Stranded

That's how I am feeling here. For the second time in Mile 14 history I am doing a post from my iPhone app. With my Internet down in the condo again I am feeling a little lucky because I have the AT&T cell phone program working fine from ALASKA. But there's something just kind of weird about sitting under a palapa and talking to a phone while watching the waves roll in.

Team X is a little short handed, Ernie left yesterday and Tim jumps the jet today leaving me without adult supervision.

I'm now on the one fish a week plan so there's my last catch which is a really nice pargo of 7 pounds or so. This guy and its doppelgänger which Tim caught was the entire weeks harvest.

In the ' what's happening in mexico dept ' I took this pic at the plaza the other night. One gal had a blindfold on and the others held bi lingual signs saying ' if you believe in the goodness of humanity give me a hug'....and many' many, people were.

I took thi pic at one of our favorite spots. You might remember that we had our anniversary last year at the restaurant El Tunnel....well this is the tunnel that leads to an open air diner that is soooo cool.

That fish tails are cheaper to mount I suppose.... 

I came across this sign outside a local Tienda and I'm gonna take a chance here and mercifully end this blog post at the same time . Ya gotta admit that advertising is a bit unusual and unusual is what we're on the hunt for here at Mle14 , make up your own caption

As soon as Telmex makes their 4th visit to our house I'll post again. I have some cool video of the Mazatlan Women's Run....I hope you come back.

Real / Fake news

When the staff here at Mile 14 heard that one about the state of affairs in this big ol fish pond they went into executive session to try and figure out what it all means for people like us. Of course opportunity is everywhere these days and after a few Pacifico's and an hour in the Hot tub the editorial department came up with a third designation....we have Real news, we have Fake news and at Mile 14 we have Really Fake news....but the Mile 14 people have been way ahead of the current trends, we've been on the cutting edge of that deal for years, after all even at the Kenai River Guide Academy they had a segment on posing fish, rounding off weights and totals and the 'one that got away '....you know , fisherman code for ' boy did I screw that up '.

There's a pic of me me holding up at 28 pound Pargo I caught the other day.  200 people on the beach witnessed this catch and boy did I feel like Tiger Woods with a gallery of on lookers.  It's a good thing I'm a retired Body Builder because I held that fish like that for 25 minutes while my personal assistant ( who is also a professional photographer ) tried different angles and aperture settings. If you remember my goal for this year was a huge Pargo so now I'm shifting my goals to catching a Marlin from the beach...

I gave MP a  day off and she decided to go to the Casino figuring we could use another cash injection like the 2 one hundred dollar bills I found in the road a while back. Well that woman is lucky , lucky , lucky.....she was playing 20 lines and only a few minutes into the session that Medussa vrs Supeman Machine just started a singing. The racket went on for a good ten minutes and when it quit the Mile 14 crew on a holiday was up over 30,000 Centavo's....that's right 30,000 . Now I know she don't look all that happy in the picture but it's only because the security was just approaching me with that same ol  ' no, no . no camera's in the casino senor deal '.

Is that a sweet ride or what ? Well, I'm in negotiations to buy that Ford Falcon for the crew here at Mile 14 Latin America Bureau. They kinda figure that being mobile might make for better reporting and help ease the stress over meeting those brutal deadlines. Problem is that the owner fit a 426 Mustang motor into it and I kinda feel like that if I'm dropping that much lettuce on a classic car it oughta be original. This guy just doesn't understand how 6 cylinders could be better that 8.  I told him that in this new news climate ya just can't be making things up. When people look you car up on Wikipedia and it says 6 cylinder with 3 on the tree it better be 6 cylinder with three on the tree.

There's my new luggage set. I got it at a garage sale a guy from Calgary was having. What a deal. I got it for only 20 bucks USA which is 30 Canadian. Pure genius, I started out with an offer in Peso' s and then shifted him to U.S. currency when he got a bit confused doing the math. This stuff is gonna come in real handy at the next Bonspieler I compete in.

There's another pic of my personal assistant, boy has she been busy. I know it looks a lot like she and our friend Cindy are at some kind of weird protest march or demonstration but that couldn't be farther from the ' real' truth. That's actually a self portrait acrylic on canvas piece that MP did back in the 1970's while studying under the famous Paula Weller at the University of Montana. Those girls are all smiles because a lady just bought it for 4000 peso because she thinks it's Madonna. Wow, another big cash injection to keep the engine that is Mile 14 running...way to go girls.

Did I ever tell you about the carpenter I worked with once that told me he was a lead man on the Pyramid of Cheops project  ??????

And then there was the guy I worked with that  invented the scissor truss....mmmmmm.....

Add your ' REALLY FAKE NEWS ' here :                                                                      

Fishing experts

You know how I feel about those Robalo, they're just the best. so was I ever enthused when Ern caught about the nicest one I've ever seen.....Team X has been kind of languishing. Our ringleader Slah is building a restaurant so he's to busy to fish much and some of the guys aren't here and some aren't fishing because, well, the fishing has been dead dog slow. But if you cast enough and work enough and stay upbeat enough...magic.

Ern said it was a big one and the way things have been going I didn't want any 'schamoozles' so I set down my gear satchel and laid my rod on top of it and grabbed my little gaff hook. This fish took forever and when we finally new what it was we almost in unison said holy @#&##*....So finally it comes time for the coup de gras and Ern picks the right wave and rides him a good ways up the beach. As he comes up the beach I position myself between ol slimey and the water when the inevitable happens.....kerr snap, line breaks. Not really surprised as Ern is fishing with the light gear and just the added tension on being dry makes the hook spit or the line break quite often. Many a time I've seen the fish escape by swimming right back down the beach on the next wave.  I hear Ern let out an OH NO and I tell him I got it Ern and I stabbed him as the next wave pushed him down to me.....duck soup.  You can see where I gaffed him right through the gills and the green rubber swimfish that killed him, an oh Ern says the lure cost 50 cents....Canadian.

Man was I impressed with these fish experts me and MPeasy came across on our early walk on Olas Atlas.  They had a huge Corvina as well as several Skipjacks and Pargo. You can see the elevation we're at and I've often thought the structure would hold fish but the rocks are impossible, right ? Wrong...as I use my Spainglish skills and a good bit of humor I find out they have a rock just a bit lower that they safely get to and then the secret is ,,,,a young guy. You can barely see him on the right but he's equipped with an 6 foot gaff hook and the nimbleness of a Dall Sheep. Here's the rock they fish from.

Fish experts #3.....Holy Moly.....a 125 pound Marlin in a 16 foot boat. These guys are like ' The Old Man and the Sea ' material. Tony had been out the same day and saw Marlin at twelve miles which is actually really close as they are normally at 20 or 25. I was lucky enough to catch them when they showed up to sell the catch and check out their boat, It had a fairly new but well used 40 horse 4-stroke Mercury on it and the gear was all serviceable but far from new and they just seemed real comfortable with what they do...pretty cool....Steady is about the biggest compliment I give to people and you could just tell these guys fit the word ' Steady ' perfectly.

I spotted this guy right in the middle of the day on the roof of an apartment building right on the main drag of the Gold Zone. I only took one pic as I didn't want him to see me seeing him as I take to heart the advice my Mexican friends have given me about safety and that is ' don't get involved in anything here in Mazatlan'. But MP and I watched him from a distance for several minutes and there was no doubt about what he was doing.....looking over the ledge into apartment after apartment with a mirror on a stick, we could even see the reflection of it. Ya sure don't want to rifle a house just to find out they don't have a flat screen t.v. I guess.

People come to Alaska wide eyed with dreams and until I got here I used to think it was a place with more than the  usual amount of  broken dreams. In Alaska you see unfinished houses and stacked logs that never got any further.  Here there are countless buildings in different stages of construction with rebar running wild and things left to fall down. I took this pic of the beach stairs on a high rise Condo building in the Gold Zone....if the rest of the building was put together the same as these stairs it's no wonder the project stopped.....dreams interrupted.

The exchange rate for the American dollar is almost ridiculous. I don't know whats fueling it or even how it could be true but the values here in Mazatlan for Americans is crazy. The Canadian Looney is up as well against the Peso but not like our Dollar. We had some friends coming over so I went to the beer store and this is what ten bucks gets ya. I think it's a wonderful thing for us but I hope it's not lost on anybody that it's probably not so good for our Mexican friends. The Ballena's are about 3 twelve ouncers and a nice bottle of Chardonnay ....or something kinda like it.

We walked 3 miles for this coconut. I guess I'm getting to be a bit local as I eat them the same ways as the locals...squish lime over it entero and then a generous pour of salsa picante...oh baby.

Tonight me and a couple other musicians are going to play in the bar for the building. Somehow somebody thought it would be fun to have a night of  ' easy listening ' music' , mmmmmm,,,,, well 'easy' and my name don't usually collide in the same sentence so it oughta make a good story next week,,,,,,keppee yiiii yeeehhh
'

Isle De La Piedra

It ain't really an island, it's a peninsula across the harbor from town that is crazy popular mostly because there's just not much to do there. The place underlines the secret's of beach life like ' the problem with doing nothing is that you never get done ' ...and wouldn't know it if you did. So me and MPeasy   migrated on the day everyone else in Mazatlan shuns, Cruise Ship Day....you know me , I LIKE PEOPLE.

As you can see it's a happening place. For 1/2 mile down the beach is palapa restaurant after palapa restaurant, maybe 30 of them total and everyone has their favorite. You know how I am about loyalty, so we always go to Rudy's but this day Rudy was resting and his wife was in charge. The food wasn't very good, the service wasn't very good and .....it was perfect. We played Scrabble to a draw and watched the show....Here's a Stone Island selfie.

On the water taxi over I came across my kinda guys. They were trolling the lures with oars even though they had a nice new Yamaha 4-stroke bolted on, didn't want to scare the fish anymore than they already were I'd guess. Ahhhhh, just like the Budget Charters days of old, " hey Neil, how's about bailing some of that water while I work on the motor ". Pass the life jackets please.

When I was a kid me and my brother were skiing Mach 1 at Breckinridge Co, It's reputed to be the steepest run in the west, like a quadruple diamond. Well we stop to rest and I see a runaway ski flying down the hill with a boot in the binding and leg up to the knee....yikes....so only a few times in my life have I wondered if the poor guy would lose his leg and got to wondering that same thing  at Stone Island....Now I can see taking you leg off for this or that but your pants too ?....just caught my eye, that's all.

Being the first guy on the beach every morning means I find all the goodies. If you've followed this blog you remember the Russian Binoculars and the commercial fishing High Flyer. Well the other morning I found the best and biggest and most perfect shell ever. It's exactly like the expensive ones they sell at Sea Shell City ( say that real fast 3 times....I dare ya ) My friend Mark's mom told me she had a shell collection from every beach she's been on, Hawaii, Phuket, Australia etc. so I gifted this guy to her for her Mazatlan collection and boy did she like it.

So I was feeling pretty good about myself and the beach rewarded me with an almost perfect ' naval assist' sunset. I took three pics and one of them has the sail almost perfect in the old bulls eye but I picked this one to publish because I like the two heads bobbing around in the foreground. I'll bet your thinking that ol guide #003 took Photography in College like my friend Roy Morris but nope....it's just plain simple good luck that seems to follow me.

 This last pic is my attempt to carbon copy a famous album cover by the Beach Boys. I'll bet you remember seeing it, the four guys are wearing red and white surfer shirts and each one is looping their arms over a long board in unison as they head for the beach. Mine is just the same except that it's just me, short board, muscle shirt, country music and some imagination, same deal, right ?

Well she's got her daddy's car and she's cruising through the hamburger stand now.
Seems she forgot all about the library like she told her old man now.
And with the radio blasting goes a cruising  just as fast as she can now.
And she'll have fun , fun , fun till her daddy takes her T-Bird away.....