meri's blog

We’re back in the water... after a month on the hard! What a relief to be out of the boat yard!

The financials have been put to rest until the end of the month. I didn't email the details because they can be boring. If you're interested in our expenses so far this year, however,  previous posts are listed down a bit on the left side of this page.

Remember we bought Hotspur cheap because of all her neglect and need for serious attention? Well, let’s take a look at how much we’ve spent for the cruising year of 2010 with the purchase of Hotspur and the selling of Windfall... and how far we’re into the red!

2009 expenses in April partially include Jim’s solo trip to the USA. We purchased an Engel Freezer we had delivered to his dad’s place and Jim brought it back with him. We also bought a small outboard for the dinghy, some kayak paddles, the Heather and Shawn Sea of Cortez Cruising Guide, car insurance, a bus ticket, and a rental car to see some sites.

During the month of March, two very important events occurred. The first, we sold Windfall! Only seven weeks after purchasing Hotspur, we sold Windfall’to our friends, Doug and Ann Brown. Second, the mechanics started the engine on Hotspur! She’s nowhere close to leaving the marina slip, but the engine started. YIPPEE!

February shows large expenses in 2009 due to having ‘Windfall’ hauled out and her bottom painted in La Paz, MX. We brought our own anti-fouling paint, so the expense is haul out and labor. We also purchased radios and a new tuner.

The month of January was monumental for the Faulkner family. Before selling our 35' Cal Cruising, ‘Windfall’, we embarked on a new family cruising boat... a 41' Tartan TOCK we call ‘Hotspur’. Although we have both boats in a marina slip, we charged the slip fees to our credit cards. These expenses will be shown in February’s expenses, as they were paid in February. After purchasing ‘Hotspur’, we spent oodles of time cleaning ‘Windfall’ so that we could prepare to sell her... FAST!

I've already posted our Year End cruising costs for 2009 here: http://expaticus.com/web-expaticus-com/files/u2/Files/expenses2009.htm. One of my many New Year’s resolutions in 2010 was to do a monthly expense report for the Blog, not just Year End... well, I’m a tad behind with all the repairs going on with the new boat. However, as promised, here is the beginning of our 2nd year cruising.

I was in the middle of preparing dinner last night... shelling shrimp for fresh shrimp tacos... when Carolyne came breathlessly rushing down below.

"Mom! Come quick! Lori on 'Third Day' needs you! Jason gashed open his foot."

We were told by friends that we should come to this side of town... but did we listen? No. Fools are we! Every Sunday, the side of town in Mazatlan they call ‘Juarez’ is packed full of local people and stands with veggies, fruit, meat, clothes, hair doo-dads, candy... you name it... it’s in Juarez!