Log Book
Dec 2008
Dec 2008
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| December 2008 |
San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico
After we got back to San Carlos from Phoenix, we settled in here at Marina Real.
BOAT PROJECTS: We got the inflatable for the dinghy repaired – again – the repair we made
last year was coming apart. Tony of Morelli Sails here – now here in San Carlos just down the
dock from us – removed some sail slides from the main and added others so now the sail cover
will fit again. Sam had a small stainless steel plate made for the bottom of the sail track to
further accommodate the changes in the sail. We even got two of the “catch all” drawers
cleaned out and re-organized the big box of spare parts.
GROCERY SHOPPING AND LAUNDRY: Sam and sometimes Susie would get a ride into town
with another cruiser here at Marina Real. It might be just into San Carlos and shop at the Super
T Izzy’s Tienda or Santa Rosa. For a real treat, we could stop by Victor’s Vegetable Truck and
get really fresh beautiful fruits and veggies and dairy products. Sometimes we got a ride into
Guaymas where there is a very nice large Leys Grocery Store. The first two times we did
laundry, we dropped it off at a fluff-and-fold in Guaymas and picked it up another day. But that
was very expensive – about $10 per load. We could get the same service in La Paz for $5 per
load or less. So then we started doing it ourselves at the small laundry room next to Barracuda
Bob’s at Marina San Carlos. It costs about $4 per load and you have to wait for machines and
many times they are out of order, and nobody folds the laundry for you. But you can visit with
other cruisers and have a croissant.
ENTERTAINMENT: On Friday’s Susie would get a ride with friends from Marina Real into San
Carlos to Tequila’s and play cards and have lunch. There are no restaurants here at Marina
Real so we are keeping costs down considerably by not eating out. There was a dock party on
Dec 15 that was fun and we met a lot of new cruisers here in San Carlos. And almost every
night after dinner, Susie and Sam play cards for a couple hours. The only other entertainment
is hearing raccoons walking across the deck at night sometimes (looking for a way in to our
food stash or garbage can) and finding their footprints in the morning.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS: We finally decided to get an official mailing address in San Diego with
Mail Call. This business is run by Gary and many of his clients are cruisers. He will hold first
class mail, toss the junk and magazines (unless we request specific ones) and send it to an
address at our direction. It was not working out to have the tenants in our house at 2360
Sequoia Drive in Antioch hold and forward mail. This will help us keep a more business and
professional relationship with the tenant, especially that we now have a property manager
handling things. It took us a while to finally make this decision because notifying all our banks,
credit card companies and other official agencies about the new address has taken nearly the
entire month of December.
BUS TRIP TO HERMOSILLO: We made a “dry run” into Hermosillo from Marina Real on Dec
18, before the pre-op scheduled for Dec 26. Left Marina Real on the 8:30 AM shuttle into San
Carlos; took the local bus into the bus station in Guaymas; took the Tufesa bus into the bus
station in Hermosillo; took a taxi from the bus station to CIMA Hospital; walked from the hospital
to the medical office building where Dr Inigo is located; arrived at 11:54 AM at his reception
desk. Now we knew we could make a 12 noon appointment on Dec 26. We had lunch at Vips
across the street in the large shopping center where there is a Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Wal-
Mart, City Club and Soriana’s. After lunch we dropped by Sam’s Club to check it out and
bought a large bag of Jolly Rancher hard candies for Sam. Then we took a taxi back to the
Hermosillo bus station and returned to San Carlos the same way we went. Only when we got
back there was no longer a shuttle available back to Marina Real. So we hiked across the road
and stuck out our thumbs and got a ride with the Commodore of San Carlos Yacht Club – Jan
Rains. She took us out to our boat, which was a little out of her way. You have probably heard
stories about a pretty girl sticking out her leg to get a ride – we discovered if Susie leans on her
cane it works just as well! And was she ever tired after that trip. There is still some swelling in
the right leg and she needs to elevate it several hours each day. She never had a chance to
elevate her foot all day and did a LOT of walking; but she survived.
BOAT STORAGE: Sam did a cost comparison and discovered it would be less expensive to
keep the boat in the water at Marina Real than it would be to haul it out and put it in dry
storage. Because after two months of dry storage, the bottom of the boat has to be sanded
and two more coats of bottom paint would have to be applied. So the cost of the bottom paint
(which we don’t really need right now) would be about the same as what we would save in dry
storage. In addition, if Susie recovers from left knee surgery more quickly than last time, she
can get back on the boat sooner if it is in the water. Also, it will be easier for Sam to start
shortening the list of boat projects if it is in the water and accessible.
CHRISTMAS DINNER: We purchased tickets to the community dinner at San Carlos Yacht Club
for $8 per person, plus a desert dish to share. Susie tried to make a baked pineapple
casserole but the oven did not work, so she had to make do with the stove-top and it looked
kind of funny, but tasted good. The meal served was ham and potatoes au gratin, rolls and
butter, then the salads and deserts everyone brought. We found out later that in years past
there have been large numbers of people attending this annual event but not enough food.
This year there was plenty for everyone and lots of leftovers. We took home ham and potatoes
to enjoy another day.
PRE-OP ON DEC 26: Susie responded to a call on the radio for someone who needed some
prunes (to soak in rum and stuff into a pork roast for Christmas dinner) and we met Gary and
Steffi of Lonestar. Turns out they were driving into Hermosillo on Dec 26 for Gary to catch a
flight to San Francisco, so we traded a bag of prunes for a ride. She said the roast came out
beautiful and delicious and we saved time and bus fare to arrive early at CIMA Hospital for the
noon pre-op the day after Christmas. The 10 AM early arrival was a good thing, because of
course there were some misunderstandings (the definition of a pre-op being primary) and some
last minute arrangements by Dr Inigo’s staff to get Susie in for blood work in the lab, a chest X-
ray, a physical exam and EKG with the cardiologist, all in one day. While Susie was having all
this done, Sam was out walking to the US Consulate to renew his passport (it expires in March
2009) and found the office was closed. He got back in time for the appointment with the
surgeon. After a consult with Dr Inigo, we decided to spend the night in Hermosillo so that
Susie could make a self-donation of blood the next morning. We rented a car for one day. By
the time we were picked up at the hospital and signed out with the rental car, it was nearly 5 PM
and neither of us had eaten since breakfast at 7:00 AM that morning. And Susie had been
unable to elevate her leg all day. So we found a restaurant next to the Costco, where we had a
leisurely dinner. Then we walked over to Costco and purchased the enzymes and vitamins Dr
Inigo wants Susie to take in preparation for her surgery. We spent the night at City Express (in
the room for disabled people, with an easy walk in shower and rails around the toilet and no
steps from the parking lot to the room) a few miles from CIMA Hospital. The next morning we
returned to the hospital and Susie donated a pint of blood for herself. Because she donated
blood, she got a free breakfast at the hospital, although the pancakes served to her (to raise
her blood sugar level) were nowhere near as good as the sourdough blueberry pancakes Sam
makes on the boat. After breakfast, we drove around the outskirts of Hermosillo, checking
things out and doing a little sight-seeing from the car. We returned the car in the early
afternoon and came back to San Carlos on the Tufesa bus, once again arriving too late for the
shuttle to Marina San Carlos. Steffi had offered us a ride but we were unable to reach her on
the cell phone, so we rode to the end of the bus line and got off. At the small tienda there, we
asked for some assistance and did not understand that someone called a taxi for us. We got
back on the bus and rode to the Y in the road where we could hitch-hike, and there was a taxi
driver waiting for us at the bus stop. Susie decided after another long day of not elevating her
leg that $7 was not too much money for a short taxi ride to Marina Real, so we got back home
on the boat about 6 PM. Susie was cranky, tired, cold and hungry – so she lay down and put
her leg up and Sam heated up the leftover ham and potatoes from Christmas dinner.
OBSERVATIONS ABOUT HERMOSILLO: This is a huge city. In many ways it is like Phoenix,
with a lot of areas of undeveloped land within the city and many new developments. There are
mountains in the city. Many of the residential areas have nice homes, bright colors, good
construction and development, nice sidewalks, good road surfaces. In the poorer areas, the
roads and sidewalks are not as nice, dirt roads, seemingly more lax zoning regulations. The
streets are well-marked in most places, but for a large freeway construction project the detours
were not well designated. Driving was difficult, of course being a new city to us we did not know
our way around, but there was fast-moving traffic, one-way streets, laterals next to main streets,
no good turn-offs, etc.
A NEW YEAR AND A NEW (TO US) CAR: We decided that we would be financially ahead if we
could buy a car here in San Carlos. Round trip bus and taxi far for the San Carlos-Hermosillo
trip is $43 per person and very difficult even now for Susie. It would be even more difficult after
her next surgery. Renting a car is $50 per day and we would never see that money again. So
we spread it around the cruising community here that we were looking. And we found a car with
plenty of leg room for Susie. We should be able to sell it in about 3 months for nearly what we
paid. So our New Year’s Gift to us was a 1994 Infinity, purchased from one of the cruisers who
lives in San Carlos full time.
UPCOMING SURGERY: Susie is scheduled for total left knee replacement surgery at CIMA
Hospital in Hermosillo on Jan 6. We will drive over from San Carlos on Jan 5, to see the doctor
and check in to the hospital. She will have at least one week of physical therapy in Hermosillo
and will be able to take from the hospital the CPM machine and the anti-embolism pump, to use
at “home” in Hermosillo wherever that might turn out to be. We do not yet know where we will
stay after she gets out of the hospital, and a lot depends on her level of progress with physical
therapy. If we need to do so, we will rent a house or apartment in Hermosillo. Or we may come
back to Guaymas or San Carlos and rent something for a short while. But Sam is very good to
take care of things and everything will work out OK. So look for our next update the first week
of February to find out how things worked out in Hermosillo and for a report of Susie’s recovery
from this surgery.
After we got back to San Carlos from Phoenix, we settled in here at Marina Real.
BOAT PROJECTS: We got the inflatable for the dinghy repaired – again – the repair we made
last year was coming apart. Tony of Morelli Sails here – now here in San Carlos just down the
dock from us – removed some sail slides from the main and added others so now the sail cover
will fit again. Sam had a small stainless steel plate made for the bottom of the sail track to
further accommodate the changes in the sail. We even got two of the “catch all” drawers
cleaned out and re-organized the big box of spare parts.
GROCERY SHOPPING AND LAUNDRY: Sam and sometimes Susie would get a ride into town
with another cruiser here at Marina Real. It might be just into San Carlos and shop at the Super
T Izzy’s Tienda or Santa Rosa. For a real treat, we could stop by Victor’s Vegetable Truck and
get really fresh beautiful fruits and veggies and dairy products. Sometimes we got a ride into
Guaymas where there is a very nice large Leys Grocery Store. The first two times we did
laundry, we dropped it off at a fluff-and-fold in Guaymas and picked it up another day. But that
was very expensive – about $10 per load. We could get the same service in La Paz for $5 per
load or less. So then we started doing it ourselves at the small laundry room next to Barracuda
Bob’s at Marina San Carlos. It costs about $4 per load and you have to wait for machines and
many times they are out of order, and nobody folds the laundry for you. But you can visit with
other cruisers and have a croissant.
ENTERTAINMENT: On Friday’s Susie would get a ride with friends from Marina Real into San
Carlos to Tequila’s and play cards and have lunch. There are no restaurants here at Marina
Real so we are keeping costs down considerably by not eating out. There was a dock party on
Dec 15 that was fun and we met a lot of new cruisers here in San Carlos. And almost every
night after dinner, Susie and Sam play cards for a couple hours. The only other entertainment
is hearing raccoons walking across the deck at night sometimes (looking for a way in to our
food stash or garbage can) and finding their footprints in the morning.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS: We finally decided to get an official mailing address in San Diego with
Mail Call. This business is run by Gary and many of his clients are cruisers. He will hold first
class mail, toss the junk and magazines (unless we request specific ones) and send it to an
address at our direction. It was not working out to have the tenants in our house at 2360
Sequoia Drive in Antioch hold and forward mail. This will help us keep a more business and
professional relationship with the tenant, especially that we now have a property manager
handling things. It took us a while to finally make this decision because notifying all our banks,
credit card companies and other official agencies about the new address has taken nearly the
entire month of December.
BUS TRIP TO HERMOSILLO: We made a “dry run” into Hermosillo from Marina Real on Dec
18, before the pre-op scheduled for Dec 26. Left Marina Real on the 8:30 AM shuttle into San
Carlos; took the local bus into the bus station in Guaymas; took the Tufesa bus into the bus
station in Hermosillo; took a taxi from the bus station to CIMA Hospital; walked from the hospital
to the medical office building where Dr Inigo is located; arrived at 11:54 AM at his reception
desk. Now we knew we could make a 12 noon appointment on Dec 26. We had lunch at Vips
across the street in the large shopping center where there is a Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Wal-
Mart, City Club and Soriana’s. After lunch we dropped by Sam’s Club to check it out and
bought a large bag of Jolly Rancher hard candies for Sam. Then we took a taxi back to the
Hermosillo bus station and returned to San Carlos the same way we went. Only when we got
back there was no longer a shuttle available back to Marina Real. So we hiked across the road
and stuck out our thumbs and got a ride with the Commodore of San Carlos Yacht Club – Jan
Rains. She took us out to our boat, which was a little out of her way. You have probably heard
stories about a pretty girl sticking out her leg to get a ride – we discovered if Susie leans on her
cane it works just as well! And was she ever tired after that trip. There is still some swelling in
the right leg and she needs to elevate it several hours each day. She never had a chance to
elevate her foot all day and did a LOT of walking; but she survived.
BOAT STORAGE: Sam did a cost comparison and discovered it would be less expensive to
keep the boat in the water at Marina Real than it would be to haul it out and put it in dry
storage. Because after two months of dry storage, the bottom of the boat has to be sanded
and two more coats of bottom paint would have to be applied. So the cost of the bottom paint
(which we don’t really need right now) would be about the same as what we would save in dry
storage. In addition, if Susie recovers from left knee surgery more quickly than last time, she
can get back on the boat sooner if it is in the water. Also, it will be easier for Sam to start
shortening the list of boat projects if it is in the water and accessible.
CHRISTMAS DINNER: We purchased tickets to the community dinner at San Carlos Yacht Club
for $8 per person, plus a desert dish to share. Susie tried to make a baked pineapple
casserole but the oven did not work, so she had to make do with the stove-top and it looked
kind of funny, but tasted good. The meal served was ham and potatoes au gratin, rolls and
butter, then the salads and deserts everyone brought. We found out later that in years past
there have been large numbers of people attending this annual event but not enough food.
This year there was plenty for everyone and lots of leftovers. We took home ham and potatoes
to enjoy another day.
PRE-OP ON DEC 26: Susie responded to a call on the radio for someone who needed some
prunes (to soak in rum and stuff into a pork roast for Christmas dinner) and we met Gary and
Steffi of Lonestar. Turns out they were driving into Hermosillo on Dec 26 for Gary to catch a
flight to San Francisco, so we traded a bag of prunes for a ride. She said the roast came out
beautiful and delicious and we saved time and bus fare to arrive early at CIMA Hospital for the
noon pre-op the day after Christmas. The 10 AM early arrival was a good thing, because of
course there were some misunderstandings (the definition of a pre-op being primary) and some
last minute arrangements by Dr Inigo’s staff to get Susie in for blood work in the lab, a chest X-
ray, a physical exam and EKG with the cardiologist, all in one day. While Susie was having all
this done, Sam was out walking to the US Consulate to renew his passport (it expires in March
2009) and found the office was closed. He got back in time for the appointment with the
surgeon. After a consult with Dr Inigo, we decided to spend the night in Hermosillo so that
Susie could make a self-donation of blood the next morning. We rented a car for one day. By
the time we were picked up at the hospital and signed out with the rental car, it was nearly 5 PM
and neither of us had eaten since breakfast at 7:00 AM that morning. And Susie had been
unable to elevate her leg all day. So we found a restaurant next to the Costco, where we had a
leisurely dinner. Then we walked over to Costco and purchased the enzymes and vitamins Dr
Inigo wants Susie to take in preparation for her surgery. We spent the night at City Express (in
the room for disabled people, with an easy walk in shower and rails around the toilet and no
steps from the parking lot to the room) a few miles from CIMA Hospital. The next morning we
returned to the hospital and Susie donated a pint of blood for herself. Because she donated
blood, she got a free breakfast at the hospital, although the pancakes served to her (to raise
her blood sugar level) were nowhere near as good as the sourdough blueberry pancakes Sam
makes on the boat. After breakfast, we drove around the outskirts of Hermosillo, checking
things out and doing a little sight-seeing from the car. We returned the car in the early
afternoon and came back to San Carlos on the Tufesa bus, once again arriving too late for the
shuttle to Marina San Carlos. Steffi had offered us a ride but we were unable to reach her on
the cell phone, so we rode to the end of the bus line and got off. At the small tienda there, we
asked for some assistance and did not understand that someone called a taxi for us. We got
back on the bus and rode to the Y in the road where we could hitch-hike, and there was a taxi
driver waiting for us at the bus stop. Susie decided after another long day of not elevating her
leg that $7 was not too much money for a short taxi ride to Marina Real, so we got back home
on the boat about 6 PM. Susie was cranky, tired, cold and hungry – so she lay down and put
her leg up and Sam heated up the leftover ham and potatoes from Christmas dinner.
OBSERVATIONS ABOUT HERMOSILLO: This is a huge city. In many ways it is like Phoenix,
with a lot of areas of undeveloped land within the city and many new developments. There are
mountains in the city. Many of the residential areas have nice homes, bright colors, good
construction and development, nice sidewalks, good road surfaces. In the poorer areas, the
roads and sidewalks are not as nice, dirt roads, seemingly more lax zoning regulations. The
streets are well-marked in most places, but for a large freeway construction project the detours
were not well designated. Driving was difficult, of course being a new city to us we did not know
our way around, but there was fast-moving traffic, one-way streets, laterals next to main streets,
no good turn-offs, etc.
A NEW YEAR AND A NEW (TO US) CAR: We decided that we would be financially ahead if we
could buy a car here in San Carlos. Round trip bus and taxi far for the San Carlos-Hermosillo
trip is $43 per person and very difficult even now for Susie. It would be even more difficult after
her next surgery. Renting a car is $50 per day and we would never see that money again. So
we spread it around the cruising community here that we were looking. And we found a car with
plenty of leg room for Susie. We should be able to sell it in about 3 months for nearly what we
paid. So our New Year’s Gift to us was a 1994 Infinity, purchased from one of the cruisers who
lives in San Carlos full time.
UPCOMING SURGERY: Susie is scheduled for total left knee replacement surgery at CIMA
Hospital in Hermosillo on Jan 6. We will drive over from San Carlos on Jan 5, to see the doctor
and check in to the hospital. She will have at least one week of physical therapy in Hermosillo
and will be able to take from the hospital the CPM machine and the anti-embolism pump, to use
at “home” in Hermosillo wherever that might turn out to be. We do not yet know where we will
stay after she gets out of the hospital, and a lot depends on her level of progress with physical
therapy. If we need to do so, we will rent a house or apartment in Hermosillo. Or we may come
back to Guaymas or San Carlos and rent something for a short while. But Sam is very good to
take care of things and everything will work out OK. So look for our next update the first week
of February to find out how things worked out in Hermosillo and for a report of Susie’s recovery
from this surgery.
| Photos for Dec 2008 |