the market soon. We laughed....but I took a 2nd look. Then I Googled the 57. Next I watched some videos. And then I said 'What if?' She's a gorgeous vessel. That's all it took for Pat to start crunching the numbers.

For the next few weeks we toyed with the idea. The 57 is a 2 stateroom boat, which is a better layout for the next stage of our cruising. The kids are gone and exchanging the bunkbeds of the 50 with a queen bed on the 57 for guests was really appealing. The 57 also has a flybridge, which is a feature we had missed from a previous boat a few years back. And it was Pat's dreamboat - a stand up engine room, hydraulic bow and stern thrusters, and a number of other features that a live aboard cruiser appreciates. We told James we might be interested, but he would have to sell our 50. We didn't want two Nordahvns (we've done that before). We called ourselves crazy multiple times.

Then at the end of April, Pat (who is a pilot for Alaska) happened to have a layover in Honolulu, which is where the vessel was located. It wasn't on the market yet, but we asked James if we could take a look at it, if I flew over to Hawaii with Pat. He was cautious, as it hadn't been staged to be on the market yet, and he hadn't seen it in a few years, but the owners agreed that we could go see it. So we spent 3 hours on Ice Dancer II with the people who have owned her for her entire cruising life. They have a remarkable cruising history, have been all over the world, including around Cape Horn...TWICE! They have come to the end of their cruising days and had hoped to sell it to someone who would continue her legacy.

N 57, Ice Dancer II in Patagonia, Chile.

We hoped to be those people. After that visit, we knew we wanted her, even though she needed quite a bit of updating. The owners had cruised her for 100,000 miles, used her well, and now she was due for electronic upgrades and an interior refresh. We had upgraded boats, a couple of times, so we knew we could do it again. In fact, with her needing some care and attention, made it so Ice Dancer II was in our price range.

Our first view of Ice Dancer II in Honolulu.

Meanwhile, more stars aligned when James let us know he might have a potential buyer for Noeta, one who was willing to come to Mexico to see her. One thing lead to another, they came to see the boat, we got an offer on Noeta, made an offer on Ice Dancer II and things started to move! Surveys would need to happen, we needed to figure out how to get Ice Dancer II from Homer, Alaska, where she had been moved to, down to the lower 48 to get some work done on her and then down to Mexico, we needed to find a place to store our stuff, we needed to move off Noeta, we needed to drive to the US with our cat and some personal items, we had a lot to figure out.

But we're moving forward! By mid July all of that will be figured out and done and we will be heading north to take ownership of Ice Dancer II (soon to be renamed Noeta)! So stay tuned for more stories about this adventure! It's bound to be exciting!

We're on YouTube!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Tue, 21 May 2024 23:38:00 +0000

We're on YouTube!

While we've had an MV Noeta YouTube channel since May of 2018, we didn't have any sort of cohesion or continuity among our 48 videos, they were all pretty random. Like Doug and Gilligan going for a morning dock walk in Gig Harbor:

Or the time we hauled our 46 foot Nordhavn out for a bottom painting:

Or the time I almost got run over by a 115 foot Sea Shepherd vessel during a maneuver:

And as I got better at making videos, we even entered the Nordhavn Film Festival, our team took 1st place in our second year!

2019 Entry

2022 Entry - Won Best Film & Best Comedy!

Since I enjoy the editing and post production of videos, I decided to step up my game a little, and a couple of months ago, with some design help form our middle kiddo, August, who actually went to college for this stuff, I decided on a layout, design, logo, splash page image, intro (the little video at the beginning of each video introducing us) and outro (the ending that is the same on all of the videos.

After some feedback on our first couple of videos we bought a microphone so the audio would be higher quality and consistent. You'll notice that showing up in Episode 5.

Some cruisers use YouTube to make money, and bolster Patreon accounts. That isn't our goal. You won't see us all dressed up with hair and make up done :) Footage will be real and honest - the good and the bad. We want to share with our friends and family (and anyone else who is curious) what it's like to have this boating lifestyle, where we're going and how we'll get there. Blogging has been a nice way to share that, and I'll keep doing that, but adding videos will really give you a better idea of what's going on out here.

Check out our first 5 videos:

Is there something you'd like to see? A topic we should cover? Let us know! Always open to ideas. But we'd love it if you'd subscribe to our channel, that way you'll get notified when I post a new one. We had 141 followers before we started adding episodes a couple months ago and now we're up to 186! Maybe we'll get giant and go to 200 :) Click here to see our channel!

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com

Replacing a Nordhavn Muffler

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 21:58:00 +0000

Our N50 Nordhavn, Noeta, was built in 2002. While we have replaced many of the components of our trusty trawler due to age, one that we were dreading was the muffler that was installed when she was built. Most boats have a wet exhaust system, but many Nordhavns have a dry exhaust system that includes a muffler like ours. The purpose of the exhaust system is to safely carry away noise, heat, and the byproducts of combustion. Our system and muffler rises up out of the engine room and out a dry stack at the top of our boat. After many years of use, the muffler naturally starts to deteriorate.

Rusting Muffler (sounds like a grunge rock band)

A couple of things were going to make this project challenging:

1) The salt air and the heat from the exhaust over 21 years had likely solidified the nuts and bolts, probably making the 16 nuts and bolts nearly impossible to remove. We had heard horror stories from other Nordhavn owners about the removal process.

2) We are in Mexico. Ordering and shipping the muffler, gaskets, new bolts, heat resistant paint, and blankets to go around the muffler to Mexico was going to be a bit of a logistics nightmare.

3) We didn't know the condition of our old muffler. We assumed it was bad, because it had never been replaced, but we didn't want to remove the muffler's blankets to see it, because they would likely never go back on if the muffler was rusted. So we had to wait until we wouldn't be using the boat for awhile.

4) Would everything align? Would the old muffler fit out the existing opening in the stack? Could we get the new muffler in? Would a new muffler and parts work on a system designed over 21 years ago? What if we got all of the parts here, removed the muffler and the new muffler didn't fit?! So many questions!

Want to watch the fun beginning to end? Check out our YouTube video:

Ordering & Shipping

We ordered the muffler and all parts from Harco Exhaust in Newberg, Oregon. Pat checked and checked again, making sure that we would have the right muffler. Harco shipped it to Deko Marine in San Diego. Deko is a marine shipper who drives shipments from San Diego into all parts of Mexico for boaters, helping get them through customs through the proper channels.

I knew what week it was going to arrive in October, but was surprised when I was at the foot doctor and got a call saying the muffler was here but it was too big for them to leave at the marina office. So we agreed to meet in a parking lot 20 minutes away to have them put it in my car. It WAS giant. It took 3 guys to maneuver it into my rig.

Removing the Old Muffler

So now that we knew we had a replacement muffler, it was time to take the heat blankets off of the old muffler. So after we repositioned the boat to its winter home, we took a look behind the blankets....

The inside of the muffler blanket....it was done.

It wasn't pretty. Holes had rusted through, and rust covered the blanket, and now the floor.

Bolts were rusted solid in place.

So, Pat spent a few days spraying the bolts with penetrating oil, hoping to make them easier to remove.

It was messy work, trying to get those bolts off.

It didn't help.

So we called in the big guns....Ricardo and his team.

They worked at removing them for awhile, and then decided to take a grinder to the bolts. He cut all 16 of them off. It took 5 hours!

Bolts are off!

Removing the Old Muffler

Well, we knew this might be an issue. The muffler was a half inch wider than the opening. Meaning...they built the boat around around the muffler. So Pat had to cut the opening an inch wider.

Prepping for the New Muffler

Meanwhile, I spent a few days painting the new muffler with a heat resistant header paint. This will help keep it from rusting in the future (you're welcome future owners).

Gilligan the Fat Boat Cat is provided a quality check and overall supervision.

Lots of rust had to be cleaned off of the top and bottom base, to prep it for the new muffler.

We had to use a grinder to clean all the old gasket material off of the flanges.

All clean!

We used the hoist to remove the old muffler, bring the new muffler up to the upper deck and slide it in through the now-bigger-opening.

Once in, Pat used a high temperature liquid gasket between the gasket and muffler to fill in any imperfections on the flanges.

To align it all perfectly, once the bolts at the base were added, we had to rig a pulley ratchet system to pull the top of the muffler towards the aft of the boat. Then the holes all aligned! Finally, the top bolts were added.

Once assembled, we did a few cruises to heat cycle the system and tighten the bolts a few times. We also sprayed it with soapy water to see if air was escaping anywhere. Finally, we added the heat blankets and aimed the infrared heat gun at it to check for any hot spots. There were none!

Out on a test cruise - grates are not yet installed so we could tighten the bolts back at the dock.

Using a IR heat gun to check for hotspots.

Last step was putting the new and improved grate over the one inch bigger opening.

The old grate

The new grate made by Ricardo-the-Master-Welder, now covering the bigger hole.

We were prepared for all of the issues that came up and had great support around us to help. Pat's friend Greg from MV Adagio, N47 flew down to Mexico to help with install for 2 days, because he had done it a few years prior. Ricardo and his guys spent a day with me while Pat was out of town, removing the bolts and trying to remove the muffler. He also made the grate work perfectly when we were done.

We found other support form Bob Senter with Northern Lights along with Jay Flaherty and James Knight at Yacht Tech who answered a lot of technical questions for us. Lastly, our friend Marcos took our old muffler away to be recycled. So, thanks to everyone who helped out! Couldn't have done it without you!

Overall, we are happy with the outcome of this giant boat project, but we are glad we never have to repeat it!

Read more Noeta happenings at www.mvnoeta.com

Mexican Medical Care

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 17:45:00 +0000

Mexican Medical Care

Yesterday I had a cheilectomy surgery in a Mexican hospital. Due to arthritis in my big toe, and no soft tissue between my toe bones, I had developed a number of bone spurs on the tops of my toe bones, causing walking and daily activities to be very painful. A cheilectomy involves opening the toe, moving the tendon that attaches the bones and scraping off the spurs. I was in lots of pain yesterday, but today I'm much better moving from the hard drugs down to Advil.

Feeling just fine before I went in!

I need to stay off of it and keep it elevated for awhile.

We feel fortunate to live in a place where the health care is top notch, affordable, and easily accessible. Doctors often give out personal emails and WhatsApp numbers and reply directly to questions. There is no need to call a nurse who will play middleman. Medical staff is very professional without being pushy. As a family, we have used a variety of health care professionals and always been pleased.

How the Mexican health care system works

The Mexican government has established a comprehensive system for providing public healthcare to all its citizens, as guaranteed by their Constitution. The cost of public healthcare is partially or fully subsidized by the federal government, depending on an individual's employment status.

Funding for public healthcare comes from monthly contributions made by employees and employers to the IMSS (Mexican Institute of Social Security). Additionally, the federal government contributes funds raised through general taxation. A standard visit to a doctor's office typically costs around 400 pesos or approximately US$20.

Mexico's healthcare system comprises a combination of government-operated hospitals and clinics, as well as private hospitals. The cost of treatment is usually provided upfront, preventing unexpected large bills at the end. Surgeries and procedures typically cost about one-third of the price compared to those in the USA. Many doctors in Mexico are proficient in English, often due to their training experiences in the United States. The quality of care is generally excellent. However, there is a significant difference in hospital nursing care. In government hospitals, it is expected that friends and family will provide general bedside care, including meal service, as professional nursing staff may be limited.

We are fortunate in Banderas Bay to have a health professional, Pam Thompson, who helps foreigners find and schedule appointments with reputable private doctors and clinics in the area. Pam has helped us find many of the procedures below, including yesterday's surgery.

Medical Care We've Used in the Last 5 Years

Cheilectomy Toe Surgery

Cost in Mexico: $108,000 pesos = $6,300 USD - unfortunately the exchange rate has changed over the past few months - if I had done the procedure a few months ago $108,000 would have been closer to $5,400 USD.

Included in the cost: pre and post op appointments, surgery, anesthesia, anesthesiologist, all materials, hospital pre op and recovery room and nursing care, and follow up x-rays.

Cost in the States: Averages $5,000-$10,000 for just the surgery

Cardiologist

Cost in Mexico: $70 USD consult, including EKG.

I needed this appointment prior to my toe surgery to make sure I was fit to have the procedure. I was able to get an appointment in 2 days with an english-speaking heart surgeon.

Cost in the States: Average $200 USD - tests will add to that cost

Endoscopy

Cost in Mexico: $325 USD

Included in the cost: All pre op appointments, a follow up appointment with the doctor who gave me the diagnosis of H Pylori and color photos and CD of my procedure, medication, anesthesiologist, hospital recovery room

Cost in the States: $2000, before hospital fees/medication/anesthesiologist/ follow up appointments

Dental work

Cost in Mexico: $50 USD

Included in the cost: Check up with X-Rays. The cleaning is done by the actual dentist, not a hygienist, with state of the art technology. Fillings cost $50 USD each. It's easy to get same week and often times same day appointments.

Cost in the States: Average $125 for check up and cleaning - more for X-Rays

Pat - getting his teeth cleaned!

Dermatology

Cost in Mexico: $50 USD

Included in the cost: A one hour full body check up. Our dermatologist is harder to get appointments with because she is so popular, so we schedule in summer when all of the snow birds go home.

Cost in the States: Average $150 for initial consult

Podiatrist

Cost in Mexico: $20 USD consult, $40 USD cortisone shot, $25 USD laser treatment

Included in the cost: Hi-tech technology helps identify how weight is distributed on the foot. Over the years I've had cortisone shots, laser treatments and insoles made.

Cost in the States: $50-$300 USD for a consult

Lab work/X-rays

Cost in Mexico: blood type $15 USD, full work up $250

Included in the cost: Labs are wonderful here, in that you don't need an appointment or even a doctor's referral. If you think you need an X-ray or want to check your cholesterol level, you just go into a lab and ask for it. I did a full work up when I was looking into stem cell treatment and that included a Complete Blood Count (CBC) and SMAC test which is a regularly ordered group of tests that gives important information about the current status of your health including glucose or blood sugar levels, kidney function, cholesterol, sodium and potassium levels' and more.

Cost in the States: $50 - $1000 depending on what tests are performed - The full work up I did would have been over $600 USD in the states

Mammogram

Cost in Mexico:$100 USD

Included in the cost: Mammogram procedure with state of the art technology, immediately followed up with an analysis with a breast cancer doctor. This meeting included state of the art AI tech that could predict where one MIGHT show signs of cancer in the future. Fortunately I had no future indicators. Cost included a follow up MRI if the doctor thought it was necessary - which it wasn't for me.

Cost in the States: $150-$300

Stem Cell Treatment

Cost in Mexico: $1,250-$5,000 USD

Included in the cost: I looked into this before my toe surgery. I met with a surgeon, which cost me nothing for the consult. After looking at my X-Rays he determined I wasn't a good candidate because I did not have enough soft tissue in my toe joint. The stem cell treatment was going to be $1,250, but goes up to $5000 when you add the pre and follow up hyperbaric chambers, which are recommended for optimum healing.

Cost in the States: $5,000-$50,000

Clinics

We are fortunate in the region to have monthly clinics at reduced rates through Pam Thompson's programs. While she offers many each month, that include health care coverage, end of life decisions in Mexico, hip and knee clinics, eye clinics, dermatology clinics, hearing clinics and many more. We have attended (or will soon be attending) the following:

Shoulder Clinic- $50 for a consult with an orthopedic surgeon and x-ray analysis. The surgeon gave me a diagnosis and physical therapy to do at home.

Mens clinic- Full analysis for male related issues. This includes a prostate antigen test, abdominal ultrasound, chest X-Ray, EKG with interpretation, and a full blood and urine test among other tests. All with a bilingual physician. $300 USD

Cpr/first aid- This will be an English class next month - never hurts to review!

Ear clinic - This clinic was literally just to flush out the ear of built up ear wax! $25 USD

Mexico is especially popular as a medical tourist destination. People are drawn to the excellent quality of private care available at a more affordable rate than in many other regions. We will definitely be taking advantage of our access before leaving Mexico in a few years!

Invasion of the Flying Ants or a Gourmet Delicatessen?

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 18:22:00 +0000

Invasion of the Flying Ants or a Gourmet Delicatessen?

I opened the doors of the boat yesterday morning, after a night of torrential downpours from the remnants of hurricane Beatriz, only to find our deck covered in giant flying ants. Most dead, some on their wiggly way there. This has happened once a year, every year that we've been here, freaking me out the first time, but now we're used to the phenomenon.

Hundreds of dead and dying chicatanas on our boat and dock.

Gilligan had to inspect

Yesterday was the first annual appearance of the chicatanas. Chicatanas, also known as flying ants, are winged insects that emerge during the rainy season in various parts of Mexico, particularly in the southern regions. They are a delicacy deeply rooted in Mexican cuisine and have been a part of indigenous cultures for centuries.

Chicatanas joined me for an early morning swim!

These giant insects make their appearance in late spring and early summer, usually after a heavy rainstorm. When conditions are just right, their underground nests become flooded, prompting them to take flight in search of new territories. It's quite the spectacle to witness the sky filled with thousands of these flying insects. Unfortunately, many of them don't make it to a safe place as the heavy rain can damage their delicate wings, rendering them unable to fly properly. Dropping from the sky by the hundreds and thousands onto docks, boats, and in pools.

Chicatanas on the dock

Chicatanas are primarily collected by local communities, who see their arrival as a valuable food source. They are carefully gathered, cleaned, and sun-dried to remove moisture and preserve their quality.

We took this pic in an Oaxacan market. In addition to chicatanas, they also sold a variety of crickets and dried shrimp there.

In Mexican cuisine, chicatanas are used in a variety of dishes. One popular way to enjoy them is by roasting or frying them until they become crunchy. These crispy insects are often ground into a fine powder, which adds a distinctive nutty flavor and a hint of earthiness to dishes. The chicatana powder is then incorporated into salsas, moles, and other traditional recipes, enhancing their taste with a unique umami taste. We found them on most menus when we were in Oaxaca. Even tried them on the rim of our Mezcal drinks!

The rim of this mezcal-blackberry cocktail is chicatanas and tajin.

The first ingredient in our salsa being prepared at the table is crickets!

Additionally, chicatanas are sometimes used whole, adding a crunchy texture and an intense flavor to tacos, quesadillas, or even sprinkled over salads.

Gilligan is not a fan of this delicatessen.

So for now, we aren't collecting and eating, we just hose them off our boat until they come again next year.

T/T Noeta

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:48:00 +0000

T/T Noeta

T/T stands for "Tender To" as in the tender to a larger vessel. Sometimes called a dinghy, skiff, rowboat, inflatable, dory, along with other names. Whatever it's called, a dinghy is critical to a cruising boat. The term “dinghy” designates a huge variety of small boats. Dinghies may be rowed with oars, sailed with a removable mast and boom or powered by an outboard motor. They are typically 8-15 feet long and may have center consoles, drink holders, coolers, and benches with 25 hp outboards, or be simple inflatables with oars for rowing.

Noeta has two dinghies. Our original dinghy we bought for our Nordhavn 50 is a 11.6 foot with a Honda 30 hp outboard motor. We had blue chaps made for her to help protect her from the UV rays of the sun. She is a beast that can go 20-30 knots, hold lots of people, and is very civilized to drive with a steering wheel, bilge pump, drink holders, and folding bench seat.

Brand new canvas protects it from the harsh sun. When we were in Seattle and asked around for someone who could make dinghy chaps, people looked at us like we were crazy. Not a common feature on NW dinghies.

All of our dinghies have had painted outboard motor covers. Our middle child, August, is usually the one who paints them for us. We stand out in a crowd of dinghies and hopefully makes it less likely that it might get stolen.

Gilligan admiring the finished product.

But we had a problem with our sturdy, civilized dinghy. It was too big and heavy to land and drag up onto a beach. And since this is something we know we will be doing alot of, once we set sail, we got our second dinghy this year. It's a used Achilles 8.5 foot inflatable with a Yamaha 8 hp two-stroke outboard that we purchased from friends on Namahana. It weighs around 150 pounds with outboard and fuel...versus our bigger one that weighs almost 600 pounds.

Our new 'little' dinghy.

Immediately, we painted the outboard and put beach wheels on her.

Outboard painted and ready to go!

Then we had to try our first beach landing. These can be tricky with swells and waves. We didn't do too badly....but you be the judge...

But we made it! THIS is why we needed a smaller dinghy.

With a smaller dinghy, we needed a place to store her out of the water. We have an excellent stainless steel fabricator and welder here in La Cruz, and he designed us a removable aft dinghy davit.

This kiddo weighs 70 kilos - that's about the same as our new dinghy!

The final davit!

Most live aboard cruisers rely on their dinghy as a car to get them from their boat to shore. It is a critical piece of cruising equipment. We will be using it as our car one day, but for now, as live-aboards at a marina, our dinghies serve many other purpose.

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Helping Others

Because our dinghy is often in the water, it's fairly powerful, and we know many people in the area, we often get called when other boaters need help.

The Sea Shepherd captain asked me to use our dinghy to help the Brigitte Bardot turn to starboard as it exited the marina because it didn't have enough steerage at such a slow speed. My job was to push the bow to help her turn - basically working like a bow thruster. It worked, but was a little more exciting than I'd hoped! The video below shows it all!

After the Brigitte Bardot mission with videographer, Sandra, along for the excitement.

I was called by friends Mike and Kat to come help them to shore when their mast snapped as they were sailing in Banderas Bay. They were drifting in super choppy water and it took awhile to find them among all the whitecaps, but I did, and towed them, and their injured vessel, to shore.

Kat - cold and with a broken toe!

Safely back at the dock!

We heard a call on VHF to help with a friend's vessel that was drifting to shore. Its anchor line had snapped and no one was aboard. We raced to the boat with only time to get one line on a rail, but with the swell and breaking waves, we weren't able to pull her out to deeper water. Sadly, she ended up on the rocks. We spent the next week helping to salvage all that we could.

When out for one of our evening dinghy cruises, we were called over to see if we could help diagnose an outboard issue. In all, I think we had 8 people troubleshooting it.

Before the Sea Shepherd's boat could be sold, we needed to remove the old name and logo. In our trusty dinghy, my cousin Jamie and I battled the port side lettering with a heat gun and scrapers.

Each year, Mike from PV Sailing offers a free 'Shake it Out' seminar for any sailboats in the area. He has them sail while he circles their boats to tell them how best to trim their sails and suggests any changes to rigging. I took him out in the dinghy as he went from boat to boat giving guidance and suggestions. I learned alot!

Mike in action!

Our friends in this catamaran, Ruby Vi, only had one engine and had to make their way into this tight space. So I brought the dinghy to help keep them from drifting the wrong direction. It worked! They got in!

Trash Clean ups

As part of Sea Shepherd, we organized floating clean ups in the marina. A lot of trash flows into the marina from the bay and gets stuck in here. For many months, we had people join us on dinghies, kayaks, and paddleboards to help us help the marine life.

Everyone pitched in!

Never too young to drive a dinghy!

Our dinghy acted as the collection spot for all of the trash collected by others.

Gig Harbor friends, Timothy and Diana pitched in multiple times!

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Escorting Ships

Sometimes, only our presence was needed.

When we saw this boat enter the bay, we got excited and knew we had to escort them in! It's one of our sister ships Akeeva!

While we had never met Akeeva's crew in person, we knew we needed to. While we may have caused them to panic as we sped out to their boat, now we're friends with Sam and Ana and expect to cruise with them again.

Escorting the Brigitte Bardot out of the bay with my cousin Carson & Jamie on their dinghy WeeAnn - from LeeAnn.

We escorted Sea Shepherd's R/V Martin Sheen as she left for a research project in the islands. They were sent off with air horns and whistles!

One of our boat neighbors sadly passed away. We held a ceremony for him when his family came, to spread his ashes. We made a tribute video for Captain Ron.

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Social Gatherings

Our dinghy takes us to social gatherings, but also acts as a place for gatherings.

With cousin Carson and Jamie heading up the estuary in Nuevo Vallarta for dinner.

Based on the sleeves, this is a social gathering in Gig Harbor on our old dinghy (note the painted outboard here too)

When family comes in town, a dinghy cruise is a favorite.

Teen social gatherings were commonly brought together by teens in dinghies.

Cruiser conga line!

Cruiser Raft-up - we all brought appetizers to share!

Somewhere in Nuevo Vallarta's estuary

Gathering can include doggos too!

Cruiser friends from Avalon have it figured out!

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Neighborhood 'Walks'

We have been doing neighborhood 'walks' in our dinghy for as long as we've had dinghies, around 15 years. Often in the evenings and usually with a cocktail in hand. It's a great way to see who is in the neighborhood and say hi to the neighbors.

Gilligan usually joins us.

Sometimes the neighborhood includes the anchorage.

Cupholders are super handy for neighborhood 'walks'

Sometimes we could convince our younger kids to go with us.

Our oldest child Mikayla likes to join us!

Pat is dressed in his Christmas finest for this neighborhood 'walk'

Pat decides to take the kids on a field trip....under the Brigitte Bardot!

For now, our dinghies aren't exactly our cruising 'cars' as they are for most cruisers, but they certainly fulfill many purposes. Our cruising life wouldn't be the same without them!

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Read past Noeta articles HERE

Or find us on YouTube, Facebook & Instagram - MVNoeta

A 3-D Printer....On a Boat?!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 21:09:00 +0000

Why a 3-D Printer?

Many boats don't even cruise with a regular paper printer, and I went and got a 3-D printer!! Why? Well, besides the fact that it gave me a fun challenge, with a huge learning curve, I wanted to be able to print boat parts that would be otherwise difficult, or at times, impossible to get in whatever remote locations that we are. In addition, out last kiddo moved off the boat, so we had some extra space for the first time.

About 9 months ago I went to a cruiser workshop in La Cruz, Mexico where an engineer cruiser shared that he had a 3-D printer on board. He explained how it worked, the benefits of having one and that it wasn't for everyone, as there were a lot of steps to learn.

Cedar, sharing how he uses his 3-D printer on board.

Watching his 3-D Prusa printer at work. I was hooked!

I was familiar with 3-D printing, as we had one in my computer lab when I taught technology classes. The printer was always running while I was teaching, but I didn't give it much thought, as students were usually printing pencil toppers and small action figures. However when I learned that it could be a useful tool on the boat, I decided to give it a try!

My printer set up in my son's old room. There is the printer, with a spool of filament (plastic) on the top. Many of my printed items are on the wall and counter top.

What is a 3-D printer?

3D printers use Computer-aided design (CAD) software to create 3D objects from a variety of materials, like molten plastic or powders. 3D printers can come in a variety of shapes and sizes ranging from equipment that can fit on my boat to large construction models used in the making of 3D-printed houses. Mine is a Creality Ender 3 S1. It takes up about a 2 ft x 2 ft space on a dresser in our son's old room. It prints 220 mm x 220 mm x 270 mm and uses 100-120V, 220-240V, or 50/60 Hz.

Basically, it heats up a nozzle and the print plate as it feeds a spool of plastic filament through it. The plastic heats up and melts as the extruder lays it down on the plate layer by layer, based on the the CAD software's specifications. There are many different types of plastic. The most common, PLA, is actually a biodegradable material, made of cornstarch. However you can also print with wood-filled, electrically conductive and flexible plastics. On the boat, I have basic PLA filament, but also flexible (TPU) and the important ABS which is much stiffer and heat and UV resistant - good for plastics that need to be outdoors or in heated areas.

Prints can take anywhere from minutes to hours to print, fortunately the printer doesn't use much power. The average 3D printer with a nozzle at 205°C and heated bed at 60°C draws an average power of 70 watts. For a 10-hour print, this would use 0.7kWh. The electric power a 3-D printer uses depends mainly on the size of the printer and the temperature of the heated bed and nozzle.

Check out this YouTube video to see how it works! (not my video, just an example): https://youtu.be/m_QhY1aABsE

Trying to figure out how to get my new printer from Washington to Mexico last April.
It took up the whole suitcase!

What have I printed?

Honestly, during my learning period, I've probably made more things 'for fun', than for the boat. But as others around me have discovered what the printer does, I've had lots of requests for parts. Some items I have found in online sharing libraries of files and others I have created. These photos are pretty much in the order that I printed them, so they get better as they go along.

My very first print! The printer came with an SD card with a few 'first prints' to try. Notice, on the left, under the paws are support structures. When items have overhangs, like his paws, they need supports in order to print.

This is Benchy - a common first print for most first time users.

Hose nozzle

Carabiner clip

First thing I actually designed (simple I know). Pat needed spacers as he was assembling something.

One of my favorites - a hexagonal storage thing for cables

A bowl

A squishy ring

Paperclips and a bag clip

A wedge I designed for a screen in the pilot house, so it is angled up and we can see it.

An octopus phone stand.
who doesn't need one?

Mini trashcans - I use them next to my printer for scraps of plastic.

An articulated axolotl. One of my most requested items.
Named after an ancient Aztec god in Mexico

Well of course I had to try out the boat name on a keychain.

Things don't always work.
This was a trophy I made for a chicken wing cook off.
It had a weak spot near the base. But I finally got it right!

Sometimes things need supports to print. Made this Pokemon character for a boat kid. It needed supports to hold up the extensions. The supports just break off when done printing.

Boat kid request.

I can't say no to boat kids apparently.

A bracket and spacers to mount our Mac Mini in the pilot house.

Brackets for another box in the pilot house.

A shaggy Christmas tree. I'm not 100% sure this came out how it was supposed to.

I sell these at our marina market!

Made a flying spaghetti monster tree topper. It was the first time I experimented with using multiple colors on one print.

Made a cat food can topper for my friend's cats.

A boat neighbor brought me this broken Lewmar winch stripper ring - I had no idea what it was, because it's a sailboat thing. This size is a discontinued size, so he wasn't able to buy it anywhere. It took me a few tries, but I ended up printing him multiple rings in a variety of sizes.

In the prototype phase, I would just print part of the stripper, to check the size.

I love these articulated items. I did not design these, they were designed by someone much smarter than me.

A boat neighbor needed to replace the bushing on the left - I sent him home with the one on the right!

These little 'pizza box tables' were for a friend who has a freeze drying business and needed to stack lots of trays.

Pat needed a cover for his razor in his travel kit. This took 17 minutes to print.

A sliding bag gripper - keeps the bag airtight AND waterproof! I had bought some off of a friend and realized that I could probably make them! I did :)

My most recent print, was a Christmas gnome. I printed it in multiple parts so I could have different colors. With the beard, after I cut off the support, I used a heat gun to soften it and shape it.

He is one of my favorites!

What does one have to know?

This was a steep learning curve for me. Fortunately I had played with CAD software before, but I am definitely no expert. For many of my prints that I design, I have to print a prototype, make revisions and print again (and again) in order to get it just right. There are 3 main parts to this whole 3-D printing thing.

1) CAD software - There are many free version for hobbyists like myself, so that's where I'm at right now. For very beginners, tinkercad.com is a good starting place. I've watched a bunch of YouTube videos and played with the software for hours to get used to the 3-D movement, placement and creation. The software then saves as an .stl file so that the printer's software can read it.

CAD Software platforms- there are lots out there, here are 2 that I've used.

Tinkercad - free, simple, lots of tutorials, looks like it's for kids, but great for beginners

Autodesk Fusion 360 - more complex, does have a free version, more robust than Tinkercad

If you don't want to design an object, you can usually search for it online on sharing libraries. You can search brand names: iphone case, gillette razor cove, mac mini bracket - or just random searches like: shelves, gnome, Christmas, snake. Way smarter minds than mine have designed, and shared for free, some really great things on sites like:

thinkiverse.com

thangs.com

printables.com

2) Printer 'slicer' software - This is where I open up the .stl file in order to tell the printer what parameters to use. Do I want it filled solid or hollow or in between? What material am I printing with? Do I want supports? How fast do I want it to print? Once I've told the printer how to print, I save what's called the g-code to an SD card. I put that card in the printer and tell it to print!

Printer Slicer Software - you don't have to use the software that comes with your printer - they all have settings that work with multiple printers.

Ultimaker Cura - I used this one when I first started, easy to learn

Prusa - this is the one I use now, I've found it prints best with my printer.

3) The printer - The printer needs to be set up properly, maintained and sometimes fixed. I've had to take the printer head apart a few times, replace the nozzles, as they wear out, and troubleshoot dozens of times. Getting the print bed level is one of the most important, and sometimes challenging parts. Most of the time when something goes wrong, it's user error.

My bed wasn't level for this bendy fish, so I needed to work that out and print again.

Take 2 of the bendy fish - fixed it!

So, is it worth it?

With the cost of 3-D printers from $100 to $10,000, it depends on what you're using it for. While mine was under $400, the filament, nozzles and tools also add an expense. A 1 kg spool of PLA filament runs about $20, but I have yet to use a full spool, as most of these items weigh just a few grams. I suppose if I turn this into a business and print for other people, I could make that money back eventually. I would need to sell a LOT of keychains to break even. Right now, the value of the printer is printing the parts that are nearly impossible to find or source down here. It's also valuable to be able to create parts that don't exist, and spec them for our exact needs.

If you're thinking about trying it out, make sure you are ready for the learning curve (unless you're already an engineer or designer :), but the joy of finally getting a part right or making a boat kid smile, is pretty great!

2022 Nordhavn Film Festival - We Won!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 17:01:00 +0000

2022 Nordhavn Film Festival - We Won!

Three years ago, the video I entered into the Nordhavn Film Festival was a finalist, but was not an award winner. It was the video where we introduced the terms Noodle, Noggle, and Wannanoggle to the world. While we didn't win, the words took on a life of their own. We began seeing it in social media posts, others' videos and even coming from Nordhavn brokers and owners.

To see the birth of our unique Nordhavn vocabulary, check out our first film from 2019:
Flotilla, Fever & Smack : Collective Terms in a Cruising World

Blog Post from 2019 about the original Noodle film

Fast forward to 2021. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to enter the film festival again. It was open to all film makers around the world and I didn't think I could compete. However, over cocktails with N55 Red Rover, Alison convinced me that we should make a movie together. So over the next 9 months, across multiple countries as they left Mexico, through Panama and back up the other side of North America, hundreds of emails and messages, and lots of Starlink gigabytes, we finally settled on a sequel to the 2019 film. It was a new set of Nordhavn vocabulary called Nordipedia.

Having al pastor tacos with Alison and Kevin from N55 Red Rover

In September, 2022 we were announced as a finalist and made plans to attend the formal film festival event in Dana Point, California. It was a glamorous evening where we got to see many of our friends from other Nordhavns, and meet new ones.

On the red carpet!

Heading to the Nordhavn Film Festival!

The 10 finalist videos were shown. There were excellent videos of harrowing journeys, beautiful adventures, family vacations and following dreams. The judges had chosen the finalists and the winning video in each category: cinematography, documentary, and comedy. But the people in the room, around 200 or so, voted on the grand prize 'People's Choice' award after watching all 10 films. Dan Streech opened the Best Comedy envelope and said, "Oh I like this one, I think this is gonna be popular. I like this a lot. Nordipedia." We were thrilled to be called up as the winners of the comedy trophy and $2500.

Then, after the votes were tallied, after opening the envelope for the grand prize, they called our name AGAIN! This time for the grand prize award! This trophy was giant and so was the $10,000 cardboard check they handed us. After hundreds of hours, laughs and some technical frustration, we were grateful for this recognition.

Will the bank accept a check this size?

Winners of all film categories

Here is our winning video:
Nordipedia: An Encyclopedia of Nordhavn Vocabulary

To see the all of the evening's films AND the award ceremony at the end, check out Nordhavn's video here. At 2:36:00 is Dan Streech awarding us the Best Comedy Award. And at 2:46:23 is the Grand Prize announcement and Alison and I saying thank you (Alison is much better at this than I am :)

I am grateful to Alison and Kevin on N55 Red Rover for convincing me to create a film again, for helping collect footage from over 16 Nordhavns, and for endless creative ideas. Also grateful to the 'voice behind the film', Patrick for being patient with me when I asked him, yet again, to re-record dozens of lines. And a giant thanks to all of the owners who submitted and trusted us with footage, not knowing what we were doing with it. Thank you!

You may need to help explain what these terms are, so get yourself a Noodle t-shirt or tank top here: https://www.bonfire.com/store/noeta-merch-store/

Ideas for the next Nordipedia? Let me know, we're starting a list!

www.mvnoeta.com

Noeta Summer Update

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 16:12:00 +0000

For the first summer since we've been in Mexico, we are staying in La Cruz instead of heading to Paradise Village in Nuevo Nayarit. We've traded the multiple pools, potable water and weekly pump-out, for a quiet fishing village, weekly pool volleyball, Thursday movie nights and lots of local restaurants.

The anchorage that has 40-50 boats in the high season, has 2-3 sailboats right now. The village's restaurants are on summer schedules, closed some days and with shorter hours. The cruisers that stick around for the summer are a hardy group, dealing with the heat and humidity. And then there are the storms. The evening lightning storms are fantastic to watch and listen to. Sometimes we get caught in the downpours, other times, we just sit back, watch and have another drink. They are pretty amazing.

Quiet anchorage this time of year.

Ignacio the crocodile, Nacho for short, is also a summer resident this year.

Tropical thunder and lightning storms are common in the evenings.

The red shows lighting strikes in the last 15 minutes.
This was the most lighting-active storm we had every seen in the bay.

Kidless

For as long as we've owned boats, we've been a 'kid boat'. When we sent our youngest, Jack, to the States in June to get a job and live with grandpa before college, we began a new era. While we do miss having our kids around, the boat feels bigger, there is lots less laundry, I go to the grocery store a lot less, and it stays much cleaner. Here's to a new chapter!

Our last night in Mexico with our youngest, before he headed to the States.

Trips

We have managed a couple of trips so far this summer.

We went to Victoria, Canada for a Nordhavn rendezvous where there were over 67 Nordhavns. There were workshops, social hours and lots of cocktails involved. Our friends on Adagio let us stay aboard with them on their lovely Nordhavn, so it was kind of like being home. :)

Pat won a giant fuel bladder in a raffle.
It didn't fit in our carry on luggage. So it is waiting for us in Washington.

Next we went to Las Vegas to join my little sister at her company party. It was pretty over the top with hair and make up stations, IV Hydration station, manis, pedis and massages, barbershop, food and drink all included. Oh, did I mention we got to meet and see some amazing performers! Poolside concert with Bruno Mars, formal dinner with John Legend and DJ dance party with DJ Diesel (AKA Shaquile O'Neil).

Pat rented his first tux...EVER!

Shaq is a character....and pretty tall!

Meet & Greet with Bruno (not quite as tall as Shaq - he was standing on a box here :)

LOVED spending time with my sisters, mom and Mikayla!

Housesitting

For the first time in 5 years, we are short-term land-lubbers. We are house and cat-sitting for a friend's boutique hotel for the summer, while it's closed. It's just minutes from the marina where Noeta is and offers lovely storm viewing and a much-needed pool. Gilligan the Fat Boat Cat has adapted nicely to dirt, but is still a little skeptical of grass.

Not a bad view from the pool!

Gilligan and Ali deciding if they like each other.

The hotel gives a great view for storms.

Other Summer Events

*Summer Sailstice Umbrella Downwinder - In this event, you have to navigate around the marina to the finish line, using only umbrellas and wind. I came in pretty much last - that's what I get for not being a sailboater. If you want to see the event in action, check out the Video that my friend Sandra made!

Having a giant umbrella wasn't really an advantage - now we know

2 umbrellas sounded like a good idea -
but then I needed a hand to use the paddle as a rudder.

*Trash Clean ups - We do these pretty much every Saturday. This time of year it's extra important to get the trash off the beaches and out of the arroyos so the rain run-off doesn't sweep it out to sea.

We've got a great crew helping every weekend!

*Burger & Chicken Wing Cook Offs

The marina held 2 cook-offs this summer. While I didn't win any, Pat was pretty happy being my helper in the test kitchen. Ironically, the chicken wing cook-off was won by a vegan restaurant who made up a cauliflower wing...

I made bacon, bleu cheese sliders on homemade buns!

Tasty garlic parmesan wings with bleu cheese in cups I made on my 3-D printer
(more to come about the printer soon!).

*Eli visit

Our son Eli came to visit with Megan, his best friend from elementary school. We spent a week cruising, eating tacos, reminiscing and getting him a tattoo kit set up on the boat.

Al pastor and mango margaritas at Pancho's Takos - yum!

Took this just before getting caught in a downpour

The new tattoo on Pat's shoulder was drawn by Eli, but tattooed by a local veteran artist.
Here Eli is touching up a tattoo on Pat's finger.

Dolphins on the bow!

*Emergency at Alamar

One evening just as we were making cocktails on the boat, we heard an urgent call for help on the VHF radio. A gentleman in a nearby apartment complex was extremely ill and couldn't get up to reach a phone, but he had a hand-held VHF radio within reach. He needed a way to communicate to the security in his building. A few cruisers responded, but we had a car and I knew where the complex was, so we sped up there. We notified security who let us in, and then hurried up to his apartment. Another security guard met us there, but we couldn't get in the locked door. We could still communicate with him on the radio, but the man needed an ambulance quickly. With no key to enter, as the ambulance was on its way, Pat nearly shattered the glass on the door with a fire extinguisher. But at the last minute, the man was able to crawl to the door to let us in. Shortly after, a very efficient paramedic team arrived from Punta Mita along with another couple who knew the man and his family. While taking his vitals, his blood pressure crashed and he lost consciousness. They got him in the ambulance and sped off, with the other couple following him. We found out the next day that he had gotten severe food poisoning from ceviche. He had become completely dehydrated. Happy to report that he is home and better now. A couple things learned - 1) the hospital and paramedics from Punta Mita are efficient and did a great job 2) don't eat ceviche in the summer months - the sea water here is just too warm and 3) keep a handheld radio charged and nearby.

As a side note, all of the community that heard and responded to the call were concerned and willing to help however they could. Most of us did not know the man, but in a tight-knit community such as ours, people do the right thing and help. It was encouraging to see the support.

*Working

Pat and I continue to work, him by commuting weekly to Los Angeles, and me (part-time) as an online educational consultant for Edgate. While Pat is off flying airplanes, I write lesson plans, align educational courses and texts to state standards and do other contract work revolving around education. We have a few more years of this setup, while the kids finish college. But there are worse places to be stuck working!

*Projects

We have dozens of projects on our list for the summer. Here are some of what we've accomplished so far:

We had a local welder help us design and create a new boarding ladder. This one is better for diving and can be released from the water. Of course since we're drilling holes back there, we will also be adding a new cockpit shower and some handrails too.

We recently installed Starlink and it is fabulous. It allows us to access satellites to bring high speed wifi into the boat. It's a game changer.

We added a new decorative wall behind our stove. Previously it was mirrored (like the sliding doors), but we used a peel and stick tile to brighten the place up a bit.

We changed our homeport from Boise, ID to Gig Harbor, WA. We still need to do it on paper, but the boat is ready to go!

You can also see the new ladder in this pic!

Summer is just part way over, so there are still plenty more projects to do, visitors to visit and trips to be had. Here's to hoping you are having a productive and enjoyable summer too!

Christmas Card....in March

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 20:37:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I gave you all a basic update about what the Noeta crew and family have been up to. So, we'll pretend this post is like the Christmas card you get from your Aunt Judith telling you all about her kids, grandkids and puppies....but in March. So here goes:

A unique photo op....four 50 foot Nordhavns all in Banderas Bay!

Patrick: Over the past year, in addition to flying out of Mexico each week for work, Pat has done a BUNCH of boat projects. We are finally to the point where we spend more time (and money) on making the boat better, instead of just fixing things that are broken (of course we're doing that too). Some of the projects include:

Replacing all of our solar panels with two 405 watt panels.
Rewired the boat with Victron solar controllers, a Victron cerbo gx, and a new multiplus inverter/charger. That's a lot of things to make sure we have and can track our solar usage.
Replaced deck lights.
Installed fuel flow monitors on the main engine. Now we know how much fuel we are burning. In the few short cruises we've made since install, we are burning an average of just under 3.8 gallons an hour at 1400 RPMs, which is our coastal cruising speed - that would take us around 3,300 miles on one full fuel tank.
Got to fix a broken raw water hose on the Yanmar wing engine. When the wing engine was turned on and the hose split, there was a geiser of water that drenched the aft part of the engine room. So there was some additional clean up.
He also had the fun job of replacing a super sucky Raritan toilet.
Our box freezer in the pilot house died (after 20+ years), so we replaced that.
Installed a smartplug internet cable. Now the dock fiberoptic internet cable has a plug outside the boat rather than having to come through the door.
Repainted the bottom paint and renewed the smiley face on the bulbous bow.
Replaced the generator start battery.
Changed the oil on the main engine, generator & wing engine.
Changed the generator coolant.

It's not all work for Pat. We celebrated his birthday with a hilarious drag show, had friends visit and we still manage to sneak in beach, dock and drinks every so often.

Sawing through the fuel hose...yikes!

Pat isn't always smiling in the engine room.

Our old freezer. We put it at the top of the dock with a note saying it ran but didn't chill. It was gone 20 minutes later. Mexicans are pros at repairing and reusing.

New freezer going in. Phew! It fits!

Drinks were earned!

Celebrating Pat's birthday dinner with friends Greg and Kari.

Pat looks great in his new feather boa!

We had front row seats for Hedda Lettuce's show, Raunch Dressing!

Another lovely evening for docktails!

A royal send off for RV Martin Sheen as she leaves the marina.

Alexa: I spent much of last year volunteering for Sea Shepherd, the marina and for community events. As an onshore volunteer for our region, I help as Sea Shepherd boats as they pass through the area. Sometimes I run to grocery stores for crew, other times I work at Sunday market selling merchandise. I pick crew up from the airport, mail packages, help at informational movie nights and connect crew with workers from town. It has been super satisfying to help the conservation and educational cause. While our most recent ship, research vessel Martin Sheen, has taken off, I'm sure another ship will show up and hopefully need some help. If you want to read more about what the Sea Shepherd is doing in Mexico, watch National Geographic's Sea of Shadows (HULU, Amazon Prime, National Geographic) or read a recent article here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/tiny-vaquita-numbers-less-than-10-can-they-be-saved

After two seasons of selling merch at the La Cruz market, we've got it dialed down! It's a great opportunity to talk with people about ocean conservation.
(Photo cred: Sandra Roussey)

Monthly floating trash clean up day - RV Martin Sheen in the background.
(Photo cred: Sandra Roussey)

Lots of beach and marina trash pick up days.

It's not all Sea Shepherd. Here I'm leading a workshop on how to publish a book.

And working with the marina to collect and distribute Christmas gifts for the kids at Manos de Amor orphanage.

I also get to help manage and sell merchandise for our local crocodile sanctuary.

Cleaning up the arroyo with an awesome group of volunteers!

This is about half of the trash we collected in one hour :(

Helping demonstrate how to get into and use a life raft in an emergency situation.

This is a 4 person raft - with 8 kids in it :)

Our friends Kevin & Alison have dubbed me 'La Cruz Concierge'.
While I don't have ALL the answers, I can usually help people find what they need in the region.

No big cruising trips for us right now, but we do get out in the bay and cruise about once a week.

Mikayla: Our oldest child, who lives near San Francisco, has been rocking the Science world. She is a senior research associate working with Frontier Medicines. The company's site says they enable "breakthrough medicines for patients by unlocking the proteome to small-molecule interventions against otherwise undruggable disease-causing targets." That's super smart Science people language to say they are working to create medicines for patients who are 'undruggable,' meaning they don't react to medications in the way they should. Mikayla is also first author on two papers about black widow spider silk and third author on yet another paper. She has an amazing group of friends and comes to visit us in Mexico any chance she gets.

Senior Research Assistant Mikayla!

Mikayla and Gilligan out for a dock walk

Dinghy Cocktail cruise with Mikayla!

I got to spend my birthday with Mikayla and Jack in San Francisco!

Birthday pics at grown-up-Chuck-e-Cheese!

Eli: Eli is our middle child. Many of you knew him as Hailey. He has changed his name and now identifies as male. We are incredibly proud of him for following his true identity and while we know there are challenges ahead, they are nothing compared to the struggles he felt as the wrong gender. Eli has been taking mostly art courses at Whatcom College in Bellingham and looking for work (anyone have any leads?). He plans on graduating with a degree in Visual Communications next year, then we'll see where life takes him. We have also printed a collection of Eli's art on merchandise for our little Mexican town. Right now we sell shirts and stickers at a local store, and a variety of other La Cruz (and Gilligan) items on Redbubble. Check it out!

Our son, Eli.

If you don't have a copy of Gilligan the Fat Boat Cat, it's on Amazon!
Illustrated by Eli! If you've read it, please leave us a review!

Drinks with my son!

Two of Eli's designs

Selling shirts at outdoor movie night.

Eli's designs for La Cruz stickers. You can get some from our boat or here!

Jack: Jack, who turns 18 this month, is still on the boat, finishing up his senior year of high school. He also just registered for his final quarter of community college at Tacoma Community College. He will finish high school in the Spring with both his high school diploma and his Associate's Degree. Such a huge feat! In the Fall, he will start at Boise State University, where he has joined the Games, Interactive Media, & Mobile Tech (GIMM) department. We are super excited for him.

Jack, making french fries by hand for a local fundraiser.

Jack is the oldest 'kid' in the Kids Club in La Cruz.

Restaurant take-over night.
The Kids Club raised money for the local orphanage and the crocodile sanctuary.

His senior pictures were in Boise....not Mexico :)

Boise snow....

It's like a tuxedo shirt....but for Mariachi bands.

Go Broncos!

Gilligan: Our Fat Boat Cat is now almost 5, having lived his whole life on boats. He spends the majority of his day sleeping and eating. He has not had any accidental swimming events in the last 12 months (knock on wood) and usually stays on or near Noeta.

Gilligan shouting about the whale in the background.

Out for a dinghy ride

Gilligan has a new friend!

He's pretty pleased with the box for the new freezer.

Perhaps not so pleased about the new hat.

What's Next: Well, we are house/hotel sitting for a lovely boutique hotel during its off season this summer in La Cruz. It's just minutes away from where we dock the boat. We will struggle through having a beachfront infinity pool, big shower and all that space. We got ourselves foldable electric bikes so we can zip back and forth between the hotel and the boat, so we won't miss her too much. It's a perfect time for Pat to tear apart the boat for more projects. We got Gilligan a GPS cat tracker, so we can keep an eye on him - he's never been a land-lubber cat with outdoor freedoms. He will see a whole new world. In June we will send our last kiddo off to get a job, a driver's license and for college! We will be empty-boaters! As much as I will miss having my kids around, I'm also really excited for the next stage of life.

This will be our view for the summer!!! Doesn't suck!

While it's a little late to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, let's just say I'm 9 months early for wishing you the best next year.

Leaving Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta.

Cliché warning...It's Not Goodbye, It's See You Later

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 04:42:00 +0000

One of the greatest things about this lifestyle is meeting people from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe. People come and go. Some come back again and others are gone for good. You have a few meals, enjoy some docktails, tell some sea tales, and make connections. Then you say "fair winds" as you each cruise away knowing you may or may not cross paths again. We have met and enjoyed being with hundreds (thousands?) of cruisers at this point.

But every once in awhile, some people come along that are 'your people'. You just click. Everything about them works. For us, this was the family of catamaran Ruby Vi. It started with a simple invitation....

On a Facebook group called Kids4Sail, once a month we have a Roll Call to see where in the world all the cruiser families are. In April 2021 I noticed a post from Molly that said they were in La Cruz for a short while with their two teen boys. I jumped at the chance to say hi, since finding teenage boys is a challenge in the cruiser world. Little did I know, that connection would lead us to 'our people'.

"For some quick haul out work"😂....
cruiser plans are written in the sand at low tide.

They, Molly, John, Wyatt (17) and Hudson (15), stopped by for docktails that evening and Pat and I both immediately realized that we 'clicked' with these people. Not only did they have teen boys on board, but they were our age, had been live aboard cruising about the same time as us and in many of the same places, had been educators, and spoke excellent sarcasm. We even realized we had lived in the same areas at one point, and that Molly and I had maybe coached AAU basketball against each other! Even fundamental concepts like our views on religion, politics and Covid were aligned. We had finally found 'our people'.

One of numerous nights out with Molly and John.

Over the next 7 1/2 months, we chose not to house-sit an amazing waterfront home so that we could be in the same marina together. We played bocce, had potlucks, searched for baby turtles, shared tools, solved boat issues, and ate a lot of tacos.

We got our bocce set out for the first time since we started cruising thanks to John!

John introduced us to the Scorzie -
a drink koozie that doubles as a score keeper for bocce (or golf, or cornhole or pingpong...whatever!)

~When they rescued a baby whistling duck (and a grackle, and a baby raccoon and a parakeet), we got to be along for the ride and learning.

This is Rose, a whistling duck that Ruby Vi rescued at just a couple of days old.

We all love Rose and her whistling, outgoing personality.

Rose lived with Ruby Vi for a few months while she grew stronger, learned to fly and became a part of their family.

Once she grew older, she needed a permanent home.
Our friends Cat and Mike took in Rose where we are able to visit her and watch her grow up.

~When hurricane Nora hit and I was without power, they didn't hesitate to run over to Noeta in the driving rain and wind to help me out.

~When they had to put their sweet family dog, Bear, to sleep, I was honored to be there for logistics, family recovery and to place loving Bear's photo on our Día de los Muertos altar.

Oh Bear 💕

Nap time for Rosie and Bear

~When I wanted to compete in a triathlon, they jumped (not entirely enthusiastically) and agreed to join me.

The before picture

~When we'd go out to dinner, the boys would find their own space, speak the same teen-boy language and disappear as soon as they were finished.

~When their boat had engine trouble, we got to be their dinghy bow thruster.

~When our older boys both got acceptance letters into college in the same week, we celebrated with a night out.

Boat school seniors in high school! Accepted into college!!

~When it was the fourth of July, they made us jello shots.

But, it's time for the Ruby Vi crew to have a new adventure. They are selling their boat and leaving Mexico.....today. As I write this post teary-eyed, I know that we will see each other again, but I also know this is the end of a unique time in our cruising life with our kids. Our sarcastic, witty group text strings will continue, but the easy taco-get-togethers with this wonderful family have come to an end.

We wish Molly, John, Wyatt and Hudson the very best as they discover new places and meet new people (none as excellent as Noeta crew, I'm sure). We look forward to visiting them wherever in the world they end up. We will follow their boys' future with enthusiasm. And we will miss them very, very much.

This, it turns out, is one of the hardest parts of cruising. Fair Winds Pennell family.

Our waiter getting creative with his photography.

They became friends with our family from SV LeeAnn

Ruby Vi's last visit with Rose.

John, sporting his Noeta birthday present...
looks like it will come in handy soon.

Ruby Vi's final day in Mexico

And they're off!

We Have Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 23:21:00 +0000

Many of our pictures and posts on social media show palm trees, beautiful blue water, dolphins and smiling faces. There is a dark side to living aboard a boat however. And those pics don't always make it to Instagram and Facebook. So here is an honest look at our last month. It was a month that caused lots of eye rolls, a few bruises and scrapes and a huge amount of sailor-type words from the captain.

We started off strong by finally finding and fixing a leak we had had for about a month that had nearly caused a boat fire (read that story HERE!) It turns out, the leak that was dripping down the wall and window in our salon was coming from a navigation light 25 feet away above the pilot house door. Pretty spectacular route for the water to take!

Look where the water entered the boat vs where it came dripping down the window! We spent WEEKS sealing rail mounts and drains above the leak....not necessary it turns out. Pat sealed the gap behind the navigation light and now we're all dry inside!

We celebrated finding the leak, toasted ourselves for fixing it and apparently tempted the Gods with our pride....it went downhill quickly...

Saturday Aug 28th - Hurricane Nora arrived in Banderas Bay. We were tied up tight and tucked in behind buildings, so only our boat only ever saw 25 knots of wind. Then the power went out. By itself, this is not a biggie. We live on a boat and have batteries and a generator. Pat was working in the States (surprise!), so I was in charge. No problem, I went to start the generator only to not have it not come to life. I texted boat neighbors Molly & John from SV Ruby Vi to help troubleshoot with me and they immediately arrived soaking wet to help (as good boater friends do). We discovered the battery for the generator was dead. It was reading 10.8 volts on the panel. The load meter later confirmed what we knew…0% life. We tried to jump the battery with a jumper/charger from our car, but the charger was dead (note to self, charge the battery charger before a storm.) Solar wasn't going to be any help because we were in the process of replacing our panels and updating the system. We finally got Pat on the phone after he landed the plane and he told us to go ahead and start up the boat to charge the house batteries. We did that. While we were sitting around talking about the generator, Noeta's engine shut down. Silence. Pat, who is on FaceTime, states the obvious, "The engine doesn't shut down unless there is a problem with the fuel or air intake. Show me the fuel manifolds." So I walk his digital face down to the engine room and he immediately realizes that the engine isn't getting fuel. Oops. Last time fuel was transferred from one tank to another, the handles didn't get turned back in the right position, likely due to some boat project that popped up, interrupting Pat's train of thought. Therefore, the fuel manifold did not get reset for normal operation. The engine had no fuel. Well, we still had batteries and, while we would have liked to run the air conditioning since windows and doors were closed to the rains and winds, we could survive on a boat for quite awhile without external power. However, our updated hurricane prep list now includes, charge all chargers, test the generator, and start the boat.
August 29th - Early in the morning, the power came back on. For some reason the inverter breaker had tripped when it returned, so I had to crawl into the bowels of the boat to flip that breaker.

This is the inverter. Accessing it was a challenge because the storage space I normally would have crawled into was full of stuff we'd pulled off the decks for the hurricane.

August 29th - For some reason, the refrigerator had lost power, which it shouldn't have as it is powered by both ac power and the batteries when the power goes out. Now I had a ton of food to throw out. Pat (still out of town) then told me to remove the charger from the generator battery. Not something I'd done before, and I was exhausted, but he said "Remember the 46?", and that got me motivated to figure out how to remove the charger. To read about over-charging a dead battery, a sulfur smell and near disaster, read what happened on our old boat HERE. So I figured out how to remove the charger from the battery.

One of the cables to the charger is the small red one here. Not complicated, just new to me.

August 31st - This is one of those eye-roll moments. Jack informs me that his toilet seat broke. Not sure how...it just broke. Fortunately, we had just bought a new toilet and actually had a spare seat. Alexa has now learned to replace a toilet seat!
How do you break it here?!

Jack said, "Who has a spare toilet seat!?"
Me, apparently!
August 31st- The battery state of charge (SOC) temperature module is stuck at 50°f. The temperature helps the charger determine how much juice to put into the battery. No idea why it's not working.
August 31st- The Maretron display in the master berth stopped working. Not critical, just shows weather, depth and other data. But Pat had just bought and installed it a couple of months ago. Ugh!
Sept 1st-3rd - We bought new solar panels and Pat finished the install. Technical details for those who want it: We installed two 405w solar panels that are hooked up to separate Victron 100/50 MPPT controllers. We are in the process of upgrading our inverter/charger to a Victron unit that will all be integrated and they will be able to talk to each other via a Victron Cerbo GX.
On/Off solar panel switches that Pat assembled and installed.

Power leaves the solar panels through these wires.

We've got 2 installed!

The MPPT controllers that convert and optimize solar energy to charge the batteries.
September 4th - We bought and installed a new generator battery and reconnected the charger. We had to remove one of the main starting batteries in order to access the generator battery, while wiggling into tight places with sharp corners. But the generator works now! Then we bled the engine to get fuel back into her. Engine works! All is well again.
See how the dead battery we returned has handles?
Yeah, the new one we bought didn't have handles....
September 5th - We occasionally get a weird power surge. We notice it when all of the boat's fans slow down for a moment. It could be connected to the fridge problem, could be the bilge pump filter needs cleaned, maybe something with the new solar, we're not sure yet.
Sept 8th - 10th - Jack gets up in the morning to tell me that he thinks the cat peed on the steps the night before - he had cleaned it up, but there had been something gross on the steps to his room. This is not something the cat had ever done, so I went to check it out. The spot Jack referred to was directly outside the hole for a manual pump handle that is for some of our critical sewage plumbing (yep, this is gonna get gross). Upon closer inspection, there had been a major leak of raw sewage from our septic system. Guess what? Pat was out of town (you're shocked, right?). As I dug deeper (with mask, goggles and gloves), I discovered a manual macerator pump with a failed plastic seal. This is a pump that we had never actually used, but was there if we had need to pump poo off the boat with a handle. It turns out, all of our sewage passes through this pump, and over 20 years, had worn the seals out.

I realized I could bypass the pump by removing the hoses from both sides and connecting them directly. By this time, Pat was able to talk and agreed this was the best plan of attack. However, it was a Wednesday. This is critical because on Thursdays the marina kindly pumps out our septic tanks. Our tanks were pretty full and I was worried that, depending on what direction everything was flowing, I could potentially remove the hoses only to empty the tank into my face. So I wisely decided to wait until Thursday.
The 2 circled parts are what I needed to remove....the black pump is full of crap.
Pat was due to come home Thursday afternoon....I contemplated leaving this for him, but I knew I could do it (even though I really didn't want to). So....Thursday morning, gloves, mask and eye protection back on, with a fan blowing in my face, I proceeded to separate the hoses from the pump.
Note the tight space...also good to note, the red stair lights work (that matters later).

I needed to use a heat gun in order to loosen the tubing - imagine the smell of a really hot sun heating up a giant pile of old crap - yep, it was gross). At least I was in a cramped space. I was pleasantly surprised (can I say that when writing about s#!t?) to find that not much leaked out. I attached the now-separated warm hoses, tightened the hose clamp and 'voila', Alexa is now a plumber! I put duct tape over all of the holes of the failed pump and then took a long shower. Pat was thrilled that I had joined the ranks of poo patrol.
I did it! Minimal mess, but lots of stink!
Sept 10th - Remember the picture above with 2 working red lights? Because with every step forward, a few have to go the other direction. Now the light on the stair doesn't work. Apparently I had disconnected the wiring on the stair light during my soiree into sewage. It needs a new connector.
Sept 10th - Pat arrived home quite pleased with not having to wrestle with sewage hoses only to realize that his recently installed solar panels weren't working as expected. He realized the panels needed blocking diodes. Our solar panels have bypass diodes but not blocking diodes. A diode is like a check valve in plumbing. They allow the power to flow one direction. So at night when there is no solar energy, the batteries were actually powering the solar panels ever so slightly. So we turned off the solar - to be fixed another day.
Sept 11th - So here we are 2 weeks after hurricane Nora and our refrigerator is still warming up at random times. Pulling the fridge out to look at the back was no simple task of course. But we managed it, vacuumed the coils, took pictures of the components and put it back in place.

The control panel that we think might be the culprit.

Sept 11th - This is just a fun tidbit to show you that I was doing more than just boat projects over the last month - I went to baby shower for a local Mexican friend where guests had to shoot shots of tequila if they crossed their legs. Baby showers here are not quite what I'm used to. I had to drink a few times.

Baby showers in Mexico are more like bachelorette parties - this is a banana speed eating game....

Quite the set up for the fiesta!

Sept 12th - Well, Pat headed off to work again. So of course, after I do the dishes, as I run the garbage disposal, water starts shooting up out our second kitchen sink onto the counter and floor. Now my sinks are partially filled with dirty water. With Pat in an airplane, I headed to Google. I discovered I likely had a clog in the drain - pretty common on sinks with garbage disposals. I removed the hose from the garbage disposal to drain the sinks into a bucket.

Ewww....this was in my sinks and drain...

After I reconnected everything, I attempted using a plunger on one sink while covering the other drain. I dumped hot water down the drain. I made a concoction of Borax, vinegar and baking soda to get a bubbly chemical reaction down the drain. I borrowed my neighbor's plumbing snake and sent it down the drain for a good 2-3 feet, but no luck.

I just happened to have a flat never-been-used plunger!

Glad to have neighbors with useful tools!

Once Pat landed, he suggested trying to snake it from the outside "There's a hole right outside the galley window". It turns out there are 4 holes outside the window. Once I determined which one to venture into, I sent the snake up into the drain. Visualize me, lying on my side on a hot dock, wrapped around the power box, trying to hold the fender off of the hole, while the boat moves about, and shoving a snake up the drain. (Fortunately there are no pictures of that). After some stabbing and quite a few curse words, out came a big cake of coffee grinds and other small remnants of foods I don't think we've ever eaten. I don't even drink coffee! When did we have quinoa? But the sink drains again!!

Part of what came rushing out....a cake of coffee?

September 13th - I was very happy to leave the boat for a few days to move our daughter into her new apartment for college. It couldn't have been simple though - I busted my suitcase. But hey - no plumbing was involved!
September 16th - While talking to Jack on the phone, he informs me that the ceiling fan in the salon stopped working. Excellent, a project for when we return!
September 18th - Pat installed blocking diodes on the solar panels. They work now! Our 405w solar panels didn’t have the blocking diodes installed, but they only cost us $150 USD each - way cheaper than you can get in the U.S.
September 19th - Not a boat problem, but my car is making crunching noises when turned hard to left or right. Added some power steering fluid to see if that would do the trick. It didn't.
September 20th - Microwave turntable doesn’t work. Ok, this is an old issue that is low on the list, it hasn't worked in awhile, but since we're complaining about boat projects....
Sept 20th- Last night the dryer worked, today it doesn't. So I went off to the laundromat while Pat troubleshot this one. It took some time to analyze the access to the dryer. It sits in the stairwell (near the now non-functioning macerator pump), but would need to be disassembled to remove it. After trying to access it from the stairs, the cupboard above it and the bookshelves, Pat finally found a way to the back of the dryer through a cavity in the bathroom. Of course. He reached out to the Nordhavn Owner's Group (NOG) to see if anyone had any suggestions. "Press the reset button" they said. In the manual, it shows the button on the back of the dryer. Not there. So Pat, after turning off the power breaker, removed the back of the dryer. Ta-dah! There was the button. Again, visualize Pat, on the counter in the bathroom, wedged into a 1 foot wide cavity, with tools to remove the back of the dryer (sorry - no pics again.) Pat, after pressing the button, turned on the breaker to test it and it worked! We LOVE simple fixes! As Pat reached in to replace the metal backing of the dryer, he heard a 'zzzzt' and the power on the entire boat went out. He forgot to turn the breaker off to the washer/dryer in his excitement. Note to self/Pat…Probably should have turned the breaker back off before replacing the back. He had shorted out the boat's power. He was lucky he didn't get shocked. "We" had never tripped the 50 amp main shore power before, so we weren't quite sure where to find that switch. After some research, he found it hiding in an upper cubby in Hailey's room, along with the breaker for the AC. Good to know!
At least it was a nice place to get some work done!
Sept 20th - Pat replaced the non working Maretron screen with a new Furuno FI70 display in the master berth.
We can now see data from the bed again- so exciting!
Sept 21st -I had company coming the next day, so I defrosted the freezer so we could fit more ice for cocktails. Once I put it all back together, it wouldn't get cold again. I was afraid I had destroyed the freezer plate with the ice pick, but we had no leaks. This is a different unit than the other one that was having a hard time. It has a freezer drawer on top and a fridge drawer on the bottom. Welp, couldn't fix it now. We crammed all of our drinks into our small main fridge and bought ice for cocktails. Problem solved (temporarily)!
Sept 23rd - It was time to try and fix the freezer. Removing this unit took lots of screwdrivers, drilling holes in the teak, and removal of earthquake straps (in a 2 foot space).Pat was pretty sure it was a problem with a failed power controller. At least he hoped that was the issue, since we had a spare. Once we problem solved the placement of the connectors on the control panel, we heard it start up! Fridge fixed! We filled our ice cube trays back up!

Never easy to remove appliances on a boat.

Since one of our guests was an engineer, Pat had help troubleshooting - Thanks Jack!

September 25th - We seem to have a fresh water leak somewhere in the boat and can't pinpoint where it is. The water just drips into the bilge, and then is pumped overboard. But occasionally throughout the day our water pump runs. We'll find it one day.
September 26th - A gecko fell out of the vent above Pat's pillow and landed on him just before he fell asleep. We got him scooped up and placed outside.
Sept 28th- Pat and I enjoy taking evening dinghy cocktail cruises. We went out to start her up and the dinghy didn't turn over. The battery had died. What is it with us and batteries?! Pat checked the levels and sure enough, it wasn't salvageable. Off to buy a battery at Auto Zone. In addition, Pat ordered a solar powered battery charger to keep on the battery for when we aren't using it much.
Sept 29th - Late at night, as we were going to sleep, we hear a loud 'thud' above us. I got up to investigate. A ceiling panel in the pilot house had fallen, knocking things off of counters as it came down. The panels are hung with velcro which we are in the process of replacing. The next morning we replaced the velcro on that panel.
Early October - I decided I would try to fix the non-functioning turntable in the microwave while Pat was out of town. I watched a YouTube video, had a spare motor and was pretty sure it should just take a few minutes. But since it's a boat project, it took the removal of 4 supporting boards, 87 screws, a stripped screw head, lubricating grease, duct tape and around 4 hours.
It took 2+ hours just to remove it from its perfectly tight space.

The motor that took about 32 seconds to replace.

The side project of fixing the ducting.
Because every boat project turns into 2-5 others.

But I was successful! With Jack's help, I returned the appliance back into it's form-fitting cubby and we now have a rotating microwave turntable!

And in other news last month....

Did I mention, I have to wear cheaters now!? Gah!!!

And I managed to kill my cousin's tomato plant!? :(

Meanwhile, what you all saw on social media were the smiles and palm trees:

Volunteering at the spay and neuter clinic.

Heading out into the bay with Mikayla and friends to find dolphins.

Moving Hailey into her new apartment.

A lovely dinner with my cousin, Tanis and her husband Michael.

Delivering donations for victims of Hurricane Nora.

So remember, there is always another side to people's social media lives - and this is ours. Constant boat projects. We hope that the happy times outweigh the rough times for you and yours, like they do for ours. And in case you're keeping track, we still have a leak somewhere in the boat, my car still makes a horrible noise, we get weird power surges and our temperature sensor is stuck at 50 degrees.

Read more about our 'fun' times at www.mvnoeta.com

*As a side note...I do realize that we are fortunate (or not?) to have some of these luxury things that are giving us headaches. Dryers, cars, microwaves, macerator pumps, freezers, garbage disposals, and extra displays are not items that are found on all boats. The more you add, the more issues you will encounter.

It Always Goes Sideways When Pat is Gone: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 19:51:00 +0000

In this episode, what do a fire extinguisher, rice and a vase of flowers have in common?
Read on!

While I could be writing Part 287 of 'It Always Goes Sideways When Pat is Gone', I simply don't have time to write about all of the $h!t that goes off the rails while Pat is out of town. Don't get me wrong, things still fail, break, malfunction and act up while he's home, but it all seems compounded when my learning curve is so much greater. If you'd like to read part 1 that includes high water alarms, roach traps and razor blades, click HERE!

July 2nd was a doozy. It had rained all night and was still coming down in the morning. Pat was out of town and I was planning on going for my daily morning swim in the warm rain. I never made it. Between 8:00 and 9:30 in the morning, the following happened...

Before heading out to swim laps, I tried to take the laundry from the washer and put it in the dryer. The door of the washer wouldn't open. Not a biggie, this happens once every couple of months when the drain clogs and water is stuck in the barrel. Fortunately I have a unique system involving a kitchen knife, cookie sheet and large bowl that I use to open the drain inches above the floorboards, drain it into a cookie sheet and dump the gallons of water that had been trapped into a big bowl. Once I finished that, the door popped open and I got everything to the dryer. Easy!

If anyone has devised a better system, let me know!

Now off to the pool. On my way out, I planned to check on the dinghy. The dinghy was tied up to the dock and it had rained a ton the night before. We have a bilge pump in it, but it is not automatic, so I knew I would need to pump some water out of the dinghy before swimming.

Not so fast.

As I was heading out the door, I smelled smoke. I ran up and turned off the only thing I had powered on...the water heater....and ran back to the back door where I still smelled smoke. It smelled electrical. I went out back and opened the lazarette. This is a spot where once we had a fuse melt and heat from that melted the plastic cover, resulting in some smoke. But that area was clear.

When I came back in, smoke was billowing from behind the sofa. That area has a cubby where a surge protector runs to connect the TV. It was the only thing I could think that might be burning. I reached through the smoke and unplugged the smoking surge protector (at this point I realized I should have turned off all of the ship's power, but momentary panic didn't put that idea in my head at the time). I tossed the surge cord on the dock and returned to see if there was anything still burning.

The fried surge protector

The smoke was dispersing and I could see a black burned spot inside the cubby hole behind the sofa. The teak appeared to be still smoldering so I grabbed the closest water, a vase of flowers from the table, and doused the area. Then I went to get the fire extinguisher in case there was a flare up. Turns out I didn't need it. The smoldering stopped and crisis averted.

The storage space behind the sofa where the TV was plugged into the surge protector.

At this point, I texted Pat to see if he was awake. He was, so I tried to call. For once he wasn't in a plane when I needed him, but the phone connection was super bad. He heard something about smoke...hold on talking to the dock guy....dinghy sinking....then the connection cut out.

Yes, let's add a sinking dinghy to the mix. It's not even 8:30 am! While I was trying to get a good connection to talk to Pat, there was a knock on the boat. It was Francisco, one of our rockstars who work at the marina. I thought he was coming over to check on my boat, what with smoke escaping from my windows. But no, he was there to tell me there was water in my dinghy.

"Thanks, yes, I will be out in a few minutes to empty it", I told him.
"No", he says, "there is MUCHA AGUA in your dinghy, like, it might sink!"

Great, so I hustle off the boat to see our dinghy mostly full of water, the back end frighteningly low to the water line and our cooler floating freely. Francisco had already brought over the giant pump they use to pump out holding tanks (yes, the poo pump). My little bilge pump wasn't going to be able to clear all the water without killing the battery. Francisco got to work clearing the dinghy and I went back in to try to call Pat again and assess the damage from the electrical fire.

Look towards the back, you can see that the water is just a few inches from the top

This cooler normally sits upright - this morning it was floating around the dinghy

Francisco saving my dinghy. It continued to pour rain all day.
I had to run the bilge pump every hour that day.

When I got back in the boat, the first thing I noticed was that there was water all over the dining table. This wouldn't have been an issue, except that mine and Jack's laptops were now sitting in puddles of water. Apparently when I had grabbed the flower vase, some of the water had spilled on the table. I grabbed the laptops, dried them off and agonized as to whether they would turn back on. Jack's seemed to be ok, he sets his on a pad, so very little water got on his. My Mac wouldn't turn on or charge with the power cable.

Much like one would do with a phone that was wet, I wanted to put the laptop in a ziplock with rice to draw out the moisture. I didn't have enough rice, so I texted my boater friends for help. The crew of Ruby Vi sent over a giant container with their son (in the rain), so I could start the dehumidifying process.

Not sure what was saved or backed up, I was super sad.

It turns out, the rice that Ruby Vi found in a back cupboard from Panama was full of bugs. It was rice they hadn't used since coming up from the Panama Canal, but any rice was good for this purpose. So I got to watch them crawl all over my laptop while the rice did its work. That was a nice touch.

Video of the weevils enjoying my laptop - pretty gross.

The saloon was a mess, cushions everywhere, water-soaked cabinets, flowers that needed new water all surrounded by the scent of smoke.

Once I dried out the cubby hole, I found the singed part of the teak to just be a little bigger than a quarter. It didn't burn all the way through, just the top, so damage was minimal. After picking up some cushions, I went back to the cubby and was surprised to find it wet again. Upon closer inspection, I found that water was leaking from the ceiling, down the wall and into the cubby from the heavy rains we had been having. Ah ha! That's what sent the surge protector into frying mode.

Burnt teak where the surge protector had been sitting.

Leak from above that started the whole incident.

Another concern was the fact that once the surge protector started sizzling, the power breaker should have been tripped, turning off the power. It didn't. When looking at what the surge protector had been plugged into, it was an aftermarket plug that a previous owner had installed. The plug was simply a brown extension cord with a plug at the end that didn't have a GFCI circuit breaker. A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) is a specialized outlet with a built-in breaker. These devices are designed to prevent shock in the event an electrical device comes in contact with water. We will be removing that plug.

Previous owner install - A plug without a GFCI

Now that I had solved the mystery of why we almost burned down the boat, I decided to do some dishes. Do something 'normal' to bring my heart rate down. I washed just one glass, and the sink water stopped flowing. I checked the water level on the boat, we were over half-way full. I switched the breaker off and back on, hoping it would cycle. It didn't. I checked for a bleed valve on the pump to bleed any trapped air out, it didn't have one.

Pat suggested I check to see that the water pump was getting power. I took apart the wires to check for power with a multi meter. It was getting full power, but when I separated the wires, I had stripped the connector. While I had watched Pat put connectors on dozens of times, I hadn't ever done it myself. So I watched a Youtube video on how to put new connectors on. Remember, this is after I had saved Noeta from burning and our dinghy from sinking. I definitely wasn't going to be swimming today. I reconnected the pump and still no running water.

Stripped off the connector when disconnecting the water pump.

Since I couldn't get pump to run again, I put buckets of water by the toilets to help with the flushing and bought a large 5 gallon jug of drinking water. While we had a spare water pump, the technical skill of installing it was beyond my level, and I was done for the day. Well, at least laundry was done! Back to the dishes.

Pat would be home in 3 more days.

How one does dishes when there is no running water...with a hose!

Then I tackled the problem of finding the leak. We had a few thoughts about where the water was coming from, so we just needed to isolate it.

We looked real classy while we covered areas that might have been the culprits.

Diagram I made for Pat to try to describe where the leak came into the boat, where it puddled and where the drain was that might have been the issue.

The drain that may have a crack in it.

At least Pat was having a great day while he was helping me troubleshoot....
suspicious packages and crappy phone service...
there were a few strong words used that day.

But wait, there's more!

While I was troubleshooting our leak, Jack woke up. He had missed all of the morning's adventures. He grumpily told me his AC had dripped on him much of the night and soaked his blankets and mattress.
"Did you switch beds?" (Hailey's room is available)

"No - I just shifted to sleep around it" 😳

Jack's floor, soaked from an AC pan above his head that had dripped on his bed and down his wall much of the night.

So over the past couple of weeks, we have been working to isolate the leak that lead to the electrical fire. It may be somewhere in a fiberglass drain that the boat was apparently built around. Or it could be in the stanchion mounts that hold the railing and kayaks. Or somewhere else all together. We have hoisted the dinghy onto the upper deck so it doesn't sink, Pat has installed a new water pump that appears to be working, and we have cleared Jack's AC drain pan and tubing with denture tabs and vinegar. My laptop never did come to life, but a few hundred dollars at the Apple Genius Bar in the states and I have some new components WITH all of my data restored! We have also consumed a few adult beverages and said some bad words.

Boat life, while it is a simpler way of living, isn't always simple. I am always learning, sometimes in a crisis, and at times it's exhausting. When events like these are over and I am looking at what I might have done differently and how I would react in the future, I find that there is also a slight pride in having 'made it through', it wasn't pretty, but I made it. It frustrates Pat that he isn't home for events like these, he feels useless through text and phone calls. But this is one way for me to learn. Of course it helps having a band of boater friends around that I can call on for things like rice (SV Ruby Vi), electrical advice (SV LeeAnn) and jello shots.

This was 2 days later on the 4th of July.
Fortunately I have good boat friends Molly & John, who share bug-filled rice AND make really strong jello shots!

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com

We're Mexican Residents!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 15:22:00 +0000

At the Mexican Consulate in Boise, Idaho

Recently we finalized the process of becoming permanent Mexican residents. This doesn't cancel our residency or citizenship in the United States, just changes our status in Mexico from tourist, where we have to leave the country every 6 months, to resident.

Originally I was hesitant, we didn't really NEED residency. On our 180 tourist visa, we already owned and registered a car in Mexico, we already had a Mexican bank account and traveling out of the country every 180 days was relatively inexpensive for us with Pat's travel benefits and our location.

However, we've been in Mexico nearly three years and the folks at the airport, who know Pat so well because he flies out weekly for work, were starting to ask if he was 'Mexican' yet. We plan on being in Mexico for a number of years still, so we began to realize that completing the process to become residents was the right thing to do. For me it became even more important when I returned to Mexico last month and was at the back of the Tourist line for immigration at the airport. For over 2 hours I watched the Resident line sit mostly empty, wishing I was in it. We started the process just a few weeks later.

We recognize our privilege in being able to complete this process and the grace with which every Mexican government employee treated us. We appreciate that Mexico has a system in which we can become residents and be contributing members of their society. It is not lost on us, that for most Mexicans, becoming a legal resident in the United States is out of reach, complicated and expensive.

The Process in the United States

The process to become a resident has to begin at a Mexican consulate in one's home country. We chose to use the consulate in Boise, Idaho since we knew we would be spending time there and because it is a small office. They don't have a backlog of visas they are processing.

In order to get an appointment, we had to complete an application, turn in our financial records to prove we wouldn't be a drain on society and send copies of our passports. At this point they scheduled us for an appointment.

For our appointment, we needed passport photos, photocopies of our passports, a printed application, printed financials and $80 US cash.

We dressed nicely and went in with loads of patience and smiles.

Waiting in the Boise Mexican consulate.

The officer who helped us was very efficient and kind. Asking a little about our situation, but mostly concerned about the paperwork. He asked for a marriage license since my name wasn't on our financials. Of course that was on the boat in Mexico, so we panicked for a minute. I told him I could email it the next day and he said that would be good enough. In addition we gave him our TelMex Wifi bill that had our Mexico address on it. It wasn't required, but he said it couldn't hurt to add to the pile. While we sat and waited, we were also able to pull up my teaching retirement account and email that to him. It turns out he was going to let it slide and give permanent residency to us anyway.

We only saw a couple of other people come in during the hour and a half we were at the consulate office.

Ironically, the consulate office is 2 blocks from my childhood home!

After a bit, he took our pictures and finger prints and $88 fee (the fee had recently increased, but in Boise we could pay in US dollar, peso or card). He then had us wait some more while he passed it by his boss to make sure everything was in order. After about 45 minutes, he came out and said 'there has been a problem'. We momentarily panicked. Then he grinned and handed us our passports with 30 day Mexican visas inside.

At this point, we had 30 days to return to Mexico and continue the process there. Fortunately I was returning the next day and Pat, a few days later.

Excited to have our 30 day visas to start the permanent residency process in Mexico
(all critical info has been blurred:)

The Process in Mexico

When I came into the country the next day, still in the tourist line, it was important that I showed the immigration agent my 30 day visa and that he check 'Canje' on my immigration form. Canje means exchange, so basically my 30 day visa needed to be exchanged for a permanent one within 30 days. Many people have come in the country during this process and not pointed out their 30 day visa. If the agent stamps it wrong, the process is voided and needs to be started again outside of Mexico.

That same night, I began the paperwork for my Permanent residency. This includes an online application, a form with my basic information (including my tattoos, religion and physical characteristics), a letter stating my intention, a map of where I live (we used our main marina address), a privacy form, a bank form and photocopies of my passport, 30 day visa and immigration form that I had completed on the airplane. All this had to be in Spanish.

The next morning, I went to the INM (Mexican Immigration office) in Nuevo Vallarta which is just a few blocks away. Basically, it was a long process of paperwork, waiting, signatures, and running around.

7:16 am - I walked to the INM office .6 km away from the marina in Nuevo Vallarta
7:26 am - I got a number to be called after 9:00 - I was number 3
7:28 am - I walked back to the boat to do some chores
8:45 am - I walked back to INM - it was starting to get hot and humid
9:25 am - I was called up to show my papers. My online application didn't have my middle name, so I sat down on my laptop to redo the online application. They needed a printout and the copy shop in the INM office was closed.
9:35 am - I walked back to the boat to print it (getting hotter now)
9:45 am - I got in my car and drove to the INM office to turn in my new printed application because it was stinkin hot at this point
10:00 am - I was told I needed to go downstairs to pay the $5379.00 peso fee ($266 US), get a receipt and photocopy that.
The bank downstairs wasn't accepting payments that day, so they sent me down the street to a bank by the boat to pay. I drove there, I paid, got my receipt, returned to the boat to photocopy the receipt and drove back to INM. (thank goodness for AC!)
10:25 am - I gave them the receipt and was asked to sit and wait. I received an email saying I've been entered in the system - Yay!
10:30 am - I was called up to check the data on my paperwork, was given a CURP (national ID number), fingerprinted, photographed and one more signature.
10:40 am - Waited some more

A little waiting break between running around

11:03 am - I was called up, congratulated and handed my Permanent Mexican residency card! After 3.5 hours, 9,284 steps (my watch counted it) and about as many signatures, I did it!

Basically, it's my green card.
Not my best picture - They made me step super close to a camera and bright light, push my hair back behind my ears and take a mugshot :)
(All critical details have been blurred)

Pat came home a few days later and only had 2 days that he could go through the process before needing to fly out for work. If he flew out without doing this whole process, the 30 day visa would have been voided. Fortunately, It was smoother the 2nd time around. Pat was pretty much in by 9:00 (he had #1) and done by 10:15.

We got number 1!
We were the first ones called in, but only one person could go at a time because Covid numbers are rising. I started the process for Pat and then he was able to go in and finish all of the signatures, fingerprints and photos.

Now we can stay in Mexico as long as we want, work if we want to, and cross the border into Mexico even if it closes like it nearly did last year. We are proud and honored to be Permanent Mexican residents and grateful to those who helped us through the process.

Things a Mexican resident can do (from mexperience.com):

Permanent Resident cardholders have the following rights and obligations:

• All the rights enjoyed by temporary residents, e.g., car registration, access to social security, travel freely in and out of Mexico, etc.;

• All the guarantees that the Mexican Constitution grants to all Mexicans, except for the political guarantees that are reserved exclusively for Mexican citizens.

• No need to renew the Permanent Residency status, it never expires. If the holder is less than three years old, he or she will have to renew every year until reaching 3 years of age; and then every four years until reaching the age of 18.

• The right to engage lucratively in any legal activity without having to request the INM’s permission. Notification of job changes is still required. If you are working under a professional designation (as an engineer, architect, etc.), you may be required to file your degree at the Dirección General de Profesiones. Check with your local INM office for details.

But…

• Permanent residents cannot vote in Mexico.

• Permanent residents cannot own land directly if it is located within 50 kilometers of the beach or 100 kilometers from the Mexican land border, but they can own property near beaches and land borders through a trust, or through a Mexican corporation and have legal right to the property in all but name.

• Permanent residents cannot import or keep foreign-plated vehicles in Mexico. This is a notable difference to rules for Temporary Residents who can import foreign-plated vehicles and keep them here while their temporary residency status is valid.

If anyone needs advice on the process or to hear more about our experience, let me know! Contact a consulate in your home country to start the process and this link is the government page in Mexico with guidelines once you have your 30 day visa:

https://www.gob.mx/tramites/ficha/expedicion-de-documento-migratorio-por-canje/INM811

Read more about our adventures at www.mvnoeta.com

Boater Slang

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 02:50:00 +0000

While we have lived onboard for 4 years now, it was 3 years ago today that we took the Big Left Turn. In cruiser-speak, specifically those who have cruised from the Pacific Northwest, the term 'The Big Left Turn' is used to describe leaving the Straight of Juan de Fuca and entering the Pacific Ocean, turning left to reach southern shores.

While reflecting on this enormous feat I ended up reflecting on other terms cruisers use that may not be familiar with everyone. Below is a list of some of the other words that we have used, some known throughout most cruisers and some, perhaps, only used on board MV Noeta.

(Can't find the source for this image...if anyone knows, let me know!)

Landlubber - A person who lives on land.

Dirt Dweller - the same as a Landlubber

Sunsetter - drinks, often in the cockpit or on a flybridge, during sunset

Docktails - similar to a Sunsetter, but on a dock (not necessarily just at sunset)

Floatails - similar to Docktails, but enjoyed while floating in water

Bitchwings - The pose a boater gives to another boater in an anchorage when they are anchoring too close. Arms spread wide out to the side with a 'are you seriously going to anchor that close' look on their face is the typical bitchwing pose.

Scuttlebutt - Where sailors get together to talk about a race or event after it has taken place. Interestingly, this term has a historical reference. A butt is a wooden cask which holds water or other liquids and to scuttle means to drill a hole, like the tapping of the cask. So, the scuttlebutt was the drinking fountain on the ship and when Sailors gathered around the scuttlebutt they would exchange rumors of the voyage.

Puddle Jump - This is a term that was originally coined for a group of boaters crossing from Mexico to the French Polynesian islands a number of years ago. More recently, some of the same boaters have worked to rename the Puddle Jump to signify how truly immense the journey is. It's more a voyage than a jump.

Boomerang - This is a journey where one cruises out and then back. In Mexico, the term is often used for those who sail to the Hawaiian islands and then return to the states, often Alaska, Canada or Washington.

Noodle - A group of 3 or more Nordhavns.

Noggle - A group of 3 or more Nordhavn owners.

Wannanoggle - A group of 3 or more people who are Nordhavn fans.

Want to know more about a Noodle, Noggle and Wannanoggle?! Watch this video we made!

https://youtu.be/VpGdiuZOjhs

Noggle - A group of 3 or more Nordhavn owners.

Chingus - Ok, this one may only be used on Noeta, but a chingus can be used for anything. A stainless steel screw? Sure! A rubberband? Yep! An outboard engine? Why not!? A thingy that you have no idea what it's called? Absolutely. Basically, when someone (Pat) says 'Hand me the chingus', the person passing the item (Alexa) then has to become a mind-reader and mime-interpreter to figure out which chingus to pass.

Blowboater - A term a powerboater might use to describe a sailboater.

Stinkpotter - A term a sailboater might use to describe a powerboater.

Beer Can Rally - The name for the Wednesday afternoon sailboat races in Banderas Bay, Mexico. It encourages sailors to get off the dock and actually use their sails :)

Boatschooling - Like homeschooling, but on a boat

Galley (boat kitchen), Head (boat bathroom, Berth/Stateroom/Cabin (boat bedroom), Saloon (boat living room/main cabin), this one is also called a Salon sometimes, mostly in the US, but historically Saloon is the correct term - Boaters have their own language when talking about their boat spaces. Often you will be corrected if you use the landlubber term when on a boat. Good luck!

I know that our cruiser friends have other words they could add to this list. Send them to me and I'll update the blog!

The following are phrases you may know...but did you know they have a nautical background? (definitions below are from Don Google)

Above Board

Pirates would hide crew members below decks to fool victims. When all the crewmen were on the deck then -- seeing is believing – the vessel was more likely to be an honest merchant ship.

All hands on deck

Nowadays we gather to discuss some task. Sailors did the same thing, but met on the deck.

Bamboozle

This was the word used to describe the deceit of pirates who flew an ensign of national origin other than their own.

Barge In

Most believe this term, used today to describe a tactless appearance or interruption, came about because barges are hard to maneuver.

Clean Slate

Daily logs were kept on a slab of slate. Each new watch officer would erase the previous entries.

Devil to pay

The "devil" seam which ran along the hull at the deck level, was the most difficult to caulk. To "pay" meant to caulk. Voilá. The sailor had to hang off the deck to caulk the seam and was said to be "between the devil and the deep blue sea."

Knows the ropes

It took an experienced seaman to know the function of all the ropes on a sailing vessel.

Mind your P’s and Q’s

Short for pints and quarts of ale. Tavern keepers would keep careful track (mind) the tab, especially, of sailors who were about to ship out.

Passed with Flying Colors

Refers to a sailing ship that distinguished itself by flying all of its pennants and flags (called "colors") when passing other vessels.

Pipe Down
Now used to get someone to stop talking or making noise. Aboard a ship, a boatswain's pipe, or whistle, is used to summon a crew or to relay orders. The sounding of this instrument is referred to as piping. A crew would be 'piped' to a meal for example. To dismiss a crew, the pipe is sounded and the command "pipe down" is given. Because it got much quieter after the dismissal, the command became associated with quieting down.

Shape Up

This was the term helmsmen used to refer to getting back on course to avoid danger.

Under the Weather

The sailor who had to stand watch on the bow taking all the pounding and spray was said to be "under the weather."

Worth their Salt

Salt actually was also used to pay Roman sailors. So any sailor "worth his salt" was worth what he was getting paid.

On our 4 year anniversary, look back at what we had learned after 1 year of cruising!

http://www.mvnoeta.com/2019/07/one-year-anniversary-what-have-we.html

Volunteering with Sea Shepherd

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 17:50:00 +0000

Posing on the MV Brigitte Bardot in La Cruz

Around ten years ago at the Seattle Boat Show, Pat and I saw a Sea Shepherd booth. Super excited, I hurried up to the nice folks working the booth, donated, told them I loved Whale Wars and bought my first Sea Shepherd hoodie. After having watched their work protecting whales on the TV program, Whale Wars, I became a fan. This weekly documentary (2008-2015) on Animal Planet shows Sea Shepherd's efforts to save the whales from Japanese whaling efforts off the coast of Antarctica. Thanks to their work, Japan's Antarctic whaling program was declared illegal in a UN court of Justice in March of 2014.

But the work isn't finished....In 2021, Japanese whalers set sail to hunt 171 minke whales, 187 Bryde's whales and 25 sei whales (bbc.com). Whaling is illegal in most countries, however Iceland, Norway, Denmark (Faroe Islands) and Japan still actively engage in whaling. Over a thousand whales are killed each year for their meat and body parts to be sold for commercial gain (us.whales.org). Sea Shepherd is still working to change that.

But working as whale protectors was all I really knew about Sea Shepherd until last year...

Fast forward to March 2020

Covid was just ramping up and our little marina in La Cruz was emptying out. Pat and I were out on a walk when we saw a vessel that looked like a spaceship cruise into the fuel dock. As we made our way over to it, we spotted the Sea Shepherd logo along the side and headed straight for it. We snuck down to the fuel dock to snap some pictures of the Brigitte Bardot and I completely fan-girled over it. We didn't want to bother the crew, and I'm sure we looked like stalkers, so we headed home, hoping they would stick around for awhile.

Pat, trying not to look too much like a stalker.

SS crew fueling her up

The guards...kindly letting us hang around

Well, they did. It turns out, the Bardot was being retired and La Cruz was to be her last Sea Shepherd port while they worked to fix her up and sell her. With Covid shutting the world down, we didn't get to know more about her until a few months later when we met Rob, the ship's manager, at a Day of the Dead event. When we spotted his Sea Shepherd t-shirt, we immediately figured out he came from the Bardot and invited him for a drink. We now know he wasn't super keen on joining us - we could have been crazies or just overzealous fans (he knows better now:), but he did join us and we are so glad he did.

I volunteered to help Rob out as he was the only crew member at the time. I ended up as a chauffeur, translator, tour guide, concierge and bar tender for Rob. He is a passionate volunteer who is as genuine as they come. Over time, I learned about Sea Shepherd's mission beyond Whale Wars and became an official on-shore volunteer. With some other local on-shore volunteers we started a booth at our local market, selling merchandise and educating tourists and locals alike. It was a huge success. People either came up to us and said 'I know you from Whale Wars!' or 'Tell me more about Sea Shepherd', but people were always excited to know that we were working to save the oceans and everything in it.

Sunday market - we set up just in front of the Bardot.

Rob and I all set up and ready to sell and educate!

Rob, me, Roger and Blaze hard at work!

We sold hats, shirts, bracelets, patches, dog collars, bags and more!

A big part of market was education. At market, movie nights and through speaking engagements, we were able to share how Sea Shepherd is an international non-profit marine conservation organization that engages in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife and conserve and protect the world's oceans from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction. (seashepherd.org)

You can also get SS merchandise online at https://shop.seashepherd.org/collections/shop-all

What is Sea Shepherd doing in Mexico?

While we have a fleet of 12 vessels (and several smaller boats) around the world, many of them are a part of Operation Milagro in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. Here in Mexico, Sea Shepherd is working in partnership with the government and military to protect the Vaquita refuge. This sanctuary is a federally protected area in the north of the Sea of Cortez where illegal fishing with gillnets have brought the population of the Vaquita porpoise down to fewer than 20, some scientists even say there are closer to 10 left in the world. The vaquita porpoise is considered the rarest and most endangered marine species in the world, coming in at just 140-150 cm long. Called the 'Smiley panda of the sea', this porpoise is killed as a result of being bycatch (marine species caught unintentionally while fishing) from poachers illegally fishing for the totoaba fish, called the 'Cocaine of the sea'. In addition to the vaquita dying as bycatch, turtles, sharks, dolphins, birds and other marine life are also dying as a result of the use of gillnets.

image source: https://www.ffacoalition.org/

The black market price for the totoaba fish (poached for its bladder as an unproven aphrodisiac) is high in Asia, $20,000 - $80,000 per kilo. This price drives the poaching of totoaba and killing of bycatch that is happening here in Mexico. "Six ships from the Sea Shepherd fleet – the Martin Sheen, the Farley Mowat, the Sam Simon, the John Paul DeJoria, the White Holly, and the Sharpie – have collectively removed over 1,000 pieces of illegal fishing gear from the refuge to date, directly saving the lives of over 4,000 animals and giving the vaquita a fighting chance at survival." (seashepherd.org) Find more information about Operation Milagro at: https://seashepherd.org/milagro/

Vaquita porpoise - The Smiley Panda of the Sea

Ships at Port

While other SS vessels have come through La Cruz in the past, the Brigitte Bardot was the first of the fleet that I became familiar with. I got to spend the last six months with her. She is a unique 109 foot high speed trimaran, originally named Gojira, that has been with the fleet for 11 years. Watch Sea Shepherd's video to see some of where she's been over the last decade. Link: https://youtu.be/giqdilLNcNs

MV Brigitte Bardot heading out of the La Cruz marina.

Brigitte's Farewell!

A couple of us got to be a part of her send-off when the captain asked if I would act as a bow thruster with my dinghy and help push the Bardot around a breakwater if needed, to counter any wind or current. Then we needed to head out into the bay and collect the last of the SS crew as she headed off with her new owners. The event ended up being more exciting than I had hoped when the boat sped up just as I was coming up on the ship. We almost ended up under one of her wings. We got it all on film thanks to volunteer Sandra and my cousin Carson and Jamie who were out there with us. Check it out! Link: https://youtu.be/5lFLje5Bx0M

Relieved after just having rammed the Brigitte Bardot.

Pat has actually cruised under a Bardot wing, while she was tied up. Not somewhere you want to be at speed. Trust me.

More recently, the ketch research vessel Martin Sheen arrived for some maintenance at our shipyard. The scientists on board this 90 foot research vessel have studied micro plastics, humpback whale migration patterns and populations, salmon farming issues and marine oil spills. The more we know, the more we can work to save the oceans.

Research Vessel Martin Sheen Photo: Seashepherd.org

The People

I have a lot more Sea Shepherd gear than just the one hoodie now, but one of the greatest things I've gotten out of my time as a Sea Shepherd volunteer is meeting all of the passionate people from around the world. The great work they are doing gives me hope that we may be able to save the oceans before it's too late.

Some of our on-shore SS crew: Sandra, me, Rob (actual crew), Blaze & Roger

Even our daughter Mikayla had a volunteer role to play!

On the bow of MVBrigitte Bardot

David, Captain Chris and I working the booth.

Julie, from France, gave vegan cooking lessons to those of us in La Cruz

Sandra, our on-shore media specialist, hard at work!

Pat helped with one of our final SS projects...removing the Sea Shepherd logo from the Bardot.

With some help from Jamie & Carson on SV LeeAnn

And then there's Rob...he's the person who brought me into the organization. He walks the walk every day of his life. The oceans are lucky to have him.

When I first met Rob, I said 'You have to meet my cousin Carson. You could be brothers!'

Pat & Rob have a 'unique' relationship :)

After managing the Brigitte Bardot, Rob became the manager onboard the Martin Sheen.

Rob's last day with us before his much deserved vacation. We'll meet again!

What can you do to help? Glad you asked!

Educate Yourself! Watch films like Sea of Shadows (National Geographic) which highlights the struggle to save the Vaquita in Mexico. See Seaspiracy (Netflix) to learn about how we are overfishing and destroying our oceans and what you can do to help.

Volunteer! All sorts are needed! Chefs (vegan on board), media, boat captains, electricians, deck hands, on-shore volunteer etc. Check out https://seashepherd.org/get-involved/ to see how.

Eco-Crime Watch - Let SS know if you observe illegal activities of marine wildlife. You could give valuable clues to criminal investigators.

Donate! Through one-time donations, monthly, memorial, 'Ocean Warrior' events, crypto currency, Paypal, gift certificates, matching gifts, estate giving etc, SS makes it easy for you to financially support us!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - protect our oceans! Clean up beaches, live sustainably, avoid eating fish, reduce single-use items. Make small changes in your daily life to help the planet.

Buy Merch! Check out https://shop.seashepherd.org/ to see what they have! Or come see us at the La Cruz market next season!

La Cruz marina - The Brigitte Bardot in the bottom left and Noeta in the distance at the top/middle of the picture

Read more about our adventures on www.mvnoeta.com

All in the Family

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Wed, 26 May 2021 23:45:00 +0000

Family dinghy cruise: Jamie, Carson, Pat & Alexa

Ditching all of your possessions, buying a boat and taking off to see the world in that boat is not a common undertaking. When we first started dreaming and talking about it, I scoured the internet, books and Facebook groups to learn about others' adventures, how they did it, why the did it and where they went. I personally, didn't know anyone who lived this lifestyle.....or anyone who even wanted to do it, other than Pat.

Until December 10th, 2016. I was browsing Facebook, like one does, and a 'Friend Suggestion' popped up. A name I recognized, but a person I didn't know. Carson Leasure. Carson is my dad's brother's son....my cousin. On that side of the family, they didn't get together for reunions or visits much. I had met Carson and his sisters maybe once or twice when we were very young, but I have very little recollection of it. So when I clicked on his profile I was shocked to see that not only did Carson live in Tacoma, Washington (a short 15 minute drive from Gig Harbor where we lived), but that he lived on his boat! So I 'friended' him and reached out. There was a lighted holiday boat parade in the harbor mid December and I suggested that he come over to our boat, hang out and watch the parade. At the time we were not live aboards yet, only weekend and summer cruisers....but we were dreaming about it.

Carson recalls telling his girlfriend Jamie, when he got the invitation....'So, I have a cousin I don't really know, she's a boater and lives across the bridge. They've invited me over.' He was hesitant because he didn't know me, but intrigued. Thank goodness he accepted our invitation! We immediately hit it off. We discovered he, too, was working towards setting sail and heading for distant shores. We didn't know at the time that in just a couple of years we would be spending seasons together in Mexico.

The post from that December 10th boat parade night - wish I had grabbed a picture with Carson!

Fast forward 6 months and our family moved aboard our first live aboard boat, a Nordhavn 46, Noeta, in Gig Harbor. We spent a year prepping her and getting ourselves ready to leave it all behind. Meanwhile, Carson was working to get his sailboat, LeeAnn, a 2000 Beneteau Oceanis, 461, ready for crossing an ocean and filling the cruising kitty. While Carson was doing this, Jamie purchased her own sailboat to live and learn on, becoming a confident and independent sailor.

Visiting Carson on LeeAnn in Elliott Bay, Washington

12 months later, we left Washington, heading for Mexico. Carson and his girlfriend Jamie came to our farewell party and told us we'd see them there soon.

At our going away party, Pat, my dad Larry, Jamie, Carson and I

Sure enough, one year later, we greeted LeeAnn at the dock in La Cruz, Mexico.

Carson & Jamie's first day in La Cruz!

Over the past 2 years, we've spent countless hours together having docktails, hiking, anchoring out, planning for future cruises, swimming, going on store runs, saving turtles, celebrating birthdays, volunteering for Sea Shepherd, eating tacos, playing cards and helping each other out. Carson and Jamie have since gotten married and finalized plans to cross the Pacific.The time we got with Carson and Jamie was unexpected, as they had planned to cross the Pacific to French Polynesia 2 seasons ago (derailed due to Covid). The silver lining of their change of plans has definitely been the bonus time we have spent together.

Evening walk in Paradise Village

Birthday fireworks!

Garden & Art show at Arroyos Verdes

Noeta and LeeAnn (and WeeAnn) snuggled up together

Bocce Ball and 2 x 1 Piña Coladas = Happy faces!

Heading off to release baby turtles!

Noeta and LeeAnn anchored alone in Chacala

Dinghy ride up an estuary brings us to awesome fajitas!

In Chacala, Mexico with Jamie, Carson and Hailey

Drifting with jumping Rays - Jamie's face says it all!

Removing the lettering from a Sea Shepherd vessel that was sold. Jamie is a pro with a heat gun!

Getting competitive with a family card game they taught us - Last Card

Attending a Sea Shepherd vegan cooking class!

Thanks to this lifestyle that bonds us, I have also become reacquainted with his sisters, Tanis and Cheridan, and look forward to better knowing my cousins and their families.

Carson's sister Tanis, back together again!

An unplanned fortunate discovery is called serendipity. Sending a Facebook message to Carson five years ago led to one of my favorite unplanned fortunate discoveries. What are the odds that two people in the same family, separate from each other, independently make plans to leave it all behind and take off on a boat? At the same time? To the same location? It has been a serendipitous event that we are truly grateful fo. As they leave Banderas Bay for the season we are looking forward to meeting up with Carson and Jamie in new anchorages in other places in the world.

Our daughter, Hailey, created this painting of our two boats, Noeta & LeeAnn in the Chacala anchorage.

You can follow LeeAnn at https://www.sailingleeann.com/ and #sailingleeann on Instagram

As always, you can read more on www.mvnoeta.com and #mvnoeta on Instagram

As Seen in Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 17:29:00 +0000

A few weeks ago while driving back to the marina, I looked out the window and saw a full sized horse being transported in the back of an old truck. Not a trailer, not a large converted truck. He was just standing in the back of a regular run down truck. After I fretted about the horse for a moment, I then giggled and sighed, "Oh, Mexico".

Over the past two years we've been in Mexico, we've run across a lot of things that you may not see where we come from. Below are photos of things 'as seen in Mexico'. Some of them make you laugh or smile, others make you cringe and some just make you go hmmm...

Oh, Mexico...

I'm sure the wires are all up to code.

Open wires....everywhere.

Time for an upgrade

Using what you've got!

Assembling a crocodile trap.

When the produce market comes to you.

Transportation

Careful on the corner.

You could have fit more in there!

So many piggies

Sheep anyone?

A bridge to....

Animals

A giant rhino beetle.

Sea Turtles in the marina

Found on the boat....we love them!

Watch for wildlife

Iguanas joining the potluck

Drying out

A duck walks into a pharmacy...

Can't get enough of the baby sea turtles.

So many pelicans

Chickens crossing the road

A croc needed relocating to the sanctuary

Food

Churros on the street. A bag of 10 for a dollar.

Watermelons and.....squash?

So many pineapples

And more pineapples

Table side guac with roasted tomatoes - yes please!

Ribs - So good!

Michelada - they are made different everywhere

Grasshoppers with your tequila

Cold coconuts

Al pastor tacos

Art

Sand sculpture art

Murals and an artistic bull

Local artisans making Huichol art.

Local mural - La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

Statue of Yaqui in northern Mexico - 'Dance of the Deer'

People

Street performer (wearing his mask!)

Street Performer

Architecture

Reusing materials

Plants

The Scenery

We have been here long enough that all of these things are now normal in our day to day lives. We need to remind ourselves to appreciate the unique and extraordinary that surrounds us in lovely Mexico.

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My Day with Flaca la Perra Mexicana

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 03:43:00 +0000

In these crazy times of Covid and Politics, I thought I'd share a little story that unfolded last night and throughout today. As I look back at my text string with my kids and husband today to tell them about Flaca, she took on a storybook quality. She had adventures, made friends and even went for a swim! Here's the tale of my new friend Flaca....

First let me say, her name may not be Flaca, but that's what I've begun calling her because she is a scrawny, skinny doggo (flaca=skinny). She's a medium-sized young white dog, with some strange colorings along her head and tail like maybe she was painted with orange stripes....or her street dog mama had unique markings.

Meet Flaca, La Perra Mexicana

I met Flaca after I finished teaching a couple of English classes in Arroyo Seco last night. This is an area across the highway from La Cruz with homes with dirt floors and sparse electricity and water. As I was walking out of class, I saw her and of course said, "Hola perro" because that's what one does when they see a sweet doggo in the street.

A video of Flaca joining me on my walk home.

We had a good chat.

There are dozens and dozens of friendly street dogs in the La Cruz area and I didn't think much of it while she followed me a short way. Generally street dogs have a 'region' and they don't leave their turf unless they are with their owners. Well, Flaca kept following me across 6 lanes of traffic and into town. We chatted as we walked towards the marina. A few blocks later, I figured if I bought her some food and fed her on a corner, that she might stay there and not go any further. Yeah...I was wrong. I stopped at a corner store, bought a small bag of dog food (just a few ounces), sat on the curb and dumped it out for her. She sniffed it and put her head in my lap.

$22 peso bag of doggo food (around $1 US)

She didn't want to eat....just snuggle.

She didn't eat anything and continued to follow me the 4 blocks to the marina. When we got to the marina gate, I told her to go home and left her outside the gate. I got on the boat to drop my stuff off and went out on the dock to find Pat. I found him with some friends....and Flaca. She had found a way around the gate and down the dock. She was quite pleased with herself.

Flaca - wondering where we were going next!

Awhile later, we decided to get some street tacos with John on Baja Fog, and encourage her to go back to her neighborhood. She sat with us while we ate tacos, not expecting anything, just curled up by our chairs. As we were paying the bill, another gringo walked by and said something nice to Flaca who then jumped up and followed her for half a block. As they were heading away, we guiltily made a break for it back to our boats.

Fast forward to this morning.....I'm listening to the morning radio net where boaters get and give advice, hear the weather and just check in with each other. A friend of ours, Rob (on the very cool Sea Shepherd boat moored here), came on and asked if anyone knew about a white friendly dog, because she had followed him back from the market on his way home the night before. Being a lover of all animals, Rob of course brought her on board and let her sleep in his spacious air conditioned boat. I answered the call and told him I knew what neighborhood she was from and that I could come get her and return her. Roger that - it's a plan. After the net, I sent a message to some of my students with photos of Flaca. They said she was mostly a street dog up there, but did have an owner. One student did say, however, that she was probably better off in the streets. Sounds like she didn't have much love at home.

This is the Brigitte Bardot, where Flaca had her slumber party.

I was kind of fan-girling as we headed over to the Sea Shepherd vessel, the Brigitte Bardot, to get Flaca. It's a beast of a vessel that looks super intimidating (that's kind of its purpose). We gracelessly crawled aboard (no easy way to do it) and got a mini-tour of the ship while Flaca followed us around. She had made herself at home and seemed to enjoy her evening out with Rob. But it was time to go. We carried her off the boat (again, no easy way to get off it) and she happily followed Pat and I as if she were ours.

To get on and off, we had to climb on the step ladder by the 'H' of Shepherd and walk over the 'wings'

I left Pat on the boat and headed back to Arroyo Seco. Flaca trotted along, sniffing dogs and checking out the chickens. She never chased them, just took an interest.

Video of Flaca checking out the chickens.

As I walked through Arroyo Seco, I just asked everyone I saw if they knew the dog's owner...they just smiled and said they didn't know her. Then, from around a corner, one of my 11 year old students came running. "I heard you were here!" he shouted. I'm sure somebody said, "There's a crazy gringa lady asking us if we know the street dog's owner" and Carlos knew it was me. So I asked Carlos to keep Flaca there and distracted for awhile as I walked back to the marina. He was happy to help and started a game of 'block the dog from going down the road'. I glanced back to see that he had gotten another couple of barefoot boys to help him.

Flaca's neighborhood

One of the homes, under an overpass, in Flaca's neighborhood.

So away I go, figuring I had done my duty. About 15 minutes later, I'm near the marina at a small market talking to some other cruisers when I look down and see Flaca happily sitting next to me. Clearly Carlos had lost the game.

She followed me onto the marina property and again, I left her outside the gate. Our boat is about 5 double slips from the shore. When I was about to our boat, Marcos, a friend on another boat, shouted "A dog is swimming to the boat!!" Sure enough, she was swimming, keeping even with me, toward Noeta. I do a 180 and start heading back to land - she does the same, following me. As she gets to the rocks, she trots over to the ramp and shakes. With a wag she greets me like I haven't seen her in months.

Video of Flaca swimming back to shore!

As I headed back to the boat, she followed me (surprise!). I got on the boat, but closed the side door. By this time, Pat had been very clear with me that we do NOT need a boat dog. He's right of course, but seriously! Those eyes! Anyway, she paced back and forth in the heat of the day, whined a little, sat in the shade of the boat while I got some work done. Eventually, I looked out the window and saw her up on our neighbor, Brian's, sailboat. Flaca and Brian were lounging like they've been together forever.

Later in the day, I came outside with Gilligan (he gets supervised dock time if he's good). Flaca saw me and sprinted over to say hi. She wagged and whined and basically told me she wanted to be a boat dog. Then she spotted Gilligan sitting in our doorway. Gilligan gave Flaca his angry cat face. Flaca began backing up, and before I could stop her, had fallen off the finger, back into the water. From there she couldn't see land and was flailing about in her very best dog paddle (meanwhile Gilligan is still glaring at him from the boat). I jumped off the boat, grabbed Flaca by the scruff and hauled her out. She licked my face and proceeded to shake her coat dry...all over me.

Shaking off after her 2nd swim.

Video of Gilligan explaining who is boss of Noeta to Flaca.

Gilligan continued to glare as Flaca tried to make friends and then gave up and walked to the end of the dock...far away from the fat boat cat. As our friend Marcos was leaving for the day, he offered to take her back up to town for us. So she left with her new friend Marcos.

Now it's evening. I just came in from a walk where an older couple I stopped to talk to said they had seen her out on the jetty, near Sea Shepherd. It was dark as I continued to walk. I saw a team of men from the crocodile sanctuary packing up their things and that they had a dog with them, but I couldn't tell if it was Flaca in the dark.. (We have 2 crocodiles in the marina that they are trying to rehome, so they come with nets to try to catch them) When they finished, they got in their truck and sped off.....with a white skinny dog called Flaca chasing after them out of the marina.

I don't believe that is the last I will see of Flaca, but I admire her perseverance. She made a bunch of friends (myself, Pat, John, Rob, Brian, Carlos, an elderly couple and some crocodile rescuers), had some good adventures and took my mind of politics and Covid today. Gracias Flaca!

Flaca getting street tacos with us!

Some of the text string with Pat and the kids:

What's next?

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 21:18:00 +0000

For those not familiar with Nuevo Vallarta or La Cruz -
they are both located near each other in the mellow Banderas Bay, north of Puerto Vallarta.
There should not be anything treacherous about crossing from one to the other :)
For those in Washington, boating from Gig Harbor to Tacoma
likely is more challenging than this one.

Well, we made a giant journey of 5.2 miles to the north shore of Banderas Bay. We will now settle in to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, our favorite Mexican fishing village, for the next few months.

Many of our cruiser friends will be returning from adventures in the Sea of Cortez and others are preparing for trips south or beyond. Sometimes, especially in these days of Covid, we find ourselves complaining that we are 'stuck' and not off cruising the world. At times we catch ourselves complaining about all the time we spend at the dock. We want to be out 'THERE' seeing new places, at anchor and exploring.

Then we stop ourselves....we are 'out there' already. We need to remind ourselves that we are very fortunate to be where we are, cruising in Mexico with our floating home. We did 'leave it all behind' and have had great adventures here and along our journey.

So, what's next for us?

For now, we will stay in Banderas Bay bouncing from port to port. Pat still has a number of years until retirement (he has a countdown app on his phone that will tell you exactly how many days until that milestone) and until then, we need to be near an airport. Puerto Vallarta has delivered the convenience and adventure.

We will continue to watch our friends sail off into the sunset each season. Some will will keep going and others we will welcome back. We will work to be grateful for where we are and what we have because we are truly already 'living the dream.'

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com

Gilligan is Bilingual!

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 19:06:00 +0000

Gilligan el Gato Gordo del Barco

Hailey and I are excited to announce that we've just released a bilingual Spanish/English edition to our book, Gilligan the Fat Boat Cat. Just in time for the holidays, his book is perfect for someone who already speaks both languages or is trying to learn one or the other. Available in paperback and E-book, check out Gilligan's new listing on Amazon...."el meow!" CLICK HERE

Take a sneak peak inside!

You can also follow Gilligan on Instagram #gilliganthefatboatcat and

Youtube 'Gilligan The Fat Boat Cat'

Check out our blog post about the writing of this book! CLICK HERE

Read more about our adventures at www.mvnoeta.com

We Got the 'Rona

noreply@blogger.com (Noeta) — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 22:08:00 +0000

Well....we got it. We wash our hands, wear our masks, keep to our bubble of friends and Pat and I still managed to get the Corona Virus.

We aren't 100% sure where Pat got it, likely during one of his weekly trips to the United States, but he did bring it home. Pat's initial symptoms were very flu-like, a mild fever, headache, and he felt 'off'. After a few days of that, we thought he was getting better. Then he was hit with a fever, chills, body aches, fatigue and he felt just awful. We were still unsure as to whether it was the flu or Covid. But then we read that researchers found a key difference between the flu and Covid (Link HERE) is that people are generally sickest in the first week if they have the flu. Whereas with Covid, people tend to feel sickest in week two. Then, when Pat lost his sense of taste and smell, we began to think it might not just be the flu. So we kept him hydrated and lying down and gradually he started to feel better. All together, he was sick about 10 days.

As he was starting to feel better, I discovered I couldn't smell my favorite lavender lotion. I felt fine, maybe a little tired, but I couldn't smell. THAT is a weird sensation. I decided to take a PCR Covid test the following day at a hospital in Puerto Vallarta, just to confirm if I should cancel my English classes and my work with the food bank. The PCR test was administered by an actual doctor. She was in full PPE and was very informative. While she checked the oxygen level in my blood, she asked about my symptoms: Fever? No. Cough? No. Fatigue? A little. Shortness of breath? No. Body aches? No. Headaches? No. Loss of smell or taste? Yes, now both. Increased appetite? No. Decreased appetite? Also, no. Toes or fingers swollen? No. Nausea? No. Brain fog? What's that? No, I don't think so. Then she swabbed way up my nose and in the back of my throat.

Even with all of my 'No' responses, the doctor said that with the loss of senses and the fact that Pat had been sick the week prior, that she expected my test to be positive for Covid. So, I went back home to isolate and cancel all of my upcoming events. Fortunately, by now, Pat was free to join society again, based on CDC recommendations. It had been a little more than10 days since he showed the first symptoms, it had been more than 24 hours since he had a fever or used a fever reducer, and he was beginning to feel better. So off he went to get me some Gatorade, soup and the doctor's prescription of Vitamin D (4,000 UI) and Vitamin C pills that she wanted Pat and I to take 1 a day for 30 days. She also prescribed a 500 mg Paracetamol (acetaminophen) that she said I could take two of, 3 times a day as needed for pain and fever. At that point, I hadn't had pain or fever, but we got it just in case.

Sure enough, over the next few days, it hit me. I was completely fatigued for about 6 days and that was accompanied by extreme body aches in places like my knees and hips. I've heard it described as a temporary arthritis feeling. I also began to understand what the Brain Fog is. I felt disjointed and removed from everything. Kind of like being buzzed, I felt 'spacey' and sometimes couldn't even put sentences together coherently. Strangely, I remained hungry much of the time even though I couldn't taste anything. It turns out I even had an increased appetite. I never got the fever, cough, shortness of breath, nausea or swollen digits, so I consider my experience with Covid to be very mild and I feel extremely fortunate.

I have gradually recovered and, while still a little tired, I am able to resume 'normal' life again. Having had Covid, I have an odd sense of freedom - at least for the next few months. Since there is so much unknown about this virus, researchers still don't know if people can get Covid a second time. There is one man in Hong Kong who appeared to get a different strain of Covid six months after recovering. But his immune system seemed to be able to fight it off and he was asymptomatic. The World Health Organization says that reinfection likely won't happen regularly and health experts generally believe people who had Covid-19 will have some immunity against repeat infection. But they don't know how much protection, or how long it would last. It is also not clear whether people who may get reinfected would be able to spread the virus to others. So scientists say that people should continue to wear masks, social distance and practice good hygiene even after recovering from Covid.

As far as the rest of our family, it has now been well over 14 days since I have dropped Hailey off at college and spent time with my mom. Hailey has shown no symptoms and has taken 2 Covid tests, 2 weeks apart (as required by campus policy) that were negative (YAY! Hailey failed her first college test!). I checked on my mom often and she stayed close to home. It has now been well over 14 days since I've seen her and fortunately she is healthy as ever. Jack, who unfortunately was in isolation with me, has shown no symptoms and we will continue to keep him isolated until he is 14 days past his last exposure to me when I was contagious. This is an easy task as he HATES going outside in the extreme heat and humidity down here.

Well before I had any symptoms, I watched a Seahawks game with a small group of friends after I delivered Hailey to campus. By the time I had results, it had been 14 days since I had seen them. However telling your friends and family that you had the virus comes with a sense of shame, not necessarily earned, but still a strong sense of guilt. Another two friends had picked me up from the airport in Puerto Vallarta (days before I showed any signs of the virus), since Pat wasn't quite out of quarantine, and a few days later one of them became sick. Not sure if he has Covid, but did he get it from me? Maybe. Do I carry a lot of guilt? Definitely. But to be the first ones to bring it to our 'cruiser bubble' sure carries a lot of weight. Sorry guys!

So we will continue to wash our hands, keep our distance and wear our masks like good members of a caring society and hopefully that is the last our family has seen of the 'Rona.

Stay safe and wash yer damn hands!

Lots of masks made by locals for us to choose from!

Gilligan has his own personalized mask (thanks Mikayla!)

Read more at www.mvnoeta.com