Our first full day on the boat and we're surviving! I (Eric) woke up this morning, no alarm, around 7:30am which might just be a record. I ventured out and found us some coffee. When I got back, the radio show was just about to start. It was quite humorous. First, they guy running it (forgot his name, will try to catch it tomorrow) asked for everyone to check in from the various marinas and at sea folks that were in range. Quite a list, 45 boats or so checked in. Then they asked for new arrivals and we chimed in. We did make one mistake, and that is we used the name Tupo and our boat is still called Whisper and we can't change that until we leave for three days and come back. Don't ask, some sort of Mexican rojo tape. Not sure how to fix it tomorrow, but we're thinking of having Janet check in as a new arrival with the name Whisper, or we may just sit out and listen. Then the show went on with weather, tides, trivia, people buying/selling stuff, people headed back to the States or Canada, and then some jokes. We'll definitely be listening every morning!
After the radio show, Boomer came by and told us he was trying to sell an extra air conditioner (5,000 BTU) he has because he recently upgraded. We explained to him our mold problem, and he let us borrow it for a few days. So here we are, sitting in freaking HOT Mexico and now have A/C onboard. Pretty sweet, but we are a bit fearful our electric bill!! We then spent most of the day cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. The A/C is drying out the boat nicely and makes the work bearable in this heat. We still have quite a bit to do, but it's nice to see the progress.
On one of our runs to the grocery store (there is this gringo mall right here) I was coming back to the boat when this guy Dan asked my advice on refrigerator recirculating pumps. Shocked that someone was asking me a question, I took it in stride. Our fridge is air cooled (on Persistence they have a sea water cooled fridge) which I explained to him and said I was of no help. I then came clean and said that actually we are new to this whole live-a-board/cruising thing. He then introduced me to Tom, owner of Persistence, and we chatted about potential routes from Banderas Bay (that's the bay we are in). South sounds like the simpler, nicer route so we are leaning towards that, but we have not made any decisions yet. Dan, Tom, and I had a nice chat. Tom has been cruising for years with his family, but now his kids want to stop being boat-schooled and go to high school. Tom has a wealth of information that we hope to tap in the future. I also met this guy on his way to Panama (didn't get his name, and I can't remember the boat name, which is kinda bad etiquette). We keep meeting very cool people and everyone so far has been very straightforward with their desire to help us out. I should note that we are by far the youngest people here (besides the Mexican workers) and are on the smallest boat. I'm not sure if that is making people more helpful or not, but it is interesting to notice.
We ended the evening with a movie at the yacht club - Captain Ron starring Kurt Russell. Not a bad movie, and pretty funny from the beginner cruiser point of view. There is some sort of weird relationship between the yacht club and the marina. The marina sits in the middle of a fancy timeshare resort and by staying at the (not cheap) marina we have access to pretty much everything. The yacht club is extra and separate from the marina, but many folks hang out there, participate, and is where the only wifi in range is located. We get to go to the yacht club between 3 and 24 times (depending on who you talk to, but Doug, the manager(?) said 21ish so we should be okay for awhile) before we have to become members (they have pretty nice food, which is quite a bit cheaper for members, and seems to be a great place to meet folks). We'll just be nice to everyone and see what happens.
Now we're back in our A/C cooled environs. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. . .