- Anchoring in Melaque is my first-ever bow / stern anchor setup. You usually put out a stern anchor to limit your swing in a tight anchorage, but there are only two boats in this whole bay, counting Chemistry. In this case, I have a stern anchor out to keep my bow pointed into the swells. I’m pretty comfortable.- I’ve done stern-ties before in the San Juans, where you anchor and then tie to a tree ashore. But this is harder, though you don’t have to row the dinghy to a tree.
- Melaque is home to the biggest St Patrick’s Day celebration in Jalisco. It goes on for two weeks, and tonight is its 3rd to the last night. Lots of restaurants have signs that say “Closed Tuesday.” They need a break before the Easter celebrations start.- I’ve never liked St Patrick’s Day. It always seems like I ended up standing around a very crowded bar with friends, drinking beer and watching other people drink beer because you can’t hear your friends talk anyway. Sometimes the beer was green; sometimes it was Guiness. My issue with the holiday, I think, is that I don’t like the pressure to have fun. Like, jeez, it’s a holiday, you’d better be having fun.- Tonight I drank a margarita, two Tecates, and a 20-oz can of Sol in the plaza.- I’m paranoid enough about petty theft to lock my boat and hide important things when I go out, but I’m probably too comfortable walking around town through dark alleys and stuff. Maybe it’s the safety of two or three taco stands on each corner.- The scariest part of my night was when I stepped in a puddle wearing my flip-flops. Wonder what was in that puddle? Has it rained?- I always hated the idea of “The Cruiser’s Uniform” of shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops. But then I learned… beach landings. You can’t wear pants and land a dinghy on the beach, especially if there are waves breaking.- I saw a tall Mexican tonight. He was walking along with his wife and new baby, and I did a double-take because he was taller than me. He nodded, like, “Hey, second tallest guy in the plaza.”
- Okay, really I was about the 14th tallest person in the plaza (out of 2,000). There are more tall Mexicans than you think.
- Tonight I saw my first ever 10-piece (4 violins!) mariachi. The Mariachi Regional de Telaquepaque. Fun to watch for 2 songs, anyway. For the festival they have a Guerra de los Mariachis (guerra means war). But mariachis don’t dance, or make people want to dance, or even try. They just stand there and play. They should walk around, not be on a stage because they don’t really bring it like Cotton Candy did in the Battle of the Bands against that one-trick-pony rock band who only played “I Shot the Sheriff.” That may be the first movie I remember seeing. Or “E.T.” at a drive-in. Or “Blazing Saddles” when HBO was born.- The most exciting sounds coming from town tonight are, once again, the same circus that was in San Blas a couple months ago. Very catchy rhythms and a guy who sings so fast I can’t even catch a word. He might not even be singing real words. Ocha ocha ocha ocha ocha oacha yo, ma hicha yo, ma hicha yo, pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata pata yo….- It’s Saturday night, but I returned to the boat after only a little while in the plaza. On the way back to my dinghy on the beach, I bought a new kind of habenero hot sauce, 10 eggs, and more chips (tostadas) for my guac, if I make more guac tomorrow. I’m feeling a little burned out on guac, which is good. I don’t think it’s good for bellies. I had a roommate in college and his parents had a couple of avocado trees. He’d return from visiting them with a whole 5-gallon bucket full, and he’d throw a bunch of bananas in to ripen them up. Bananas get sprayed with a ripening chemical that helps ripen avocados, too. Then he’d sit there and just eat ‘em. He was a tub.- If you travel long-term in Mexico, keep an egg carton for storing your eggs. Eggs here come only in flats of 36, like the package you’d get from Costco if you’re having 10 friends over for breakfast. But here they’re only sold by the kilo. The eggs here are tough, though – I’ve yet to break one while transporting them back to the boat.- Someday, again, I’ll have a big house and I’ll have 10 friends over to party all night. Then I’ll make breakfast for those 10 friends. We’ll have Pants Potatos and Huevos Rancheros.
