My Life as a (lousy) Motorhome Mechanic

 

Well, we’ve been here a week and most of my motorhome problems still exist. The slide hydraulic line still leaks, but I know not where. The air line to the engine exhaust brake has been removed, but I don’t have a replacement….yet. And, the exhaust from the turbo charger to the muffler is disconnected. Tomorrow I will make the 54 mile trip to Freightliner and Caterpillar in Cancun and attempt to get a new air line and new exhaust pipe couplings. Whew!

My days have not been a total loss. When it was determined that there was no progress to be made yesterday, it gave me a chance to take out my kayak for the first time. There was a storm offshore and the waves were rough. I surprised myself by walking past the first few waves in shallow water and getting on the kayak without taking a spill. Then it was off into the breakers and the surf. I HAD A BALL!!! It was way too rough to consider fishing so I had no tackle with me. Besides, I had to concentrate on keeping the kayak heading straight into the waves. It was amazing to see the bow dive under a breaking wave and have the warm water wash over me. The kayak is a sit-on-top, yet my legs were under water. The front and rear areas were awash and I had taken some water inside through the rod holders. There is some tuning to do before I do high surf again. Still, I came home cool and exhilarated

Today is another free day. So I got out my new 8 weight fly rod, tied on a bonefish fly and walked down the beach. Although it was not nearly as rough as yesterday, I was getting beat up by the waves breaking where I wanted to fish. Tired of fighting the waves, a moved toward shore and cast my shrimp imitation parallel to the shore. Two strips and I had one heck of a bite. The rod bent and something took off like a freight train. The bonefish are plentiful here and that’s what I think it was. At any rate, it zoomed out past the inner reef and cut to my left. The line stopped and I reeled in the broken line. It was nicked in several places on the last five inches of leader, so I know what happened.

 

Bonefish [1]……Paul [0]

I also hooked and lost two large needlefish, but losing them is a blessing.

I hope to include some pictures, but I have a state of the art camera and an old f**t photographer. All the pictures of the beach come out completely washed out. A little research on line (cannot find my camera manual) has given me a few things to try.

 

Later.

Xpu-HA at last!!!!

 

Yesterday afternoon we finally arrived at Xpu-Ha and I was most gratified to find that Dierck was able to save “our” spot. At nearly 37 feet (12 meters), we require a lot of room.

Before we could even greet our friends, all hell broke loose. As I cracked open the door, Coco LUNGED out the door with Sandy trailing behind. She remembered the layout here and zigged and zagged around campers and cars on her way to the beach. I grabbed the leashes and chased after, but found them gloriously enjoying the surf. Ann was down there entertaining them with a stick and in just a few moments had attracted a small crowd.

Then we got warm greetings from all our friends at Xpu-Ha campground. It was really good to see them all doing so well. I saw one fellow who looked familiar and he seemed to recognize me. “Dennis ? “ I asked and he replied “Paul”. We met two years ago in Punta Perula. He and his wife, Rosemary, were very easy to get to know and Rosemary joined me and Helen for a snorkel trip one day.

Shortly thereafter, Helen took the three dogs back to the beach with the intent to thoroughly tire them out while I set about getting the camper set up. When Helen came back I connected a water hose so she could wash the three canines.

Setting up camp rarely goes completely smoothly and this time was no different, but everything worked out. There is much more to do today…….or mañana…..No! I WILL get to it today.

This is just to let you know that we are here and we are safe. More blogs will come and I WILL include pictures.

Later.