Carolyne has been very responsible for the four little kittens that were dumped off here at the marina in January of this year.

It took forever, it seems, but we finally got the stainless steel supports built and installed today for the solar panels! This is HUGE, especially since we plan to be hauled out on Monday and don't know if we'll have access to power yet.

Yes, we're still in Mazatlan, MX and yes, we are still in the slip in Marina Mazatlan. I haven't posted anything because it's pretty much the same... except that the kids and I have been spending more time in the cruiser's lounge and less time on the boat. And that is because...

Jim is trying to get the air bubbles out of the fuel filter system... this is day three of it. Four letter words are fearlessly flying, flinging and flipping about... flagrantly, too, I might add. I've only ever seen him get like this when the head needs work.

This economy has been bleak for boat sales... as with many other things. Banks are not lending on the purchase of a boat, so having cash or something to trade against it is the best way to acquire your "toy" or "dream". In our case, our boat is our home. If it was ‘Meri’s Toy’, I’d definitely have someone else doing all the work on it!

I've been very disappointed in the "Mexican" souvenirs... many are made in China! Even the garlic in the grocery stores here... is it really cheaper to import Chinese garlic than it is to grow Mexican garlic????? It's crazy!

It’s been a great respite for the kids these last couple weeks... not because they get a Spring Break and not because they have a vacation from school. As the winter months of January and February produced virtually no other kids to play with, March and April have been kind to them.

I have been asked for the script I used at our de-naming and re-naming ceremony. Here it is below with all the instructions:

First, you must remove any mention of the old name on the boat!

In purging your boat, it is acceptable to use White-Out or some similar obliterating fluid to expunge the boat’s name from log books, engine and maintenance records etc., but it is much easier to simply remove the offending document from the boat and start afresh. Don’t forget the life rings and especially the transom and forward name boards.

Changing the name of our Tartan TOCK to ‘Hotspur’ was a big deal to the Faulkner family. We wanted a decent job done of it but we wanted to keep it fairly simple and affordable. We hired a company here in Mazatlan based on a reference.

Things are better... Jim and I have made a pact to try and be nicer. Believe it or not, it has worked! Putting on a smile and being more polite has been a pleasure. Of course, it has also helped that we have made a little progress with the boat.