Sunrise on Thursday, January 5, 2023
We took the 0900 shuttle into town. Our plan was to rent a car and go grocery shopping. We’d noticed that there was an organic market called Nomada Fresh and Organics near the church, so we decided to walk over there and check it out before heading to Chedraui. It turned out to be a restaurant, not a market. So we had breakfast there.
A street vendor came by selling sweets, and we bought one. It was shredded coconut covered in caramel. It tasted just like the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies.
After breakfast, we walked over to the car rental place. Car rental and grocery shopping were uneventful. In the evening, we had dinner at Costa Baja with some of the Oceananigans crew, some new friends on a boat called Sirena that we’d met in Bahia Falsa before we left for San Diego, and some people that we met today on a boat named Saphira who have also previously circumnavigated.
On Friday morning, we had someone come to clean the bottom. We’d forgotten to mention that we had them clean the bottom before we left for San Diego, too. Between the compressor issues limiting the air supply and the fact that the water was now colder than comfortable, hiring someone was the path of least resistance. We also had someone start waxing the boat and polishing the stainless steel. He estimates that it will take him three days, which we think is pretty fast for someone working alone.
At about 0145, we headed to town. Our first stop was the boat store. Then we went to The Melt and finally tried their burgers. The prices at The Melt are high by Mexican standards, but the quality of food is good and the portions are huge, so we feel like it’s good value for the money. Keith ate that entire gigantic hamburger and a big milkshake!
After lunch, we went to the grocery store. Today was a Catholic holiday called “Three Kings Day” of the “12th Day of Christmas,” in which they commemorate the three wise men bringing gifts to the newborn baby Jesus. Our understanding was that as part of the celebration, a cake was served that had a small baby Jesus figurine baked inside it. Whoever gets the slice of cake with the figurine was blessed with good luck. The line at the bakery wrapped around the store. We presume everyone was in line for a special holiday figurine cakes.
A fellow kid boat that we’d become friends with in Bahia de Los Angeles (and rode out the hurricane with in Puerto Don Juan) texted to let us know that they were in town. After we were done shopping, we met them at the beach next to Estrella Del Mar. One of the hardest parts of cruising is making friends and then leaving them, but one of the nice things about cruising is that it is not uncommon to see those friends again.
Since we had perishables in the car, we didn’t visit for long. We made it back to boat just in time for sunset.
