Well, we tried to leave,,,,

Nancy has been taking lots of great pictures up at the marina pool

There is something funky happening to keep us in Santa Rosalia. Yesterday morning, we were set to leave and then Jack said "I don't feel well." As a mother, I was attuned to that message, and said, "We aren't leaving today." About an hour later, he started heaving into a bowl. So goes that day.

Then today dawned bright and beautiful and we were worked hard to finish up the last details to get out the door. We did one last load of sweat-stained laundry, took down the bimini cover and the last duties were unplugging the air-conditioner, cleaning out the fridge, putting the last bits of tin-foil on the windows to insulate from the sun, cleaning the heads and closing the seacocks.

Then we headed out to the car and loaded up. The first stop was to a hardware store, but it was not opened so we didn't stop the car. The next stop was the bank where Patrick left me off to get money while he drove around the block. The next stop was the gas station, where Patrick did not remember to turn off the engine while the attendant was fueling.

Then we drove out of town. Just at the edge of town, the warning light came on "Battery not Charging" Patrick read off the warning light to me and after nearly twenty years I knew better then to question him about it. I waited a few minutes and then said, "What does that mean?" He said that there was probably a problem with the alternator but he wouldn't know until he looked at it. Another ten minutes went by and I said, "I think we should turn around and go back to the Singlar marina before we turn the car off." Patrick thought that was a good idea and we turned around. Once back parked in the Singlar marina, Patrick turned the car off and then tried to turn it on again.... Nothing. The alternator is dead. It was a very good thing that we never stopped the car while we were running all of our errands or we would have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere!

So here we sit back at the marina, on a boat that is decommissioned - no toilet, no water, no fridge, no food, no cold beer....... It's a nightmare. But we have air conditioning, friends, beds, a nearby mechanic,,,,,so a nightmare with a happy ending. We are still headed to the States, just a few days later.